105: First battle of the dog tide

Within the Eight Trigrams Thunder Formation, Su Ling gripped a secondary Formation Flag, clearly feeling the spiritual power flowing through it.

As a participant in the Formation, he didn't need to lead the attack, but he had to precisely regulate his own spiritual power to ensure the smooth operation of the Formation.

The Bitao Sect National War token worn on his chest was currently flickering with a faint green light. As each two-headed hound was slain, the merit points on the token jumped continuously.

It finally settled at 'fifty-three'.

"Killing together within the Formation means the points are split equally."

A lightning-attribute Loose Cultivator beside him glanced at his token and said with a smile, "Our team wiped out over twenty in an instant. Calculating it, everyone gets eighteen points. It's much faster than hunting alone."

Along the way, they had encountered many Demon Species.

At the very least, they gathered in groups of ten or more, and larger groups could reach over a hundred.

If traveling alone, encountering first or second-tier groups was fine and could be dealt with easily.

But once one encountered a demon group with more third-tier existences, one could only avoid their sharp edge.

"The Formation's power is still strong enough."

Another Family disciple said solemnly, "I have the confidence to kill a Peak Third-tier two-headed hound, but I could never do it so cleanly and efficiently."

Su Ling nodded secretly upon hearing this.

If relying solely on individual strength to kill a Peak Third-tier two-headed hound, not to mention those Peak Core Formation Cultivators, even a Late-stage Core Formation Cultivator with decent quality Magic Treasures could emerge victorious.

However, with so many two-headed hounds gathered together, it would be very easy to get trapped if the number of people was small.

This was the advantage of teamwork!

However, the joy of victory did not last long.

Several deafening howls suddenly came from the depths of the mountain hollow; it was the warning of the Peak Third-tier alpha hounds.

Within a few breaths, all the Hellfire Two-headed Hounds within a radius of dozens of miles were alerted.

Under the leadership of the alpha hounds, they all turned into streaks of crimson light. Their four paws stepped over the lava ground, splashing sparks as they charged frantically toward the Formation's location.

The sound of barking exploded like thunder, making even the ground tremble slightly.

"Good! Three more rounds of Formation attacks, try to reduce the hound tide's numbers as much as possible!"

Wen Qingzhu's Divine Soul transmission sounded in time, carrying a hint of decisiveness.

The team members were already prepared, adjusting their Formations one after another and pouring more spiritual power into the Formation Flags.

Fireballs, lightning nets, and wind dragons manifested once again.

*Boom!*

The second round of the Formation fired simultaneously. Overwhelming flames, thunder, and wind dragons crashed into the surging hound tide.

Hundreds of Hellfire Two-headed Hounds exhaled dark red streams of flame at the same time. The dense streams of flame came like a rainstorm, but they instantly collapsed under the power of the Formation.

Attacks like those of disorganized soldiers were simply unable to contend with the coordinated Formation Spells.

After this round of attacks, Su Ling's merit points jumped again, rising all the way to over two hundred points.

"Awooo..."

The remaining Peak Third-tier alpha hounds were clearly not stupid creatures.

With low-pitched howls, the originally frantic charging hound tide suddenly changed direction, spreading out to the surroundings to form a massive encirclement and beginning to prowl and block.

They no longer resisted head-on, but instead attempted to use their numerical advantage to launch guerrilla hunting tactics.

"Not good, these two-headed hounds know some kind of negative Spell!"

"My mana circulation has become slightly stagnant!"

"Careful, this is a Divine Soul attack!"

Cries of alarm rang out. A group of Cultivators suddenly discovered that along with the howls of the hound tide, many negative statuses had appeared within themselves.

Immediately, several team members who had practiced purification Spells as sub-skills cast large-scale heart-calming and mind-focusing Spells.

"Howl of Curse..."

Su Ling's eyes moved slightly, but he said nothing.

His Divine Soul strength was comparable to the Peak Core Formation Stage, so he didn't feel much.

Clearly, this Howl of Curse was a magic meant for bullying the weak; its influence on those of the same tier should not be significant.

The third round of Formation bombardment began, but the effect was not as significant as the first two times.

The points on the token only reached 'two hundred and eighty-five'.

Su Ling's hand gripping the Formation Flag tightened slightly. He could feel that the spiritual power of some Cultivators in the Formation had already shown subtle fluctuations.

Although the Formation's power was great, three consecutive rounds of high-intensity attacks were indeed a significant drain on the mana of Core Formation Cultivators.

Meanwhile, the hound tide on the periphery continued to gather. Dark red figures became more and more numerous in his field of vision. This battle, which had seemed advantageous, appeared to be quietly changing.

"Fellow Daoists, disperse the Formation and engage in small teams!"

Seeing the hound tide dispersing and prowling, and the advantage of the Formation's large-scale attacks fading, Wen Qingzhu made a prompt decision and issued the command via Divine Soul transmission.

Before his voice had even faded, the three Formations that had been in a mutually supporting triangular position quickly disbanded.

The Cultivators swallowed recovery Medicinal Pills one after another. Pure spiritual power instantly surged into their Dantians, slightly easing the consumption from continuous spellcasting.

The fifty-plus people quickly divided into over ten small teams, each with four or five people, either focusing on melee or long-range support, pushing forward to split the encroaching hound tide.

More than ten Peak Core Formation Cultivators took the lead, actively facing those Peak Third-tier alpha hounds with the most violent auras.

They knew well that only by pinning down these commander-level demons could they create opportunities for the other Cultivators to kill.

Mo Qingzhu controlled a crimson fire ring. Flames flowed over the fire ring, and as soon as he acted, it turned into streaks of crimson light, heading straight for an alpha hound's head.

On the other side, the lightning Cultivator named Luo Xuanxiao was surrounded by faint purple lightning. Where he stepped, fine lightning patterns actually appeared on the ground; he had clearly cultivated his lightning techniques to the Realm of being able to release and retract them at will.

The other Cultivators tried to cooperate with each other to surround and kill the lower-tier two-headed hounds.

Wind Cultivators used dense Wind Blades to restrict the two-headed hounds' movements, while fire Cultivators took the opportunity to release various fire-attribute Spells to bombard them.

For a time, various Spells shot out like meteors. The hum of Flying Swords, the wails of two-headed hounds, and the explosions of thunder intertwined, and the battle in the mountain hollow entered a fever pitch.

Su Ling first raised his hand and slapped it against himself. A Talisman glowing with golden light was instantly activated, turning into a layer of semi-transparent golden shield that enveloped his body.

This was the Third-tier Golden Light Body-Protecting Talisman he had personally refined; its defensive power was extremely outstanding.

Immediately after, he held the gilded coiling dragon bell in his left hand, ready to activate the coiling dragon shield at any moment.

His right hand pinched a sword incantation, and the thunder fang shadow splitting sword turned into three streaks of green lightning, shooting like three bolts of lightning toward an Early Third-tier two-headed hound.

*Sizzle!*

As the lightning flashed, the two heads of the hound fell simultaneously. Dark red blood splashed onto the lava ground and was instantly evaporated by the high temperature.

Su Ling's eyes moved slightly. According to the feedback from the Immortal Eye of Treasure Appraisal, this two-headed hound should have been able to use a Clone.

"Could it be that I killed it too fast?"

The light on the National War token on his chest flashed, and the merit points jumped rapidly, finally settling at 'three hundred and eighty-five'.

Points for first and second-tier demons were generally between twenty and fifty, but an Early Third-tier demon was worth a full hundred points.

Without time to calculate carefully, Su Ling flipped his wrist, and his sword incantation changed again.

The three streaks of green lightning converged in the air, actually turning into a lightning sword several zhang long, which hacked down violently following his gesture.

Where the lightning sword slashed down, another four second-tier two-headed hounds were cut in half and turned to ash.

He harvested with the lightning sword while keeping an eye on the battlefield situation.

Sure enough, he discovered that many Early and Middle Stage third-tier two-headed hounds, under the attacks of the team members, actually split into two single-headed hounds with slightly weaker strength.

Such a strange change immediately caused outbursts of surprise.

Fortunately, the people present were basically all Cultivators of Late-stage Core Formation or above.

With protective Magic Treasures fully equipped, aside from some frantic scrambling, no casualties had occurred.