13: The knife of Yixianxia and the hunter's formation

First Line Gorge.

It lived up to its name, as narrow as a single line.

On both sides were steep cliffs, a hundred zhang high, as if a Divine Being had cleaved them open with a giant axe.

The only passage in the middle, at its narrowest point, was just wide enough for a single carriage to pass.

This was a nightmare for merchants and travelers, but a paradise for bandits.

Li Wei, the Young Lord of the Golden Saber Sect, was currently leading thirty elite Disciples, escorting five carriages loaded with “Black-Patterned Iron Ore,” slowly entering the mouth of the First Line Gorge.

He was not foolish.

He knew First Line Gorge was dangerous, so this time he specifically brought more men, and experienced scouts were dispatched to the front and rear of the team.

Li Wei rode a tall black horse, dressed in soft golden armor, and the Golden-Backed Broadsword at his waist gleamed with a chilling light under the sun.

His expression was arrogant, with a hint of impatience in his eyes.

In his opinion, this escort mission was an overkill.

In the entire Sanhe City territory, who would dare to touch anything belonging to his Golden Saber Sect?

“All of you, sharpen your spirits!” Li Wei reprimanded the Disciples behind him, “Get through this godforsaken place as quickly as possible; we must reach ‘Huifeng Town’ before dark!”

“Yes, Young Lord!”

The Disciples responded in unison.

No one noticed that, a hundred zhang above their heads on the cliff, a figure almost completely merged with the rock was coldly looking down at them.

Jiang Chen had been waiting here for two hours.

He was like a lurking spider, using his Eye of Insight and Array Dao Heavenly Heart to weave the entire First Line Gorge into his own web.

The intelligence provided by Ghost Hand was very detailed, including Li Wei’s team configuration, marching route, and even the characteristics of Li Wei’s own Saber Dao, all recorded.

But in Jiang Chen’s eyes, these were all secondary information.

He “saw” another layer of things.

He saw that Li Wei’s arrogant fate line was entwined with a clear “death line,” its end point right in the center of First Line Gorge.

He saw that the entire Golden Saber Sect team, the moment they stepped into First Line Gorge, their Qi formed a rudimentary “Sharp Edge Formation” with Li Wei at its core.

This Formation allowed their Saber Qi to resonate with each other, greatly increasing its power.

A very good marching Formation.

Unfortunately, it was full of loopholes.

Jiang Chen’s gaze did not linger on these people.

He looked at the “Formation” of the entire First Line Gorge.

The mountain winds here flowed along fixed trajectories year-round, forming a natural “Wind Fiend Formation.”

The rock walls here, due to differences in Ore composition, would subtly repel or attract Spiritual Qi at certain locations, forming numerous miniature “Spirit Repulsion Formations” and “Spirit Gathering Formations.”

And those inconspicuous fallen rocks, those gnarled vines… in the Array Dao Heavenly Heart’s vision, they were all “Formation foundations” that could be utilized.

Jiang Chen had no intention of personally engaging in a head-on battle with the thirty-plus Golden Saber Sect Disciples.

That was the act of a brute.

A hunter only uses traps.

His gaze locked onto the narrowest corner in the middle section of First Line Gorge.

On the rock wall there, there was a huge, cracked, precarious rock, on the verge of falling.

And directly beneath the precarious rock was precisely a node of a miniature “Spirit Repulsion Formation.”

On the other side of the passage, thirty zhang away, lay the remains of a “Wave Gathering Formation” formed by years of water erosion.

A perfect chain trap.

Jiang Chen picked up a few gravel from the ground and weighed them in his hand.

A cruel smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

He would use the Saber Qi that the Golden Saber Sect prided itself on to play their own funeral dirge… Li Wei’s team slowly arrived at the middle section of First Line Gorge.

The surroundings were eerily quiet, even the sound of the wind had disappeared.

“Stop!”

A scout at the very front of the team suddenly raised his hand as a signal.

He was experienced and sensed a hint of unease.

“What’s going on?” Li Wei impatiently urged his horse forward.

“Young Lord, something’s not right, it’s too quiet.” The scout vigilantly scanned the surrounding rock walls.

Li Wei sneered: “Overly suspicious! What could possibly…”

He hadn’t finished his sentence.

A sudden change occurred!

Whoosh!

A small stone, at an incredible angle, descended from the sky.

It didn’t strike anyone, but precisely hit a bluestone beside the passage.

Buzz—

The remains of the “Wave Gathering Formation” eroded by the water were instantly activated!

An invisible fluctuation swept across the entire team in an instant!

This fluctuation had no destructive power, but it was like a plectrum, fiercely plucking the “Sharp Edge Formation” formed by the Saber Qi on the Golden Saber Sect Disciples.

“What is that?!”

“Enemy attack!”

The faces of the thirty-plus Disciples changed dramatically, and almost instinctively, they simultaneously drew their sabers, and the Saber Qi within their bodies erupted!

They thought they had encountered a sound wave attack.

And this was exactly what Jiang Chen wanted to see.

More than thirty domineering Saber Qi, instantly erupted in the narrow gorge, resonating with each other, forming a violent torrent of energy!

This torrent fiercely slammed into the surrounding rock walls!

Especially that cracked precarious rock!

“Not good!” Li Wei’s face changed drastically; he finally realized something.

But it was too late.

Rumble—!

That huge precarious rock, under the impact of dozens of Saber Qi, let out a desperate groan and instantly collapsed!

Hundreds of thousands of tons of giant rocks, carrying destructive power, overwhelmingly crashed down towards the team below!

And that wasn’t all!

The moment the giant rocks collapsed, Jiang Chen flicked out a second stone.

The target: the “Spirit Repulsion Formation” node beneath the precarious rock!

The Spirit Repulsion Formation was activated, and an upward repulsive force fiercely collided with the falling giant rocks!

This repulsive force was not enough to stop the giant rocks, but it caused a subtle deviation and acceleration in the trajectory of their descent!

The rockfall, which might have originally only covered a partial area, now, as if precisely controlled by an invisible large hand, perfectly covered all positions of the entire Golden Saber Sect team in a net-like manner!

No blind spots!

“No—!”

Li Wei let out a terrified roar, pouring all his True Qi into his Golden-Backed Broadsword, and a ten-zhang-long golden Saber Glow shot up into the sky, attempting to cleave open that curtain of death.

However, his Saber Glow, in front of the mountain-collapsing, sea-roaring giant rocks, was as fragile as a blade of straw.

The Saber Glow shattered.

The giant rocks fell.

Screams and the sound of bones breaking were drowned out by the deafening roar.

First Line Gorge became the burial ground of the Golden Saber Sect.

Dust permeated the air.

It gradually dispersed after a long time.

The middle section of the gorge was completely buried.

Only a corner of a golden garment, stained with dark red blood, protruded from a crack in the rocks.

Above the cliff, Jiang Chen watched all of this expressionlessly.

Successfully hunted a “fate line” associate, absorbed a small amount of scattered life essence.

It is recommended to prioritize hunting “fate trajectory” holders.

The System’s prompt was calm and unperturbed.

These were just appetizers.

Jiang Chen did not go down to search for Li Wei’s head.

He didn’t need such things to gain trust.

An escort team annihilated by an “accident” was enough to prove his value to Ghost Hand.

His gaze swept past First Line Gorge, looking towards the distant, cloud-shrouded mountain range.

Soul Severing Mountain Range.

His main course was there.

Su Qingxue, the favored daughter of Hundred Herb Valley, a growing Child of Destiny, possessing the Hundred Herb Spirit Body.

Information provided by Shadow Tower appeared in Jiang Chen’s mind.

“Su Qingxue, Qi Refining ninth layer, kind Heart-Nature, close to the spirits of plants and trees.

In three days, she will enter the ‘Mist Forest’ on the outskirts of Soul Severing Mountain Range alone to collect ‘Heart-Cleansing Grass.’

It is speculated that her Opportunity, the ‘nine revolutions soul restoration grass,’ is very likely located deep within the Mist Forest, near a spiritual land called ‘Crescent Spring.’”

Kind?

A cold arc formed at the corner of Jiang Chen’s mouth.

In the eyes of a hunter, the prey’s personality is merely data used to determine its behavioral patterns.

He turned, his figure like a ghost, disappearing from above the cliff.

He was going to the Mist Forest to set the “dining table” in advance.

Waiting for that Child of Destiny, with her brilliant fate, to walk onto it herself.