The Eighteen Qiongqi Puppets

“That single frost arrow is enough to kill an ordinary perfected Wanxiang Adept,” Cangjiang the Realperson sent hurriedly. “Everyone, form the formation immediately!”

“Formation! The Five Phases, Five Directions Formation!” Ji Ning sent.

“Right.”

“This is absolutely terrifying.” Mu Northson was shouting as well.

Hum~
Ji Ning, Mu Northson, Yu Wei, Nine Lotos, and Cangjiang the Realperson were all fellow disciples. They naturally executed the Five Phases, Five Directions Formation common to the Black-White College—a joint-attack formation that did not require Black-White Pearls to learn, as it was a mandatory technique for all sect disciples.

The five of them moved at once, and light immediately appeared around each of their bodies.

Some shone with golden light, some with red, some with watery blue, some with yellow, and some with cyan.

“Whoosh.” Once the formation was established, Ji Ning felt slightly calmer. “The power of those frost arrows is simply monstrous. Back when I fought Snowfeather Daoist, each drop of his Celestial Water that he unleashed… a single drop injured my Water-Fire Lotus but didn’t break through it. But these three frost arrows managed to shatter my Water-Fire Lotus. Each arrow must possess the might of an entire drop of Celestial Water.”

Snowfeather Daoist had only been able to control a total of one hundred and eight drops of Celestial Water… but the frost arrows before them came in an endless, dense barrage, ceaselessly generated.

Even a Primal Daoist would likely be killed by a sustained assault!

“The five of you, Ji Ning, position yourselves in front of me,” Shaoyan Nong sent as well. “The ten of you, behind me. Xue Hongyi, Buyou the Realperson—you two, on my flanks.”

Ji Ning’s five-man group was the strongest. After all, three of them were individually stronger than an ordinary Primal Daoist. Together, they were the most formidable and naturally took the front line, shielding Shaoyan Nong and intercepting the incoming arrows.

The ten Wanxiang Adept suicide soldiers, though somewhat weaker in individual strength, numbered ten in total. When they formed their own formation, their collective power was also formidable, blocking the frost arrows from the rear.

The remaining gaps…

Were naturally covered by Xue Hongyi and Buyou the Realperson. The two of them executed the most common ‘Two Polarities Formation’—a technique that virtually every cultivator knew. Its effect was relatively limited, providing only a modest boost to their combat strength. But regardless, it was better than nothing, so they used it as well.

“This is trouble,” Xue Hongyi cursed internally.

“We’re in real danger now,” Buyou the Realperson grew anxious as well. The two of them were already weaker than Ji Ning’s group. While Ji Ning’s five-man team had a five-person formation, the two of them only had a two-person formation.

And these frost arrows were powerful enough to easily kill Primal Daoists.

“Pfft.”

“Boom.”

Xue Hongyi and Buyou the Realperson were soon in a dire, precarious situation.

“Shaoyan Nong, we can’t hold much longer,” Xue Hongyi sent urgently.

“We can’t hold on over here either,” Buyou the Realperson said, panicked.

“Useless trash,” Shaoyan Nong cursed inwardly, though he too was frantic. “The five Black-White College disciples are still impressive, though.”

“Hold on as long as you can… the longer we drag this out, the more chances we’ll have,” Shaoyan Nong sent back.

Cangjiang the Realperson sent a message at once: “Shaoyan Nong, this formation trap must have been left behind by the Wu Jiang Immortal himself. If the Wu Jiang Immortal were still alive, this formation’s power would be even more terrifying—perhaps even Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals would meet their end here.

Now that the Wu Jiang Immortal is gone, the formation is somewhat weaker, but it’s still not something we can endure indefinitely. Our Yuan power is finite, but this formation draws upon the natural energy of Heaven and Earth… it can sustain itself endlessly! It can grind us down until we die from sheer attrition. What we need most right now is a formation master who can find the weakness in this array.”

If a powerful formation master was trapped within an array, they could even casually stroll right out of it.

If one was less skilled in formations, they could at least try to find the vulnerable points or weak spots in the formation—striking at the formation’s weaknesses with their own strength would give them a much better chance.

But if one was utterly useless at formations…

Then they would be trapped inside, helplessly battered, and forced to rely on brute force to endure. That was the worst possible scenario.

“Shaoyan Nong, you came to explore this Immortal estate—surely you brought a formation master with you,” Mu Northson sent.

Shaoyan Nong clenched his teeth. A formation master? Of course he had one! But his formation master was currently outside in the main hall of the Immortal estate! It was that Fiendgod—Xiangliu Fang!

Fiendgods were born from Heaven and Earth. Xiangliu Fang had been born in the Primordial Fiendgod Era and had lived until the present day. One could imagine his immense lifespan. However, Fiendgods were different from other races. They were truly the darlings of Heaven, the favored children of the cosmos. They were born capable of cultivation, born with innate divine abilities, and some Chaos Fiendgods were even born mastering the Dao—or even Grand Daos.

Thus, Fiendgods did not suffer from the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations!

Their lifespans were also boundless!

But—

Their cultivation was also incomparably slow, and there came a point when they could no longer advance. For example, Xiangliu Fang had reached the ‘Primal Daoist level’ countless billions of years ago. He was still at that level now, his potential clearly exhausted. He would remain at the Primal Daoist level forever.

However, their endless lifespans allowed Fiendgods to delve into other fields—puppetry, formations, and other arts that required vast amounts of time. Their comprehension might be somewhat lacking, but their time was virtually infinite. Xiangliu Fang was a true grandmaster of formations!

In the original plan, Xiangliu Fang was meant to serve as Shaoyan Nong’s personal bodyguard, never leaving his side.

But earlier, a large number of Dao-soldiers had attacked, and someone had to be sent to delay them. That was why Xiangliu Fang had been separated.

“Uncle Fang!” Shaoyan Nong was both anxious and regretful. “If only I hadn’t let Uncle Fang leave my side. Once I survive this tribulation, and Uncle Fang returns… I will never, ever let him leave my side again. Never!”

“Uncle Fang is skilled in formations,” Shaoyan Nong sent hastily. “But there’s no way for Uncle Fang to enter now. Everyone… is any of you proficient in formations?”

“This is going to kill us!” Mu Northson fumed.

“That Fiendgod is the one skilled in formations?” Ji Ning and the others were all speechless.

The one skilled in formations was trapped outside the hall and couldn’t get in. As for the rest of them? They were all true prodigies, having devoted all their energy to their respective ‘Daos’. Even Ji Ning, who had considerable natural talent for formations, focused primarily on the Sword Dao. He only occasionally glanced at formation techniques to relieve boredom.

“Cangjiang the Realperson, Fire Rainbow Immortal—you are both reincarnated Immortals. In your past lives, you surely had some knowledge of formations. Have you recalled anything?” Shaoyan Nong sent.

“We are only at the Wanxiang stage now. We occasionally recall fragments, but formations are a vast and profound art. We would need to fully awaken our past-life memories to grasp those insights,” Cangjiang the Realperson sent helplessly.

Shaoyan Nong, Ji Ning, and the others exchanged messages at great speed.

But the frost arrows generated by the formation, which drew upon the power of Heaven and Earth, were equally swift. The weak points in their defensive circle—Xue Hongyi and Buyou the Realperson—had both sustained injuries.

“Shaoyan Nong, we can’t hold on,” Xue Hongyi said, his left arm drenched in blood.

“We can’t take it anymore,” Buyou the Realperson added.

“Get inside, quickly,” Shaoyan Nong could only order. “Ji Ning, Cangjiang the Realperson—the five of you… take over the positions that Xue Hongyi and Buyou the Realperson were guarding.”

Ji Ning and the others could only grit their teeth and expand their formation to cover a wider area, intercepting those additional zones.

But a larger area meant more frost arrows to withstand!

“Whoosh.”

“That was close.”

Xue Hongyi and Buyou the Realperson breathed sighs of relief once they were safely inside. They quickly took healing pills and began to recover.

“What do we do? What do we do?” Shaoyan Nong racked his brain. Although he possessed many protective treasures, breaking an ancient formation left behind by a Celestial Immortal was utterly impossible. Of course, if he was willing to give up on this trial, he could use a ‘Great Teleportation’ to leave immediately.

But once he left, he would fail the trial. Shaoyan Nong absolutely could not allow that to happen.

“We must break the formation. But how? Right now, the five Black-White College disciples and the ten Wanxiang suicide soldiers are holding the line. But given enough time, once their Yuan power is depleted, they will have no choice but to die.” Shaoyan Nong was wracked with anxiety.

Just then—

From within the chaotic, shifting void of the formation, a strange beast puppet emerged. It was a grayish-black creature with wings, the body of an ox covered in spikes, and a tiger’s head—a Qiongqi puppet! This Qiongqi puppet appeared from within the formation, beat its wings once, arced around the ten Wanxiang suicide soldiers, and clawed directly at Shaoyan Nong, who was at the very core.

“Protect Shaoyan Nong!” Xue Hongyi called out.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Qiongqi puppets came howling in from all directions. In an instant, a full eighteen Qiongqi puppets had emerged, locking down Ji Ning’s group and preventing them from protecting Shaoyan Nong.

“Break!”

A sword-strike like moonlight lashed out at a Qiongqi puppet. The puppet flew backward over ten zhang before stopping, then pounced forward again.

Ji Ning, surrounded by over seven hundred flying swords, changed expression. Even with the five of them in formation, his Yuan power was greatly increased—and he had just used the ninth layer of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation—yet he had only managed to briefly knock back the Qiongqi puppet?

“Be careful.”

“These Qiongqi puppets all have combat power comparable to Primal Daoists. And unlike ordinary Primal Daoists, they are as tough as magic treasures, their bodies effectively being magical weapons themselves—they are much harder to deal with,” Mu Northson said. As a genius in puppetry, he recognized the dire situation at a glance.

“All of them are Primal-level combat puppets. Such puppets are extremely expensive,” Ji Ning thought, sending out wave after wave of sword-light. He was only just barely managing to tie down two of the Qiongqi puppets.

Primal-level combat puppets would make even a Loose Immortal wince at the cost. But to a Celestial Immortal—buying eighteen of them was a relatively trivial expense.

Of the eighteen Qiongqi puppets, just ten were completely occupying Ji Ning’s five-man team and the ten Wanxiang suicide soldiers.

The remaining eight Qiongqi puppets charged straight at Shaoyan Nong, who was at the formation’s core. These puppets possessed intelligence and knew that Shaoyan Nong was the ‘ringleader.’

“Block them!”

“Watch out!”

Xue Hongyi and Buyou the Realperson, who were at Shaoyan Nong’s side, were inevitably caught in the backlash. When eight Qiongqi puppets swarmed them, both Xue Hongyi and Buyou the Realperson panicked. Every single puppet was a match for them, and these puppets were also magic-treasure bodies—indestructible.

“Riiip!” A sharp claw flashed like lightning across Buyou the Realperson’s body, tearing him apart like tattered rags. Blood splattered everywhere.

“No…” Buyou the Realperson’s eyes went wide. He had thought he would earn a favor from Shaoyan Nong on this mission, never expecting to lose his life here.

Among the entire group of Wanxiang Adepts, the first death had finally occurred.