Chapter 93: A Decisive Victory

A cry rose one after another through the forest, shrill and plaintive as the wail of an infant, stirring an indescribable agitation in everyone’s hearts and leaving them deeply unsettled.

When more than a few faces had already darkened with displeasure, a clear chime of silver bells rang out. It was as though it had fallen by chance into a still lake, sweeping the mind clean and leaving the spirit bright.

Only then did the crowd react. So the beast’s cry could actually influence one’s state of mind. Had that bell not sounded just now, someone might already have lost patience and rushed out.

Thinking of it now, they could not help but feel a chill of lingering fear.

With that sudden bell as a lead, the sound cultivators of the Ancient Moon Sect no longer needed anyone to remind them.

Several of them turned and sat down at once, placing zithers before them. Like a clear stream flowing over stone, the music began softly and spread through everyone present. No one bothered to trace the origin of that first bell any further.

Yun Fei looked at the flying sword still unsheathed in Ji Yao’s hand and could not help but marvel. This junior sister’s methods were always so unexpected.

If he had not happened to be standing just behind and to the right of her, seeing every movement she made, he would probably have been misled like the others by the zither music that followed.

If he was not mistaken, that bell that awakened the crowd should have come from the flying sword in Ji Yao’s hand. At the sword’s hilt, the energy lingering around the two plum blossom buds had not yet dispersed.

Once the Ancient Moon Sect’s zithers and zithers joined in, the Gu Diao’s infant-like cries could no longer disturb the crowd. In their place came a few furious screeches, and the mass of beasts finally moved.

Someone cried out, "Formation, rise!"

Ranks of cultivators spread out in layers, and streams of attacks shot forward in orderly succession.

This time, however, the attacks were no longer only sword light. Hidden within vast curtains of brilliant spell light were countless sharp sword auras that pressed forward without hesitation, cleanly reaping the thick-skinned beasts.

The sound cultivators’ melodies shifted into a deep battle hymn. As the fighting grew fiercer, the music rose higher and higher, rousing the spirits of all who heard it.

Amid the clash of spells and sword auras, all manner of talismans refused to be outdone, dazzling the field with their power. Now and then, several glowing Buddhist emblems flashed by, along with various magical implements darting through to finish off stragglers.

On the open ground between the beasts and the human ranks lay formations concealed beneath the clamor: array traps laid out with different formation disks.

These traps did more than unleash elemental attacks from the arrays. They also concealed multicolored poisonous smoke and powder. Any fish that slipped through the net and stepped into them died in a far more miserable state than those killed outside.

At this point, the third-rank beasts had not yet launched a true assault. Those falling by the dozen were only the first- and second-rank beasts used as vanguard. Of course, the third-rank beasts were not without probing attacks of their own, but all of them were intercepted and neutralized by the cultivators.

The cultivators of the seven major sects numbered more than fifteen hundred in all. How could there not be specialists assigned to watch those third-rank beasts?

Thus, among the seventeen third-rank beasts, each one except the Gu Diao had ten people assigned to keep it in check, while each of the four Gu Diao had twenty people assigned to deal with it.

This had all been arranged long in advance, so at this moment, aside from a few imperfectly coordinated points, there had been no real mistakes.

From dusk until the warm sun rose, the battle raged on. The lower-ranked beasts died or fled, and in the end eight third-rank beasts remained, slowly retreating to the area around the light pillar. Though everyone was exhausted, they could not suppress their joy.

Indeed, only the eight last-appearing third-rank beasts were left on the battlefield. As for the other nine, they had already been ground down and killed over the course of a full night of fighting.

The Gu Diao still circled in the sky. On the ground, the four beasts pawed anxiously at the earth. The cultivators facing them were injured and in miserable condition as well, but the looks in their eyes were no different from the way one would look at dead things.

Once again the Gu Diao let out a piercing cry in unison. The four beasts on the ground went berserk and charged at the crowd. Yet before they had taken even three steps, several earthen walls rose abruptly before them.

The beasts casually unleashed spells to shatter the walls and burst through them. Only then did they realize that the broken clods falling on them had in an instant transformed into countless vines, binding them so tightly they could not move.

As the four beasts struggled free, a sudden pulling force yanked them up into the air. The vines snapped, and the four beasts happened to land within the range of one of the formation disks beneath them.

At that moment, the other idle formation disks were driven by cultivators’ spiritual power and arranged themselves around the disk trapping the beasts. With a low hum, every formation activated, and the traces of the disks vanished.

The cultivators using the formation disks had long since made their preparations. If one disk could not hold the beasts, they would use several. Even if the beasts broke free, another ring would be waiting outside.

What they needed to do was not kill these four beasts, but hold them off as long as possible until the four Gu Diao were executed and they could turn back to deal with these ones.

That was right. Although these four ground beasts had moved first, the crowd had unanimously decided to kill the four Gu Diao first. Thus the main force of attacks concentrated on those four flying man-eating birds.

In the end, these eight third-rank beasts did not struggle for long before they were torn apart by the crowd’s attacks.

When everything settled, a full night of high-intensity fighting had left everyone utterly spent in body and mind, yet the gains were enormous. Many of those who had sat down to recover were already flashing with bursts of spiritual light, as though they might break through at any moment.

It was just as the saying went: after battle, after blood, after the baptism of life and death, advancement always came especially easily.

Even Ji Yao, who had only recently broken through before entering, could feel her cultivation surging to the edge of half-step Foundation Establishment, as if she could enter seclusion again at any time.

At this point, the battlefield no longer feared any further beast attacks. Even the next appearance of third-rank beasts was still more than a day away.

Those who were unharmed began to clean the battlefield after a short period of rest and circulation. Those who were injured or had consumed too much spiritual power focused on recovery. Since it had long been agreed that the spoils would be divided equally among the seven sects, no one had any complaints.

Half a day later, the cultivators from the Mystic Gate, who were in charge of setting up the sealing formation, invited one or two disciples skilled in formations from each of the other six sects to join them in laying it out.

Ji Yao, who had been reviewing the details of the battle in her mind, was jolted back to awareness by someone approaching from the front. When she opened her eyes and looked up, she saw a handsome face with dimples in its smile.

"Senior Brother Yun, people really can scare others to death. Couldn’t you at least have called me first?" Seeing that smile, Ji Yao realized at once that he had come looking for her.

Yun Fei was startled by her words and hurried to apologize before continuing.

"Junior Sister Ji, the people from the Mystic Gate are about to begin arranging the formation. They’ve asked each sect to send one or two disciples who understand formations. On the Cloud Soaring Sect’s side, I’m the one going. I wanted to ask whether Junior Sister Ji would like to come and take a look?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Ji Yao gave him an up-and-down look with an expression that seemed to say one could not judge a book by its cover.

"I never would have guessed. So Senior Brother Yun, as a pure sword cultivator, actually also understands formations. That is truly impossible to tell just by looking."

She spoke with complete sincerity, as though she had found a kindred spirit.

"Uh, no, I’m not..." Yun Fei’s face turned a little red. "Junior Sister Ji knows that sword cultivators don’t concern themselves with outside things. I’ve merely read a lot of books."

Ji Yao froze, then understood instantly.

Indeed, one could not expect too much from sword cultivators. The higher one’s hopes, the greater the disappointment.

"I never said I understood formations either. Why would Senior Brother Yun invite me?"

Yun Fei scratched his head. "It’s just that Junior Sister Ji’s learning seems rather... broad. I thought you might have some acquaintance with formations. If you don’t know them, I can ask someone else."

Ji Yao waved a hand and said half-jokingly, "Forget it. I’ll go with Senior Brother Yun. I may not be called proficient, but I should be a little better than you."

If she did not get close, how could she verify what Situ Jing had said? In truth, even if Yun Fei had not invited her, Ji Yao had already intended to go nearer and examine things carefully.