Old Ox Mountain (III) (Thanks to Submarine Street for the 100,000-point tip)

"What to do?"

Fang Yi Ge Qinglan uttered her question, the council hall of the Changning Sect fell into complete silence.

Ten days had passed since Dai Fu's death, and the cultivators of the Changning Sect were still firmly trapped in the Old Ox Mountain Formation. No matter how much the New Cloud Alliance attacked the formation day and night, they could not find a way to break through.

Ge Qinglan felt no joy at the death of her old rival, Dai Fu; in fact, she wished he could come back to life. The position of sect leader was a hot potato; whoever wanted it could sit there. She certainly wouldn't take the position now, even if offered to this old lady.

It was all because the New Cloud Alliance arrived too quickly, and the Changning Sect was defeated too quickly, leaving no one with a good countermeasure. Moreover, as time went on, the New Cloud Alliance's offensive gradually intensified, and the casualties among the Changning Sect slowly increased.

They are currently trapped on this Old Ox Mountain. Every death or injury is a loss. Although the Foundation Establishment in the field are not weak, none of them have the ability to make cultivators appear out of thin air on this mountain.

There are also talismans, magical Law Artifact, elixirs, and Spirit Stone; these resources are dwindling as they are used, and the Changning Sect, isolated from the outside world, will find it difficult to replenish their supplies.

These things are known not only to the Foundation Establishment, but also to the disciples. As a result, the morale within the Changning Sect has plummeted to its lowest point these days.

Seeing the tense atmosphere in the hall, Chen Ye coughed and stood up, saying, "Before I left, my master instructed me that things have not gone well, but reinforcements will come to the rescue."

"Where are the reinforcements?" an elder from the True Spirit Gate asked coldly, his face extremely grim. Unlike Zi Maple Valley, his sect leader couldn't just sit there smiling even after his death.

Ge Qinglan also turned her gaze over; if they just kept guarding like this, they definitely wouldn't be able to hold out.

If Chen Ye is still trying to fool her with empty promises, then if Lin Kunxue can be sued, why can't Ge Qinglan?

Most of the cultivators from the Changyun Lin Household were being held captive by the Ge Household. On the surface, they were being given to Chen Ye as food for corpse refining, but in reality, Ge Qinglan hadn't laid a finger on them and was feeding them well.

"They've got ulterior motives." Chen Ye exchanged a glance with Ge Qinglan, who was looking at him, and he knew exactly what was going on in her eyes.

"Old Master Yuan of the Jingnan Yuan Household will be arriving soon. At that time, none of these rotten fish and shrimp outside Old Ox Mountain will be able to leave."

Chen Ye's words were not well-received. If the various factions of the New Cloud Alliance outside were worthless fry, then what about those of them who were forced to cower and hide by such worthless fry?

However, upon hearing the words "the Jingnan Yuan Household," everyone seemed to have swallowed a reassuring pill, and the worries in their eyes instantly dissipated.

The patriarch of the Yuan Household in Jingnan Prefecture was also a veteran False Core. It was said that his strength was no less than that of Yue Lin, the patriarch of the Han City Yue Household, and his strength could be considered top-notch among False Core.

Even if Chen Ye's words are untrue and the Yuan Household family patriarch will not come in person, as long as his family can send more Foundation Establishment, the situation at Old Ox Mountain will be much better.

Seeing this, Chen Ye felt somewhat relieved. The False Core cultivator from the Yuan Household was highly skilled, and it was said that he had even fought to a standstill with True-Grade Golden Core cultivator. To be honest, even Chen Ye's cheap master, Jiang Yuan, the Black Sand Peak of the Two Instruments Sect, might not be his match.

Therefore, Chen Ye was not entirely sure whether Jiang Yuan could persuade the Jingnan Yuan Household. He could only hope that by leveraging the prestige of Black Sand Peak in governing Jingnan Prefecture, he could obtain some assistance.

After all, the Two Instruments Sect had just redeemed the Hongyi Sect's Jieyi Xie Yi from Kuang Liuting, so it was not appropriate for them to personally intervene and deal with these minor matters in the short term.

If they continue to disregard the rules and provoke that fiend Kuang Liuting again, who can control him once he doesn't reach the Golden Core?

Send Golden Core? If that gets out of hand, even the Master of the Star-Picking Pavilion will lose face and will likely reprimand them. If it really comes to that, the Two Instruments Sect will be in even more pain than if one or two Golden Core cultivators had died.

If the Yuan Household hadn't come, with Jiang Yuan's connections at Black Sand Peak, it wouldn't have been impossible to mobilize a few Foundation Establishment. However, it would have been difficult to scare off the New Cloud Alliance in a short time.

If any of the Foundation Establishment transferred here are lost, Jiang Yuan will also lose face.

His original plan, which was full of confidence and aimed at making an appearance in front of the Golden Core elders of the sect, has completely failed. Not only has he lost the trust of these important figures, but he may also lose his position as the leader of Black Sand Peak.

Such a price was something Jiang Yuan absolutely could not accept.

The lifespan of a fake elixir cultivator is three hundred years, which cannot compare to that of a genuine golden elixir, but it still allows for a long and healthy life.

The Two Instruments Sect has no shortage of False Core, but the position of Peak Master is not very high. There are hundreds of cultivators under Black Sand Peak alone who can be commanded by Peak Masters, not to mention the more than 10,000 cultivators in the entire Jingnan Prefecture, most of whom can be killed or taken by Jiang Yuan at his whim.

This was all thanks to his position as the leader of Black Sand Peak. Jiang Yuan didn't want to end up like those other lowly and incompetent peers, hidden away by the sect and dying a miserable old age at the mountain gate.

The matter has been discussed to this point, and that's about it.

With the New Cloud Alliance's offensive in full swing, these Foundation Establishment couldn't spare much time. As soon as they stepped out of the council hall, the cultivators rushed to various key positions without stopping.

Both inside and outside the formation are quite lively right now.

Mo Wen's fighting skills are lacking; he's not only not considered powerful, but he might not even be as good as Ma Wenhan, who's nearing the end of his Foundation Establishment. However, as the number two figure in the Iron Horn Mountain Ingenious Craftsman Fort, his skill in forging spiritual artifacts is truly remarkable.

As the saying goes, everyone has their own expertise. Under Mo Wen's command, the disciples of Ingenious Craftsman Fort were able to fully utilize their strengths without any waste.

The previous artillery position was too close to the Eight Desolations Fire Dragon Formation of Old Ox Mountain, which allowed the artillery to exert its power to the maximum extent.

However, it was also easy for the main cultivators to use Fire Dragon to harass the artillery vehicles. Even with the best efforts of the Foundation Establishment cultivators, including the Daoist Black Shoes, the number of artillery vehicles and the gunners suffered considerable losses.

Therefore, today Mo Wen moved the artillery positions to a desolate hill a thousand feet away from the battle line.

At this moment, nine spirit crystal cannons were lined up on the barren hill. Mo Wen was very satisfied with the positions of the cannons, which he had spent several days selecting. After adjusting the positions, Mo Wen suddenly waved the red flag in his hand.

Nine perfectly round spirit energy shells ignited with eerie blue flames, whistling as they hurtled towards the Eight Desolations Fire Dragon Formation. After being tuned by Mo Wen, a Second Tier spirit tool master, the spirit crystal cannon was a significant upgrade in power compared to the one that Sect Leader Kang Da had seen on Little Wu Mountain.

Just as the spiritual energy projectile was about to hit the array barrier outside Old Ox Mountain, a dense aura of blazing sun suddenly rose from the Eight Desolations Fire Dragon Formation, and a raging Fire Dragon soared into the sky and charged out of the array.

With its massive mouth open, its thick dragon tail swayed incessantly, its direction constantly shifting, as it swallowed nine spirit energy projectiles one after another.

Those nearby cultivators only heard a few muffled thuds before witnessing the massive cannonballs being easily annihilated by the Fire Dragon without even creating a ripple.

This wasn't the first time Sect Leader Kang Da had seen this Fire Dragon, but seeing it again still left him with lingering fear.

The Fire Dragon the Fire Dragon Daoist used to create with his Spirit Transformation Technique were quite eye-catching, but compared to the Eight Desolations Fire Dragon Formation before them, they were far inferior.

Seeing that the Fire Dragon, eyes, horns, claws, and teeth were lifelike, and its head, neck, body, belly, and paws were just like the real thing, one could tell that the formation's ability to conjure a real dragon had already reached a considerable level.

In the eyes of Sect Leader Kang Da, this Fire Dragon even possessed a faint trace of dragon might. This was the essential difference, far surpassing the superficial Spirit Transformation Technique of the Fire Dragon Daoist.

Of course, the Fire Dragon Daoist's Spirit Transformation Technique is also a wonderful method at the Foundation Establishment. If Kang Dabao were fortunate enough to obtain the manuscript, he would certainly study it diligently.

The Fire Dragon formed by the formation was quite powerful, even the Daoist Black Shoes struggled to contend with it. Fortunately, the cultivators of the New Cloud Alliance, after sacrificing the lives of over a hundred cultivators in the past ten days, finally figured out the patterns of this Fire Dragon.

That is, once they are lured a hundred feet away from the formation, their strength will be greatly reduced.

Moreover, this weakening was not just a little bit; it was so weak that even a frail Foundation Establishment like Shen Tu could contend with it. Knowing this, the number of disciples dying in the New Cloud Alliance was significantly reduced.

Besides this, the arduous task of attacking the enemy formation was almost entirely assigned to the cultivators from the vassal Lineage and sects of the Changning Sect who had been captured by various factions.

Kang Dabao has never been good at the principle of "a kind heart cannot command an army," but while he is reluctant to let his own disciples suffer, he is quite generous in using the cultivators who have been forcibly conscripted.

The current Sect Leader Kang Da, Kang, finds it difficult to genuinely sympathize with these pitiful families. Without the fall of the Changning Sect, Chongming Sect will never find peace; it's a life-or-death struggle with no rhyme or reason.

Led by him, the Foundation Establishment in the alliance treated these former vassal cultivators of the Changning Sect as nothing more than expendable resources, and manipulated them without any courtesy.

The Carefree Grotto, which once belonged to the Feng Prefecture Ge Household, was just used up by the New Cloud Alliance yesterday, leaving no descendants.

The last elder of the Carefree Grotto sect was suddenly torn into pieces by a horde of corpses sent out by the Ge Household cultivators, losing his life. This also foreshadowed the extinction of the Carefree Grotto Cave lineage.

For Kang Dabao, this might not be a bad thing; at least he wouldn't have to worry about anyone coming to ask him for the Spirit-Striking Chain anymore.

However, such excessive pressure did lead these cultivators to consider resistance, but the New Cloud Alliance did not simply punish without rewarding.

If they went into battle three times and returned alive without any false alarms, they would be given travel expenses and allowed to return home. This was naturally a very strict standard, but some lucky individuals had indeed already gained their freedom.

It wasn't that there weren't any stubborn individuals who directly abandoned their Law Artifact and defected to the Changning Sect, but after losing three Foundation Establishment, Chen Ye and Ge Qinglan were unwilling to take that risk for a few Qi Refinement Refining cultivators.

Not to mention, the Changning Sect can't find anyone available to carefully select those who have joined the army on the front lines—whether they harbor malicious intentions or are truly loyal.

Because of these concerns, Changning Sect not only did not open its formation to provide support, but instead allowed it to be baked into a cloud of smoke by the rising heat.

After this, some people did regain their freedom from the New Cloud Alliance, but not a single one successfully joined the Changning Sect's ranks.

Compared to the other two, the vassals of the Changning Sect who had been captured by the New Cloud Alliance completely abandoned any thought of defecting to the enemy. However, their abilities were quite lacking, and they posed no threat to the Fire Dragon at all.

The scene before them was a replica of the past. The current vassals of the Changning Sect were tossed and turned by the Fire Dragon, and in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, dozens of cultivators were roasted to a crisp.

Kang Dabao waved his command flag fiercely, summoning these poor souls back. Maintaining the Fire Dragon of the Changning Sect was extremely taxing on the spiritual energy of the Spirit Vein, and prolonged use would cause the protective shield of the great formation to become unstable.

We should send these people to continue attacking the formation after the Fire Dragon has been extinguished.

The spirit crystal cannon and the three star -Star-Shooting Crossbow that Chongming Sect had cobbled together could not stop firing. The cannonballs and crossbow bolts kept firing, causing the fire Fire Dragon to roar repeatedly. Before long, there were several wounds on its body.

The scales were flipped up, revealing the red flesh beneath the dragon's skin, indicating that it was not purely created by a fire spirit. This Fire Dragon was truly remarkable, worthy of being a protective array left behind by False Core sect.

Seeing this, Sect Leader Kang Da praised in his heart, and suddenly 512 palm-sized fire thunderbolts were thrown out from the Changning Sect's formation, covering the New Cloud Alliance cultivators' formation a hundred feet away.

"Damn it, they're really patient! They had this killer move, but they waited until now to unleash it?!"

The Foundation Establishment of the New Cloud Alliance all wore serious expressions. Kang Dabao, holding the Ink Abyss Flag, unfurled the banner and intercepted several fire lightning bolts, which landed in his hand. After examining them for a while, he said, "This is roughly equivalent to a full-force attack from Peak Qi Refinement Refining cultivator."

Such powerful fire and lightning, scattered across the field, posed little threat to a Foundation Establishment cultivator like Kang Dabao, but it caused screams of agony from the other four cultivators of the New Cloud Alliance.

Having learned his Shen Tu was extremely vigilant and constantly urged the disciples of Zi Maple Valley to be on high alert.

Thus, in this hasty situation, the Zi Maple Valley Bronze Mirror formation was activated again, and the resulting fire and thunder only took away a dozen or so Zi Maple Valley members. This was much better than the Changning Sect's vassal state and the Shan Household, who had just escaped and suffered the heaviest casualties.

Fortunately, the Star-Shooting Crossbow and the Spirit Crystal Cannon were still far away, otherwise they might have been destroyed here, which would have been very detrimental to the subsequent siege.

Despite their deliberate actions, the leader of the Changning Sect was no ordinary person. After enduring so much criticism in silence, they managed to turn the tide against the New Cloud Alliance with this sudden attack.

The New Cloud Alliance, which had been enjoying smooth sailing and becoming complacent, suffered heavy losses. Even Yuan Jin's patrol team, which had already suffered heavy Double Brightness Trade Market, lost six or seven skilled fighters, including the Feng Household Brothers.

Fortunately, Chongming Sect disciples had been sent by Sect Leader Kang Da to pursue the disciples who had fled from Hemu Dao, and were not stationed here. Otherwise, given their relatively low cultivation levels, they would likely have suffered some losses.

Beforehand, Kang Dabao had taken on such a good job and assigned it to his own disciples, leaving the task of attacking the mountain to the other families. This had caused some dissatisfaction within the alliance.

However, the three Foundation Establishment killed by the New Cloud Alliance were all the work of the Chongming Sect. Even if others had opinions, they didn't have the right to speak out loudly.

Even ignoring this achievement, neither Jiang Qing nor Kang Dabao are easy to get along with.

Despite the fact that many other members of the New Cloud Alliance have reached the Foundation Establishment, apart from Ye Zhen stubbornly insisting on his own way, no one else is confident that they can defeat the two of them.

In addition, Sect Leader Kang Da is a recognized "Military Immortal of Pingrong County". His abilities have been evident to all since the attack on the battlefield ten days ago. He was the one who studied the pattern of the Fire Dragon. Therefore, his status in the alliance has naturally risen.

At this point, they couldn't afford to disperse. After this bombing, no one dared to say they could disperse the demoralized vassals of the Changning Sect and then regroup them.

If they don't return, the various factions of the New Cloud Alliance will really have to use their own disciples to attack the formation, which would be extremely disadvantageous.

Kang Dabao led the cultivators of the New Cloud Alliance back a hundred feet. The Dragon Beast Master released a large number of Golden-Feathered Owl and, together with the Daoist Black Shoes, closely observed the changes outside the formation. The Sect Leader Kang Da was not afraid of the Changning Sect launching a battle, but he was afraid that someone would break in and deliver supplies.

The Eight Desolations Fire Dragon Formation truly lived up to its reputation as a great formation inherited from the False Dao of Alchemy lineage. Even though it was mostly damaged, it was still very difficult to deal with after being repaired.

Now that Chen Ye has made up his mind to defend to the death, even the Sect Leader Kang Da can't think of a good way to slowly wear down this great formation, relying only on sufficient manpower and a constant supply of resources.

"If only I had a Second Tier formation-breaking talisman."

(An extra chapter is definitely needed, but Lao Bai 'm completely out of ideas. I'll make up for it later. Please forgive me.)

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