Assault on the Formation (3)

“Yes, master. This servant will hide in the shadows as before and act at the right moment.” The fox’s form shimmered with white light, rolled over, and transformed into a beautiful young woman. She bowed to Han Li, revealing her full fox charm.

“Good. Keep to the same plan. Your timing against the Moon-Masking Sect’s Grand Elder was well chosen.” Han Li nodded, offering rare praise.

“You flatter me, master. This servant will do her best.” Silvermoon put away the two treasures in her hands, smiled with pursed lips, then vanished with a flash of yellow light before Han Li, turning completely invisible.

Seeing this, Han Li’s eyes flickered. He raised his head to glance into the distance, and a sharp expression flashed across his face.

With a flash of azure light, he disappeared into the mist at his side.

Meanwhile, many of the Dharma Warriors had advanced deep into the mist. As they did, the remaining restrictions within the sea of fog triggered one after another, killing intent emerging frequently.

Fortunately, most of the cultivators followed closely behind the giant rhinoceros clearing the path ahead. The beast took every restriction in stride.

Fireballs, ice cones, thunder fire, earth spikes—attacks of every element struck the giant beast like it was being tickled. They were all harmlessly deflected by its pitch-black armor.

The rhinoceros paid no attention to the attacks, simply charging forward with its head down.

Whatever barrier appeared before it, it smashed through with its massive body, bursting straight to the first open space created by the falling fire meteors. This was a clearing over a hundred zhang wide, completely free of mist.

At this point, the Dharma Warriors following the beast had not lost a single member.

Oddly enough, those with the highest cultivation among this group were only four Core Formation cultivators. Not a single Nascent Soul Great High Priest was to be seen. Where the three green-robed women had gone after entering the mist was unknown. Perhaps they were hiding elsewhere, or had some other sinister plan.

In this mist-free area, the Dharma Warriors breathed a sigh of relief. A few Core Formation cultivators even gathered to discuss their next move.

But just then, from the thick fog ahead, two silver halberds shot out, crackling with arcs of lightning.

The Dharma Warriors started. Two Core Formation cultivators immediately raised their hands and released beams of blue and red light to intercept the halberds.

But instead of tangling with the flying treasures, the two halberds circled and then, with doubled speed, shot slantwise toward the giant rhinoceros.

The Core Formation cultivators were briefly alarmed, but then relaxed. Given the beast’s defenses, ordinary magical tools could hardly harm it.

Yet what happened next stunned them. The two halberds did not strike the rhinoceros directly. Instead, they halted above the beast, then crossed each other without warning and clashed hard.

A thunderous boom rang out. A thick bolt of lightning exploded from the point of impact and struck the rhinoceros squarely on the head.

The beast’s blue body-protecting spiritual light shattered under the silver arc. The lightning hit the jet-black armor plates solidly.

With a rumble, the light faded, and the rhinoceros stood unharmed. But it seemed enraged. It let out a great roar, opened its mouth, and shot a ten-foot-long white ice spike at the halberds in the air.

The halberds showed no desire to fight. They dodged the ice spike, released another silver arc, then flew back into the thick fog.

Seeing this, the beast’s pupils grew even more bloodshot. Without hesitation, it gave chase at full gallop.

The Core Formation cultivators were startled. They quickly called to the other Dharma Warriors and prepared to pursue with flying light.

But before they could move, multicolored lights flickered in the surrounding fog. Over a hundred cultivators emerged from all directions and unleashed a storm of artifacts, attacking the Dharma Warriors from all sides.

The Moulan Dharma Warriors, furious and alarmed, simultaneously activated their artifacts and spiritual arts, plunging into chaos.

In that brief delay, the giant rhinoceros had already chased into the thick fog and vanished.

The Core Formation cultivators were blocked by several high-level cultivators among the ambushers and could do nothing.

Now truly enraged, they were about to gather their Dharma Warriors in numbers and eliminate all the ambushers—but those cultivators simultaneously withdrew their artifacts and turned to flee into the sea of fog without hesitation.

The Dharma Warriors stared at each other, uncertain whether to pursue, hesitating.

“There are too many of them. Split up. Most of the nearby restrictions have been destroyed. As long as you’re careful, nothing major will happen. Since they deliberately harass us, let’s go after them and wipe them out. As for the beast—Core Formation cultivators can’t harm it anyway. We can find it later after we finish off these cultivators.” A late Core Formation elder, apparently their leader, calmly gave the order after a brief consideration.

He then transformed into a streak of light and flew into the fog in pursuit of a Core Formation cultivator who had retreated.

The other Dharma Warriors followed suit, scattering in groups of several and chasing in all directions.

The fog churned for a while, then quieted. The area was momentarily empty.

But after a while longer, a figure emerged from the green mist. An old man walked in with his hands behind his back, looking totally at ease.

He had an immortal air. It was none other than Old Man Ma.

His face was slightly pale, but his eyes gleamed with vitality—he did not seem to have suffered any loss of magical power.

Reaching the center of the clearing, the old man looked around and a peculiar expression appeared on his face.

“Since I’ve already come out, there is no need for you to hide any longer, friend. This kind of concealment technique can hardly deceive an old man like me.” The old man spoke in a leisurely tone, his gaze fixed on an empty spot, his expression utterly calm.

“Hmph! I didn’t expect your divine sense to be this strong. I had intended to give you a surprise, Great High Priest. It seems that won’t be possible.” A cold male voice sounded from that spot. Then with a dark flash, the tall, thin Dharma Warrior revealed himself.

But as he appeared, he wasted no time. He rubbed his hands together and flung them toward the old man.

Dozens of thumb-thick black streaks shot out like a sudden storm, covering Old Man Ma completely.

…

Not even a hundred zhang away, deep in the fog, the bushy-browed man stared expressionlessly at the person before him—Ku Yao, who was wrapped in a ball of blazing fire.

The flames around him were so intense that they had gradually burned away the nearby fog, leaving a clear area of thirty or forty square zhang.

“Hmph, do you think stopping me will save your companion? You have no idea how powerful Priest Wen’s spiritual arts are,” Ku Yao said irritably. He had planned to sneak behind the old man and attack him in concert with the tall, thin Dharma Warrior, but the bushy-browed man had intercepted him halfway.

“Instead of worrying about others, you should think about how to save yourself. In yesterday’s battle, Friend Ma’s original energy hasn’t recovered, but you must have also consumed a fair bit of spiritual power. One night’s rest plus the energy spent maintaining the Great Spirit Art Formation earlier—unless you have some heaven-defying treasure to help you, you should be quite weakened,” the big man said, unmoved, his eyes half-closed.

Then he opened his mouth and spat out a hazy white short staff. It whirled in the air, trembled, and began to emit a blinding white light.

Ku Yao sneered and was about to respond with his own technique, when his expression suddenly changed drastically.

Across from him, the spiritual light began to shift color—from white to a radiant golden gold. At the same time, a faint golden beast shadow appeared above the staff. It looked like a giant golden monkey, five or six zhang tall, with four furry ears, ugly and ferocious. As it formed, it beat its chest and roared at the sky, then glared at Ku Yao across from him.

“Artifact spirit! Your treasure has become an artifact spirit treasure!” Ku Yao lost his composure and cried out.

“Heh. This is the first time I’ve displayed the captured spirit of a four-eared golden ape. If you die here, you won’t have much to complain about.” A murderous glint flashed in the bushy-browed man’s eyes as he made hand seals.

The giant ape’s form grew clearer. The short staff instantly swelled to ten times its size. The ape reached out, grabbed the staff, leaped, and turned into a ball of golden light as it lunged ferociously at Ku Yao.

…

The green-robed woman was not with the tall, thin Dharma Warrior or Ku Yao. Her goal was simple: relying on her own abilities, she would charge straight to the center of the formation, destroy the formation hub, and break the entire great array.

But before that, she still had to eliminate one cultivator.

Ever since she entered the thick fog, she had clearly sensed a faint, elusive strand of divine sense clinging to her. Even her own divine sense, which was nearly on par with late Nascent Soul, could not completely shake it.

Her heart tensed. Her killing intent toward that young cultivator flared. A cultivator with several bizarre supernatural abilities—if she did not eliminate him, he might cause unforeseen complications later. Fortunately, that cultivator seemed fairly confident in his abilities, not even hiding his position, almost inviting her, a mid-Nascent Soul Dharma Warrior, to come.

With a cold laugh, she flew directly toward him.

When she sensed that the young cultivator was less than a hundred zhang away, the green-robed woman retracted her white light and slowed down, stopping in place.

Though fully confident, she had no intention of rushing into a fight without knowing whether he had set traps.

She lightly tapped her storage pouch, and a fist-sized azure bead appeared in her hand.

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(End of chapter)