81: Chapter 82 The Decree of Wind and Rain

Jiang Xingchuan was not afraid of Chen Xiaoyan knowing too much about him.

What he feared was that one day, he would take this connection for granted.

On the other side of the ridge, Chen Xiaoyan suddenly stopped what she was doing.

"Thinking too much again."

Jiang Xingchuan's heart skipped a beat.

Chen Xiaoyan looked up at him across a few ridges of the spirit field.

Perhaps because her appearance had changed, she seemed much gentler.

"Every time you think about these things, your technique becomes scattered."

Jiang Xingchuan looked down and, sure enough, a streak of rain had fallen diagonally outside the ridge, watering a weed with particular vigor.

He was silent for a moment before bringing the rain back under control.

Chen Xiaoyan's eyes curved, then she lowered her head to inspect the Formation Flag, as if nothing had happened.

The Eastern Array Base had been much livelier these days than before.

The Zhou and Zhao families had long since torn off the mask of civility, declaring they would fight to the death.

But after that great battle, both sides had restrained themselves somewhat, no longer easily launching full-scale invasions, but instead sending small teams to probe each other around the foothills and outer fields every few days.

The Eastern Array Base had also added more manpower because of this.

There were now eleven Cultivators within the Array Base.

Besides Jiang Xingchuan and Chen Xiaoyan, there were two Middle Stage Cultivators leading them.

One was named Guest Retainer Fang Huaiduo, a Middle Stage Cultivator at the fifth level. He was originally a Loose Cultivator who had worked as an escort for merchant caravans, was skilled with a short halberd, and acted with caution.

The Zhou Family gave him the title of "Guest Retainer of the Array Base," which plainly meant he was hired to guard the Formation with a monthly salary of Spirit Stones and was not officially registered as a Zhou Family retainer.

The other was named Tao Sheng, a Middle Stage Cultivator at the fourth level. He was tall and thin, taciturn, and knew some earth-type Restrictions. He, too, only worked for Spirit Stones and Medicinal Pills; if his life were in danger, he could leave, as he wasn't truly selling his life to the Zhou Family.

The remaining seven were all from Cold Households.

The one with the highest cultivation was Xu Qinghuai.

He had now reached the Perfection of the second level of Qi refinement and had been meditating late into the night recently, clearly preparing to break through to the third level.

Jiang Xingchuan watched from afar as Xu Qinghuai crouched by the field, carefully burying a Spirit-Gathering Stone beneath the Formation Flag.

The boy had shed much of the youthful spirit he had when he first arrived at the Eastern Array Base, and when he looked up and saw Guest Retainer Fang Huaiduo walking by in the distance, he still subconsciously lowered his head.

People from Cold Households always had this habit of bowing their heads.

Watching him, Jiang Xingchuan felt an indescribable sensation in his heart.

Now that he had changed his name and appearance, returning to the foot of Zhou Mountain, he had unexpectedly become a person in the records again.

But this time, he did not want to be a Cold Household member who could be pushed around by others.

Within his body, there were spirit apertures that had been forcibly opened, the Purple Mansion Golden Core Way that he himself could not yet fully see, the Ritual Counterpart Shadow that remained inextricably linked with Chen Xiaoyan, and the malicious remnant soul deep in his mind.

At this thought, a low chuckle suddenly echoed from deep within Jiang Xingchuan's spiritual consciousness.

"Kid, using High Grade Daoist Magic to water the fields—I have to hand it to you for coming up with that."

Yan Zhaopo's voice was still raspy, carrying a touch of lazy mockery.

Jiang Xingchuan remained outwardly unmoved, only replying in his heart: "Senior, you taught me this technique to let me practice it in secret, didn't you?"

Yan Zhaopo scoffed.

"Practicing it in secret is so you can nurture the Edict in the wind and rain, so that when the Zhou Family faces trouble later, you can find the person I need."

Jiang Xingchuan did not refute this.

Yan Zhaopo continued: "The Wind and Rain Edict is currently just something I threw together; as time goes on, I will gradually perfect it... Hehe..."

Yan Zhaopo did not finish.

Jiang Xingchuan's brows twitched slightly.

"Senior?"

There was silence deep within his spiritual consciousness.

The next moment, a sharp whistling sound suddenly rang out from outside the Eastern Array Base.

Almost at the same instant, several Formation Flags by the ridge trembled in unison, and the light cyan runes on their surfaces suddenly flared up.

Guest Retainer Fang Huaiduo was the first to react.

This Guest Retainer Cultivator had originally been standing outside the Array Base checking the field protection Restrictions. When he heard the whistle, his expression changed instantly, and he reached back to draw his short halberd.

"Enemy attack!"

Tao Sheng also looked up abruptly, his thin figure swaying as he landed beside the Formation Plate of the Eastern Array Base. He pressed both hands onto the earthy-yellow Formation Plate and shouted sternly: "Close the Formation! Cold Household Cultivators, retreat into the field, don't run around!"

The seven Cold Household Cultivators were instantly thrown into a panic.

Among them, the highest cultivation was only Xu Qinghuai at the Perfection of the second level of Qi refinement, and the rest were mostly at the first or second level. They were fine with guarding fields, patrolling canals, or moving spirit fertilizer, but when faced with such a sudden raid, they were immediately at a loss.

Xu Qinghuai was calmer than the others; he gritted his teeth, grabbed a small shield, and turned back to shout: "Retreat behind the Formation Flags! Don't crowd together!"

Outside the Array Base, a light cyan Formation light rose bit by bit.

Seeing the Formation screen about to close, the few Cold Household Cultivators felt slightly relieved.

Their first reaction was to assume that the Zhao Family Cultivators had come to test the Formation again.

After all, the Zhou and Zhao families had torn off the mask of civility, and in recent days, the Zhao Family's Formation-probing talisman light often flashed outside the Eastern Array Base, and occasionally one or two Zhao Family Cultivators would release techniques from afar to harass them.

But this time, it was not a probe.

The moment the Formation screen was about to close, a streak of black light suddenly flew out from the woods outside the Formation.

It was a black bead the size of a thumb.

The bead was wrapped in gray-green Evil Qi, and as it landed on the edge of the Formation screen, it silently merged into the Formation light.

Tao Sheng's complexion changed drastically.

"Oh no!"

Before he could finish speaking, the bead of Evil Qi exploded within the Formation light.

Boom!

A muffled sound.

The Formation screen sank violently, and the originally clear Formation patterns were instantly stained by the gray-green Evil Qi.

Several Formation Flags cracked simultaneously, and the runes on the flags seemed to be gnawed by venomous insects, dimming in large patches.

The entire protective Formation of the Eastern Array Base had become extremely fragile in the span of a single breath.

Guest Retainer Fang Huaiduo cursed angrily.

"Something's wrong, it's Evil Cultivators!"

In the woods outside the Formation, six figures rushed out almost simultaneously.

Three Middle Stage Cultivators and three Early Stage Cultivators.

They were clearly well-prepared, and as soon as they attacked, they unleashed several foul techniques; gray fire and blood light crashed into the breach in the Formation screen.

The protective Formation, which could have withstood one or two rounds of probing, was now contaminated by Evil Qi and could not even hold for half a breath.

Several techniques smashed straight into the field.

A Cold Household Cultivator couldn't dodge in time and was grazed on the shoulder by a black vine; he let out a miserable scream, and a cloud of foul-smelling black smoke immediately rose from his shoulder.

Chen Xiaoyan frowned, her figure immediately darting toward the person, and she slapped out a Clear Water Talisman to suppress the residual Evil Qi of the black vine.

Her thoughts simultaneously fell into Jiang Xingchuan's heart.

"Something is not right."

Jiang Xingchuan had already retracted the Rain-Calling Technique and responded in his heart.

"The Chengtian Sect just held a tournament today, summoning the Zhou, Zhao, and Lu families from the north to discuss things like resource allocation and Disciple quotas. The fact that someone is attacking the Formation immediately after that is definitely not right."

Yan Zhaopo chuckled low in the depths of his spiritual consciousness.

"The scent of Evil Qi on these Cultivators is wrong, hehe... Kid, your place is quite lively. The Zhou and Zhao families haven't truly started fighting yet, but the stray dogs have already smelled the blood."

Guest Retainer Fang Huaiduo had already engaged the first Middle Stage Evil Cultivator.

That Evil Cultivator was tall and thin, with gray-black cloth strips wrapped around his hands, and gray fire flickering between his ten fingers. He struck out with a palm, and the gray fire exploded against the short halberd, forcing Guest Retainer Fang Huaiduo to retreat two steps.

Tao Sheng also faced another Middle Stage Evil Cultivator.

He was skilled in earth-type Restrictions, so he pressed both hands to the ground, and the soil of the ridge overturned, forming a low wall to block the opponent's blood blade.

The Evil Cultivator sneered, and three blood nails flew from his sleeve, embedding themselves into the mud wall, causing dark red cracks to immediately appear from within the wall.

The remaining Middle Stage Evil Cultivator was short and stocky, wearing a tattered animal skin, dragging a thick black-backed saber in his hand. With an explosion of Evil Qi under his feet, he charged directly through the breach in the contaminated Formation screen.

His target was the Cold Household Cultivators in the field.

Xu Qinghuai's face turned deathly pale.

He could feel that the aura of that short, stocky Evil Cultivator was at least at the fourth level of Qi refinement.

If such a person charged into the midst of the Cold Household Cultivators, he could slaughter a whole group in a few breaths.

"Retreat!"

Xu Qinghuai's voice was distorted with panic.