Chu Yunyun was the first among the many inner disciples to notice something amiss. She immediately frowned and looked toward the Essence-Gathering Formation.
The brothers Hu Kan and Hu Lai followed close behind. They stopped their breathing exercises, stood up, and peered into the distance.
"What's going on? Something's wrong over there."
"Well, well, is this a clash of spiritual intent?"
"Hiss! Junior Brother Chu's spiritual awareness cultivation is incredible, and his saber intent is powerful too. He can actually take on eight at once?"
Both were knowledgeable and experienced. One glance in that direction was enough for them to understand what was happening.
By then, Academy Master Lei Yuan and the four instructors headed by Ye Zhiqiu had already swept through the air from the stone platform to the Essence-Gathering Formation, arousing the curiosity of the many disciples present.
They rose onto their toes to look that way, some even leaping high above the crowd. The entire training ground stirred with commotion.
Some who were too short to see clearly simply asked Hu Kan and Hu Lai for news.
"What else could it be?" Hu Kan's drooping eyebrows wriggled as though dancing. "That fellow Liu Xingruo joined forces with seven Three-Leaf disciples to ambush Junior Brother Chu. But Junior Brother Chu held firm without falling, and now they're the ones who are finished."
Hu Lai stroked his beard, pride in his eyes as he explained, "Ninth Rank martial cultivators like us normally can't injure people from a distance with spiritual awareness and thought. But everyone knows that besides gathering spiritual essence, the Essence-Gathering Formation also helps disciples concentrate their divine sense and cultivate their spiritual awareness.
"These people harbored wicked intentions. They wanted to use the formation's ability to concentrate divine sense to join forces against Junior Brother Chu,