60: Chapter 61 Allied with Luo to Attack Yao

The sword tip pierced through his chest; a trace of lingering bewilderment remained in the eyes of that Yao Family Cultivator.

His protective Spiritual Qi had clearly been activated, and the Talisman at his waist had been crushed, yet that sword still came from behind, as if it had been waiting for him to run into it.

The sword tip was withdrawn, and blood gushed out violently.

He stumbled two steps, raising his hand to cover his chest, but the blood could not be stopped between his fingers. The tree shadows before his eyes were heavy, and in the end, he saw only a cold, indifferent face.

Patriarch Luo Shouqian sheathed his sword, looking down at the corpse falling into the fallen leaves, without a shred of satisfaction in his eyes.

This was the second Middle Stage Cultivator of the Yao Family to die.

Like the previous one, both were at the fourth layer of Qi Refining.

The mist in the forest had not yet dispersed, the treetops blocking most of the daylight; only a few scattered spots of light fell beside the pool of blood.

Jiang Yuhe walked out from the shadows of the trees in the distance. She coordinated with Patriarch Luo Shouqian; she used Listening to Rain to sense and inform him of the target's movement direction in advance, while Patriarch Luo Shouqian was responsible for the kill.

Jiang Yuhe's gaze first swept over the corpse, then looked toward the direction of the Yao Family.

"That's the second one."

Patriarch Luo Shouqian said in a low voice: "Even if the Yao Family is stupid, they should be waking up by now."

Jiang Yuhe nodded.

The ambushes of these past few days could not possibly have been kept hidden for long.

In recent years, the Yao Family had annexed two small clans and forced the Luo Family to close their Formation and wait for death. They had long been accustomed to taking the initiative, and while their Cultivators were on guard when entering and leaving, it had not yet reached the point of being paranoid.

Also, because the Jiang Family had long remained reclusive, they did not know the true strength of the Jiang Family on Baili Mountain.

Jiang Yuhe took advantage of this; she first lurked near the Yao Family, and after a Yao Family Cultivator went out, she used Catalyzing Green to secretly tail them, then passed the information to Patriarch Luo Shouqian, who was already lying in ambush in the forest.

The first time it succeeded, it was because the Yao Family had not expected the Luo Family to stop defending and launch a counterattack.

The second time it succeeded, it was due to luck under the information gap and the decisiveness of the actions.

Now, the Yao Family will surely be completely alerted.

In another half a day, or at most a day, all of the Yao Family's Cultivators who venture out will travel in groups, and their mountain protection Formation will be fully activated. By then, it will be impossible to use this method to chip away at their middle-tier strength.

Jiang Yuhe said: "Are the Luo Family members ready?"

Patriarch Luo Shouqian took the Yao Family Cultivator's Storage Pouch, then burned the bloodstains on his clothes with a fire, replying: "They are ready. Both of my Luo Family's Middle Stage Cultivators are out, and seven Early Stage Cultivators are accompanying them."

He paused and looked back at Jiang Yuhe. "What about the Jiang Family?"

Jiang Yuhe said: "They are ready too. All of the Jiang Family's Cultivators, with only one left behind to guard, have arrived at the agreed-upon location."

Jiang Yuhe continued: "The Yao Family has lost two fourth-layer Cultivators in succession. Now, the remaining Middle Stage Cultivators should be one at the fourth layer and two at the fifth layer.

"If the Head of the Yao Family makes a move himself, the two of us must resolve him as quickly as possible. Because of the difference in cultivation, it is almost certain that one of our fourth-layer Cultivators will need to face the enemy's fifth-layer Cultivator, so we must make it a quick battle."

"As for the fourth-layer Cultivators, the remaining people from the Jiang Family and the Luo Family will surround them; if we can kill them, we will, and if we cannot, we must at least stall them."

Patriarch Luo Shouqian was silent for a moment, then nodded slowly.

Such an arrangement still carries great risks, but in Family feuds, there are rarely any truly safe situations.

Late Stage Cultivators have a nearly desperate suppression over Middle and Early Stage Cultivators.

A Cultivator who has just entered the seventh layer might need some effort to kill a sixth-layer Cultivator with deep foundations, but if they go to kill a fourth or fifth-layer Cultivator, often just seizing a moment of vulnerability is enough to decide life and death.

Qi Refining families are different from Foundation Establishment clans.

Foundation Establishment clans still have high-grade Magical Artifacts, systematic spells, protective Talismans, and even life-saving items bestowed by elders.

But where would Qi Refining families have such deep foundations? A higher level of cultivation is truly like a chasm, and many times it is not something that can be smoothed over by courage alone.

The reason the Yao Family was able to suppress the Luo Family back then was also based on this principle.

Now the situation has reversed; the Yao Family's Middle Stage Cultivators are dying one after another, and with the Luo Family and Jiang Family joining forces, there is instead a situation of using numbers to suppress the few.

Patriarch Luo Shouqian bent down, picked up the corpse, and walked into the depths of the forest.

Not far away was a hidden stream, the water of which eventually flowed into Jinglan Lake.

Patriarch Luo Shouqian sank the corpse into the stream and used magic to roll up mud, sand, and rocks to pin it down. The lake area is full of demonic fish and water insects; by the time the Yao Family actually finds it, the corpse will likely be unrecognizable.

After doing all this, he and Jiang Yuhe headed one after the other toward the location of the Yao Family.

When the two saw the Yao Family's mountain gate from afar, the Yao Family's mountain protection Formation had already fully risen.

Pale yellow Formation light covered half the hillside, and Formation patterns lit up in circles along the mountain paths and buildings. Inside several guard towers at the foot of the mountain, Yao Family Cultivators were running back and forth, clearly having discovered the continuous disappearance of their clansmen and beginning to be on full alert.

Jiang Yuhe stopped behind a tree, looking at that layer of Formation light, and said in a low voice: "The Yao Family should have things like Soul Lamps or Life Tablets. Otherwise, they wouldn't have reacted so quickly."

Patriarch Luo Shouqian also looked at the Formation, his eyes somewhat complex.

"In these years, the Head of the Yao Family has annexed two clans and obtained quite a few things. Soul Lamps and Life Tablets were not originally part of his Yao Family's foundations."

Speaking of this, he sneered: "But now that the situation has reversed, it is his own fault. When he borrowed the Gu Family's influence to suppress my Luo Family, he probably didn't think he would be blocked at his own mountain gate."

Jiang Yuhe did not respond.

She did not want to curry any favor; after all, whether it was the Yao Family or the Luo Family, in the Jiang Family's plan, their only fate was destruction. Now, thanks to the efforts of the clansmen and the blessings of the family genealogy, it is just the Jiang Family's turn to hold the blade.

The two bypassed the great Formation in front of the mountain and arrived at the agreed-upon clearing in the forest.

The Luo Family Cultivators were already waiting there.

The two Middle Stage Cultivators, one holding a sword and the other a short halberd, both had unconcealable tension on their faces, while seven Early Stage Cultivators stood in the surroundings.

On the Jiang Family side, Jiang Chengning and Lin Suwen stood together, Sun Changshui and Old Crow Chen were each suppressing their breath, while Sun Jingxiu held his Magical Artifact, constantly taking deep breaths.

Patriarch Luo Shouqian said in a deep voice: "Follow the plan as originally decided. I will lead the main forces of the two families to attack the Formation from the front. Young Miss Jiang, temporarily suppress your cultivation; do not expose it too early. When the Head of the Yao Family comes out of the Formation, I will fight him first, and then Young Miss Jiang, you will sneak attack from the side and rear."

Jiang Yuhe nodded.

She raised her hand to suppress the Qi in her body, gathering the fluctuations of the eighth layer of Qi Refining bit by bit, leaving only the aura of about the fourth layer of Qi Refining.

Grain Rain Qi is naturally gentle and unobtrusive, and combined with her very stable concealment of Qi over these years, from a distance, she looked just like a Middle Stage Cultivator newly cultivated by the Jiang Family.

Everyone said nothing more.

Soon, the first spell landed on the Yao Family's great Formation.

Wind blades, flames, water arrows, earth spikes, and sword light smashed down one after another. Dozens of Cultivators attacked together, their Spiritual Qi colliding with the Formation barrier, causing the entire Formation to hum and vibrate.

The speed of breaking the Formation this time was clearly much faster than when the Yao Family attacked the Luo Family back then.

At that time, the heads of both families were severely injured and unable to rise; only the Middle and Early Stage Cultivators could move, and the Formation could barely recover by relying on its natural operation.

Now that Patriarch Luo Shouqian is personally involved, and the Jiang Family has Jiang Yuhe suppressing the Formation, although she has not yet fully exposed her strength, she is intentionally or unintentionally striking at the weak points of the Formation, causing the operation of the Formation to be constantly disturbed.

Every time a gap was blasted open in the Yao Family's mountain protection Formation, the Formation light would attempt to re-aggregate, but before it could recover, it would be suppressed by the next round of spells.

In just over an hour, the great Formation began to shake.

After the Formation light thinned, the figures of the Yao Family members inside were gradually revealed.

The Head of the Yao Family stood on the stone steps of the mountain gate, his expression gloomy. He was about fifty years old, tall and thin, with narrow, long eyes and protruding veins on the back of his hands, clearly indicating that his old injuries had not yet healed, but his Late Stage cultivation was still not to be underestimated.

Behind him was the Yao Family man who had been the most arrogant when attacking the Luo Family that day.

That man no longer had the arrogance he had when forcing the Formation back then; only panic remained on his face, and he looked at the people outside the Formation from time to time, as if he had already recognized that the Jiang Family and the Luo Family had joined forces.

Further behind, those Yao Family clansmen without cultivation were already in chaos.

Women, children, and the elderly were driven to the back of the buildings, while young clansmen held knives and spears, but were somewhat at a loss.

If not for the fact that the Head of the Yao Family was still there, his Late Stage aura suppressing the mountain gate, the interior of the Yao Family would likely have already fallen into chaos.

Another round of spells slammed down, and the great Formation cracked with several fine lines.

Patriarch Luo Shouqian was about to order everyone to continue suppressing the Formation when his expression suddenly changed slightly.

Inside the Formation, the Head of the Yao Family raised his right hand, and a bronze-colored small tripod floated from his palm.

The small tripod was only the size of a fist, with one of its three legs missing a corner, and several patterns engraved on its surface; it did not look refined.

Patriarch Luo Shouqian immediately shouted: "Stop! Fall back, defend yourselves!"

Jiang Yuhe also noticed something wrong at the same moment.

That small tripod was extracting the Formation's Spiritual Qi.

The next instant, the Head of the Yao Family threw the small tripod violently.

The bronze tripod flew to the top of the great Formation, the mouth of the tripod facing downward, and it actually forcibly swallowed the remaining Spiritual Qi of the Yao Family's mountain protection Formation into the tripod. The entire Formation was like being stripped of its skeleton; it first shone violently, then exploded from the inside out with a boom.

The great Formation self-destructed.

Spiritual light and fragments of Formation patterns swept toward the outside of the mountain gate like a tidal wave.

Several of the Luo Family's Early Stage Cultivators were knocked over on the spot; Sun Jingxiu gritted his teeth and raised his protective Spiritual Qi, but was still shaken back several steps, his face deathly pale.

Old Crow Chen knelt on one knee, his Magical Artifact humming in his hand, while Sun Changshui hurriedly protected an Early Stage Luo Family Cultivator beside him, and the two rolled into the edge of the forest together.

Jiang Chengning and Lin Suwen had been prepared early and joined forces to raise a thin Spiritual Barrier, barely blocking the aftermath.

Jiang Yuhe still suppressed her cultivation and did not act immediately, only slightly narrowing her eyes in the turbulent Spiritual Qi, looking at the figure inside the Formation.

After the Formation was broken, the Yao Family's mountain gate was completely exposed.

The Head of the Yao Family caught the falling small tripod; the body of the tripod was already scorching hot and red, and the remaining power of the Formation swallowed into the tripod turned into a circle of light patterns, circulating around his arm.

He stepped out of the mountain gate, his Late Stage aura pressing down without reservation, his voice spreading across the entire hillside.

"Yao Family disciples, listen to my orders!"

"Today, retreating is death, and defending is also death; it is better to follow me and kill our way out!"

He raised the tripod and roared, his voice like splitting stones.

"Charge!"

The originally panicked Yao Family Cultivators had their minds forcibly suppressed by this shout; several Middle Stage Cultivators rushed out first, and the Early Stage Cultivators behind also gritted their teeth and killed their way down the mountain.

The shattered Formation light had not yet dispersed, and dust rolled in front of the mountain gate.

The Head of the Yao Family, holding the tripod, rushed out and headed straight for Patriarch Luo Shouqian.