Chapter 2163.1: Explosion

The five paramount rank spirit stones came from the storage ring of the Lingtian general manager, back when Lu Yun robbed the Lingtian Pill Pavilion. There were only two dozen of them, so he used them very sparingly.

When the five spirit stones sank into the air, they formed a miniature Reverse Five Elements of Absolute Slaughter Formation after a series of ripples.

He Wuheng’s jaw dropped. Creating a formation with a wave of the hand? How did one characterize this kind of ability?

What happened next sent him into a daze.

Countless spirit talismans flew out of Lu Yun’s hands and vanished into the air. Next thing the Lu steward knew, the formation that’d just been created also winked out of sight. He couldn’t find it, no matter how he swept the air with his consciousness.

Lu Yun’s fingers flickered through hand seals as gray air currents gathered in his hands. Slowly, ever so slowly, the exquisite Reverse Five Elements of Absolute Slaughter Formation enveloped all of Black Maple Peak.

When he waved his hand again, the remaining paramount rank spirit stones sank into the grand formation.

“This.. young master..” He Wuheng swallowed hard.

“Just a few tricks up my sleeves,” Lu Yun grinned brilliantly. Man, why can’t I call upon formula dao? Things wouldn’t be such a hassle if I could use formula dao!

Huh? Wait, what’s formula dao?

He couldn’t help but think of formula dao and it seemed to be tied to.. someone. Someone he never wanted to forget, but had no choice but to temporarily forget..

Meanwhile, Lu Xuan relieved Yuwen Zonglin and Ouyang Baitian of their storage rings. He collected their personal weapons as well and handed them to his young master.

“You guys take these two.” Lu Yun tossed Ouyang Baitian’s Mountain Shaker and Yuwen Zonglin’s Turquoise Willow to He Wuheng and Lu Xuan.

For once, a trace of hesitation showed on the eternally expressionless Lu Xuan’s face. He Wuheng didn’t even dare catch the treasure. These were the personal weapons of two patriarchs—two upper rank treasures! Only the patriarch of a family had the right to use them. Others of the clan, even nascent soul elders, wielded only mid rank treasures.

“Well? Take them already, stop dragging your heels. It’s annoying.” Lu Yun chucked them to the ground and ignored the two. He focused on examining the two storage rings. “Tsk tsk tsk, it looks like these two families are very rich. Maybe ten thousand paramount spirit stones was too little to ask?”

He emptied their contents, transferring them to his own ring, then threw the now-awake and glaring patriarchs into the Reverse Five Elements of Absolute Slaughter Formation. They were unable to put up any resistance given that they were suppressed by his talismans and heavily injured.

“Who are you?” Ouyang Baitian ground out through a bleeding mouth.

“Heh heh heh heh heh, since when did nascent soul small fry have the privilege of knowing this gentleman’s name?” Lu Yun cackled, then fetched some treasures of the five elements from his storage ring and threw them into the formation. It spontaneously increased in strength.

He didn’t possess much in the way of resources, but thanks to the contents of the patriarchs’ rings, the formation was swiftly made complete.

Lu Yun was a formation grandmaster. While his cultivation level wasn’t high, he could more than handle a few nascent soul cultivators if he employed a formation. A true formation grandmaster could call upon the full defenses of heaven and earth with just a hundredth of the power of a formation.

Nascent soul small fry.. just listen to him! He Wuheng’s cheek spasmed, but he was able to come to terms with his young master’s words when he thought of Lu Yun’s master.

What did a nascent soul cultivator count for?

“Young master, will we cause any trouble if we refine these treasures?” He Wuheng’s personal treasure had broken when he was crippled, so the upper rank Mountain Shaker was a perfect replacement.

“Trouble?” Lu Yun curled his lip. “How many of the Ouyangs and Yuwens sport treasure that was originally from us Lus? I’m just collecting some interest from them.”

Lu Xuan had already erased Yuwen Zonglin’s brand from Turquoise Willow and claimed it with his own blood. He made a cursory refinement of the item and stored it within his body.

Just as the patriarchs hung onto life by a thread, so were the brands on the treasures extremely weak. Lu Xuan alone was sufficient to erase the one on the sword. When He Wuheng saw what the guard had done, he hesitated no longer and refined Mountain Shaker as well.

Lu Yun sent two more talismans flying out with a gentle prod in the air. They sank into Ouyang Baitian and Yuwen Zonglin’s foreheads, vanishing without a trace.

....

The Ouyang and Yuwen representatives were quick onto the scene. It took less than an hour for one hundred combined experts to rush to Black Maple Peak. They were led by four nascent soul cultivators, twenty golden core experts, and the remaining of latter foundation establishment. Arriving in streaks of sword light, they swiftly surrounded the mountain that was fifteen kilometers across.

“Patriarch!”

“Elder brother!”

Nascent soul elder Yuwen Tuo led the Yuwen Clan, whereas Ouyang Baiyi led the Ouyang contingent. He was Ouyang Baitian’s younger brother. The two leaders were both mid nascent soul and followed by an initial nascent soul elder.

Since Darklake Empire was a third rank cultivation empire, latter nascent soul counted as a supreme powerhouse. There weren’t that many of them in the entire nation. The Ouyang had possessed more, but Lu Tianling killed one of them when he rushed their residence three months ago.

That these two clans could summon four nascent souls and twenty golden cores in an hour was quite remarkable. It went without saying that the foundation establishment cultivators were just cannon fodder.

Yuwen Tuo and Ouyang Baiyi almost wept blood when they saw their patriarchs.

“Save the patriarch!” Yuwen Tao possessed a fiery temper and sent his sword diving into Black Maple Peak.

“Formation!” Ouyang Baiyi kept more of his cool and roared for one hundred rays of sword light to surround the mountain. No one dared make any brash moves since both patriarchs were held below them. Otherwise, the joint offensive would’ve blown the mountain up as soon as they arrived.

Rumble!

Enormous ripples oscillated through the mountain when Yuwen Tuo entered it, as if it was an enormous lake. And then, the man disappeared from sight.

Within Black Maple Peak, Yuwen Zonglin and Ouyang Baitian sagged like shapeless sacks of potatoes.

“A formation!” Ouyang Baiyi jerked with surprise.

They’d scanned the entire peak with their consciousness before taking action and hadn’t discovered anything out of the ordinary. To think that this entire mountain would be ensconced by a huge formation!

Ruuuuumble.

Terrifying rumbles and Yuwen Tao’s furious roars echoed from the formation below.

“I say, that was fast! Have you guys prepared all of the spirit stones?” A cocky and unctuous voice sounded in the air over the mountain. “Twenty thousand paramount rank spirit stones.. And now I’ve captured another one of your nascent soul elders. The Yuwens can pay another five thousand spirit stones!”

“You court death!” shouted the remaining nascent soul cultivator from the Yuwen Clan.

“Let's see who it is that courts death.”

RUMBLE!!

The formation stirred to motion again and hid the entire mountain from sight.

Someone challenging two of the seven major families already shocked the capital. Many of them wanted to watch the show at Black Maple Peak, but the Yuwen and Ouyang Clan didn’t permit an audience to form. They chased away any stranger who showed up. However, many powerhouses were sweeping the premises with their consciousness and had a full read on what was occurring.

The only ones who dared do so with impunity were the other major families of the city.

The enemy in the formation below was targeting only the Yuwens and Ouyangs. Those two had long allied with each other, so the other families were just watching the show. They wouldn’t interfere.

As for the Lus.. Lu Tianling’s old wounds had flared up after that battle and he’d gone into closed door cultivation to recover. There was no one else worthy of note in that family apart from the old general. They had few golden core cultivators and thus no ability to kidnap the patriarchs. Therefore, no one suspected them and felt that it was the two families’ enemies taking advantage of the situation.

“You court death!”

Whoosh!

Ouyang Baiyi made the formation shudder when he struck it with a ray of sword light.

“What, you don’t want your patriarchs alive anymore?!” The voice inside the formation grew flustered.

“The position of patriarch goes to those with ability! There are heirs for the position if our patriarch dies! The dignity of the Ouyangs, however, cannot be sullied!” Ouyang Baiyi roared. His flying sword was also a mid rank treasure and it raised sword light several dozen meters tall that crashed down on the formation.

The formation trembled violently once more, but one set up by Lu Yun utilized endless power of heaven and earth and wouldn’t be broken by a nascent soul cultivator.

In a small forest fifty kilometers outside Black Maple Peak.

Lu Yun leaned against a tree in complete relaxation. Meanwhile, Lu Xuan and He Wuheng stood guard for each other as they refined the two upper rank treasures.

....

“That person is in the formation! We break the formation together!” Ouyang Baiyi became the rallying point, given that Yuwen Tuo was caught inside the formation. The ambitious Ouyang Baiyi had long wanted to be the patriarch, but never had a chance to since Ouyang Baitian was an intrepid, domineering strategist. If he could use this opportunity to eliminate Ouyang Baitian, the next Ouyang patriarch would be him!

The Ouyang and Yuwen Clans had been thoroughly humiliated this time. Their patriarchs had been kidnapped and held for ransom. Even if Ouyang Baitian and Yuwen Zonglin returned safely to their families, they wouldn’t have the face to continue in their respective positions.

However, a living Ouyang Baitian was also a threat to Ouyang Baiyi. A plethora of intrigues and plots surged beneath the surface in families as large as the two clans.

Though the Yuwen Clan hesitated, they knew they could not dither in a matter that involved family pride. In the eyes of the great families, face was more important than anything!

No one would respect the clan if they lost face, eventually resulting in a gradual drifting away of the family’s descendants and disciples. The clan would inevitably decline.

Thus, gains and losses of the moment didn’t mean anything. Not to mention, if the enemy really did kill the two patriarchs, that would ignite a blood feud. The two clans were so influential in the empire that they could even borrow the imperial family and use the entire nation’s might to hunt down the perpetrator.

A joint offensive of one hundred cultivators created a massive crack in the formation. Within it, Yuwen Tuo brightened and added his power to the attack.

Rumble!!

Black Maple Peak shuddered and the formation in the air shattered with immense energy ripples.