After everyone withdrew to Xiqi's main camp, Daoist Ran Deng sat upright in the seat of honor, focused his mind, and deduced the mysteries of the Ten Absolute Formations. Once he had grasped the patterns of danger within them, he immediately laid down the rules for breaking the formations in front of everyone:
Before any formation was to be broken, one person had to be sent inside first as an offering to the formation, using their body to block the baleful force. Only afterward would one of the Twelve Golden Immortals make a move to break it.
The moment these words were spoken, the tent fell so silent that a falling needle could have been heard. Every Immortal Official present sealed their lips, all struck speechless.
After a long silence, True Man Taiyi was the first to raise his eyes toward Ran Deng. With a grave expression, he said:
"Uncle Ran Deng, according to what you're saying, each formation we break will require the sacrifice of one disciple. Once all Ten Absolute Formations are dealt with, won't that mean losing ten fellow Immortal Officials?"
Ran Deng slowly nodded, his expression solemn. "This is already the method with the fewest casualties.
If we rashly swarm the formations to break them, we will only trigger a backlash from the baleful power inside. When that time comes, the dead and wounded will only be greater."
"No. This method is absolutely unacceptable!"
The moment True Man Taiyi's words fell, Nezha and Yang Jian spoke out at the same time. The three of them stood on the same side, flatly refusing to accept Ran Deng's method of breaking formations by offering up human lives.
Jiang Ziya, who had remained silent at the side all this time, had gone deathly pale by now, his heart filled