Old Ox Mountain (End)

Duan Anle stood in the formation and saw the newcomer. He stared at him for a long time before recognizing him as Xiu Ming, a Xiu Ming of his grand-uncle Xiu.

At this moment, the latter's robes were dirty and he looked quite disheveled. Duan Anle quickly stepped forward to help him up and asked curiously, "Brother Xiu Ming, what brings you here?"

Xiu Ming still had a bloody mark on his face from the Technique Method, and he was still shaken by what had just happened. He said sadly:

"Ah, Brother Duan Household, I've finally found you! I ran into some ragged men on the way and almost got killed by them. Luckily, I brought the puppet made by our family ancestors, which is how I got here."

Chu Huer also spoke up, asking, "Where did you come from, Nephew Xiu?"

Xiu Ming had come with an important mission, but the person he was facing was only Chu Huer, Double Brightness steward of Chongming, not the three Kang Dabao brothers, nor Pei Yi. Xiu Ming was somewhat distrustful of him, so he tactfully said:

"This matter is of great importance, and I beg your forgiveness, Senior Chu, that I cannot answer. I have urgent business with Uncle Kang Household, and I must see him now."

Chu Huer knew Xiu Ming the connection between the Xiu Household and the Chongming Sect, so he wasn't annoyed by Xiu Ming's slightly offensive words. However, his enthusiasm waned a bit, and he didn't say anything more.

Xiu Ming's words were quite powerful. Although Chu Huer didn't know if they were true or not, he still instructed Duan Anle and Pei Que to take Xiu Ming back first.

When the three of them rushed to the front of the Old Ox Mountain formation, they found the Daoist Black Shoes alone with his sword, fighting against the Fire Dragon formed by the formation.

The saying "high skill breeds boldness" perfectly describes this situation.

The Daoist Black Shoes held a green sword, his face expressionless, neither angry nor happy. With a flick of his finger, the flying sword flew out of his hand and into the air, its Sword Qi like a net, unstoppable.

The Fire Dragon had just dodged two crossbow bolts when it was hit in the face by a spiritual energy projectile. Large patches of its scales scattered, reflecting Golden Light under the sunlight, making it quite dazzling.

The Black Shoes flying sword attacked, but the Fire Dragon, despite being hit by cannon fire, remained composed and swift in its movements.

To block the sword, a large amount of blazing flames erupted from the palm of the dragon claw that it extended to block, but unexpectedly, the Sword Qi of the Daoist Black Shoes was also extraordinary this time.

When the two met, the fireworks were ultimately outmatched, their flames shattered and scattered.

Before the sword net could dissipate and the Fire Dragon could dodge in time, its outstretched claw had its knuckles severed at the root. But the sword net continued its momentum, striking the Fire Dragon's horn and slicing off a section of it before finally stopping.

The dragon roared mournfully, and a large stream of magma flowed from the wound on its horn, running down its long face, which was the size of a stone tablet. Before it reached the ground, the magma instantly turned into fist-sized red coal, splashing up a lot of sparks.

The scattered dots are quite beautiful.

The Daoist Black Shoes finally let out a long breath, retrieved his flying sword, whose blade had been scalded red-hot by the lava, and thought with a sigh, "This fool's offensive power far surpasses mine; its only weakness is its clumsiness and sluggishness. After dealing with it for nearly a day, I finally found a mistake and gained a slight advantage."

The thought had just crossed the mind of the Daoist Black Shoes when he saw Chen Ye, the main commander, change his array flags, and the elites of the Changning Sect at the eighteen key positions also raised their crimson banners.

The Eight Desolations Fire Dragon Formation was instantly filled with abundant Spiritual Qi, its light flashing incessantly. Just a few breaths later, the fire element within the formation intensified, not only making the protective barrier around the mountain even thicker, but also dyeing the white clouds on the horizon crimson.

At the same time, eighteen more streams of blazing sun energy rose from the formation, resembling winged serpents, swirling and dancing freely in the air.

The Fire Dragon immediately perked up, dodging the Daoist Black Shoes's flying sword, and returned to the sky above the formation, wrapping itself around all eighteen winged snakes in the formation.

Not long after, a joyful and deafening dragon roar rang out, and the Fire Dragon soared out of the formation once again.

When the Fire Dragon was seen again, the fiery yang energy on its body had been completely absorbed. The dragon's toes, which had been cut off by the Daoist Black Shoes, had grown back, and the dragon's horns that had been cut off had also been restored.

Not only has it recovered, but it seems even sharper than before, with bright red blood and fresh marks on the hilt.

Upon seeing this, the Daoist Black Shoes's eyes flashed with surprise. He thought to himself, "As expected of an array left behind by False Core! The spiritual energy in this array didn't come from nowhere. Repairing the Fire Dragon certainly wouldn't be done without incurring any cost."

I just wonder how many more times I'll have to hurt this stupid thing before I can exhaust all the spiritual energy in the formation.

Thinking of this, the Daoist Black Shoes looked back at the rear formation, scanning over each group of soldiers, and immediately had an idea: as long as more people were willing to die, the spiritual energy of this formation could be depleted more quickly.

As long as all the Foundation Establishment from the New Cloud Alliance participate, and two to three hundred Qi Refinement Refining cultivators are selected in batches to assist, along with the Star-Shooting Crossbow and cannons as support, according to Daoist Black Shoes's prediction, it would only take down four or five more Qi Refinement cultivators, and they would be able to break through this Eight Desolations Fire Dragon Formation.

This is because the spiritual energy of the earth veins in Old Ox Mountain has a limit, and it is impossible for the Changning Sect to continuously extract it.

However, the Daoist Black Shoes was not as ruthless as Chen Ye, who would force so many cultivators to sacrifice their lives just to advance his own Dao Path. For the Daoist Black Shoes, making such a decision was extremely difficult.

Furthermore, even if he achieves the Golden Leaf realm and his methods are ruthless, he is still only at the Foundation Establishment. If he causes too many casualties, and various factions become dissatisfied and cause trouble, it will be too ugly.

"Or should we just stop here?" the Daoist Black Shoes thought. He had already obtained the heads of Zuo You and Dai Fu. Regardless of Gun Shilu's purpose, the Daoist Black Shoes could at least get the Bright Moon Token and enter the Mountain-Viewing Cave.

In this way, whether or not the Changning Sect is destroyed becomes somewhat irrelevant to the Daoist Black Shoes personally.

Now, of the three main forces of the Changning Sect, one has been crippled, and Dai Fu is also trapped in the battle. Only the Feng Prefecture Ge Household remains relatively intact. Logically speaking, in this situation, his family should continue to diligently cultivate their internal strength and integrate resources within the next few years, and should not easily cause any more trouble.

However, Changning Sect is no ordinary sect. From its inception, it was a tool used by Jiang Yuan, the leader of Black Sand Peak, to bleed the henchmen of Cloud Horn Prefecture. Therefore, it cannot be judged by ordinary standards.

But the thought that once he entered Mountain-Viewing Cave and obtained that legendary item, he would be able to rival even False Core cultivator in less than ten or twenty years, meant that Chongming Sect only needed to weather this period. When the Daoist Black Shoes made his move then, the Eight Desolations Fire Dragon Formation would no longer be a problem.

It's only a matter of time before the Changning Sect is wiped out.

Thinking of this, the Daoist Black Shoes hesitated again. With this thought in mind, he coordinated with the Star-Shooting Crossbow and the Cannon Cart to push the Fire Dragon back into the formation.

Knowing how troublesome this Fire Dragon was, and that this test had been successful, the Daoist Black Shoes did not linger any longer and returned to his original formation.

Somewhat surprisingly, Kang Dabao wasn't the first to greet him this time.

The Daoist Black Shoes was somewhat puzzled. He didn't talk to Ye Zhen and Shan Sheng, who came up to him, for too long before heading towards the Chongming Sect's encampment.

Upon entering Chongming Sect's brocade tent, they saw Kang Dabao with a joyful expression, holding the hand of a young boy with a tender face, talking intimately about something.

"What is this young man doing here?" The Daoist Black Shoes did not believe that Kang Dabao would not even stand guard for him before coming to chat with a Qi Refinement youth.

"Uncle-Master is back? Ming-ge'er, repeat what you told me before to the master again." Kang Dabao's face lit up with even more joy upon seeing the Daoist Black Shoes return safely.

Hearing Kang Dabao's excited tone, the Daoist Black Shoes also became interested and turned his head to Xiu Ming.

"Reporting to the senior, I met Uncle Kang Household at Double Brightness Trade Market last time, and then returned home with the He Household's caravan. During that time, I mentioned to my grandfather that I wanted to become Puppet Master at the Chongming Small Pavilion. My grandfather was quite pleased and took two items for me to take back to Uncle Kang Household."

Originally, I was heading to Little Ring Mountain, but I heard that Uncle Kang Household had already sent out a large army, so I asked a familiar He Household caravan from the He family to take me to White Sand County.

Before coming, none of us expected the battle at Old Ox Mountain to be so fierce. The cultivators in White Sand County were all talking about it, so the fellow cultivators from the He Household caravan dared not come. I, the junior, feared I would delay important matters, so I had to come myself. That's why I traveled slowly and arrived so late."

Xiu Ming was quite capable; despite being only a minor cultivator at the Early Qi Refining Stage, he hadn't made any major lapses in composure under the watchful eye of the Daoist Black Shoes.

He speaks with neither arrogance nor haughtiness, displaying a natural grace that belies his petty manner.

As Xiu Ming spoke, he took out two beads from his Storage Bag. They were about the size of a fist, grayish-brown in color, and looked quite ordinary.

But the Daoist Black Shoes's eyes lit up upon seeing them. He pointed and summoned the two beads into his hand. After examining them carefully for a while, he exclaimed with slight surprise, "Second Tier Formation-Breaking Pearl?!"

"If even my martial uncle says so, then it must be true!" Kang Dabao clapped his hands excitedly, Xiu Ming close, and praised him repeatedly, "Nephew, you truly are a descendant of Martial Uncle Xiu! So loyal and righteous!"

The Sect Leader Kang Da's joy was genuine; he had witnessed firsthand just how formidable Second Tier Formation-Breaking Pearl could be.

The fact that the New Cloud Alliance has obtained this item will not only shorten the time needed to break through the Changning Sect's formation, but also save a lot of lives. Xiu Ming's Xiu Ming his life to come here has truly made Kang Dabao owe him a huge favor.

"That idiot Xiu Yuanshan, after cultivating for half his life, hasn't even reached the Late Qi Refinement Refining, yet he actually possesses a Second Tier Formation-Breaking Pearl? And he even managed to raise such an outstanding descendant?"

When Sect Leader He was still alive, Chongming Sect was truly like a second home to Daoist Black Shoes. He had eaten and slept with Sect Leader He, Martial Uncle Li, Xiu Yuanshan, and other fellow disciples.

He had known Xiu Yuanshan for a long time and knew that apart from his decent skill in crafting puppets, the latter had nothing else to offer.

Therefore, the fact that Xiu Yuanshan was able to accumulate two extremely rare Second Tier Formation-Breaking Pearl truly surprised the Daoist Black Shoes.

However, a son should avoid speaking ill of his father, so the Daoist Black Shoes could not Xiu Ming.

The Daoist priest simply put away the Formation-Breaking Pearl, smiled, and praised the young man in front of him for a long time, until Xiu Ming was so beautiful that he almost fainted, before he stopped.

"Uncle-Master, shouldn't we act sooner rather than later?" Jiang Qing spoke up at the opportune moment. The Double Brightness Sword Immortal had been stuck outside the formation for quite some time, and he was really holding back his anger.

The Daoist Black Shoes did not answer at first, but looked at Kang Dabao, who thought for a while before speaking:

"Indeed, the sooner the better! Martial Uncle launched an attack during the day, and those scoundrels from the Changning Sect will surely think we need to rest, gather our equipment, and reorganize our forces before attacking again. We should take them by surprise and break through their formation tonight!"

Kang Dabao and Jiang Qing's ideas coincided with those of the Daoist Black Shoes, who naturally had no objection. He simply addressed the Double Brightness members in the tent who had heard the whole story:

"This matter is of utmost importance, and must not be leaked! Not even the Foundation Establishment in the alliance should be informed! Today, I will invite them to my tent for tea under the pretext of sharing information about the Fire Dragon's weaknesses. Then, around midnight, with our men gagged and our horses hoofed, we will launch a surprise attack on Old Ox Mountain and finish them off in one fell swoop!"

When Kang Dabao heard what the Daoist Black Shoes meant, he realized that instead of gathering the Qi Refinement forces in the alliance, he only wanted to use the Chongming Sect to sweep away the forces of the Changning Sect after breaking the formation.

Always seeking stability, he immediately sensed something was amiss and suggested, "We're still short-handed, Uncle-Master. Perhaps we should call upon the Jade Moon Shan Household to make some preparations?"

After thinking for a while, the Daoist Black Shoes shook his head and said, "Too many people will talk too much. In my opinion, there shouldn't even be a single Qi Refinement. With the formation suddenly broken, the Changning Sect's morale is low, and in their panic, they might collapse in an instant."

"If the Foundation Establishment in our alliance are quick-witted and don't allow the enemy to form an array, we should be able to win. Bringing too many Qi Refining Qi Refinement will only disturb those within the array and create unnecessary trouble."

Seeing that the Daoist Black Shoes had already made up his mind, Kang Dabao stopped trying to persuade him, bowed his head to accept the order, and led Jiang Qing and Yuan Jin to gather and Chongming Sect's troops.

That night, in the Double Brightness brocade tent...

After watching the Daoist Black Shoes being stared at by everyone for a while, Ye Zhen began to notice that the fine wine in his cup tasted terribly sour.

"Ha, what kind of meaning does this alliance leader have?!" Ye Zhen felt a bit stifled, and some resentment rose in his heart.

Ye Zhen was no slacker either; in fact, he was the only late-stage cultivator in the New Cloud Alliance! The Book and Sword Gate was a thriving sect with six Foundation Establishment cultivators!

He, the leader of the alliance and the head of the Book and Sword Gate, had been sitting there for quite some time, and apart from Kang Dabao, who acted as the host and brought Jiang Qing over to offer a toast, no other Foundation Establishment offered a toast!?

However, Ye Zhen was a Foundation Establishment cultivator who had been practicing for many years, and he knew that this was not the time to act impulsively.

He wasn't concerned about saving face, but rather worried that the Chongming Sect was gaining momentum and that the benefits the Book and Sword Gate had already secured would be taken away by others.

Now, including Chongming Sect Nanny Sun Sect has four Foundation Establishment, not much less than the Book and Sword Gate, and their quality is far superior. In addition, Madam Kang Dabao is a noblewoman from the Fei Household, and she doesn't seem like someone who can't Foundation Establishment. In that case, it will be even more difficult for the Chongming Sect to suppress them.

If Sect Leader Kang Da knew that his Alliance Leader Ye was thinking this way, he would surely laugh at his petty nature.

Now that we know that Chongming Sect has gained momentum, as allies, we should be thinking about how to take advantage of the former's rise to the greatest extent possible.

What's the point of just focusing on the meager sums in front of us? If we make the pie bigger than a millstone, even if the Book and Sword Gate doesn't get much, they'll still be stuffed. It's better than not having enough to eat right now.

Shan Sheng understood this principle, and as soon as he entered the tent, he followed closely behind Sect Leader Kang Da. Whether the latter had the vice of bullying women was still unknown to Shan Sheng.

However, Kang Dabao's character is not bad; this can be seen from the fact that his Shan Household has followed Chongming Sect and thin without being tricked.

Shan Sheng and Kang Dabao had been following each other for a long time tonight, taking in the entire scene inside the tent. This reminded him of how Chongming Sect had been so ready for battle.

Shan Sheng pondering for a moment, a terrifying thought popped into Shan Sheng's mind. He leaned closer to Sect Leader Kang Da and whispered, "Sect Leader Kang, is there any big plan for tonight?"

Suddenly being so close by an old cultivator made Kang Dabao feel uncomfortable, and he subconsciously moved away. He thought to himself that Shan Sheng was truly shrewd, but it was a pity that his lifespan was not long, otherwise the Jade Moon Shan Household might really have some hope in the future.

"Shan Household Sect Leader Kang Da seemed to have more to say, his expression enigmatic.

Shan Sheng immediately understood. Without thinking, he instructed his attendant to go home and remind his disciples to be on guard. Just as he finished giving the instructions, he saw the Daoist Black Shoes stand up and make a shushing gesture, holding up two round gray beads in his hands.

The room immediately fell silent. Everyone present was Foundation Establishment cultivator, and they had all seen things before. Few of them didn't recognize what the Daoist Black Shoes was holding.

Even Ye Zhen, who had been showing little interest, turned his lazy gaze away and stared intently at the two Second Tier -Formation-Breaking Pearl. This heaven is so unfair! Where did this poor, destitute rogue Rogue Cultivator in Black Shoes get them?!

The Daoist Black Shoes remained as shrewd as ever, speaking concisely and to the point when it mattered most:

"I suppose you are all discerning individuals, so I need not say more! The reason I have gathered you all here tonight is precisely for this matter! We must breach Old Ox Mountain tonight! From now on, we will be free from the threat of the Changning traitors once and for all!"

"If this Second Tier Formation-Breaking Pearl is genuine, then tonight really is an opportunity!" Several Foundation Establishment in the tent thought at the same time.

When Sect Leader Kang Da saw that Ye Zhen, who had previously been the most emotional, had changed to a serious expression, he knew that the matter had succeeded. Since no one had been informed beforehand, the Foundation Establishment were not without emotion when they suddenly found out, but they weighed the pros and cons and refrained from expressing their feelings.

The Daoist Black Shoes was always decisive and efficient. Every member of the New Cloud Alliance who had reached the Foundation Establishment emerged from the tent and arrived together in front of the Eight Desolations Fire Dragon Formation without stopping.

The True Spirit Gate Foundation Establishment guarding the formation were highly alert and almost instantly issued a warning to their fellow disciples in the formation, informing them that a formidable enemy was approaching.

Almost simultaneously, the eighteen elite warriors of the Changning Sect, positioned at key positions, raised their crimson banners, and fire Fire Dragon covered in flames rose up again, letting out a dragon's roar, awakening the two groups of cultivators who were resting in the dead of night.

Kang Dabao and Jiang Qing ignored the dragon tail and continued their actions without hesitation, each holding a bead and striking the light screen of the Eight Desolations Fire Dragon Formation.

The violent force of the barrier seeped into the earth vein array base along the light barrier, and the entire Old Ox Mountain seemed to have been turned upside down by an earth dragon, with trees falling, houses collapsing, mountains crumbling, and the ground sinking.

In an instant, the mountain-guarding array of Old Ox Mountain roared incessantly, and the light screen flickered continuously.

The Fire Dragon, which had initially raised the temperature of the surrounding area after it appeared, was now completely devoid of spiritual energy, and its entire body fell down like ashes refined in a Pill Furnace.

At this moment, the Daoist Black Shoes led the Foundation Establishment cultivators from various families to attack. Several screams were heard from within the formation, and the array flags at several positions exploded. The light barrier of the great formation vanished in an instant.

The Eight Desolations Fire Dragon Formation, which the Changning Sect had painstakingly built at great expense, collapsed with a crash at this moment.

Without the protection of the great formation, the Changning Sect's training ground, Old Ox Mountain, was like a young widow whose undergarments had been ripped off by a rough man, forced to spread her legs and obediently let him take advantage of her!

"This formation has finally been broken!" Lord Shan was overjoyed. Even the Daoist Black Shoes couldn't stop him, and he went into the formation to find Chen Ye.

Jiang Qing and Kang Dabao intercepted the Changning Sect's rotating Foundation Establishment cultivator, who had turned pale with fright, and then dealt with him properly.

Yuan Jin and Chu Huer led all the troops under the Chongming Sect, and together with the Foundation Establishment, they charged unimpeded and rampaged into Old Ox Mountain.

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