Dog-Skin Plaster

The Five Paths Six Emotions Formation, while sounding like an illusionary magic array, was actually Lord Xingde's killing formation. The five paths refer to the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and heart; losing these five senses would lead to confusion and entanglement. The six emotions are pain, joy, lust, scent, profit, and love; if these six emotions are lost, the spirit and mind become stagnant.

Once this formation was deployed, it immediately trapped the Three Heroes of Ink Mountain within its bounds, sealing their five senses and disrupting their six emotions. The three heroes were instantly overwhelmed.

The true cultivation of the Three Heroes of Ink Mountain was revealed on the spot: they only possessed cultivation at the Qi Refining fifth to seventh layer, nowhere near Lord Xingde's level.

Lord Xingde was also greatly perplexed. With such modest cultivation, how dared they occupy Ink Mountain? It was truly baffling!

Watching the three heroes struggle within the formation, Liu Xiaolou felt a sense of satisfaction. He stood by with his arms crossed, leisurely observing the battle and learning about the art of controlling formations. Of course, it was difficult for him to intervene.

In past combats, Liu Xiaolou's side would employ all sorts of tricks, with fellow disciples swarming the enemy to catch them off guard. Today, engaging in battle with the so-called "Three Heroes of Ink Mountain," he experienced the novel sensation of crushing opponents with a grand formation in a righteous manner. It was truly exhilarating.

Having a master at the Qi Refining ninth layer providing protection made fighting so much more enjoyable.

"Big brother, third brother, these guys are tough!"

"Big brother, second brother, I can't hold on!"

"Second brother, third brother, don't panic, same old method!"

"Supreme star, responding without delay, Heavenly Hero Flag—unfurl!"

"Expel evil and bind beguilers, protect life and body, Earthly Hero Flag—unfurl!"

"Wisdom clear and bright, spirit calm and peaceful, Human Hero Flag—unfurl!"

"Three Talents Soul Protecting Flag, open! As swift as the law commands!"

Liu Xiaolou blinked. Well, these three brothers chant in unison. They must have practiced a lot.

Three small flags materialized in the hands of the three heroes, forming the Three Talents Soul Protecting Flag. With the flags fluttering in the wind, they forcefully broke the three brothers free from Lord Xingde's killing formation.

Lord Xingde couldn't help but praise, "A fine flag!"

As he concentrated, preparing to counter, the Three Heroes of Ink Mountain leaped far away, tens of feet distant, not daring to advance for another fight.

Liu Xiaolou shouted, "You three, why aren't you coming up to fight again?"

The eldest brother among the three heroes, Heavenly Hero, said, "If we can't win, why would we come up to fight? To die? Do you think we brothers are fools?"

Liu Xiaolou understood. The Three Talents Soul Protecting Flag was a treasure that offered extremely strong defense but no offensive power. These three brothers, wherever they found it, relied on this flag to occupy Ink Mountain.

Lord Xingde chuckled, dispelled the Five Paths Six Emotions Formation, and waved his sleeve. "Since that is the case, I shall spare you. Flee for your lives!"

His magnanimous words of forgiveness, however, were met with a barrage of mockery:

"You old geezer, who asked you to spare us? Such arrogant talk! If you have the guts, chase us!"

"Ink Mountain is our brothers' abode. May lightning strike you for your impudent intrusion!"

"If you have the ability, go down and collect the stones. Let's see how my brothers deal with you!"

Lord Xingde, who always prided himself on his dashing demeanor and graceful bearing, was so enraged by the three brothers' insults that his head was practically on fire. He once again brought out the Five Paths Six Emotions Formation disk and pursued them. His cultivation far surpassed that of the Three Heroes of Ink Mountain, and his speed was incredibly swift. How could the Three Heroes of Ink Mountain escape? They were immediately enveloped by the formation once more.

The Three Heroes of Ink Mountain repeated their tactic, chanting the flag incantations loudly and in unison:

"Supreme star, responding without delay, Heavenly Hero Flag—unfurl!"

"Expel evil and bind beguilers, protect life and body, Earthly Hero Flag—unfurl!"

"Wisdom clear and bright, spirit calm and peaceful, Human Hero Flag—unfurl!"

"Three Talents Soul Protecting Flag, open! As swift as the law commands!"

The three flags once again transformed into one, sweeping the three brothers out of the grand formation. However, these three brothers did not leave. They moved to the southwest corner of the cold pond and continued to jump and curse, their foul language becoming increasingly vulgar.

Lord Xingde said to Liu Xiaolou, "Xiaolou, I will guard from above. You go down into the pond to retrieve the stones. The Profound Stone is at the bottom of the pond; you'll recognize it immediately. Get a piece about the size of a fist. Then, stir up the water at the bottom. The Spring Essence Jade will attach itself to the bubbles, appearing like jade beads. Collect a few of those."

Liu Xiaolou took the jade box Lord Xingde tossed him and leaped into the pond.

The pond water was rather deep, over eight zhang. With his Qi Refining third layer cultivation, he felt discomfort in his ears. After swimming around for a while, he spotted a peculiar stone wedged in a rock crevice, about the size of a fist, with a hollow center. It was the Profound Stone, connected to the mud at the bottom. He approached and broke it off.

Then, he stirred the water in the rock crevice. Bubbles rose from the crevice, and indeed, a few bubbles contained small jade beads. He collected them with the jade box.

After collecting the Profound Stone and Spring Essence Jade, Liu Xiaolou swam to the surface and got ashore. He saw Lord Xingde battling the Three Heroes of Ink Mountain. In a flash, the Three Heroes of Ink Mountain escaped again, their vulgar curses incessant, causing Lord Xingde's face to turn red with anger.

Seeing Liu Xiaolou return successfully, Lord Xingde finally let out a sigh of relief. After a moment of hesitation, he uttered a harsh threat and left the area with Liu Xiaolou.

Descending Ink Mountain, Lord Xingde's anger had not subsided. Liu Xiaolou's gentle words of comfort helped to calm his temper somewhat.

Ten miles from the mountain, night had fallen. The two found a spot sheltered from the wind to rest and examined the Profound Stone and Spring Essence Jade by the campfire.

Lord Xingde nodded in approval. "This Profound Stone is of excellent quality, and the few Spring Essence Jade beads are also brightly colored and useful! Xiaolou, you chose well."

Liu Xiaolou replied, "I found it as soon as I entered the water; I didn't specifically pick it."

Lord Xingde pondered for a moment. "Perhaps because those three scoundrels occupied Ink Mountain, fewer people were mining the Profound Stone and Spring Essence Jade. They have been well-preserved in the pond. Come to think of it, these three scoundrels have actually done us a favor?"

As they were speaking, a gust of strong wind attacked from the darkness. Liu Xiaolou quickly drew his sword to block. It turned out to be several stones, thrown with great force. If he had been hit, he would have suffered a severe head injury.

Lord Xingde moved like a startled rabbit, instantly lunging towards the source of the stones. In a blink of an eye, the forest was filled with the intense glow of spiritual light from their fierce combat.

Immediately after, another set of orderly flag incantations could be heard:

"Supreme star..."

"Expel evil and bind beguilers..."

"Wisdom clear and bright..."

"Three Talents Soul Protecting Flag, activate! Swiftly, as the law commands!"

Not long after, Lord Xingde returned in a furious rage, and amidst a torrent of curses, he asked Liu Xiaolou for advice: "Do you have any good ideas? I wish I could tear these scoundrels to pieces!"

Liu Xiaolou was also quite helpless. He had figured out the combat style of the Three Heroes of Ink Mountain. The disciples from Wulong Mountain had a similar tactic in their moves. Although he himself was still too inexperienced to use this tactic, he had certainly heard of it, and it was almost unbeatable.

At the moment, he could only shrug and say, "Anger is useless. We can't hit them, and we can't out-argue them. What else can we do?"

Lord Xingde said, "We can't stay in Ink Mountain anymore. We'll leave tonight."

Liu Xiaolou replied, "This is called the dog-skin plaster combat style. They just stick to you endlessly, and you can't shake them off. Even if we flee a thousand miles, they'll dare to harass us for a thousand miles. They're playing the game with sheer, rabid persistence! Senior, don't even think about retreating to Xingde Mountain. If they really find out the way to our mountain gate, we'll never have peace again."

Lord Xingde asked, "Then what should we do?"

Liu Xiaolou suggested, "How about I go talk to them?"

"Talk about what?"

"Give them some benefits..."

"In this righteous world, should we be threatened by these three low-life thieves? Wouldn't that be admitting defeat? Absolutely not!"