The greatest advantage of the vast Bamboo Mountain was its endless bamboo forest. Without those dense thickets for cover, even Master Shan, with all his extraordinary abilities, couldn't have pulled off much.
There was no denying it: this tactic of striking at the root was vicious.
Already wounded, Master Shan had fled back into Bamboo Mountain, hoping to hide inside the formation and recover before deciding what to do next. He hadn't expected the other side to resort to this root-cutting tactic.
Judging by the way they were cutting down the bamboo, by dawn they would have cleared every stalk on the vast mountain. Not a single one would remain.
Then the formation would be completely exposed. The restrictions he had set up around its entrance would lose the support of the mountain's bamboo. Even if they retained some ability to attack and defend, their power would surely be greatly diminished. After all, those restrictions relied on the terrain and the unbroken bamboo forest to bring the illusion formations to their full potential.
Without the illusion and maze formations, the restrictions alone had limited killing power. They might have been able to hold off thirty or fifty people, but this time there were over a thousand. Even if the attackers simply threw their lives at the problem, they could trample his restrictions flat.
Master Shan seethed with regret, knowing he had made a grave mistake. One misstep, and the whole game was lost!
To keep his identity secret and spare himself the trouble, he had only cultivated Old Wang as a puppet to control the Cloud Valley district. Until now, Old Wang had always played the role well.
He had never imagined that when trouble struck, Old Wang—who usually did whatever he said—would betray him without the slightest hesitation and