Pursuers, the Formation Shows Its Might

Before long, Wu Xingyun finished her work.

Her face was visibly etched with heartache.

Clearly, the materials needed to set up these formations were painfully costly to her.

But considering the safety of their group, she had not hesitated.

In her eyes, even if she herself did not care and was unafraid of death, she could not let the Sect Master come to harm as well—not to mention that Fan Jianqiang was with them!

Although she still did not know whether this Fan Jianqiang possessed any other extraordinary abilities beyond alchemy and divination.

Still, so long as someone belonged to the sect, she would do everything in her power to protect them.

After finishing, Wu Xingyun wiped the sweat from her brow and turned around, only to find Lin Fan standing nearby. She could not help but frown slightly. "Hm? Fan Jianqiang still hasn't returned?"

Though she had divine sense, men and women should keep their distance.

He had just made it perfectly clear that he was going off to "relieve himself." She could hardly keep her divine sense trained on him the entire time, so she had no idea how far Fan Jianqiang had gotten.

After pondering briefly, Lin Fan chose to be an actor.

He suddenly felt that a certain lyric suited him perfectly right now.

I, who should cooperate with your performance, will pretend not to see~

Yes—he would pretend he knew nothing and turn a blind eye to everything Fan Jianqiang did.

"He should be back soon, shouldn't he?"

The fellow pretended to glance into the depths of the forest.

"Then we'll wait."

Wu Xingyun focused on the road they had come from, spreading out her divine sense to watch for any movement.

Fortunately, after just a few breaths, Fan Jianqiang emerged from the dense forest amid a rustling of leaves. He wore a simple, foolish grin and scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, I drank a bit too much earlier, so I took longer relieving myself."

"Second Elder, are you done? Then let's get going?"

"Let's go!"

Wu Xingyun did not delay for even a moment. She immediately led the two of them flying low through the air, rushing toward the Moon Embracing Sect at top speed.

Yet Fan Jianqiang's expression remained extremely grave.

They had not flown far when his face suddenly changed. "Ow, my stomach hurts so badly I can barely stand it. I need to answer nature's call—I really can't hold it in anymore."

Wu Xingyun frowned slightly. "You are already a Core Condensation Realm cultivator. Your control over your physical body far surpasses that of ordinary people. How can you fail to control such bodily instincts?"

"This..."

"This disciple has only just entered the Core Condensation Realm, so perhaps I'm not yet proficient enough. Besides, I tested medicine on myself last night and consumed quite a few spiritual items. I imagine this isn't one of the ordinary three urgent calls of man, so, so..."

"Ow, it's about to burst out."

Helpless, Wu Xingyun looked at Lin Fan.

He had to struggle tremendously not to give himself away, then gently nodded.

Wu Xingyun could only land once more.

The instant Fan Jianqiang touched the ground, he clutched his backside and bolted away, wailing at the top of his lungs, "Oh dear, it's coming out, it's coming out! Hold it, hold it~!~!"

Wu Xingyun: "!!!"

"Sect Master."

She lowered her voice. "It is not that this old woman enjoys gossiping about others or speaking ill of them behind their backs, but this boy is riddled with suspicious points. Could it be..."

Clearly, she had grown suspicious.

What Core Condensation Realm cultivator acted like this?

As the folk saying went, "A lazy donkey pisses and shits all the more when it's put to the millstone!"

But who had ever heard of "a cultivator on the road needing to piss and shit all the more"?

Lin Fan did not find it strange in the slightest.

On the contrary, it would have been strange if she had not become suspicious.

After all, though Fan Jianqiang was cautious and steady, the excuses he came up with were truly...

Tsk, better not to mention them.

Thus, Lin Fan shook his head with a smile. "He is an alchemist too. It is quite normal for some minor problems to arise from testing medicine on himself. Perhaps Second Elder, you are overthinking it."

"I hope this old woman is overthinking it," Wu Xingyun sighed.

The moment her words fell...

BOOM!!!

A tremendous explosion suddenly rang out from far down the road they had come from.

Then came explosion after explosion, thunderous roars, and the sounds of cultivators attacking—casting spells or unleashing vast swathes of sword light!

Though faint, they could not escape their ears.

"Judging by the sound, it's where we stopped just now."

"The formations I set up have been triggered!"

Wu Xingyun's expression changed slightly.

Lin Fan narrowed his eyes.

Before they could speak again, wave after wave of furious roars reached them.

"Ahhh! Which bastard set up these formations?!"

"Don't let this old man catch you, or I'll make you beg for life but be unable to live, beg for death but be unable to die!"

"Break for this old man—!!!"

"Break!!!"

"Break, break, break!"

There was more than one voice!

All of them were exceedingly furious. Amid their curses and roars, they were also doing their utmost to break the formations, the thunderous blasts ringing out without cease.

Very soon, the distant sound of formations being blasted apart carried over.

Meanwhile, within the formations Wu Xingyun had laid, a group of five or six people was in a particularly miserable state. Surrounded by multiple formations, they had been battered until they were grimy and disheveled, every one of them wounded. Two unlucky fellows had even already set foot on the Yellow Springs Road, leaving behind only half their corpses.

"Damn it!!!"

"This is a trap!"

"They came prepared and set up countless formations here..."

"What a Moon Embracing Sect! To dare act so brazenly—you have chosen the road to death!"

"Break the formations at once! Catch up to them! Not one of them will escape!"

Wu Xingyun's face changed. "We must leave immediately. They definitely have more than one Cave Heaven Realm cultivator; they may even have Finger Profound Realm cultivators holding the line."

"Ahhh."

"So terrifying."

Before Lin Fan could speak, Fan Jianqiang came charging out of the woods, clutching his pants and howling, "Second Elder, let's run! They've caught up!"

Wu Xingyun: "..."

At this moment, she was in no position to say much. She immediately took the two of them and fled.

Yet as they traveled, she could not help feeling somewhat worried. In a low voice, she said, "Sect Master, although I set down several formations, judging from the sounds earlier and the time that has passed, they should have broken all the formations by now and are already on their way after us."

"If they catch up later, this old woman will stay behind to cover the rear. Sect Master, take Fan Jianqiang and return to the sect as quickly as possible. You must not linger for even a moment!"

Lin Fan shook his head slightly but said nothing.

He was no great saint, no soft-hearted savior.

But neither would he accept being called a bad man.

This venture had been his decision.

Bringing Fan Jianqiang along had also been his choice.

Even today's events had begun because of him. If he had not established those sect rules, how could this have happened?

Abandon the Second Elder and turn to flee?

That was... something he could not do.

Besides, if he was not mistaken, there was no need to be so pessimistic.

Before this, he had not been all that confident that Fan Jianqiang possessed the 'Gou Sheng-style' Protagonist Template. But at this very moment, now, he was ninety percent certain.

All because of those two bouts of 'urgent business.'

At that very moment, the five or six people finally broke through every formation. High-spirited and brimming with confidence, they gave chase at top speed.

"Nothing more than this!"

"A mere Moon Embracing Sect—how much inheritance could it possibly have left?!"

"We were only caught off guard and fell into their trap. Hmph, trying to run? Dream on!"

But...

Before they had even charged two li, they suddenly felt profoundly unsettled.

"No, something's wrong."

"Why am I so uneasy?!" One of them could not help blurting out.

Before his words had even faded—

BOOM!!!

A formation far more terrifying than the ones before erupted without warning. They had no time to react before it swallowed them whole...