Translator: Cinder Translations
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"Activate the formation!"
Su Anqing shouted anxiously.
At this moment, the ancestor could not take action, and there were no Golden Core cultivators stationed in the Su family. Without the protection of the formation, the old ancestor of the Du family, Du Tianhua, could easily slaughter all the Su family cultivators on Qingping Mountain.
The coverage range of a Golden Core cultivator's spiritual sense is eight miles, meaning within this range, they can attack at will.
In contrast, the farthest range of a Foundation Establishment cultivator's spiritual sense is only four miles. Beyond this distance, their attack precision significantly decreases, and they cannot control their spiritual energy as freely. Even if they attempt an attack, it can be easily dodged.
Although the Su family had many members, as long as Du Tianhua did not approach within four miles of the Su family cultivators, the Su family's attacks would not pose a threat to him.
On the plaza below, nine prepared Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Su family stood at various corners, each holding a small yellow flag.
As Su Anqing issued his command, the nine inserted their small flags into the ground and formed several hand seals.
In an instant, a large formation barrier emanating a yellowish light materialized, enveloping the entire plaza and the more than fifty Su family cultivators in the air.
The dark red flying sword struck the barrier!
The flying sword instantly erupted with a blood-red sword light, its sword energy cutting through the air.
The yellowish light of the large formation barrier brightened, illuminating the sky above Qingping Mountain.
The yellowish light on the formation barrier gradually converged, and the flying sword was repelled. Du Tianhua's strike was blocked by the Su family's protective formation.
Du Tianhua flew forward and stopped before the barrier, a cold smile on his face.
"The Su family truly deserves to be a long-standing Golden Core family, possessing a three-tiered earth attribute formation as their protective formation."
Inside the formation, Su Anqing looked at Du Tianhua, furious.
"Du family ancestor, you dare to lead your people to openly attack my Su family's Qingping Mountain. This violates a major taboo in the cultivation world! Are you not afraid of provoking other cultivation forces to unite against you?"
Du Tianhua scoffed, "The Su family keeps a woman with a heavenly armor who nurtures spirit medicines, and that old guy Su Qian, who seeks to extend his life—it's you Su family that should be afraid of breaking the rules of the cultivation world!"
Su Anqing was stunned and panicked.
"How do you know?"
"Heh." Du Tianhua's mocking voice echoed.
"Not only do I know, but after tonight, the entire cultivation world will know. There will no longer be a place for the Su family in the entire cultivation world. Countless cultivators unwilling to die will swarm here to flatten Qingping Mountain, hahaha..."
Du Tianhua's arrogant laughter resonated through the skies.
As a legitimate force, the Du family needed a pretext to attack the Su family.
Regardless of their true intentions, legitimate forces always seek a justified cause.
TL: Hypocrites...
Thus, he arranged for many Qi Refinement stage clansmen to announce the Su family's wrongdoings to the entire cultivation world at dawn.
No matter the outcome tonight, the Su family's reputation would certainly be ruined, making them the target of public outrage.
Du Tianhua communicated with more than a dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Su family behind him.
"Search the entire Qingping Mountain for all the spiritual items we can take away."
The protective formation could only shield the plaza at the mountain peak, making it impossible to cover the entire Qingping Mountain, which spanned dozens of miles. Doing so would consume too many spiritual stones.
Without the formation's protection, the Du family was free to plunder.
Leading by the family head Du Ruoyun, a dozen members of the Du family charged into various important places of the Su family: the living quarters, the alchemy room, the talisman hall, and the herb garden... like locusts swarming, various treasures were snatched away.
Especially in the Su family's spiritual fields, where various spirit medicines were worth a fortune, all were packed away regardless of age, with Du family's cultivators even wishing they could take the soil from the spiritual fields too.
The only disappointment for Du Tianhua was that the Su family's inheritance grounds were protected by the three-tiered earth attribute formation, which contained various techniques and secrets accumulated by the Su family over the years.
With a mocking glint in his eyes, Du Tianhua glanced at Su Anqing inside the formation before turning to fly towards the eastern valley.
He alone could not break through the three-tiered earth attribute formation in a short time; he had more important matters to attend to and could not waste time on Qingping Mountain.
Du Tianyu arrived at the valley and immediately formed hand seals.
The dark red flying sword suddenly burst forth with a bright blood-red light, resembling a fallen star from the sky, and struck the formation barrier of the valley with all its might.
The formation that Su Qian set up in this valley was also a three-tiered formation named the "Yin Yang Four Symbols Formation," which offered various capabilities such as defense, concealing aura and spiritual fluctuations, and obstructing vision. While it had many functions, in terms of pure defense, it was not as strong as the three-tiered earth attribute formation on Qingping Mountain.
"Boom!"
The dark red flying sword struck the barrier, producing an earth-shattering sound, and a violent gust of wind swept out in all directions.
The formation barrier began to shake violently, rippling with waves.
Su Qian looked up at the vibrating barrier in midair, a flicker of anger flashing in his eyes.
While controlling the "Devouring Formation," he distractedly spoke to Daoist Qingyan.
"Qingyan, the 'Devouring Formation' has been successfully activated. For now, I can control the formation alone, but I need you to deal with Du Tianhua."
When the members of the Du family first appeared, Su Qian had already received a message from Su Anqing, but he was too busy activating the "Devouring Formation" to pay attention.
Now that the "Devouring Formation" was activated, Su Qian alone could control it for a short time without needing Daoist Qingyan's assistance.
Within the array symbols of the "Devouring Formation," a thick blood snake coalesced from blood plasma. The blood snake was about a foot long and slowly moved within the array symbols, swimming toward the scattered cultivators in the west section of the formation.
The first scattered cultivator in the front row watched in terror as the strange blood snake climbed onto his foot and then along his leg, moving upward.
Unfortunately, he was under a restriction, unable to move or speak, and could only watch helplessly as the blood snake crawled up to his face and then burrowed into his mouth and nose, heading toward his abdomen.
In an instant, the scattered cultivator became excruciatingly pained, his face contorted in agony as his entire body trembled uncontrollably.
Moments later, his body suddenly went limp and collapsed, as if the bones and flesh inside him had melted in an instant, unable to support his skin, which crumpled in on itself.
The blood snake emerged from his flesh and, following the array symbols, swam toward the next scattered cultivator.
After devouring one scattered cultivator's flesh, the blood snake's length increased slightly, and its speed quickened a bit.
Daoist Qingyan glanced at the blood snake in the western section of the "Devouring Formation," gradually ceasing her hand seals. She placed the auxiliary formation plate on the ground, stood up, and spoke to Su Qian.
"There's no need for courtesy, Brother Su. I'll be back soon."
With that, her figure lifted off the ground and soared into the air.
The reason she placed the auxiliary formation plate within the formation was that once the "Devouring Formation" was activated, both the main and auxiliary formation plates could not leave the range of the large formation. Otherwise, the operation of the formation would be forcibly interrupted.
"Qingyan, don't be careless," Su Qian advised, splitting his attention.
"I'm a Golden Core cultivator from the Beast Controlling Sect; dealing with a minor family cultivator who has just formed his core for ten years is nothing to worry about."
Daoist Qingyan appeared nonchalant, showing no regard for Du Tianhua.
Before she could finish her words, she reached the edge of the protective formation barrier at the top of the valley.
At that moment, Su Wenshi, positioned outside the "Devouring Formation," was holding a formation plate in his hand and forming hand seals.
A hole suddenly appeared at the top of the "Yin Yang Four Symbols Formation" barrier.
Daoist Qingyan flew out through the hole, which immediately sealed up behind her.
Su Qian watched the spot where Daoist Qingyan had disappeared. Since the "Yin Yang Four Symbols Formation" barrier was not transparent, he could not see the scene outside the formation.
A chill crept across his face.
"Qingyan, you are still as impulsive and straightforward as you were when you were young. I have always regarded you as a sister and didn't want to harm you, but for the sake of breaking through to the mid Golden Core stage, I can only act ruthlessly."
Outside the "Devouring Formation," Su Wenshi glanced at his own ancestor at the center of the formation before lowering his head, lost in thought.
(End of the Chapter)
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