The Formation Breaks

"The commotion over at the stronghold has been gone for an hour. I'm afraid we fell for a trick. We were careless; we shouldn't have sent so few men." Zhao Gu looked at the Ye Household's formation, which was on the verge of collapse, and spoke grimly to the Jia Mountain Bandits chief beside him.

"Fire Saber Stronghold is a bunch of trash!" the Jia Mountain Bandits chief said coldly. Three of the men sent to the mortal settlement had been his own!

At the thought, he turned toward the remaining Fire Saber Stronghold bandits, a cold light in his eyes.

"Let's take down the Ye Household and leave. The other three households have probably joined forces. We've lost men and our fighting spirit. Let's quit while we're ahead." Zhao Gu's tone left no room for discussion.

The Jia Mountain Bandits chief was about to argue, but when he met Zhao Gu's gaze, he suddenly lost the courage to speak. He could only keep his mouth shut and shout at the now leaderless Fire Saber Stronghold bandits to attack harder.

At that moment, an elderly Ye Household cultivator at the head of the formation spat blood and collapsed to the ground. With his meager Law Power, holding out until now had truly been too much for him.

The other Ye Household cultivators could only work harder to maintain the formation's defenses, with no attention to spare for whether he lived or died.

"Fourth Uncle, let's withdraw. If this goes on, our whole clan will be worn to death here." A somewhat younger Ye Household cultivator, his face full of bitterness, pleaded with a thin Daoist who had the highest cultivation among them.

"Perhaps one in ten of us might live, but our wives, children, and elders behind this formation will all die." The thin Daoist's icy tone made the clansmen present feel even more weighed down.

"The Evil Cultivators split their forces once just now. The reinforcements from the three nearby households must have arrived. If we hold on, we can win!" The thin Daoist did not forget to bolster their morale.

"Will the people from the other three households really come?" the thin Daoist's younger clansman asked him in a whisper.

Perhaps, the thin Daoist thought, leaving the question unanswered. His younger clansman's face darkened, and he said no more.

"Zhao Gu's moving!" cried the young cultivator who had spoken earlier.

The notoriously fearsome Zhao Gu, chief of the Ghost Horse Owls, rode his mount, a Black Blood Colt with black scales and white hooves, at a slow pace to a spot a hundred feet from the formation.

"Listen up, people of the Ye Household! Open the formation now, and I, Zhao, will take only your valuables and spare the lives of your entire household. If you wait for me to break the formation and the Ghost Horse Owls come in, not even a chicken or dog will be left alive!"

The Ye Household cultivators answered Zhao Gu's demand for surrender with several golden sword talismans fired at him from within the formation.

The Black Blood Colt dodged them easily with a few quick bounds. The golden swords struck empty ground, leaving only a few deep craters.

"Stubborn fools." Zhao Gu raised a hand and waved. A bagful of black light emerged from the corpse-nurturing bag at his waist, and a refined corpse shrouded in deathly Qi appeared before the Ye Household cultivators.

Zhao Gu's faction called itself the Ghost Horse Owls. Many knew that "Horse" referred to the rare First-Tier Middle-Grade Black Blood Colt he had tamed. Few knew that "Ghost" referred to this First-Tier Superior-Grade refined corpse.

Years ago, he had risked his life to steal the remains of a body-cultivating disciple from the graveyard of a sect in another province.

He had traveled through several counties before finding a rare corpse-nurturing site, then spent another ten or twenty years and an untold amount of effort bringing the refined corpse to its initial stage. It had not disappointed him after all that work: with its help, he had once successfully ambushed and killed a Qi Refining Seventh Layer cultivator from the Purple Mountain Sect.

That had been a disciple of a major Foundation Establishment sect, proof enough of the refined corpse's strength. Breaking the Ye Household's tottering formation would surely take no more than a wave of his hand.

"Attack!" At Zhao Gu's command, the refined corpse slammed into the curtain of light formed by the Ye Household's formation like a raging beast.

Unlike the feeble attacks of the lackeys before it, this blow landed with a crack, and a fissure appeared in the curtain of light. Another young female Ye Household cultivator operating the formation screamed and fell unconscious.

The thin Daoist closed his eyes and sighed. The Ye Household had ten cultivators and, by the standards of the nearby powers, could be considered prosperous.

In truth, though, they had merely been lucky. Seven of them were seedlings of immortality who had appeared only in the past twenty years and were of little use in a major fight. Only he and his younger clansman beside him had reached Middle Qi Refinement or above.

This small cultivation Lineage had existed for less than sixty years; its foundations were far too shallow.

So shallow that it had no spare communal funds to replace this mountain-protecting formation, which was only First-Tier Superior-Grade and could do nothing but defend. So shallow that, in this single day of defending the formation, the clan had used up nearly all its Spirit Stones and talismans.

The Evil Cultivators outside probably did not yet know that even if they broke through the formation, the most valuable thing the Ye Household had left was this damaged formation itself. It was anyone's guess whether it would even make up for the Spirit Stones and talismans they had expended.

They had managed to keep the enemy outside their gates until now only because he had prepared for a rainy day and always strictly ordered his clansmen to master the formation.

The elderly cultivator who had just fallen coughing blood had yet to recover, but he hurried to his feet and rushed to the space the female cultivator had left, using every last bit of his spiritual power to maintain the formation.

Moments later, an unnatural flush appeared on the old cultivator's face. The thin Daoist was struck speechless; he could tell at a glance that the man was overdrawing his spiritual power.

That meant the old cultivator would not survive, whether or not the Evil Cultivators broke through.

The thin Daoist had no time to grieve. A tremendous crash as the formation's curtain of light burst apart brought him back to reality.

A towering figure astride a spirit colt had thrust a long lance forward with crushing force, piercing the Ye Household cultivators' hope of survival.

Spiritual light scattered, and the formation's foundations shattered. The Ye Household was finished! The thin Daoist could almost see his relatives within the formation wailing.

"Household head, run!" the elderly cultivator bellowed. Carrying a battered Law Artifact, he charged into the bandits' ranks, only for a long-bearded Evil Cultivator to slash open his chest with a short-halberd Law Artifact.

Grinning savagely, the Evil Cultivator flicked the old cultivator's organs out of his belly, then easily pierced his skull.

The Evil Cultivators came running with strange, mocking laughter. The Ye Household cultivators, depleted of spiritual power, fought as they retreated, directing their various Law Artifacts in feeble attacks.

The thin Daoist stepped forward to shield the other Ye Household cultivators. First, he struck down an Early Qi Refining Stage Evil Cultivator in front of him with his sword. Then he hurled out a gourd Law Artifact that spewed a vast cloud of poisonous sand from midair, drenching three Evil Cultivators before they could scatter and burning them to death.

His killing briefly checked the Evil Cultivators' momentum, but he could not protect all his clansmen. One group of Evil Cultivators kept him entangled while another went around him and charged straight for the rear.

The other clansmen had no such ability. Zhao Gu and the Jia Mountain Bandits chief had yet to act, but the lackeys who had rushed in were enough to spill the blood of three Ye Household cultivators on the spot in mere moments.

"You're courting death!" The Jia Mountain Bandits chief flew into a rage and strode into the formation in a few steps, holding a green-glazed oil-saving lamp. His hand formed several spiritual seals, and then he took a breath and blew hard at the wick. A torrent of blazing azure flame swept forth.

The thin Daoist was shocked and dodged to one side. His hand was a beat too slow in executing its Method Formula, and he failed to retrieve the gourd Law Artifact still suspended in midair. The blue fire engulfed it, and in moments its spiritual glow dimmed sharply, with a faint gray pall appearing on its surface.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that unless the thin Daoist had another move in reserve, defeat was certain for him and the entire Ye Household.

The six-man "allied force" coming to their aid from afar had only made it halfway when they saw that the Evil Cultivators had already broken the Ye Household's formation.

Under Lu Zhen's original plan, their own strength, combined with those few Ye Household cultivators willing to fight to the death to protect their home, should have been enough to stand up to the Evil Cultivators left on the mountain, with the formation to rely on.

They could not possibly defeat them, of course, but frightening them off should not have been a problem. Thieves were bound to have some guilty scruples. They should have hurried forward and caught those Evil Cultivators off guard. If they got there quickly enough, they might even achieve a remarkable result.

Kang Dabao, however, objected to the idea.

Kang Dabao reasoned that the Evil Cultivators had indeed come for wealth, not to risk their lives, and could not afford a bitter fight.

But first, the Evil Cultivators were no fools. The group that had just descended the mountain had neither returned nor sent word after so long, so they had most likely guessed that the group had been wiped out and probably made preparations.

Second, the "allied force" had no advantage in strength. The other side had two notorious bandit chiefs, and if a fight dragged into a long stalemate, victory was far from certain.

Third, a snake left alive would surely bring trouble later. Even if they won by luck, what if someone escaped back? This time they had brought men to the Ye Household; who knew whether they would come to his own home next time? And whether anyone would come to the rescue next time was far from certain.

Fourth, Kang Dabao had always preferred to play it safe. Since his master's death, he had long ceased contact with these Ye Household in-laws. There was no reason for him and his junior brothers to fight a life-and-death battle for them. Never mind being wounded or crippled; even a scrape or bump would not be worth it to him. In any case, the corpses of eleven Evil Cultivators lay in the settlement, and whoever came to question him, his conscience would be clear.

After only a moment's thought, Kang Dabao made up his mind. "Fellow Daoist Lu, please arrange for one of your clansmen to use Swift Movement to go ahead to my sect and summon my junior brother, then take those children and Brother Xue to the Lu Household for shelter."

Lu Zhen naturally would not refuse Kang Dabao's suggestion. He was well qualified to speak of how sharp Jiang Qing's swordsmanship was, and was naturally delighted at the prospect of his arrival.

The Lu Household cultivator chosen for the task was even happier. Grabbing the two Storage Bags he had picked up, he mounted his Law Artifact and sped toward the Chongming Sect. He had gained quite a haul this time too.

"Senior Brother Sect Leader, the Ye Household can't hold out much longer," Pei Yi deliberately reminded him.

"There's no hurry. We've just been through a hard fight. Everyone, restore your Law Power first. I'll stand guard for you." Kang Dabao waved a hand. The cultivators said nothing and sat cross-legged to recover, each with his own thoughts.

Less than a quarter of an hour after Kang Dabao finished speaking, Jiang Qing appeared on his flying sword before Kang Dabao, who was keeping watch on their surroundings. Upon seeing him, Jiang Qing came straight toward the group's hiding place.

Kang Dabao was taken aback. Could the man I sent back with the message be a true Foundation Establishment cultivator? He turned his head and realized what had happened, then flew into a rage. That third junior brother of his must have gone out on his own initiative again!

"Senior Brother, I couldn't stay put in the sect, so I first asked that fellow Daoist from the Xue Household to take the children to the Lu Household for shelter, then came out to find you. On the way, I happened to run into a member of the Lu Household. He told me you were here, so I came over." Seeing Kang Dabao's hostile gaze, Jiang Qing hurriedly explained what had happened.

"If you hadn't run into that fellow Daoist from the Lu Household, I'm afraid you'd have gone straight to Heng Mountain to find those Evil Cultivators, wouldn't you?" The anger on Kang Dabao's face did not lessen. Jiang Qing wilted and dared not answer, managing only an ingratiating smile.

"Let's go save them first. Their fate is up to them." Kang Dabao had no time to stay angry. Had he known this would happen, he would have gone to help sooner. Going now, he did not know how many people from the Ye Household he could still save.

Thanks to Brother Wang Chengtie for the monthly ticket, and thanks to all you brothers for your support.

Readers with time to spare, I hope you'll keep following along, vote, and comment. You can even throw some coins at me. Brothers who are busier, sorry for the trouble, but please stay on the last page of each day's update for about twenty seconds. Thank you, everyone.