Entering the Formation

Zheng Xuanzhi looked at Su Yao and slowly said:

"Whatever grievances you have with the Lu Household, fellow Daoist, they are no concern of mine."

He gazed toward White Sand Town in the distance and said softly:

"Please do not make things difficult for the Lu Household's mortals, fellow Daoist."

Su Yao smiled openly:

"Anyone who has set foot on the path of cultivation belongs to the Immortal Dao."

After a brief pause, he looked at Zheng Xuanzhi:

"Wildfire cannot burn the grass to its roots; the spring breeze blows, and it grows again."

He spoke word by word, his tone resolute:

"For twenty years, any member of the Lu Household who takes up cultivation dies!"

Zheng Xuanzhi's expression shifted slightly, and he thought to himself:

This man really is ruthless. The Lu Household is finished. No wonder Master said before I left:

"If you can persuade him, do so. If you cannot, do not meddle."

He then said:

"Conduct yourself as you see fit, fellow Daoist, so long as you do not slaughter mortals indiscriminately."

With that, he waved his right hand, and wisps of tender green light appeared.

They turned into a fine rain that fell as he flew toward White Sand Town, bringing all things to life wherever he passed.

The places affected by the earlier battle were instantly made new.

Su Yao smiled and said:

"The five virtues are all born of heaven and earth. Metal, water, fire and earth were transformed by the Human Dao long ago, but Wood Virtue alone proved difficult to transform. It was not until the end of the Zhou dynasty that a man of great virtue studied at the Apricot Altar, under the Most Sagely Former Teacher. He assisted the Former Teacher in editing and recording the Six Classics, leaving precepts for ten thousand generations, and turned heaven and earth's store of growing wood into a vessel for civilization."

His gaze grew distant as he continued:

"Thus, Horn Wood became 'Bamboo-Bookcase Wood.' With bamboo slips as its branches and writing as its leaves, it stored the world's classics in a cabinet no larger than an inch square. From then on, Wood Virtue no longer grew wild, but took on the essence of the Human Dao: preserving books, awaiting an imperial summons, holding brilliance within, and guarding the water clock through the night. Heaven and earth's store of wood finally became a storehouse of civilization, kept in reserve until its time came!"

Hearing Su Yao's words, Zheng Xuanzhi could not help laughing:

"I thought you cultivated rosy radiance, fellow Daoist, an immortal art untouched by the mortal world. I did not expect you to have such insights into the five virtues of the Human Dao as well."

Su Yao said modestly:

"After reading enough Daoist scriptures, one naturally learns a thing or two."

With that, his voice turned cold, and he reiterated:

"I will not lay a hand on mortals. The Lu Household need only refrain from producing any more cultivators for twenty years."

Turning back to gaze at White Sand Mountain, he said in a low voice:

"The Lu Household must fall today!"

At those words, Zheng Xuanzhi had no recourse but to turn and leave.

After Zheng Xuanzhi departed, Su Yao looked at the mountain-guarding formation, considering how to break it.

This formation was clearly also at the Purple Mansion level, but too many years had passed, and the Lu Household had probably taken the spiritual objects that served as its foundation for their own use. It was clearly no longer at its peak.

Otherwise, he would have left long ago instead of lingering here. After all, no matter how much of a genius he was, he could not break an intact Purple Mansion formation.

With this formation, he could only rely on a trick.

From an outsider's perspective, how could a Foundation Establishment cultivator possibly break a Purple Mansion formation?

But in his eyes, with the help of the prism, though he could not see what was happening inside the formation-after all, a Purple Mansion formation cut off the Great Void-

he could clearly see its condition, its flaws, and even traces of the contingency left behind by its original creator.

Though it was not a true back door, traces were enough.

He took a cyan talisman from his Storage Bag.

A talisman of the Dao of Zhen Thunder!

He quickly moved away from White Sand Mountain.

In the Great Void, several figures watched Su Yao's actions. When they saw him take out the talisman, a burly man in hemp clothing sneered:

"This Qixia Daozi is still indulging in wild fantasies. Does he think a single talisman can break the Lu Household's Blazing Essence-Preserving Formation?"

A woman in emerald-green palace robes took up the conversation:

"This formation is good at neither attack nor defense. It was only set up to help that True Person refine pills back then, but it is still a Purple Mansion formation. Even if it is no longer what it once was, no Foundation Establishment cultivator, however gifted, could break it with a single talisman."

The surrounding figures all nodded.

"Whatever he does, nothing can happen to my grandson!"

A figure in shaman's robes cut in coldly.

The others looked over, silently cursing him:

An outsider who doesn't know better might really believe you, Yin Zhangluo, care about your grandson. But who here doesn't know that you want to use him for the wondrous art of extending your path, so you can cultivate your fourth Divine Ability?

The woman from before covered her mouth and chuckled:

"Since when did the southern barbarian start caring about his grandson?"

Before Yin Zhangluo could answer, she stared at his livid face and added:

"If you ask me, why use your daughter's son? Your sons' children share your bloodline too. Surely they would be more suitable."

An old man nearby added leisurely:

"You don't know, fellow Daoist. He has already eaten most of his sons' children, but his Divine Ability remains incomplete. That's why he has set his sights on his daughter's son."

Laughter erupted all around, but Yin Zhangluo paid it no heed.

He only stared at Su Yao in the present world.

After reaching a suitable distance, Su Yao poured Law Power into the talisman.

A cyan glow immediately appeared on it.

As the glow grew brighter, Su Yao hurled the talisman toward a crack in the formation.

The talisman landed precisely where he had seen traces of a back door in White Sand Mountain's formation with the help of the prism.

The moment the talisman touched the formation, it was as though the most silent layer of ice between heaven and earth had been awakened by spring thunder.

A bolt of cyan-gold lightning burst from the talisman. At first, it was as fine as a spider's thread, racing along the cracks in the formation. In the blink of an eye, it had woven a dense, impenetrable net of lightning.

A muffled groan sounded, like a dormant dragon turning over beneath the nine depths of the earth.

The lightning suddenly blazed bright, like the first flash of early spring splitting the frozen earth. At the crack, cyan-gold lightning spread like sharp blades in every direction along the formation's existing flaws.

When the talisman's effects faded, Su Yao looked through the prism and saw that it had achieved the desired result.

He immediately flew toward White Sand Mountain.

In the Great Void, the burly man from before glanced around and sneered:

"The formation isn't broken. What else does this Qixia Daozi think he can do?"

He was about to say more when he sensed something amiss: everyone wore a grave expression.

He looked back toward the present world.

Su Yao had already entered the formation.

Someone cried out:

"So this is the Daozi of an immortal temple? A genius indeed! He used Zhen Thunder to affect the already unstable formation, then found a gap in the contingency left when it was first laid. He actually entered the formation just like that."

In the present world.

Su Yao entered the formation, and the scene before him suddenly opened up.

On White Sand Mountain's main peak, before the Lu Household's ancestral hall, more than twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators stood ready, led by the Lu Household's patriarch.

The old man's face was livid as he held a crimson token in both hands. Its crimson light was like blood, pouring into the formation in an unbroken stream as he tried to mend the cracks torn open by the Zhen Thunder talisman.

Deal with the old man first, in case he disregards the formation's collapse and uses it to fight to the death!

His mind made up, Su Yao flashed forward with Golden Light Across the Land and appeared at the old man's side. The old man's pupils contracted sharply, and the crimson token in his hands abruptly turned. A blazing streak of fire shot straight at Su Yao's face.

Su Yao neither dodged nor retreated. His cloak of rosy radiance, "Draped in Rosy Radiance," suddenly lit up. The fire struck the rosy light and vanished with a hiss, like snow splashed with boiling water.

The old man was horrified. He was about to activate the token and command the formation to strike back, but Su Yao's left hand was already on his sword hilt.

"Too fast!"

Before the thought had fully formed, the Zhengji sword was out of its sheath.

"Glow Ashes" gathered on the sword's edge. There was no dazzling rain of light, no rumble of thunder, only a hair-thin streak of rainbow light that silently disappeared into the old man's chest.