"The exit must be above," Xiao Man said with certainty. "After all, you have searched everywhere else, only the above remains unchecked."
The man fell silent for a moment. "If there is no exit above, we are doomed."
"Being trapped here, losing all track of time, is no different from death, is it?" Xiao Man retorted. "Rather than be trapped here forever, I'd rather take a gamble, a gamble that the exit is above."
"Old man, you too?" the man asked the elder, surprised. In his eyes, the elder had lived here for tens of thousands of years, so accustomed to this way of life. Leaving it for the outside world might not suit him.
"I've lived too long, I'm tired of it, I want to seek a death," the elder said without looking up. He also wanted to see what his former home had become, and if anyone he knew was still alive.
The man found it somewhat unbelievable. After a long silence, he suddenly looked at Xiao Man, reaching out as if to touch her. "If I agree to your terms, will you..."
"I can help you get castrated," Xiao Man finished his sentence, speaking softly. "Don't worry, I'm precise with my aim. I guarantee you will be rendered infertile, never to desire women again."
"Ahem," the man coughed twice, chuckling. "If I get no benefits, why should I help you?"
"Are you sure you're helping me?" Xiao Man asked softly. "Are you content to continue being confined in this place without day or night? Once you leave here, there are countless women of all kinds waiting outside."
The man gritted his teeth and thought for a moment. "Anyway, staying here is no different from being dead. Since that's the case, I'll give it a shot!"
"In that case, the remaining two will be up to you and Senior to persuade. I need to prepare to reverse the great formation," Xiao Man said, looking up at the sky. "Since there's no day or night here, we can't rely on celestial phenomena. Fortunately, we don't need to."
"You still need the other two to help?" the man was somewhat shocked. After all, none of those imprisoned here were easy to deal with. If those two were women, he would gladly be a mediator, but those two were rough men, one hot-tempered and irritable, the other gloomy and terrifying. He was afraid he wouldn't return.
"Yes, my formation requires five people," Xiao Man said, pointing at the man. "You, me, Senior, and the other two. None can be absent."
"Can I not go?"
"If you wish to stay here, then I have nothing more to say," Xiao Man shrugged. "I'll prepare the inverted formation. There's an underwater current surging, and we can double our efforts by borrowing its strength."
The man watched Xiao Man's receding figure, then looked at the elder. "Is it too late for me to change my mind?"
"Since there's no going back, it's better to risk our lives, perhaps there's a way to survive," the elder said slowly. "Choose one. Who will you go persuade?"
The man pointed to the east. "The one over there is difficult to talk to. He starts fighting at the slightest disagreement. I'm not good at dealing with such people. Could you please go?"
"Alright, then the other one is yours," the elder leaped onto a sea beast and quickly departed. They had to persuade the other two as soon as possible and bring them back to see Xiao Man. That young girl was also hot-tempered. If it took too long, things might change.
After the elder disappeared, the man leisurely headed to the other side of the island. After a few steps, he suddenly stopped. "I forgot to introduce myself. By the way, what was that woman's name? Never mind, the important task comes first."
While searching for survivors, Xiao Man was also looking for the most suitable location to set up the inverted formation. Since there was no spiritual energy here, they could only rely on the formation's power. Fortunately, there was an underwater current that could provide power to the formation. Otherwise, no matter how capable they were, they wouldn't be able to leave this cursed place!
"Although I don't know who is trapped here, whoever trapped us here is no good either," Xiao Man muttered as she arranged the formation. "As for everything else, we'll figure it out after we get out."
Xiao Man activated the formation and had each person stand in their designated positions. Except for the elder, the others looked at Xiao Man with curiosity.
"Hey, woman, why were you imprisoned here? Were you a mass murderer or a heinous criminal?" one of them asked, his voice cold, emanating a chilling aura even from a distance.
"Because of my son."
"Your son?" the man looked confused. "What happened to your son?"
"I wanted to see my son, but heaven wouldn't allow it," Xiao Man explained while forming hand seals. "Not only did it forbid me, it deliberately allowed people to kill my son. In my rage, I forcibly tore open a spatial rift and sent dozens of experts to the lower continent to eliminate the villains who intended to harm my family."
"And so, you were imprisoned here?" everyone looked at Xiao Man with disbelief. Each of them carried a heavy罪名 (zuìmíng - charge/guilt), but Xiao Man's crime for being imprisoned here was incredibly light, even considered innocent!
"Yes."
"Did you do nothing else?"
"I destroyed the holy land of the Celestial Demon tribe."
"That's a good deed. The Celestial Demons are cunning and vicious. Destroying them is a good thing."
"Then there's nothing else," a surge of power flowed into the formation. Something in the seabed seemed to be churning, as if about to tear apart the sky. The others quickly steadied themselves, assisting Xiao Man in inverting the celestial restriction. After the restriction was inverted, they had to find the exit as quickly as possible, otherwise, if they alerted the Heavenly Dao, all their efforts would be in vain.
At this moment, several water pillars shot up into the sky, as if piercing through it, but the restriction showed no signs of loosening. Xiao Man guided the power from the seabed, bit by bit, to strike the weak points of the restriction. Little by little, she dared not rush, nor act recklessly. They had only one chance. If they failed, they would have no possibility of leaving here!
"Little girl, are you capable or not?" one of them, with a very bad temper, kept glancing at the sky. He hadn't wanted to come, but since he was idle, he could only give it a try.
"Since you're here, you can only trust me!" Xiao Man's expression changed. She struck the formation with her palm. "Now!"
Following Xiao Man's command, the celestial restriction was instantly inverted. The others immediately rushed forward to search for the exit, while Xiao Man was responsible for guarding the reversed formation, waiting for the others to find the exit and then using the formation's power to open it.