Chapter Five: Formation Techniques

  Facing the two who were like mad tigers, Qing Xiang just smiled. These two were only at the initial stage of Qi condensation, while he was already at the late stage of Qi control, only one step away from becoming a master of the Qi control realm. How could he take such an attack seriously? With a mere combination of his hands, two green streams of energy condensed into two dragon-shaped qi blasts in mid-air, charging towards the duo.

  The cultivation of martial arts, during the period of refining Qi, is divided into three realms. The period of guiding Qi mainly involves some exercises for nourishing Qi, cultivating the density of internal Qi, which is an accumulation of quantity, and can only be used to make internal Qi circulate within the body, enhance strength, improve various physical senses, warm and nourish the flesh, and improve physical quality. However, it is impossible to release internal Qi externally, unless one is a special fortunate person like Wang Guanlan who has attained the Buddhist supernatural power of "Di Zang Di Yuan Dao", in which case they can release internal Qi externally, but at an astonishing cost.

  To achieve internal energy and external release, the martial arts cultivation must at least reach the condensation period. The condensation period has three stages: initial, middle, and late. These three small stages are not the same as the progress of the guiding energy period, each with very significant signs. Reaching the initial stage of the condensation period is marked by being able to release one's internal energy externally to defend against enemies. The sign of reaching the middle stage of the condensation period is that the nature of the internal energy begins to appear. Each person's internal energy has its own characteristics, and there are many types of internal energy properties. The most common internal energy attribute is the five elements attribute, but there are also attributes outside the five elements. Moreover, each person's internal energy attribute may not be just one type, but a mixture of many attributes. A martial artist's internal energy attribute is mainly determined by two aspects: first, innate bloodline; second, cultivation method. A normal martial artist should determine their future internal energy cultivation direction during the middle stage of condensation and choose a suitable cultivation method for their internal energy attribute until the late stage of condensation, when the internal energy takes shape and becomes substantial. The substantial state is the sign of the late stage of condensation, which means that the internal energy has been condensed into the true form of heaven and earth's original energy. Among them, the most typical is the internal energy cultivation method of the fire attribute of the five elements, where the internal energy becomes a blazing flame after taking shape. For those with the metal attribute of the five elements, their internal energy will be extremely sharp and cut through everything when forming a substantial state. Those with the wood attribute of the five elements will have vigorous growth in their internal energy, and can even use their substantial internal energy to nurture plants, and so on.

  When one's power breaks through the stage of condensing energy and reaches the realm of controlling energy, the internal energy undergoes an even more mysterious transformation, with the focus being on the word "control".

  During the Condensation Period, the internal energy is released externally, and once released, it can only determine the direction of the external release. However, during the Dissipation Period, a martial artist can control and manipulate their own true energy that has been released externally. Especially during the middle to late stages of energy manipulation, one can even condense their internal energy into a tangible form, like an arm or finger, and control it at will.

  Of course, not everyone who has reached the Condensation Period can achieve this level of mastery. However, it is clear that the person being referred to has cultivated a secret method that allows him to manipulate his internal energy even after it has left his body. He can also transform his wind-attributed internal energy into two dragon-like entities in mid-air.

  The two individuals, Tian Cheng and Tian Ning, were only at the initial stages of their Condensation Period cultivation. When faced with an attack from someone who had reached the later stages of the Condensation Period, they were almost powerless to resist. They could barely protect themselves, but even that wouldn't last for long.

  The two dragon-like entities entwined themselves around the two individuals for a brief moment before merging into a single, massive dragon-shaped whirlwind that engulfed them. The tiny gusts of wind within the whirlwind were like sharp knives, seeping into the gaps in their defenses and slicing them apart. In just one breath, the two individuals were left with severe injuries, their bodies covered in blood, and they lost all ability to fight back.

  Plop!!

  Plop!!

  The blue storm suddenly disappeared, and with two loud thuds, Tian Cheng and Tian Yu fell to the ground, their bodies covered in small wounds. However, they did not die, but instead lay on the ground unconscious, convulsing weakly. Upon closer inspection, it was seen that each of the wounds on their bodies was no more than three inches deep, covering every inch of their skin, and they had lost consciousness due to excessive blood loss.

  "These two guys are really loyal to you!" Qing Jiao said with a smile, having easily taken care of Tian Cheng and Tian Ning, as he slowly spoke to Wang Guanlan.

  Wang Guanlan's face was expressionless, but in his heart, he had already cursed the green python to death. "A master of the later stage of Qi Condensation is indeed different from others, and much more formidable than I imagined!"

  "Interesting, it seems we've all underestimated Young Master Fourteen. Even when death is imminent, he can still remain so calm. He's truly fearless!"

  "Death? Of course I'm afraid!" Wang Guanlan sneered with a smile, "But how can you be certain that I will die?"

  "Huh?!" Qing Chou's eyebrows rose, "Could it be that Young Master Fourteen still has the power to defy heaven?!"

  "Return to heaven? You're overestimating yourself, do you think that with your little skills, you can really take my life?! Wang Guanlan sneered, "If you want my life, you have to be able to catch me first!" As he spoke, Wang Guanlan's figure gradually disappeared from Qinghui's line of sight.

  "Not good!" A sense of foreboding suddenly arose in Qing Jiao's heart, and he looked at Wang Guanlan's strange disappearance. He tipped his toes, and his body shot forward like an arrow leaving a bowstring, but when he rushed to Wang Guanlan's front, Wang Guanlan had completely disappeared.

  "It's too late!" The figure disappeared, but the voice came from all directions, a thin layer of mist.

  "This is, Formation!!" The green jiao's face changed greatly, his body rapidly retreating, but no matter what, he couldn't retreat out of the range of the thin fog that surrounded him. On the other side, the black-clothed girl who had been hiding in the shadows was also shocked to her core, and her originally unparalleled confidence began to disappear.

  Formation, it's actually formation!

  In this An Tun Inn, someone had actually set up a formation, ridiculing her for being a late-stage Qi Condensation expert, yet she was completely unaware of it. The most deadly thing was that she had to reluctantly admit that after the formation was activated, she had changed from a hunter to prey.

  "What a pity, only two guys showed up in the end!" A voice came from the fog, Wang Guanlan's playful voice, "And they even fought each other, what a waste of my efforts!"

  "Two people!" The green jiao was stunned for a moment, and then he heard the sound of clothes fluttering in his ear, and the black-clothed girl had already appeared in front of him.

  "What kind of person are you?!" Qing Xiao's heart skipped a beat, this woman appeared so mysteriously, standing in front of him, not even her breathing sound could be heard, it seemed that the rustling sound of clothes earlier was intentionally made by her, otherwise with his own spiritual awareness, he wouldn't have noticed her arrival.

  "I'm here to clean up!" the black-clad woman said calmly, "But now it seems that's not necessary, joining forces to break through this formation is the right thing to do!"

  "Clean up?!" The green python's expression changed again, it seems that these high-ranking officials' sons are indeed not good things. The meaning of "cleaning up" is naturally to kill and silence, handling the beginning and end. That is to say, after getting rid of Wang Guanlan himself, this woman hiding in the dark will definitely be the first to rush out and silence him too, so as not to leave any future troubles. From her performance just now, she should be able to do it.

  However, upon hearing her last sentence, Qing Xiao also felt slightly more at ease. The premise of silencing someone is that the action must be successful; if the action fails and the target is not eliminated, then the so-called cleanup would become a joke. Now, with both the killer and the cleaner trapped in the formation by the target, joining forces to break the formation became their only choice.

  "An art master, an array master! This Wang Guanlan is actually an art master and also an array master. No wonder the Third Young Master wanted to get rid of him so much. It turns out it wasn't entirely because of the Yicheng matter!" At the same time as the array appeared, Hei Yi Shao finally understood the Third Young Master's goal.

  The benefits of Yicheng are great, but not enough to make the young master desperate. The key is that the fourteen-year-old in front of him is a Taoist, which seriously affects the plan of the third son, so he will show such impatience to take action. After all, as time goes by, the means of the Taoist will become more and more numerous and more and more mysterious. The cost of getting rid of a well-cultivated Taoist is not what the third son can bear now, let alone that this Taoist cannot be killed openly, but only secretly, which also greatly increases the difficulty coefficient. All kinds of factors come together, and now it has become the best time to kill Wang Guanlan, and killing a Taoist with infinite development prospects in the bud is undoubtedly the most appropriate way. Unfortunately, it's still one step late.

  Formation techniques, for warriors, are undoubtedly a headache. This is the domain of tacticians, and even among them, only a handful of tacticians known as formation masters can grasp this mysterious skill. Even ordinary tacticians will find it difficult to deal with, let alone warriors who have not yet reached the level of air control.

  A low-ranking thaumaturge can trap a late-stage Qi Condensation warrior with a small Soul-Confounding Array, let alone the fact that Wang Guanlan's array is the Inverted Five Elements Array.

  Laying out the formation took time. Although the Five Elements Reversal Formation Wang Guanlan laid down was far from comparable to that of the red-clothed woman in the Misty Valley, it still took him a great deal of effort and time to complete the formation from entering An Tun Inn to now. This Five Elements Reversal Formation was a simplified version of the formation laid down by the red-clothed woman, and the materials used were also completely incomparable. However, the opponents they had to face were not on the same level either.

  They are just two warriors in the Nascent Soul stage, let alone those in the Void Return stage. Wang Guanlan is confident that he can make them lose face.

  "Since you two want to kill me, I won't be polite either. Let's see the power of my formation!" Wang Guanlan's voice spread through the thin fog, and then a thunderous roar was heard from all around, the fog dispersed in an instant, and Qing Xiao and the black-clothed woman were shocked to find that they were still in the small courtyard of Antun Inn. However, everything around them seemed so unreal, as if covered with a layer of gauze, yet the scene before their eyes was crystal clear.

  "Let's rush out and try!" The two exchanged a glance and rushed out of the courtyard together.

  BOOM!!!

  Just as the two figures jumped up, two flashes of lightning suddenly appeared out of thin air and heavily struck the two bodies, knocking them to the ground.

  "Unbelievable, is this for real?!" Wang Guanlan's eyes widened in shock. To be honest, the array he had set up was just a rough imitation, and his understanding of the technique was far from sufficient. He hadn't expected that it would suddenly erupt with thunderous noise and lightning flashes, instantly knocking two late-stage Qi Condensation cultivators senseless.