Grand Elder Liu Qiusheng said, "Before we set out, the Elder Council anticipated this situation. We just didn't expect to need our trump card against the evil cultivators so soon! That trump card is the Lesser Four Symbols Primordial Unity Formation. Follow my orders. I'll get the formation set up as quickly as possible."
Under Grand Elder Liu Qiusheng's direction, everyone began setting up the formation.
The Lesser Four Symbols Primordial Unity Formation was a second-tier lower-grade formation newly purchased by the lineage. It consisted of 108 formation discs and could be powered by either cultivators' magical power or spirit stones. Simple to set up and convenient to use, it could hold its own against a Foundation Establishment early-stage cultivator when operated by four late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators.
The formation had cost a total of twelve thousand spirit stones, and even then, Liu Qiuju had helped purchase it from a Formation Master in her sect. After all, very few rogue cultivators or lineage cultivators could become second-tier Formation Masters.
With everyone working together, the formation was soon ready. Once the spirit stones were added, it was activated immediately, and its light barrier covered an area two li across.
After completing their preparations, they waited a while longer. A mass of shadowy figures appeared in the distance-the evil cultivators had arrived!
Each evil cultivator had a black veil over their head that blocked spiritual sense, leaving only their eyes exposed. Dressed in black nightsuits and gripping assorted magical artifacts that gleamed with a cold light, they swiftly approached the formation.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!" Without wasting any words, the evil cultivators' leader, a burly cultivator at the great perfection of Qi Refinement, gave the order, and the evil cultivators charged at the formation!
Their leader wielded a first-tier supreme-grade magical artifact, a long spear about ten feet in length. Like a long black rainbow, it streaked across the sky toward the formation, striking its light barrier with a thunderous roar and a dazzling flare of spiritual light. Yet the formation remained unscathed. A second-tier formation was clearly not something Qi Refinement cultivators could easily shake!
Taking a beating without striking back was clearly not the Liu Lineage's style. Grand Elder Liu Qiusheng controlled the formation, conjuring Vermilion Bird phantoms wreathed in red flames and sending them flying toward the evil cultivators. Two mid-stage Qi Refinement evil cultivators failed to dodge in time and were burned to ashes by the flames descending from the sky!
Seeing the formidable power of the Lesser Four Symbols Primordial Unity Formation, the lineage's cultivators were heartened. They poured more magical power into it, directing its attacks against the evil cultivators.
At this, the evil cultivators withdrew beyond the formation's attack range, while several of their leaders gathered to discuss a plan.
After conferring, the leaders led the evil cultivators in another attack.
This time, the evil cultivators changed their tactics. They dared not approach the formation too closely, instead attacking from afar with spells, talismans, and flying swords.
One of their leaders activated a talisman from the rear. It was a second-tier offensive talisman-a second-tier lower-grade Meteorite Talisman. Meteorites filled the sky and crashed into the formation's light barrier, scraping and tearing open fissures. Many evil cultivators seized the opportunity to intensify their attacks, leaving the formation teetering on the brink of collapse.
Then another evil cultivator leader activated a second-tier lower-grade Fire Rain Talisman. A skyful of fiery rain fell upon the formation's light barrier, its ferocious flames burning fissures through it.
Grand Elder Liu Qiusheng hurriedly organized the lineage members to pour more magical power into the formation, conjuring vast waves of water that extinguished the flames!
Immediately afterward, he drove the formation to conjure a White Tiger phantom, which unleashed countless rays of golden light at the evil cultivators, killing or wounding several more.
And so the fierce battle remained locked in a bitter stalemate, raging from the depths of night until dawn.
The evil cultivators broke into the formation at one point, but the lineage's cultivators drove them all back out.
The evil cultivators suffered heavy losses, while many of the lineage's cultivators were also killed or wounded.