61 Coordinated Strike

It was dark out. Strangely, all the lights in Fairweather had been extinguished. The only source of illumination in the empty city streets was the full moon shining in all its glory. Its white light was filtered through the red mist covering the entire city, making it appear like a giant bloody moon. But the darkness didn't bother Huxian. The darkness was his home.

He expertly darted between buildings, hiding in one alley after another. Occasionally, he encountered people who had not been lucky enough to find shelter for the night. They sat outside, weakly clinging to their remaining vitality. Some of the older homeless individuals had collapsed after losing consciousness. The unhealthy ones had already moved on.

To Huxian, life and death were both necessary. There couldn't be life without death, just like there couldn't be good without evil. The death of these poor people meant nothing to him—what bothered him was that they were hurting those select few that he considered friends: the restaurant owner, the cook, and the little girl who petted him every time he walked by. Those who dared hurt them deserved to die, plain and simple. He was only too happy to assist Cha Ming.

He wasn't overly worried about breaking the formation—that much was simple. The only thing that concerned him was the questioned that had haunted generations of his ancestors: Are formations tasty? His inherited memories were vague on the subject. Many formations were edible, but whether they were tasty was a controversial subject. His ancestors had deemed the topic worthy enough to pass on to their progeny, so the least he could do was to contribute empirical evidence.

She's so slow. Is she really an eighth-level cultivator? he asked himself as he stalked Xing Tong from the darkness. Unfortunately, he didn't know the way to the guard house and could only follow her helplessly. To kill time, he ducked into a nearby residence. There he found a small family with two children sitting at a kitchen table. His beady eyes narrowed as he realized that one of the children was the little girl who always fed him scraps whenever he brushed past her legs. Rage bubbled up in him when he saw her vitality getting syphoned away.

These beasts have gone too far!

While he didn't have time to stay here and help her weather the crisis, he could help her in passing. Huxian's small figure blurred as his shadow darted out and expanded itself tenfold. He activated a technique, and the few lights in the room were swallowed by the shadow, plunging it into darkness. The red mist in the room was sucked up along with the light, as were the red threads that connected the two children and their parents to the formation.

As he prepared to leave, he shot a worried look at the table full of food. What would happen to the poor family if they woke up and ate the food that had been out all night? Would they become sick or get food poisoning? He wasn't sure, but it would be unethical to allow them to take that risk, so he walked up to the table and ate everything in a single gulp. His duty accomplished, he darted out of the house and caught up to Xing Tong.

It took them an incense time to arrive at a small stone building that protruded from the city wall.

This must be the guard house they spoke of. Well, I shouldn't let such a pretty lady face danger on her own.

Huxian jumped into a nearby shadow. His immaterial form passed through the barred windows and into a dimly lit room. There he saw five individuals. Two skinny men were sitting down, sharpening deadly spirit sabers. One larger man was chewing on a large haunch of meat, his large truncheon leaning against the table.

How impolite. They clearly aren't ready for company. The two other individuals were cloaked men. They were chanting, and with each syllable, the two runes in the room glowed brighter.

Huxian took advantage of his shadow form and edged along the wall toward one of the bite-sized figures. His shadow expanded, but this time its gaping maw protruded from the wall and bit down viciously. The skinny man didn't have time to scream before half his body disappeared. The other half tumbled on the floor, spurting blood. The other two guards swiftly grabbed their weapons and faced the wall. Uncertainty flashed in their eyes as the shadow disappeared and a small figure walked out of the darkness.

"Yip!"

Huxian darted at the larger one, who had his mouth wide open. The mouth was like a dark abyss, and it quickly expanded to two three times the size of the small fox. Several rows of dagger-like teeth lined the horrendous mouth.

Playing with a knife in front of an expert swordsman?Huxian thought. The mark on his forehead began glowing, and his shadow, which had disappeared previously, turned into the vivid projection of large black fox.

One of the saber wielders reacted quickly and attempted to attack the shadowy projection. His spirit saber bounced off the lifelike projection with no noticeable effect. The massive fox bit down on the large man, devouring him in a single gulp. The remaining saber wielder didn't hesitate and attempted to escape the building. He only made it three steps before being eaten just like his comrade.

As Huxian approached the glowing formations, he noticed a few red threads separating from the formation and attempting to latch on to him. A bright white glow appeared around him, and the bloody threads evaporated into thin air. With a thought, Huxian expanded the white glow, encompassing the chanting figures. They howled in agony as the purifying white aura ate away at the unholy power they controlled. Soon, only their cloaks remained.

Now to answer the question—for posterity. Huxian glowed once more, but this time two projections appeared behind him. One was a large black fox, and the other was a large white fox. The moment the white fox appeared, both formation eyes and their supporting formations creaked under the strain and began crumbling bit by bit. The large black fox ate each piece as it broke away. It took less than ten breaths before the two formation eyes were fully dismantled.

His two projections disappeared just before Xing Tong walked in. She found the cute baby fox sitting among the remnants of the ruined formation. The only evidence that people were once present was the half-eaten corpse of a devilish cultivator and two empty cloaks. Huxian involuntarily let out a cute, satisfied burp. Huxian had determined that formations were tasty. But he was in no hurry to submit his verdict, as there would be many more to sample in the future. Meanwhile, he felt the blood and gold energy he gathered strengthen his body and toughen his skin.

"What are you doing here? Cha Ming will be upset if he knows you ran away," she said cheerfully while petting him. Huxian indulged her for a few moments before letting out a shrill wail of agony. The sudden shriek forced Xing Tong to the floor with blood seeping out of her ears.

Uh oh. He felt a sharp, burning sensation as an object sprouted from his backside. It was a second tail. Huxian was now halfway to becoming a demon beast. He then became instantly aware of a frightening fact: His tribulation would arrive in three days.

***

Cha Ming's footsteps echoed through a lonely street near the eastern guard house. He was distracted by what he had just witnessed in a nearby shop. He hadn't intended to step into the shop, but a large crashing sound changed his mind. It was caused by the owner of the shop, who had collapsed on a display case. The room was covered in shattered glass splattered with blood.

As he rushed over to help the man, he quickly discovered that he wasn't simply unconscious. The elderly man's fires of life had been burning low even before tonight's events. The blood-gathering formation was just the last nail in his coffin. The cruel reality of the situation pressed the urgency of the situation: Many young children and the elderly would be the first to die if the blood formation wasn't stopped.

He glanced over the empty shelves in the shop before leaving. What should have been a thriving jewelry shop full of expensive merchandise had been thoroughly looted. He would have suspected looters if not for his timely arrival. The store's owner had just died, and he watched as the golden watch on the old man's wrist suddenly evaporated into a gold mist and wandered toward the nearby guard house.

Cha Ming understood that the priority was to stop the blood formation. But what if all the wealth in this rich city was used to strengthen the second individual? He resolved to destroy the gold formation eye after the blood formation eye.

He readied the Clear Sky Staff in his hands as he approached the guard house. Using his Mountain Stance, he rooted himself to the stone pavement as he heaved the elongated and weight-enhanced staff. It was now eighteen feet long and weighed 200 jin.

His bones creaked as he used the entire strength of his physical body while simultaneously channeling earth qi into the staff. The staff bent as he wielded it and performed a pure vertical strike toward the center of the guard house. The vibrations Cha Ming had imbued ensured that any stone encountered would crumble to dust.

A deafening boom broke the silence in the empty city streets. Without any warning, two saber-wielding individuals burst out from the newly formed entrance and lunged at Cha Ming, who wasted no time and counter-charged them. He put down each one with a single strike of his Sword Staff Art, and his precise blows crushed their necks and smashed their spinal cords. He felt no pity for them, however. These devil cultivators couldn't be considered human.

Cha Ming jumped over the rubble and noticed that a large figure had been crushed to a pulp, then saw two hooded figures at the back of the room, dead. Seemingly, the impact of the blow had thrown them into the wall and killed them. He left nothing to chance as he approached the formation, sending out a Flame Manifestation with his rosary. The two figures were reduced to ashes in mere moments.

"So, what next, great teacher?" he asked. His dependence on the red-bearded man grew more obvious with each passing day. I should really learn formation arts once everything is said and done.

A surge of information rushed to Cha Ming's head. For the blood formation, paint these seven formations at these key points and then connect them accordingly.

Cha Ming asked in an embarrassed voice, "The formation is a bit large. How am I supposed to paint it with this tiny brush?"

You have rocks for brains, the man replied. Can't you see that the Clear Sky Brush and Clear Sky Staff are one and the same? Just get the brush to grow bigger and you won't have a problem!

Cha Ming blushed as he realized his mistake. The Clear Sky Brush appeared in his hand at his command. With but a thought, it grew to the size of the Clear Sky Staff.

Don't waste time. Every second you waste means one more soul sent to Diyu. Cha Ming nodded and willed earth qi and liquified earth essence to the tip of his brush, which he used to draw a complex symbol he had never seen before. He then drew a symbol with water-aligned material, then earth again, then fire. As he continued to paint everything, Cha Ming shook his head self deprecatingly. He was like a fake artist, copying original works for a living.

After a half incense time, the formation he drew on the ground lit up, causing the bloody mist in the vicinity to halt all movement. The bloody mist flowed back from where it had come, unravelling the bloody formation eye in the process.

This will send as much blood energy as possible to the remaining victims. I can't do anything for the dead, the red-bearded man said with regret.

They wasted no time and proceeded to the gold formation. The formation for this one took much less time, as they were unconcerned with sending the residual energy back where it came from. Once the formation eye was destroyed, the gold mist in the room converged together to form three golden crystals, which Cha Ming collected. But the instant he collected them, he heard a deep voice resounding in his mind.

Bagua Huxian will be undergoing heavenly tribulation in three days' time. As per the Contract of Equals, you are obligated to share all trials and tribulations.

Cha Ming massaged his brow once he heard this piece of information, wondering why his advancement had happened so soon. Then it dawned on him. The glutton had probably eaten the formation eyes.

***

Gong Lan was vigilant as she walked down the cobblestone street toward the third guard house, her twin sabers ready in case of an ambush. A blood-red moon was shining in the sky, illuminating the city with its eerie light. It reminded Gong Lan of the writing she'd found in the village which read "Beware the Blood Moon."

Were they warning us about this? Did they know what would happen? She shuddered at the revelation.

She waltzed into the guard house, decapitating five figures with a few swift strikes. She knew from experience that the most effective way to deal with them was to lop off their heads. Hacking away a limb meant nothing to those crazed devil cultivators. It made her wonder if they were still human.

Unlike the others, she had no way to deal with formations. Therefore, she decided to try doing things the good old-fashioned way—by smashing and cutting them to tiny bits. It only took her a few strikes to notice that striking the formation eye was completely ineffective, so she turned her attention to the wooden planks below. Her heavy sabers smashed the wooden planks, destroying the runic patterns below the floating runes. Unfortunately, the formation eyes didn't weaken, and she could only sigh in dejection.

As she continued observing the formation eyes, she realized the red rune felt familiar. She reached out and traced the runic patterns on the formation eye in the hopes of gleaning some insight. After an incense time, she noticed that the aura of the bloody formation matched her cultivation technique, the Blood World Scripture.

Time was of the essence, so she didn't hesitate to drive her cultivation base and begin absorbing ambient qi. As predicted, the bloody rune shook, and the red mist in the room wandered toward Gong Lan. But in the midst of absorbing the blood energy, her heart began to pound uncontrollably. Tears welled in her eyes as she suffered the resentment of those who were harmed or killed by the formation.

I'm not the one who did this, she pleaded. But no one could hear her.

Despite being heavily affected, she didn't stop absorbing. Rather, seeing that her rate of absorption was having little or no effect, she increased the absorption rate tenfold. The frequency of voices she heard and resentment she felt increased proportionately, yet she gritted her teeth and cried as she continued the forceful absorption. Within sixty breaths, she noticed that she'd broken through to the ninth level of qi condensation. With her breakthrough, she was able to increase the rate of absorption to thirty times. This caused the formation eye to shudder and crack, breaking off pieces to be absorbed by the Blood World Scripture.

It cracked little by little, until finally, several large pieces broke off together, and the formation eye was destroyed. Only Gong Lan and the golden formation eye remained in the room. The golden formation eye continued humming as though nothing had happened, leaving Gong Lan kneeling with her hands on the floor. She cried tears of blood, and her arms shook as she supressed the aura of resentment that came with the blood energy. A powerful aura surrounded her as she wept. It was the aura of half-step foundation establishment.

***

Meanwhile, Feng Ming and Hong Lai were wracking their brains trying to figure out how to break the formation in the remaining guard house. If Feng Ming had his way, he would just keep hitting it with his spear.Unfortunately, Hong Lai pointed out that there might be grave repercussions if they didn't break the formation properly. So Feng Ming waited as Hong Lai weakened with every passing moment. It was only a matter of time before he lost consciousness, as the blood red thread was continually sapping away his vitality.

While Hong Lai was busy studying the formation, Feng Ming noticed a distortion in the formation.

"Did you see that?" he asked Hong Lai.

"See what? Quit distracting me while I'm breaking the formation." Hong Lai was currently crouched down, weakly using his spiritual hammer to attack key points near the formation eye.

Feng Ming shook his head and continued observing. A half incense time passed before he saw another two consecutive flickers. To Feng Ming, who was completely untrained in formations, the rune seemed dull and lifeless compared to its original state. He glanced down at Hong Lai, who was completely focused on his work.

"I've had enough of this," Feng Ming said, brandishing his spear. "I'm going to try breaking it."

"You can't do that!" Hong Lai yelled. His warning fell on deaf ears. Feng Ming stabbed the formation eye where he'd observed a slight distortion. His spear glowed red as he poured all his strength into that single strike, digging his feet into the ground with earthen power. A small crack appeared in the formation eye. Retracting his spear, he struck again and again.

Soon enough, the rune crumbled away, and the bloody mist in the room dissipated. Hong Lai, who had previously been struggling to remain conscious, looked at the spear in Feng Ming's hand in awe. Feng Ming wasn't paying attention, however. As soon as the rune crumbled, he was enveloped with a mysterious golden glow. It wasn't the same ominous glow that came from the gold formation; rather, it was the light of providence. He had performed great merit by destroying the formation and saving many lives, and that merit was being channeled through Feng Ming's soul through the Good Fortune Scripture.

"Yep," Feng Ming said. "With a single strike of my lucky spear, I send formations crumbling into dust." He didn't wait for Hong Lai's reply. The key to acting cool was to know when to leave.