"A turtle in a jar, a trapped beast fighting in vain!" Shan Xiu raised his arm to the sky. From the heavens descended a massive spear of ice, three zhang long, its surface glittering with frost and radiating a murderous chill.
With a sharp command, he shouted, "Go!"
Inside the formation, Zhou Yuanli’s eyes were glued to the sky, watching the enormous ice spear descend like a judgment. He paced the perimeter of the defensive formation with mounting urgency, his face pale with tension.
"Hold on... No matter what, we must hold on!" he muttered under his breath, as if sheer will could strengthen the crumbling defense.
The next moment, the ice spear crashed against the earthen-yellow barrier, producing a piercing screech, like metal grating against bone.
Crack... Crack... Crack...
For several breaths, the two forces clashed before the ice spear dissolved into nothing, leaving behind only a lingering chill in the air. The weakened barrier flickered for a moment before stabilizing, as firm as a mountain once more.
It seemed fragile, but in reality, it was unshakable!
Seeing this, Zhou Yuanli let out a long sigh of relief.
Then he looked down to find the pile of spirit stones beneath his feet had turned into nothing but fine, gray dust.
Puff! Puff! Puff!
“Someone! Replenish the spirit stones!” he shouted. Behind him, several cultivators rushed forward, tossing fresh spirit stones onto the array’s supply nodes.
Outside the formation, Shan Xiu let out a low growl, his breath misting with fury. He glared at the shimmering dome of the Earth Guardian Array, which had now taken on the unbreakable demeanor of a turtle’s shell.
He turned sharply and stormed toward Gao Tingyuan.
"You bastards!" he barked. "Am I the only one actually attacking? Are the rest of you just here to watch?"
Lan Tianyun stepped between them, his expression dark. “Watch your tone. Didn’t Second Brother already send over sixty mid stage Qi-Refining cultivators to support your assault?”
“If a handful of Qi-Refining cultivators could take down a first-tier array, would the Earth Guardian Array even be worthy of its name?”
Shan Xiu was still dissatisfied. His eyes settled on Gao Tingyuan, standing silently beside Lan Tianyun, the man who had issued all the commands so far. And yet, Shan Xiu couldn’t shake the feeling that the man had simply been putting on a show.
Gao Tingyuan pushed past Lan Tianyun and slowly stepped forward, his eyes fixed on the massive barrier that enveloped Crescent Moon Valley.
“This has gone on long enough,” he murmured.
Then he turned slightly and spoke to someone behind him. "Fellow Daoist Min, after all this time and all these attempts, have you found a way?"
Shan Xiu was taken aback and instinctively turned to the silent man who had stood at the back all this time.
No, that wasn’t right. He had spoken before. But that had been inside the soundproof array, discussing something with Gao Tingyuan alone.
Now, it all made sense. Shan Xiu and the other mid stage Qi-Refining cultivators had merely been pawns, testing the formation's strength, exposing its weaknesses.
Was he a formation master?
As Shan Xiu’s realization took root, Min Longyu chuckled softly and stepped forward, producing an octagonal formation disk from within his robe.
“Using the earth’s qi as its veins... and the valley’s terrain as its bones...”
"Embrace unity and uphold the center, You reside at the Dui Palace. [1]
"As the earth’s qi dissipates and the valley erodes, the signs now show metal flourishing and earth weakening. Thus, when metal thrives, it strikes; when earth wanes, it crumbles.
"This formation is already broken!"
Laughter grew louder. He tossed the formation disc into the sky, where it hovered above the earthen-yellow barrier of the Earth Guardian Array. Beams of multicolored light continuously radiated from it. Each beam struck the barrier like a mud ox sinking into the sea, causing no visible reaction.
Shan Xiu, Fuzhang, and the other attackers watched in confusion.
Compared to the earlier assault led by mid-stage Qi-Refining cultivators, this looked pitiful. But the longer it continued, the more wrong it felt. One by one, the beams sank into the barrier, and the ground began to tremble softly. At first, like the murmur of something buried deep.
Then, the quake spread.
The entire Crescent Moon Valley began to shudder violently. Boulders tumbled from cliff sides. Dust filled the air. Within the valley, cultivators shouted in alarm, either soaring upward on enchanted artifacts or relying on Wind-Control to hover just above the unstable terrain.
Large chunks of rock tumbled down, forcing the valley’s cultivators to either activate their enchanted artifacts and soar into the air or activate Wind-Control to barely lift themselves off the ground.
"Not good, the formation is about to collapse!" Murong Qinglian blurted out.
Gu Caiyi’s expression was tense as she instinctively clutched Luo Chen’s sleeve. "The reinforcements haven't arrived, and the enemy is overwhelming. When the formation breaks, you must protect yourself."
Luo Chen answered only with a faint hum, calm in the face of encroaching ruin. He turned his hand and gently clasped hers in return. Gu Caiyi froze.
In the next moment, she felt something smooth and warm drop into her palm—a blood-red medicinal pill. Her eyes widened, but Luo Chen had already nodded and turned away.
“Sister-in-law,” he called to Murong Qinglian, “help me retrieve the other two alchemy furnaces from the alchemy rooms.”
At a time like this, he was still thinking about that? Murong Qinglian thought and sighed helplessly and followed him into the alchemy room.
Inside the Alchemy Hall, anxiety roiled like smoke.
Granny Yuan stood near the front, speaking in hushed tones to her eldest son, Yuan Dongsheng. Sikong Shoujia paced restlessly, muttering and cursing under his breath. Zhou Yuanli had gathered Liu Qiang, Dongfang Liang, and several other late-stage Qi-Refining cultivators, whispering rapid orders, his face tight with urgency.
Boom!
A sudden, thunderous explosion echoed through the valley. The Earth Guardian Array was on the brink of collapse!
Within Crescent Moon Valley, every cultivator raised their heads toward the sky.
Above them, hundreds of enemy cultivators filled the sky, densely packed, their silhouettes blotting out the stars. Streaks of spirit light flickered, illuminating the night with dazzling brilliance.
At the front of the formation, a commanding voice rose above the chaos, “On this day, the Dajiang Gang together with the Lianyun Trade Alliance and Xuanyi Society declares war on the Poshan Gang!
“The destruction of the Poshan Gang is inevitable.