316: Stop struggling

"How is it? Feng Ming, the taste of this Trapped Dragon Formation isn't pleasant, is it?" Zhang Bai's voice carried a hint of mockery. "Stop struggling. The more you struggle, the deeper the silk threads dig in. By the time I withdraw the Formation, you'll have lost a layer of skin!"

Feeling the restraints on his body, Feng Ming didn't panic; instead, he let out a light chuckle. "It is quite novel, but its lethality is indeed a bit lacking."

As his voice fell, a powerful surge of aura suddenly erupted from around him. Pale green spiritual power, like a tsunami, swept out in all directions with him as the center.

Wherever it passed, those golden-red rings and red silk threads instantly shattered like fragile bubbles, vanishing into nothingness.

"What?!" Outside the Formation, Zhang Bai's expression changed drastically, his eyes filled with disbelief. "This is impossible! My Trapped Dragon Formation can trap even a Cultivator at the Peak of the Nascent Soul stage for half an hour. How could you break free so easily?"

"Nothing is impossible." Feng Ming brushed the dust off his clothes and stood up from the ground, his tone flat. "Have you heard a saying? 'One strength breaks ten thousand laws.' Before absolute strength, even the most exquisite Formation is nothing more than a decoration."

"Arrogant!" Zhang Bai shouted angrily, his hands forming seals once again. "I want to see how many of my Formations you can break!"

Before his words finished, the mist within the Formation churned again, and countless sharp wind blades condensed from the fog, slashing frantically toward Feng Ming.

The wind blades were as dense as rain, carrying sharp whistling sounds that tore through the air wherever they passed.

Feng Ming's eyes turned cold. Instead of retreating, he advanced. His figure flashed, dodging the wind blades attacking from the front, while he raised his hand to condense spiritual power.

In an instant, thunderclouds rolled in the sky above, and thunder rumbled. A massive phantom of the Wind Thunder Palm slowly condensed outside the Formation, blotting out the sun and carrying a pressure that could destroy heaven and earth.

"Wind Thunder Palm?!"

Zhang Bai recognized this palm technique, and his face instantly turned pale.

He knew the power of the Wind Thunder Palm well. It was a violent Cultivation Technique capable of crushing Cultivators of the same rank. Using power to break laws, it was the natural nemesis of Formations.

The speed of Zhang Bai's hand seals reached its limit. One Formation light screen after another quickly condensed in front of him. Layer upon layer of protective Formations stood like solid barriers beneath the Wind Thunder Palm.

But just as Feng Ming said, one strength breaks ten thousand laws. The massive Wind Thunder Palm crashed down, carrying the power of thunder and gale, slamming heavily onto the first Formation light screen.

"Crack!" With a crisp sound, the first light screen shattered instantly, turning into a sky full of light specks.

The second, the third, the fourth... The Wind Thunder Palm was unstoppable. With every inch it fell, another Formation light screen shattered.

The Formations Zhang Bai set up were as fragile as paper before absolute power, breaking at the slightest touch.

In just a breath's time, the dozen or so defensive Formations Zhang Bai had arranged were all crushed by the Wind Thunder Palm.

He watched helplessly as the massive palm drew closer and closer, its pressure growing heavier. He was so suppressed he could hardly breathe, his legs trembling slightly, until he finally slumped to the ground in despair and closed his eyes.

"It's over..."

He thought he was certainly dead, but the expected pain did not come. Instead, the world-destroying pressure suddenly dissipated, the thunderclouds in the sky slowly scattered, and the phantom of the Wind Thunder Palm vanished into thin air.

Zhang Bai snapped his eyes open and looked toward Feng Ming. He saw Feng Ming standing with his hands behind his back on a rock in the Boulder Formation, shrugging his shoulders at him with a faint smile on his lips, as if to say, "Now, are you convinced?"

Zhang Bai was so frustrated by Feng Ming that his veins bulged. He sprang up from the ground and pointed at Feng Ming's nose, shouting, "Wind Thunder Palm! The Wind Thunder Palm again! Is this the only move you know? Using it over and over again, aren't you ashamed?"

Feng Ming glanced at him sideways, a teasing smile curling his lips. "Ashamed? If it can beat the fight out of you, it's a good move. This is called defeating the enemy with one move—it works every time. As for you, besides fiddling with Formations, do you know anything else? You have the nerve to talk about me?"

"You!" Zhang Bai trembled with rage, his chest heaving violently. "I admit the Wind Thunder Palm is overbearing and counters my Formations! But the Dao of Formations is infinite; there's bound to be one that can handle you. Do you dare to compete again? This time, I'll make you lose and be thoroughly convinced!"

Feng Ming shrugged, his tone relaxed. "I'll accompany you to the end. Bring on whatever you've got."

Zhang Bai snorted and said no more. With a flick of his wrist, several jade-white round beads appeared in his palm. He channeled power into his fingertips and shot the beads out around Feng Ming.

Seeing this, Feng Ming simply stood with his hands behind his back, watching the changes from where he was. If this were a life-and-death struggle, he would never give his opponent the chance to set up a Formation, but since this was a spar, he wanted to see what other trump cards Zhang Bai had up his sleeve.

Before long, the beads settled several yards away from Feng Ming. Zhang Bai looked up at him, his tone carrying a bit of praise. "I'll give you credit for having some gentlemanly grace, not attacking while I set up the Formation. I'll put it this way: if you can break this Formation, I, Zhang Bai, will admit defeat on the spot!"

Feng Ming sneered. "Then you might as well prepare your concession speech in advance."

"Arrogant!" Zhang Bai roared, his spiritual power surging as he shouted, "White Dragon Bone-Locking Formation!"

As his voice fell, a sudden change occurred. Those white beads on the ground did not condense into a conventional Formation light screen. Instead, they simultaneously shot out thousands of jade-white silk threads that instantly pierced through Feng Ming's body like lasers!

Feng Ming's eyebrows rose slightly. He felt the threads pass through his body, yet his Physical Body felt no pain at all, as if they had only passed through a phantom. But in the next second, his expression changed drastically. It wasn't that his flesh was restrained, but that those threads had ignored his skin and flesh to wrap directly around his bones!

Fine white silks wove into a net between his bones, locking his entire skeleton firmly in place. Every inch of his joints was tightened so hard that the slightest movement caused a piercing, bone-deep pain to spread from the depths of his marrow, rendering him instantly immobile.

Seeing this, Zhang Bai laughed toward the sky, his pride evident in his expression. "Didn't expect that, did you? This Formation has no cage or cover, and no White Dragon phantom, yet it can lock bones and restrain the enemy! This is my Zhang Family's secret signature Formation!"

"My Zhang Family has studied Formations for hundreds of years. How could you possibly fathom our attainments in the Dao of Formations? Formations can kill, trap, and even use ingenuity to break strength. Although your Wind Thunder Palm counters conventional Formations, now that your bones are locked and your spiritual power is hard to circulate, I'll see how you escape this time!"

Saying that, Zhang Bai took an hourglass out of his storage ring and placed it on a nearby rock, the sand trickling down. "Considering you've been upright, this young master will give you a chance."

"One full cycle of the hourglass is ten minutes. If you can break free from this Formation within the time limit, you win; once time is up, I win. Fair, right?"

Feng Ming did not respond. His eyes were slightly closed as he endured the intense pain between his bones, focusing his mind to sense the Dao of the Formation.

Although this White Dragon Bone-Locking Formation locked his movements, it also allowed him to glimpse the ingenuity of the Dao of Formations—ordinary Formations trap the body, but this one locks the bones, striking directly at the foundation. Its methods could be called treacherous.