Chapter 87: The Secrets of the Sword Formation
Chapter 87: The Secrets of the Sword Formation
While passing through the war zone, the disciples of the Imperial Wine Sect and Yuding Sect seemed very relaxed and at ease.
The two groups clearly weren’t interacting for the first time. Over forty people naturally came together, forming small groups, chatting and laughing, occasionally pointing at certain individuals in the crowd.
Perhaps because they knew the thirty-person team here was under Revered Qin’s command, the two sides didn’t interfere with each other and the journey remained peaceful.
However, Lu Hangzhi keenly noticed that the remaining twenty-plus cultivators looked serious and seemed deeply worried.
They entered the war zone.
The situation in the war zone was somewhat delicate.
After the Demon Beast Mist was defeated, the attacks should have weakened for a while, but the casualty rate in this war zone had actually reached forty-seven percent.
Watching the Late Concentration Stage venerable one lead his fifty-three elite cultivators away with a grim expression, Revered Qin surprisingly showed a hint of gravity and sent a voice transmission to Lu Hangzhi:
“This venerable one doesn’t have much Magic Power left. He probably used the Matrix Tower’s attack formation. You all need to be more careful.”
“Understood.”
Lu Hangzhi also noticed that the ground in this war zone bore marks of Spirit Condensation Stage art technique attacks. There wasn’t just one such mark; many flat areas had significant terrain changes—meteorite craters, trenches, holes. Looking at all this, it wasn’t hard to imagine that a high-intensity battle had erupted here not long ago.
Everyone noticed the abnormalities in the war zone and collectively grew serious, raising their alertness.
“Everyone, I am Lin Lang of the Imperial Wine Sect. Just now, our Imperial Wine Sect and Yuding Sect disciples discussed it. For the next month, I will temporarily act as the commander of this war zone. Now I will announce the defense arrangements for the four directions.”
It finally happened.
Lu Hangzhi shook his head slightly, while also seeing a look of resigned expectation on Cheng Fei’s face.
Nangong Jun spoke up at this point:
“Senior Brother Lin, leave the area near the Matrix Tower to us for protection. You can assign the other areas as you wish.”
“Alright…”
If someone else had said it, Lin Lang might have lost his temper on the spot. But facing a female cultivator, he unconsciously paid more attention to his image and reputation.
Although unhappy, Lin Lang wisely accepted Nangong Jun’s request, leaving an area near the Matrix Tower for Nangong Jun’s thirty people to handle themselves.
The remaining twenty-plus unorganized rogue cultivators became cannon fodder, assigned to the direction facing the mountain peak, which bore the most pressure.
The twenty-plus people were angry but didn’t dare speak out!
No sooner were the arrangements finished than the monster beast attacks began as expected.
“Senior Brother Cheng Fei, please keep an eye on things here. I’ll go over there and look around, to prevent them from causing trouble.”
After Lu Hangzhi spoke to Cheng Fei, the latter quickly agreed.
Currently, the weakest defensive area in the entire war zone was the north. Lin Lang’s arrangement there was rough and careless; he simply didn’t care about these people’s lives. If something happened, none of them would survive. Although they were strangers, they were still part of the war zone’s strength.
“Be careful,” Cheng Fei cautioned.
Lu Hangzhi nodded and, under the surprised gazes of dozens of people, walked into the Northern District.
The situation in the Northern District was very chaotic.
Being newcomers and lacking effective command, except for a few who quickly formed teams, the rest mostly fought on their own. Facing the monster beasts descending from the sky, they struggled fiercely. No one noticed Lu Hangzhi approaching.
Lin Lang and the others truly lived up to being disciples of the Seven Great Sects. Their strength was indeed impressive. They killed Eighth-grade monster beasts as easily as cutting melons and vegetables, and dealt with Ninth Grade Demon Beasts without hesitation. In pairs, they easily cleared out the rapidly descending monster beasts, then turned their gazes to Lu Hangzhi.
“Isn’t that kid with that group?”
“Merely at the Peak Sixth Rank, he actually went to the Northern District among those rogue cultivators. Could it be that he isn’t welcome in his own group?”
“Who knows.”
“Let him be.”
The group didn’t pay much attention to the cultivator with the lowest cultivation level in the team.
Lu Hangzhi chose a subtle position that conveniently covered the entire Northern District, allowing him to quickly support all the rogue cultivators.
Being the first wave of attacks, the monster beasts’ assault wasn’t very strong, seemingly somewhat exploratory.
The pressure on the Northern District wasn’t too heavy either—only seven Ninth Grade Demon Beasts and over thirty Eighth-grade monster beasts…
Although these rogue cultivators didn’t know how to cooperate, they were experienced and not weak in strength. They remained busy but not panicked.
Their attack methods uniformly chose the Flying Sword technique, which consumed the least Magic Power. They dispatched Eighth-grade monster beasts cleanly and efficiently. If the number of Ninth Grade Demon Beasts wasn’t too high, they could handle them as well.
The first wave was thus defended successfully, though with some nervous moments.
Lu Hangzhi barely made a move, instead observing the strength of these people.
He discovered that these individuals, both in terms of experience and equipment/weapons, surpassed Xuanxin Sect disciples by more than just a little. Among them, one man and one woman were even stronger than Cheng Fei.
Two Late Grade-Nines.
The man was a summoning-type cultivator who possessed two Eighth-grade Spirit Beasts. While he focused on killing Ninth Grade Demon Beasts, his two Spirit Beasts handled finishing off nearby wounded monster beasts and providing defense. He combined offense and defense adeptly, showing considerable strength.
The female cultivator wore a thin veil over her face, hiding her features and revealing only a pair of bright eyes. It was unclear whether she was beautiful or plain, but her pair of ice-fire Flying Swords were actually Top-grade Magical Artifacts. She handled the Ninth Grade Demon Beasts with great skill; five of the seven Ninth Grade Demon Beasts were killed by her. She was incredibly strong.
Lu Hangzhi’s original intention was to come and guide their tactics. But after sensing the unexpectedly formidable strength of this group, he quickly abandoned any thought of instructing them and remained in this place as an ordinary defending cultivator:
Would these Eighth-grade and Ninth-grade cultivators listen to the direction of a Sixth Rank cultivator?
No way!
They didn’t even give face to the Peak Ninth Grade disciples of the Seven Great Sects, let alone a powerless, low-ranking youngster.
However…
Since these people were strong enough, as long as they paid a little attention and assisted the overall situation, ensuring the stability of the Northern District’s battle didn’t cause trouble for the war zone, that would suffice.
These people were also observing Lu Hangzhi.
Although they didn’t know why Lu Hangzhi came from the safest area to the most dangerous one, for the Northern District which bore the heaviest pressure, one more person meant one more source of strength, which was always good.
Furthermore, during the subsequent defense tasks, Lu Hangzhi skillfully manipulated his Flying Sword, shifting it from a slow speed to an extreme speed, cleanly decapitating a Ninth Grade Demon Beast that everyone had missed, successfully resolving a potential crisis. Everyone nodded in acknowledgment, realizing that this Peak Sixth Rank cultivator clearly possessed even greater power within him.
Lu Hangzhi didn’t explain anything.
Although he was only controlling one Flying Sword, for some reason, during the transition from slow to extreme speed, he suddenly felt a smooth, effortless sense of comfort and confidence.
Especially after easily killing a Ninth Grade Demon Beast through speed variation, Lu Hangzhi soon immersed himself in another kind of insight regarding the Flying Sword.
“One Thought Six Movements could also be used to control a single Flying Sword!”
“The Flying Sword doesn’t need to return and attack again; it can change trajectory in mid-air for a second attack, or even more attacks! Could this be the true intention of the Seven-Seven Sword Formation?”
Once this thought arose, Lu Hangzhi’s mind opened up wildly, uncontrollably. He continuously manipulated the Flying Sword, crazily altering its attack trajectory and speed in the air.
Originally, the maximum attack frequency for the maximum range was once every two seconds. Now, he could easily achieve more than three attacks within that maximum range.
“This isn’t the limit yet.”
Lu Hangzhi felt excited.
“If there were enough attack targets, he could lock onto six targets in an instant, complete six attack trajectory changes in a short time, and use a single Flying Sword to attack six or even seven targets at once!”
Thinking this, Lu Hangzhi took a deep breath:
“I understand!”
“This is the truly terrifying aspect of the Seven-Seven Sword Formation.”
“Seven Motions with One Thought doesn’t just mean controlling seven Flying Swords at once. It also means being able to manipulate a Flying Sword seven times. After reaching the minor achievement stage, the forty-nine swords could truly form the sword formation and unleash the power of its first layer.”
Lu Hangzhi was overjoyed.
The war zone had no shortage of attack targets.
As time passed, Lu Hangzhi began to further master the Flying Sword. Amidst the many dazzling and astonishing Sword Qi and art technique attacks, the Strange Wind Sword easily tore open the throat of an Eighth-grade Bull Demon, bringing forth a spray of red. Then, without stopping, it shot at even greater speed into the eye of another, unprepared Bull Demon nearby, piercing through it in one go, eliciting a mournful, desperate howl. It then chased past the lower abdomen of a Ghost-Faced Demon Wolf that had just completed a trajectory change.
In one thought, two Eighth-grade Bull Demons and one Ghost-Faced Demon Wolf perished.
“Again!”
With a thought from Lu Hangzhi, the Strange Wind Sword was recalled, and the Gold-Cleaving Sword went out to meet the enemy.
This time, there was a bit more progress.
Four monster beasts were beheaded!
During the third wave of monster beast attacks, Lu Hangzhi controlled the Flying Sword even more smoothly. His mind raced, designing the trajectory, and the Flying Sword swept past the vital points of five monster beasts in one go.
Although the killing effect was far inferior to using six Flying Swords simultaneously, the efficiency of killing wasn’t much worse…
“Continue!”
Lu Hangzhi gritted his teeth and continued training.
“Brother, pay attention to recovering your Magic Power.”
Someone couldn’t stand it anymore and couldn’t help but send a voice transmission to remind him: “If you keep training like this, your Magic Power will run out very quickly. Rest first, recover some Magic Power.”
The one who spoke was precisely that Late Grade-Nine cultivator who possessed two Spirit Beasts.
Lu Hangzhi immediately snapped back to reality.
He had been careless.
He had trained so intently just now that he even forgot this was a war zone, where he must always ensure his Magic Power stays within a safe level.
“Sorry, I got too absorbed in the training just now. Thank you for the reminder.”
“You’re welcome.”
The man laughed:
“Let me introduce myself. I’m Qi Yuanfeng, a disciple of the Myriad Beasts Sect.”
“Xuanxin Sect, Lu Hangzhi.”
Lu Hangzhi gave his name and sect.
“I know you’re from Xuanxin Sect. Everyone is curious why you aren’t staying with your Senior Brothers and Sisters.”
“By the Venerable One’s order, to ensure the security of your Northern District’s defense line.”
Lu Hangzhi answered with a smile.
The twenty-plus cultivators in the Northern District all showed expressions of disbelief:
“The Venerable One’s order?”
“Just sending you alone?”
“You’re joking!”
The group found it both funny and frustrating.
Only Qi Yuanfeng and the veiled female cultivator instead showed expressions of “just as expected” and nodded one after the other.