97: Chapter 97 Finding a Place to Set Up the Formation

"Many thanks, Brother Bear."

The Iron-Backed Bear King waved his hand and said in a simple, honest voice, "What's there to be polite about?"

Afterward.

Wu Li took all the remaining jars of wine out from his Stomach Storage and piled them in front of the Iron-Backed Bear King, the jars making dull thuds as they hit the ground.

"Brother Bear, all this wine is for you."

The Iron-Backed Bear King's eyes lit up instantly. He grabbed a wine jar, slapped the mud seal open, and tilted his head back to gulp it down.

"Brother Wu, don't just watch, let's drink together..."

"Haha."

Wu Li also picked up a jar and let out two cackles.

The bear and the crow, one gulp after another, enjoyed their wine and conversation.

After drinking a few mouthfuls, the Iron-Backed Bear King set down the wine jar, smacked his lips, feeling like something was missing, and scratched his head.

Wu Li understood instantly, let out a cackle, and turned his head to look at Heiyu, who was squatting on a stone pillar: "Heiyu, go hunt two wild beasts and bring them here."

Heiyu accepted the order, nodded quickly, spread his wings, and flew away.

A moment later, the squealing of wild boars came from the distance, then quickly quieted down.

Heiyu flew back with several crows, each clutching a wild boar in its claws, and threw them onto the ground.

The two wild boars had not yet developed intelligence and were dazed. Wu Li's blood-red pupils swept over them, and he nodded.

"Brother Bear, wait for me a moment."

As he spoke.

Wu Li extended his claws, dragged the two wild boars in front of him, and waved his wings. His Demon Power transformed into sharp blades, skinning, deboning, and cutting the meat in one fluid motion.

The wild boar meat was cut into long strips and arranged neatly on a stone slab, alternating fat and lean, glistening with oil.

He took the honeycomb the Iron-Backed Bear King had previously given him from his Stomach Storage, broke off a few pieces, and brushed the golden honey evenly onto the strips of meat.

The honey seeped into the meat, shimmering with an amber luster in the morning light and emitting a sweet floral fragrance.

Wu Li waved both wings, and his Demon Power transformed into a ball of warm flames that enveloped the stone slab.

The temperature of the flames was neither too high nor too low, just right to roast the meat without burning it.

The meat strips sizzled in the flames, fat seeping out and mixing with the sweet fragrance of the honey, filling the air.

The Iron-Backed Bear King hugged his wine jar, sniffed hard, and his eyes widened into circles.

"What is this smell? It's so fragrant..."

The Iron-Backed Bear King had already started drooling.

"It's not at its most fragrant yet, wait a moment."

Wu Li said.

The Iron-Backed Bear King pulled back his claws, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and stared longingly at the meat on the stone slab.

The meat strips rolled in the flames, their color changing from pink to golden. The honey formed a crispy crust on the surface, and fat dripped into the flames, splashing up sparks.

Wu Li poked the meat strips with his claw; they were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, cooked perfectly.

He took the meat strips out of the flames and gave half to the Iron-Backed Bear King.

The Iron-Backed Bear King took the meat strips and took a bite.

The skin was crispy, the inside soft and tender. The sweet fragrance of the honey and the savory, salty taste of the meat juices exploded in his mouth, and grease ran down the corners of his mouth.

His eyes widened sharply, his pupils shining, the fat on his face relaxing, and he let out a satisfied grunt.

"Brother, this taste is absolutely amazing!"

The Iron-Backed Bear King shouted in a muffled voice, then took another big bite, his mouth stretching to his ears.

Wu Li cackled and took a bite too. The sweet fragrance of the honey and the savory, salty taste of the meat juices intertwined in his mouth; it was indeed ten times better than eating just honey or just meat.

The Iron-Backed Bear King picked up the wine jar, took a big gulp, then took another bite of meat, his eyes squinting into slits, his face full of happiness.

"Comforting!"

Wu Li also took a gulp of wine, waved his wings, and cackled, "As long as you like it, Brother Bear."

The bear and the crow, one gulp after another.

After three rounds of drinks, the meat was mostly eaten.

The Iron-Backed Bear King burped, patted his round belly, and his oily face was full of satisfaction.

He looked down at the remaining roasted meat on the stone slab, extended his claw, picked up the meat strips one by one, wrapped them in a large leaf, and stuffed them into his chest.

"I'll take them back for those little cubs at home to taste."

The Iron-Backed Bear King said in a simple, honest voice, with uncleaned grease still hanging from the corner of his mouth.

Wu Li cackled and nodded.

The Iron-Backed Bear King stood up, his massive body casting a shadow on the ground.

He patted the boulder in front of Wu Li and said in a muffled voice, "Brother, if you need anything, feel free to ask me for help. I, Old Bear, also find Lord Tunming an eyesore. An old ghost who has been dead for who knows how many years, putting on airs in Taiyue Mountain—it's high time some demon dealt with him."

Wu Li squatted on the boulder, looking at the Iron-Backed Bear King, and nodded, his voice hoarse and sincere: "Definitely."

The Iron-Backed Bear King chuckled, turned, and left. His massive body stomped deep pits into the ground, and in a few steps, he disappeared into the dense forest.

Wu Li watched his back disappear into the morning light, was silent for a moment, then withdrew his gaze, spread his wings, and flew toward the depths of the Limestone Cave.

After the wine and meat.

Wu Li returned to the depths of the Limestone Cave, squatted on the blue stone, and laid out the sun stone he had obtained from Zhang Huaiyuan, the yang pearl sent by the Iron-Backed Bear King, and the two command flags painted with sun patterns in front of him.

Because he didn't know what these things were called, Wu Li could only use the simplest names for them.

There were three pieces of sun stone: dark red, fist-sized, with a rough surface, and faint heat waves emanating from them.

One yang pearl and two command flags, palm-sized.

Wu Li closed his eyes, and in his mind, he began to repeatedly combine these items and simulate them.

The sun stone would serve as the foundation, buried in eight positions of the Formation as the Formation eye to provide a continuous stream of yang power.

The yang pearl would be the core, suspended in the center of the Formation, drawing upon the Essence of the Sun between heaven and earth to condense, compress, and erupt with yang power.

The command flags would serve as the guide, inserted between the sun stones to guide the flow of yang power and form a cycle.

Once the Formation was activated, yang power would surge from eight directions simultaneously, converging in the air to form a golden beam of light that would shoot straight into the sky.

Wherever the beam of light reached, Ghost Qi would dissipate, and evil spirits would be annihilated.

If the Five Thunder Exorcism Talisman were attached to the command flags, the power of the Talisman would undergo Fusion with the yang power, triggering heavenly thunder to destroy all evil.

"In that case..."

"That's not right."

Yang power would surge from the sun stone, follow the guidance of the command flags, and converge toward the yang pearl. The power of the Formation would become stronger and stronger. He didn't know the load-bearing capacity of the sun stone, so it was possible the Formation would explode while running.

He couldn't pursue power too much and ignore the limits of the load-bearing capacity.

Start over.

He couldn't let the yang power form a closed cycle.

Starting from the sun stone, converging toward the yang pearl, and then being released by the yang pearl to directly form an attack.

If the yang power didn't flow back, it wouldn't accumulate and wouldn't exceed the load-bearing limit.

The positions of the command flags also needed to be adjusted; they shouldn't be inserted between the sun stones. And the thunder Talisman...

The new operating route gradually became clear in his mind.

Simulating it over and over, adjusting it over and over.

Iterating again and again, starting over, tearing it down, and starting over again.

The sun rose and the moon set.

Day after day...

I don't know how much time passed before Wu Li finally stopped moving his claws.

His blood-red pupils were full of fatigue, but the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, revealing a satisfied smile...

"It's almost ready. Now, I just need to find a place to set up the Formation."