Boom!
A deafening roar erupted the instant the flame dragon clashed with the golden barrier. The sound echoed across hundreds of li. Even within Tianlan Immortal City, the blast was heard as clear as day. It carried the resonance of a dragon’s cry, the rumble of thunder, and the clash of gold and iron.
In that instant, countless cultivators paused mid-task and turned toward the source of the commotion. Streaks of escape light flashed across the sky, converging on the battlefield from all directions.
At the center stood Luo Chen. He felt the full weight of the blast as the ground quaked beneath him. His thoughts stirred. So this is the power of a formation? That strike just now was almost on par with my Landslide at full power!
In the world of cultivation, there were many disciplines, including alchemy, formations, artifact forging, talismans, beast control, and spirit-vein grafting, but not all were considered to have the same value. Pills stood supreme, formations second, artifacts third, and talismans fourth.
No one disputed the dominance of alchemy. But there had always been debate over placing formations ahead of artifacts. After all, artifacts of some sort were essential to every cultivator; they were used daily and often as frequently as pills. Why should the art of formations rank above that? Some even dared rearrange the order: pills, artifacts, formations, and talismans.
Yet in the eyes of the great sects and true powerhouses, such talk was little more than the babble of children. The Dao of formations was endlessly variable. Its range of applications defied imagination, whether for cultivation, combat, defense, or spirit seals; formations were indispensable.
To formation masters, all things in heaven and earth were part of one vast formation. The contours of mountains, the flow of rivers, and the current of oceans were simply expressions of the Dao of formation.
At this moment, Luo Chen finally understood the truth. Only now, standing at the heart of this overwhelming spectacle, could he truly appreciate just how terrifying a properly prepared formation could be.
That last strike? It was only the first strike of the Ninefold Flame Dragon. Yet even that initial attack already matched the most devastating move in his arsenal.
What about when the formation reaches the ninth strike? Luo Chen wondered. How powerful will it become? Will it surpass the mid-stage Foundation Establishment? Or perhaps even the late stage? Could a mere second-tier formation unleash a strike on par with that of a Golden Core cultivator?
Luo Chen couldn’t estimate it, but his gaze upon Min Longyu’s back grew three shades more serious. This man, who had once switched allegiances midway and now served under Luo Chen, had proven himself again and again since achieving Foundation Establishment. Whether it was the defense of Danxia Peak, the extermination of the Geng family stronghold, or this current assault on the Divine Craftsman Sect, his strengths were on full display.
He was worth every effort and every spirit stone I invested in him, Luo Chen thought, satisfaction flickering behind his calm gaze.
After his reflection, Luo Chen composed himself. While the others watched breathlessly, waiting for the second wave of assault, he acted differently. He extended his spirit consciousness outward, letting it gently probe the still-active Ninefold Flame Dragon Formation.
Soon, he located the enchanted treasure anchoring the formation’s core. The Mystic Flame Sword!
That flying sword had been in his hands for five or six years, refined slowly and steadily. Luo Chen felt confident that if he were to use the sword now, whether in terms of number of times he could use it or raw destructive power, it would far surpass what Wang Haichao had once been capable of. If he was at full power, he could unleash it at least five times, and each strike would release at least forty percent of the sword’s peak power! That already outclassed supreme-grade enchanted artifacts, blood-inherited treasures, and even talismans containing thirty percent of a treasure’s power.
In Foundation Establishment combat, the sword was nothing short of a devastating weapon. Yet despite its overwhelming potential, wielding a true enchanted treasure across realms, especially for someone only newly in the Foundation Establishment, remained an exhausting task. No matter how low-grade the enchanted treasure might be, the burden on the body and spirit was immense. Great might comes at great cost.
Moreover, it lacked versatility. In battle, Luo Chen still preferred near-instant cast spells and supreme-grade enchanted artifacts in battle. That was why he hadn’t used it in the Qinhua River battle. It hadn’t been out of disdain for the Hu brothers or Wei Tuo.
Min Longyu had once told Luo Chen, "If you leverage the residual power of a great formation like this, you could refine a treasure in days, saving yourself decades of work."
If that were true, then this was an opportunity Luo Chen could not afford to miss. Without hesitation, he sat cross-legged on the ground. Following the method Min Longyu had taught him, he began crafting a minor restriction using his spirit consciousness, shaping a binding seal to harmonize with the formation.
At first, the formation resisted him faintly, its dragon-like resonance rumbling with warning. But once his spirit seal was in place, the entire formation seemed to recognize him, accepting him as part of itself
As I thought. Since the formation’s eye is anchored by my Mystic Flame Sword, which I’ve refined for years, the rejection is weak. With the Dragon Transformation Seal cloaking me, I can practically become part of the formation.
Luo Chen’s spirit consciousness sank into the Mystic Flame Sword. At that moment, it was as though he had become a sword spirit, and within the rhythm of the functioning formation, he felt himself taking on the role of the formation spirit as well.
The Dragon Transformation Seal truly is a profound and wondrous restriction! Luo Chen sighed in amazement.
He wasted no more time and activated the Mystic Flame Sword, letting it gradually absorb the fire-element spirit energy. As fire-element spirit energy continued to pour in, his roles as "sword spirit" and "formation spirit" subtly merged into one. His control over the sword grew sharper, more refined, with every passing moment.
***
While Luo Chen tapped into the formation to temper his weapon, Min Longyu’s assault on the Divine Craftsman Sect only grew more ferocious.
The first strike of the Flame Dragon had merely been a probe. By the end of the first day, he had already raised the formation’s power to the third strike!
By then, the flame dragon’s strikes had fully reached the late stage Foundation Establishment in power. The golden barrier no longer held its earlier stability. Each impact sent golden ripples shuddering across its surface.
On the second day, Min Longyu pushed the formation to the fourth strike The emerging flame dragon even began to show faint, semi-real outlines of scaled armor. The force of this new assault left all the spectators utterly stunned. And if mere bystanders were shocked, the inner ranks of the Divine Craftsman Sect were even worse off.
When Fei Changqiu entered the central formation hall, he found the Grand Elder pacing anxiously, muttering to himself, "How is this possible?! Why is this happening?"
"Grand Elder, what’s wrong?" Fei Changqiu asked uneasily.
The Grand Elder snapped back to himself, a trace of panic in his eyes. "Each strike from the Luo Tian Society surpasses late-stage Foundation Establishment power."
"So what?" Fei Changqiu frowned. "Didn’t you say before that even if late-stage Foundation cultivators attacked, we could hold out for months?"
"It’s different, this is different!" The Grand Elder muttered and suddenly looked up. "The enemy has a formation master. It’s not brute force. They’re using the cycle of the five elements. They’re using fire to overcome metal, trying to destabilize our formation directly!"
Fei Changqiu’s expression changed dramatically, but he still held onto a shred of hope. "Didn’t we have the formation set up with both metal and earth to balance the cycle?"
Yes, fire suppressed metal. But earth resisted fire. And with the support of the mountain’s veins, the formation should have been able to counteract such attacks."
To his shock, the Grand Elder let out a bitter laugh. "It’s changed. Everything’s changed. There’s no such thing as a formation that remains forever unchanging. Our Divine Craftsman Sect has always focused on artifact forging. Every year, when we reinforced the formation, we added more and more metallic ores to increase its offensive strength. Now it’s completely dominated by metal. The balance with earth is long gone."
Fei Changqiu’s mouth dropped open. His eyes glinted with traces of fear.
The Grand Elder wasn’t finished. "Their formation master found our weakness and laid the purest fire formation possible. And this... is only the beginning.
"Six months? I fear... we won’t last even six days!"
***
Seven days?
That had been Min Longyu’s original estimate, but if he recalculated it now, he wouldn’t even need that long.
"President’s Mystic Flame Sword may be low-grade, but its ability to amplify fire-element power is exceptional," he muttered to himself. "I didn’t factor that in...."
His eyes flickered as he ran the numbers again. "At this rate... five days will be enough. More than enough."
Five days!
Min Longyu’s eyes gleamed with brilliance as he continued to command the formation, drawing out every ounce of its power.
On the third day, the flame dragon reached its fifth strike.
On the fourth day, it advanced to the sixth!