The Five Elements Grand Formation

"Old Ghost, can you break the formation or not? Give me a straight answer," Master Kuangshan cursed, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

"Damn it, I never thought those Spirit Moon Sect bastards would shut the door and beat the dogs. Old Ghost, if you can't break the formation, I'm not playing along anymore. We're dead either way, so we might as well have a good fight. Taking someone down with me wouldn't be bad, either."

His face dark, Old Man Wuya ignored the blood at the corner of his mouth and said as he flew at full speed, "Don't rush. This formation is called the Four Spirits Heaven-Trapping Formation. Its principle is much the same as my Four Symbols Formation; its patterns have merely been rearranged, and it uses some rarer materials."

"As long as we reach the edge of the formation, I guarantee I can break open a small gap in half an incense stick's time."

Mo Shang silently calculated. Half an incense stick's time was neither long nor short, especially while they were under siege. Far too much could happen in that time.

As long as no one died, the formation could keep going, and his black cloud could hold out for a little under half an incense stick's time. By that reckoning, Mo Shang thought he should be able to get away.

Of course, that was assuming Old Man Wuya really could open the formation.

In the Devil Creek Sect camp below, the pressure from several Golden Core cultivators in the sky left the many disciples struggling to breathe. Worse still, some had been so frightened that their limbs went limp and their bodies lost all strength; they had all but wet themselves.

Chu Xiong stepped out of the main tent and looked up at the battle in the sky. Every blow was so powerful, and every blow made his liver and gallbladder nearly burst.

Soon, Chu Xiong came to his senses. His eyes red, he looked at his fellow disciples and roared, "Everyone, assemble! Follow me and attack the Spirit Moon Sect camp!"

"We're dead either way. Once those people have dealt with the Golden Core elders, they certainly won't let us go."

"Rather than sit here and wait for death, we might as well attack. Even if we die, we'll tear a piece of flesh off the Spirit Moon Sect first!"

"Right, Senior Brother Chu Xiong is right! We're going to die in the end anyway, so we should drag a few Spirit Moon Sect bastards down with us. We can't be the only ones on the road to death."

Before long, most of the disciples answered Chu Xiong's call. A great crowd rode their flying swords through the air at a low altitude, heading toward the Spirit Moon Sect in a mighty procession.

The two sides met moments later. In an instant, flying swords and spells flew everywhere, and the final battle began with Chu Xiong leading the charge.

The battle line stretched far and wide, with fighting everywhere.

Chu Xiong searched as he moved through the battle. Soon, he spotted that familiar flash of purple, one he could even say was engraved on his bones and etched into his heart.

Without hesitation, he abandoned the opponent before him and charged over, shouting, "Come surround and kill Su Liuyue! A personal disciple is worth far more than those people!"

Su Liuyue recalled the flying sword that had pierced an enemy's chest and cast a cold glance at Chu Xiong as he approached at speed.

"You're all right. Not too weak."

With those words, Su Liuyue did not charge in to fight. Instead, she turned and flew toward a place where more of her own people were gathered.

After all, the man had just called for people to surround and kill her. She wasn't an idiot, and she couldn't fight ten people alone, so naturally she wouldn't be foolish enough to fight him one-on-one.

Watching Su Liuyue flee, Chu Xiong was so furious that the corners of his eyes nearly split. He roared, "Su Liuyue, aren't you supposed to be strong? Why are you running? If you've got the guts, face me in a proper fight!"

The only answer he received, however, was a flying sword carrying a fierce gust of wind.

Chu Xiong raised a hand and summoned his flying sword to block it, but that brief delay was enough for Su Liuyue to disappear from sight.

"Bastard! If you run from a fight, what are you cultivating for?!" Furious, Chu Xiong took his flying sword and charged into a nearby melee, cleaving down a Qi Refining Stage cultivator with one stroke.

Perhaps that wasn't enough to vent his anger, for he began slaughtering his way through the Qi Refining Stage combatants.

But the slaughter did not last long. A Foundation Establishment disciple of the Spirit Moon Sect stopped him.

In the air.

Li Xiao was wounded and wore a furious expression. "You've gone too far!"

A cloud of pink mist erupted from Li Xiao's body. In less than a few breaths, it had spread wide enough to blot out the sky and sun.

"Is that... poisonous mist?"

A Golden Core cultivator stared at the mist in some puzzlement. On his guard, he immediately summoned a shield, forming a barrier in front of the group.

"Not good!" In the distance, Li Hai's face paled slightly. He hurriedly roared at the person beside him, "Elder Lu, go down and save them! Don't let that poisonous mist harm the disciples."

"Finish this quickly! We don't have time to keep dragging this out!"

After that shout, Li Hai flew into the air. A beam of purple light descended from the sky and enveloped him. Then four more Golden Core cultivators flew up, each taking a position and being enveloped by a pillar of light.

"The five elements cycle! Five Elements Eight Trigrams Formation, rise!"

"Void Fire!"

A sea of fire appeared out of thin air around Mo Shang and the other three. The raging flames seemed ready to burn the heavens and destroy the world.

Almost at the same moment, all four spat out blood, their vital presence weakening. Even the Four Symbols Formation they had formed began to teeter on the verge of collapse.

"Hold on!" Old Man Wuya roared. "If the Four Symbols Formation breaks, we'll all be burned to tribulation ash and utterly wiped out!"

The other three knew what would happen if the formation broke without him telling them, so each of them began burning their lifespan to sustain it.

"Bone-Eroding Rain!"

A majestic voice rang out across the entire Verdant Sea. The endless fire vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye, replaced by a seemingly endless cold rain.

The raindrops struck the shield sustained by their formation and, miraculously, passed through its defenses and fell on all four of them.

Old Man Wuya jumped as if someone had grabbed him by the backside. "Damn it! Damn it! This is a Five Elements Grand Formation!"

"Mo Shang, are you a fucking idiot? They set up several grand formations and you didn't know a thing! How did a fool like you cultivate to the Golden Core Stage?!"

Master Kuangshan and Ghost Demoness both glared at Mo Shang. If they still didn't need him, they would have killed the idiot already.

Listening to Old Man Wuya's abuse, Mo Shang grew furious as well. "I don't know anything about formations, and they had something that could evade spiritual sense. How was I supposed to know? I reckon this grand formation was already in place before I got here. What's that got to do with me?"

Mo Shang took out a pill and swallowed it, and his presence grew noticeably stronger.

"Stop arguing. What do we do now? If this keeps up, the formation will break when the next attack comes, and none of us will survive." Though Ghost Demoness was furious too, she knew that if they wanted to live, they had to stand united. They couldn't let resentment divide them.

Old Man Wuya composed himself, then fixed Mo Shang with a dark stare. In an almost commanding tone, he said coldly, "Blow up your Ten Thousand Souls Banner and release all those wraiths."

Mo Shang hesitated for only a breath before taking out the Ten Thousand Souls Banner and throwing it at the pursuers behind them without further hesitation.

Though it still pained him, his life mattered more than a Law Treasure. After all, if he lost the treasure, he could refine another whenever he had the materials.

"Boom!"

An invisible pressure swept out like a gale with the explosion, forcing several Spirit Moon Sect Golden Core cultivators back. Though they were left looking somewhat disheveled, they were not badly hurt.

Aside from the several thousand wraiths destroyed in the explosion, tens of thousands rampaged through the air like a swarm of locusts.

Shen Ge stared blankly at his surroundings. When his eyes met those of a Spirit Moon Sect Golden Core cultivator in the sky, he swept up several wraiths and darted underground like a startled rabbit.