Chapter 601: Master Tushan Sword Slashes the Master Tushan Xiancheng

Jiang Ding gazed at the magnificent immortal city before him.

He did not know how many years of history it carried—ancient, weathered, its walls scarred with countless marks from blades and swords, no one knew what it had endured through the long ages past.

Generation after generation of cultivators had spent their entire lives here.

Looking again at the surrounding terrain, even on the grasslands, numerous mountain ranges and earth-dragons converged here, spiritual energy gathering to form spirit veins.

Dozens of third-rank mid-to-upper-grade spirit veins coiled like pythons, and at their center, a single fourth-rank lower-grade large spirit vein was born.

This—this was the foundation upon which the Hei clan relied to suppress the Black Snow Great Grasslands and to give birth to Nascent Soul cultivators!

Hundreds of thousands of cultivators lived here year-round—Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Jin Dan alike.

At this moment, as the immortal city's formation rose into the air, its array patterns spreading and covering everything, every cultivator raised their head, looking in terror at the blurred-faced youth in blue robes in the sky.

"A fourth-rank mid-grade formation…"

Jiang Ding's divine sense swept over it again and again, before he finally murmured to himself.

This was a formation built upon spirit veins, able to draw upon the power of the spirit veins and the vast number of cultivators; in terms of upper limit, its strength surpassed that of many mid-Nascent Soul cultivators.

The premise was that every node of the formation remained intact, that the cultivators commanding each section possessed a qualified basic grasp of formations, and that their numbers were sufficient.

"Will you be qualified?"

Jiang Ding seemed to be asking.

Clang!

Draw sword. Slash!

In an instant, numerous Jin Dan cultivators felt an overwhelming sword intent pervade the four directions, carrying the meaning of destroying law and breaking law, instantly freezing their magic power, making it unimaginably difficult to mobilize, their breath stagnating, utterly unable to resist.

They could only watch helplessly as a blue-gold sword-light appeared on the horizon, carrying an unmatched sword domain, tearing open space, and slashing down upon the entire immortal city.

Though there was clearly light between heaven and earth,

in that instant, everything vanished, leaving only a blue-gold sword-light that blotted out the sky, filling the world, with nothing else remaining.

"No…"

Many cultivators' minds went blank, their limbs turned ice-cold, their divine souls lost consciousness.

Screech!

No one knew how long passed before many cultivators regained their senses and looked around.

In all directions, night had fallen.

A divine, handsome black crow was born from within the formation, letting out a long cry toward the heavens, sending out streak upon streak of pitch-black, piercing sound waves to meet the blue-gold flying sword in attack; the night-black formation domain spanning dozens of kilometers was dominated by it, gathering spiritual energy to amplify its strikes.

Black Feather Heaven God Slays Ten Thousand Souls Grand Formation!

This was the clan formation passed down through ten thousand years by the Hei clan; if not limited by the fourth-rank lower-grade spirit vein, it would be even stronger.

The two attacks met.

Boom!

Beneath the Law-Destroying Sword Edge, the pitch-black sound waves shattered, shattered with a rumble; the sword slashed, the pitch-black sound waves reappeared, then shattered again and again—they could not withstand it at all.

Six times in a row,

only then did the pitch-black sound waves barely block the blue-gold sword edge outside, forcing it back.

Hum!

The Taiqing flying sword turned back, pausing at Jiang Ding's shoulder, humming as it transmitted all the formation details it had probed.

"The quality of the personnel commanding the formation bases at each point is poor, and the coordination among the lower-level cultivators is utterly chaotic."

Jiang Ding closed his eyes and calculated for a moment, murmuring to himself: "But the number of cultivators is enormous, and this is a fixed clan-protecting formation, not a military formation—it still poses a great threat."

"I still need more formation data."

Clang!

Another slash came down!

The blue-gold sword-light swept across dozens of kilometers, slashing down head-on; each strike made the formation rumble violently, vast swathes of spiritual light collapsing, the formation shaking as if heaven and earth were collapsing—a destruction on the scale of a heavenly catastrophe.

This was the power of a Nascent Soul Master Dinghai Zhenjun!

One person alone was enough to suppress the vast grasslands, all beings bowing in submission; the only thing that limited his rule was the sheer breadth of space, not any countervailing force from those of lower rank.

Slash after slash, without pause.

The formation of the Master Tushan Xiancheng was hacked until it shook on the verge of collapse; the countless cultivators within the city were panic-stricken, desperately channeling their magic power into the formation, piously praying to their ancestors for protection.

Screech!

The divine, handsome black crow born within the clan-protecting formation broke away from the formation's center, pouncing toward the blue-robed youth in the distance; its sharp beak was incomparably fierce, each peck tearing open a deep spatial black hole.

The beak was further imbued with a dense aura of curses, condensed from the resentful remnant souls of cultivators over countless years; even a trace of it would cause a Nascent Soul cultivator's law-body to rot and die.

The blue-gold sword-light went to meet it—chopping, slashing, slicing—the sword edge swift and agile, every strike landing precisely on the points the divine black crow had to save.

The black crow's pouncing momentum was stalled, thrown into disarray.

Clearly, drawing upon the spirit vein and the power of numerous cultivators, the divine black crow possessed at least several times the strength of the blue-robed youth before it, and would not fear even a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator.

But,

beneath the sword-light it was utterly constrained, unable to exert its full strength; most of its power was wasted, and when it occasionally screeched and pounced to kill, it was dodged, lunging at empty air.

……

At the center of the Black Feather Heaven God Slays Ten Thousand Souls Grand Formation, Hei Hei Chengxiu's body was wreathed in hazy array patterns, veins bulging on his face, his pupils filled with blood vessels, great beads of sweat falling unceasingly.

"No good!"

"That old thief Master Tushan is well-versed in formations; our clan formation is countered and cannot unleash its full power!"

Hei Hei Chengxiu roared out.

The direct-lineage Jin Dan cultivators around him, who were struggling to control the vast power of the formation, immediately changed color.

A Nascent Soul Master Dinghai Zhenjun, and one who is also well-versed in formations,

People like this are simply the nemesis of the clan's protective formation!

No matter how profound the formation, under the assault of a Nascent Soul Master Dinghai Zhenjun who is an expert in formations, it cannot hold out for long.

After a prolonged siege, it will surely fall; the clan will be annihilated by them, leaving not even a chicken or a dog!

Just as General General Heishi has treated scattered cultivators and their families who dared to resist for ten thousand years, turning them all into resources for General Heishi descendants to refine magical treasures and practice magical arts.

"Hold on!"

"We still have a way to survive!"

The General Heishi elder who shattered the Divine Crow Master Dinghai Zhenjun's soul tablet shouted harshly, "I have already received replies from the ancestors of the Mu family of the Bingxuedian and the Liu family of the Zhenjun He Huan Sect nearby, as well as the Yin family of the Liu Dao Sect and four other great families. They have promised support and are already on their way here; using the teleportation array, they will arrive in at most seven days!"

"Is it true?"

Seven days!

Many direct-line Jin Dan descendants showed expressions of ecstatic joy.

For the sake of profit and to control as much territory as possible, the core clan lands of the various families in the Northern Plains are very far apart; even the nearest Liu family of the Zhenjun He Huan Sect requires several years for a Jin Dan cultivator to rush there with full effort, and even a Nascent Soul cultivator needs several months.

Support arriving in seven days!

This is almost the speed seen only in historical records when the various great families were founding their clans, fighting for hegemony over the Northern Plains, and uniting in perfect sincerity!

"Absolutely true!"

The elder directly produced the long-range message from the ancestors of the other families; it was not fabricated by him.

"How could the descendants of our ancestors be short-sighted?"

"It was we who had the narrow-mindedness of petty people!"

Hei Hei Chengxiu's eyes filled with hot tears, and great hope sprang up in his heart: "If we survive this tribulation, in the future, our General Heishi, our family cultivators, will surely drive out the barbarians and restore our ancestors' territory!"

"Brother Hei Chengxiu!"

"We have come to aid you; whatever needs to be done, just give the order!"

In the next moment, accompanied by hearty laughter, Shopkeeper Shang Shang Sanwu of the Beast-Raising Branch of the Lingbao Merchant Guild appeared here, accompanied by more than a dozen Jin Dan cultivators.

Not far behind followed several hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators, all fully equipped with Fa Qi Fa and talismans, looking ready for a great battle at any moment.

Clearly, they too had received orders from the Shang family; otherwise, given the nature of merchants, they would have waited and watched repeatedly, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the two warring parties before making a decision, and would not have joined so quickly and decisively.

(End of this chapter)