279: Night raid

At the third quarter of the Zi hour, the shrill sound of a horn tore through the night sky of the Iron Wall Pass without warning.

That sound did not seem to be blown from a bull's horn or a conch; instead, it was like the simultaneous shriek of countless wronged souls, carrying a soul-shaking penetration that instantly pierced the thick walls of the stone houses and stabbed directly into the eardrums.

Su Ming was holding the Jade Slip of the "Eight Gates Lost Traces Partial Array," and his fingertips jerked violently, nearly causing the Jade Slip to slip from his hand.

At almost the same instant, the "Earth Listening" Talisman he had buried under the stone slab vibrated frantically. What it transmitted back was no longer a regular rhythm, but a chaotic roar, like a boiling pot of porridge.

"They're here."

In the Sea of Consciousness, Lin Yu's voice lacked its usual laziness, instead carrying a cold, hard metallic quality. "Don't just stand there. Put on your armor, grab your bag, and get out. Move fast, look sharp—most importantly, don't take the main road."

Su Ming did not hesitate in the slightest.

He put the Jade Slip into his Storage Pouch, reached back to grab the standard-issue leather armor hanging on the wall and slipped it on, then tied the cloth bag filled with maintenance tools and the "harvest no. 1" around his waist. The entire process was as smooth as flowing water, clearly practiced countless times in his mind.

Pushing open the heavy stone door of the stone house, a gale mixed with the scents of sulfur, burning, and blood rushed toward him.

The originally pitch-black camp was now lit as bright as day by countless torches and illumination spells. Figures moved about, and the sounds of shouting and clashing armor blended together. It didn't seem chaotic, but rather possessed a suffocating sense of order.

"Formation Maintenance Battalion Third Squad, Tianxuan Position flank, Node Jia-3! Fast! Fast! Fast!"

Zhao Tieji's booming voice exploded in the wind, even drowning out the distant thunder.

Su Ming blended into the group, walking quickly with his head down. He didn't look around like the new recruits but stared fixedly at the path beneath his feet, avoiding the glowing spiritual power transmission pipes that were currently charging.

Stepping on them now would, at best, result in a leg broken by Spiritual Pressure, or at worst, being directly flung away as a foreign object obstructing the flow of spiritual power.

"Boom—"

A dull, thunderous roar came from overhead.

Su Ming instinctively looked up, his pupils suddenly contracting.

He saw the light screen of the Big Dipper Seven Stars Demon Locking Grand Formation, which was originally a translucent pale gold, now being pressed down hard by an invisible giant hand, caving inward at a startling angle.

Outside the light screen was boundless darkness.

And in that darkness, countless pairs of crimson eyes lit up like ghost fires, dense and covering everything.

Bolts of lightning as thick as water vats, fireballs, and venom smashed against the light screen like a rainstorm, triggering ripples of blinding light.

"Stop looking! Do you want to go blind?"

A rough, large hand suddenly pressed down on the back of Su Ming's head, forcing it down. It was Zhao Tieji.

This old veteran's face was now tight with tension, his scar flushed a purplish-red. Holding a giant Formation Pliers half the height of a person, he roared, "That's a concentrated attack from Tier 3 Yao Beasts, 'Thunder Roars'! Staring at it for too long will shatter your Divine Sense! Everyone, get to your positions!"

Su Ming felt a buzzing in his mind. If Lin Yu hadn't timely protected his Sea of Consciousness with Soul Power, that single glance might have damaged his Divine Sense.

"Thanks, Brother Zhao."

Su Ming gasped for breath, exerted force in his legs, and rushed onto the second-floor platform of the city wall.

This was the location of the formation base for the "Tianxuan Position," and it was also the battlefield for Technical Assistants like them.

The scene before him was even more shocking than from below.

The massive formation base rotated slowly like a millstone, the gears meshing with a tooth-aching grinding sound. Countless spiritual power pipes converged here, converting the vast Spiritual Qi drawn from the earth veins into energy for the defense shield.

But now, this massive machine was wailing.

"Node Bing-6 overloaded! Cool it down!"

"Node Ding-9 Spiritual Pressure unstable, get a Reinforcement Talisman on it!"

"Damn it, where are the backup Spirit Stones? Fill them in, quick!"

Shouts and roars rose and fell one after another.

Su Ming was assigned to the Jia-3 auxiliary formation plate. His task was simple, yet deadly—to ensure this node didn't explode under extreme operation.

"Buzz—"

The Formation Plate in front of him suddenly trembled violently, and the originally deep blue runes instantly turned crimson as a wave of scorching air rushed at him.

"Spiritual Pressure exceeds the limit by thirty percent!" Lin Yu quickly reported in his Sea of Consciousness. "This is from tanking a heavy blow; the backflowing spiritual power can't be diverted in time and is blocked here. If it's not cooled down, the Formation Plate will melt."

Su Ming's eyes narrowed, and his hands instantly formed seals.

But he didn't use the conventional "Ice Seal Art" or directly splash cold water. Using cold directly on such a high-temperature metal Formation Plate would only cause the embrittled star-patterned steel to shatter instantly.

"Ruoshui Art, Lead!"

Su Ming gave a low shout, and ten threads of Water Spiritual Energy as thin as gossamer emerged from his fingertips.

This spiritual power was not bone-chillingly cold but carried a strange flexibility and warmth. They were like living tentacles, traveling and penetrating along the crimson rune patterns on the Formation Plate.

The water vapor enveloped the scalding formation lines, not by opposing them, but by rapidly carrying away the heat and converting it into rising white mist.

"Sizzle—"

White mist rose, instantly swallowing Su Ming's figure.

That heat backlashed along the spiritual power threads; Su Ming felt as if his fingers were being dipped into boiling oil.

"Endure it," Lin Yu's voice was calm to the point of being cold. "Every bit of heat right now is out-of-control energy. What you need to do is act as a 'heat sink' and conduct it out."

Su Ming gritted his teeth, the veins on his forehead bulging. Sweat was steamed dry as soon as it emerged.

He watched helplessly as the skin on the back of his hands turned red and blistered at a visible rate, even emitting a faint scent of cooked meat.

But he did not let go.

Because he clearly saw that at the core of the Formation Plate, the numerical value representing the defense strength was slowly rising, and the crimson runes were returning to a stable deep blue.

Just then, a crisp sound like tearing cloth came from the light screen overhead.

" careful! The monster slipped out!"

Someone shouted.

Su Ming instinctively looked up. Through the rising steam, he saw an Iron Feather Eagle with a wingspan of at least two zhang actually squeezing through a gap in the light screen, covered in electric arcs and blood, shrieking as it dived toward the second-floor platform.

Its target was precisely Node Jia-3, where the spiritual power fluctuations were most intense—which was where Su Ming was located.

Those golden eagle eyes were full of cruelty and bloodlust, and its sharp iron feathers were like flying daggers, slicing through the air with a piercing screech.

Su Ming's fingers were still on the Formation Plate; he couldn't dodge at all.

If he let go, the Formation Plate would lose control and explode, and he would surely die; if he didn't let go, the Iron Feather Eagle's talons would crush his skull in the next instant.

"Heads down!"

A thunderous shout exploded in his ear.

A bright sword light slashed across like a bolt of silk.