Chapter 401

Dust to dust, earth to earth.

A gentle breeze brushes the green mountains, and a rain of blood stains the dust.

Majestic spiritual energy surged out from the ground, and the colorful clouds in the sky poured into Mount Danxia Peak like a river flowing backward.

The seven-colored, mottled light screen rippled as it slowly mended itself.

The large hole previously blasted open by dozens of Foundation Establishment cultivators disappeared completely under the gaze of the masses before long.

The seven-colored light screen once again shrouded Mount Danxia, reaching from heaven to earth, solemn and inviolable!

And that sentence, "Within the Seven-Colored Mount Danxia, only I, Min Longyu, am ever-victorious," still echoed in their ears, thundering in their hearts.

A strange atmosphere had been spreading continuously ever since the Seven-Colored Daoist appeared and instantly killed several people.

And when that Daoist easily slaughtered ten Foundation Establishment cultivators...

This atmosphere reached its extreme.

So much so that the Anti-Luo Coalition led by Zheng Sima Xian, as well as the countless onlookers, were all struck dumb.

At this moment, outside Mount Danxia, there was total silence; not a single person dared to speak aloud.

"Everyone, why not come inside and offer some guidance!"

The voice, full of confidence and provocation, spread across a hundred miles.

In this instant, everyone was in an uproar!

"How arrogant!"

"I have never seen such an overbearing person!"

"Who is he? I've been in seclusion for many years, yet I didn't know our Mount Tianlan Xiancheng had produced such an invincible figure?"

"Didn't you hear? Min Longyu! If you don't know that name, you must at least know Lei Lei Zhenzi!"

"Hiss!"

"Could it be that Lei Lei Zhenzi who instantly killed five Great Foundation Establishment cultivators with a thunder formation on the Mount Jilei Mountain battlefield?"

"Who else could it be! I never imagined that after not showing his face for several years, this person would not only have raised his cultivation to a higher level, but his mastery of formations would have become even more terrifying. Slaughtering existences of the same rank is like butchering chickens and dogs; ten people perished at his hands with a mere wave of his hand."

"Indeed, those four who luckily survived—if they had been a little slower going in or a little faster coming out, I fear they would have ended up decapitated as well."

"Lei Lei Zhenzi is not just the Chief Formation Master of the Luo Tian Society; he is also the descendant of the Min family of Mount Danxia from a hundred years ago. Now that he has returned to his old home, I fear he would rather die than let history repeat itself."

"A master of the Dao of Formations—this is simply too terrifying!"

Cultivators fighting and battling to the death is not a rare sight in the world of cultivation.

Instantly killing those of the same rank is also not particularly strange.

Even challenging someone of a higher rank would at most make people marvel or be talked about for a while.

Even when Luo Chen crossed a major realm to blast the Core Formation master Di Wanyun to death, cultivators were shocked, but they only assumed he had used trickery and relied on external forces.

But Min Longyu's actions just now truly stunned countless cultivators in Mount Tianlan Xiancheng.

With the cultivation of a mid-stage Foundation Establishment, he moved among more than a dozen cultivators of the same rank, taking one life with every swing of his sword.

And yet, those people hardly put up any decent resistance.

They just stood there like wooden chickens, waiting to die.

This scene, let alone the ordinary Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators, even made the eight Great Cultivators led by Zheng Sima Xian feel their scalps tingle and a chill rise in their hearts.

They saw it with absolute clarity.

Within that great formation, Min Longyu was practically invincible among his peers!

Let alone the weaklings like Wei Bufan and Shen Shen Gongyi who were in the early and mid-stages of Foundation Establishment, even they, the Great Cultivators of the late Foundation Establishment stage, would likely have no power to resist if they went inside.

Formation! Formation!

"This is definitely not some third-tier defensive formation." Xia Houkun said, his expression terrified. "This is clearly a third-tier killing formation!"

He understood formations!

A hundred years ago, when the Min family was destroyed, his Xia Hou clan had harvested many formation classics collected and written by the Min family.

When they were forcefully attacking the formation earlier, they hadn't seen it clearly.

But just now, when Min Longyu acted personally to drive the great formation to slaughter the Foundation Establishment cultivators, the majestic killing intent within could no longer be suppressed.

"Being inside a third-tier killing formation, how could we Foundation Establishment cultivators be his match?"

Song Song Fengzi wore an expression of astonishment, never imagining that among the loose cultivators of the Yuding Region, who lacked a deep foundation, there could be such an outstanding figure.

"No wonder he dares to claim that within the Seven-Colored Mount Danxia, he alone is ever-victorious!"

Just as they were marveling.

Tuoba Tuoba Lingfei said sternly, "Now is not the time to discuss this; we should be thinking about how to break the formation."

The group of Foundation Establishment cultivators cast their gazes toward the Mount Danxia Peak that towered into the clouds, and the many Qi Refining cultivators of the coalition who were retreating in panic.

For a moment, they were at a loss.

Zheng Sima Xian's eyes flickered as he looked up at the sky.

Just like the countless loose cultivators below, the three Core Formation masters in the sky were equally shocked at this moment.

The junior Qin Bu Junjie even rubbed his eyes, somewhat incredulous.

"Where did this person come from? To be able to slaughter Foundation Establishment cultivators so easily? Even the true disciples of our great sects couldn't reach this level!"

As he marveled, Tao Wan, on the other side, let out a cold snort.

"Is this the army of cultivators you scraped together? Though they are numerous, they are nothing but a rabble. They didn't even figure out whether the great formation was broken or not, and instead fell into a trap, being slaughtered at will."

"In my opinion, it would be better to retreat early, lest you bring humiliation upon yourselves!"

Qin Bu Junjie's expression froze.

Qin Qin Tairan, who was looking after him from the side, cast a cold glance over.

Because of this glance, Qin Bu Junjie's face instantly flushed red.

He had been the one specifically implementing the matters against the Luo Tian Society.

He considered himself to have done quite well, gathering a group of experts in just a few short years without using the manpower of the Yan Alliance.

That lineup of eight late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators was a force not to be underestimated, even on the Mount Jilei Mountain battlefield.

But unexpectedly, they had been shut out at this tiny Mount Danxia Peak.

In front of everyone, Qin Qin Tairan would not be too harsh on his own grandson; he still had to leave him some face.

His gaze fell upon the seven-colored light screen, his spiritual sense spreading out to reflect the world.

"Eh?"

As he let out a soft sound of surprise, Elder Fei Ming of Mount Ailao Mountain and Elder Long of the Qingdan Valley also discovered something amiss.

"This formation is quite interesting!"

"Tsk tsk, why does it give me the feeling of the Ghost God Valley's great sect-protecting formation?"

Hearing this, Tao Wan looked at Elder Long, who was protecting her, with surprise.

"The Ghost God Valley's great sect-protecting formation?"

Elder Long nodded slightly and quietly transmitted his voice: "The Ghost God Valley was a great Core Formation sect that was second only to the six great upper sects among the sixteen sects that joined forces to attack the Lianxia! This sect was extremely skilled in formations; if given a little time and space, the formations they set up would make even Nascent Soul True Persons dare not treat them lightly."

"And the most famous formation of the Ghost God Valley was their great sect-protecting formation—Heavenly Craft Spirit Seizure."

"You are young and may not be very clear about the power of this formation. However, you only need to know that the Dan Valley shrouded by five peaks within our sect contains part of the essence of the Heavenly Craft Spirit Seizure formation, and you will understand the power of this formation."

Once he said this, Tao Wan suddenly realized.

Although the spiritual vein of the Dan Valley in the very center of the Qingdan Valley was of low grade, it was a vital area of the sect and where its future hope lay.

Especially after Luo Chen suggested that the Luoyun Sect might covet the Dan Valley, she had inquired about it many times from her elders.

That Dan Valley was something built from nothing, an existence that could even reach a fourth-tier spiritual land in the future!

Unexpectedly, the Mount Danxia Peak where the Luo Tian Society was currently located also had a sect-protecting formation that contained the essence of Heavenly Craft Spirit Seizure.

No wonder that group of people below, gathering the strength of all the Foundation Establishment cultivators, had not achieved any results and instead lost a quarter of their strength.

Elder Long and Qin Qin Tairan could see it because the legacy of the Ghost God Valley from a hundred years ago had been mainly divided up by the three sects: the Yuding Sword Sect, the Yan Alliance, and the Qingdan Valley.

This was what created the strongest Nascent Soul upper sect in the Yuding Region, and the two wealthiest great sects in casting and alchemy.

Meanwhile, Elder Fei of Mount Ailao Mountain discovered the clues after the fact.

"It's actually the Heavenly Craft Spirit Seizure great formation!"

"That's right!"

"This Luo Tian Society comes from Dahefang, where the ruins of a Ghost God Valley Supreme Elder once appeared in the Guyuan Mountains. When our Mount Ailao Mountain cultivators went to investigate, the ruins were already a wasteland, and even that great formation had been dug up by someone."

"I never imagined that the Luo Tian Society was also one of the inheritors of that legacy."

"Hehe, with this formation here, if Old Man Qin doesn't take action personally, I fear these people have no way to deal with this Luo Tian Society."

While secretly pondering, Elder Fei looked at Qin Qin Tairan with a half-smile.

The other party's expression was gloomy, as if he were thinking of a way to break it.

But after a moment, Qin Qin Tairan smiled with relief.

The Heavenly Craft Spirit Seizure formation is indeed very strong.

Although it is only third-tier, as long as it is given enough time, it is enough to grow into an existence that even ordinary fourth-tier formations can hardly compare to.

Like the Dan Valley of the Qingdan Valley and the Fenxiang Valley of the Yan Alliance, they all have similar formation layouts.

One hopes to advance to a fourth-tier spiritual land, while the other strengthens the gathering of fire-attribute power to facilitate casting and fire-nurturing.

After hundreds of years of cultivation, they have all achieved significant results.

But the Luo Tian Society is just a rural force that luckily gained power.

Their foundation is extremely shallow!

They have only been in Mount Tianlan Xiancheng for a mere dozen years or so.

That junior Min Longyu, although he has some talent in the Dao of Formations and absorbed part of the essence of the Heavenly Craft Spirit Seizure formation...

In the end, he has had too little time!

Moreover, the Mount Tianlan Peak of Mount Tianlan Xiancheng occupies a dominant position, causing no second-tier spiritual land to appear within a radius of ten thousand miles.

How could a mere Mount Danxia Peak seize too much spiritual energy from heaven and earth?

That junior seems to have discovered this as well.

Therefore, he improved the formation, drawing in the spiritual energy from the colorful clouds in the sky to strengthen the formation.

But!

In the end, it is just a drop in the bucket!

Foundation! The foundation of the Luo Tian Society is insufficient!

After thinking this through, he swept a cold glance at the two people opposite him and directly sent a voice transmission.

Below.

Zheng Sima Xian's expression stirred, and a look of realization appeared on his face.

"Everyone, follow my command next; I have a way to break this formation!"

The crowd was stunned.

Xia Houkun, who understood formations a little, was even more curious: "How to break it?"

Zheng Sima Xian chuckled, "Breaking it is not difficult; we can consume it just like before, but we must do it in batches."

Just that simple?

"Oh, right, this kind of consumption will likely take a long time. Everyone's spiritual power might be consumed quite a bit; as it happens, I have a third-tier Spirit Gathering Formation on hand that can create a place for gathering spiritual energy."

"Fellow Daoist Xia Hou, you said you understand formations, so you should be the one to set it up!"

When he said this, Zheng Zheng Kejian's expression changed.

That third-tier Spirit Gathering Formation was something his Zheng family had exchanged from the Sword Sect using the merits accumulated by Zheng Tianfang before his death, plus a large amount of resources.

The original intention was to forcefully gather spiritual energy at Gunlong Ridge to create a second-tier spiritual land and rapidly enhance the strength of the family's cultivators.

How could it be used here!

"Uncle..."

Zheng Zheng Kejian's words stopped abruptly.

Facing Zheng Sima Xian's cold gaze, he was speechless.

"Fellow Daoist Xia Hou, take it and set it up!"

Zheng Sima Xian took out a formation disk from his storage bag, along with over a hundred formation flags of various sizes, and even mixed in many five-element materials.

Xia Houkun carefully took these items, his eyes filled with greed and covetousness.

A high-grade Spirit Gathering Formation!

And a large-scale one at that!

This is an auxiliary formation that all cultivation families dream of.

Back at the Mount Tianlan Auction, only a second-tier one appeared, and it was snatched up by everyone.

In the end, it was auctioned off by the Zheng family.

Unexpectedly, they were still not satisfied and had purchased a third-tier one.

Zheng Sima Xian naturally saw the covetous look on the other party's face, but he didn't care at all.

This thing was dispensable to him; it was just a scarce item for the Zheng family.

Moreover, Xia Houkun wouldn't dare to covet this item.

He didn't care how the other party set it up, but instead called over the others to discuss how to consume the Seven-Colored Mount Danxia formation of the Luo Tian Society in batches.

While countless people in the outside world were guessing and spying.

Inside the Mount Danxia Peak, which had re-condensed its seven-colored protective light screen, it was a scene of bustling activity.

The Qi Refining cultivators of the Luo Tian Society, who had suffered casualties in the short time during the contact battle at the foot of the mountain, were doing their best to treat the wounded.

There were also Zhou Zhou Yuanli and Liu Liu Qiang from the Law Enforcement Hall leading people to walk the front lines.

Either comforting the wounded or suppressing those with ulterior motives.

Gu Gu Caiyi led a large group of female cultivators, rushing back and forth in the mountains, changing the formation-setting tools according to Min Longyu's instructions.

Screech!

A sharp bird cry sounded in her ears, and Yuan Xiaoyue looked up curiously.

"Don't worry about that; that's the spirit beast dispatched by Hall Master Xu to clean up the corpses of the enemies killed by Elder Min earlier." Gu Gu Caiyi looked at the Predatory Feather Eagle, whose grade had reached the second tier, and explained simply, before saying unhurriedly: "After checking the formation setup here, change to the next location immediately. Remember to replenish the spirit stones; there can only be more, never less!"

"Yes, Hall Master!"

The delicate female voices rang out in unison.

The female cultivators of the Jin Dian, who usually received guests, did not drag their feet at all when doing things.

In mid-air, the Predatory Feather Eagle with a small golden feather crest on its head overlooked the earth, circling once before flying into the peak of Mount Danxia.

Thump!

A corpse fell, and the flying eagle lowered its head, even offering the storage bag of the opponent to the woman in front of it.

The Predatory Feather Eagle's sharp beak opened slightly, and the hollow voice of Xu Xu Huanzhen came from within.

"President, the belongings of those ten Foundation Establishment cultivators have all been recovered."

President Sima President Sima Hui Niang flicked her sleeves, and these storage bags were put away.

She nodded lightly and stepped directly into the seven-colored stone house on the mountain peak, which was shaped strangely, like a spider web and yet like a maze.

Just after entering, she saw a man in a black Daoist robe sitting quietly with his eyes closed.

Streaks of colorful clouds, like silk ribbons, fell from the sky, drawn in and poured into the interior of the stone house.

Inside this space, it was filled with brilliant light and magnificent phenomena.

So much so that it set off the man in the black robe, making him look like a high-level Daoist shrouded in seven colors.

This person was none other than Min Longyu, who controlled the sect-protecting formation of the Luo Tian Society!

As President Sima President Sima Hui Niang walked in, he slowly opened his eyes.

"I have lived up to the trust; I have repelled the first wave of attacks!"

President Sima President Sima Hui Niang nodded, "Thanks to you; if you hadn't taken action, either our newly promoted Foundation Establishment cultivators here would have been injured, or Wang Yuan and the others would have had their combat strength consumed."

Min Longyu's expression was indifferent, as if the arrogant person who had overlooked tens of thousands of cultivators and made the wild claim of being ever-victorious just a moment ago was not him.

He just said faintly: "These are all things I should do. Moreover, facing this battle, I had already simulated it countless times in the formation disk; what just happened was merely the first practice."

"It's just a pity that those Great Cultivators are all cautious people; not a single one entered the formation."

"Otherwise, I could have killed one or two first to intimidate the whole scene!"

These words were spoken eloquently, calm and confident!

If they had been heard by the countless cultivators in the outside world, I fear it would have shocked them to the core.

In the first practice, he had killed ten Foundation Establishment cultivators instantly.

Such a battle record was already extremely shocking.

Yet he was still unsatisfied, even wanting to kill one or two Great Cultivators to serve as a warning to others.

This was simply too arrogant!

Perhaps, in the entire Luo Tian Society, including Luo Chen, only President Sima President Sima Hui Niang, who managed the overall situation, knew why he had such great confidence.

Nothing else!

This was no longer just the power of Min Longyu alone.

The Seven-Colored Mount Danxia formation was able to erupt with such power because it had gathered the massive resources of the Luo Tian Society.

Back then, Wang Yuan returned from the Mount Jilei Mountain battlefield and brought back a complete magic-treasure-grade formation disk for Min Longyu.

Later, Chu Kui and Luo Chen returned one after another, bringing back the legacies of dozens of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

The various resources among them could be called massive.

Especially the magic-treasure-grade flying swords most commonly used by cultivators, which numbered as high as over thirty!

From among them, Min Longyu selected twenty-one flying swords of different attributes and buried them deep inside Mount Danxia Peak.

With this as a foundation, he built a new great formation on the basis of the original Seven-Colored Mount Danxia formation.

At this time, the great formation was no longer the initially conceived growth-type defensive formation, but had turned into a killing formation!

Of course, such a magnificent killing formation was absolutely difficult to drive by Min Longyu's power alone.

Therefore, President Sima President Sima Hui Niang managed the overall situation, mobilizing all manpower and material resources to perfect the great formation for him.

The coming and going of the Jin Dian cultivators to repair it was just one of them.

The hundreds of cultivators from the Casting Hall were currently missing because they were maintaining the basic operation of the great formation at various formation bases.

Besides this, President Sima President Sima Hui Niang had even spent her entire fortune, taking out all the spirit stones the Luo Tian Society had accumulated over the years in one go.

That amount, if spoken aloud, would make even Core Formation masters extremely jealous!

One million spirit stones!

All the basic formation patterns were embedded with low-grade spirit stones.

The important formation bases were all using mid-grade spirit stones secretly exchanged from the black market over the years as energy sources.

And in this stone house, there were dense layers of mid-grade spirit stones everywhere!

Even the three high-grade spirit stones that Luo Chen had treasured in recent years were handed over to Min Longyu for use.

It can be said.

Every time Min Longyu drove the great formation, he was squandering massive amounts of spirit stones.

The instant slaughter of ten Foundation Establishment cultivators just now looked effortless to outsiders, but only she and Min Longyu himself knew that at least thirty thousand spirit stones had been consumed in that short time!

From the consumption of resources, it showed the degree of importance the Luo Tian Society placed on this battle.

With such massive investment of resources, President Sima President Sima Hui Niang absolutely could not accept defeat.

Only victory, and a great victory at that, could compensate for the Luo Tian Society's investment in this battle.

And how to win was a matter for her and Luo Chen to consider.

Coming to the mountain peak at this moment, she also wanted to ask Min Longyu what other needs he had.

Regarding her inquiry, Min Longyu seemed to have had a plan in mind long ago.

"In war, it is about courage. The first drum brings courage, the second brings exhaustion, and the third brings depletion. When they are depleted and we are full, we can defeat them!"

"Their two attacks that seized the initiative were resolved by me, one defensive and one offensive. Originally, if all the Foundation Establishment cultivators, including the eight Great Cultivators, had charged the formation together, even if I could kill one or two, I would have had no time to attend to the others. But many of those who considered themselves clever were undone by their own cleverness, stopping in their tracks and instead giving me the opportunity to defeat them one by one."

"Now that I have a killing formation in front, they have lost their momentum."

"Then what follows is merely a war of attrition while they stand still."

"President, once we enter a war of attrition, we will have achieved our initial goal, right!"

President Sima President Sima Hui Niang nodded lightly.

"That is indeed the case; what the President discussed with me was to resist the first wave of attacks as much as possible, so that the casualties of the Luo Tian Society could be controlled within a certain range. And he, too, could have more room to maneuver."

"And a war of attrition..."

The two of them swept their gazes over the many mid-grade spirit stones scattered throughout the room.

A portion of them had already turned into powder.

But more were still quietly embedded in the formation patterns, ready to contribute their power at any time.

Min Longyu said confidently: "Ten days! I can hold on for ten days!"

Ten days, huh?

President Sima President Sima Hui Niang blinked and brought this reply back to the Luo Tian Hall on the mountainside.

The four of them sat quietly inside, and a huge water mirror rippled, containing the scene of the ten-mile radius of the outside world within it.

The leader heard this reply, and a look of satisfaction appeared on his face.

"Ten days is enough!"

"After ten days, regardless of whether the enemy advances or retreats, we can launch an all-out attack and settle this battle!"

(End of this chapter)