Five Elements Sword Formation

Chen Fan was inside a dense cocoon of light, completely enveloped by spiritual energy in two alternating colors. Chen Jingjing and Zhang Rumeng could see only the cocoon, whose spiritual energy had almost turned to liquid.

"Qingqing, what exactly is your brother cultivating? It's incredibly powerful," Zhang Rumeng said, clicking her tongue in amazement.

"I don't know either, but he really isn't like he used to be." Chen Jingjing shook her head, her face alight with joy.

"You must be thrilled. At last, your wish to see your brother become a dragon has come true." Zhang Rumeng rose with a smile.

Chen Jingjing smiled faintly too. She was just about to say something when a loud crash suddenly came from outside the formation.

They hurriedly turned to look, and their expressions changed at once.

Outside the formation, a group of disciples from Heavy Sword Peak had them surrounded.

A man dressed in a black robe slowly lowered his raised hand, fixing Chen Jingjing with a cold sneer. One corner of the formation's barrier had been blasted away, but its defensive power remained unaffected.

"Nalan Tian." Chen Jingjing's gaze turned icy in an instant.

"Foundation Establishment Early Stage." Zhang Rumeng stared at Nalan Tian in a daze, finding it hard to believe.

"So Chen Fan is your brother." Nalan Tian looked at Chen Jingjing and muttered with a sneer.

"Brother, you know her?" Nalan Yun asked, looking puzzled.

"When I was in the Inner Court, I pursued her, but she turned me down." Nalan Tian reached up to touch his lips, then laughed coldly. He looked at Chen Jingjing as if she were prey he was certain to claim.

Nalan Yun's expression grew strange at his words. She had always been in Heavy Sword Peak's Outer Court, and news from the Inner Court rarely got around. Now it seemed Chen Fan and Nalan Tian both liked the other's younger sister—except Chen Fan wasn't the same Chen Fan he used to be.

"Who would've thought the world could be so full of coincidences? I suppose that means I can't kill him outright." Nalan Tian chuckled under his breath.

"Brother, you probably won't need to do anything. Once the people from the Immortal Sect get here, they'll kill that good-for-nothing themselves," Nalan Yun said. She felt nothing but jealousy and hatred toward Chen Fan. Ever since his strength had improved, he had ignored her, which made her feel deeply insulted.

"That works too. But where's this Chen Fan you mentioned? Why can I only see Chen Jingjing and Zhang Rumeng?" Nalan Tian had blasted away only one corner of the barrier, and Chen Fan's location remained blocked from view.

"Could he be scared and hiding?" Nalan Yun said, craning her neck to peer inside.

"Hmph. I'll blast through this formation myself. Let's see where he can hide then." Nalan Tian's gaze sharpened. He gave a low shout: "Water Bullet Technique!" Then he swept his sleeve, and several perfectly round water balls appeared out of thin air, hovering in the air.

He swept his sleeve again, and the water balls suddenly unleashed a tremendous force, slamming into the formation from all sides.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Several loud crashes rang out. The Concealment Array's barrier flashed repeatedly, and its shielding effect eventually vanished, though its defensive power remained.

Nalan Tian and the others were also drawn to the cocoon of light inside the formation, brimming with spiritual energy.

"What incredibly dense spiritual energy. What is that?" Though a formation still stood between them, Nalan Yun could feel the spiritual energy flowing over the cocoon, and couldn't help exclaiming in amazement.

"What a vast amount of spiritual energy, compressed to such an extent!" one disciple cried, eyes wide.

"It's almost liquid. If I could absorb spiritual energy like that, I'd break through in just five days," an ordinary disciple said enviously.

"What a stroke of fortune! That must be a ball of spiritual energy, worth as much as a huge Spirit Stone. The heavens are on our side. It looks like we'll reap a fine harvest—both wealth and beauties." A greedy gleam flashed in Nalan Tian's eyes as he glanced back and forth between the cocoon and Chen Jingjing.

"Brother, where's Chen Fan?" Nalan Yun finally noticed something was wrong. She had been eager to see the look on Chen Fan's face when he saw her, but aside from Chen Jingjing and Zhang Rumeng, there was only a tiny cocoon of light inside the formation.

Wait. A cocoon of light?

Nalan Yun eyed the two-colored cocoon suspiciously.

"Damn it, he's cultivating in there and absorbing the spiritual energy!" Nalan Tian shouted grimly. He traced a circle with both hands, and a gigantic water ball suddenly appeared. Clear water streamed back and forth between his hands, flecked with wisps of spiritual energy that held it in a sphere.

"Break the formation!" He thrust both hands toward Chen Jingjing and the others. The enormous water ball roared toward the Concealment Array like a massive bomb.

"Rumble!"

An unprecedented crash rang out. Chen Jingjing and Zhang Rumeng not only covered their ears, they clearly saw the yellow talismans on the ground dim by half.

"Qingqing, what do we do?" Zhang Rumeng asked anxiously.

"The formation can withstand another attack. If it breaks, we'll hold them off and buy my brother some time." A determined glint flashed in Chen Jingjing's eyes.

"But Qingqing, Nalan Tian used to harass you all the time. If the formation breaks, I'm afraid he'll..." Before Zhang Rumeng could finish, another gigantic water ball slammed into the Concealment Array.

Boom!

After the final crash, the Concealment Array's barrier quivered, then burst apart into fragments. The yellow talismans on the ground, however, went "fizz" and caught fire.

Five beams of sword light suddenly shot out from the talismans, stopping in front of Chen Jingjing and Zhang Rumeng, their tips pointing at Nalan Tian and the others.

"Five Elements Strange Sword Talisman?" Chen Jingjing and Zhang Rumeng were stunned. Chen Fan had actually kept a move like this in reserve—but a Five Elements Strange Sword Talisman was no match for an enemy as powerful as Nalan Tian.

"Wait, this isn't a Five Elements Strange Sword Talisman." Chen Jingjing spotted something amiss. She quickly raised her hand, imbued her fingers with True Qi, and began drawing between the five beams of sword light, weaving them together with colorful streaks of light.

"This is a Five Elements Sword Formation!" Chen Jingjing cried. The five beams of sword light suddenly transformed into streaks of light, chasing one another to form a pentagonal ring. Then it rose into the air, growing larger and larger.

"Damn it! Charge in and kill them!" The immense spiritual energy made Nalan Tian uneasy. He immediately led his men toward Chen Jingjing.

But he was a step too late. The pentagonal ring of light in the sky suddenly descended, enveloping them.

BOOM!!!

Five deafening crashes sounded at once. A powerful wave of spiritual energy burst outward in an instant, and everyone there—even mighty Nalan Tian—was shoved back three steps.

Nalan Yun was nearly sent flying, but Nalan Tian caught her in time and pulled her back.

The other disciples weren't so lucky. They were all knocked to the ground, though the force was only a shove and left them without serious injuries.

Once everyone got back to their feet, they looked toward Chen Jingjing's position again, and their hearts jolted.

Five enormous ancient swords stood planted deep in the ground, arranged in a five-pointed star.

The first sword gleamed with golden light, its dazzling radiance flashing brightly!

The second was made entirely of peachwood, yet countless vines wound around it!

The third blazed with roaring flames, radiating scorching heat!

The fourth shimmered with water, formed entirely of liquid!

The fifth was a colossal blade of rock, its body streaked with flowing sand!

Countless multicolored streaks of light clashed between the five massive swords, forming a strange curtain of light!

Chen Jingjing and Zhang Rumeng, along with the cocoon of light, were inside the five swords, shrouded by the curtain.

The Five Elements Sword Formation!

This was the trump card Chen Fan had relied on to cultivate with peace of mind.

"Cheap tricks and smoke and mirrors." Nalan Tian's face darkened. He had just been pushed back three steps, and to him, that was a humiliation. How could someone in the Foundation Establishment Realm accept such disgrace?

"Water Bullet Technique!" Nalan Tian shouted. He conjured a water ball as enormous as the previous one and hurled it at Chen Jingjing and the others.

At the same time, he shouted again, "Earth Sinking Technique!" He raised both hands toward the ground, and an immense surge of spiritual energy burst from his palms and poured into the earth, rushing straight toward Chen Jingjing. He was trying to control the ground inside the sword formation.

Thud!

A soft thump sounded, and Nalan Tian's jaw nearly dropped.

When the enormous water ball struck the curtain of light formed by the five giant swords, the water sword transformed into a vast sea and swallowed it whole.

His proudest Water Bullet Technique was reduced to a drop of water, falling into the sea with a thud.

As for the Earth Sinking Technique, it collided head-on with a massive rock and instantly crumbled into scattered sand.

"How is that possible?" Nalan Tian cried in astonishment.

The disciples clicked their tongues in amazement and began murmuring among themselves.

"What a powerful sword formation. How could Chen Jingjing possess a formation talisman like that?"

"An ordinary Five Elements Sword Formation isn't this powerful. This must be a Sword Talisman drawn by some master of talismans."

"With defenses like these, it's practically invincible. Any attack within the Five Elements will be completely neutralized."

Chen Jingjing and Zhang Rumeng hadn't expected Chen Fan to have such a trick up his sleeve either. This talisman was practically defying heaven!

"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"

Just as the two of them began to relax, two streaks of light suddenly cut across the sky. Two sword cultivators had arrived, flying on their swords!

"Look, it's two of the Immortal Sect's powerful experts!" One disciple recognized the two sword cultivators drawing closer in the sky. They were the same two who had been riding the flying disc earlier.

"But even if more cultivators come, they won't be able to do anything against this monstrous sword formation," someone said, shaking his head.

"Wait, look! The divine radiance of those five giant swords is slowly dimming." Just then, one disciple noticed something was wrong.

"I knew it. There's no way a sword formation could be that invincible. Its weakness is that it doesn't last long."

As those words fell, the two sword cultivators from the Immortal Sect landed and leaped down to the ground, their swords returning to their hands. Their expressions were cold. They barely paused after landing before springing into the air and bringing their swords down on the five giant blades.

Clang! Clang!

Two metallic collisions rang out, and a spray of sparks burst forth.

"An enhanced Five Elements Sword Formation?" The two landed again, standing in front of the formation with furrowed brows.

"We can't break it by force. We can only wait for his spiritual energy to run out and the formation to break on its own." After examining it for a moment, the two decided not to attack again and stepped back.

Only then did Nalan Tian feel that he had salvaged some of his dignity. He had just mocked the formation as a cheap trick, only for all his attacks to miss their mark. Thankfully, the Immortal Sect's two experts had failed too. Otherwise, he would have lost face completely.

He slowly paced up to the sword formation, looked at Chen Jingjing, and said, "Chen Jingjing, the formation will break on its own soon. I advise you to come out obediently. This young master will make sure to take very good care of you."