Chapter 709: Hundred Flags of Void Sealing
Chapter 709: Hundred Flags of Void Sealing
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
Before the doubtful gazes of the three master teachers, the young man stared intently at the land below with the formation flags in his hand, seemingly calculating the positioning of the flags.
"Zhang shi intends to set up the Illusory Footsteps Beguilement Formation?"
Seeing his actions, the eyebrows of the three master teachers shot up in astonishment.
Putting aside how narrow the gorge was, just the battle below was sufficient to cause immense chaos in the spiritual energy in the air. Even with a compass in hand, it would be impossible for one to accurately read the flow of spiritual energy. As such, how could one possibly set up a formation?
Even if a 7-star formation master were to arrive on the scene, he would surely be unable to successfully set up a formation as well!
More importantly, the moment the first formation flag was planted on the ground, the spirit beasts would surely notice them. Considering the number of spirit beasts in the gorge, even if just a small proportion were to come after them, they would still become goners!
Was this really the idea he had in mind?
Sensing the nervousness in the trio, Ruohuan gongzi said with a consoling smile, "There's no need to panic. Since Zhang shi says that it is possible to rescue them, he must have a feasible idea in mind!"
Of the entire group, he had known Zhang shi the longest, and he also boasted the greatest understanding of the latter. This young man seemed to possess some kind of incredible power. So many times, what he viewed to be impossible had been easily accomplished by the other party.
Taking the Otherworldly Demon in the Master Teacher Tournament as an example, he actually managed to talk it into committing suicide… This was a feat that many could not even imagine, but he actually achieved it!
In fact, the very reason he could be here despite his lacking capability was due to the young man's help.
Thus, even though the situation before them might look hopeless, it didn't hinder him from believing in the young man's ability to turn the tables.
"Let's just hope so…"
The trio could only reply with bitter smiles.
While they were talking, Zhang Xuan had already finished examining the geographical terrain. Taking a deep breath, he suddenly sent a telepathic message to everyone.
"Prepare yourselves!"
Hearing those words, everyone immediately gathered their attention as they waited for Zhang shi's further instructions with the middle-tier spirit stones in their hands.
Hu!
Just as they were wondering what the young man would do, they suddenly saw the other party leaping down from the platform, headed toward the battlefield between the spirit beasts and the master teachers.
"This…"
Alarmed by Zhang Xuan's actions, everyone narrowed their eyes in shock.
Hundreds of powerful spirit beasts were prowling ferociously below! To charge in like that, are you sure you aren't attempting to commit suicide instead?
Roar! Roar! Roar!
As expected, upon noticing Zhang Xuan's presence, the spirit beasts immediately howled furiously. Following which, a ferocious string of attacks rained down on him like a frenzied storm.
These attacks harnessed an immense force which could threaten even a Transcendent Mortal 7-dan expert.
Hu!
Just as the crowd thought that Zhang Xuan was done for, the young man's path of trajectory suddenly mysteriously shifted three chi (10cm) to the right.
A mere three chi, but it caused all of the attacks to fly past him.
Roar!
The unsuccessful primary assault seemed to have provoked even more spirit beasts. With another wave of deafening battle cries, dozens of attacks suddenly came from all directions.
It was slightly different this time around.
In the first assault, the spirit beasts had harnessed their full might to crush the defenses of their opponent. On the other hand, this wave of attacks was scattered in all directions to seal their opponent's escape route.
"These attacks aren't sufficient to deal any grievous injuries to Zhang shi, but their force is sufficient to push him to the ground. Once Zhang shi falls to the ground, he will immediately fall into the encirclement of the spirit beasts. By then, it will be difficult for him to escape with his life, let alone, rescue the others…"
Many master teachers clenched their fists tightly in agitation.
The attacks from the spirit beasts weren't sufficiently powerful to kill a Consonant Spirit realm cultivator, but the force of the attacks could send Zhang Xuan plummeting to the ground. Once he fell to the ground… just the weight of the spirit beasts itself could squash him to death.
"Look!"
Just as everyone was worried, someone suddenly shouted, and the crowd turned their gazes over. With a single look, they were all dumbfounded.
Through stepping on the floating rock platforms, Zhang Xuan was able to alter his movements in air. For some reason, it was as if he could predict where the attacks would come from.
At each crucial moment, he would move ever so slightly, and the attacks would pass him by. It was an incomparably dangerous situation each time, but he would always escape completely unharmed.
"This fearsome calculation ability, and this frightening eye of discernment!"
The crowd above narrowed their eyes.
As master teachers, they clearly understood how difficult this feat was. One had to be familiar with each of the spirit beasts' habits, attacking patterns, movement speeds, strengths… Only with a thorough and accurate understanding of each and every aspect of the spirit beasts could one make such precise predictions!
In other words, in that brief moment that Zhang Xuan was examining the situation, not only did he calculate the locations of the formation flag, he even thoroughly predicted the various possible attacking trajectories of the spirit beasts and planned his path of descent!
Otherwise, how could he possibly maneuver around so smoothly and adeptly in the midst of that huge torrent of attacks?
How formidable must his eye of discernment be? How powerful must his mental calculation capacity be?
Was this still humanly possible?
Hu hu hu!
Oblivious to everyone's shock and frenzy, Zhang Xuan adeptly maneuvered around the spirit beasts, and around ten breaths later, he finally arrived at the space in the direct center of the gorge, right above the fighting master teachers and spirit beasts.
"Go!"
Weng weng weng!
The hundreds of formation flags which he held in his hands suddenly buzzed sharply, and 'sou!', they flew into the surroundings.
"T-this… Isn't this the ability that only 7-star formation masters are capable of utilizing… 'Hundred Flags of Void Sealing'?"
The master teacher who passed the formation flags and jade token to Zhang Xuan earlier on turned pale, and he nearly fell from the floating platform from fright.
"Hundred Flags of Void Sealing? What is that?"
However, most of the master teachers present were unaware of what it represented.
After all, this was technical jargon used only by formation masters, so most of those who hadn't learned this occupation were unaware of it.
"Rumor has it that the psyche of a 7-star master teacher is so powerful that even without a compass, they can accurately determine the spiritual energy intersection points where each flag should be placed. Thus, by throwing the flags to their respective position simultaneously, they can set up a formation instantaneously… B-but how can he possibly do it as well?"
The lips of the master teacher were trembling uncontrollably.
To set up a formation, a formation master would have to do all kinds of calculations to align their formation with the geographical terrain so as to better bring out its might.
Even for 7-star formation masters, executing the Hundred Flags of Void Sealing was no easy feat. They would usually only use this technique to set up lower grade formations, such as grade-4 or grade-5… However, the young man before him was only at the Consonant Spirit realm, so setting up a grade-5 formation should already be an extremely difficult task for him. And yet, he was still able to use such a profound skill…
'Is this for real?
'Are my eyes playing tricks on me?'
Boom!
Amidst the shocked gazes of the crowd, the formation flags flew to their respective positions with the sharp whistle of the wind. Some of them fell in between the fighting master teachers and spirit beasts while some lodged themselves into the cliffs of the forge.
It should have been possible to activate the formation as soon as the formation flags fell in place, but after seeing that there was no response after some time, a master teacher suddenly thought of something, and his face distorted in horror.
"This is bad… The spiritual energy in this land is far too chaotic for the formation to tap into. Without external spiritual energy to support the formation, the formation cannot be activated…"
The reason he was able to set up a grade-5 primary formation despite having yet to reach Cosmos Bridge realm wasn't due to his superior talent but because those flags had been imbued with the zhenqi of his teacher.
The imbued zhenqi would help the formation flags gather sufficient spiritual energy to bring out the might of the grade-5 formation. However, this could only be done in an environment where the flow of spiritual energy was stable.
But… the huge battle in the gorge had resulted in a massive turbulence in the spiritual energy in the surroundings. Even if the formation flags were put in position, Zhang shi would still be unable to tap into the zhenqi imbued in the formation flags to activate the formation!
Just as the group was at a complete loss before the dire situation, the anxious voice of the young man before boomed in their ears.
"Prepare yourselves! East, throw your spirit stones two steps to your left! West, throw your spirit stones four steps to the right…"
"Yes!"
They had no idea what the other party was up to, but they didn't have time to think so much about it anymore. The master teachers in the four teams, North, South, East, and West, gathered their zhenqi and tossed the spirit stones in their hands out.
Wu wu wu!
52 people threw out a total of 520 middle-tier spirit stones simultaneously into the battlefield.
Roar!
Upon seeing the huge rain of spirit stones, the spirit beasts were taken aback. Sensing danger, they pounced into the air and attacked the spirit stones.
Huala!
As if a storm, the powerful torrent of attacks swept the spirit stones away from their original trajectory.
"It's over…"
The group stared at the sight in trepidation.
Zhang shi had most probably calculated the trajectory of the spirit stones' descent accurately before issuing precise instructions. However, with the trajectories messed up by the attacks of the spirit stones, their plan was going to fail.
Wneg weng weng weng!
Just when they thought that this operation was a failure, the spirit stones which had their trajectories altered struck the ground beneath Zhang Xuan at the very same instant.
Boom!
As soon as they came contact with the ground, a powerful surge of spiritual energy suddenly burst into the surroundings, sweeping across the formation flags.
"This…"
"Zhang shi… actually predicted the attacks from the spirit beasts as well?"
Innumerable pupils dilated upon that sight.
The sight before them was within Zhang shi's calculations as well?
In other words, he knew that the spirit beasts would attack the spirit stones upon seeing them. Taking that into account, he made the precise calculations for the spirit stones to clash with one another beneath his feet before issuing specific instructions to each group as to how they should toss their spirit stones!
This…
The situation was so inconceivable that it felt like some supernatural power was at work.
Just as everyone's face was pale with shock, Zhang Xuan coldly bellowed, "Activate!", and with a furious stomp, a surge of zhenqi shot out.
Weng!
Taking in the concentrated spiritual energy in the air, the formation flags began to buzz, and a thick layer of mist cloaked the master teachers and spirit beasts in the gorge instantly.
Illusory Footsteps Beguilement Formation, activated!
"Through the burst of spiritual energy caused by the collision of spirit stones, order was re-established in the flow of spiritual energy in the surroundings for a brief instant, allowing the formation to be activated… How deep must one's understanding of formations be to do this? Even Grandmaster Tao Ran who created this Illusory Footsteps Beguilement Formation would surely be incapable of such a feat!"
The three master teachers from Luoyuan Empire were completely dumbstruck by the sight before them.
It had only been a few short breaths since Zhang shi had leaped down from the floating rock platform, but the heck had it been frightening!
One after another, the impossible had been realized easily by that young man's hand!
"With the activation of the formation, all of the spirit beasts and master teachers are trapped. As long as we move carefully now, we should be able to save all of the master teachers!"
Seeing the activation of the formation, Luo Xuan, Ruohuan gongzi, and the others heaved a sigh of relief.
With the Beguilement Formation veiling their sight and confounding their senses, it was impossible for the spirit beasts and master teachers to continue battling. At least, until the formation was inactivated, the master teachers were safe.
"Indeed! As expected of Zhang shi, to be able to think of and carry out such a plan…"
The crowd nodded.
Hong long!
Just as everyone had just heaved a sigh of relief, a deafening reverberation suddenly sounded in the formation, and the mist billowed furiously.
"Sh*t… the spirit beasts are intending to… break the formation using brute force!" a Luoyuan Empire master teacher exclaimed.