12: Chapter 12 Rewards

In the Wang Family Council Hall, the members of the Wang Family's Yao generation and Wang Chongyang had all gathered here.

Wang Chongyang sat upright in the main seat. After listening to Wang Shouren recount the sequence of events, he sighed with great appreciation.

"Shouren, you did a great job with this matter. Not only did you protect the spirit fields and kill the villains, but you also found out the mastermind behind the scenes."

Wang Yaozu was also immensely gratified. Like father, like son; the more outstanding Wang Shouren was, the more glorious he, as a father, naturally felt.

Wang Shouren stood up from the very last seat and cupped his fists respectfully.

"This matter also thanks to Shouxin's help. Without Shouxin, that four-person combination Formation would have already driven me to a desperate situation."

Hearing Wang Shouren say this, several people all revealed incredulous expressions, especially the third uncle Wang Yaowu, who directly stood up with shock on his face.

"Nephew Shouren, is it truly so perilous?"

Wang Shouren's expression turned solemn, and he said earnestly.

"Third Uncle may not know this, but when ordinary Cultivators besiege someone, they fight individually. No matter how many people there are, it is merely attacks coming from all directions in turns. As long as one's movement technique is fast enough and reactions are agile enough, one can always find gaps to maneuver. But this combination Formation is completely different."

He paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping over the elders present, and said in a deep voice.

"Those four Loose Cultivators are not my opponents when taken individually. The leading brawny man is at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer, and the other three are all between the Qi Refining Fourth and Fifth Layers."

"If it were a swarming style of attack, this nephew is confident I could handle it. But after they formed the array, the four of them had connected auras and interflowing spiritual power. A strike from any single person within the array had the magic power blessing of the remaining people in the array, causing its might to surge violently."

"The greatest profoundness of this combination Formation is not simply one plus one equals two, but rather that it can trigger the amplifying power of the array."

"When the array is operating, the strength of the people within the array rises out of thin air by a small Realm. The Qi Refining Fifth Layer can unleash the might of the Qi Refining Sixth Layer, and the Qi Refining Sixth Layer can even unleash lethality approaching the Qi Refining Late Stage."

Recalling the scene at that time, Wang Shouren's tone couldn't help but become a bit more solemn.

"What this nephew faced was not four Loose Cultivators fighting individually, but a battle array with flawless coordination, interflowing magic power, and integrated offense and defense."

"When attacking, the four acted as one; when retreating, one acted as four. This nephew exhausted all my skills and could only barely support myself. If not for the battle array having flaws and Shouxin finding a loophole at a critical moment from my plan of luring the enemy, successfully launching a sneak attack with the Gold Sword Talisman to defeat them one by one, this nephew probably wouldn't be able to stand here and speak with the elders today."

Hearing this, Wang Yaowu gasped, sharp light bursting in his eyes as he patted the table three times in succession.

"Wonderful! Wonderful! Wonderful! Four Qi Refining Middle Stage Cultivators forming an array, matched with the Formation's amplification—Shouren, what you faced was nowhere near four Loose Cultivators! Clearly, it was three Qi Refining Middle Stage Cultivators plus one Qi Refining Late Stage Cultivator! No wonder, no wonder someone with Shouren's strength would still be driven to a desperate situation!"

The few people present all let out sighs of emotion, looking at each other in dismay, their eyes filled with both lingering fear and shock.

They had originally gathered here because they heard that a force had made a move against the Wang Family's junior members, and they wanted to discuss how to counterattack.

Yet they never expected that today's council meeting would actually hear about such a matter as a combination Formation.

Wang Yaowen furrowed his brows tightly, pondering aloud: "Even our Wang Family does not possess such a combination method. How could there be such a Legacy among Loose Cultivators?"

Wang Shouren shook his head and said: "I do not know the specifics of how it came about."

He certainly couldn't expose the matter of the black lotus; devouring souls and swallowing spirits sounded like the methods of demonic Cultivators no matter how one looked at it.

However, Wang Yaozu captured even more critical information from the words just now.

He stared fixedly at his son with burning eyes, his body leaning slightly forward: "Shouren, did you obtain that combination Formation?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire hall fell silent.

Everyone's gaze converged on Wang Shouren.

There was a trace of difficult-to-suppress excitement in Wang Yaozu's voice.

"This combination Formation is simply tailor-made for our Wang Family!"

"If we can obtain this Formation and select elite juniors to practice and hone together, the Wang Family's strength can completely step up to a new level!"

Wang Yaowu also came back to his senses and nodded repeatedly.

"Big Brother is right! If our Wang Family can successfully Cultivate this array, even if there is no Foundation Establishment expert holding down the fort in the future, relying solely on a few sets of combination Formations can make the petty villains in the surrounding area not dare to act rashly."

"This shares the same ingenuity as the formless Formation Shouren proposed earlier. One is soft power, and the other is hard power. With the two cooperating, the Wang Family's situation will be stable!"

Wang Shouren smiled faintly, took out a Jade Slip from his embrace, and presented it with both hands.

"This is the combination Formation Jade Slip searched from that triangular-eyed Loose Cultivator's body."

"This nephew has preliminarily looked at it. This Formation is named the 'Lesser Five Elements Combined Attack Array', and it requires one Cultivator of each of the five Spiritual Roots—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—to cooperate and execute it."

"If the Five Elements are complete, after forming the array, the five people's magic power within the array will interflow and offense and defense will be integrated. It can indeed unleash combat power exceeding individual combat."

Wang Chongyang raised his hand across the air, and that Jade Slip fluttered up from Wang Shouren's palm, landing in his withered and thin hands.

The old man pressed the Jade Slip against his glabella, his Divine Sense sinking into it to investigate carefully.

The entire hall was as silent as death.

Wang Yaozu pressed his hands on his knees, his knuckles turning slightly white.

Wang Yaowen held his teacup suspended in mid-air, forgetting to put it down. Wang Yaowu even stood up directly, gazing eagerly at Wang Chongyang, wishing he could crowd right up to him.

They were all waiting for an answer.

What was the grade of this combination Formation? Was it complete and flawless? How was the difficulty to Cultivate? To what extent could the combat power amplification reach?

This tiny Jade Slip might just be what tied down the future destiny of the Wang Family.

After a long while, Wang Chongyang slowly opened his eyes.

Within those eyes that had grown mostly turbid, a speck of bright light suddenly flared intensely, resembling a dying candle in the wind being refueled with lamp oil.

"Good! Good! Good!"

The three cries of good rang out louder one after another.

The old man's beard trembled slightly, and his voice actually carried a bit of high-spirited vigor not seen in many years.

"This Formation is complete and flawless, and its grade is not low. It is sufficient to support combination attacks up to the Foundation Establishment Stage."

"The threshold to Cultivate is also not high; the Qi Refining Middle Stage can serve as an entry point. As the tacit coordination deepens, the might will also increase incrementally."

"If our Wang Family can drill out three to five combination Formations, who among the Cultivators in the surrounding few county towns could block us!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire hall boiled with excitement.

Wang Yaowen finally put down that cup of tea that had long since gone cold and let out a long breath.

"Heaven bless the Wang Family! Shouren, this time you not only protected the spirit fields, but you also brought back a heavy gift for our Wang Family!"

Wang Yaowu laughed heartily, patting Wang Shouren's shoulder as he said: "Nephew, Third Uncle said before that I wanted to thank you, and now I owe you another favor!"

Wang Chongyang gently placed the Jade Slip on the table, his gaze sweeping over the crowd present, and his voice returned to its steady composure.

"The benefits of this Formation can be seen by all of you, and others can see them too. Once our Wang Family begins drilling, we won't be able to hide it from the surrounding eyes. Therefore—this Formation is listed as a core Family Legacy. Non-direct descendants are not permitted to come into contact with it, and the drilling must be conducted behind closed doors within Lotus Pier, with strict prohibition against leaking."

He paused for a moment, his gaze falling onto Wang Shouren.

"Shouren, you have successively achieved great merits for the Family, and you are also the person who presented the Formation."

"Today, in front of everyone, this old man will first reward you with a barrier-breaking pill to help you break through your Bottleneck and step into the Qi Refining Late Stage as soon as possible."