“What are you doing here? Cha Ming will be upset if he knows you ran away,” she said cheerfully while petting him. Huxian indulged her for a few moments before letting out a shrill wail of agony. The sudden shriek forced Xing Tong to the floor with blood seeping out of her ears.
Uh oh. He felt a sharp, burning sensation as an object sprouted from his backside. It was a second tail. Huxian was now halfway to becoming a demon beast. He then became instantly aware of a frightening fact: His tribulation would arrive in three days.
Cha Ming’s footsteps echoed through a lonely street near the eastern guard house. He was distracted by what he had just witnessed in a nearby shop. He hadn’t intended to step into the shop, but a large crashing sound changed his mind. It was caused by the owner of the shop, who had collapsed on a display case. The room was covered in shattered glass splattered with blood.
As he rushed over to help the man, he quickly discovered that he wasn’t simply unconscious. The elderly man’s fires of life had been burning low even before tonight’s events. The blood-gathering formation was just the last nail in his coffin. The cruel reality of the situation pressed the urgency of the situation: Many young children and the elderly would be the first to die if the blood formation wasn’t stopped.
He glanced over the empty shelves in the shop before leaving. What should have been a thriving jewelry shop full of expensive merchandise had been thoroughly looted. He would have suspected looters if not for his timely arrival. The store’s owner had just died, and he watched as the golden watch on the old man’s wrist suddenly evaporated into a gold mist and wandered toward the nearby guard house.
Cha Ming understood that the priority was to stop the blood formation. But what if all the wealth in this rich city was used to strengthen the second individual? He resolved to destroy the gold formation eye after the blood formation eye.
He readied the Clear Sky Staff in his hands as he approached the guard house. Using his Mountain Stance, he rooted himself to the stone pavement as he heaved the elongated and weight-enhanced staff. It was now eighteen feet long and weighed 200 jin.
His bones creaked as he used the entire strength of his physical body while simultaneously channeling earth qi into the staff. The staff bent as he wielded it and performed a pure vertical strike toward the center of the guard house. The vibrations Cha Ming had imbued ensured that any stone encountered would crumble to dust.
A deafening boom broke the silence in the empty city streets. Without any warning, two saber-wielding individuals burst out from the newly formed entrance and lunged at Cha Ming, who wasted no time and counter-charged them. He put down each one with a single strike of his Sword Staff Art, and his precise blows crushed their necks and smashed their spinal cords. He felt no pity for them, however. These devil cultivators couldn’t be considered human.
Cha Ming jumped over the rubble and noticed that a large figure had been crushed to a pulp, then saw two hooded figures at the back of the room, dead. Seemingly, the impact of the blow had thrown them into the wall and killed them. He left nothing to chance as he approached the formation, sending out a Flame Manifestation with his rosary. The two figures were reduced to ashes in mere moments.
“So, what next, great teacher?” he asked. His dependence on the red-bearded man grew more obvious with each passing day. I should really learn formation arts once everything is said and done.
A surge of information rushed to Cha Ming’s head. For the blood formation, paint these seven formations at these key points and then connect them accordingly.
Cha Ming asked in an embarrassed voice, “The formation is a bit large. How am I supposed to paint it with this tiny brush?”
You have rocks for brains, the man replied. Can’t you see that the Clear Sky Brush and Clear Sky Staff are one and the same? Just get the brush to grow bigger and you won’t have a problem!
Cha Ming blushed as he realized his mistake. The Clear Sky Brush appeared in his hand at his command. With but a thought, it grew to the size of the Clear Sky Staff.
Don’t waste time. Every second you waste means one more soul sent to Diyu. Cha Ming nodded and willed earth qi and liquified earth essence to the tip of his brush, which he used to draw a complex symbol he had never seen before. He then drew a symbol with water-aligned material, then earth again, then fire. As he continued to paint everything, Cha Ming shook his head self deprecatingly. He was like a fake artist, copying original works for a living.
After a half incense time, the formation he drew on the ground lit up, causing the bloody mist in the vicinity to halt all movement. The bloody mist flowed back from where it had come, unravelling the bloody formation eye in the process.
This will send as much blood energy as possible to the remaining victims. I can’t do anything for the dead, the red-bearded man said with regret.
They wasted no time and proceeded to the gold formation. The formation for this one took much less time, as they were unconcerned with sending the residual energy back where it came from. Once the formation eye was destroyed, the gold mist in the room converged together to form three golden crystals, which Cha Ming collected. But the instant he collected them, he heard a deep voice resounding in his mind.
Bagua Huxian will be undergoing heavenly tribulation in three days’ time. As per the Contract of Equals, you are obligated to share all trials and tribulations.
Cha Ming massaged his brow once he heard this piece of information, wondering why his advancement had happened so soon. Then it dawned on him. The glutton had probably eaten the formation eyes.
Gong Lan was vigilant as she walked down the cobblestone street toward the third guard house, her twin sabers ready in case of an ambush. A blood-red moon was shining in the sky, illuminating the city with its eerie light. It reminded Gong Lan of the writing she’d found in the village which read “Beware the Blood Moon.”
Were they warning us about this? Did they know what would happen? She shuddered at the revelation.
She waltzed into the guard house, decapitating five figures with a few swift strikes. She knew from experience that the most effective way to deal with them was to lop off their heads. Hacking away a limb meant nothing to those crazed devil cultivators. It made her wonder if they were still human.
Unlike the others, she had no way to deal with formations. Therefore, she decided to try doing things the good old-fashioned way—by smashing and cutting them to tiny bits. It only took her a few strikes to notice that striking the formation eye was completely ineffective, so she turned her attention to the wooden planks below. Her heavy sabers smashed the wooden planks, destroying the runic patterns below the floating runes. Unfortunately, the formation eyes didn’t weaken, and she could only sigh in dejection.
As she continued observing the formation eyes, she realized the red rune felt familiar. She reached out and traced the runic patterns on the formation eye in the hopes of gleaning some insight. After an incense time, she noticed that the aura of the bloody formation matched her cultivation technique, the Blood World Scripture.
Time was of the essence, so she didn’t hesitate to drive her cultivation base and begin absorbing ambient qi. As predicted, the bloody rune shook, and the red mist in the room wandered toward Gong Lan. But in the midst of absorbing the blood energy, her heart began to pound uncontrollably. Tears welled in her eyes as she suffered the resentment of those who were harmed or killed by the formation.
I’m not the one who did this, she pleaded. But no one could hear her.
Despite being heavily affected, she didn’t stop absorbing. Rather, seeing that her rate of absorption was having little or no effect, she increased the absorption rate tenfold. The frequency of voices she heard and resentment she felt increased proportionately, yet she gritted her teeth and cried as she continued the forceful absorption. Within sixty breaths, she noticed that she’d broken through to the ninth level of qi condensation. With her breakthrough, she was able to increase the rate of absorption to thirty times. Thi
s caused the formation eye to shudder and crack, breaking off pieces to be absorbed by the Blood World Scripture.
It cracked little by little, until finally, several large pieces broke off together, and the formation eye was destroyed. Only Gong Lan and the golden formation eye remained in the room. The golden formation eye continued humming as though nothing had happened, leaving Gong Lan kneeling with her hands on the floor. She cried tears of blood, and her arms shook as she supressed the aura of resentment that came with the blood energy. A powerful aura surrounded her as she wept. It was the aura of half-step foundation establishment.
Meanwhile, Feng Ming and Hong Lai were wracking their brains trying to figure out how to break the formation in the remaining guard house. If Feng Ming had his way, he would just keep hitting it with his spear. Unfortunately, Hong Lai pointed out that there might be grave repercussions if they didn’t break the formation properly. So Feng Ming waited as Hong Lai weakened with every passing moment. It was only a matter of time before he lost consciousness, as the blood red thread was continually sapping away his vitality.
While Hong Lai was busy studying the formation, Feng Ming noticed a distortion in the formation.
“Did you see that?” he asked Hong Lai.
“See what? Quit distracting me while I’m breaking the formation.” Hong Lai was currently crouched down, weakly using his spiritual hammer to attack key points near the formation eye.
Feng Ming shook his head and continued observing. A half incense time passed before he saw another two consecutive flickers. To Feng Ming, who was completely untrained in formations, the rune seemed dull and lifeless compared to its original state. He glanced down at Hong Lai, who was completely focused on his work.
“I’ve had enough of this,” Feng Ming said, brandishing his spear. “I’m going to try breaking it.”
“You can’t do that!” Hong Lai yelled. His warning fell on deaf ears. Feng Ming stabbed the formation eye where he’d observed a slight distortion. His spear glowed red as he poured all his strength into that single strike, digging his feet into the ground with earthen power. A small crack appeared in the formation eye. Retracting his spear, he struck again and again.
Soon enough, the rune crumbled away, and the bloody mist in the room dissipated. Hong Lai, who had previously been struggling to remain conscious, looked at the spear in Feng Ming’s hand in awe. Feng Ming wasn’t paying attention, however. As soon as the rune crumbled, he was enveloped with a mysterious golden glow. It wasn’t the same ominous glow that came from the gold formation; rather, it was the light of providence. He had performed great merit by destroying the formation and saving many lives, and that merit was being channeled through Feng Ming’s soul through the Good Fortune Scripture.
“Yep,” Feng Ming said. “With a single strike of my lucky spear, I send formations crumbling into dust.” He didn’t wait for Hong Lai’s reply. The key to acting cool was to know when to leave.
* * *
1 The full Chinese idiom is 班门弄斧, which means showing off one’s meager skill in front of an expert.
Chapter 31: Fated Battle
The Fairweather Auction House was a shadow of its former glory. Its intricately carved walls, gildings, and decorations had lost their luster or had disappeared under the gold-plundering formation. Entire rooms had crumbled due to structural weakening.
While most of the employees in the auction house had returned to their dwellings, there was one man who remained in the building every night. The auction house was his home, and he viewed the wealth it generated as his personal collection. He wore an unsightly expression as he struggled to use his aura to save his most valuable treasures. However, there was only so much the power of Foundation Establishment could do to stave away the plundering gold mist. Even bags of holding couldn’t stop the elusive thief. Little by little, his treasures crumbled to dust and evaporated before his very eyes. The only ones that didn’t disappear were those that were bonded to him, like his flying sword and a few life-saving treasures.
“You all may as well come out,” he said with a grunt. A few short moments of silence were broken by the sounds of swishing blades as three cultivators flew in on magic swords. Each of them radiated the power of foundation establishment.
“Your senses are still sharp for such an old man,” a masked figure commented as he jumped off his flying perch. The flying sword began spinning around him in a haphazard fashion when he landed. The other two masked men beside him followed suit, surrounding the white-haired auctioneer.
“I see that the three of you have come to court death,” he said while brushing off his blue robes. Three silver-blue lights flashed as they darted out from the man’s mouth and flew toward the three assailants. The three masked men deflected them with great difficulty. Surprisingly, the auctioneer could control three flying swords at once.
“Very impressive,” the lead masked man said. “Flying swords are much harder to control than small daggers, pins, pearls, and other such objects. Moreover, these are high-level flying swords. It’s no wonder that our master sent three of us to deal with you.”
“You think you three alone are enough? Naïve.” The three swords hummed, and an icy pattern resembling a snowflake spread out from each of them. The three patterns continued expanding and connected, forming a much larger pattern that surrounded him.
“No, you misunderstand. Our job is simply to stall you, so why don’t you make this easy for yourself and stay put?” the masked man said while forming hand seals. His sword began to burn with a red flame. Meanwhile, his two assistants performed similar actions. Their swords turned green and yellow-brown respectively.
“The Earth, Wind, and Fire formation, how amusing.” The auctioneer formed a dozen hand seals and threw a bag of silver dust in the air. It absorbed into his skin, giving him the appearance of a man made of pure quicksilver. “Let us fight!”
Cha Ming felt the pressure on his vital force ease up with the disappearance of the red mist. Looking outside the guard shack, he realized that somehow, all four formation eyes had been destroyed.
I wonder who handled the fourth eye? he thought. He wasted no time and ran back toward the center of town, where he met Gong Lan and Huxian.
The blood moon in the sky had faded, and it now resembled a moon made of pure gold. The whole city became a dazzling sight to behold. He followed a yellow brick road to the city center, where both a red and gold formation still glowed brightly. The scope of the red formation was much smaller than before, however. Both Han Jinlong and Zhang Yifeng were using their power to supress Zhou Xian. He grimaced as he was forced to stand up from his meditative posture.
Zhou Xian looked at his skinny companion. “How much time do you need so you can supress these two, Merchant?”
The skinny man’s eyes opened, and he looked at the two master artisans with disinterest. “I still require an incense time to obtain seventy percent assurance. I’d ask for more time, but it seems you’ll have your hands full.”
Zhou Xian took a deep breath before withdrawing two scrolls from his bag of holding. The residual blood formation prevented Han Jinlong and Zhang Yifeng from interfering.
He flung the two scrolls into the air, where they unfurled into two golden contracts. He bit his thumb and swiped it across the first scroll. The golden contract’s black writing glowed red before falling to the ground. The writing separated itself from the parchment and spread out in a circular formation while Zhou Xian signed the second contract in blood.
This time, the writing peeled off from the contract midair and created a formation in the shape of a gate. Within a few breaths’ time, two powerful creatures emerged from their respective portals. One was a black hound with a sickly green mane while the other was a lithe beauty wearing barely anything. She appeared human, yet her entire form was red like blood.
“According to the contract, you may command us for half an incense time. What do you require, master?” the red creature inquired.
> “Delay these two men for the duration of the contract,” he instructed.
“Understood,” the succubus responded. Both her and the hellhound darted out from the blood-red formation, shattering it. They immediately engaged Han Jinlong and Zhang Yifeng, leaving Zhou Xian to face Cha Ming, Gong Lan, and Huxian. The presence of foundation establishment oozed out from him.
Zhou Xian looked at Cha Ming and Huxian with a friendly smile. “My dear friends, it been so long. It’s so nice to see you both. Alive.” He glanced at Cha Ming with these words, and Zhou Xian’s presence transformed.
Cha Ming had never fought against anyone at Foundation Establishment, so the initial aura was already imposing. Now that it had transformed, it no longer felt like suppression from a higher power. Rather, it was now a filthy feeling that aimed to corrupt his flesh, essence, and soul. The sickening feeling made it impossible for him to display his full strength.
Seeing Cha Ming’s predicament, Huxian’s figure blurred as he split into a black and a white fox, both with two tails. The white fox emanated a purifying aura, which neutralized part of Zhou Xian’s evil presence. However, the disparity between realms was apparent. Huxian was only a half step into foundation establishment, after all.
Zhou Xiang clicked his tongue derisively at the expected intrusion. “So predictable, little fox. You stay put for a while.” He formed a dozen hand seals and lifted his right hand up to the sky. A dark statuette appeared and subsequently scattered into thousands of black particles.
“Poison Suppression Idol!” he yelled. The figurine suddenly materialized above Huxian’s white clone, and four characters surrounded him. They began emitting a frightening pressure that ate away at the purifying aura until it receded to one foot around the white Huxian.
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