Chaotic noises echoed from the distance. Though Shen Yun had no idea what was happening and a trace of astonishment flashed across her face, she remained relatively calm. Shouting a few orders, she led Shi Yu and the other cultivators originally slated for the subsequent evaluations toward the academy's interior. “Stay close to me, everyone!”
The ground trembled violently beneath them. Stumbling, her footwork faltered, and she nearly fell to the ground.
“Be careful.” Fortunately, Shi Yu was right beside her and caught her in time, allowing her to regain her footing.
Before Shen Yun could thank her, frantic, overlapping shouts drifted in from afar: “Enemies are attacking!”
Shi Yu heard it as well. Exchanging a glance with Shen Yun, she looked up into the sky just in time to see the figure of Instructor Jiang Tingchuan streak past midair. His voice boomed like rolling thunder, resounding across half the sky: “Enemies are attacking! Activate the array!”
This roar exploded over Shiyan City like a heavy bomb, leaving everyone stunned.
Shiyan Academy was the number one academy in the entire East Continent, possessing countless powerhouses and resources. Its background and foundation were unimaginably deep, rendering it a regional overlord. Who would dare to invade?
By now, the sky had grown increasingly dim. High above the academy, an immense, dazzling light emerged, rapidly spreading in all directions before forming an inverted bowl that encased the entire Shiyan City within it.
“This is the city-protecting array...” Shi Yu cast a few glances upward. Unable to discern the complete formation, she could only vaguely sense a slight sluggishness in the flow of spiritual energy through the array nodes.
A formation of such immense scale possessed an unimaginable level of intricacy. Array masters of the present day were long incapable of setting up such grand arrays; the city-protecting array before her had been passed down from ancient times. It was only through generations of careful maintenance, regular repairs, and supplementary additions that it had endured to this day and remained operational.
Yet, so much time had elapsed that many formation legacies had inevitably been lost or damaged. Coupled with the gradual decline of Dao cultivation over the last ten thousand years—nowhere near as brilliant as the ancient era when a galaxy of stars shone together—capable masters had grown scarce. No matter how much effort was spent maintaining this array, it could never match its original power.
These thoughts flickered briefly through Shi Yu's mind as she followed Shen Yun into the academy. The student cultivators bustling back and forth in uniform walked with hurried steps and solemn expressions. However, as students selected from among the finest geniuses, though momentary panic struck them, they quickly regained their composure and systematically followed the instructors' commands.
Another senior sister sprinted over from the distance. Upon spotting Shen Yun, she hurriedly called out, “The Principal isn't here! The Vice Principal and several elders have ordered all students to gather at the square on standby! Take these prospective students and head over quickly as well!”
Shen Yun acknowledged the order, her earlier listlessness entirely gone. Turning to look at Shi Yu and the other prospective students, she spotted a few who hesitated and tried to run in other directions. She barked, “Do you want to die? All of you, follow me!”
Her cultivation was at the eighth layer of the Qi Refining Realm, and several of the prospective students possessed higher realms than her. Yet, shouting with such a stern gaze and icy countenance, her commanding aura instantly intimidated them into submission.
Wasting no words, Shen Yun sprinted ahead, with the others following close behind.
Finally, as they approached the academy square, Shi Yu saw a dense, dark crowd of heads. Virtually all the students currently staying in the academy who hadn't left for training outside were gathered here.
Most of the prospective students who had finished their evaluations had also gone with the flow and ended up here, utterly clueless about the situation and wearing anxious expressions.
Safety in numbers brought a slight sense of relief. Shen Yun exhaled softly before her brows knit together again. Having stayed at the academy for several years, this was her first time witnessing such a scene. She could not help but mutter, “Who on earth could be invading to actually force the academy to activate the grand city-protecting array?”
Shi Yu knew even less. Scanning the surrounding crowd, she found it too densely packed to spot He Chiqiong, He Lingling, or the others. Withdrawing her gaze, she thought to herself, Right now is Shiyan Academy's recruitment evaluation period, and genius cultivators from all over have gathered here. If anything goes wrong...
Yet, what kind of faction possessed the audacity and confidence to cause such a massive disturbance and directly challenge Shiyan Academy?
Her eyes narrowed slightly. There are only a handful of major sects in the East Continent that can contend with Shiyan Academy. But regardless of private friction, they maintain a friendly facade publicly. There's no reason for them to act like this. Who could the intruder be...?
At the front of the crowd, an elder with snow-white hair and beard holding a whisk artifact ascended into the air, stepping upon a light, ethereal cloud-like artifact. His deep, resonant voice floated toward the heavens: “Which fellow cultivator comes to visit? Why not reveal yourself?”
For a long moment, no response came from the sky. Swiping his whisk, the elder transformed thousands of fine, soft bristles into razor-sharp needles that shot straight into the firmament. Unleashing a vast and formidable aura, the silver light resembled reverse-flying meteors.
However, the moment the thousands of silver needles flew halfway into the sky, they seemed to hit an invisible barrier. With a barrage of clinking sounds, they all rained back down toward the earth.
Shen Yun's expression changed. “Instructor Ye's 'Silver Bristles Flying Snow' was blocked so easily?”
Compared to Instructor Jiang earlier, this Instructor Ye possessed an even more powerful aura; he too was a Golden Core Realm powerhouse with profound cultivation.
Seeing this, several other instructors stepped forward, hurling their respective magic artifacts and displaying their divine abilities. Yet, without exception, everything was blocked by the invisible entity spanning the sky. For a moment, it felt as if all of Shiyan City were enveloped by something even vaster than the city-protecting array itself.
Beyond the midair void, still no one spoke. The sky only grew darker and darker; despite being broad daylight, it now resembled a moonless night.
The intruder's silent, dismissive attitude sparked an incredible conjecture in the minds of the onlookers: Could it be... that they looked down on the status of these instructors?
The crowd waited a moment longer in anxious apprehension.
Finally, an extraordinarily ethereal voice echoed from the academy's back mountain: “Your Excellency has quite the grand style.”
At the sound of this voice, the instructors and students snapped out of their daze, hurriedly bowing in greeting. “Vice Principal.”
The prospective students scrambled to follow suit, quickly bowing as well.
Emerging from the back mountain was a young man with long, unkempt hair. Wearing a blue-gray Daoist robe draped with a crane cloak, he exuded a somewhat frail, scholarly air.
The young man raised his eyes, revealing a pair of light-colored pupils.
With just a single glance, the surrounding air grew heavy and dense. Even the thick clouds above churned under his momentum, gathering and dispersing at his aura's command.
“Since Your Excellency has arrived, why hide your head and show your tail? Why not reveal yourself, meet face to face, and state your intent?” Though his voice sounded calm, it contained an unwavering majesty that forbade any hint of disrespect.
However, the moment his words fell, a burst of wild laughter erupted in the sky, ringing violently in everyone's ears. Those with weaker cultivations bled from their seven orifices on the spot and collapsed limply to the ground.
Along with the laughter, a giant hand thrust down through the dense black clouds above. With a casual swipe of the giant hand, the thick clouds were actually parted to reveal a fissure, through which bright daylight shone down.
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