Chapter 79: Chapter 79: City Defense Array
"I want to see how long you can keep up your bravado!"
Hong Cheng snorted coldly, then followed Ji Chen out of the Ancient Hall.
Not only him, but all the powerful figures present did the same.
"Swift!"
When they arrived outside the hall, Ji Chen took out a Jade Pearl and summoned Ao Tian.
He then leapt onto Ao Tian’s back.
Under Ao Tian’s guidance, Ji Chen flew towards the distant sky, spiraling around Celestial Essence City.
Meanwhile, he took out the Storage Bag given by Qu Luoning, formed seals with his fingers, and while moving, constructed array patterns on the walls surrounding Celestial Essence City.
Repeating this process, after Ji Chen circled Celestial Essence City three times, he finally descended in front of the Ancient Hall.
"Everyone, the Grand Array has been successfully constructed." Ji Chen bowed slightly and smiled calmly at the crowd.
"Is it really done?"
Upon hearing this, everyone was momentarily stunned, as Ji Chen’s speed exceeded their expectations.
As far as everyone was concerned, to construct such a grand City Defense Array, even several highly accomplished Array Masters working together would need to spend at least half a day.
Yet now, Ji Chen merely circled Celestial Essence City three times, spending about half an hour, and dares to claim the array has been constructed?
"Truly laughable, Ji Chen, you..."
Hong Cheng couldn’t help but laugh coldly, but just as he was about to say something, Ji Chen’s fingers moved, and in an instant, the array patterns previously left on the walls of Celestial Essence City radiated a purple light, soaring skyward.
"Buzz..."
The entire Celestial Essence City seemed to tremble at that moment.
Then, the purple lights pierced the sky and ultimately interwoven together, forming an enormous heavenly net that enveloped Celestial Essence City firmly.
"What’s happening?"
"What’s going on?"
This sudden scene startled everyone within the city.
The cultivators in the city were all surprised, looking upwards.
"Is this... the City Defense Array?"
"An Array Master has arrived, constructing a Defense Array here!"
"I wonder whether this array is sturdy enough to withstand the beast tide?"
Throughout the city, everyone couldn’t help but discuss.
Clearly, they could see this was a form of City Defense Array, but whether the array was truly sturdy is yet to be verified.
"This..."
Meanwhile, outside the Ancient Hall, the faces of everyone present showed signs of astonishment.
Especially Hong Cheng, he furrowed his brows tightly.
Clearly, regardless of the situation, Hong Cheng couldn’t have imagined that Ji Chen truly understood the art of arrays, and in just half an hour, truly constructed a grand array encompassing the entire Celestial Essence City.
Disregarding the defense capability of this array, Ji Chen’s techniques clearly surpass that of ordinary Array Masters.
He suddenly recalled the intelligence obtained by Sword King Sect when Zhou Peng was killed previously.
Reportedly, when Zhou Peng went to the Lingyun Sect, he posed no threat because around Lingyun Sect a Mountain Protection Array with extremely strong defense had appeared, which was not inferior to anything Sword King Sect had.
"Could it be that defense array was also constructed by him?" Thinking of this, Hong Cheng furrowed his brows even tighter.
"So how about it? The bet you made earlier, Elder Hong Cheng shouldn’t have forgotten, right?" Ji Chen suddenly spoke, his gaze sweeping over Hong Cheng.
"If indeed I’ve lost, I shall lead the people of Sword King Sect to guard outside the city, but before that, I need to verify this City Defense Array of yours." Hong Cheng coldly snorted.
This was his last stubbornness.
"Go ahead." Ji Chen shrugged, looking indifferent.
"Swoosh!"
Then, without a word, Hong Cheng soared into the air and flew toward the city walls.
While moving, a venerable Iron Sword appeared in Hong Cheng’s hand, emitting an extraordinary aura, clearly a Dao Artifact!
"Buzz!"
Without any hesitation, when he arrived before the Grand Array, Hong Cheng exerted force with his palm, and the venerable Iron Sword in his hand slashed out directly, enveloped in an astonishing aura, striking fiercely upon the Defense Array.
A loud boom erupted, clearly transmitting into everyone’s ears.
But to everyone’s surprise, Hong Cheng was directly repelled by a powerful backlash.
Not only that, the venerable Iron Sword in his hand was also broken into two pieces, turned into scrap iron, and fell to the ground.
Hong Cheng’s chest heaved, his face pale, only feeling his arm was a bit numb, his eyes full of disbelief.
"Forgot to tell you, my Defense Array is different from ordinary arrays, it has a backlash effect, frankly speaking, it returns all received attacks back to the attacker, unless your strength is extremely high, otherwise, the stronger your attack, the stronger the backlash you endure." Ji Chen’s calm voice reached Hong Cheng’s ears.
Hearing this, everyone outside the Ancient Hall was visibly astonished.
Clearly, a Defense Array with a backlash effect is an anomaly among numerous arrays, very few people know how to construct it.
No one expected Ji Chen would truly set it up!
Most importantly, Ji Chen amazed everyone today; no one could have imagined that apart from being an Alchemist, he also possesses extraordinary array mastery.
Leaving aside other things, just based on this Defense Array he constructed today, in the Profound Domain, no Array Master can compare!
"This youth... is indeed extraordinary!"
"The rise of Lingyun Sect cannot be a coincidence; there must be a great secret hidden behind it!"
Many elder experts couldn’t help but be astounded at this moment.
"So, Elder Hong Cheng won’t go back on his word, will he?" Ji Chen spoke again.
Hong Cheng grimaced, his complexion still somewhat pale, clearly still recovering from the backlash.
"All Sword King Sect members, follow me to guard outside Celestial Essence City!"
Finally, after a cold snort, Hong Cheng led all members of Sword King Sect outside. Should the beast tide strike again, they would face the first wave of attack.
In fact, apart from Sword King Sect, various forces like the Purple Cloud Sect and the Lingxiao Palace would also send people outside the city.
After all, the Defense Array is the last line of defense, they can’t let it directly face the beast tide’s attack; instead, people need to go outside to intercept and weaken the beast tide’s strength.
Otherwise, facing an immense beast tide, no array in the world can fully withstand it.
If the beast tide were allowed to attack the array recklessly, it wouldn’t take long for the array to be breached.