Chapter 58: Bai Hao’s Nirvana
Xiao Hong's eyes twitched in irritation as she violently suppressed the urge to raise her middle finger to the Heavens. 'Well, even if they know now, it makes no difference - all I need to do is spend some more Spirit Stones since most of the hard work was done by this dumbass.
'Other than burning a hole in my pockets… No wait! It only affects Sect's pockets~!
'There's no way the Sect would skimp out on compensating such a loyal, talented and cute disciple, right? Hehe~'
So, she completely ignored the young man with green eyes and quickly made a hand seal before pouring her Zhenqi into the Control Token of the Formation.
A tiny ripple of Spiritual Energy swept outwards with the Control Token as the centre and resonating with the Array Formation.
Under the ground, she had buried the dozens of Artefacts she had received as spoils of war to use as nodes for the Formation. She had also surrounded said Artefacts with a great number of Spirit Stones.
As the ripple of Spiritual Energy came into contact with these nodes, the Spirit Stones slowly developed cracks, releasing vast quantities of Spiritual Energy directly inside the Earth, which then powered the Artefacts - which were primarily of the 'Metal' Element - that then used the 'Metal impoverishes Earth' interaction to temporarily destabilise the Earth Element.
This Earth Element, under the guidance of the Formation's 'Wood stabilises Earth' interaction, once again regained stability. In the process, some of the Earth Element's power infused into Formation itself, strengthening its defensive power. The rest of the Earth Element's power returned to its original place which had been replenished naturally, strengthening the overall power of Earth Element in the area.
This cycle slowly strengthens all the components that make up the Array Formation - the Artefacts, the Earth, and the Formation so long as there is a Spiritual Energy source and doesn't reach the limit - that is, the maximum strength a pseudo-Grade 3 Formation could achieve.
In an instant, the entire Formation glowed brightly before turning a shade darker - seemingly gaining strength. This was the backup she had left behind in case the enemy used his full strength right from the start.
Xiao Hong speculated that this Formation would last a few days even if Fang Jin used his full strength right from the start. It would endure as long as the Artefacts weren't worn down and the Spirit Stones were abundant.
The left corner of Xiao Hong's mouth curled up uncontrollably as she looked back at the green-eyed young man with amusement. Her clear voice rang out, "So what if you know how my Formation works?
"To disrupt it, you'll have to literally dig out the entire Formation! The Senior of the True Demon Stage might be far beyond our capabilities to resist, but even he can't dig out the entire Formation now, can he?
"All you can do is attack my Formation with the hope that it overwhelms the defensive power of the Formation.
"But if you do that, you will only be helping me!" Xiao Hong chuckled.
"Since Senior Fang has worked so hard and already helped me by strengthening my Formation, it will be even more impossible to break it through pure brute force." The mockery in her voice when she said 'Senior Fang' was obvious, causing Fang Jin's face to distort with rage.
"You little-!" He began with a low growl but was stopped by a gesture from the green-eyed young man named Xue.
The green-eyed young man looked completely unruffled and simply nodded, "You're quite right, Miss. There's not much we can do, other than wait it out until your Formation runs out of Spirit Stones."
He smiled. His eyes sparkled with complex mystical patterns as he stared at the centre of the Formation.
"Or, until we can gather the other True Demons and attack the Formation together. But that will take a while." His smile widened into a large grin. "Enough time for that Senior Brother of yours to break through to Nirvana, is it not?"
Xiao Hong froze. Gu Ran, Qiao Xuan and Jun Meiling also froze in place. The rest of the disciples were also stunned.
Even his allies were somewhat stunned before a serious look came over their faces. Especially Fang Jin - there was an unprecedentedly sombre look on his face.
'How the fuck…?' Xiao Hong's eyes widened. Just as she was wondering, she heard a low whisper.
"Mystical Eye-type Innate Divine Ability?" Jun Meiling muttered in shock. Her eyes filled with awe and no small amount of apprehension. She was sure it was an Innate Divine Ability because no cultivator could cultivate a Divine Ability without reaching the Transformation Stage! Only the Divine Abilities one was born with could be used before reaching the Transformation Stage.
The young man continued, completely ignoring the shock of the Immortal Cultivators, "Of course, even if I know, I can't really do anything with how brilliantly your Formation is set up." His eyes sparkled with complex mystical patterns as he swept past the Formation.
Xiao Hong followed his eyes as they stopped briefly at every single node of the Formation. Every node he laid his eyes on caused the pressure in her heart to build up.
'He did not miss.' her mind reeled with incredulity, 'He did not miss even a single one!
'How the hell could he see through the Formation so fast?! Are those Mystical Eyes really so overpowered?!' This was something even accomplished Grade 3 Array Masters would have a hard time accomplishing! But this fellow did with a single glance!
A grim Xiao Hong once again realised how unfairly this world was balanced, 'The ordinary Formation Master in the Purple Spirit Sect would take decades of unrelenting learning and practising to reach the level of attainment I currently have.
'Yet some brat born with sparkly eyes could void all their efforts with a single glance!'
At this time a thought popped up in her mind, 'No wonder those Elders in the Alchemy Hall feel like they are on pins and needles every time they mention that 'Master An' fellow…' Even she, with her current attainment in the Way of Formations, would not be able to decipher the Formation if she was looking at it for the first time.
It was truly despairing to see your hard work being surpassed by a brat who wasn't even a fraction of their age!
Just as she was pitying the Alchemy Hall's Elders, the young man's voice sounded again, apparently having finished inspecting the Formation. With surprise apparent in his raised tone, he spoke, "Incredible, truly Incredible! I never expected that a mere pseudo-Grade 3 Formation Master could create such an ingenious Formation!"
He turned back to back Xiao Hong, eyebrows raised.
Xiao Hong stared straight back, the corner of her lips curling up slightly, 'Even if you can see through my Formation, can you do anything about it? You can't even touch the nodes I have set up, so what the hell is knowing about it gonna do?'
The young man seemed to have sensed her thoughts, as he chuckled, "Young miss, your talent is truly incredible!"
He praised her without holding back, his tone filled with genuine admiration, "With all of my experience with so many Formation Masters, I have never seen one as talented as you!" He stared directly at her, eyes glowing with great interest as he floated in the air next to Fang Jin.
Despite him being an enemy, Xiao Hong couldn't help but be somewhat pleased. After all, genuine praise for her skill was still something new for her! She couldn't help but have a slightly more favourable impression of the young man named Xue.
His radiant eyes flickered with a strange light that she found profoundly unsettling, yet also mysteriously captivating - they emitted an enigmatic allure rendering her unable to move her own eyes away.
Within those eyes danced intricate patterns, intersecting with each other in ever-changing ways. Every moment, they seemed to weave into something wholly new, yet so complex, they left her feeling breathless.
Every time she thought they would intersect a certain way, it surprised her by creating a pattern she had not even thought of before in a more complex way than she would have thought of.
However, the complexity only made her want to decipher them that much more! She wanted to know what pattern would be next, she wanted to win against-!
"Aaargh!" Suddenly an extreme pain lanced through her head, like a white-hot spear driven directly into her head! The tremendous pain made her stagger in place, almost driving her to her knees.
Her Divine Sense fluctuated with an intensity far greater than ever before as her Spirit God's Cultivation Method circulated rapidly, desperately trying to expel an unseen force from her Sea of Consciousness!
'What the fuck was that?!' Xiao Hong's breaths came in short and heavy bursts. Her body trembled as she realised that she was gripping the Control Token so hard, it had developed tiny fractures! A piercing chill surged down her spine when she realised that she had been inexplicably controlled and almost destroyed the Control Token! While the Formation would not collapse without the Control Token, it would still be destabilised for a short period. A short period that was more than enough for Fang Jin to destroy it!
What was even more terrifying was that she seemed to have suddenly gained an inexplicable favourable impression of this 'Sir Xue' - as if her heart told her not to become enemies with him! For no reason at all!
'What the actual fuck?!' Her heart raced as a deep sense of terror filled her entire being at that moment. If it weren't for her Spirit God's Soul Cultivation Method, she might have ended up as this bastard's toy!
As her Spirit God's Method circulated rapidly, a monstrous Killing Intent was born in her heart. Her entire being urged her to kill this man at any cost! 'I won't be able to rest easy as long as he exists in this world!'
He was a threat to her free will - the greatest treasure of the human mind!
She suppressed her Killing Intent and glowered in his general direction, not daring to look anywhere near his face again.
"Huh?!" At the same time, the young man was stunned. 'She resisted my mental attack?! How?! Her Cultivation is obviously much weaker than mine! Even if her Spirit far exceeds her Cultivation, it definitely cannot be at the level of Disaster Stage!'
He completely ignored the intense burning in his eyes and stared at Xiao Hong.
'My Spirit should be overwhelmingly more powerful even when considering the 8th Disaster Stage - just a few steps behind Nirvana. No one below Nirvana should be able to resist my mental attacks!
'Even the Formation would not be able to affect my attack as only Grade 4 Formations can influence the Spiritual World.'
'Yet, someone weaker can resist it' his eyes glowed, 'How interesting…'
He smirked, feeling his heart thumping with excitement. The last time he felt this excited was when he realised he had reincarnated into a World of Cultivation! But his dreams of hot-blooded fights were soon squashed by his family.
'Hahahaha, it was indeed a great idea to sneak out this time! Otherwise, those overprotective siblings of mine would have forced me to stay at home!' He knew that they cared for him, but it was a little stifling sometimes. He understood why, when surrounded by people who could not wait to stick a knife into your back, a trustworthy person was so precious. But their overprotectiveness was too much for him!
'I just came out this time and found myself a treasure!' He didn't care at all about the tremendous Killing Intent she was suppressing! That just added to the fun!
Just as he was about to open his mouth again, an awe-inspiring momentum burst outwards from the Formation! It swept over the people like an overwhelming tsunami, leaving everyone in its range breathless in awe and fear.
A gigantic pillar of pure white light rose to the skies from the centre of the Formation, covering almost half of the Formation with its soccer field-size width!
The Purple Spirit Sect's disciples were stunned for a few moments before they burst into cheers!
"Senior Brother Bai has broken through to Nirvana and is forging his Spiritual Body!"
"Now that he has broken through, we can rest easy!"
"Haha! Let's see what these damned Demonic Cultivators are going to do now!"
Xiao Hong, Jun Meiling, Qiao Xuan and the rest also relaxed a lot! They could finally rest easy because they finally had a powerful support they could rely on!
Xiao Hong turned to see what kind of amusing expression the Demonic Cultivators would have - especially that loathsome Sir Xue. She really hoped to see his face pale and distorted in fear. But unexpectedly, he looked calm. There wasn't even the slightest wariness.
Instead, there was a playful smirk on his face.
Sensing her gaze, his smirk widened. "Hehe, did you know?" he spoke as he fished out a piece of paper filled with complex and intricate symbols. "A Nirvana Stage expert is at their weakest when forging the Nirvana Spiritual Body?"
'That is a… Talisman?' Xiao Hong wondered. As most of the powerful Inheritances relating to Talismans had been lost, it was really rare to actually see one. While the Cultivators of today had put in tremendous amounts of research into reigniting the legacy of Talisman Masters, it was still a work in progress. So beyond a certain level - which was incidentally the Fusion Stage, it was incredibly rare to see Talismans.
"GO!" The young man poured his Qi into the Talisman and threw it out!
Xiao Hong felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end as the Talisman burned and turned into a beam of blood-red light that shot directly towards one of the Main Nodes of the Formation!
In urgency, Xiao Hong tried her best to control the Formation to respond, but it was all for naught! The powerful defence that could last weeks under the relentless assault of the Nirvana Stage was pierced in a few breaths!
"Noo!" Xiao Hong screamed as the blood-red beam pierced the ground and shattered one of the three Artefacts she had used to establish the Main Node!