Yuan Ming was still examining the state of the Soul Destroying Sword when suddenly a wave emanated from the Void Communication Array set up in the nearby pavilion.

He put away the Soul Destroying Sword and went into the pavilion, casting a spell towards the array with a wave of his hand.

Before he could speak, a chatter of voices came from within the array.

"Fellow Daoist Yuan, it's me. How are things going on your side?" Yun Luo Fairy's face appeared in the blood flames of the Communication Array.

"I've been in seclusion recently." Yuan Ming replied with no joy or sorrow.

"Oh, have you made any progress?" Yun Luo Fairy asked, with a hint of concern in her tone.

"A bit of progress, I've finally broken through to the late stage of Returning Void." Yuan Ming said.

"Is that so, that's wonderful! By the way, you mentioned earlier that your two spirit beasts are out there hunting targets for you, have they found anything? Is it a Level 6 Demon Beast or a Dharma manifestation Cultivator? I'm about to collect all the spiritual materials I need here, should I meet up with you first then?" Yun Luo Fairy spoke more animatedly.

Yuan Ming rubbed his brow and said, "They haven't sent any news yet, and I still need some time to prepare. Fellow Daoist Yun Luo, please wait a bit longer, I'll contact you then."

After saying this, without waiting for Yun Luo Fairy to reply, he immediately closed the Communication Array. His ears suddenly fell silent, and he breathed a long sigh of relief.

Since having a heart-to-heart conversation with himself five years ago, Yun Luo Fairy frequently communicated with him.

It seemed as if she had revealed her true self, contrasting with her previous charming and wise demeanor, becoming very talkative, chattering incessantly like a small sparrow.

However, Yuan Ming could sense genuine relief in Yun Luo Fairy's tone, as if shedding a heavy shackle.

"It seems things are going smoothly on Yun Luo Fairy's side. In that case, I really should spend some effort finding hunting targets." He muttered to himself.

However, with Yuan Ming's current strength, even with the assistance of Hua Zhi, Vajra, Lei Yu, and others, their chances against a Dharma manifestation existence were slim, and there was a significant risk of falling.

Most of the elixirs on him were used up, and he couldn't enhance his strength further in the short term. The only remaining help he could gather were Xi Ying and Wulu, but they were too far away, not coming anytime soon, thus were not considered.

After pondering for a while, Yuan Ming realized that the only method left to increase their odds was through formations.

Over the past five years, by possessing Ye Wuya with Black Incense, his Array Formation Cultivation had advanced to the peak of Level 5, just half a step away from Level 6.

With his current formation level, he wasn't yet able to design a Level 6 Array, but following a blueprint posed no significant issues.

If they could muster the support of a Level 6 Array, they could remain undefeated. Even if they couldn't kill the target, they could at least escape safely and reassess their options later.

Among the Array Masters Yuan Ming knew, the only one capable of designing a Level 6 Array was Su Yingxue, who was trapped in the Land of Nothingness.

Recently, Su Yingxue had been focused on studying Space Restriction, Teleportation Array, and related things, so she hadn't designed any formations for a while. Her residence also didn't have a ready-made Level 6 Array to use.

To acquire a functional Level 6 Array, it seemed he would have to discuss it directly with Su Yingxue.

"Very well, after all these years, it's about time to have direct contact with her." Yuan Ming murmured to himself, taking out the Stealing Heaven Tripod.

Knowing the origins of the Stealing Heaven Tripod, he initially didn't want to use it, but to break through to the Dharma manifestation Stage, he had to take some risks.

It wasn't simple to gain Su Yingxue's help, and after much contemplation, he finally thought of a way.

...

Land of Nothingness.

As usual, Su Yingxue sat at her desk researching the array, her eyes suddenly turned hazy before quickly regaining clarity, already possessed by Yuan Ming.

He got up and searched around the cell, not finding any usable Level 6 Arrays, and then moved to the desk where Su Yingxue had been sitting, taking the pen beside it.

A moment later, Su Yingxue's consciousness returned, and she was about to continue her reading.

But inexplicably, a chill crept into her heart, as if being watched by something, giving her a foreboding intuition.

"...Is it an illusion?" Su Yingxue looked around, observed no changes inside or outside the cell, and no guards had passed by recently, assuming her Spiritual Sense was mistaken. She rubbed her brow and continued perusing the book in front of her.

However, when her gaze landed on the book, she was stunned.

At the end of the current page of the book, there was a line of small characters: Please design a Level 6 Confinement Array usable in Returning Void.

The ink was not dry, seemingly written not long ago.

"Someone has been here!" Su Yingxue suddenly stood up, looked around, and spread out her Divine Sense.

There was no sign of the cell door being opened or the prohibition being tampered with, showing no trace of intrusion.

"What's going on?" Su Yingxue muttered, suddenly realizing something, carefully recalling.

Vaguely, a scene flashed in her mind of her writing down that line.

"Did I write it myself? How could that be, impossible!" A hint of confusion showed in her eyes before she firmly shook her head.

As an Array Master, Su Yingxue often had the habit of jotting down random thoughts, but writing down this inexplicable sentence should have left an impression.

"Could it be that someone just controlled me?" Su Yingxue thought of a possibility, as the sentence on the page indeed seemed like a message from someone else.

However, with her cultivation level and the strong Divine Soul she developed from years of specializing in formation techniques, it would be impossible for even a Great Power of the Dharma Manifestation Stage to control her without her awareness.

Su Yingxue pondered for a long time, but gained nothing. She stood up and rearranged the restrictions around the cell, enhancing their power to the extreme.

After doing this, she casually erased the line on the page and continued her daily research, while also dedicating half of her attention to observe her surroundings.

If someone did control her and had already made a request, they would definitely appear a second time.

Day by day passed, and seven days quickly flew by.

Su Yingxue had been sitting at the desk without stepping away even once. No guard came by outside, and no unusual occurrences happened inside the cell.

"Could I have guessed wrong..." she mused silently.

Su Yingxue shook her head and picked up a book she had just finished reading. As she was about to put it back, her motion caused her sleeve to slip slightly, revealing ink-stained arms.

Su Yingxue froze, hurriedly lifting her sleeve to find her arms covered in tiny writings, all repeating the same sentence: "Please design a sixth-level Confinement Array usable at the Returning Void Stage, Fellow Daoist."

It was the same handwriting as last time; she vaguely remembered writing these words on her arms, but she was certain it wasn't something she would do.

Looking at the words on her arms, Su Yingxue felt a chilling sensation envelop her body, making her hair stand on end.

Even though she had not let up for a moment for the past seven days, she still fell victim unwittingly.

Yet, she did not panic but instead formed seals and pointed to the nearby wall.

A layer of blue light appeared on the wall, with scenes continuously flashing.

This was the image-capture restriction she had added when she rearranged the cell bans, recording everything that had happened in the cell during those seven days.

"Whoever you are, even if you can evade my perception, I don't believe you can also escape the image-capture restriction!"

Su Yingxue fixed her gaze on the blue light, not missing any detail. Initially, there was nothing unusual, but at the very end of the seventh day, something odd happened.

The recording showed her putting down a book, standing up, and walking in a circle in the cell, as if searching for something, before sitting back down at the desk and writing those small words on her arm.

After doing this, she continued reading as if nothing had happened until she noticed the writing on her arms and sprung up in a panic.

Su Yingxue's eyes widened slightly. Judging from the situation, someone indeed controlled her with an unknown technique, making her completely unaware. If not for the image-capture restriction, she would never have known she was manipulated to do many things.

She vigorously erased all the writings on her arms, then repeatedly examined her Sea of Consciousness, yet still found nothing amiss.

"What technique is the opponent using? Soul Cultivation Divine Power? So elusive and invisible, the opponent might indeed be a Life Witch." Su Yingxue speculated secretly, a hint of fear inevitably creeping into her heart.

A Life Witch was not someone she could contend with; the opponent had not shown any hostility so far and merely asked her to design a sixth-level array. Perhaps she should obediently do as they said...

However, Su Yingxue seemed to remember something, her expression firming up. She stood up once more to rearrange the cell's restrictions, even deploying a set of sixth-level restrictions capable of isolating Divine Power around the cell.

After doing all this, she returned to the desk, continued reading, and spread her Divine Sense throughout her body, remaining constantly vigilant for any changes within every corner, not overlooking the smallest detail.

Su Yingxue maintained this stringent posture for another seven days without any slackening. Sample from *—read more on M&VLEMPY&R.

But at a fleeting moment on the seventh day, Su Yingxue suddenly noticed there was now a Jade Slip in her hand.

The cell already housed many blank Jade Slips for recording formations, but Su Yingxue could swear she absolutely hadn't reached for a Jade Slip a moment ago.

Su Yingxue closed her eyes, deep in thought, recalling a fuzzy memory in her mind: it was the image of her drawing a Jade Slip towards her and leaving a message with her Divine Sense inside it.

This memory came quite suddenly, yet the more Su Yingxue recalled, the clearer it became, almost to the point where she nearly believed it was truly her own thoughts and actions.

She formed seals to activate the image-capture restriction, revealing the events of those past seven days, soon witnessing herself being possessed again, taking hold of a Jade Slip.

"Even the sixth-level Prohibition God Restriction can't block it, huh?" Su Yingxue murmured quietly, then looked at the Jade Slip in her hand, hesitating for a moment before finally probing it with her Divine Sense.

Inside the Jade Slip was a line of small text, except its content had changed: "A Formation, in exchange for assistance."

Su Yingxue was momentarily stunned but soon relaxed slightly, exhaling deeply.

No matter what kind of existence was manipulating her body, at least this time the message proved that the other party was not angered. There was still room for communication, and they seemed to be someone reasonable.

After twice not responding, ignoring their request any longer might truly upset them.

Moreover, the proposed exchange intrigued her.

As she pondered, her eyes flickering briefly, she silently added text on the back of the Jade Slip.