Er’er instinctively looked back at him.

Zhu Yan had too many unresolved matters. Even if he were to die, it shouldn’t be now.

Following behind them, eroded by the formation’s wind, his hand began showing several cracks as Water Dao spiritual power was forcibly pushed into him. Yet he seemed to feel no pain, still maintaining that kind yet stiff smile, stubbornly following behind Li Ye.

Li Ye suddenly stopped.

Following his movement, Zhu Yan also stopped. His face had begun to crack as well, but he still lowered his head respectfully: “High God?”

Li Ye’s hazy eyes swept over him, and he suddenly gave a cold laugh.

“You’re very skilled at deceiving me.”

Zhu Yan froze, stiffly moved his neck, then fell silent.

The surrounding wind howled more fiercely. The formation blotted out the sky, purple-black nebulae covered the heavens, and thunder and lightning flashed five rods away. Er’er nestled against Li Ye’s face, her sapphire-like eyes staring at Zhu Yan. After watching for a while, she finally noticed something wrong.

…

…

The cracks in this person’s body revealed no flesh and blood.

Crack—

Lightning exploded behind them, illuminating Zhu Yan before them like a paper figure from a coffin shop.

He rotated his eyeballs, making a creaking sound. His eyes looked toward Li Ye, half-mocking, half-annoyed: “The situation in the Ninth Heaven is decided. Take care, High God.”

As his words fell, his body was blown by the wind carrying Water Dao spiritual power, turning into a pile of dry, cracked stones.

A strand of soul leaked out from between the stones, attempting to escape.

Li Ye waved his hand, expressionlessly crushing it to powder.

“Gen family’s transformation technique,” Er’er swished her head in frustration. “How did I not see through it?”

“He sacrificed a strand of his soul specifically to prevent you from seeing through it.” Li Ye snorted with laughter, eyes half-closed as he scratched her cat’s chin.

Nervously avoiding his hand, Er’er thrashed her tail: “How can you still laugh? He must have set up an inescapable trap waiting for us. We need to go back quickly.”

“It’s too late,” Li Ye said calmly.

Er’er’s eyes widened.

He sighed, turning to fly back a distance. In moments, a Star Formation Killing Array appeared before them.

“You see,” Li Ye said, “once you enter this formation, there’s no turning back. The Star Formation Killing Array will gradually shrink, forcing those inside to go where it wants them to go.”

“…” Er’er clutched him tightly, instinctively looking up to the sky to find the North Star.

“The Sky Mechanism Lock contained one hundred and eight formations. Due to the physical limitations of the divine artifact, there were still ways to break through.” As if knowing what she was thinking, Li Ye tapped her small head. “But once the formation is released outside the divine artifact, it becomes another realm without flaws.”

Her face paled as Er’er’s expression fell. No wonder Zhu Yan was willing to sacrifice a strand of his soul to lure them here. No wonder the Heavenly Dao Diviner didn’t stop her when she broke through the Sky Mechanism Lock—he was waiting here all along.

What to do now?!

Wrinkling her whiskers, Er’er rubbed her furry ears against his face, trying to offer some comfort.

However, Li Ye acted as if nothing was wrong, his demeanor calm and his energy stable. He swept his sleeve and flew in the direction opposite to the Star Formation Killing Array. Along the way, he even held her in his arms, idly stroking her soft fur.

“You,” Er’er was puzzled, “do you have a way to break the formation?”

“No,” he answered matter-of-factly.

Furious, Er’er’s claws immediately shot out: “You don’t have a solution, yet you’re so relaxed?”

One would think he was going to browse a market.

Glancing at her small claws, Li Ye gave a light snort and placed his index finger against her claw tips, pressing those hook-like cat claws back into their pads.

The surrounding wind eased somewhat. Suddenly, daylight broke through ahead. Er’er’s pupils contracted as she saw a mirage appearing in the sky. The Heavenly Dao Diviner sat on a high throne, lowering his eyes to look at them.

“Before you came, I cast a divination,” he began softly, his voice echoing as if in a cave.

Er’er unhappily shook her head and raised her tail.

Li Ye remained composed, standing with his hands behind his back, not looking up, half-closing his eyes and listening carelessly.

The Heavenly Dao was very displeased with his calm demeanor, his tone finally growing heavier: “My divination said you wouldn’t come, because once you came, you would certainly die.”

“See, my divinations are no longer accurate.”

“But in the end, I will still be the winner.”

He tried to find a trace of panic or gravity on Li Ye’s face, but there was none. Even with his face magnified by the mirage, the Heavenly Dao couldn’t find even a fraction of what he wanted to see.

A strange sinking feeling in his heart, the Heavenly Dao unconsciously squeezed the Immortal-Binding Rope in his hand.

Taihe was at the other end of the Immortal-Binding Rope, staggering weakly.

“Immortal Master!” Er’er jumped down, transformed into human form, and tried to rush forward.

Li Ye grabbed her wrist.

“Where are you going?” he said. “This is an illusion. You can’t save Taihe by rushing up there.”

“But…” Er’er frowned deeply. “Has he gone mad? If anything happens to my Immortal Master, he won’t survive either.”

“Therefore, Taihe will be fine.” He pulled her in front of him and gently patted her back.

Er’er quickly calmed down.

The Heavenly Dao Diviner was at the end of his rope. He wanted to use this information to kill Li Ye. If his strand of soul were outside the formation, there would be no need to bring Taihe Xianshi out to show his face. That action just now revealed his fear—fear that Li Ye would directly kill him.

So, his soul was within the formation.

Li Ye, being smarter than her, had naturally realized this earlier.

But…

If they truly needed to kill the Heavenly Dao Diviner to break the formation, what about Taihe Xianshi?

Looking up at him anxiously, Er’er pressed her lips together.

Li Ye didn’t look back at her, only reaching out to rub her neatly combed hair bun, then moved forward to continue searching.

The Heavenly Dao Diviner continued rambling: “Don’t waste your efforts. This formation has buried countless High Gods. No matter how powerful you are, you’re still a Fire Dao immortal.”

Any immortal of the Five Elements would be torn apart by this formation.

Er’er, already worried, became more agitated hearing his words: “You think I’m dead?”

What Five Elements? What opposing forces? Once she deployed her barrier, could this fierce wind still harm Li Ye?

Pointing at the Heavenly Dao Diviner’s nose in the illusion, Er’er said: “You’re just an impostor, relying on an ancient divine artifact to act as a fraud and unworthily occupy the position of lord of the Ninth Heaven. Today, even if both of us can’t get out, you will certainly die.”

The Heavenly Dao paused, his expression turning ugly for a moment. But it was just a moment before he smiled again: “The power of prediction has always been the foremost immortal technique in the world. With the Sky Mechanism Lock, I possess the power of prediction—how is that unworthy? Whether I die today is another matter, but you two will certainly die.”

I spit on that!

Er’er sneered. Who else didn’t have the power of prediction? If she hadn’t interfered, Li Ye wouldn’t have even encountered this small setback before crushing him.

Thinking of this, Er’er suddenly froze.

Had it been a long time since she’d had a prophetic dream?