79 Fighting Array
Her husband Lin Xu is facing a tough battle, as his wife and future mother of their child, Jing Shu doesn't think she should just stay at home waiting for the final result, she wants to prove her own worth, not just being a beautiful 'flower vase' under the halo of Mountain God's wife.
Although he didn't have a formal wife, Lin Xu's household had Meng Yanran and Jing Shu as his two concubines. Out of consideration for fairness, he didn't show particular affection to either of them. However, in her heart, Jing Shu always felt that her husband might prefer Meng Yanran slightly more. The reason for this suspicion wasn't just because of Meng Yanran's pure human bloodline, but also because she had the backing of Huang Shiran, the Landlord. This initial ally had a deep connection with Lin Xu and could provide assistance in many ways. For example, when Lin Xu encountered trouble and couldn't extricate himself, it was through Huang Shiran's connections that he managed to invite the help of the Yin-Yang family.
It is said that even if you don't look at the monk's face, you should look at the Buddha's face. The importance of this old land will obviously increase Meng Yanran's weight in Lin Xu's mind, which is also something Jing Shu cannot tolerate.
A foolish woman may cause her husband's dislike by being quarrelsome and ill-tempered, but a wise woman will quietly increase her influence in the home.
More than three years ago, Jing Xiu was already pregnant shortly after her wedding. However, the nine-tailed fox tribe has a special gift, and the fetus needs to grow in the mother's body until it is fully ripe before it can be born. The time required for this process is many times that of human pregnancy. Considering this, if Meng Yanran were also pregnant during this period, what would Jing Xiu do? She couldn't just cling to one tree, this was her subconscious thought. For a woman to show off her strengths, the best way is to be gentle and considerate, but in this aspect, Jing Xiu didn't have much of an advantage. She and Meng Yanran could only tie. To overwhelm a powerful competitor, she had to come up with another strategy to highlight her own value.
The nine-tailed fox Qingqiu family's reputation in Huo Mountain is like a golden signboard, and Jingyi, as the eldest daughter of the family, can talk to any demon king. This time, after some deliberation, Jingyi chose several influential demons as the breakthrough point for her plan to win them over.
Just now, Jingyu specially sent the most reliable sixth brother to send those few letters, telling these few demon kings the harm, and advising them to secretly cooperate with Lin Xu, not to follow Huo Shanjun's advice to surrender.
Currently, Huo Shan Jun, the tiger demon, is leading a motley crew with ulterior motives. The various demon kings' suspicions of the ambitious Huo Shan Jun far exceed their distrust of Lin Xu, who doesn't get along with the demon clan. Therefore, Jing Xiu never thought that Huo Shan Jun could accomplish anything by relying on this ragtag group.
Perhaps in the first two years after Lin Xu took office, if Huo Shan Jun was reckless and staked everything on one throw, there would still be a considerable chance of success.
Alas, time has passed and circumstances have changed. Under the vast sky, there is no "regret medicine" that can be used to undo what has been done. Whether this battle array of Lord Huo will succeed or not depends on whether Heaven is willing to specially take care of it.
She gazed after her sixth brother as he departed, her right hand gently stroking her slightly bulging abdomen. A hint of disdain flickered in her eyes - she was capable of doing something that would make Lin Xu look at her with newfound respect.
Facing this unprecedented test, Sima Changkong calculated it three times in a row, convinced that it was accurate and flawless. He let out a breath of relief and couldn't help but secretly rejoice. Fortunately, before embarking on this journey, he had seen those few pages of residual fragments from Liu Deming's hands. If it weren't for this, which led to the matter of consulting with historians, knowing in advance the details of this tongue-twisting array name, adding some chances of winning, the reputation of the 'Yin' Yang family being undefeated for a thousand years might be lost on this Huo Mountain.
Beside him, Lin Xu immediately stepped forward and asked:
"Does the Grand Master have a way to break through?"
Hearing this, Sima Changkong, who had exhausted all his mental calculations, spoke with slightly cautious words:
"Victory and defeat are evenly matched, I also don't have a sure win in my grasp."
He narrowed his eyes, gazing at the not-too-distant mountain shrouded in mist and cloud, as if it were another world's grand array. Lin Xu's gaze was profound, making one's heart skip a beat. A moment later, he spoke with a resolute tone:
"Half of the opportunities have already been lost, next, we will rely on the great wine god's magical powers."
At this time, he glanced back at his old friend Zheng Duan, who was writing with great enthusiasm and recording the battle situation of the day. Sima Changkong dryly laughed twice and said:
"Alas! I'll try my best."
There was a famous saying that any strong fortress is broken from within, and this time should be no exception.
As Liu Lang secretly delivered the letters written by Hu Xian's own hand to the desks of the great demons, the undercurrents in Huo Mountain also began to surge. Those demon kings who were already unwilling to support Huo Mountain Jun and Lin Xu against each other now started to make their own calculations.
"The Nine Heavens Ten Earths Eight Wastes Million Demons Formation", this grand formation has only been laid out twice since the ancient demon saint Bai Ze first created it. As for the last time it appeared in front of the world, it was during the war between the ancient god Nong and the demon tribe. Due to the passage of time being too long ago, the forgotten events have almost become vague mythological stories, unless one is a historian who specializes in studying old records, otherwise both humans and demons have long forgotten this grand formation.
The revival of this grand array has another story. In the past few years, Lord Hoshan searched for materials to refine the treasure and brought the little monsters to excavate ancient tombs in the vicinity of Mount Hoshan at night, obtaining an ancient beast skin array diagram from the burial objects that had been passed down since ancient times.
The array diagram was originally drawn on a piece of animal skin that was densely covered with holes of various sizes. This strange and tough animal skin, which was resistant to even sword cuts, had numerous regular holes that did not appear to be damaged by sharp objects or insect bites, but rather seemed to have been corroded by some kind of strong acid.
Of course, it's not hard to guess that in these caves, the contents of the array diagram that were once depicted clearly and meticulously have all been destroyed. At least one thing should be acknowledged: Ho Shan Jun's eyesight was still quite good, he spent some time identifying the value of this beast skin, and immediately took it back to the cave like a treasure. After that, in order to repair the array diagram, Bei Daifu secretly gathered a group of powerful demons skilled in numerology and array methods to help him break through, but unfortunately, everything has its own strengths and weaknesses.
Even if the collective wisdom and experience of many great demons were gathered, with all one's heart and soul devoted to making up for its deficiencies, a flawed product is still a flawed product. Too many details that are fabricated out of thin air 'confuse' this grand formation.
The "Nine Heavens Ten Earths Eight Wastes Million Demons Formation" in front of him could barely maintain normal operation, which was already giving face to the old master of Huo Mountain. Its actual power compared to the original formation diagram of the ancient era can only be said to have lost its subtlety and deviated by a thousand miles.
"Hiss!"
Lin Xue and his team decided to start breaking the formation, and the first one to enter the formation was naturally the 'Yin' Yangjia Quan Team led by Sima Changkong, a master of formation methods.
In the thick fog, after walking over a hundred steps, Sima Longkong suddenly stopped in his tracks. He stood still and counted on his fingers, then held up the Cloud Board and pointed forward, shouting loudly. It was strange to say that from the dense fog that seemed empty at first, a mournful cry echoed back. Afterwards, only a small demon was seen falling from somewhere, heavily crashing onto the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood before dying on the spot.
This line of work, just one stretch of the hand and you'll know if it's there or not. For a master who specializes in the 'yin' and 'yang', the five elements, and the way of numerology, walking a path and calculating as they go is the most basic requirement. If they were to follow those ordinary feng shui masters, holding a luopan and calculating for half a day before coming to a conclusion, it would be utterly shameful to their ancestors.
Here is the translation:
On this side, Sima Changkong made a move and broke through one of the nodes in the large array. Indeed, it was quite impressive, but this large array was driven by Huo Shanjun and tens of thousands of other demons. Sima Changkong's single move only killed a small demon, and the damage to the entire array wasn't even worth mentioning.
At this time, Lin Xu nervously approached Sima Changkong and said:
"Great Master of Wine, where shall we go next?"
At the sound, Sima Longkong looked around cautiously and said seriously:
"This formation is the last remnant of the ancient killing array, and it becomes stronger when encountered with strength. Originally, there was no clever way to break it. Just now, I observed from outside the formation and found that its operation seems to have a hindrance. It must be that Ho Shan Jun has not obtained the complete formation diagram, so for now we still have a method to quickly break this formation."
Lin Xu's spirit shook slightly, and he nodded his head saying:
"Oh, I'd love to hear more about it."
The handsome young man-like Sima Changkong paused for a moment and explained to the people present:
"This array can be divided into eight 'gates': Xuan, Ming, Sheng, Si, Kai, Ming, Xiuxi, and Huan. The direction we entered the array from just now is the southwest Huan 'gate', which must have been left by Lord Huoshan as a path to enter the array. Along this route, I calculated the changes in the array's momentum, and the opening of the gate should be at due north right now. As long as we break out from there, this array will be broken in half."
Relying on professionals can save endless "mental" effort. Not to mention that humans cannot do everything perfectly, even gods cannot reach the top level in all fields.
After a moment's thought, Lin Xu chose to accept Sima Changkong's professional advice and said:
"Alright then, I'll trouble you, Great Sommelier, to lead the way."
It's rare to encounter a long-lost mysterious formation, and Sima Changkong's desire for victory was stirred up, he smiled slightly and said loudly:
"Gentlemen, please follow me."
Where there is a law, there is also a way to break it. The more "precise" and complex the system is, the easier it is to malfunction. As long as you grasp the weakness and take action, it often only takes one click to destroy everything.
As the 'Yin' Yang family members dismantled the formation one by one, breaking through each node within the array, they quickly killed their way to the 'gate' located at the northernmost part of the large array. At this time, Huo Shanjun felt increasingly unable to control the entire formation's operation and changes.
In a fit of rage, Huo Shanjun's face turned as red as pig liver and he suddenly stood up, looking down at Lin Xu and others who were about to break out of the formation, and said in a gloomy tone:
"Hmph, don't think that just because I've broken through your formation, I'm out of tricks."
The Dou Array was the original plan, but when Huo Shan Jun learned that the 'yin' and 'yang' families who were proficient in array methods had mixed in, he quickly realized that relying solely on the Dou Array would be difficult to achieve his goal. Therefore, he changed the previously established battle plan, directly using the Dou Array as a pretext to lure out the snake from its hole. This time, Huo Shan Jun was well-prepared, and he lured Lin Xu's true body of gold from the old mountain temple at the foot of Tianzhu Peak, that impregnable lair, with the intention of using the victorious treasure of the Huo Shan Demon Alliance, which had gathered an army of 100,000.
With just a ten-to-one absolute numerical advantage, as long as it's not that kind of commander who is so bad at tactics that even the gods are angry, simply using this clumsy tactic of attrition would be enough to exhaust any opponent, and this is what is called "one power subdues ten".
