Half an hour later, the earthen-yellow barrier shrouding Golden Rosy Cloud Mountain had been reduced to a thin layer, flimsy as paper.
Seeing this, the sand bandits who had been attacking for several hours were greatly emboldened. They intensified their assault once more, even advancing forward again and releasing their magic artifacts to join the attack.
It was at this moment that the three Chen family Foundation Establishment Cultivators atop Golden Rosy Cloud Mountain suddenly rose to their feet. Each threw out three formation flags embroidered with yellow earth dragons, planting them at nine crucial formation nodes on the mountain.
Rumble!
The instant the nine formation flags were planted, they swelled in the wind to over a dozen zhang tall. Then, all the remaining spiritual energy in Golden Rosy Cloud Mountain's spiritual vein surged madly into the flags.
The massive loss of spiritual energy directly destabilized the mountain's earth veins. The entire peak shook violently as though an earthquake had struck, while parts of it collapsed and split apart, revealing bottomless black fissures.
"What's happening? Is the mountain collapsing?"
"What are the Chen family doing? Are they going to destroy the spiritual vein? This is a tier 3 high-grade spiritual vein they nurtured with countless spirit stones!"
"This is bad! The barrier is about to break! Run!"
The sudden change stunned the cultivators in the marketplace who had no idea what was happening. However, the Family Cultivators from Chen family allied clans like the Zhou family, who had been notified beforehand, all watched the nine enormous formation flags with anticipation in their eyes.
The Chen family Foundation Establishment Cultivators had said they would unleash a killing move from the formation to help everyone break out. They all wanted to see just how powerful this killing move, which had absorbed the remaining spiritual energy of all Golden Rosy Cloud Mountain's spiritual vein, would be.
The nine flags did not disappoint them. After absorbing immense quantities of spiritual energy and magic power, the yellow earth dragons embroidered upon them suddenly seemed to come alive, raising their heads one after another and releasing earth-shaking dragon roars.
Roar—
Amid the thunderous dragon roars, the yellow earth dragons on the nine flags suddenly flew off their poles and burrowed straight into the mountain below.
Several breaths later, Golden Rosy Cloud Mountain split open with a series of rumbles, forming nine fissures over a dozen zhang wide. Nine yellow earth dragons more than thirty zhang long flew out from within.
"Heavens! What spell is this? Why do I feel that every one of these earth dragons gives off an aura even more terrifying than a Third-Rank Demonic Beast?"
"So the Chen family had such a killing move! No wonder they dared defend the marketplace to the death. We're saved! We're saved!"
"Go! Hurry up and kill those damned sand bandits!"
As nine dragons streaked across the sky, the cultivators in the marketplace instantly erupted in excitement. Many wore expressions of joy as though they had survived a great calamity, believing they had been saved.
Indeed, judging from their auras, each of these nine yellow earth dragons was stronger than a Tier 3 Low-grade Demonic Beast like the Poison Fire Scorpion King.
If these nine yellow earth dragons could persist indefinitely, the sand bandits' advantage in Foundation Establishment combat power would vanish completely. When that happened, who would emerge victorious was still anyone's guess.
However, those who knew the truth, such as Zhou Yang, understood that these seemingly awe-inspiring yellow earth dragons possessed only the strength for a single strike.
To summon these nine yellow earth dragons, Golden Rosy Cloud Mountain's tier 3 high-grade spiritual vein had fallen directly to tier 3 low-grade. Moreover, after this attack, the formation flags and formation nodes of the Hun Tian Earth Dragon Formation would be completely destroyed.
"Go!"
Naturally, the Chen family Foundation Establishment Cultivators did not explain any of this to those unaware of the truth. After using the mutually destructive move, "Earth Dragons Soar to Heaven," they immediately swept out their hands and controlled the nine yellow earth dragons to charge at the sand bandits, who had been stunned by the successive changes.
"Now! Move!"
Among the Zhou family cultivators, the moment Zhou Xuanyu saw the nine yellow earth dragons fly out to kill the enemy, she gave an order and took the lead, following behind one of the yellow earth dragons as she rushed out of Golden Rosy Cloud Mountain.
At the same time, the other Family Cultivators who had been notified beforehand, including the Chen family Qi Refining Cultivators, each chose a nearby yellow earth dragon and followed it outward to launch their breakout.
"Damn it! Stop them! Don't let a single one escape!"
Only after belatedly coming to his senses did the sand bandit leader understand what had happened. As he released a magic artifact at the nearest yellow earth dragon, he roared furiously, ordering the other sand bandits to stop those attempting to break out.
After painstakingly attacking the formation for half the day, letting their prey escape now would make them the laughingstock of the world.
This made things miserable for the Qi Refining Stage sand bandits. After attacking the formation for half a day, even though they had constantly refined the spiritual energy inside spirit stones to replenish themselves, they had less than half their magic power left.
Zhou Yang and the others breaking out, however, had preserved at least seventy percent of their magic power. As Family Cultivators, their magic artifacts and talismans were no ordinary goods. Now, to stay alive, they held nothing back and revealed every card they had up their sleeves.
Following behind Zhou Xuanyu, Zhou Yang saw his godmother transform directly into a spell-slinging machine. She flung out all kinds of Tier 2 Talismans by the handful as if they were cabbages. Before the Qi Refining Stage sand bandits blocking her path could even understand what was happening, they were blasted by various spells until not even dregs remained.
Such ferocious might immediately intimidated the other sand bandits who had wanted to intercept them, pushing their group's breakout progress straight into the lead.
However, the consequence was that a Foundation Establishment Stage Sand Bandit battling a yellow earth dragon noticed them and immediately flung out a spare Tier 2 High-grade flying sword toward their group.
Though it was merely a Tier 2 High-grade flying sword, empowered by a Foundation Establishment Cultivator's formidable magic power and Sword Control Technique, it still possessed the terrifying might to instantly kill an ordinary Qi Refining Layer Nine cultivator.
Zhou Xuanyu's expression changed sharply. She shouted sternly, "Go! I'll stop him!"
Before her cry had faded, she raised her jade-like hand and unleashed a Tier 3 Talisman that she had long held tightly in her hand.
This Tier 3 Talisman contained a third-rank defensive spell, the Golden Armor Spell. After Zhou Xuanyu used it, a golden suit of armor formed from golden light appeared over her body.
The flying sword unleashed by the Foundation Establishment Stage Sand Bandit struck it, yet only knocked off some golden motes of light. It could not harm Zhou Xuanyu within in the short term.
Seeing this, Zhou Yang relaxed slightly. He also knew the situation was urgent. If he remained behind, not only would he be unable to help, but he would also drag down his godmother, Zhou Xuanyu.
Thus, after saying, "Take care, Godmother," he gritted his teeth, took over Zhou Xuanyu's position, and led the others onward in their breakout.
The farther out they went, the fewer sand bandits there were. After Zhou Yang imitated his godmother Zhou Xuanyu and smashed two fearless sand bandits blocking the way to death with talismans, no more sand bandits could be seen ahead.
At that moment, he looked back. More than a thousand meters behind him, his godmother Zhou Xuanyu was clad in protective golden armor, releasing magic artifacts as she fiercely battled that flying sword. She had no intention whatsoever of catching up.
"Godmother!"
Zhou Yang's eyes reddened. He immediately understood Zhou Xuanyu's intentions. She feared that if she moved, she would draw that Foundation Establishment Cultivator's attention toward them. She was sacrificing herself to save them!
"Little Nine, don't act rashly. Your mother has another Tier 3 Flying Talisman bestowed by the Old Clan Leader. What we need to do now is flee at once. Only once we escape that Foundation Establishment sand bandit's sight will she dare break out without worry!"
Seeing Zhou Yang stop and look back, Zhou Xuanyu's husband, Wu Tao, immediately reached out and grabbed him, afraid that he would act on impulse and rush back.
As the highest-cultivated among the Zhou family's many relatives by marriage, Wu Tao held considerable standing in the Zhou family. Furthermore, he was Zhou Xuanyu's husband. Hearing his words, Zhou Yang felt somewhat relieved.
"Go. We'll scatter and leave according to the plan. Remember this: if we survive, we must wait for the Old Clan Leader to return before making contact."
With a grave expression, he waved his hand and spoke the arrangement they had long discussed.
Then he looked back once more at his godmother Zhou Xuanyu's figure. Gritting his teeth, he picked a random direction and fled for his life.
Though Qi Refining Stage cultivators could not ride swords through the air, with spells such as the Divine Speed Technique and Light Body Technique, their running speed on land was far faster than galloping horses. Running one or two hundred li in an hour posed no problem.
However, humans were not creatures built for running. Sprinting like this for a short while was nothing, but if it continued for too long, their legs would be ruined.
Therefore, after fleeing Golden Rosy Cloud Mountain, Zhou Yang stopped at a deserted mountain after running for only a little over half an hour. He circled the mountain, leaving behind abundant traces and lingering aura, then used a set of First-Rank formation equipment he carried with him, the Illusionary Form Array, to set up a false hiding place.
Only after finishing all this did he use the Earth Evasion Technique to enter the mountain. With his flying sword, he carved out a space large enough to hide in several dozen meters beneath the mountain, then gripped a spirit stone in each hand and hurriedly began restoring his magic power.
He knew that the traces he had left during his flight would certainly not fool sand bandits skilled at tracking.
Now he could only gamble: gamble that the pursuing sand bandits might not discover him hidden dozens of meters underground, and gamble that their strength would not exceed the Qi Refining Stage.
If the pursuing sand bandits were no stronger than the Qi Refining Stage, then even if there were several of them, he had a fair chance of winning with his many hidden cards. But if Foundation Establishment Stage Sand Bandits came after him, then Heaven truly wanted him dead!
Waiting was torment, especially when it concerned one's own life and death.
Zhou Yang waited for one or two hours. Even after his magic power had fully recovered and no one had come after him, he grew increasingly anxious, several times wanting to go out and continue fleeing.
But reason told him that at this time, the risk of fleeing aboveground was many times greater than the risk of waiting underground.
Once those Foundation Establishment Stage Sand Bandits broke through the marketplace, they certainly would not be satisfied with what they gained inside. By then, if they flew through the sky and used the Heavenly Eye Technique, the magical light radiating from cultivators fleeing on the ground within dozens of li would shine as brightly as fireflies in the night. They could not escape the bandits' sharp eyes.
On the other hand, from a psychological perspective, the most dangerous place was often the safest place.
After looting the marketplace, if those Foundation Establishment Stage Sand Bandits wanted to hunt down the fleeing cultivators, they would certainly first fly to places far from the marketplace to search. By ordinary reasoning, the stronger and wealthier a cultivator was, the faster and more capable they would be at escaping than others.
Finally, after this agonizing wait had lasted more than three hours, Zhou Yang, hiding underground, at last heard the commotion caused by the trap he had set on the surface being triggered.
Thanks to fellow reader Villager Grows Vegetables to Sell at the Stall for the reward of 100 Qidian coins. The second update is here—please vote with recommendation tickets.
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