Chapter 42: Resolve

Even as Xiao Hong stood there, indecisive, the Flying Sword darted around ruthlessly, reaping life after life.

Another scream reached her ears, this time very close. It was another disciple she had saved.

The disciple shot towards her, tears and snot flying all over, marring her pretty face "Senior Sister Xiao! Help!" 

Ever since she had been saved by her Senior Sister Xiao, she had become an unwavering admirer! The enemy she despaired against, the enemy she could not even touch, the bastard that toyed with her was casually destroyed by her Senior Sister Xiao!

In that darkest moment of her life, just an inch from death or worse, that delicate fist appeared! That fist that looked like exquisite jade shattered the darkness, splattering the bastard's brains all over the place!

So, now that she was once again in despair, she believed it was Senior Sister Xiao who could save them. No matter how much her rationality told her that it was impossible, she still believed that it was this Senior Sister who could bring them out of their predicament.

Xiao Hong froze, her eyes widening in shock. Her heart was seized by an inexplicable emotion. 

It was the first time someone other than Qiao Guiying truly believed in her. Believed in her enough to entrust their life to her. Trusted her to keep them safe. It was a sentiment she had never encountered before. It was completely different from her previous life, where her previous incarnation was only mistrusted. 

This was a new feeling that Xiao Hong did not truly understand. 

But… it was a feeling that she quite liked. 

The female disciple flew to Xiao Hong, her eyes wet and filled with terror.

Looking at the pitiful girl who looked no older than 20, Xiao Hong felt a surge of defiance ignite within herself. She did not want to run. She could not flee. Not when someone was finally willing to trust her.

She felt that if she ran now, she would lose something. Something she could not comprehend, but something definitely very important!

'I might not be the nicest person there is,' Xiao Hong took a deep breath before releasing it, a determined glint shone in her eyes, 'But at least I refuse to be an ungrateful ingrate.

'At least, I should give it my all before thinking about escaping!'

Moreover, she knew that if she wanted to change, she had to take a step in the other direction. If she cowered here, she would cower again. Since she did it once, it would become easier to do it once again! 

Since even Jun Meiling, who was mentally younger, could burn her Cultivation Base and suffer such a loss, Xiao Hong could at least stand and fight before thinking about escaping.

Plus, she knew she would be scorned if the word of her turning tail spread. She did not want to experience her old life all over again. This life where everyone looked up to her or admired her - in one way or another - was the best she'd experienced!

So, she stood her ground.

As she clenched the hard and somewhat rough hilt of the Leiying Sword, her State of Mind underwent another remarkable change. Her Will transformed - it became firmer, sturdier and more defined than ever before. It gained a new facet, one that was born out of her newfound determination. It was her will to step forward instead of backwards.

Having made up her mind, Xiao Hong immediately got to action, trying her best to analyse the battlefield in an attempt to find a way to resist - at least until reinforcements came.

Her gaze went towards Gu Ran who had sneak attacked the black-robed Demonic Cultivator from the back thus forcing her to defend. He was now facing three Cultivators at once.

Jun Meiling had also attacked the Xue Hun, forcing him to stop attacking the weaker disciples and engage her instead - the red-coloured bell's protection wasn't sturdy enough to protect him from her rather powerful attacks. It wasn't that the half-step Magic Treasure wasn't powerful, but that Xue Hun was not strong enough to bring out its full strength. Half-step Magic Treasures were used mostly by Fusion Realm beings, so expecting a weakling that had not even achieved Nirvana to bring out its power was too much.

So the rest of the disciples were not facing any 8th Disaster Experts.

However, that did not mean their situation was good. No, it was still downright shit.

First, each disciple had to face two to three Cultivators of the same Cultivation Realm as them, forcing them into an extreme disadvantage. They were suppressed to the point they could only defend. Counterattacking was a fool's dream. The only reason they could hold on was the Spirit Transformation Art buffing their powers. What was worse, some Demonic Cultivators had yet to join the battle because they were still making their way to the battlefield!

Second, they were on a time limit. Once Gu Ran's and Jun Meiling's Cultivation Burning Techniques ran out, they would be attacked by the six 8th Disaster-level Demonic Cultivators. That was essentially a death sentence. 

As for how Xiao Hong was sure they were burning their Cultivation Base? It was simple really, one's Cultivation Base was closely tied to their Lifeforce - there would be no increase in lifespan if that were not the case. Because of this, using Cultivation Burning Secret Techniques also affected their Lifeforce - weakening it. This in turn caused the Cultivator's outwardly manifested Life Aura to fluctuate and weaken.

'Even if I were to join the fight and attack the 7th Disaster Demonic Cultivators, it would be useless since I can't really do much to the 8th Disaster Cultivators.'

'Moreover, whether I can take on a 7th Disaster Cultivator remains a question.' Even if she had improved immensely watching Gu Ran and interacting with him, she was not sure if that would allow her to match a 7th Disaster Cultivator. 

The biggest reason she won her previous fights was the surprise factor of her Physical Prowess.

The only reason she was able to severely injure Ji Wuyan was because Gu Ran's previous attack had completely destroyed his defences and her attack had come at a truly perfect timing when his defences were still down. Even then, he was only severely injured. Yet, he was only severely injured despite the quantity of Zhenqi she'd put in.

And it was definitely impossible for these six Demonic Cultivators to let their guards down, knowing that Ji Wuyan had been killed.

'Since attacking is not of much use, what about defence?' Xiao Hong's mind raced. 'Defence… Can't be done either.' Her eyes darted around the battlefield, watching more and more Demonic Cultivators join the battle, slowly forcing the Purple Spirit Sect's disciples into a more and more disadvantageous position. 

Xiao Hong bit her lips. She could not think of anything at all! Her strength was lacking and she did not have any Cultivation Burning Techniques either. Even if she did… she did not know if she could muster the courage to use it - her chances of attaining Nirvana before 30 might disappear altogether.

Once again the voice urging Xiao Hong to escape appeared, comforting her, telling her it was okay to run. 'There's nothing you can do here anyway. That Junior Brother didn't mind you escaping. And the others won't either. 

'Even if they minded it, they need to come out alive first!'

'So it's -'

'No!' She gritted her teeth and forcefully stomped out her intrusive thoughts, her newly strengthened Will aiding her. 'No. I've made a decision and I'll stand by it!' 

She breathed out, staring at the destroyed remnants of a tree…

Her gaze fixed itself on the wooden chips, ashes and splinters strewn across the area. She stared at the fires that burnt on the remnants of the trees. This was the sheer destruction the battle wrought on the once beautiful forest.

"Huh?" Xiao Hong's eyes flashed as an idea struck her mind. And she immediately started surveying the surroundings. 

'Forest Terrain, but most of the trees are destroyed due to sheer destruction caused by the battles… The Wood Element will be chaotic, violent and unstable. I can use this.

'The whole forest is far from mountains, so the influence of Earth Element will be much less than if the forest was close to mountains.

'A decrease in stability, but an increase in flexibility. Not optimal, but I can work around it.

'I don't know about the stars, but since it is not even close to Noon yet, I leverage both the Sun's Yang and its status as a Star. Minor Astral Loci will be much easier to deduce this way! 

'Moreover, when it is approaching evening, I can use the flexibility to switch the main Astral Locus to the Moon instead!

'Fire, Metal and Water are more or less in balance. 

'Good, this makes for some much-needed stability with the chaotic Wood and lacking Earth.

'Since there were lots of deaths here, I can use this as the symbolic leverage for the Death Gate. Using the principles of 'Seeking Life within Death', I can 'reverse' the situation, using the 'Life Gate' as the main node for defence.

'Unfortunately, my Cultivation Base isn't strong enough, otherwise, I could directly use this to counterattack.' Xiao Hong's thoughts flowed like water, jumping from one to another as she carefully analysed the place.

In a few breaths, she had deduced tremendous amounts of details, and calculated hundreds of nodes and dozens of Astral Loci!

"Ughh…" Xiao Hong groaned, massaging the bridge of her nose. "Calculating so many things in such a short time is really too taxing on the Divine Sense and Spirit."

But she forcefully suppressed her tiredness by circulating her Zhenqi and looked up to the sky where Gu Ran and Jun Meiling were locked in combat.

"{Senior Brother Gu, Senior Sister Jun. Junior and Senior Martial Siblings, I have an idea that might be able to bring us out of our predicament. Or at least, keep us alive until reinforcements arrive.}" Xiao Hong sent out a wide area qi transmission to all the disciples of the Purple Spirit Sect.

"{What?! How?}" Jun Meiling's reply came instantly. She had already given up hope, but she couldn't help but perk up at the possibility of survival.

"{I've calculated an Array Formation-}" Xiao Hong started but was interrupted. 

"{Junior Sister, this is no time to joke-}" One of the Array Formation Masters that had come along with them started to express his doubts when he was interrupted by a large stream of information coming through his Divine Sense. It was Xiao Hong who sent him part of the Array Formation she had deduced. She knew people would be doubtful - at this critical moment, they could not afford mistakes.

He was immediately dumbfounded.

'H-H-How was she able to derive so many Loci in such a short amount of time?!' The Array Formation Master was utterly dumbfounded. One has to know that Array Formations of the scale she had proposed were heavily reliant on the terrain they were set up in - at least at the start. Every change beyond a certain degree requires one to recalculate a large number of things. 

And since the terrain around here was pretty much destroyed, she had to recalculate everything from scratch! Meaning, that even if she knew the original Formations that they were supposed to use in this forest, it would be of minimal use.

Recalculating everything from scratch would normally take even the best among them several hours of exhausting work at their fastest. The fact that someone could do it in a few minutes left him so shocked he couldn't speak. With his experience as a Formation Master, he could confirm that this Formation would really work!

While the Array Formation Master was still in doubt, Xiao Hong continued, "{The Formation that I have calculated should help us defend against Demonic Cultivators for a long while - enough for reinforcements to arrive.}"

"{Excellent!}" Gu Ran's eyes lit up. He barely suppressed a grin and continued, "{Junior Sister Xiao, go ahead! I will protect you!}"

"{All of you try your best to protect Junior Sister Xiao and help her!}" Gu Ran instructed the disciples. Normally speaking, he would not have enough prestige to order them around, but after displaying his tremendous battle prowess that very likely surpassed Bai Hao's, the disciples here pretty much regarded them as their leader.

"{Junior Sister, do your best.}" Jun Meiling also approved her plan. She had communicated with the Array Formation master and deduced that this plan was feasible. Then she sent a broadcast to the rest of the disciples, "{Everyone, please cooperate with Junior Sister Xiao Hong. If you have treasures that she requires, please don't hesitate! I will ensure the Sect compensates you triple after we survive!}"

With the approval of the strongest among them, Xiao Hong immediately got to work. She began instructing the disciples.

"{With the Sun as Major Astral Locus, go to the Alioth Locus and place an Earth Element Treasure…}" Xiao Hong began relaying instructions through qi transmission.

Of course, they didn't begin setting up the Array Nodes immediately. They would be discovered pretty fast if they did so. 

Instead, Xiao Hong decided to first relay the information to the disciples, then when they got a chance, they would set up the formation at the fastest speed!

Broadly speaking, Array Formations could be divided into two - Runic Formations and Symbolic Formations. 

Runic Formations were easy enough to understand - they leveraged the power of Immortal Runes to create Formations. 

Symbolic Formations on the other hand used symbolism, cycle of Essences, Elements etc. to operate. Take the example of the Five Divine Beasts Array that leveraged the power of the Divine Beasts Azure Dragon, Black Tortoise, Vermilion Bird, White Tiger and so on. Because these Divine Beasts were very real and very powerful creatures, even the symbols depicting them held a certain amount of power. 

Of course, this power was only the slightest trace and is merely used to give the Energy within the Array a direction and flow. The whole thing is still powered by Spirit Stones or Essence.

Similarly, one can use the power of the Five Elements like Earth, Fire, Water, Wood and Metal; Yin-Yang and so on, to power an Array. A proficient Array Formation Master would be able to take advantage of the Elements in Nature, the Stars, the Mountains and the Rivers in their surroundings to set up an Array Formation.

And this was exactly what Xiao Hong was doing.

She was using the power of chaotic Wood and the deaths of many Cultivators to power an Array.