Chapter 104 - An Ancient Formation

As he watched Darkthunder leave with Ji Meng on its back, Yunxiao’s face grew serious. He turned and rested his eyes on the mountaintop, where the True Spirited Fire Phoenix had danced in the Divine Realm Tablet.

“A True Spirited Fire Phoenix…I can’t believe it is a treasure related to a True Spirit! Even a Martial Sovereign would fight desperately for such a treasure. How can I give up?” He clenched his jaws. He knew there would be strong enemies waiting for him ahead, but he still could not help walking up the mountain.

At the top of the mountain, Qi Zhenzi seemed to be losing his patience. “How much longer will it take you to open it, Huyan Ming?”

The red-haired man sitting before the cliff wall thought for a moment. “Soon…about six more hours.”

“Six hours?” Qi Zhenzi was somewhat angry at the answer. “The day before yesterday, you said twenty hours. And now, you need six more hours? You’ve been working on it for one whole month here!”

A trace of anger crept into Huyan Ming’s eyes, and a look of displeasure flickered across his face. “This is a seal left behind by some ancient almighty expert,” he said in a cold voice. “If it hadn’t been corroded by years because of its long history, there is no way I can crack it even if you give me ten thousand years! I’m already working fast enough!”

Qi Zhenzi was taken aback. He did not think Huyan Ming would dare to talk back to him, but he choked back his fury. After all, he had to rely on him to crack the formation.

Huyan Ming was the only alchemist among the Supreme Six. As a fourth-tier Alchemy Lord, he enjoyed a great reputation even in the Firecrow Empire, and his status was not lower than that of Qi Zhenzi, which made him an important figure who suffered no rebuke of others. Had it not been because the treasure here was too tempting, he would have left after being pushed several times.

“Help! Uncle-Master, help me!” At that moment, Sun Xiumei ran up to the mountaintop with a frightened face, sobbing and crying. “Senior Brother Li and Senior Brother Xu were both killed!”

“Who’s down there?” asked Yi Xiaoshan in shock, his eyebrows frowning. “Although Junior Brother Xu was only a Martial Lord, he had trained that Darkthunder to obey only his orders. That beast is as strong as a Martial King, and even I am a little bit afraid of it!”

Song Chengtian was shocked as well. “Who is the enemy? Both you and Junior Brother Li are Martial Kings, and yet even you failed to stop him?”

She was lost for words, as she did not know how to explain, so she just said, “There were only two people, a Martial Lord and a warrior.”

That gave everyone a pause. Qi Zhenzi’s face grew dark instantly, and he said angrily, “Are you kidding me, Xiu?”

Yi Xiaoshan and Song Chengtian had a suspicious look on their faces as well. Panicked, Sun Xiumei hurriedly said, “I don’t know how Senior Brother Xu died, but when we arrived, his Darkthunder was already subdued by the enemies. I managed to trap the demon beast, and Senior Brother Li was dealing with the two of them. He had victory within his grasp, but the warrior had used some mystic art and made the Martial Lord’s strength soar instantly, who later killed Senior Brother Li!”

“How can this be?” Qi Zhenzi said in shock. “You mean that warrior had subdued the Darkthunder and given the Martial Lord the strength that could kill a Martial King? Could he be an alchemist?”

All eyes turned to Huyan Ming at the same time. He was already frowning as he listened to them. “It is naturally easier for an alchemist with strong soul power to subdue a demon beast, but how strong the soul power of a warrior can be? I’ll call him a genius if he is a second-tier alchemist, but that’s still not enough for him to subdue a fifth-tier demon beast who had a master,” he analyzed. “Moreover, I’ve never heard of a mystic art that can push the strength of a Martial Lord into the next major realm!”

“In any case, I want all of you to be more alert!” Qi Zhenzi said in a deep voice. “There are only a few more hours to go, and I don’t want any mistakes! If you take a wrong step, I’ll flay you even if your Master will scold me!”

Everyone stood still and did not say a word.

“The Martial Lord is seriously wounded,” said Sun Xiumei, “and I don’t think that warrior and the beast will have the courage to come up here.”

Huyan Ming sneered. “Said who? He’s already here.”

“What?” Everyone was taken aback and quickly sent their divine sense out into all directions.

Yunxiao, who was hiding in a blind spot, smiled bitterly. He did not expect that there was not only a Martial Grandmaster, but also a fourth-tier alchemist among the enemies. ‘Since when did Baizhan have such mighty forces?’ he thought to himself.

“Come out now if you don’t want to die, boy!” Qi Zhenzi roared and Primordial Qi immediately gathered in the sky, rumbling and spreading out to envelop an area almost a thousand miles around them.

Yunxiao could taste bitterness in his mouth. With a Martial Grandmaster and a fourth-tier alchemist here, there was no way he could escape even if he knew how to fly. Reluctantly, he stood out from where he was hiding as he smiled wryly and said, “Can I live if I come out?”

“That’s him, Uncle-Master!” Sun Xiumei cried out in astonishment. She could not believe that Yunxiao had the courage to follow her up here, more so alone. His bravery amazed her.

Qi Zhenzi said coldly, “If you wanted to live, you wouldn’t come up here. Now that you’re here, you can’t hope to live!”

He lifted a hand and was about to strike when Yunxiao grinned cheekily and said, “Why? You are a senior and an expert, and you are the one who asked me to come out if I don’t want to die. I listened to you, so I came out because I don’t want to die. Are you going back on your own words now?”

Qi Zhenzi paused, then snorted coldly and said, “Don’t hope you can sway me into sparing your life with that glib tongue. Whatever you say, you are going to die today!”

“Hold on!”

Huyan Ming, who was cracking the formation, suddenly said, “Spare his life. I want to ask him something!”

Qi Zhenzi’s face grew dark. “Huyan Ming, what we are working here is too important for you to mess around with!”

“Mess around? Uncle-Master, are you afraid of a boy warrior?” said the alchemist angrily. “What trouble can a warrior cause? I’ll bear all the responsibility if anything happens!”

“Oh, really? But can you?” Qi Zhenzi said in a cold voice. “I’m the supreme commander of this operation, and also your Uncle-Master, so you have to obey me!”

Huyan Ming was so angry that he laughed. “In that case, crack the formation yourself! I’ll not do it for you!” He stood straight up and was about to leave.

“You!” Qi Zhenzi was fuming, but he had no other choice. With a flick of his sleeve, he said, “You better be careful, or I’ll flay you if anything happens!”

Huyan Ming answered that with a snort, then turned to Yunxiao and said, “Come over here, boy!”

Yunxiao breathed a sigh of relief. He was temporarily safe now, but he had to tread carefully from here. He quickly strode over and said, “Yes?”, but as soon as his eyes rested on the cliff wall, his face flashed with a trace of astonishment.

“Oh? You know this formation?” Huyan Ming asked in shock.

“Formation? Is this a formation?” Yunxiao hastily hid his emotions by playing dumb, “It does look like a formation, but what is the meaning of those texts that look like tadpoles?”

Huyan Ming breathed a sigh of relief. ‘I was too sensitive,’ he thought, ‘How could a second-tier alchemist recognize this ancient formation when even I had to spend a long time studying the description related to it, which I accidentally found in the books and records in the Supreme Palace, to find the way to crack it?’

He smiled and said, “You have a good gift. It is rare for someone to become a second-tier alchemist at the age of fifteen. Who is your Master?”

What he said stunned everyone. The boy was a second-tier alchemist? They could not tell Yunxiao’s alchemy level, but they could tell how old he was at a glance.

He was already considered to be extraordinarily gifted for being a nine-stars warrior at the age of fifteen years old, and yet he was also a second-tier alchemist? That made him an existence who would one day shake the whole world!

The killing intent in Qi Zhenzi’s eyes grew thicker. Such a freakish genius must have an extraordinary background. ‘I must find an opportunity and kill him before he grows up and become a major threat!’

“My Master is the president of Tianshui’s Alchemist Association, Xu Han!”

“I knew it,” Huyan Ming smiled. “Apart from Zhang Qingfan and Xu Han, there are no other good alchemists in Tianshui. You are at least a hundred times more gifted than Xu Han, and he will delay your progress if you learn from him. I’m Huyan Ming, a fourth-tier alchemist from the Firecrow Empire. Would you like to become my disciple?”

Both Yunxiao and those around them were taken aback while Qi Zhenzi flared and snapped, “Leave this matter to some other day, Huyan Ming! Focus your attention on cracking the formation!”

“Hmph!” Huyan Ming snorted with disapproval, but when he saw the dumb look on Yunxiao’s face, he said, “You just stand aside and consider that. I believe you know how big the gap is between two alchemists who are one realm apart.”

When he had finished, he paid Yunxiao no more mind and began to focus on cracking the formation.

It was impossible for Yunxiao to become Huyan Ming’s disciple, so he wasted no time to consider that. Instead, he stood aside and watched how the alchemist cracked the formation. Although the man’s technique was still rusty and monotonous, he had grasped the key of the formation. Even though he was a little slow, the formation was being cracked bit by bit.

The clue of this treasure in Mount Phoenix was accidentally discovered by Qi Zhenzi among the ancient books and records in the Supreme Palace. He was skeptical at first, but after carefully studying the clue, he found that it was real. So, he instigated the Supreme Six to help him. In order not to divulge the news, he made an army trap Kunjin, and at the same time, slaughtered all the people in the three towns beneath the mountain.

The formation on the wall was indeed an ancient restrictive formation. Even Yunxiao could not fully understand it, and he could not crack it in a short time unless he was given a year or so to study it. The texts on the formation were indecipherable silver scribbles that looked like tadpoles, which had some similarities with the Great Expansion Divine Technique’s golden tadpole texts. Although they were not identical, they seemed to come from the same system.

It was because more than half of the formation was cracked that there was a sign of a precious treasure about to be born.

Yunxiao learned something as he watched Huyan Ming crack the formation. At his level, few formations could let him learn something new, but when he did, they were usually extremely ancient formations.

As the formation was being gradually cracked, Qi Zhenzi and the others became more and more excited. They all fixed their eyes at the fire phoenix on the wall, nervous to know what the treasure was. After all, it was an ancient relic that had been passed down for heaven-know-how-long, and none of them knew what was inside. Perhaps, a real True Spirited Fire Phoenix would fly out of it when the formation was cracked.