Comprehending Myriad Techniques as Woodcutter

Chapter 179: Chapter 153: Array, Profound Weapon

With a deafening BOOM, the cliff face was cleaved in two by the slash. Shattered rock thundered down from the precipice, burying everything below.

Deng Wan cracked a cruel smile. He waited for the rockslide to settle, then slowly approached. He casually flicked a few stones away with his blade, but his expression suddenly changed.

There was no trace of them inside—only stone.

’They escaped?’

Deng Wan whipped his head around, scanning his surroundings. Everything was quiet. There was nothing but shattered rock and the mountain forest.

No, that’s not right!

’One is heavily injured and the other is useless. Their Body Technique can’t possibly be that fast!’

He glanced down at the box in his hands and saw the small bug inside spinning erratically again. Its antennae pointed toward the cliff face ahead, yet it seemed hesitant.

’A thought flashed through Deng Wan’s mind.’ He paused in contemplation for a moment, then his figure flickered, circling the open area at the base of the cliff.

In less time than it takes to drink a cup of tea, his figure reappeared at the base of the cliff. In his hands, he clutched two array flags and a porcelain vial, his expression grim.

’I actually walked into an Illusion Array without even realizing it. This one is even more troublesome than the last... Truly worthy of a genius from the Mu family of Beidu Mountain. Impressive, very impressive.’

His face was grim. The bug in the small box now raised its antennae high, pointing straight up the cliff. This meant the two of them had climbed the cliff to get away.

But because of the illusion, he had just destroyed the cliff face with his own blade. The rock above was now loose and impassable.

’It’s so easy to fall for this kind of setup if you’re not paying attention. The people of the Mu family are truly a pain to deal with.’

Deng Wan could only press his lips into a thin line and quickly find a detour around the side of the cliff to reach the summit, wasting a great deal more time.

「Above the cliff, within the mountain forest.」

The silhouette of two figures, one overlapping the other, flickered swiftly through the woods. They moved in absolute silence, not even startling the wild beasts or insects as they passed.

Mu Chaoyun lay on Xie Yuan’s back, holding an Eight Trigrams Plate. She watched as two white dots on its surface flickered a few times before going out, then whispered:

"He’s past the cliff."

Xie Yuan nodded silently. He estimated the distance and took a breath.

"He’s still getting closer."

Mu Chaoyun had Xie Yuan stop. She hopped off his back, scanned the surrounding woods, and made a few quick arrangements. Then, with practiced ease, she leaped back onto his back.

"He’s a Grandmaster, after all. It seems he has his own tracking methods... Why aren’t we going? What are you standing there for?"

Seeing Xie Yuan still standing frozen, Mu Chaoyun tapped him on the shoulder.

Xie Yuan’s tone was odd.

"Miss Mu, something feels off... Weren’t you moving pretty fast when you were setting up that Array?"

Mu Chaoyun fell silent for a moment before saying coolly:

"I need to recover. Let’s go."

Xie Yuan pursed his lips and tightened his grip. Mu Chaoyun immediately pressed her lips together, a faint blush on her cheeks, and then felt him take off like the wind.

A muffled voice came from beneath her:

"We can’t keep going on like this."

Mu Chaoyun nodded slightly.

"No matter if it’s a small array or a medium one, he always finds our direction after breaking out of it. It looks like he brought some kind of treasure with him this time."

Xie Yuan’s voice was muffled as he said:

"Your Celestial Concealment Skill is already incredible. How can they still track us? It should be extremely effective."

"Lu the Third had a special Cultivation Technique. Deng Wan is wealthy, so he must have some kind of special treasure. At my current level, an ordinary Grandmaster would find it difficult to penetrate my Celestial Concealment Skill. But both of them have methods that exceed that level. It’s just bad luck... If that weren’t the case, I would’ve lost them long ago."

Mu Chaoyun analyzed.

Xie Yuan frowned slightly.

"Then if we keep this up, my speed won’t match his. Won’t he catch us sooner or later?"

Mu Chaoyun’s voice was calm.

"We can either keep dragging this out and wait for an opportunity, or we can find a place and turn the tables on him. What do you think?"

Xie Yuan was taken aback that Mu Chaoyun was asking for his opinion.

He thought for a moment before saying in a low voice:

"If it were up to me, I’d say running isn’t a long-term solution. We should set up an ambush. But you..."

"Then that’s what we’ll do."

Mu Chaoyun said decisively.

"Go another two li ahead and we’ll stop there."

Xie Yuan was taken aback by her decisiveness. After a moment of consideration, he still said:

"Miss Mu, I don’t know much about fights involving Grandmasters. You should be the one to make the call."

"Either option was viable. I think your reasoning is sound, so I’ll go with your idea."

Mu Chaoyun said coolly.

The two li passed in a flash. Xie Yuan stopped in a patch of woodland and set Mu Chaoyun down.

Mu Chaoyun pulled a handful of array flags from her satchel. With a wave of her hand, a mysterious aura infused them.

"Take these. Three paces into the Kan position, one at the Zhen position..."

Mu Chaoyun directed Xie Yuan.

Since Xie Yuan knew the Eight Trigrams Mountain-Shaking Fist, he naturally understood the basic principles of the I Ching and was able to assist Mu Chaoyun in setting up the Array.

Planting the flags was only the simplest part, which Mu Chaoyun left to Xie Yuan. She herself moved about the forest, constantly drawing lines with an ink brush, digging pits and filling them with mercury, and making marks on the surrounding trees. After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, she finally finished the hasty preparations.

Seeing her finally finish, Xie Yuan asked in a low voice:

"Miss Mu, what else do you need me to do?"

"Just get behind that large boulder and watch over the array’s core for me."

Mu Chaoyun dusted off her hands and gave a faint smile.

"Thanks to your help along the way, I’ve recovered some of my strength. With the aid of this ’Mountain and River Concealment’ Array, I should be able to face Deng Wan."

It was a rare smile from her. As she spoke, the faint light of dawn filtered through the forest canopy, casting a soft glow on her slender, exquisitely beautiful, oval face. Xie Yuan found himself momentarily captivated.

He snapped out of it, still a little worried.

"Miss Mu, you still haven’t fully recovered. Is this Array really that miraculous?"

"Are you suggesting my previous Arrays were ineffective?"

Mu Chaoyun read his expression and stated calmly:

"I let him break through those on purpose.

"If the smaller Arrays hadn’t interfered with him, and the medium Array behind the cliff hadn’t made him struggle, how else would I lure him into this grand Array?"

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