Chapter 1065: Red Leaf King Spits Blood

"So that's how it is..."

Upon hearing the explanation, Zhang Xuan suddenly understood.

No wonder!

Earlier, he had suspected that the Heavenly Leaf King attached to Jiang Yuan's body was somewhat weak in strength; it turned out that the real body was trapped deep in the ruins, and what was doing these things was merely a faint thought.

"Although the primordial spirit can survive alone, this is just a thought; it cannot exist forever... I guess when we captured the Earth Leaf King, this guy was also there, but we just didn't notice..."

A thought struck him, and he considered a possibility.

The primordial spirit could survive alone, but a mere thought did not have such powerful capabilities.

This Heavenly Leaf King had most likely sneaked into the Poison Hall of Jingyuan City by hiding on the Earth Leaf King's body.

It was just that they hadn't thought of it at the time, not that they had discovered anything.

Later, this guy, realizing that he had only obtained an introduction, not a map, had somehow infiltrated Jiang Yuan's body and disguised himself to follow behind them.

He hoped to learn the secret of the map from them.

If not for this reason, he would surely have killed them all long ago.

"You know about the map; where exactly is it?"

Seeing him lost in thought, Red Leaf King, without suspicion, couldn't help asking.

"The map should be in the hands of that fellow named Zhang Xuan!" Zhang Xuan nodded.

"Zhang Xuan?" Red Leaf King shook his head: "On this journey, the Heavenly Leaf King has observed carefully. Although this guy has many tricks and some unexpected ideas, he probably doesn't know about the map. If he did, he wouldn't be trapped in the Heavenly Palace and unable to get out!"

That Zhang Xuan, though seemingly formidable, was actually just using petty cleverness and tricks; he probably didn't have the map.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have gone through so many dangers and would have directly entered the depths of the ruins.

"He indeed doesn't know about the map, but the map is truly in his hands!" Zhang Xuan nodded.

"Oh?" Red Leaf King was puzzled.

"This guy once obtained the inheritance of Wu Yangzi, which included the map. But he didn't get the introduction to the ruins written in ancient divine language that the Heavenly Leaf King snatched... So he can't read it at all, doesn't know that this map is related to the ruins, and naturally hasn't taken it out!"

Zhang Xuan explained.

"This..."

Red Leaf King was taken aback.

This was something he hadn't expected.

"Where did you get this information?" After a pause, Red Leaf King hurriedly asked.

"These days, I infiltrated the humans and specifically went to the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy, where I investigated this matter thoroughly. There's absolutely no mistake!" Zhang Xuan said.

"If that's the case, it might indeed be possible..." Red Leaf King's eyes lit up: "If this news is true, after we get out, I will report it to Qingtian Emperor and give you a reward. Alright, wait here for now. I will break the formation this guy set up and drag him out..."

"Hold on... Although I know the map might be in Zhang Xuan's hands, I'm not sure where he keeps it or if he carries it on him. After all, this place is dangerous, and he is the dean of the Master Teacher Academy. It's very normal for him to leave an indecipherable map at the academy..." Zhang Xuan quickly interrupted his action and continued.

"Hmm?" Red Leaf King looked at him.

What he said made sense. If he didn't know the map was related to this, knowing that entering the ruins was a near-certain death, he would most likely leave it at the academy. If that were the case, it would be troublesome.

"How about this: since the Heavenly Leaf King obtained that introduction to the ruins written in ancient divine language, why don't we take it out first and use it as bait to lure him out..."

Zhang Xuan said.

"Lure him out? How?" Red Leaf King frowned.

If they could have done that, they would have done it long ago and wouldn't have waited until now.

"The sage clans can use bloodline traits to find lost relatives. Since both items are written in ancient divine language, we can use their commonality to attract each other... These days, I learned this method at the Master Teacher Academy. If you give me this introduction to the ruins, I can guarantee to find the exact location of the map..."

Zhang Xuan nodded.

"I've heard about the sage clans... If such a secret method really exists, that would be wonderful..." Red Leaf King nodded, turned his wrist, and produced a jade box: "This is that introduction to the ruins; the Heavenly Leaf King left it with me!"

Since the Heavenly Leaf King had infiltrated Jiang Yuan's body, he naturally couldn't carry this item on himself, so he left it with the one before him.

"Good!"

Zhang Xuan reached out and took the jade box, gently opened it, and looked inside, his eyes involuntarily brightening.

Inside was a book that looked ancient and worn, very similar in appearance to the map he had obtained from Wu Yangzi, likely from the same batch.

As his fingers lightly touched it, countless pieces of knowledge instantly flooded into his mind.

The writing was indeed the same as that on the map, obscure and difficult to understand, making it impossible to discern what it was.

"If I study it carefully, I should be able to decipher some content..."

This was a book with some flawed introductions; with proper study, he should be able to understand some content. However, he knew this was not the time for that.

He casually closed the jade box and looked over again: "Here's the thing: to perform this secret method, I need to set up a seven-star peak-level grand formation. As you know, my understanding of formations is far inferior to yours. I'm afraid I'll need your help later..."

"Set up a grand formation?" Red Leaf King nodded.

His ability to control the formations in this Heavenly Palace was enough to show his profound study of formations.

"Yes, I'll tell you the positions of the formation. Let's start setting it up now..." Zhang Xuan nodded, turned his wrist, and took out a pile of seventh-level formation flags.

"Good!"

Red Leaf King nodded and took the formation flags.

"Thirty meters to the left, the Jiaxu position. Twenty-seven meters to the right, the Hangu position..."

Zhang Xuan began to speak.

He was using terms from seventh-level formations, indicating precise positions that anyone knowledgeable in formations would understand.

Hearing him list specific positions one by one, Red Leaf King praised inwardly, his true qi surging as he drove the formation flags into the ground.

"Something's off; this formation feels like a killing formation?"

After setting up for a while, Red Leaf King frowned, as if he had noticed something.

He himself had a deep understanding of formations. The positions that Purple Leaf King was describing, though unfamiliar, seemed at their core to form a killing formation.

Weren't they supposed to set up a formation to find the map?

Why create a killing formation?

For a moment, Red Leaf King was full of doubt.

"A killing formation? You worry too much, Red Leaf King. But indeed, this formation does resemble a killing formation. However, once it's activated, you'll see the difference..." Zhang Xuan smiled, looking sincere.

"Difference? I think it's a killing formation. The formation flags at those three positions can draw on celestial energy, and those positions can draw on earthly energy. If trapped inside, even a half-step out-of-body expert would find it hard to survive..."

Red Leaf King frowned.

"These positions look like a killing formation from above, but from below, they're different... Come over here!"

Zhang Xuan smiled, moved his body, and entered the center of the formation flags: "Come here and look..."

"Hmm!" Though puzzled, Red Leaf King nodded and followed him to the spot he indicated.

After all, the other was also inside, and the formation was not yet complete, so it couldn't be activated.

"Stand here and don't move. Look in that direction... Ah, that's right, don't move. I'll adjust a formation flag, and you'll understand the mystery of this formation..."

Seeing him stand in front of him, Zhang Xuan moved his body and flew up, shouting as he flew: "Don't move, or you won't see clearly. Yes, right there..."

Before he finished speaking, several formation flags suddenly appeared in his palm and shot out straight.

"This is... Hundred Flags Settle Void? You're not Purple Leaf King... Who are you?"

Red Leaf King, who was standing below waiting for him to adjust the formation flags to see the structure, suddenly saw the formation flags shoot out from his palm. His pupils contracted sharply, and his true qi erupted violently.

Like an explosion.

Hundred Flags Settle Void was a technique that only a seven-star formation master could perform, allowing a formation to be set up quickly without delaying combat... Purple Leaf King was not skilled in formations; when had he become able to set up formations so fast?

Clearly, this guy was a fake!

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

As his true qi surged, he was about to fly up and kill this impostor, when he saw the other lightly stamp his foot.

Boom!

The formation he had just set up suddenly activated, and countless brilliant sword qi shot straight toward him.

"You..."

His pupils contracted, and Red Leaf King nearly fainted from fright.

Although he was a peak seven-level formation master and could also perform the Hundred Flags Settle Void technique... to activate a formation with a mere stamp of the foot like that was something he could never do.

He had dared to enter the formation precisely because he thought no one could activate it quickly, and even if there was danger, he could escape in a short time...

He never dreamed that this guy could not only perform Hundred Flags Settle Void but also activate the formation so quickly, leaving him no time to escape!

Bang!

Before he could react, Red Leaf King's chest was pierced by a sword qi, and blood gushed out.

Though he dodged the vital point in the nick of time, he was still left in a sorry state, no longer the one who had mocked everyone earlier.

"Who are you?" He clenched his teeth and roared wildly.

As the second-ranked super-strong among the ten kings of the Qingtian lineage, to be toyed with to his face and trapped in a formation, Red Leaf King was about to explode with rage.

"Sorry, I'm the one you wanted to kill..." Zhang Xuan smiled and reverted to his own appearance.

"You... are Zhang Xuan? How could you disguise yourself as Purple Leaf King without me noticing?"

Red Leaf King couldn't believe it.

How could a human, who didn't cultivate killing true qi, disguise himself as Purple Leaf King so perfectly that even he couldn't tell the difference?

Suddenly, he thought of something and his body trembled: "You... Did you kill Purple Leaf King too?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the young man outside the formation, chin in hand, looking embarrassed: "Well... not just Purple Leaf King. Apart from the Heavenly Leaf King and you, I've basically killed all the other ten kings..."

"Pfft!"

Red Leaf King spat blood.