Chapter 421: The Inverse Formation, Root and All Severed (I)

The Danyuan Sect's formation was nothing to boast about. At full capacity, it could barely withstand two or three strikes from a Foundation Establishment cultivator. In truth, it was even weaker than the Small Five Elements Formation Miao Wen had once gifted Luo Chen.

Against an ordinary Initiate, it might have lasted a while. Against Wang Yuan, however, the result was different. His blood qi condensed to the utmost, and a close-range strike followed.

Boom!!!

The explosion thundered across ten li, reverberating in every direction. Under the stunned gazes of countless rogue cultivators, Yuanhe Mountain erupted in a blaze of light as large sections of its foundations crumbled on the spot.

Had Min Longyu been here, he would have scoffed. "What a joke, who made the earth vein anchoring this shallow?"

The shattered formation offered no resistance. Several late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators within the mountain spat blood and fell dead instantly.

The Transmission Elder rose into the air, fury blazing in his eyes.

"Perfected Mastery of the Qi Refinement Realm?" Wang Yuan frowned and casually unleashed a burst of energy that looked like a crimson star.

The elder summoned his defensive enchanted artifact. A strange scene unfolded: The crimson star curved around his body, then streaked back from behind and pierced clean through his forehead.

The elder plummeted to the ground, eyes wide in death.

Wang Yuan gave a slight nod. "Indeed, Bright Force still has room for variation. The first form of the Divine Blood Tribulation Finger has finally taken shape."

With this new insight gained, Wang Yuan raised his right hand and then swung it down fiercely.

"Kill!"

At his command, cultivators from the Alchemy Hall and Outer Hall stormed into Yuanhe Mountain. The fiercest among them were the newly joined Outer Hall members of the Luo Tian Society, who were charging ahead with unmatched zeal as they sought to prove themselves.

Meanwhile, Wang Yuan remained motionless in the sky, showing no intent to strike again. He had already done enough.

Before setting out that morning, Luo Chen had personally issued clear instructions. Against opponents of equal power, they could fight without restraint. Against weaker cultivators, restraint was to be shown. They were not to indulge in excessive slaughter. Otherwise, the city's enforcement teams would not stand idly by.

That was the unspoken rule known to all. If Foundation Establishment cultivators began killing indiscriminately, the hundreds of thousands of Qi Refinement rogue cultivators living in Tianlan Immortal City would never survive the carnage.

Worse still, if Wang Yuan and the others slaughtered too many low-tier cultivators, they would be branded as devil cultivators. The Jade Cauldron Domain had long since issued strict decrees against such heretics. Any who indulged in killing would cause the major sects to unite against them, and extermination would follow. Luo Chen had no intention of letting the rising Luo Tian Society be branded as a devil faction.

Wang Yuan suppressed his impulses and presided over the battlefield from above. His attention was split, overseeing the fight while also keeping a watchful eye on Qu Lingjun, Ma Shoupu, Feng Xia, and the others.

Whether it was the death of the Danyuan Sect's sect master, the destruction of their formation, or Shen Gongyi's shameful retreat, or perhaps all of it combined, the disciples of the Danyuan Sect had come to a grim realization. The tide had turned, and their sect was finished.

With a Foundation Establishment cultivator looming above them like a god ready to strike, they barely held their ranks for another moment before panic overtook them. The lines shattered, and the disciples of the Danyuan Sect scattered in every direction.

Some Luo Tian Society cultivators attempted to pursue the fleeing Danyuan Sect's disciples. But after being scolded by their leaders, they stopped once they reached Yuanhe Mountain's boundary. The priority was no longer revenge; it was plunder. The sect's wealth had to be secured.

Amid endless wails, bloodshed and fire continued unabated. After this battle, the Danyuan Sect would be as good as erased from Tianlan Immortal City. Those who escaped would never again pose a threat to the Luo Tian Society.

Meanwhile, on another front, the Battle Hall cultivators led by Sima Xian were striking their own targets: Sky Eagle Peak and the Jade True Temple!

These two places lacked the Danyuan Sect's connections. Their intelligence came late, their ties were weak, and they had no Foundation Establishment support to call upon. When Xing Zhonghan appeared and broke through Sky Eagle Peak's formation by force, the slaughter began.

Unlike Wang Yuan, Xing Zhonghan carried a blood feud with the Ying family. Even after killing the family head, he showed no signs of stopping. Despite his injuries, his spirit consciousness blanketed the battlefield. Any cultivator at the ninth stage of Qi Refinement fell beneath his ruthless hand.

Wherever he passed, rivers of blood followed. Not one opponent could last a single exchange.

Watching the carnage, Sima Xian felt a shiver run through his heart.

A Foundation Establishment Initiate... truly terrifying.

Yet he remembered Luo Chen's instructions and stayed calm.

"Men, follow me to the summit! We take those seven eagle nests! The president specifically ordered them to be delivered to him!"

At his command, a squad of eighth-stage Qi Refinement cultivators surged up the Sky Eagle Peak behind him.

***

The Geng family's estate was situated perilously close to Danxia Peak, no more than a few dozen li away. At a cultivator's pace, it was a journey as brief as the time it takes to steep a cup of tea. Like the late Fu family, they had built a massive fortress and lived clustered within its walls. The outer part housed the mortals, while the inner part were reserved for cultivators. The deeper one went, the stronger the cultivation and the higher the status.

Along the main road, a lone figure walked at an unhurried pace. His steps were neither heavy nor light; his gaze swept across the surroundings as though making quiet observations.

As he passed the sand-drying fields, a burly Geng family mortal called out warily, "Who goes there? What are you looking around for?"

Min Longyu smiled faintly and gave no reply, simply continuing forward. Seeing him walk instead of flying like most cultivators, the mortals mistook him for an ordinary traveler and moved to block his path.

But before they could get close, a gentle force rippled outward and pushed them aside.

"He's a cultivator!"

"Spare us, Senior!"

"We were blind fools..."

Their voices faded behind him. By the time Min Longyu reached within a thousand meters of the fortress, patrols of low-tier Qi Refinement cultivators stepped forward to question him. But what greeted them were strands of eerie spirit energy emanating from Min Longyu. Wherever the energy passed, these Qi Refinement cultivators collapsed unconscious.

At a distance of a hundred meters from the fortress gates, late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators appeared on the battlements. Many wore luxurious robes, clearly the higher ranks of the Geng family. Their expressions hardened as they stared down at him.

Without a word exchanged, the family activated their grand formation. Misty yellow light rose, enveloping the fortress in its glow.

Min Longyu let out a low chuckle. "As expected, the mountain veins remain unchanged. The structure of the formation is still the same. Even now, you're using the very formation my Min family set up a hundred years ago."

His body lifted gently into the air. Under the watchful eyes of hundreds of the Geng family cultivators, he scattered small formation flags in every direction.

"What is he doing?"

"No idea. Seems bizarre."

"Doesn't matter. The Geng family's formation isn't some cheap formation; it's a genuine second-tier defensive formation! Even a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator would need three days to break it!"

"I've already contacted an old Foundation Establishment ally. He'll be here at the latest by tomorrow. If we just hold out for now..."