Youth Must Be Seized Early; How Could One Remain Young Forever? Chapter Eighty-Eight: The Four-Element Flame Formation

For ten days after Bai Qingzhou advanced, the spirit vessel flew on at full speed.

As they entered the territory of Dragon-Tiger Mountain, the loose cultivators in the great hall were no longer as carefree as before; every one of them had grown preoccupied and heavy with thought.

And the closer they drew to the domain of the Woodspirit Sect, the more oppressive the atmosphere aboard the vessel became. The scattered cultivators began to prepare their magical implements and talismans with growing caution, each harboring his own intentions.

Silently, they moved into battle readiness and waited in stillness for the destination to arrive.

“We’re here!” A cry of alarm rang out from one of the cultivators in the hall, and after nearly a month of flight, they had finally reached the site of the first battle.

The Woodspirit Sect.

Three enormous spirit vessels came to a halt high in the sky, forming a horn-like encirclement around the entire mountain gate of the Woodspirit Sect.

A storm-before-the-rain pressure swept over the mountain peak, heavy and suffocating.

The Woodspirit Sect had long since activated its mountain-protecting formation. A pale blue shield enclosed the entire mountain, and within it stood many disciples armed and ready.

Following the sect elders, Bai Qingzhou stepped out of the cabin and reached the deck, looking toward the place where battle was about to begin.

The shield, like a vast hemispherical dome, covered every mountain path leading upward.

The two sides glared at one another.

Then a middle-aged cultivator from the Supreme Unity Sect flew out from the vessel to the foot of the Woodspirit Sect’s mountain and stood suspended in midair. His voice, imbued with spiritual power, boomed like thunder and spread clearly in all directions. “I am Zhang Chao of the Supreme Unity Sect! Let the cultivators of the Woodspirit Sect come out and speak!”

At once, a middle-aged man shot out from within the mountain-protecting formation. He was clearly also a Foundation Establishment cultivator. The two stood facing each other, and the middle-aged man shouted at Zhang Chao, “Which brat dares to come here and bark?”

Facing the aggressive advance of the Supreme Unity Alliance, he showed not the slightest fear; his bearing was no weaker in the least.

At this, Zhang Chao gave a cold laugh. “Ignorant whelp! Hear this: your Woodspirit Sect has slaughtered fellow cultivators, bullied the weak, and committed every evil deed under heaven. You are the chief scourge of Dragon-Tiger Mountain! Today, my Supreme Unity Alliance will act in the name of heaven and rid the cultivators of such a vile sect!”

The middle-aged cultivator thundered, “Get lost, you bastard! So much nonsense! I’ve disliked your Supreme Unity Alliance for a long time! If you want to fight, then fight. Don’t hide behind all these sanctimonious excuses!”

“Hmph!” Zhang Chao snorted and ignored the man’s retort, continuing with righteous force, “Cultivators of the Woodspirit Sect, listen to me! Cultivation has not been easy for anyone after all these years. With such an assault, you cannot hope to withstand it! I promise you this: if you lay down your weapons and surrender, my Supreme Unity Alliance will not take your lives! Think carefully, everyone! Do not throw your lives away in vain!”

“Beasts! All of us in the Woodspirit Sect are unbending men of iron; we would never surrender! You shameless dog, to spout such nonsense here! You’re courting death!” the middle-aged cultivator roared.

With that, he immediately charged forward, gripping a spear as tall as a man and thrusting straight toward Zhang Chao!

“Good!” Zhang Chao showed no fear and met him with twin blades in hand.

The two hurled talismans and magical implements at each other in wild profusion, their clashes ringing out in the air and leaving everyone on the deck staring in astonishment.

The battle between Foundation Establishment cultivators drew countless eyes.

Yet before the time it took to burn a stick of incense, the middle-aged cultivator had fallen into disadvantage.

After all, Zhang Chao was a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, while the middle-aged man was only in the early stage. Naturally, he was no match.

Clang!

The middle-aged cultivator raised his spear with all his strength and barely blocked Zhang Chao’s twin-blade strike head-on. The force of the impact sent him flying backward again and again.

“Hmph!” With another cold snort, he used the momentum to slip directly back into the mountain-protecting formation.

Seeing the Woodspirit Sect cultivator flee in defeat, the cultivators aboard the three spirit vessels erupted at once in deafening cheers.

At this moment, they all shared glory and disgrace together.

Basking in the admiring gazes of the crowd, Zhang Chao sheathed his twin blades and flew back with a smile.

The various sect masters and elders standing at the front immediately stepped forward to congratulate him with cupped fists, after which everyone began speaking in low voices among themselves at the head of the deck.

Not long after, Bai Qingzhou saw the two elders from his own sect walk back from the front.

“Everyone, prepare yourselves. It’s our turn to go in!” Nie Fang said in a grave tone.

Hearing this, Bai Qingzhou immediately tightened his grip on the long sword in his hand and turned to look at the many fellow disciples beside him. On their faces, one could more or less see a trace of tension.

After all, this was everyone’s first time assaulting a mountain gate.

Yet Bai Qingzhou remained unexpectedly calm. Whether it was because he had long since grown used to the life-and-death struggles of the beast forests, or because he had already slain a cultivator before, he felt not the slightest tremor of nerves.

Only a surge of fury filled his heart.

For among those who had plotted the death of the sect master was the Woodspirit Sect.

Today, he would avenge the sect master!

“Attack!” Zhang Chao suddenly gave the command.

“Move out!” Nie Fang immediately shouted after him.

After many days of practice, everyone from the Radiant Sun Sect reacted at once. More than ten people immediately activated their flying implements and shot toward the shield of the Woodspirit Sect’s mountain gate.

Their positions formed four directions, neither too near nor too far apart, as though their spiritual power were moving together between them. As the group flew out, a faint phantom of an elephant seemed to emerge in the air.

This was the formation the Radiant Sun Sect had been drilling relentlessly during this time: the Four Elephant Flame Formation.

Nie Fang stood in the center, controlling the formation disc and drawing together everyone’s strength. A mighty surge of spiritual power vibrated outward.

The Radiant Sun Sect took the lead and charged toward the great formation.

Behind them followed many disciples from other sects, and behind those disciples came various loose cultivators, all surging out in a great tide.

On the other two spirit vessels, even more cultivators poured forth, dense as a swarm. The three forces divided into three directions and attacked the Woodspirit Sect together.

A mass of people, like locusts in flight, rushed forward in overwhelming force.

Bang!

The Radiant Sun Sect members, who had arrived first, joined forces in a single fierce strike that smashed into the mountain-protecting shield. The shield, like a huge rock crashing into a still lake, instantly rippled into wave upon wave, surging backward in continuous undulations.

“Follow the drill. Do not panic!” Nie Fang roared, instantly dispelling much of the crowd’s tension.

Bai Qingzhou nodded heavily. Holding the Azure Rainbow Sword, he took his place at the very front of the formation, facing the many disciples of the Woodspirit Sect.

During the days of rehearsal, he had always played the role of defender, chiefly responsible for blocking attacks from the formation and from opposing cultivators.

Standing at the forefront, separated by a transparent veil of light, he fixed his gaze on the cultivators across from him. He could even make out the hair on their faces.

Whoosh!

The Woodspirit Sect disciples standing within the shield began hurling talismans toward the crowd.

A tongue of flame shot straight toward Bai Qingzhou.

Boom!

Bai Qingzhou used the spiritual power within his body to sweep the blaze aside.

Boom. Boom. . .

His long sword flashed again and again in his hand, knocking aside the many talismans launched by the Woodspirit Sect disciples.

Together with Ji Heng and Xie Zhongjian, he formed a sturdy defensive barrier that withstood the barrage.

Slap!

He used spiritual power to bat away yet another incoming talisman, and it flew off to one side, instantly blasting a deep pit into the ground.

Bai Qingzhou narrowed his eyes slightly. If this strike had landed on a mid-stage Spirit Condensation cultivator, it would have been far from pleasant.

He twisted his aching shoulder, stepped back to cede his position to the taciturn Li Xian, and retreated two paces to join Ji Heng, who was taking a rest.

The three of them took turns blocking attacks.

“Fortunately, the Woodspirit Sect’s mountain-protecting formation has no offensive function. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be this easy,” Ji Heng said with a soft exhale.

“Yes,” Bai Qingzhou replied with a nod. Then he looked again at the still-unyielding mountain-protecting formation and tightened his grip on the Azure Rainbow Sword once more.

It seemed this formation would not be broken so easily.

Bai Qingzhou glanced to the side. Many loose cultivators were furiously attacking the shield. They wielded magical implements and kept striking at it, but because they had no coordination, they were occasionally slain by talismans launched from within the shield.

In an instant, quite a few corpses fell.

“So tragic...” Bai Qingzhou was deeply shaken.

Cultivators, who in the eyes of common folk were all immortal teachers upon the clouds, here died at random, as insignificant as grass and weeds.

The shield trembled incessantly, its glow waxing and waning.

Many disciples of the Woodspirit Sect wielded Repair Talismans, continuously mending the places that had been shattered by the assault.

Roar!

Under the collective effort of the crowd, the Radiant Sun Sect’s Four Elephant Flame Formation not only maintained the destructive power of a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, but under Nie Fang’s control it even carried the phantom of a giant elephant, relentlessly pounding the Woodspirit Sect’s mountain-protecting formation.

At the center of the Four Elephant Flame Formation, Qin Yihan, Ruan Xiu, and Ji Yuanying supplied spiritual power so that the formation could function properly while also using various talismans to keep attacking the mountain-protecting shield.

And Zhang Zhiyan and Li Xian, whose spiritual power was the strongest, stood behind Nie Fang, continuously pouring spiritual power into the formation and making it unleash even greater destructive force.

Bang!

Bang!

With three forces attacking from all sides, the Woodspirit Sect disciples were forced into frantic rounds of support and rescue, left in utter disarray.

Soon, the color of the mountain-protecting formation grew ever fainter, and the disciples inside the formation gradually revealed fear on their faces.

Some even began cursing the members of the Supreme Unity Alliance furiously.

“Listen up!” Zhang Chao’s shout suddenly rang out from behind them. “The formation is about to break! Everyone, strike with all you have! Once the mountain gate falls, everything in the Woodspirit Sect will be yours to take as you please!”

With their own great general issuing the order, the cultivators’ attention was immediately seized. Hearing that profit lay before them, they no longer held back. They suddenly unleashed all kinds of magical implements and talismans, and a dense rain of multicolored attacks slammed into the mountain-protecting formation.

The formation was immediately battered to the brink of collapse, the sounds never ceasing.

Sensing the shield weakening, Nie Fang suddenly bellowed, “Now! This is the moment! Gather your strength for one more strike!”

Upon hearing the command, everyone from the Radiant Sun Sect immediately circulated their spiritual power according to the cultivation art, funneling it all into the formation disc in Nie Fang’s hands, from which Nie Fang unleashed this fatal blow!

Boom!

Nie Fang controlled the giant elephant to deliver a fierce strike, slapping down upon the shield riddled with holes.

Crack!

Under the combined assault from all sides, the shield shattered into fragments like foam, and with a mournful cry, it scattered away on the wind.

Countless cultivators surged forward, pouncing fiercely upon the Woodspirit Sect cultivators, who were still reeling in astonishment.