25: Chapter 25 Luring the Enemy into a Trap, a Meat-Grinding Killing Formation

Lu Changyuan's voice was not loud, but it cut through the already taut atmosphere on the sea surface like a blade.

Great Elder Chen Xinglie was stunned for a moment, then, as if he had heard a joke, he threw his head back and laughed.

"Blue Moon Island?"

"So it's that little brat who just got a foothold in the Star Sea and picked up a barren island relying on the Lu family's legacy."

His gaze swept over the looming reef shadows behind Lu Changyuan, his contempt barely concealed.

"What, did you dig up some treasure and now you really think you're someone?"

Lu Changyuan did not retort; he simply raised his hand faintly.

"Kill."

Almost the instant that word fell, Su Qingli clenched her five fingers tightly.

The two auxiliary Formation Plates buried among the reefs lit up simultaneously.

The next moment, the fog on the sea surface surged violently. The reef area, which had been clearly visible just a moment ago, was suddenly churned up as if by an invisible giant hand. The backflow inlet on the south side went dark first, and then the entire reef sea was engulfed in a strange, grayish-white dense fog.

The Chen family Cultivators, who had been in a straight line just a moment ago, were like a school of fish being sliced apart, losing their sense of direction in all directions in the blink of an eye.

"There's an array!"

"Retreat! Retreat first!"

"What about behind us? Why is it all reefs behind us too?"

Screams and curses erupted almost simultaneously.

Relying on their own warships and superior numbers, the Chen family people hadn't taken this reef area seriously at all. No one expected that, just a few breaths after setting foot on the ground, the surrounding sea surface would seem to come alive, swallowing them into the fog piece by piece.

The smile on Great Elder Chen Xinglie's face froze on the spot, and he roared angrily: "Steady! It's just a Second-tier Illusion Array, what's there to panic about! Form up and charge out!"

After all, he was an experienced Cultivator. He saw at a glance that this was a temporary array piled up relying on the terrain, not some powerful Killing Array that could operate for a long time. But seeing it was one thing; whether he had time to suppress the chaos with his orders was another.

Because Lu Changyuan had no intention of giving them time to reorganize.

Behind the reef, Lu Hu stepped out, his long blade raised horizontally, his voice slamming into the thick fog like a thunderclap.

"Xuanwu, raise the array!"

Fifty elite soldiers shifted positions simultaneously, shields in front, blades behind, their steps interlocking like chains, aggressively pressing into the fog along the reef lines they had already mastered.

The next moment, the sounds of killing erupted.

The first Chen family Cultivator hadn't even seen the shadow lunging from the fog before his throat bone was shattered by the edge of a shield, and he flipped into a reef crevice. Immediately following, a flash of blade light in the rear cut the second person's shoulder clean off before he could even fully activate his protective spiritual light.

The Chen family had many Cultivators, but after being cut into dozens of pieces by the dense fog and reef lines, there were at most seven or eight, or a dozen people in each section. The Xuanwu Killing Formation pressed forward layer by layer along the reef lines, and they couldn't even catch their breath before being swallowed into the fog piece by piece.

Lu Hu was the most fierce.

He had been holding back a breath of anger. From stealing ore last night to setting up the array, and then watching the three Chen family warships press in, that fire had been burning hot in his chest. Now that he could finally kill freely, he was like a fierce tiger released from its cage. With one strike, he cleaved a person and their Spiritual Artifact together, and pushed forward with his shield, forcing two Qi Refining Late Stage Cultivators into the backflow inlet.

"Steady the left flank!"

"Don't chase too deep, cut the second group!"

"Slash their legs, don't let them run!"

While killing, he controlled the array's pace, his voice exploding continuously in the thick fog. Led by him, the fifty soldiers were like a moving iron wall. Wherever they pushed, only blood and screams remained.

On the other side, Leng Feng was like the coldest blade in the reef fog.

He didn't engage in head-on combat; he only targeted those who tried to break out from the flanks to report back, or those with sharper spiritual senses who were about to figure out the array's path. In the thick fog, only the occasional flash of cold light was seen, and someone would collapse clutching their throat, unable to even send out a warning signal.

The Chen family's rear ranks were not entirely useless.

Several Qi Refining Perfection Cultivators who had clearly received training soon realized that if they continued to bump around individually, they would only be cut down one by one. They immediately suppressed their fear and, borrowing a slightly higher reef surface, barely formed a small array, intending to use Fire-element Talismans and joint attack techniques to blast an opening in the thick fog ahead.

For a moment, firelight flashed repeatedly. Three Fire-element techniques and over a dozen Talismans exploded into the fog together, actually tearing open the grayish-white fog curtain for a moment. Those people's eyes lit up, and just as they were about to rush out with their men, their footing suddenly gave way.

It turned out that the "high reef" they were standing on was actually a fake path that Su Qingli had deliberately stacked using backflow and fog lines.

As the reef shadow dispersed, underneath was a crevice hollowed out by the tide.

The two at the front fell in on the spot, and the formation of those behind fell into chaos. Only then did they realize that their companions who should have been supporting on the left had long been cut off to the other side by the fog array. Before they could regroup, Lu Hu had already brought the Xuanwu formation crashing in from the side and rear.

Shield strikes shattered their spiritual light first, then long blades chopped into the gaps.

Those few Chen family Cultivators who had managed to gather together were nailed to the edge of the reef on the spot before they could even cast their second round of techniques. Blood, mixed with shattered Talisman paper and broken Magical Artifacts, was swept into the dark crevices by the tide.

This scene completely shattered the courage of those around them.

Originally, there were still a few small teams trying to hold together and fight back, but seeing that even the rear formations were crushed like this, no one dared to think about "steadying and charging" anymore, leaving only the instinct to run, scream, and retreat in chaos.

Su Qingli stood on a high reef in the rear, her face terrifyingly pale, but her hands were so steady there was not even a trace of trembling.

This temporarily set up Illusion Killing Array was a rush job twisted out of star sand and terrain. The more urgent the array, the heavier the backlash. Every time she mobilized the backflow and fog lines, it felt like a knife was scraping through her Meridians. But she didn't say a single extra word, only staring dead at every change in the fog flow in the reef area, constantly cutting out the best killing lines for Lu Hu and Leng Feng.

For a time, the entire reef sea truly became a meat grinder.

It wasn't that the Chen family Cultivators didn't resist.

Some brandished Flying Swords, some bombarded the reefs, some desperately tried to team up and charge out. But the more anxious they were, the more reef lines they stepped on incorrectly; the more they wanted to stick together, the more the thick fog and undercurrents tore them into different directions.

After more than ten breaths, the first reef section that had been cut off basically had no survivors.

Another ten breaths later, only two heavily injured Cultivators remained in the second reef section, pressed against the stone wall by the shield formation, not even getting the chance to self-destruct.

Great Elder Chen Xinglie stood at the bow of the ship. At first, he could still maintain his composure, but when he saw the row of soul tablets beside the deck shattering one after another, he finally couldn't stand still, and the corners of his eyes twitched.

"Trash! All trash!"

He had intended to rely on the first wave of people to test out the mine entrance and the array paths, and then let the rear force press up to swallow the entire reef area in one go. But now, the people testing the path were like beans thrown into a stone mill, ground into blood foam as soon as they fell in.

What was even more fatal was that the opponent's moves were too steady.

They were a fully organized force of soldiers who had obviously practiced war formations, stepped on positions, and knew how to kill in the reef sea and thick fog.

This was completely different from the intelligence on Blue Moon Island he had received beforehand.

"Great Elder, the left flank is almost empty!"

"The third team has also lost contact!"

"There is a Sword Cultivator in that fog, specifically cutting down those who report back!"

Each report made Great Elder Chen Xinglie's already heavy heart sink even further.

He no longer cared about holding back. He raised his hand and conjured a black wood token, pressing it heavily onto the Formation Plate at the bow.

Boom!

The three warships simultaneously lit up with protective light, and several spiritual beams shot like cannon fire into the depths of the reef area, wanting to use brute force to blast open this fog array and the reef lines together.

Behind the reef, Su Qingli's face turned suddenly white, and the Qi and blood in her chest churned.

"He is forcibly tearing the array."

Lu Changyuan stood in front of her without even turning his head: "How long can you hold on?"

"One stick of incense."

"That's enough."

As soon as his voice fell, another burst of even greater screams exploded in the thick fog ahead.

The first batch of Chen family Cultivators who rushed onto the reef had already died for the most part within this stick of incense.

The few remaining were either cut off or forced into backflows and dead ends, with nowhere to retreat even if they wanted to. Only intermittent wails and blood flowing out along the reef crevices remained in the thick fog.

Lu Hu was covered in blood, his blade edge curled by half an inch, but he grew fiercer the more he killed. He kicked over a Qi Refining Perfection Cultivator, and after finishing him off with a backhand strike, he looked up and scanned his surroundings, roaring at the top of his lungs.

"Young Lord! This bunch of scum is almost dead!"

Great Elder Chen Xinglie finally couldn't hold back anymore.

Watching his own elite Chen family members fall in batches like chopped vegetables, the veins on his forehead jumped wildly, and the killing intent in his eyes almost solidified.

"Little bastard!"

"If you refuse a toast, you will drink a forfeit. Then let me take your head myself!"

The pressure of the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage exploded.

Great Elder Chen Xinglie stepped out from the bow, spiritual light exploding under his feet. A black-green Flying Sword in his sleeve instantly transformed into a rainbow a zhang long, tearing through the thick fog and heading straight for Lu Changyuan on the high reef.

The sword came extremely fast, carrying the ruthlessness unique to an old veteran of sea battles. It sought no flashiness, only to nail the command center with one sword.

Su Qingli's pupils constricted. Just as she was about to force her spiritual power to adjust the array, Lu Changyuan raised his hand and pressed it on her shoulder.

"Don't stop the array."

He stared at the incoming black-green sword rainbow, not a hint of retreat in his eyes. Instead, he slowly raised his hand, his five fingers gripping the long sword at his waist.

"This old dog, I will take care of him."