Deafening explosions echoed between the clouds.
Piercing wails reverberated through the mountain ranges.
Luo Chen withdrew his gaze from the Luoyun Sect's direction. Beside him came Chu Kui's excited yet calm voice:
"The very moment lines clash head-on is when casualties are highest. There's no need for us to rush. Let the vassals of the four sects charge ahead."
"We head for the flanks first, then look for good opportunities to reap a massive harvest!"
Luo Chen grunted in acknowledgment.
Following behind Chu Kui, he rode the wind and clouds through the air, heading toward the battlefield's flank.
The two kept an exceptionally calm composure. Even as battle cries shook the heavens directly ahead and spiritual energy surged and intertwined violently, they remained completely unmoved.
And as Luo Chen stepped forward...
In the night sky behind him, a gaze closely followed his receding figure.
"Senior Sister, it seems that little man you found isn't very appreciative!"
A crisp, bell-like voice entered her ears.
Without turning her head, Fairy Jueqing ignored the mocking tone in the words and simply said coldly, "If he wishes to make a name for himself, can the two of us truly stop him?"
Yinyue started, then curled her lip.
Luo Chen had now been hired as a guest elder of the Ice Fort. In terms of status, he was on equal footing with them and was not subject to conscription.
If he wanted to fight on the front lines, neither she nor Jueqing could really object.
"We'd still better keep an eye on this little fellow!"
"If something really happens to him, neither of us will have an easy time answering to the Supreme Elder when we return."
Fairy Jueqing said coldly, "You don't need to tell me; I know what I'm doing. You'd better focus on the battle arrangements ahead. If too many of our sect's disciples perish, you won't be able to bear the consequences with your Sect Master Senior Sister alone."
Master Yinyue snorted, withdrew her divine sense, and ceased monitoring Luo Chen's movements.
This battle was not simply about taking down the Seventh Peak!
The Eighth Peak was their objective as well.
While they might not achieve complete success in a single stroke, they had to occupy at least four peaks to regain an equal balance of power.
Otherwise, the Luoyun Sect would not have decided to commit its entire army.
……
At the foot of the Seventh Peak's flank.
Upon a stretch of shifting sand, a faint golden gleam showed.
This place was rich in the Tier 2 ore Quicksand Refined Gold, so even on the relatively safe flank, it was still guarded.
The Que Blade Sect had been assigned here.
Strictly speaking, the Que Blade Sect—boasting one late Foundation Establishment and three early Foundation Establishment cultivators—was not a vassal of the Sword Sect.
Their backer was the Sword Sect's vassal, the Heavenly Blade Sect.
When the war broke out, the Heavenly Blade Sect, which possessed a Core Formation Master, had been summoned, and in turn conscripted the Que Blade Sect beneath it.
This situation was somewhat similar to the Ice Fort conscripting the Luotian Association, which then sent Li Yingzhang, patriarch of their vassal, the Qinhua Li family, onto the battlefield.
A vassal's vassal was not an official vassal, yet remained a pawn subject to indirect manipulation.
The only fortunate thing was that since the war began, although the Que Blade Sect had suffered many casualties, its high-end combat strength—the Foundation Establishment True Cultivators—remained completely intact.
At this moment.
Ximen Wuhai, sect master of the Que Blade Sect, flanked by his three disciples, gazed into the distance at the world-shaking war erupting.
In his eyes, anxiety could not be concealed.
"Master, we..."
"Say no more. If things take a bad turn later, we strike camp immediately. Yulang, lead our people to withdraw first. Dezhu and the main force will follow me to cover the rear, fighting as we fall back!"
"However, will this offend the Heavenly Blade Sect?" Jiang Yulang could not help asking.
Ximen Wuhai sneered. "The Heavenly Blade Sect? They can barely take care of themselves. Just now, when the Luoyun Sect's puppets bombarded the Seventh Peak, the Heavenly Blade Sect's position took the brunt of it. Why should we care about them?"
"In fact, if our side wins this battle and we manage to survive by sheer luck, our Que Blade Sect might even swallow up the Heavenly Blade Sect and become a first-rate force!"
With these words, he set the immediate plan while looking toward the future.
He was truly no short-sighted fool.
The three disciples behind him praised from the bottom of their hearts:
"Master has great foresight!"
"This disciple will strictly follow Master's orders."
"If Master can redeem the Core Formation secret technique offered by the Sword Sect, perhaps our Que Blade Sect will produce a Core Formation Master in the future as well!"
Right at that moment.
Ximen Wuhai snapped his head up.
"Scoundrels, come out!"
As he barked the warning, his hand behind his back signaled.
Immediately, the three early Foundation Establishment disciples understood, backing away to prepare to activate the Tier 2 offensive formation.
Under Ximen Wuhai's gaze, two figures stepped out from the veil of night.
One held the Heaven-Equalizing Staff, his fighting spirit soaring.
The other held a long sword reversed behind his back, his eyes icy and piercing.
Looking at the two, Ximen Wuhai's expression changed drastically.
Ninth layer of Foundation Establishment! Sixth layer of Foundation Establishment!
"Fellow Daoists..."
In the sky, the two ignored him completely.
"You break the formation. I'll take that late Foundation Establishment one!" Chu Kui said curtly.
Luo Chen grunted in acknowledgment.
No wasted words.
In the next moment, Chu Kui brandished the Heaven-Equalizing Staff and brought it smashing down from above.
Fear gripped Ximen Wuhai's heart, but gritting his teeth, he did not retreat. He summoned a broad blade.
A saber light tens of meters long erupted, meeting the Heaven-Equalizing Staff's phantom.
Boom!
With a single clash, shockwaves rippled for several li.
In the quicksand camp, numerous late Qi Refinement cultivators were knocked unconscious by the tremor.
Seeing this, Ximen Wuhai roared in fury.
"I shall fight you!"
"Just what I wanted!"
Chu Kui gave an excited shout, immediately swinging his long staff to pursue the flying Ximen Wuhai.
Luo Chen glanced up at the two above, his mind clear as ice.
Step by step, he walked toward the quicksand camp.
His gaze was fixed on the formation rapidly condensing a massive golden saber light.
As the war's intensity deepened day by day, both sides evolved rapidly regarding every means of augmenting their strength.
Defensive formations best suited for holding mountain peaks were hard to arrange on short notice.
But all kinds of lethal offensive formations were everywhere.
Right now, a golden saber nearly twenty zhang long rose upward from the center of the formation.
Heavenly Que Blade Formation!
A Tier 2 metal-attribute offensive formation. Operated by the three in concert, it could rapidly unleash a powerful strike comparable to late Foundation Establishment.
"This person is merely at the sixth layer of Foundation Establishment."
"Slay him quickly with the formation, then we go assist Master!"
"Junior Brother, you are most versed in formations. You take charge of directing the final strike in a moment!"
"Yes, Senior Brother!"
Rapid, tight exchanges passed within the formation.
Being disciples of the same sect, their coordination was seamless.
Having prepared in advance, within just a few breaths, the formation's power condensed to the extreme.
Then, the gigantic blade light slashed down violently!
Its target: the red-robed man!
Jiang Yulang was exceedingly excited, a sickly flush on his cheeks as he guided the blade light to ensure it would not stray.
Whether the opponent fled or resisted, there would be only one outcome!
Death!
Yet under his gaze, the red-robed man facing the desperate blade light showed neither grief nor joy.
He neither fled nor brought out any defensive magical artifact.
Instead, he slowly extended his palm!
"What is he doing?"
"Does he plan to withstand the Heavenly Que Blade with his bare flesh?"
Before Jiang Yulang's astonished eyes, spiritual energy suddenly bloomed from the red-robed man's hand.
A deep blue expanse of light surged out.
In the next instant, a light barrier resembling colored glaze formed abruptly before him.
The golden blade and blue barrier met in a flash.
Clang!
Beneath that blue glazed light barrier, the blade light could not advance an inch.
Lacking follow-up power, the golden blade could not sustain itself and gradually dispersed.
Jiang Yulang was stunned. What spell was that, to stop a strike of the Heavenly Que Blade with pure force?
Right at that moment, an anxious voice from his senior brother reached his ears:
"Look out!"
A fiery red sword shadow, like a shooting star from beyond the heavens, came straight for the center of the formation.
Jiang Yulang's expression warped in horror as he hurriedly pulled back to dodge.
In the next moment.
The sound of ripping paper resounded, and the Heavenly Que Blade Formation fractured inch by inch.
Outside the formation, Luo Chen watched this scene with satisfaction.
Offensive formations were far easier to break than defensive ones!
A defense worked from the outside inward, its power contained and traces hidden.
To break a defensive formation, one either had to overpower it with sheer overwhelming might or destroy its formation meridians and sever its runes in one decisive stroke.
When he previously broke Yang Wei's Thunder Prison Formation, it had taken considerable effort, forcing him to rely on his strongest technique, Landslide, to shatter it.
But this Heavenly Que Blade Formation...
The moment it released its attack was precisely when its flaw was most exposed.
With his sharp eyesight combined with his powerful spiritual sense, he found the flaw in a mere instant.
Breaking the formation was as easy as turning over his hand!
After breaking the formation with an unadorned sword strike, Luo Chen held the Profound Fire Sword reversed and exhaled.
A sword pill flew out.
With a whirring spin, it shot toward the youngest of the three.
At the sight of the sword pill, the three men were scared out of their wits!
"A sword cultivator! Run!"
Sword cultivators were known as the strongest in combat, invincible within the same realm.
The red-robed man possessed the formidable realm of Foundation Establishment sixth layer, already superior to them. If he fought with a sword pill, they would have no power to resist.
However, when the sword pill reached him, Jiang Yulang discovered that the opponent's sword-controlling technique did not seem exceptionally subtle.
A flying dagger intercepted it in midair.
Dodging, shifting, swooping and darting—a magnificent spectacle.
Seeing this, the other two senior brothers could not help breathing a sigh of relief.
"It seems this man isn't an orthodox sword cultivator; he has merely blood-refined a sword pill."
"Junior Brother, don't panic. I'll help you!"
Opposite them, Luo Chen shook his head with a slight smile.
"You'd better look after yourselves first!"
As the words fell, a massive mountain peak crashed down from above.
Thousand-Fold Peak!
It suppressed one person on the spot.
Not only that, Luo Chen's left hand tapped repeatedly, sending out seven Thorn Flower seeds.
In the blink of an eye, seven massive vines shot up from the ground, caging the last man within.
Multitasking with three thoughts at once, varying his methods at will.
Facing three opponents alone, leisurely and composed!
In the sky, a furious roar rang out, carrying implicit panic.
Yet under Chu Kui's suppression, that combatant fought weaker and weaker, suffering heavy injuries repeatedly.
Luo Chen glanced up, then nodded inwardly.
"Just about done!"
With a shift of his will, the sword pill entangled with Jiang Yulang suddenly split its sword light, bypassing his flying dagger like two spiritual serpents.
Chi! Chi!
One through the chest, one through the glabella—two holes belched green smoke.
Jiang Yulang fell to the ground, his eyes wide in death.
"Junior Brother!"
"Yulang!"
Two grief-stricken, furious roars rang out.
Meeting them were only Chu Kui's wild laughter and Luo Chen's faint chuckle.
"Look after yourselves!"
He flipped his hand and pressed down. Surging, immense force reappeared upon the Thousand-Fold Peak, and boundless golden quicksand from all directions was drawn in by the terrifying suction.
In mere moments, immense weight bore down.
The early Foundation Establishment cultivator, who was already struggling desperately to hold on, stared with bulging eyes, his face filled with despair.
Boom!
The Thousand-Fold Peak crashed down with a roar.
The surging force instantly crushed him into a puddle of meat paste.
Luo Chen nodded in satisfaction. Weapon-guided arts were not limited to the Profound Fire Sword.
The synergy between the Earth Mountain Technique and the Thousand-Fold Peak was equally complementary.
When stacked together, the offensive strength already reached that of an ordinary late Foundation Establishment strike.
Dealing with a mere early Foundation Establishment cultivator was naturally effortless.
Suddenly, he turned his head to look.
Within the cage woven from seven vines, a bright blade light was about to soar up.
"Quite a courageous one."
"In a desperate situation, trading injuries for time, trying to condense a Magic Treasure fatal strike."
"Pity..."
Luo Chen beckoned with his left hand, and the sword pill trembled instantly.
In a single breath, it pierced through the last man's brain.
The Magic Treasure fatal strike about to be released suddenly lost its momentum without anyone to control it.
Terrifying power erupted in an instant, blasting its master's corpse into countless fragments.
All of this sounded lengthy, but under Luo Chen's three-fold multitasking, it occurred at lightning speed.
In the blink of an eye, three people were slain.
Ximen Wuhai watched with his own eyes as the three disciples he had raised and taught from youth died gruesome deaths beneath his feet.
He went mad!
His entire person transformed into a saber dragon, charging toward Luo Chen.
"I'll have your life!"
In response, Luo Chen held the Profound Fire Sword reversed, unmoving, watching him quietly.
Only when Ximen Wuhai crossed within three zhang...
A massive staff shadow abruptly slammed down.
Bang!
Ximen Wuhai lay on the ground, staring at Luo Chen with unreconciled fury, before finally breathing his last.
In his back stood a long staff—pitch-black along its shaft with faint golden ends.
Chu Kui drifted in the air. "Sorry, that took a bit more time."
Luo Chen shook his head. "No matter. He was an eighth layer Foundation Establishment cultivator after all. Slaying him this quickly is already no small feat."
Chu Kui chuckled, not taking undue credit.
He could tell that Luo Chen was the chief contributor to this battle.
Not only had he broken the formation and killed the disciples, but he had also divided Ximen Wuhai's focus.
Otherwise, without exhausting all his trump cards, Chu Kui would have had to expend much more effort to slay him.
"You seem to have grown stronger again. You didn't even use your best fire methods and easily killed three early Foundation Establishment cultivators."
Luo Chen smiled faintly.
Fire methods were his trump cards; how could he casually display them?
His ordinary techniques, under the drive of abundant spiritual energy, a powerful divine soul, and flawless Attraction Art manipulation, had already reached the late Foundation Establishment tier.
Since he could kill easily, why bother using his ultimate arts?
"What about those Qi Refinement cultivators?" Luo Chen asked.
Under his gaze, the late Qi Refinement disciples of the Que Blade Sect were fleeing in panic.
Though they seemed to have run far, with the capabilities of the two, catching up to these two or three hundred people would not be difficult.
Chu Kui was silent for a moment, then said decisively, "Let them go. Slaughtering too many low-realm cultivators will affect merit evaluations."
"Alright, we'll do it your way!"
Luo Chen nodded.
Afterward, the two roamed the battlefield, collecting their spoils.
Merit evaluation was based on how many enemies you killed.
But judging whether you were the one who killed them depended on the spoils produced in the end.
Severed heads were best, providing direct proof!
Next were magical artifacts and Magic Treasures, which bore the spiritual energy and spiritual sense imprints of their owners; once an owner died, life or death could easily be determined through these imprints.
Lastly was testimony from others.
If the battlefield was chaotic and one had no time to reap heads or evidence after killing, others had to testify that you slew the enemy.
This judging standard had many loopholes.
Some people even fabricated claims.
But broadly speaking, it did not err.
Moreover, few dared to fabricate claims before Core Formation Masters.
Before long, Luo Chen and Chu Kui returned after gathering the spoils.
Toward some Qi Refinement cultivators who had been knocked unconscious on the ground by the battle's shockwaves, they showed no soft-hearted mercy, finishing them off in passing.
The corresponding magical artifacts and storage bags were also pocketed.
"Not poor at all. Even without opening the storage bags yet, there are two flying dagger Magic Treasures and three top-grade magical artifacts. Tsk, that cultivator you crushed to death actually had an undamaged top-grade defensive magical artifact."
"Give it to me!"
Luo Chen made no polite pretense, asking for it directly.
His Luotian Association had many cultivators. While such items were nothing in the eyes of late Foundation Establishment cultivators, to the Association's Foundation Establishment members, they were first-rate treasures!
Chu Kui was not greedy either.
In this battle, merit points were the goal; anything else could be relinquished without heartache.
"What now?"
Luo Chen's expression tightened. He brought his hands together into a circle.
Then, he slowly drew them apart!
An azure water mirror expanded steadily under his manipulation.
"Spiritual energy fluctuations on the battlefield are intense, spiritual senses crisscross everywhere, and Core Formation Masters monitor with their divine senses. Casting the Water Mirror Art with my strength alone is insufficient."
"Lend me a hand!"
Chu Kui grunted in assent, immediately stepping in to help Luo Chen expand the Water Mirror Art.
Soon, a huge water mirror a full zhang across appeared before them.
Scenes of countless cultivators locked in combat were displayed upon it with lifelike clarity.
Using the water mirror to survey the whole battlefield, seeking good opportunities to strike.
Before long, Chu Kui's eyes lit up.
"Right nearby!"
"A band of routed troops is heading toward us—five early Foundation Establishment, three mid Foundation Establishment, and a heavily wounded seventh layer Foundation Establishment cultivator. Looks like a sword cultivator."
"Luo Chen, do we take them?"
Crack!
The azure water mirror shattered abruptly.
Luo Chen's face held a chilling hostility as he quietly uttered a single word:
"Take them!"
Chapter 384