Chapter 1654: I Was Careless, Truly Careless
Chapter 1654: Chapter 1654: I Was Careless, Truly Careless
Zhuang Ping’an and the others gasped, though Ye Lanfeng didn’t elaborate on the consequences of forcibly breaking in, everyone could guess that the barrier left by twelve powerful inheritors was not simple. Forcing their way through would likely lead to a dead end.
Mu Hanyan wasn’t too surprised or shocked. As her gaze swept over these tombstones earlier, she had simultaneously expanded her divine sense, only to find that even with her current powerful divine sense, she couldn’t thoroughly probe the cemetery, thus making it easy for her to imagine the strength of the barrier.
"Is everyone ready?" Ye Lanfeng asked.
Mu Hanyan and Zhuang Ping’an were still several steps away from him, while the dozen Holy Court elites had also settled behind. Clearly, he was addressing Shao Chengxiong, Dantai Changqing, and Wei Xiaotian standing alongside him.
"Ready." Dantai Changqing nodded confidently.
"I’ve been wholeheartedly studying the hand gestures taught by our master these days; it should be about right." Wei Xiaotian was clearly a little uncertain.
"Why ask me? Don’t you know my strength by now?" Shao Chengxiong said confidently and nonchalantly.
"Then let’s start." Ye Lanfeng didn’t say much more, and directly performed the hand gestures.
Shao Chengxiong and the others beside him also began simultaneously, and several beams of light patterns shimmered from their hands. Faintly, a majestic and solemn gate appeared before them. It was then that the crowd realized they were joining forces to open the barrier.
They had all seen Ye Lanfeng’s power firsthand, and even with his strength, he couldn’t open the barrier alone and needed the cooperation of three other saints. Clearly, the barrier was extremely mysterious.
Though they knew learning the handprints would be useless, and obviously, they were unlikely to master them, everyone still watched the group closely performing the hand gestures. Watching for a while, they realized the barrier was even more intricate and mysterious than they’d imagined.
Upon cursory observation, the hand gestures of the four appeared intricate and complex, seemingly entirely different. But upon deeper contemplation, one would find that despite their differences, the gestures complemented and connected with each other quite cleverly.
Having reached their level of strength, they were familiar with using various hand gestures and could discern that while the gestures were intricate and complex, the key lay in their connection and cooperation. The precise timing of the gestures and their speed left no room for error.
From this perspective, the cooperation between the hand gestures was likely more exquisite than any existing combined attack formation.
To wield the power of a combined attack formation, one must achieve considerable harmony, even shared thoughts. Hence many combined attack formations are cultivated by siblings. Ye Lanfeng and Shao Chengxiong were clearly not siblings, and from their interactions, they didn’t appear close, and certainly lacked harmony. To achieve such cooperation, they could only rely on their understanding of the hand gestures.
They needed to continuously sense the changes in the barrier and the fluctuations in the qi from others’ hand gestures, then adjust the timing and speed of their own gestures accordingly to potentially open the barrier.
As Ye Lanfeng and the others continued performing the hand gestures, the gate became increasingly clear, with excitement manifesting in everyone’s eyes, and their hearts raced.
It was about to succeed, just about to succeed!
"Boom." At this moment, the shimmering patterns of the gate suddenly erupted with a powerful force.
Shao Chengxiong grunted, staggering back several steps, his complexion paling.
Ye Lanfeng and the others also retreated two steps each; although their expressions weren’t great, they were better off than Shao Chengxiong.
Clearly, Shao Chengxiong was out of sync, resulting in the strongest counterattack from the barrier.
Everyone’s gaze turned to Shao Chengxiong; from the previously complex, meticulous gestures that demanded extreme cooperation among the four saints, they anticipated that even with four saints collaborating, opening the barrier wouldn’t be easy. If any part went slightly wrong, all would end in failure.
But everyone expected Wei Xiaotian to be the most likely to mess up, given he had been under the Holy Master’s tutelage for the shortest time and was the weakest, and his previous tone indicated his own lack of confidence. Yet, unexpectedly, the problem lay with Shao Chengxiong!
Wasn’t he the one who started earlier under the Holy Master’s tutelage and was the strongest, and wasn’t he called a Martial Arts Fool? How could he fall short of even Wei Xiaotian?
"Even a horse stumbles, a man errs; careless, careless, haha." Shao Chengxiong felt uncomfortable under everyone’s gaze, his face slightly flushed, and chuckled.
Hearing his words, the crowd relaxed.
The hand gestures were too intricate and complex, demanding high cooperation; no matter the strength, mistakes were unavoidable, which didn’t necessarily mean anything.
After a brief respite, Shao Chengxiong walked forward again.
Ye Lanfeng and the others each took an elixir, fully recovering, and the four regained their focus and performed the hand gestures once more.
The gate reappeared before them again, becoming clearer with their gestures, and they could faintly sense the desolate yet solemn aura within the cemetery.
Watching as success in opening the barrier was imminent, everyone’s heart leaped to their throats once more.
At this moment, another muffled sound rang out, Ye Lanfeng and the others were pushed back again, Shao Chengxiong staggered backward, knocking one foot against the other, retreating over ten steps before landing on the ground.
All eyes were on him once again. How could it be him again? A single mistake might be due to carelessness, but twice?
Shao Chengxiong gasped for breath, looked embarrassed, his face burning like fire. He had summoned his full divine sense without a hint of carelessness earlier, yet how did he still err? So embarrassing, terribly embarrassing.
"Even a horse stumbles, a man errs; still careless, careless." After a brief adjustment, Shao Chengxiong reassured himself and stepped forward once more.
"Brother Shao, rest for a moment and tend to the injury," Ye Lanfeng said, handing over an elixir.
"With my strength, how could this force harm me?" Shao Chengxiong was embarrassed enough and refused to admit he was hurt, pounding his chest emphatically.
"We’re somewhat tired, let’s rest for a bit," Ye Lanfeng said without further ado, handing him the elixir, then began to adjust his breath.
Shao Chengxiong hesitated but still took the elixir to adjust his breath.
Shortly after, the group stood again, ready to perform the hand gestures once more.