144: Chapter 144 Eastern Region

By the time they reached the Eastern Region, the cloud with the clipped corner had already dispersed.

Several craters remained on the ground, their edges charred black from the aftershocks of spiritual power. A few people lay scattered nearby, whether unconscious or dead was unclear; there were no ordinary people around, just a stretch of wasteland.

The people from Red Fiend gathered in one spot, twenty-seven of them. Seeing the sixteen people from Bai Yu's side approach, the leader—Flame Punishment—rested the blade in his hand against his shoulder, took two steps forward, and sized them up.

"Bai Yu? Just you alone?"

"Sixteen," Bai Yu said.

Flame Punishment glanced behind Bai Yu; there were indeed sixteen. He paused, then laughed. "You brought a bunch of kids?"

Bai Yu didn't respond to that.

"Master, can I go first?" Gu Dusheng asked in a low voice from behind. His voice was very hushed, but Flame Punishment's group wasn't far away; they might have heard.

"No rush. Get into position first."

Chu Han had already buried the Formation Plate, the set prepared before they came. It made no sound upon landing. With the four corners positioned, as long as someone entered the circle, the defense would trigger and the backlash would follow.

Someone from Red Fiend noticed and shouted while pointing at the ground. Flame Punishment took a look, his expression shifting. "A Formation? You brought a Formation Master."

"The one setting the Formation can also concoct medicine," Medicine Not So added from behind. "Which of you wants to try first?"

Flame Punishment hadn't expected someone to talk back and paused for a second.

Then he waved his hand, and the Red Fiend side moved.

The twenty-seven people didn't come all at once but spread out, splitting into three paths in an encircling maneuver. It was more organized than Bai Yu had expected, but nothing extraordinary.

"Luo Bingli, the right. Lin Tian, the left," Bai Wuji said. Without waiting for Bai Yu to speak, he was already assigning roles. "Jin Wusuan and Gu Dusheng, follow me through the middle. The rest of you, look after Chu Han."

Chu Han didn't look back, focusing on protecting the Formation. "Thanks."

Bai Yu said nothing, walking straight toward Flame Punishment.

Flame Punishment carried a defensive Magic Treasure, a set of Protective Aura. With his Late Stage Immortal Venerable cultivation applied, it was so thick it would be truly hard to break. Bai Yu felt the Jade Token given by the Void Realm; it was still in his pocket.

The two sides clashed.

Lin Tian was surrounded by three but didn't feel much pressure. He swung his spear back to sweep two aside, while the third was finished off by a sword strike from Luo Bingli. Gu Dusheng and Jin Wusuan ran into an Early Stage Immortal Venerable. Gu Dusheng struck first with his blade but was parried. Jin Wusuan circled to the back, pulling out an abacus to use as a weapon and swinging it down hard. The opponent hadn't guarded against this and took a solid hit. Gu Dusheng followed up, plunging his blade in.

"You use an abacus to hit people?" Gu Dusheng stepped aside. "Is that what an abacus is for?"

"If it wins the fight, then that's what it's for." Jin Wusuan stowed the abacus and moved to the next target.

Bai Yu reached Flame Punishment. Without wasting words, the two immediately engaged.

Flame Punishment's Protective Aura repelled force upon contact. Bai Yu struck three times with his sword, but all were bounced back, the force even pushing back at him—not heavily, but annoyingly.

"What, the Heavenly Sword Sect's sword can't break my Protective Aura?" Flame Punishment swept his blade horizontally. Bai Yu retreated half a step and parried the blade. "This is a good item given by the Upper Realm's old heavenly dao. No matter what sword you use, it's useless."

Bai Yu didn't answer, pulling the Jade Token from his robes.

Flame Punishment saw the dark-colored token and took a step back. "What is that—"

Bai Yu threw it. It hit Flame Punishment squarely in the face.

Flame Punishment instinctively raised his hand to block. As soon as the Jade Token touched the Protective Aura, it seeped straight through. The protective layer dissipated from within, clean and efficient.

Flame Punishment froze for a second; everything at his side was gone.

Bai Yu followed up, thrusting the true immortal sword straight forward.

It pierced through. Flame Punishment twisted but couldn't fully dodge; his right shoulder was hit. He retreated several steps, only stopping when he fell to the ground.

The nearby Red Fiend subordinates saw Flame Punishment fall, and their rhythm faltered significantly.

Bai Wuji's side felt it. "Press toward the center."

The five groups closed in toward the center. The twenty-seven Red Fiend members were squeezed into Chu Han's Formation. The backlash triggered, and spiritual power surged back at them. The Red Fiend side fell into chaos, their own people colliding and tripping over each other, unable to find their footing.

It didn't take long.

Flame Punishment struggled to get up and looked around. More than half of his subordinates were down, and the rest were trying to flee, but Chu Han had sealed the exits; there was no escape.

"Enough." Flame Punishment stabbed his blade into the ground. "I concede."

Medicine Not So sat on a rock and counted the Medicinal Pills; not a single one had been used. He screwed the cap back on and stuffed it into his Storage Pouch. "I knew I shouldn't have brought so many."

"It's good to be prepared. What if we had needed them?" Sikong Zhaiyue stood nearby.

"The strongest in that group was just one Early Stage Immortal Venerable, and the rest were all Immortal Emperors. There's nothing to say about ten-plus of us fighting them." Gu Dusheng shouldered his blade.

Bai Wuji walked over. "Master, how should we handle Flame Punishment?"

Flame Punishment knelt on the ground, his right shoulder still bleeding. He ignored it. His expression wasn't quite what a loser's should be, but having said the words, he didn't move again.

Bai Yu glanced at him. "How much do you know about the other factions in the Vermilion Fire Domain?"

Flame Punishment looked up, in no hurry to speak.

"Say it or not, it's up to you," Bai Yu said. "If you don't, I'll have Chu Han lock you in the Formation. Your choice."

Chu Han happened to be packing up the Formation nearby. Hearing this, he stopped, glanced at Flame Punishment, and said nothing, his meaning clear.

Flame Punishment was silent for a moment before speaking. "There are four factions left in the Vermilion Fire Domain now. Mine is the smallest. The other three all have people from the Upper Realm backing them. Pure Void Master hasn't moved against them yet, so they're still stable."

"What kind of people?"

"I couldn't find out their names. I only know that if Pure Void Master starts internal strife, that will be their time to emerge."

Bai Yu pushed the thought aside and didn't ask further. He turned around. "Cripple ten percent of his cultivation and let him go."

Bai Wuji went to do it. Flame Punishment took the blow without struggling, accepting it obediently. He stood up and walked toward the border. After a dozen steps, he looked back, said nothing, entered a rift, and disappeared.

Chu Han packed up all the Formations and clapped his hands. "It didn't explode this time."

"Do Formations always explode whenever they're used?" Gu Dusheng asked.

"Before the improvements, it exploded eight times."

Gu Dusheng moved two steps aside, maintaining a greater distance from Chu Han.

On the way back, the sun had reached high noon. Bai Yu walked in front. After the fifteen people behind him had walked for a while, Medicine Not So spoke up, "Master, next time can you let me bring more medicinal ingredients? I want to concoct them on the spot."

"Bringing them makes it easy to explode," Lin Tian said first.

"That time wasn't my fault; it was a matter of Spiritual Qi concentration."

"The result is the same."

"The result—" Medicine Not So choked back his words. "What do you know? I pulled out before it exploded."

"You were pushed out by Gu Dusheng that time," Luo Bingli said.

Gu Dusheng, "...I saw you were too focused and was afraid you hadn't noticed."

"You definitely pushed me."

"Enough." Bai Wuji cut off the conversation. "Let's hurry. We need to be back before dark."}],