Chapter 177

To break the Near Sea Grand Formation, the Old Dragon King has gone all‑in, even digging up his own ancestral tomb—his determination is evident.

Regarding named entities: Near Sea Grand Formation (possibly a place) – it's a seaside formation that could be a proper name. However, the glossary lists Near Sea Camp (Jinhai Yingdi) as a place, but not Near Sea Grand Formation, so we translate it as "Near Sea Grand Formation". Old Dragon King is a title or nickname for a character; since it's not in the glossary, we treat it as the name "Old Dragon King". Ancestral tomb is not a name.

"Impressive, impressive—I'm impressed."

Qing Shi couldn't help but exclaim, but as soon as he spoke, Hong Zun beside him shouted.

Named entities: Qing Shi and Hong Zun (both listed in the glossary).

"What's there to admire? It's not like you dug up your own ancestral tomb; they're already breaking the formation, and you're still spouting nonsense."

After saying that, he turned to Zhang Tianzhen and spoke.

Named entity: Zhang Tianzhen (Zhāng Tiānzhèn) – as per glossary.

"Senior Brother, do you have a way to deal with this?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Tianzhen stayed calm and nodded confidently.

Named entity: Zhang Tianzhen.

"Don't worry, the Water Tribe's tactic is to break the formation by striking a point, using the demon king's remains to forcefully attack a weak point of the formation, thereby achieving the goal of breaking it—I can handle it."

Named entities: Water Tribe, Demon King, and Formation (the latter two are in the glossary).

Hearing this, Hong Zun finally relaxed, relieved that he could respond.

Named entity: Hong Zun.

"Then it'll be trouble for Senior Brother."

The Water Tribe began to break the formation, while Zhang Tianzhen led the five

Named entities: water tribe, Zhang Tianzhen, Wanzhen Peak (possibly). Not in the glossary. 'Wanzhen Peak' might be a mountain name; perhaps it should be rendered as 'Myriad Formation Peak'. Since it's not in the glossary, we translate its meaning. Also 'Elder' and 'Formation' are in the glossary.

As for Hong Zun, Qing Shi and the others were on standby nearby, guarding against any other moves by the water tribe.

Named entities: Hong Zun, Qing Shi, water tribe.

After most of the day passed, the formation had not been broken; moreover, with Zhang Tianzhen's intervention, the cracks that had appeared had largely disappeared.

Named entities: 張天陣, 陣法.

At the same time, within the Dao Yi Sect, Jueying met Qi Xiong face to face, still speaking without expression.

Named entities: Dao Yi Sect (in the glossary). Jueying (likely a nickname; not in the glossary). Qi Xiong (in the glossary).

"Senior brother, the water tribe has started to break the formation." Named entity: water tribe.

His brows slightly furrowed; Zhang Tianzhen had just gone to the coastal camp when the water tribe showed movement there?

Named entities: Zhang Tianzhen, coastal camp (in the glossary), water tribe.

This is the news gathered by Yingfeng; although Yingfeng's performance regarding the Divine Sword Peak matter was somewhat lacking, we cannot completely deny Yingfeng's ability just because of that.

Named entities: Yingfeng (likely a peak name; not in the glossary). Divine Sword Peak (in the glossary).

Actually, in gathering intelligence, Yingfeng indeed has its own strengths; the water tribe's breaking of the formation has not yet been reported by Hong Zun, but Yingfeng already knows about it.

Named entities: Yingfeng, water tribe, Hong Zun.

Seeing Qi Xiong's brows slightly furrowed, as if pondering something, Jueying paused and then continued speaking.

Named entities: Qi Xiong, Jueying.

"Moreover, Huling and Yuan Mountain, all the major demon races have also shown movements." Named entities: Huling (in the glossary), Yuan Mountain (in the glossary), Demon Race (in the glossary).

Hmm??? No named entities.

"As soon as those words were spoken, Qi Xiong instantly understood." Named entity: Qi Xiong.

He had always wondered why the water tribe was so eager to break the great coastal formation; even if they succeeded, what would it change? A mere water tribe is nothing the Dao Yi Sect fears.

Named entities: water tribe, great coastal formation, Dao Yi Sect.

But now, other demon races are also moving, which shows that the demon races of Dongzhou are clearly collaborating with the water tribe; therefore the water tribe is so eager to breach the great coastal formation and enter Dongzhou.

Named entities: demon races, Dongzhou, water tribe, great coastal formation.

"They are trying to provoke a racial war!" No named entities.

"Before, we hadn't thought of this angle, but now everything is clear." No named entities.

"Probably." No named entities.

Jueying before him also agreed, according to the current intelligence, the demon races indeed have this intention.

Named entities: Jueying, demon races.

"While they were speaking, Hong Zun made contact." Named entity: Hong Zun.

Upon connecting the projection formation, that old face quickly appeared on the formation's light curtain.

Named entities: projection formation (possibly; not in the glossary). formation light curtain (in the glossary).

"Senior brother, hey, Junior Sister Jueying is here too; long time no see, you've become even colder. Before, it was 'strangers keep away'; now it's 'everyone keep away'." Named entities: senior brother (in the glossary), Jueying.

Named entities: senior brother (in the glossary), Jueying.

As soon as he spoke, it carried that familiar tone, and he didn't forget to tease Jueying a bit.

Named entity: Jueying.

Upon hearing those words, Jueying emanated a faint chill, speaking without expression.

Named entity: Jueying.

"Senior brother, if you wish to die, I can grant you that." Named entity: senior brother (in the glossary).

"Hehe, just joking, why take it so seriously? Such a personality isn't good; later you might struggle to find a dao partner, and you'll taste the bitterness of lifelong solitude." No named entities.

"Shut up." No named entities.

As they were speaking, Qi Xiong let out a low shout, cutting off their bickering, and immediately looked at Hong Zun with displeasure.

Named entities: Qi Xiong, Hong Zun.

"What time is it, and you still haven't done anything proper, talking as if you had a dao partner; at your age, look at yourself, you're just an old fogey, yet you still have the nerve to criticize others?" No named entities.

No named entities.

Speaking of this, Qi Xiong involuntarily recalled Wang Tieshu, his mouth twitching; "It's not my business, anyway I didn't say anything."

Named entities: Qi Xiong, Wang Tieshu.

"No longer dwelling on it, he changed the subject." No named entities.

"Go on, what's the situation now?" No named entities.

"Senior brother, rest assured, the formation is stable, no problem." Named entities: senior brother (in the glossary), formation (in the glossary).

"Alright, tell Zhang Tianzhen to devote himself to protecting the formation; after this, besides what I've promised him, I'll give him two nine-grade spirit fruits." Named entities: Zhang Tianzhen, formation, nine-grade spirit fruits.

The great coastal formation must not encounter any issues; we've roughly guessed the demon races' plan—if the coastal camp is breached, the situation will become troublesome, so we must have Zhang Tianzhen guard the formation no matter what.

Named entities: great coastal formation, demon races, coastal camp, Zhang Tianzhen, formation.

"For this, Qi Xiong has also suffered a great loss." Named entity: Qi Xiong.

"But who would have thought, upon hearing this, Hong Zun laughed and shook his head." Named entity: Hong Zun.

"No need, I've already got Zhang Tianzhen under control; senior brother doesn't need to give him anything—he guarantees he'll risk his life to protect the formation." Named entities: Zhang Tianzhen, senior brother (in the glossary), formation (in the glossary).

"What do you mean by 'got him under control'?" No named entities.

"I naturally have my own methods; in short, senior brother, just rest assured." Named entity: senior brother (in the glossary).

Mysteriously, when asked he wouldn't say, until Hong Zun hung up the formation, Qi Xiong still spoke with a doubtful expression.

Named entities: Hong Zun, Qi Xiong, formation.

"Can Hong Zun keep Zhang Tianzhen under control?" Named entities: Hong Zun, Zhang Tianzhen.

"I don't know." No named entities.

"Never mind that for now; Yingfeng, you must closely monitor the movements of all the major demon races, and report any issues to me immediately." Named entities: Yingfeng, demon races.

"Good." No named entities.

Jueying left, and Qi Xiong then contacted the sect masters of the various sects in Dongzhou.

Named entities: Jueying, Qi Xiong, Dongzhou, sect (in the glossary), sect master (in the glossary).

Inside the hall, formation light curtains rose one after another; in response to the Dao Yi Sect's summons, the various sects naturally would not refuse to show respect.

Named entities: formation light curtains, Dao Yi Sect, sects.

Of course, there were also a few who jumped for joy, the most prominent being none other than the sect master of Luo Xia Sect, Su Luoxing.

Named entities: Luo Xia Sect (in the glossary), sect master (in the glossary), Su Luoxing (in the glossary).

"Sect Master Qi, what's wrong with you? You just finished holding a celebration, why are you making such a big move again?" Named entities: Qi Xiong, sect master.

The mockery in his words was utterly undisguised; Qi Xiong ignored him, as pressing matters were at hand—once the business is concluded, I will slowly deal with you.

Named entities: Qi Xiong.

"Senior brother, hey, Junior Sister Jueying is here too; long time no see, you've become even colder. Before, it was 'strangers keep away'; now it's 'everyone keep away'." Named entities: senior brother (in the glossary), Jueying.

"Everyone, the Demon Race has recently made some movements and has already joined forces with the East Sea water clan; the water clan is now assaulting the coastal grand formation, likely intending to provoke a war between the two races."

Upon hearing that the Demon Race intended to provoke a war between the two clans, the many sect masters were all stunned; they clearly hadn't expected the situation to be so serious, and upon learning that the water race was already assaulting the coastal grand formation, they were even more shocked.

This coastal grand formation is the eastern barrier of Dongzhou; once it is broken, the countless water races of the East Sea would be able to march straight in.

The crowd, who had originally been calm, suddenly furrowed their brows, and someone even asked in a low voice.

"Sect Master Qi, has this been confirmed, or is it merely speculation? Also, how is the coastal grand formation faring now?"

What they cared about most was still the coastal grand formation; this thing must not be breached.

Facing the crowd's tension, Qi Xiong suddenly revealed a smile and spoke with utter confidence.

"Rest assured, everyone, the coastal grand formation is fine; I made preparations in advance and secretly sent Hong Zun and Qing Shi to the coastal grand formation to guard against the East Sea water race."

"Hong Zun? Qing Shi?"

Upon hearing this, the sect masters' expressions changed; many of them had just left after attending the celebration and hadn't seen Qing Shi then—could it be...............

"Qing Shi Daoist friend didn't appear at the celebration a few days ago; could it be that Sect Master Qi sent him to the coastal camp?"

Someone asked doubtfully, and in response, Qi Xiong replied, his face flushed but his breathing steady.

"Exactly, that was my arrangement; I had long seen that the East Sea water race had a problem and had already prepared countermeasures."