Chapter 19 Fourth-Grade Defensive Formation

One thousand kilometers from the edge of the Boundless Forest.

A squad of five Ninth Layer of Qi Refining Cultivators was hunting a group of Third-level Demon Beasts.

The Scarred Cultivator, who had bought Chen Li's Third-Rank Formation, was among them. They had already set up a trap, just waiting for this group of Third-level Demon Beasts to enter.

These squad members had been in the Boundless Forest for three months and had hunted together several times, but now each person averaged only about twenty kills.

Ten years ago, they would have been thrilled, but this year, sixty kills were needed to exchange for one foundation establishment pill. With half the time gone, everyone's minds began to wander, leading to extreme thoughts.

They had seen many fellow Sect members kill each other along the way. At that moment, seven Third-level Demon Beasts were walking into the trap. The instant they entered, all five people simultaneously unleashed their strongest attack methods, and the Scarred Cultivator was activating the Third-Rank Formation.

Although the Scarred Cultivator wanted to kill Chen Li, he still acknowledged Chen Li's Third-Rank Formation; it was indeed useful, and its offensive power was outstanding. With one strike, the Third-level Demon Beasts were basically severely wounded.

Seeing the seven Yao Beasts about to die, the Scarred Cultivator suddenly activated the Third-Rank Formation again, but this time, it wasn't aimed at the Yao Beasts, but at the fellow Cultivator next to him who was casting a spell.

The other two seemed to have a tacit understanding, and they both attacked another person together. After a while, the five-person squad was reduced to three.

A month later, the three-person squad became two.

On this day, after the Scarred Cultivator and another fellow member murdered one Cultivator, they parted ways.

The Scarred Cultivator counted the Third-level Demon Beasts in his Storage Pouch; there were already over fifty. He still needed three more. At this time, he had unknowingly ventured fifteen hundred kilometers deep.

That day, he discovered three more Yao Beasts—three Silver Tiger Demons!

He quietly crept up, first using the Formation to severely wound one, then physically fighting and killing the other two. After the fight, he was covered in wounds and utterly exhausted, but he had finally gathered sixty Yao Beasts.

Just as he was resting, perhaps the commotion from the fight attracted attention, a Fifth-level Demonic Beast roared and charged over!

Hearing the noise, the Scarred Cultivator fled in panic, abandoning even his Third-Rank Formation, too late to retrieve it.

However, after all, it was a Fifth-level Demonic Beast, and it caught up to the Scarred Cultivator in less than five seconds. Seeing the Fifth-level Demonic Beast right in front of him, the Scarred Cultivator had no choice but to pull out the two expensive 'Ten-Mile Escape Talismans' he had bought.

He used both talismans at once to shake off the Fifth-level Demonic Beast's scent tracking.

...

Twenty miles away, the Scarred Cultivator spent some more effort flying back to the Boundless Forest, one thousand kilometers from the edge. He was gasping for breath, looking utterly miserable.

Thinking about the two 'Ten-Mile Escape Talismans' he bought for several hundred Spirit Stones and the Third-Rank Attack Formation he couldn't retrieve, he felt a pang of pain. Almost all his Spirit Stones were invested in those two items.

Thinking of this, he also thought of Chen Li, and unconsciously wanted to vent all the frustration in his heart onto this person.

"The Chen Family of Liangxi County, is it? This time, I'll make you pay back everything, including your life!"

...

At Black Magpie Mountain, the Immortal Learning Tower had risen from the ground over these past few months, reaching five stories high. It was also built by the An Family, costing over a hundred Spirit Stones.

During this time, one would also notice six Formation Platforms added within Black Magpie Mountain; this was something Chen Li had worked on simultaneously over the last few months.

The Fourth-Rank Defensive Formation had been set up and was undergoing trial operation. Anything produced by Chen Li was guaranteed to be top quality.

Although the process was somewhat difficult, carving the array patterns onto the four-hundred-year-old Vajra Thunderwood caused another wave of Spiritual Energy and Mental Energy depletion. However, he had obtained quite a few Puyan Pills from the spoils of the Luo Family's Foundation Establishment Cultivators, having consumed about a dozen bottles.

Currently, the outermost Formation was a Second-Rank Defensive Array. Only the instant this Second-Rank Defensive Array shattered would the Fourth-Rank Defensive Formation instantly activate.

This was a link in the designed chain, and he had managed to implement it!

He had placed three thousand Spirit Stones within the platforms for this device. Upon activation, it would automatically consume Spirit Stones—about one thousand Spirit Stones per day!

This explained why the large Formations of those Sects consumed Mid-Grade Spirit Stones!

His tag mission was also completed.

[red fortune bar]: 60 / 100

[Family Territory Arranged with a Fourth-Rank Defensive Formation, capable of defending against Foundation Establishment Cultivators]: Arranged

...

Inside Concentric Heart Hall, Zhu Lingyue was already eight months pregnant, nearing childbirth.

Over these past few months, she had learned to refine the grain dispelling pill and the qi overflowing pill, but she still hadn't fully grasped the Second-Rank Formation.

Inside Concentric Heart Hall, Chen Li was accompanying Zhu Lingyue as they studied the Second-Rank Formation when suddenly, the location of the Opportunity site in his Sea of Consciousness, [Silver Tiger Demon Abdomen], shifted.

Hmm?

A few days later, why was this moving towards the direction of Black Magpie Mountain?

Looking at the location moving hundreds of kilometers every day, heading towards Yuanwu Prefecture, he was dumbfounded?

One day, Zhu Lingyue asked, "Husband, why have you been frowning these past few days? Is something wrong?"

Chen Li comforted Zhu Lingyue, saying, "It's nothing. Someone might be visiting in the next few days. I'll go meet them!"

...

Seeing that the [Silver Tiger Demon Abdomen] location was only a hundred miles away from him, Chen Li confirmed that this person was heading straight for Black Magpie Mountain.

That night, four sets of Third-Rank Spirit Trapping Formations and ordinary Third-Rank Attack Formations had been laid out around Black Magpie Mountain.

Three sets of Eighth-Rank Attack Formations were ready, but the Fourth-Rank Profound Bone Immortal Slaying Formation was not set up; it was kept as a mobile option.

Because the [Silver Tiger Demon Abdomen] was only one mile away from him, the attacker was already nearby.

At the foot of the mountain, the Scarred Cultivator sensed the Second-Rank Defensive Array.

"A Second-Rank Defensive Array, hehe!"

Without another word, he grabbed a large saber and began hacking violently at the Defensive Formation Array. Chen Li saw the person clearly and chuckled.

Let him hack!

Finally, after five consecutive strikes, the magic power of a Ninth Layer of Qi Refining Cultivator was just enough to break the Second-Rank Defensive Array by sheer force.

The moment it shattered, the Scarred Cultivator actually let out an even more unrestrained laugh.

However, the laughter only lasted for one second, then instantly! An even more powerful Formation energy condensed. He was stunned. Was this a Third-Rank Defensive Formation?

He continued to swing his large saber, hacking once, causing his hand to go numb from the shock? He refused to believe it and kept hacking!

Because he couldn't believe a Middle Stage Qi Refining Cultivator could possess a Fourth-Rank Defensive Formation!

Inside the mountain, at Zizai Pavilion, Chen Li was sipping tea. Ever since he realized the attacker was the Cultivator who bought his Third-Rank Formation months ago, he finally understood the reason!

This fellow must have slaughtered the Third-level Silver Tiger Demons, then perhaps inquired about which Cultivator sold the Formation that day, wanting revenge. The transaction that day was just selling the Formation for a slightly higher price; to hold onto the killing intent until today, that was something else!

However, since the item from the Opportunity site delivered itself to his door, it bought him a few more minutes of life!

At the window sill of Concentric Heart Hall, Zhu Lingyue looked at Chen Li with some worry. Chen Li smiled faintly, indicating it was just a minor nuisance.

After the Fourth-Rank Formation activated, the Scarred Cultivator had been hacking for ten minutes and still hadn't broken it. By now, he had become obsessed, thinking, 'What if the next strike breaks it?'

At this moment, one could still hear the sounds of hacking against the Fourth-Rank Defensive Formation, "Eighty! Eighty!"

The Scarred Cultivator at the foot of the mountain was now also panting, more wretched than when fleeing the Fifth-level Demonic Beast. He cursed inwardly, 'What kind of broken Formation is this?'

It wouldn't even budge when hacked. But he seemed to have lost his composure, still wanting to gather strength to hack at the Formation, vowing not to stop until it broke.

At the foot of the mountain, Chen Li appeared, and simultaneously, the Spirit Trapping Formations activated.

The Scarred Cultivator, who was gathering strength to hack at the Formation, was instantly trapped by the power of the Formations. If it could trap a Foundation Establishment Cultivator for a few seconds, trapping a Qi Refining Cultivator for ten minutes was certainly not a problem.

Chen Li walked out of the mountain gate, smiling calmly and unhurriedly, saying, "Fellow Daoist, are you here to purchase a Formation?"