Chapter 20: Each Uses Their Own Methods

"Patriarch, how did you think to set up the formation in advance?" Ji Liuzhen couldn't help asking.

This was also the doubt of Ji Ning and the others. None of them had seen the patriarch set up the formation in advance, and the Snowdragon Mountain Zifu cultivators who came... hadn't given them any time to set up a formation either.

Ji Jiuhuo glanced at everyone: "You have to look ahead. When I briefly surveyed the yuan stone mine and found it was quite large, I feared it would attract the greed of Snowdragon Mountain, so I began to be wary of them! I thought they might come to pressure us, so I set up a grand formation around us early on. If they didn't act, fine; if they did, we would have the advantage. As for not telling you? If I had told you, letting you know a grand formation was set up around us, could you still have been so grieved and angry? You'd likely have revealed the flaw to Snowdragon Mountain."

"Ah." Ji Ning and the others nodded.

But Ji Ning also understood...

Saying it out loud wasn't really a secret, but earlier, when they were all shocked by the yuan stone mine, none of them thought to set up a grand formation first. That was experience and skill!

"Regardless, by doing this, I have wronged the ancestors of the Ji clan, putting our clan in danger." Ji Jiuhuo said in a low voice, "I didn't want to choose this path, but having chosen it, we must clash head-on with Snowdragon Mountain. Our clan must sign a contract with the Grand Xia Dynasty as soon as possible. Once the contract is signed, it will ensure a thousand years of peace for our clan. And in a thousand years, I believe our clan can rise. Even if we remain weak, a thousand years is enough for our clan to make plans."

"Now..."

"Let us kill. Kill as many as we can. The more we kill, the less pressure on our clan." Ji Jiuhuo's gaze swept over everyone—Granny Ying, Old Servant A Xing, Ji Liuzhen, Ji Yichuan, Ji Ning—these were the top combatants of the Ji clan. "I, Xiao Ying, A Xing, and Ji Ning, the four of us will join forces to kill the He Fang siblings! Liuzhen and Yichuan, you go deal with Ju San."

"Yes."

"Yes." Each responded.

Granny Ying quickly asked, "What about Dong Ziqi? He's a great threat; we must eliminate him early."

"He's already joined up with Mu Si." Ji Jiuhuo said, "We'll deal with them slowly at the end."

"Let's go! I'll guide you through the mist." Ji Jiuhuo advanced immediately, with Granny Ying, A Xing, and Ji Ning... the four of them went together, the four strongest in the Ji clan. Meanwhile, the mist before Ji Liuzhen and Ji Yichuan automatically formed a path, and they followed it quickly.

...

Inside the grand formation.

Dong Ziqi's face was cold: "Fell into the old thief's trap." Around him, eight black crystal spheres appeared out of thin air, each the size of a human head, with faint dragon shadows moving inside. His black robe with a blood-colored Bagua pattern emitted a blood-red light.

The blood-red light also enveloped the eight black crystal spheres in the distance.

"Roar!"

Huge phantom images of blood-colored flood dragons appeared around Dong Ziqi, eight in total, playing with each other and constantly swimming within the formation.

"All fellow disciples, stay back and don't move." Dong Ziqi shouted, while controlling his Bagua Blood Dragon Formation to expand continuously.

The Bagua Blood Dragon Formation kept expanding.

The range of the eight blood-colored flood dragon phantoms also expanded, soon reaching a hundred zhang, directly enveloping Mu Si, who wasn't too far away. Such a formation expanding indiscriminately in all directions... even a maze formation couldn't confuse it!

"Senior apprentice-brother Ziqi." The gray-robed man Mu Si said in surprise, as he had been enveloped by the Bagua Blood Dragon Formation.

"What about the other junior apprentice-brothers and sisters?" Dong Ziqi looked around.

"None." Mu Si shook his head. "Only I touched the Bagua Blood Dragon Formation."

Dong Ziqi gritted his teeth and shouted loudly: "Mu Si and I are together. He Fang, He Xing, you two be careful too. And Ju San... protect yourself."

"Don't worry."

"We siblings aren't afraid of them."

"If they want to kill me, I'll drag them down with me."

Three voices came.

"Damn it." Dong Ziqi said unwillingly, "Fell for the old thief's trick. Otherwise, if the five of us joined forces, how could the Ji clan bully us? I alone could kill most of them. Junior apprentice-brother Mu Si, your Ten Thousand Year Green Vine Technique is quite accomplished. If you use it, can you break this maze formation?"

"Very difficult." Mu Si shook his head. "Even if I can, it will take a long time, and my yuan force might not be enough."

"Go ahead and use it." Dong Ziqi said. "I have a bottle of Return Yuan Pills for you to use."

"Good." Mu Si gritted his teeth. "Then leave the defense to you, senior apprentice-brother."

Dong Ziqi said confidently: "You're inside my Bagua Blood Dragon Formation. Even if they all come at once... I'm not afraid. I'm just afraid they won't come to me! Damn it, if I'd known, I would have killed them directly. Now I want to kill them but can't find them." He alone was worth the other four junior apprentice-brothers and sisters combined, but he had no way to use his strength.

"Rise."

Mu Si stood there, a seed falling to the ground.

Whoosh!

The seed suddenly sprouted a large number of vines, crazily spreading in all directions.

"A maze formation confuses the senses." Mu Si said in a low voice, "My green vines' spread is also affected by the maze formation, making direction hard to discern. But these vines will keep spreading to other areas, constantly covering new ground. If they can grow endlessly, they can of course cover the entire maze formation and even grow beyond it. My mind is also merged into the vines; as long as a vine exits the formation, I will sense it."

"I just don't know how big this formation is. After all, if the range increases tenfold, my vines need to grow a hundred times more. The further it goes, the more yuan force I consume." Mu Si wasn't confident either.

"Fight." Dong Ziqi gritted his teeth. "Being trapped like this, we can only be slaughtered."

"Mm." Mu Si said no more and exerted himself to cast the spell.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh~~~

Countless vines grew wildly, but in the maze formation, direction was hard to discern, and the vines grew randomly. However, one thing was certain: they spread toward areas without vines, constantly covering new ground.

...

Another place.

Ji Ning, Ji Jiuhuo, and the others were here.

"The He Fang siblings are ahead." Ji Jiuhuo said. "I'll attack first, then the mist will part, and you'll see them. All of you strike to kill directly."

"Mm." Ji Ning nodded.

Whoosh!

Over seven hundred sword artifacts appeared around Ji Ning, each emitting a faint white light. The sword artifacts rose and fell slightly, drawing the power of heaven and earth to converge. Ji Ning's true yuan was also transformed through these sword artifacts, gathering into a dazzling white sword light before him.

The ninth layer of the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation!

"What a sharp sword light." Ji Jiuhuo, Granny Ying, and Old Servant A Xing were all startled. Even without contact, they could sense the sharpness of the sword light.

Granny Ying pointed into the distance, and three flying swords appeared before her, each with faint flames.

Old Servant A Xing raised his hand, and a black hammer appeared in it.

"Go." Ji Jiuhuo waved his hand, and a multicolored flying sword shot out. Ji Jiuhuo was famous for poisons and formations... though this flying sword was a graded magic treasure, strictly speaking it was a poison sword.

...

Thirty zhang ahead of Ji Ning were the siblings He Fang and He Xing. They had both used talismans, and golden light enveloped them. Around them, two magic treasures floated and flew: one shaped like an iron pestle, the other a strange jar-like treasure.

"We can't see our surroundings; they'll definitely ambush us. Be careful." The green-haired man He Fang said in a low voice.

"Mm." His sister He Xing was also alert.

Suddenly—

A multicolored flying sword descended instantly, incredibly fast. But the ever-vigilant He Fang siblings reacted immediately.

"Whoosh~~~" The floating jar suddenly spewed a large amount of green water, forming a tough, resilient curtain. When the multicolored flying sword struck the water curtain, it slowed down greatly.

"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"

Three flaming flying swords also shot over—Granny Ying's three flying sword treasures.

The He Fang siblings' faces changed drastically as they struggled to defend, but the water curtain began to falter.

"Boom!" A huge black hammer, incredibly fierce, directly pierced the unstable water curtain and then struck the golden light on He Xing's body. The golden light trembled as if about to shatter.

"Not good."

"Let's go. We're sitting ducks here." He Fang and He Xing were panicked by the successive attacks; clearly there were several opponents.

Swish!

A dazzling sword light traced an arc, leaving a beautiful trajectory, and instantly pierced through the trembling golden light on He Xing's body.