104: The national war begins, the power of formations is unleashed.

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.

On the eve of the war, the skies above Nether Prison Star were already filled with monitoring Cultivators.

Dozens of Integration Stage Cultivators floated in the mid-layers, their Divine Thoughts covering the entire war zone like a heavenly net.

Higher up, seven True Immortals from the Seven Sects stood proudly in the Void Realm, their gazes like torches, scanning the densely packed Core Formation Cultivators below as if scrutinizing chess pieces about to be cast onto the battlefield.

“Clang—”

A deep, powerful toll of a bell suddenly echoed through the clouds, its sound waves causing the air to tremble slightly. This was the signal that the National War had begun!

In the center of the gathering point, a temporarily constructed simple city suddenly lit up with brilliant spiritual light. Countless Formation patterns rose from the ground, weaving into a massive screen of light before slowly fading into the Void Realm.

This was the 'Mountain Protecting Formation' set up by the Bitao Sect. Dozens of Bitao Sect Disciples led thousands of Loose Cultivators into the Formation nodes, responsible for guarding the safety of the base camp.

At the same time, countless Core Formation Cultivators took to the skies, flying in various directions according to the prearranged plan.

Some headed straight for the marked resource mines, some went to station themselves at strategic fortresses, and others formed reconnaissance squads to scout the surrounding enemy situation and the distribution of native creatures.

Su Ling's squad also took flight, heading toward the northeast; they had registered as a reconnaissance squad.

They planned to familiarize themselves with the surrounding terrain first before making further plans.

An hour later, on the Plane Projection Sphere in the city center, green lights began to illuminate various resource points within the thousand-mile range belonging to the Bitao Sect.

This meant that these mineral veins and Spiritual Plant production sites had been successfully occupied and had begun providing resources for their side.

Two hours later, fire signals were sent back from the front lines.

The first reconnaissance squad successfully cleared a pack of second-rank native Yao Beasts, Soul-Devouring Demonic Rats, earning a small amount of merit.

Immediately following, the second squad encountered an attack from third-rank Bone-Rotting Demonic Scorpions; although two people were injured, they successfully killed them.

Subsequently, news from the third and fourth squads continued to arrive; some had encountered Demon Species attacks, and some had discovered large patches of Spiritual Plants, but they had yet to encounter Cultivators from the other six nations.

The National War of the Nether Prison Plane had not yet seen true "man-to-man" confrontations, but it had already begun with the struggle against the native Demon Species... Under the cover of the Dark Travel Stealth Array, Su Ling's squad glided like ghosts across the dark-red wasteland of Nether Prison Star, traveling nearly a thousand miles in silence.

However, the path ahead to the Yangquan Faction's territory was still tens of thousands of miles away, and the scent of sulfur and scorched earth in the air grew increasingly heavy.

Just then, a wind-attribute Loose Cultivator responsible for scouting ahead suddenly warned via Divine Soul transmission: "There are extremely strong Demonic Energy fluctuations ten miles ahead; preliminary judgment is a third-rank Demon Species pack!"

They had encountered some Demon Species packs before, but they were all at the first or second rank.

The group didn't want to waste time clearing them out, so they had simply killed any strange Demon Species they encountered alone along the way, relying on their high speed to keep scouting forward.

Encountering a third-rank pack now, everyone instantly suppressed their spiritual power, even lightening their breathing by a few degrees.

Following the guerrilla tactics they had practiced before, the squad members moved forward in an arrow Formation, using the dark-red rocks for cover as they quickly approached the source of the Demonic Energy.

A moment later, a sunken mountain hollow appeared before them.

The hollow was filled with cracked lava fissures. Dozens of monsters shaped like giant wolves with two heads were lying on the rocks resting, their barks interspersed with the gurgling sound of bubbling magma.

They were exactly Hell Prison Twin-Headed Dogs; their fangs gleamed with a dark-red luster, and the manes at their necks were like burning flames, with every breath spitting out wisps of sparks.

Su Ling activated his Immortal Eye of Treasure Appraisal to observe, but the feedback made his expression turn strange.

[Hellfire Two-headed Hound, a Nether Prison Demonic Beast, physically powerful, skilled in fire-attribute Magic, can breathe Hellfire streams, Flame Charge, Cursing Howl; those at third-rank or above can split into two independent Hell Prison Dogs in times of crisis.]

“Nether Prison Demonic Beast... Magic?!”

The words "Demonic Beast" and "Magic" gave Su Ling a sense of absurdity.

He had discovered many low-rank native Demonic Beasts along the way, and the feedback from the Immortal Eye of Treasure Appraisal at the time had already raised suspicions in his heart.

Now these third-rank Hellfire Two-headed Hounds were actually labeled as Demonic Beasts as well.

Didn't I transmigrate into a cultivation world?

How did terms like 'Magic' even pop up!

“In the entire hollow and surrounding area, nearly a thousand Hellfire Two-headed Hounds have been detected, including about twenty pack leaders at the Peak Core Formation Stage, scattered in different positions.”

The Peak Core Formation Cultivator who returned from scouting first quickly reported to Mo Qingzhu.

Behind him were two Loose Cultivators responsible for flank scouting; the three of them were covered in a bit of lava ash, clearly having just avoided several waves of patrolling dog packs.

At this time, two other reconnaissance squads had also arrived to join them via communication jade slips. The nine scouting Cultivators gathered outside the hollow and explained the details of the demon distribution they had detected one by one.

“Over a thousand Demon Species...”

Mo Qingzhu's fingertips rubbed the Formation Flags at his waist, his gaze scanning the fifty-four Cultivators present, his voice steady. “The merit for a single demon may not be as much as for an enemy Cultivator, but with such a quantity, the points each person can get will be quite a lot... More importantly, this is our squad's first coordinated battle; it's the perfect chance to practice our Formations.”

“Senior Brother Mo, what are we waiting for? Let's just charge in and kill them!”

A Cultivator wearing the fire-patterned robes of the Fentian Sect couldn't contain himself; hot spiritual power was already rising in his palms. Naturally hot-tempered, he had long grown weary of these magma-spitting demons.

Mo Qingzhu did not agree immediately, but instead turned his gaze toward several Peak Core Formation Stage Family scions and Loose Cultivators.

This squad was composed of multiple factions, and a consensus had to be reached to avoid chaos.

“It's feasible; practicing with low-rank demons is safer than rashly bumping into Haoyang Sect Cultivators.”

“Even small mosquitoes are meat; besides, it's worth it to get familiar with the coordination of the Thunderous Eight Trigrams Formation.”

“I have no objection; it's a good chance to see how powerful our Formation can be.”

The core Cultivators looked at each other and nodded one after another.

The Fentian Sect Disciples already followed Mo Qingzhu's lead; seeing that everyone had reached an agreement, they each took out their prepared Formation Flags, and as spiritual power was injected, the runes on the flags began to glow faintly.

“Good!”

Mo Qingzhu nodded heavily and had the scouting leader sketch a simple map on a nearby rock with spiritual power, using red dots to mark the pack leaders' positions and green lines for the planned attack routes.

“Twenty Peak third-rank pack leaders are more than enough for us to handle head-on, but to reduce losses, we'll first divide into three teams to set up Formations: Team one will use the Heaven Burning Evil Slaying Formation in the center to clear the dog pack, Team two will use the Thunderous Eight Trigrams Formation to pin down the left side, and Team three will use a wind-attribute Formation to attack the right side. Even if the twin-headed dogs try to run, they'll have to help us scout the path to the west.”

Soon, the fifty-four people were divided into three teams, like three sharp arrows. Under the cover of the Dark Travel Stealth Array, they quietly infiltrated their designated positions on the outskirts of the hollow.

“Action!”

As Mo Qingzhu's Divine Soul transmission fell, the eastern side was the first to erupt with a dazzling gold-red light.

The Heaven Burning Evil Slaying Formation, composed of over twenty fire Cultivators, suddenly activated. With a wave of the main Formation Flag, a fire-ball about a zhang wide exploded, turning into a rain of fire that poured down onto the unsuspecting dog pack.

Screams instantly rang out as dozens of first and second-rank Hellfire Two-headed Hounds didn't have time to flee before being turned into charcoal by the high-temperature fire rain, the air filling with the foul stench of burning.

Almost simultaneously, the Thunderous Eight Trigrams Formation that Su Ling was in also activated.

Fifteen lightning-attribute Cultivators stood in a Sancai Formation, pouring their spiritual power into the Formation Flags. Countless silver-purple lightning arcs traveled between the flags, eventually merging into a massive lightning net that covered the sky and earth, descending upon the dog pack on the left.

“Sizzle!”

The moment the lightning net hit the ground, lightning snakes surged across the earth. Two Peak third-rank twin-headed dogs didn't even have time to breathe fire before being entangled by the lightning arcs, their bodies twitching as they collapsed, their massive frames quickly turning to ash.

The wind-attribute Formation on the right was not to be outdone either, as over a dozen azure wind dragons howled forth, sweeping about thirty twin-headed dogs into the air.

In an instant, they were turned into a shower of blood and shredded meat falling from the sky.