The Young Mistress Sets the Formation  

The dense, sprawling forest swallowed Fan Li and his companions whole. Even the thousands of soldiers led by Crown Prince Wanli seemed to vanish amidst the sea of green. For the next half hour, an eerie silence fell, broken only by the sounds of nature. Yet, beneath the surface, a deadly game was unfolding.

"Beware of formations!"

"Do not trigger the traps!"

The commanders of the Crown Prince's elite guard barked orders, their voices laced with tension.

Slap!

A resounding smack echoed through the trees, landing squarely on the face of the highest-ranking commander.

The man, despite his rank, immediately fell to his knees. "Your Highness, I… I am unaware of my offense."

Crown Prince Wanli's voice dripped with fury. "I seek Fan Li's head, and you dare slow down the pursuit with your senseless orders?"

"But Your Highness, the scouts ahead have encountered several formations. We have sustained casualties, with over twenty brothers dead or injured. I suggest…"

"Suggest your mother's head!" Wanli roared, kicking the commander to the ground. "Twenty Golden Core cultivators dead, and you think to delay my grand scheme?"

"Continue the pursuit!"

"Full speed ahead!"

"I want no casualty reports!"

"I only want Fan Li!"

The commander was aghast. A good leader treated their soldiers like brothers-in-arms. Wanli's cold indifference was hard to stomach.

Zhang Juzheng, standing nearby, pulled the man to his feet and signaled with his eyes: Do not defy the Crown Prince.

"Yes," the commander mumbled, but couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, may we leave a small team behind to collect the remains of our fallen comrades and tend to the wounded?"

"No," Wanli said coldly. "Leave the wounded and the dead. Let me repeat, I care not for the cost, I only want Fan Li dead!"

Zhang Juzheng sighed inwardly. Pursuing a desperate Fan Li through this mountainous terrain was proving to be a challenge, especially with a skilled formation master among his companions. The traps and formations laid along their escape route were causing significant problems for the elite guard.

"Have we been played?" Zhang Juzheng pondered. He had initially thought eliminating Fan Li, without his usual entourage of experts, would be a simple task.

Now, he realized that if news of Fan Li's death spread, the blame would fall solely on the Great Ming, while the Brahma Sound Pure Land, the true orchestrators of this ambush, would remain untouched.

"I will not let the Pure Land reap all the benefits," Zhang Juzheng thought. "I will deal with those women later!"

…

"Miss Lu, how is it coming along?" Fan Li asked urgently.

"Don't rush me, setting up a truly powerful formation takes time!" Lu Fubao retorted, and furrowed her brow in concentration.

Evading their numerous pursuers while simultaneously laying down deceptive formations and analyzing the terrain for the perfect killing formation was pushing even her exceptional skills to their limit.

"Listen carefully, Fan Li," she said, taking a moment to explain. "My most potent formation involves three key components: the formation eye, the formation trigger, and mechanical augmentations.

The trigger activates the killing formation, while the eye channels its power. The mechanical augmentations further enhance its strength, allowing me to kill those in the Divine Transformation realm and even severely injure, or even kill, those in the Unity realm."

Fan Li was astonished. He had heard of cultivators surpassing their own realm in battle, his third brother Fan Chun being a prime example. But surpassing two major realms was unheard of. Yet, Lu Fubao spoke with such confidence, as if success was guaranteed once the formation was complete.

'The world is vast, filled with countless talented individuals. Lu Fubao… when did I start underestimating her? She is indeed worthy of being Lu Chunqiu's daughter, a descendant of the Marquis Wenxin of the former Qin.'

A newfound respect for Lu Fubao bloomed within him. "Miss Lu," he declared with sincerity, "from this moment on, myself and the five remaining guards are at your command! Issue your orders and we will obey without question."

Lu Fubao was startled by his unwavering trust. She had merely described the power of the formation, without providing any concrete proof.

'This feeling of being trusted is… strange. The books say a woman adorns herself for those who appreciate her beauty, and a warrior lays down their life for those who understand their heart. Is this what it feels like?'

'No, no, no!' she quickly dismissed the thought. 'I will not die, and I certainly won't die for Fan Li. I will ascend through the power of formations, becoming the first in a thousand years to achieve such a feat!'

With renewed focus, she took charge. "Listen up, everyone! This formation is called the 'Eight Hells of Heat.'

"The eight trigrams of the Bagua – Qian, Dui, Li, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Gen, and Kun – each correspond to a direction, forming the triggers of the formation. Together with the central formation eye, we require nine people to set it up."

"But there are only seven of us," Fan Li interjected, confused.

"I know, don't interrupt!" Lu Fubao snapped.

"With one less person, we lose one 'hell,' weakening the formation. But even so, it remains my most powerful formation.

The enemy approaches from the north, so we will abandon the Kun position in the north, the Zhen position in the northeast, and the Gen position in the northwest."

She paused, her brow furrowed in thought. "The remaining positions… the Qian position in the south, the Kan position in the west, the Li position in the east, the Dui position in the southeast, and the Xun position in the southwest – will be manned by our five guards."

She pointed to a lone mountain, barely a hundred meters tall, not far ahead. "The peak will be the formation eye, where I will take my position. The distance between the five triggers and the eye must not exceed five hundred meters."

Lu Fubao retrieved five pitch-black spheres from her pouch. "These are Yin Fire Bombs, crafted using mechanical techniques. Each bomb contains a strand of Nine Nether Yin Fire, which will amplify the power of the Eight Hells of Heat.

Once I complete the formation at the peak, I will send a signal. You must then infuse the bombs with your spiritual energy and activate them."

After listening to her instructions, Fan Li realized something was amiss. "What about me?" he asked, bewildered.

"Your cultivation is too low, you would only be a liability. Continue your escape, head south once you reach the mountain."

Fan Li was speechless. The gap in their cultivation levels was a harsh reality he couldn't change. But something felt wrong. The formation eye was supposed to be the most dangerous position. To activate the formation, they needed to lure Crown Prince Wanli and his army to the mountain. But wouldn't that put Lu Fubao in harm's way as well?

"You…" he started to protest, but Lu Fubao cut him off with a wave of her hand.

"I know what you're thinking, don't worry. I don't plan on dying, I have a way to escape."

Fan Li felt a wave of relief wash over him. He couldn't bring himself to sacrifice a woman for his own survival, even if it meant his own death.

He looked at Lu Fubao and the five guards, then removed the nine remaining protective rings from his fingers. He distributed five among the guards and pressed the remaining four into Lu Fubao's hand.

"I beg of you, don't let anyone die!"