novelraw Chapter 269
Chapter 269
The battlefield was in turmoil.
Outside the Luofu Sword Formation, over thirty Core Formation cultivators attacked together. Each unleashed a spell technique, shaking the entire outer peak of Mount Luofu.
The countless sword energies formed from spiritual qi shattered one after another. Such a sight was rare, even when everyone had joined forces to break the formation before.
For a moment, excitement surged in their hearts.
“Everyone, this damned sword formation is about to collapse.”
“Push harder, break it in one go!”
“Whoever gets the Earth Spirit Fruit, it’s theirs. Work together to break the formation.”
They actually intended to break the formation with brute force.
After his experience in the Heavenly Soul Sect Ruins, Wang Yu felt speechless. Among these thirty-plus Core Formation cultivators, was there not a single one proficient in formations?
In fact, there was.But why would that person say anything? It was better to secretly comprehend the sword formation, find a moment to break it alone, seize all the Earth Spirit Fruits, and retreat swiftly.
Greed was the unending essence of cultivators.
That formation master, Yu Sheng, was just such a man. He came from the Heaven Refining Demonic Sect’s territory in the northeast—Liuju Prefecture, bordering Cloud Ridge Prefecture, only a few thousand miles from here.
At that moment, his eyes burned with desire as he stared at a certain storage pouch.
Inside his chest robe, a Void Escape Talisman was tucked away, ready to activate at any instant. All he needed was an opportunity.
A few breaths later, as the Luofu Sword Formation began to waver…
From the distant sky, thirteen streaks of sword light flew in. The leader was none other than the Luofu Ancestor himself. Seeing the scene before him, the anger he had held back since the meeting earlier exploded instantly.
“A pack of shameless bastards.”
“Luofu Sword Canon, rise!”
In an instant, the sky darkened, and a storm roared to life.
A colossal sword large enough to blot out the sun and moon descended like a heavenly meteor. Waves of air rippled outward, and deafening sonic booms followed.
Then it crashed down with thunderous might.
“Old ghost Luo Fu, how dare you call us shameless? Have you forgotten how that rogue cultivator was tricked by your He Clan into the sword formation?”
From among the thirty cultivators, a peak Core Formation expert acted with fury.
From the void, countless white bones condensed into a massive Bone Sword, no weaker than the heavenly sword above. The two blades collided, and for an instant, heaven and earth fell silent.
A booming explosion followed, echoing long after.
Wang Yu’s eyes widened in surprise.
“That’s a cultivator from the Yellow Springs Monastery.”
“Oh? Are you sure, junior brother? There are plenty of demonic cultivators who practice bone techniques in the Crimson Kite Demonic Domain.”
“I’m sure. That aura of the Yellow Springs cannot be faked.”
“Good.”
Within the group of thirty, Wang Yu confirmed that there were at least three peak Core Formation cultivators from Huangbai City. Oddly enough, instead of going after the Earth Spirit Fruit Tree itself, they had come to seize the fruits from Mount Luofu.
Such fruit held little use to them except for trade or cultivating younger disciples.
To fight so desperately… could it be for the Yellow Springs Pill?
Before Wang Yu could think further, Wei Hao nodded to Wei Ying, who instantly vanished among the crowd.
“Junior Brother Wang, get ready. That sword formation can’t hold much longer.”
His gaze returned to the battlefield.
After the peak battle’s shockwave, the Core Formation cultivators were scattered. Among them were peak Yellow Springs Monastery cultivators, mid-stage Core Formation experts from third-rate sects, and even early-stage Core Formation rogue cultivators.
The chaos gave rise to countless opportunists.
Seeing such a chance, the twelve sword cultivators led by the Luofu Ancestor instantly formed the Luofu Twelve-Sword Formation, said to be capable of contending with a Nascent Soul cultivator.
It resembled the fixed sword formation anchored to this place, yet was entirely different in nature.
Their twelve life-bound swords flew into the air, merging into a dragon of sword qi that charged headlong at a rogue cultivator. His body instantly exploded, leaving behind a dim golden core and a storage ring, which were swept into the sword dragon and seized by the Luofu Ancestor.
With the formation active, they slew a man in an instant without any effort.
Seeing the twelve sword cultivators charging forward, several early Core Formation cultivators turned pale and immediately fled farther away, abandoning all thoughts of the Earth Spirit Fruit.
However, others sneered arrogantly.
“What Luofu Twelve Swords? You think you can challenge a Nascent Soul with that?”
The man revealed his ninth-layer Core Formation cultivation.
He pointed toward the sky.
A Yellow Springs Corrosive Current descended upon the world, forming a colossal hand nearly a thousand meters wide. It grasped the sword qi dragon with crushing might. Under the erosion of that turbid aura, the faces of the Luofu cultivators turned even paler than those of the fleeing rogue cultivators.
“Someone from the Yellow Springs Monastery!”
“How could this be!”
“Ancestor, retrieve your life-bound treasures!”
Too late.
That man sneered coldly. The Yellow Springs Hand Seal, though unable to completely destroy the formation, brought unbearable agony to the Luofu sword cultivators.
“My Azure Frost Sword... it fell from high-grade to mid-grade!”
“Damn bastard! My Heaven Net Sword dropped to lower-grade!”
“Rain Butterfly Sword…”
“Mountain Splitting Sword…”
Fortunately, none of their life-bound treasures were completely destroyed. The Luofu Ancestor’s face turned ashen. Had he known there were Yellow Springs Monastery cultivators among them, he would never have led with life-bound treasures.
His sword barely maintained high-grade quality, but the loss of its essence was equivalent to refining five talisman treasures.
“This infuriates me!”
“Sword Qi Weaves Silk – Heaven Net Formation!”
The qi of twelve sword cultivators connected as one. In their fury, they unleashed a devastating area attack, forcing the Yellow Springs cultivator to retreat.
But while he escaped, others could not.
Countless razor-sharp sword threads intertwined, forming two immense nets, one descending from the heavens, one rising from the earth, closing in on all the remaining cultivators.
The divine ability evolved into a wide-range attack, covering nearly ten thousand meters in every direction. Everything caught within that radius was sliced into thumb-sized cubes.
In such a perilous situation, not everyone present was a weakling. Various divine abilities manifested one after another, making Wang, who was observing from the shadows, exclaim in admiration.
One cultivator summoned a gigantic cauldron and slammed it deep into the ground. The sword web failed to stop it, he was using a magic treasure.
Another cultivator spat out a mouthful of innate wood qi. A demonic vine with metallic luster burst from the earth, forcibly piercing through the sword web and creating a hole through which he escaped, this was a divine ability.
A third cultivator displayed an astonishing escape technique. He transformed into a speck of rice-sized light, slipped through the gaps in the sword net, and vanished over the horizon. He had chosen to flee.
Each scene was awe-inspiring. The demonic cultivators’ escape methods were truly exceptional.
Yet, despite all this, some still remained trapped within the sword web.
They were shredded alive into chunks of flesh. None of the early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators survived. Of the thirty-some people present, some fled while others hid, leaving only seven or eight in the blink of an eye.
“…”
“…”
The situation seemed entirely in Luofu’s favor, yet the Luofu Ancestor did not relax his vigilance.
Sure enough.
Moments later, a massive murky yellow hand and a colossal skeletal hand reached out from the air, pincer-like, and struck toward the Luofu Twelve-Sword Formation once more.
“Foolishness. Do you think the same trick will work twice?”
“Luofu Sword Canon: Ten-Direction Slaughter Sword!”
This formation, reputed to rival even a Nascent Soul cultivator, finally unleashed its full might. With overwhelming force, it shattered both gigantic hands.
The sky-covering sword qi automatically locked onto its target, blasting toward a section of empty air. A few breaths later, a figure burst out of the void—it was the Yellow Springs Monastery cultivator who had just ambushed the Luofu sword cultivators.
Four or five pale-white light swords were impaled through his body, blood spurting continuously. “I underestimated you.”
“Heh.”
“Explode!”
The Luofu Ancestor sneered. From a distance, he pinched his fingers together, and the light swords embedded in the man’s body detonated instantly. Blood rain scattered, leaving only a resplendent Golden Core darting into the distance.
Dead, yet not completely gone.
That was the first late-stage Core Formation cultivator to be eliminated.
“Ancestor, the Earth Spirit Fruit!”
Just as victory was within grasp, a shadow suddenly appeared within the fixed sword formation. It was the third Core Formation peak cultivator from Yellow Springs Monastery.
He had somehow entered the formation itself.
The Luofu Ancestor roared aloud, “Qiujian! Activate the Luofu Demon-Slaying Sword Formation!”
As the thirteenth member, He Qiujian was only at the first layer of Core Formation, but that was still enough to control this third-rank sword formation and hinder the Yellow Springs cultivator.
He had remained hidden until now as a reserve, making this the perfect moment to act.
“A mere first-layer Core Formation brat dares to block me?”
The demonic cultivator laughed wildly. From within his robe, countless talismans flew out, embedding themselves at the nodes of the Luofu Demon-Slaying Sword Formation. No matter how He Qiujian tried to activate it, there was no response.
The He clan prodigy grew visibly anxious.
Whoosh—
Just as he reached for his storage bag, the ground suddenly split open.
The long-hidden formation master, Yu Sheng, emerged without a word, snatched the storage bag, and dashed off, a swift and clean theft.
The cracked earth swallowed him, and spatial ripples spread outward.
“It’s a Void-Evasion Talisman!”
“Stop him!”
The demonic cultivator’s face darkened. He reached toward the ground with a giant bone hand.
A mound of earth and stone was lifted up by the skeletal palm, spatial fluctuations intensifying within.
The bone hand clenched shut.
Golden formation patterns interlocked into a small defensive array. Though shattered instantly, it completed Yu Sheng’s escape.
“Hahaha, in the end, it’s my move that prevailed.”
“No, I won.”
Wei Ying suddenly appeared. Under Yu Sheng’s shocked gaze, shadowy tendrils emerged from his sleeve, stripping him clean in a single motion.
Yu Sheng, now stark naked, vanished using the Void-Evasion Talisman.
A mantis stalking a cicada, only for the oriole to appear behind—and now, yet another predator beyond the oriole.
The suddenly revealed Wei Ying became everyone’s target.
The storage bag in his hand radiated golden brilliance, making him look like a ten-thousand-watt lamp, blinding to the eye.
“Kill him!”
Both the demonic cultivators and the Luofu Twelve Swords struck at once. Wei Ying hesitated not at all, pulling out sixteen Earth Spirit Fruits and grabbing five for himself.
The remaining eleven shot off in all directions like meteors.
That was like poking a hornet’s nest. The previously vanished Core Formation cultivators reappeared from every direction, all racing after the fleeing Earth Spirit Fruits without hesitation.
As for Wei Ying, his three brothers—Wei Yu and Wei Yuyu—joined forces.
Forming a Three-Talents Formation, they shielded Wei Ying at the center. A massive green-faced ghost skull materialized, blocking the combined strike from the demonic cultivators and the Luofu swordsmen.
Then, the four vanished together.
“This…”
“Damn it!”
After a brief spiritual sense search failed to locate them, the Yellow Springs demonic cultivator chose not to waste time. He abandoned the pursuit and instead darted off toward the scattered Earth Spirit Fruits.
With eleven fruits spread out, he was confident he could seize at least one or two.
The Luofu sword cultivators, on the other hand, hesitated momentarily.
“Chase them!”