Chapter 8: Casualties

"This single ice arrow is enough to kill an ordinary Wanxiang Perfection cultivator." Cangjiang Zhenren urgently transmitted, "Everyone, form the formation quickly!"

"Form the formation, the Five Elements Five Directions Formation." Ji Ning transmitted.

"Good."

"This is too terrifying." Mu Zishuo shouted loudly.

"Hum~~" Ji Ning, Mu Zishuo, Yu Wei, Jiu Lian, and Cangjiang Zhenren were fellow disciples, and they naturally executed a Five Elements Five Directions Formation from the Black-White College. Such joint attack formations did not require Black-White tokens to exchange; they were compulsory for sect disciples.

With a movement of their five figures, light immediately appeared on each of them.

Some were golden light, some red light, some water-blue light, some yellow light, or green light.

"Whoosh." Once the formation was formed, Ji Ning felt slightly calmer. "The power of these ice arrows is too great. When I fought with Snowplume Daoist before, each drop of Heavenly Water he used injured my Waterfire Lotus but didn't break through it. Yet these three ice arrows can break my Waterfire Lotus; each arrow must be as powerful as a drop of Heavenly Water."

Snowplume Daoist only controlled a total of one hundred and eight drops of Heavenly Water... but the ice arrows here came in dense waves, continuously generated.

Even a Primordial Daoist would likely be killed by such a swarm attack!

"Ji Ning, you five are in front of me." Shaoyan Nong also transmitted, "You ten are behind me. Xue Hongyi and Buyou Zhenren, you are on my flanks."

Ji Ning's group of five was the strongest; after all, three of them were stronger than ordinary Primordial Daoists. Together, they were the most powerful and naturally stood in front of Shaoyan Nong, shielding him from the incoming arrows.

The ten Wanxiang Zhenren death warriors, though weaker, numbered ten. When they formed a formation, their power was also considerable, blocking the ice arrows behind Shaoyan Nong.

The remaining gaps...

Naturally, Xue Hongyi and Buyou Zhenren blocked them. They also executed the common 'Two-Person Formation,' which almost every cultivator knew, but its effect was limited, offering only a slight boost in strength. Still, it was better than nothing, so they used it.

"Trouble." Xue Hongyi cursed inwardly.

"This is truly dangerous." Buyou Zhenren was also anxious. They were already weaker than Ji Ning's group; Ji Ning's five formed a formation, while they only had two!

These ice arrows were enough to easily kill a Primordial Daoist.

"Pfft."

"Bang."

Xue Hongyi and Buyou Zhenren were in extreme danger.

"Young Master Shaoyan, we can't hold much longer." Xue Hongyi transmitted urgently.

"We can't hold on this side either." Buyou Zhenren was also panicked.

"Useless." Young Master Shaoyan cursed inwardly, also anxious. "The five disciples of the Black-White College are truly formidable."

"Hold on as long as you can... the longer we delay, the better our chances." Young Master Shaoyan transmitted quickly.

Cangjiang Zhenren transmitted, "Young Master Shaoyan, this formation restriction must have been left by the ancient Wu River Immortal. If the Wu River Immortal were here, the formation's power might be even more terrifying, capable of killing even loose immortals and earth immortals. Now that the Wu River Immortal is gone, though the formation's power is weaker, it's still not something we can withstand indefinitely. Our yuan power is finite, but this formation draws on the world's yuan power... it can continue endlessly! It will wear us down until we die. Our most important task now is to find a formation expert to identify the formation's weakness."

Trapped inside a formation, if one has a powerful formation expert, one might even casually walk out of the formation's range.

If one's study of formations is weaker, one should strive to find the formation's weak points... and use one's strength to attack the formation's weakness, thus increasing the chance of victory.

If one is too poor at formations...

One will be trapped inside the formation, at its mercy, forced to endure it head-on. That is the worst scenario.

"Young Master Shaoyan, you came to explore this immortal mansion; you must have a formation expert with you." Mu Zishuo transmitted.

Shaoyan Nong gritted his teeth. A formation expert? Of course he had one! But his formation expert was currently in the outer world of the immortal mansion! It was the godfiend—Xiangliu Fang.

Godfiends are born from heaven and earth. The godfiend Xiangliu Fang was born in the age of godfiends and has lived until now; one can imagine his long lifespan. However, godfiends are different from other races. They are true darlings of heaven, favored by the gods. They are born able to cultivate, born with great divine powers. Some Chaos Godfiends are even born grasping the Dao, even the Great Dao.

Thus, godfiends do not suffer the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations!

Their lifespans are also endless!

But—

Their cultivation is also extremely slow, and once they reach a certain level, they can no longer advance. For example, the godfiend Xiangliu Fang reached the 'Primordial level' countless eons ago. But he is still at the Primordial level now; his potential must be exhausted, and he will remain at the Primordial level forever.

However, their long lifespans allow godfiends to delve into other areas, such as the art of puppetry or formations, which require much time. Although their comprehension may be weaker, they have enough time. Xiangliu Fang is a true master of formations!

In the original arrangement, Xiangliu Fang was responsible for protecting Shaoyan Nong closely, and they were never supposed to separate.

But earlier... when they encountered a large number of demon soldiers, someone had to delay them, so Xiangliu Fang separated.

"Uncle Fang!" Shaoyan Nong was both anxious and regretful. "I shouldn't have let Uncle Fang leave me. Once this crisis is over and Uncle Fang returns, I will never let him leave my side, never!"

"Uncle Fang is skilled in formations." Shaoyan Nong transmitted quickly, "But Uncle Fang cannot enter now. Everyone... who among you is skilled in formations?"

"This is going to kill us!" Mu Zishuo was furious.

"That godfiend is skilled in formations?" Ji Ning and the others were speechless.

The one skilled in formations was now outside the sub-hall and couldn't enter. As for who among them was skilled in formations? They were all true geniuses, each focusing their energy on their own 'Dao.' Even Ji Ning, who had great talent in formations, mainly focused on the sword Dao, occasionally studying formations for amusement.

"Cangjiang Zhenren, Fire Rainbow Immortal, you are both reincarnated immortals. In your past lives, you must have studied formations. Have you recalled anything now?" Shaoyan Nong transmitted.

"We are only at the Wanxiang stage, occasionally recalling fragments. The art of formations is vast and profound; we must fully awaken to grasp our past life's insights into formations." Cangjiang Zhenren transmitted helplessly.

...

Shaoyan Nong, Ji Ning, and the others transmitted quickly.

But the ice arrows generated by the formation drawing on the world's power also came swiftly. The weak points in the protective circle—Xue Hongyi and Buyou Zhenren—were even injured.

"Young Master Shaoyan, we can't hold on." Xue Hongyi's left arm was stained with blood.

"We can't hold on." Buyou Zhenren also said quickly.

"Come in quickly." Shaoyan Nong had no choice but to order, "Ji Ning, Cangjiang Zhenren, you five... take over the area that Xue Hongyi and the others were defending."

Ji Ning and the others had no choice but to expand their formation's range, covering a larger area.

The larger the range, the more ice arrows they had to withstand!

"Whoosh."

"That was close."

Once Xue Hongyi and Buyou Zhenren took shelter, they both sighed in relief, quickly took elixirs, and began to recover.

"What to do, what to do." Shaoyan Nong thought anxiously. Although he had many protective treasures, breaking the ancient formation left by a Celestial Immortal was impossible. Of course, if he gave up on this trial, he could directly use 'Great Teleportation' to leave.

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

"I must break the formation. How? Right now, the five Black-White College disciples and the ten Wanxiang death warriors are holding on. But as time passes, their yuan power will be exhausted, and then there will be only death." Shaoyan Nong was extremely anxious.

At that moment—

From the chaotic void formation around them, a gray-black puppet with wings, a bull's body covered in spikes, and a tiger's head suddenly emerged—it was a Qiongqi puppet! This Qiongqi puppet appeared from the formation, its wings flapping, and it arced past the ten Wanxiang death warriors, directly clawing at the core, Young Master Shaoyan.

"Protect Young Master Shaoyan!" Xue Hongyi shouted.

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

Qiongqi puppets came roaring in. In an instant, eighteen Qiongqi puppets appeared around them. Ji Ning and the others were all occupied by the Qiongqi puppets, unable to protect Young Master Shaoyan.

"Break!"

A sword strike like moonlight slashed at a Qiongqi puppet. The puppet flew back more than ten zhang, then stopped and charged again.

Ji Ning, surrounded by over seven hundred flying swords, changed expression. Now that the five of them had formed a formation, his yuan power was greatly increased... yet using the ninth layer of the Small Thousand Sword Formation, he could only briefly repel this Qiongqi puppet?

"Be careful."

"These Qiongqi puppets all have the combat power of Primordial Daoists. Moreover, they are invulnerable to weapons, their bodies like magic treasures, making them even more troublesome than ordinary Primordial Daoists." Mu Zishuo, a genius in puppetry, knew the trouble as soon as he saw these Qiongqi puppets.

"All of them are puppets with Primordial Daoist combat power. Such puppets are extremely expensive, yet eighteen appear at once!" Ji Ning released sword light repeatedly, barely managing to hold off two Qiongqi puppets at a time.

Puppets with Primordial combat power would make even a loose immortal wince. But for a Celestial Immortal... buying eighteen such puppets was relatively easy.

...

Of the eighteen Qiongqi puppets, only ten were needed to fully occupy Ji Ning's group of five and the ten Wanxiang death warriors.

The remaining eight Qiongqi puppets directly attacked the core, Shaoyan Nong. These Qiongqi puppets were intelligent and knew that Shaoyan Nong was the 'ringleader.'

"Block them!"

"Be careful!"

Xue Hongyi and Buyou Zhenren, beside Shaoyan Nong, were also caught in the crossfire. When eight Qiongqi puppets surrounded them, Xue Hongyi and Buyou Zhenren panicked, as each Qiongqi puppet was not inferior to them, and these puppets had bodies like magic treasures, indestructible.

"Rip!" Sharp claws flashed like lightning across Buyou Zhenren's body, tearing him into shreds, blood splattering.

"No." Buyou Zhenren's eyes bulged. He had thought he could earn a favor from Young Master Shaoyan this time, but who would have thought he would die here.

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