Chapter 9: Breaking the Formation

Chapter 9: Breaking the Formation

After they agreed on where to position themselves, the group set off separately.

To avoid getting delayed on the road, the Zhang siblings, who had the farthest distance to travel, departed first.

A moment later, Niu Chengdian also rose and made his way along the faintly glowing edge of the formation in the night, heading toward the Dui position.

Those still attempting to break the formation and those who had already given up—many rogue cultivators hesitated, with most choosing to stay put, though a small number followed the others to their respective positions.

At least once they were inside the formation, the other positions would have far fewer people than here.

Yuezhang Fairy drew the largest following; among the leaders, she had the lowest cultivation and seemed the friendliest. Those who knew her or had heard of her name went with her.

Next came Huang Gun and Daoist Yuqiu. Not only were their positions the closest to this spot, but they also seemed pretty easygoing.

Many of the people Huang Gun had brought followed him.

In the end, fewer than a third of the original group remained at the Kun position.

Bai Li sat in front of the formation, toying with the Whistling Arrow. He turned his head toward the forest and said, "Friend hiding in the woods, aren't you going to show yourself now?"

Shang Yunduo sat on a tree branch, extremely embarrassed. He rubbed the tip of his nose and glanced at the Qi Refining Third Layer cultivator beside him, who remained composed.

"..."

Look at him—dressed in silver-gray; Shang Yunduo, in dark colors. Compared to him, the other was like a light bulb. And if that light bulb wasn't reacting, why should he panic?

Shang Yunduo stayed seated, but soon several people emerged from the forest.

Shang Yunduo: "..."

So many heroes shared his insight?

Bai Li, as if unable to see them, still stared into the woods: "Daoist Shang?"

Shang Yunduo pretended not to hear. With so many people around, why was he singled out?

Up in the tree, Pei Jie found it amusing: "Aren't you going out?"

Shang Yunduo: "...I'm not in a hurry."

Pei Jie chuckled. "Then stay here."

With that, he jumped down from the tree.

Shang Yunduo quickly called out in a low voice: "Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing? There might be a fight later!"

He had already seen through Bai Li—kind-faced but black-hearted. Zhang Yu's casual schemes had all been seen through and repaid by him. If he went down, Bai Li would probably call on him to help break the formation, and he didn't know how! At the moment the formation broke, Bai Li might even smack him in the head with his fan.

Pei Jie ignored him, merely glancing back casually into the woods before walking calmly to a spot not far from Bai Li and sitting down.

Shang Yunduo: "..."

For some reason, even though that handsome Qi Refining Third Layer cultivator was only at the third layer and theoretically useless, once he left, Shang Yunduo suddenly felt the dark forest turn chilly.

He shivered and looked back into the depths of the woods—pitch black, as if it would suck him in and devour him.

He squeezed the jade pendant at his waist, gritted his teeth, and also jumped down from the tree.

If he was going out, so be it. Right now, only Bai Li was here. He was wearing a Foundation Establishment stage protective armor that could withstand a few blows. Worst case, he would run for his life. He had plenty of Haste Talismans in his storage pouch. He didn't believe Bai Li would be so eager to snatch the Midnight Lotus that he'd chase after him instead.

Having made up his mind, he strode straight toward Bai Li.

Seeing him, Yan Jia and Wang Ming instinctively stood up: "Senior Brother!"

Bai Li smiled. "Daoist Shang."

Shang Yunduo scowled. "Don't call me. I know nothing about formations."

Bai Li: "..."

Having greeted him, Shang Yunduo walked toward his two cheap junior brothers. Passing the overly brave Qi Refining Third Layer cultivator, he nodded in greeting.

But Pei Jie had his eyes closed in meditation, not giving him a single glance.

Shang Yunduo: "..."

Why was he acting like he didn't know him after getting down from the tree?

Wang Ming: "Senior Brother, did you go after the one who threw the hidden dart earlier?"

Shang Yunduo: "...Huh?"

Yan Jia suddenly understood. "So that's it! Did Senior Brother catch him?"

Shang Yunduo: "...No. The opponent... cough... was very cunning."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Qi Refining Third Layer cultivator's mask twitch slightly, as if he were laughing.

Shang Yunduo: "..."

He forced himself to stay calm, using the topic to warn them: "In any case... don't be careless. Be careful in everything."

Wang Ming and Yan Jia nodded solemnly: "Yes."

The sun set and the moon rose. The full moon gradually climbed high. Bai Li, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them and looked up at the moon overhead.

Tonight was a full moon, suitable for breaking the formation.

By now, Zhang Yan, who had the farthest distance to travel, should have reached the Qian position.

He looked toward the mountain opposite. After a while, a flame blazed up on the mountain.

Zhang Yan had arrived.

Bai Li patted his clothes and stood up. He glanced toward Shang Yunduo, who was leaning against a tree with his sword in his arms, as if asleep.

After a moment's thought, Bai Li lit the Whistling Arrow Niu Chengdian had given him. Then, with one hand ready to break the formation and the other holding his fan, he prepared himself. If Shang Yunduo made any dangerous move, even at the cost of failing the formation, he would strike back immediately.

Then, when the others returned, Shang Yunduo would bear the brunt of their anger.

On the other side, Li Wuzi led Tang Huan to the Li position. "It's here."

Tang Huan: "Here?"

He couldn't see any difference from other places.

Li Wuzi put away his compass. "That's right. When fellow cultivator Bai Li gives the signal, just pour your spiritual power into the restriction. If you get tired, I can take over for a while. We'll do it together..."

Tang Huan said impatiently, "Alright, alright, I thought it'd be something difficult. Just a seventh-layer Qi Refining cultivator, running your mouth. You'd better worry about yourself first."

Li Wuzi: "..."

Good intentions wasted on an ungrateful brute. If he doesn't appreciate it, forget it.

He simply sat down and began meditating on the spot.

After a moment, a Whistling Arrow soared high in the distance and exploded, sending up a burst of flame that shot skyward. As the fire scattered, Li Wuzi reminded, "Now!"

"I see it!" Tang Huan poured his spiritual power into the restriction and indeed felt the spiritual power from different directions vibrating in a pattern.

Huh, interesting. No wonder that guy Bai Li never bothered with proper cultivation and always enjoyed messing around with these things.

Too bad—interesting as it was, formations and talismans were too complicated and dull to learn. He still preferred sword practice. Let Bai Li rack his brains over these!

After a good while, the spiritual power from all eight directions converged. The invisible barrier revealed itself under the moonlight, the restriction runes started reversing, a faint blue light flashed, and it gradually disintegrated. In front of each of the eight array positions, a doorway materialized.

"Done?" Tang Huan asked Li Wuzi uncertainly.

"Indeed!" Li Wuzi stood up, thinking that despite the big guy's rude words, he wasn't a bad person after all—he really had shouldered everything alone without asking for help.

Returning the favor, Li Wuzi pulled out a bottle of pills and said, "Fellow cultivator, you've worked hard. I have some Qi recovery pills here. If you... fellow... cultivator... uh..."

He looked down at the blade plunged through his chest, a confused look on his face.

Why? There were only the two of them here...

Thud.

Li Wuzi toppled forward, his eyes wide open.

The pill bottle he hadn't managed to hand over slipped from his grasp and rolled a few feet away.

Someone came from behind, exclaiming in surprise, "Oh, they're top-grade Qi Recovery Pills!"

"Who?!" Tang Huan's eyes blazed with fury as he drew his sword and slid back about thirty feet, warily watching the four people who had somehow sneaked up behind them without him noticing.

He hadn't sensed a single thing!

"Oh, he dodged? Not bad footwork for such a big guy." The first young man in black, who had entered first, picked up the pills Li Wuzi had left behind and turned to his companion, "Hey, Fellow cultivator Hua, are your throwing darts any good? You can't hit anyone with them!"

The chubby Fellow cultivator Hua snorted, "It's his footwork that's good."

Tang Huan glanced down at where he had just been standing. Six narrow, fine darts were stuck in the ground.

Exactly the same as the ones that attacked them in the woods earlier.

So it was him!

He had never seen any of these four people. There was actually a third team after the Midnight Lotus.

The third person to walk in was putting away a chain as he casually walked over to Li Wuzi's body. Stepping on his shoulder, he pulled out the blade that had pierced his chest, then fixed his gaze on Tang Huan with a menacing look.

Tang Huan laughed loudly, "Coming for me? Then come on! Hurry up—I need to finish you off and go grab the flower!"

The last person to enter was unmasked. He was also tall, even taller than Tang Huan, but with a slight hunch and a face full of pity and sorrow. He sighed softly, "What a shame."

Tang Huan: "What's a shame?"

The first young man said, "Terrible luck."

Tang Huan: "What the hell are you talking about?"

The fourth man sighed again, "Cultivation is so arduous, and yet this fellow cultivator is fated to fall here today."

As his voice faded, the other three simultaneously attacked Tang Huan.

Startled but not afraid or retreating, Tang Huan raised his Giant Sword and took the initiative to attack, charging straight at the unmasked fourth man, "We'll see who ends up dead!"

A moment later—

Tang Huan stared incredulously at the fourth man, who still wore that pitying, sorrowful look. Blood choked his voice, "Found... you're... a Foundation Establishment cultivator..."

The fourth man held Tang Huan's own sword, wiped off the blood, and sighed, "A Xuanyi spirit treasure—truly a fine sword. If you hadn't run into me, fellow cultivator, you would have been unrivaled among Qi Refining cultivators. Alas, your luck is just too bad. How am I supposed to feel good about this?"

The first young man picked up the broken whip from the ground, in dismay, "My Binding Spirit Whip was a Zhaoyang spirit treasure, and it's destroyed!"

The injured fat man and the woman with the chain-blade were also shaken. If Chang Qiaoyue hadn't deliberately held back his cultivation and made Tang Huan careless—if Tang Huan had fled immediately or tried to kill them with one fatal blow at the start—they wouldn't have won today.

"Good thing he was still at the Qi Refining stage."

"You... after all... ugh!"

Tang Huan's voice was cut off in his throat. Foundation Establishment cultivator Chang Qiaoyue, wearing that same sorrowful expression, twisted his neck, "Knowing more is useless—only adds worries, fellow cultivator. Better get going soon. Rest assured, your friends will join you shortly."

Tang Huan's eyes suddenly widened, but he could make no more sound.

The lifeless body was thrown aside. The first young man snatched the storage pouch in a flash, while the fat man expertly stripped off all the treasures from Tang Huan's body.

The young man said, "Good thing cracking the array drained so much of his spiritual energy, or we wouldn't have taken him down so easily."

The fat man nodded in agreement—this array is really something else. "Hey, what about the kid we were after in the first place? Should we go find him?"

Chang Qiaoyue wiped his hands with a handkerchief and sighed, "Once he goes in, it's all the same anyway. Let's take care of things out here first. People... are always gonna die anyway..."

Author's note:

See? No need to memorize names—they’re gone before you even remember them (just kidding).