With the little fatty in tow, he left another gray wolf corpse on the ground with every step. Song Ling's eyes nearly popped out.
"Hiss!"
The blade light split into three. The three gray wolves lunging at him were beheaded, blade Qi piercing their bodies.
Blood flowed wherever he passed, and the gray wolf corpses piled up. They posed little challenge.
With corpses heaped like a mountain, Song Ling clutched his stomach and vomited up everything he had eaten at noon, nearly throwing up bile.
"Momentum Like a Rainbow!"
An incomparably fierce slash swept down in fury. The heavens changed color, and the sun and moon lost their light. Violent tremors rippled through the formation, which was on the verge of giving way. Seven forms merged into one peerless move.
Blade Qi surged like overlapping mountain ranges, stretching on without end. All the charging gray wolves flew into the air, their bodies beyond their control as blade Qi ravaged them.
A circular blast swept across the scene, clearing a vast space around Liu Wuxie. All one thousand gray wolves died.
He sheathed his blade and stood still. The gray wolf corpses around him turned into countless principles and vanished into the world. This was the wonder of formations: using the power of heaven and earth to construct a world.
"Awooo..."
Suddenly, terrifying Yao Qi swept over them, blotting out the sky. An enormous golden gray wolf lunged down from the air, jaws snapping toward Liu Wuxie's neck. It happened too quickly.
"The wolf king! A second-tier demon beast!"
Song Ling shrieked, the fat on his body quivering. Innate Qi bore down on him, something the Acquired Realm could not withstand. He could only hide behind Liu Wuxie.
"So that's it. Everyone who entered died in here."
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Liu Wuxie's mouth. Without unleashing his innate spirit, he swept his short saber horizontally, tracing an arc. The wolf king rolled in midair, avoiding the blade Qi.
The wolf king landed on the ground. Taller than a man and over two meters long, its golden fur gleamed faintly. Every strand resembled a golden needle, releasing billowing Yao Qi.
"Brother, hurry and find a way out! This formation is too strange. Once you enter, the monsters inside keep increasing in level."
Song Ling was frightened. He only wanted to leave as soon as possible, not lose his life. He grabbed Liu Wuxie's arm, urging him to think of something.
"No hurry. Don't you want to repair the formation here?"
Liu Wuxie smiled mysteriously. As he spoke, the wolf king sprang at him, bearing an innate spirit.
He pushed Song Ling aside with one hand and raised his short saber. Blade-Drawing Form.
A simple downward slash sent a violent shudder through the void. The wolf king let out a piercing scream and fell from the air.
Liu Wuxie killed the second-tier demon beast with a single slash, keeping his strength at the ninth layer of the Houtian Realm.
"Brother, you can repair the formation here? That's wonderful!"
Song Ling was no longer so frightened. Once the formation was repaired, they could leave safely. This formation was the Song Household's greatest foundation. Much of their knowledge originated from it, and their ancestor had devoted his entire life's work to creating this mysterious formation.
"There are still a few things I don't understand. I'll figure them out soon."
His gaze fixed on his surroundings. If his guess was right, even stronger demon beasts would appear. Perhaps...
Before he could voice the thought, three black figures arrived silently.
The instant the three black-clad men appeared, they locked onto Liu Wuxie. Forming a triangle with longswords in hand, they attacked without a word. All three were at the second layer of the Xiantian Realm.
Still not activating his innate spirit, Liu Wuxie wanted to squeeze out every last bit of his potential. Relying on his ninth-layer Houtian Realm cultivation, he fought the three, saber and swords flashing back and forth.
Clang, clang, clang...
Terrifying primordial desolation True Qi sent the three black-clad men flying. The powerful recoil numbed Liu Wuxie's arm.
Stepping along the Seven Stars, he became a streak of lightning. Three Liu Wuxies appeared on the battlefield, one splitting into three-a feat possible only when speed reached its utmost limit.
"Kill!"
The blade swept toward them. Before the three black-clad men could react, their heads parted from their bodies. The second layer of Innate still posed little pressure.
Song Ling was utterly numb. He could no longer work out what realm Liu Wuxie was actually in. Those at the second layer of Innate were slaughtered as easily as pigs and dogs.
Five opponents at the third layer of Innate appeared!
Liu Wuxie killed them all the same!
Seven opponents at the fourth layer of Innate descended from the air. More and more experts appeared, their cultivation realms climbing as well.
Facing seven opponents at the fourth layer of Innate, the pressure rose sharply. He struck hundreds of times in succession, fighting them to a standstill. This should have been the limit of the Acquired Realm.
He unleashed his innate spirit, which devoured everything around him like a ravenous beast. Becoming an afterimage, he turned his short saber into a curtain of blades that hemmed in all seven.
Pfft, pfft, pfft...
Heads flew into the air. With his innate spirit unleashed, he easily slew the experts at the fourth layer of the Xiantian Realm.
A major flaw had developed in this mysterious formation. The experts appearing grew stronger and stronger. Unless it was repaired, they would keep coming until you died in battle.
A full nine experts at the fifth layer of Innate appeared. Liu Wuxie's expression shifted slightly. This should have been his limit, unless he used the Ghost Pupil Technique.
Song Ling had long since gone numb. He simply sat on the ground, took a piece of candy from his pocket, and became a spectator.
The nine fifth-layer Innate experts closed in, forming a formation. This surprised Liu Wuxie even more. A formation within a formation was not something an ordinary person could set up.
The Nine Star Formation the nine employed would work against ordinary people, but to him, it was far too commonplace. He slipped diagonally inside and cleaved through its nexus with one slash, breaking the formation.
With uncanny footwork and powerful saber techniques, he maneuvered among the nine, his saber flowing like drifting clouds and running water. Through this tempering, his body and soul had fused perfectly. The training had achieved its purpose.
He raised his long saber toward the heavens, then suddenly swung it down like an antelope hanging by its horns, leaving no trace to follow. It was a slash with no answer.
The earth began to crack, dense fractures spreading outward like a spiderweb. Terrifying force formed a hurricane that surged in every direction. Song Ling's plump body staggered and was hurled several meters away.
The hurricane swept up rocks, blocking the view. Liu Wuxie darted through the haze, his presence like that of an Immortal Emperor returned. A suffocating pressure descended.
"Die!"
The voice of the god of death rang out, the saber singing like a roaring dragon. All nine bodies exploded, leaving no remains. This slash combined all his essence, Qi, and spirit, along with a trace of soul power.
His presence soared skyward, and his dantian roared furiously. True essence surged through his limbs and bones as his cultivation rose abruptly. Using the formation's pressure to tear through his shackles, he broke through to the second layer of the Xiantian Realm.
Powering the formation had consumed five spirit stones, which contained vast amounts of spiritual Qi. The Grand Desolation Heaven-Devouring Instruction generated a powerful suction, drawing all the spiritual Qi into his body and converting it into True Qi.
Without the spirit stones to power it, the formation crackled and grew chaotic, threatening to explode at any moment.
"Stay here and don't move. Whatever happens, don't be afraid. Act as though you haven't seen anything."
Liu Wuxie vanished, heading straight for a particular area. It was time to resolve the formation's problem.
If he did not resolve it, the experts that followed would grow ever stronger, exhausting their strength until they ultimately died inside the formation.
Over the decades, the Song Household had sent many people inside to test it, but all had died. In recent years, they had abandoned the effort entirely.
Suddenly, rolling thunder sounded within the formation. Song Ling sat on the ground, clutching his head with both hands, his eyes shut.
Bolts of lightning struck the ground. One landed right beside Song Ling's feet, frightening a scream out of him. He simply covered his ears.
He was still too young, only fifteen or sixteen.
Thunder boomed and rain poured down. At times, fierce winds howled; moments later, hail fell. All manner of extreme, vicious weather played out continuously within the formation.
This continued for about an incense stick's worth of time before finally disappearing. Their surroundings slowly changed as well. Song Ling discovered that he was sitting on a floor of dark stone slabs. They had returned to the stone room.
Liu Wuxie emerged from the darkness, his presence restored to the Acquired Realm.
"Brother, did you really repair the formation?"
Song Ling patted his backside and stood, his face filled with excitement. This formation concerned the Song Household's fate. He grabbed Liu Wuxie's arm, his expression eager.
"Yes."
He nodded. The formation was fully repaired, and its grade was even higher than before. Accommodating several hundred people cultivating at once would pose no problem.
"Wonderful! Brother, you're my idol! I admire you so much!"
Song Ling was just short of kneeling and licking his boots, dancing with excitement. He really was still a child.
"Don't let anyone know that I've broken through to the Xiantian Realm yet. Keep it secret for me."
The two headed toward the door. He hoped Song Ling would keep today's events secret for him. Song Ling's large head bobbed frantically like a chick pecking at grain. He absolutely would not let it slip.
The moment they stepped through the doorway, they found over a dozen people gathered outside, all staring at the pair as though they were monsters.
"You... you actually came out alive."
Song Tianhao breathed a sigh of relief, his face anxious. Liu Wuxie was utterly baffled. Were they supposed to come out dead?
"Father, why are you all here?"
Song Ling grinned cheekily. Everyone standing outside was of his uncles' generation, and each looked at him strangely.
"You're utterly reckless! Who told you to enter this formation?"
Song Tianhao seized Song Ling by the ear and lifted him up. A scream like a pig being slaughtered burst from Song Ling's mouth. "Father, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts..."
"The lineage strictly forbids anyone from setting foot in this formation. You knowingly broke the rule. As punishment, you're not allowed out for three months."
This place had long since been designated a forbidden area, inaccessible to outsiders. Everyone in the Song Household knew that nobody who entered this formation came out alive. They all feared they could not keep far enough away, and ordinarily not a soul could be seen here.
Presumably, the Song Household had sensed it immediately when Liu Wuxie activated the formation and come to keep watch, unaware that Song Ling had brought someone inside.
"Father, this formation has already been restored. If you don't believe me, ask Brother Liu."
Song Ling rubbed his ear vigorously, looking aggrieved. He had thought his father would praise him properly, but instead, he had come straight over and given him a beating.
"What did you say? The formation has been repaired?"
Song Tianhao and the other Song Household elders looked stunned. They had poured the entire lineage's resources into repairing this formation for decades without success, yet he had fixed it after going inside for just a short while?
"It's absolutely true! It's all thanks to Brother Liu. Not only did he repair the formation, he also raised its grade."
The little fatty was not lying about this. After all, he had been born into a household of formation practitioners and could still judge a formation's quality. The scenes inside were many times more impressive than those recorded by the lineage.
Only then did everyone turn their attention to Liu Wuxie. Wasn't he the Xu Household's live-in son-in-law? Why was he here, and how could he repair formations?
"Young Master Liu, is what my son said true?"
Song Tianhao had personally witnessed Liu Wuxie slay twelve Wan Household disciples with a single slash, and the memory remained fresh. That stunning slash could not have been mastered without ten years of proficiency.