Chapter 41: Breaking the Formation

  The atmosphere on the observation deck became increasingly oppressive, with everyone's expression tense and ready to fight. Big Cow pulled up Xiang Yougan, who was unwilling to give up, and quickly followed Hu Dahai in front.

  Ren Tieying never thought that this "priceless" "Qian Kun Shenyin Fu" would bring the five Waterborne Ghosts to the sky above Yuding Mountain, and it just so happened to appear at the most critical moment.

  Half a day has passed, and the thick ice on the ground still hasn't melted at all. The iron wing lies quietly on the cold muddy ground, unable to move even an inch, although consciousness is slowly awakening, the pain in its limbs hasn't eased for a moment.

  "His name was Wumu, a discarded disciple of the Jade Cauldron Sect. How nice! You're not one to yield easily, are you? Well, I'll grant your wish and let you taste the thrill of having your technique reversed! When all your meridians are severed and you become a cripple who can't even stand up, I wonder if your bones will still be so stubborn? And whether this Guardian General's position will still be secure?" The white-robed youth's cold laughter echoed in Tieyi's ears.

  "It's actually stupid to use the 'Qian Kun Shen Dun Fu' treasure on five small Qi-refining children, it's really a waste of heaven's materials! After I capture Wu Mu, I'll kill one by one the five little ones you entrusted with. At that time, you will know the consequences of killing my Ice Seal Valley cultivators!" Iron Wing's mind flashed back to the scenes of that day, as if doing so could prevent his brain from falling into a coma again. Iron Wing was clear in his heart that if he fell unconscious once more, he might never wake up again.

  Wu Mu Dao Ren, Tie Xin Tang, Da Niu, Shui Sheng, Wang Long, and Xiao Juan - the shadows of these six people appeared in Tie Yi's mind like a revolving lantern, and another wave of unbearable stinging pain came over him. As his consciousness began to blur, death seemed inevitable. But then, from afar, a man's shout echoed: "Quick, look! There's a dead person lying here."

  The northern peak of Yuding Mountain, the Ice Seal Valley, the Huoling Sect, and the Tianxin Sect had hundreds of cultivators who, after nearly two hours of continuous attack, finally managed to break open a large opening of several tens of meters in the mountain's protective array. The three sects' cultivators were overjoyed, and under the leadership of the Golden Elixir cultivators, they charged into the array one by one, wielding their magical artifacts and shouting loudly. But who would have thought that less than a hundred people had just entered when the opening was suddenly closed again? A huge transparent protective screen flickered with spiritual light before once again completely covering the Yuding Mountain's protective array. Then, thick white mist re-covered the light screen.

  The crowd outside the mountain was shocked. Mei Ji personally took action, manipulating the golden seal to launch attack after attack, and commanding the remaining eight Jindan cultivators to manipulate the six-sided hammer and silver broadsword to assist in the attack. After half an hour, under the alternating impact of the three heavy treasures, they finally broke through the prohibition array again, creating a new breach.

  Who would have thought that nearly a hundred cultivators who entered for the first time did not rush out of the broken hole, and there was no sound of fighting coming from the broken hole. It seemed as if all the hundreds of cultivators who had entered the Jade Cauldron Mountain had fallen, and among those cultivators, there were even ten Golden Dan period cultivators.

  Inside the broken hole, it was quiet and still, without even a hint of fighting sounds. Mei Ji and the remaining eight Golden Dan stage cultivators simultaneously extended their divine sense into the broken hole, only to be bounced back by an invisible restriction. Everyone suddenly fell silent, all eyes fixed on Mei Ji. Mei Ji was hesitating, wondering whether to lead the eight Golden Dan stage cultivators in a joint charge into the large array. Before she could act, however, the broken hole suddenly healed once again.

  For a moment, everyone was stunned, and they were all thinking in their minds. The two times the Jade Tripod Gate's Mountain Protection Grand Array was broken through, could it be that the Jade Tripod Gate disciples inside were actually sabotaging, intentionally opening up the grand array to lure the three sects' disciples into the sect, and then proceeding to annihilate them? If so, did this mean that the three sects' disciples never had the ability to break through the Jade Tripod Gate's Mountain Protection Grand Array in the first place?

  Even Mei Ji's heart began to waver, and as the sky had already darkened, they could only stop their attack. They left behind a guardian to protect the attacking array's eye, then the three sects' cultivators each retreated back to their own bases.

  For more than two years, since the three religions' monks completely besieged Yuding Mountain, there has never been such a heavy loss as today. It is inevitable that there will be much discussion and people's minds will be disturbed.

  The Jade Cauldron Sect originally had five Nascent Soul stage cultivators, with a strength ranking fourth among the nine provinces' seven major sects. They were once an existence that made the cultivators of the nine provinces look up to them. Who would have thought that five years ago, a shocking piece of news spread from within the Jade Cauldron Sect: four out of the five Nascent Soul stage cultivators had mysteriously disappeared one after another. This news spread like wind among the upper echelons of the seven major sects, naturally stirring up some hostile forces to make their move.

  Yu Xū True Person back in the day at Jade Cauldron Mountain refined and transformed the Pre-Heavenly True Energy, cultivated the Supreme Divine Ability, established the Jade Cauldron Sect, held the Immortal Sword in hand and slaughtered all the remaining demons in Zhongzhou. From then on, the Jade Cauldron Sect stood tall and proud among the nine states, gathering talented individuals from far and wide. Nowadays, there are at least nearly a thousand disciples studying the arts on Jade Cauldron Mountain. The spiritual energy of Jade Cauldron Mountain has always been ranked among the top three in the great sects of the nine states, making it a victorious land for immortals. According to legend, within the Jade Cauldron Sect's Yu Xū and Jade Cauldron palaces are hidden countless rare treasures, divine elixirs, and secret manuals of cultivation techniques.

  Yu Xujian, the True Person, and his five great disciples collected the essence of the Five Elements and used a mysterious large array to summon the Nine Heavens Thunderfire. The five divine swords they carefully refined are invincible treasures of the immortal family. Who among cultivators does not know that only artifacts personally refined by Transcendent Realm cultivators can surpass top-grade artifacts, and be worthy of being called divine weapons?

  At first, no one would have believed that this rumor was true, and no one dared to take the idea of Yu Ding Gate lightly. Unexpectedly, after a thorough investigation by someone with ulterior motives, it was discovered that among the five Yuan Ying cultivators of Yu Ding Gate, only Xuan Guang Dao Ren still appeared in public.

  For the seven major immortal sects, this is a great opportunity to expand their territory and seize treasures. As a result, the two major forces of Bingfeng Valley and Huoling Zong, who have always been at odds with Yuding Gate, sent out Yuan Ying cultivators one after another to spy on Yuding Mountain. Finally, it even drew in Tianxin Sect of Yandang Mountain, which is closest to Yuding Gate, into the fray. This led to today's joint attack by the three sects on Yuding Gate's mountain protection array.

  Since the three major sects each sent 200-300 elite disciples to join forces and besiege Yuding Mountain, the Yuding Gate disciples scattered in the surrounding hundreds of miles were either killed or forced to retreat into the valleys within Yuding Mountain.

  Helpless, the Jade Cauldron Sect had to abandon most of the spiritual veins and mines outside the Jade Cauldron Mountain, close all the passages in and out of the valley inside the Jade Cauldron Mountain, and gather all the disciples living around the Jade Cauldron Mountain within a thousand miles into the valley inside the Jade Cauldron Gate, only entering but not leaving, and activate the mountain protection array.

  The Yu Ding Mountain Protection Array was personally set up by the immortal cultivator, Yu Xū Zhēn Rén. Its power is enormous. For three years, the three sects have been besieging Yu Ding Mountain, with four Yuan Ying cultivators leading fifty Jīn Dān period cultivators and hundreds of Liàn Qì level cultivators, as well as hundreds of low-level demon beasts and tens of thousands of ferocious wolves, surrounding the valley inside Yu Ding Mountain, yet they were unable to break through the Protection Array or capture a single main peak. If there was even a slight lapse, the Yu Ding Sect would take advantage of the terrain to concentrate their forces and launch a brief counterattack against one side, killing and wounding some cultivators from the three sects before quickly retreating back into the Protection Array.

  For a time, both sides suffered heavy casualties, with two or three hundred disciples falling on each side.

  Among the three sects, although the number of low-ranking disciples and Yu Dingmen disciples is similar, they are all disciples of Qi Gong six or seven layers, with much stronger strength than Yu Dingmen. More than 50 Jindan period disciples were also selected from the gate, each skilled in Doufa, let alone that there are four Yuan Ying cultivators among the three sects, two of whom are even mid-term Yuan Ying cultivators.

  Yuding Gate, apart from the convenience of geographical advantage, relies on the protection of the mountain's great array. When the three sects' cultivators set up camp in the treacherous areas outside the four peaks of Yuding Mountain and lay down their defensive arrays, the Yuding Gate cultivators could only hide within the protective array and no longer dared to come out.

  Jade Cauldron Sect disciples didn't dare to leave the mountain gate, and the three sects of Ice Sealing Valley, Fire Spirit Sect, and Heaven Heart Sect were also afraid that Jade Cauldron Sect disciples would escape, so they didn't dare to leave Jade Cauldron Mountain either. For a time, both sides fell into a stalemate.

  Outside Yuding Mountain, the strength of the three sects' cultivators was slightly stronger than that of Yuding Gate, but not by much. The four Nascent Soul cultivators were powerful, but they couldn't break through Yuding Gate's protective array with brute force alone. The three sects didn't dare to deploy more than half of their elite disciples here, or else the other three sects might take advantage of the situation and launch a surprise attack.

  Xuan Guang Dao Ren had been quietly cultivating in the Yu Ding Gate since he joined, rarely going out to travel, so he had little contact with the Yuan Ying cultivators of the other three sects, let alone having any friendship. At this critical moment, he couldn't find anyone to come and help him, not even the other small Xianmen factions in the Tai Yue mountain range, who were intimidated by the powerful forces of the three sects and hastily retreated from the mountain gate, hiding far away for fear of being implicated.

  Half a year ago, Sanzong Shushi began to gather his hands and set up a large attacking array on the small isolated peak outside the north peak of Yuding Mountain. Unexpectedly, after the big array was built, the first joint attack ended in such a defeat.

  The night had darkened, and a dozen or so fist-sized moonstones illuminated the spacious mountain cave as brightly as daylight. Mei Ji and Qin, the gray-robed elder of Tian Xin Sect, sat facing each other, with Shui Sheng and Tie Xin Tang standing side by side in front of them, their eyes filled with wary expressions.

  "So that's what you mean. There is only one 'Qian Kun Shen Dun Fu' left?" The old man with the surname Qin asked slowly, his voice gentle and pleasant to hear.

  Tie Xin nodded tensely and said: "My father won't deceive me, besides, the treasure that can be exchanged for a Dragon City, where can it be easily obtained?"

  Mei Ji chuckled and said: "Qin Zheng, how about it? Didn't I tell you the truth? If you don't believe me, you can perform a soul search on these two."

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