Chapter 135 – Activating the Formation

Deep within the Inner Mountain, in this remote and secluded forest, a campsite glowed with light. It wasn’t the kerosene lamps commonly used in the mountains or the high-powered camping lanterns, but a real bonfire. Three men dressed in black mountaineering suits were bustling around the campsite, seemingly preparing something. One of them, a middle-aged man in his forties, occasionally gave instructions. However, as he was speaking, he suddenly stopped, jogged toward the direction of the tent, and stood respectfully in front of a man who had just stepped out of the tent. He whispered, “Master, my junior brothers and I are almost ready. A few of the disciples have been sent to the formation’s focal points outside, and we can activate the formation at any time. However, we still haven’t heard from Senior Brother Luo. Should we try contacting him again?”

He asked with great caution, but the man in front of him only smiled faintly: “No need to wait for them. The time has come. Begin.”

His voice was calm and gentle, but the middle-aged man’s expression turned serious. The meaning behind those words was clear—he was to take over the role of the senior brother, something he had never even considered before. However, such an opportunity was rare, and he couldn’t afford to hesitate. He immediately nodded and replied, “Master, rest assured, I will handle this matter properly!”

After saying this, he didn’t dare to linger and quickly walked back to his two junior brothers to finalize the preparations for activating the formation. The man who remained behind looked up at the sky, sneered, and then walked toward the lake behind the campsite.

The lake was no longer calm. Around this small pond, a row of torches had been lit. It was unclear what these torches were made of, but their flames were not red. Instead, they emitted a bluish-purple light. A gentle breeze blew, causing the flames to flicker, resembling a row of ghostly fires floating in mid-air. Surrounded by these eerie, phosphorescent flames, the lake’s surface appeared even more sinister, exuding a chill more terrifying than ice.

The middle-aged man who had just spoken was now standing by the lake, forming a large triangular formation with the two others. In front of them were placed three skulls, completely stripped of flesh, their bones oxidized to a dark yellow hue over the years. The empty eye sockets were pitch black, as if the dead were peering through them at the world of the living. Beside these skulls, several incense sticks were placed, though their purpose was unclear.

Seeing that the master had also arrived by the lake, the middle-aged man nodded to his two junior brothers, and the three of them sat down cross-legged, cutting open their left wrists. Blood spurted out, splashing onto the skulls. As the blood spread, the incense sticks suddenly ignited without fire, and a faint red light began to glow in the eye sockets of the skulls, as if blood had ignited within them.

As the red light appeared, all the phosphorescent flames by the shore began to tremble violently, hissing like a giant snake’s tongue. A thick, black mist seeped out of the flames, spreading across the surface of the lake. At the same time, the moon, which had been obscured by dark clouds, slowly revealed itself. Although it was not yet full, the moon was surprisingly round, but its usual silver-white light was replaced by a blood-red hue, casting an eerie and sinister glow.

The lake also began to change. The once-frozen water started to ripple, as if boiling. Seeing this, the middle-aged man breathed a slight sigh of relief and tried to stop the bleeding from his wrist, only to find that his body was pinned in place by some invisible force. He couldn’t move at all, and the blood from his wrist flowed faster and faster, as if it was being drained from his body.

Panic flashed in his eyes, but apart from his eyeballs, he couldn’t even open his mouth. The two men sitting across the lake were in the same state, and even the four disciples stationed at the outer formation points, whom he couldn’t see, were similarly immobilized. Everyone was pinned to the ground, unable to speak or move, like clay or wooden puppets.

Only then did the figure standing behind them begin to move. The man slowly walked into the center of the formation, not sparing a glance at his trembling disciples. He simply cut open his fingertip and flicked a drop of blood into the lake.

Just one drop of blood. The lake roared. Not just the lake, but even the ground beside it and the forest behind it began to tremble. An indescribable force surged from deep within the earth, and with a loud “boom,” the lake split open!

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Finally managing to get in touch with the others, both sides were clearly agitated. Yao Wei, seizing the moment, brought the conversation back to the main topic with his usual business acumen: “You ran into that old bastard Luo Jin? And the Five Mourning Formation? Shit, how did you even manage to deal with that?”

The Five Mourning Formation was derived from the Laoshan Five Ghosts Formation, and Yao Wei was well aware of the power of this Forbidden Technique. The dense yin energy that could block even military-grade communication signals was no ordinary feat of sorcery. Luo Jin was a well-known master in the field, and his abilities were nothing to scoff at. Even if he wasn’t the top figure in his group, he was certainly within the top three. For any of them to face him alone would have been a disaster. Yet, this old monster had been easily dealt with by those two kids?

Wei Yang chuckled softly and answered truthfully: “We found a Mirage Dragon’s shell at the Water Position and used it to set up an illusion formation.”

At these words, not only Yao Wei, but even Zeng Jingxuan was shocked. Mirage Artifacts had disappeared nearly five hundred years ago, and encountering one, let alone activating it, was practically unheard of. However, after a moment of surprise, Zeng Jingxuan remembered Wei Yang’s background. Mirage Artifacts were treasures of the Wu Family, and with Wei Yang being a descendant of the Wu bloodline, it wasn’t entirely implausible. Frowning, he said, “At the Metal Position, we found a Tiger Tally. Combined with the Black Bird Mirror we dug up earlier and the Mirage Dragon you have, this isn’t just a simple Four Symbols correspondence—it’s the Four Symbols taking form.”

The Four Symbols were originally just symbolic representations, as the Eight Trigrams were divided into yin and yang transformations, far more complex than just four divine beasts. However, in the world of feng shui, there were times when extremely powerful Four Symbols ritual tools were used to suppress the earth’s energy, emphasizing their “singularity” and “purity.” The items they had unearthed were each treasures of the Daoist tradition. Using such artifacts as formation focal points could only mean that what was being suppressed had a natural, innate form.

The Azure Dragon governs the East, the Wood Position.

“The Spiritual Aperture is a type of dragon’s lair. Perhaps this transformation from yang to yin is part of the process of forming a Dragon Vein. That’s why Sun Yunhe placed the Mirage Dragon at the Water Position, rather than something else that could represent the Black Tortoise.”

The transformation of the Spiritual Aperture was a natural phenomenon of heaven and earth. Trying to reverse the natural order with human effort was inherently risky, which was why Sun Yunhe chose the Mirage Artifact, with its deceptive power, to attempt to deceive heaven and earth and reverse yin and yang. The Tiger Tally gathered yin soldiers from the earth, while the Black Bird Mirror controlled heavenly yang. Using these three to suppress the Spiritual Aperture’s transformation into a dragon at the Wood Position was the only way to maintain balance. However, in recent years, the development of the scenic area had disrupted this balance, not only damaging the formation but also introducing a lot of human energy, accelerating the transformation of the Spiritual Aperture.

But if that was the case…

“He’s not just trying to steal the spirit—he’s trying to directly seize the Dragon Vein formed by the Spiritual Aperture!” Zeng Jingxuan’s expression changed drastically. He finally understood why that group had gone to such lengths to set up this soul-stealing operation. If they succeeded in obtaining this newly formed Dragon Vein, not only would they be in danger, but even if all the Daoist masters in the world were summoned, they might not be able to stop him. A man so ruthless and skilled in Daoist arts, now with the longevity granted by dragon energy, would be a hundred times more dangerous than Sun Yunhe ever was.

Realizing this, Zeng Jingxuan immediately asked, “Where exactly did you find the Mirage Artifact?”

Knowing this was for celestial positioning, Zhang Xiuqi quickly provided the coordinates, while Zeng Jingxuan gave the locations for the Metal and Fire Positions. Half a minute later, the two of them spoke almost simultaneously: “Yanlong Pond!”

They had studied the map of Mount Xian countless times and were intimately familiar with the terrain of the Inner Mountain. Yanlong Pond was a small lake in a valley on the eastern side. Due to its remote location and lack of historical sites, it hadn’t yet been developed. Who would have thought the Spiritual Aperture was located in that lake?

Zeng Jingxuan immediately said, “We’re still over 20 kilometers away. It’ll take at least two hours to get there. You might be closer, but it’ll still take some time. Let’s calculate the formation’s positions and reactivate the ritual tools. That should at least cause some trouble for them.”

Sun Yunhe may have been a once-in-a-generation genius, but they had one advantage over him: the passage of time. Sun had lived during the Five Dynasties and early Song period, and many Daoist techniques had yet to evolve. As powerful as he was, his methods were still somewhat crude. Nearly a thousand years had passed since then, and the Daoist tradition had been developed and refined by countless masters, giving rise to techniques and formations that Sun Yunhe could never have imagined. Even if none of them could match Sun’s abilities, they could still use the knowledge gained over centuries to rework the formation.

Zhang Xiuqi naturally understood this as well and replied decisively, “We’ll follow your lead.”

Among them, Zeng Jingxuan was indeed the most skilled in formations. Without hesitation, he began to calculate the celestial positions, his fingers moving swiftly. After about ten minutes, he stopped and quickly instructed, “Xiao Qi, head another kilometer northeast. We’ll handle the Tiger Tally and the Black Bird Mirror on our end. We’ll act together in fifteen minutes!”

“The Partial Star Formation?” Yao Wei caught on quickly, immediately understanding Zeng Jingxuan’s plan.

At this point, setting up another Four Symbols formation would not only be too time-consuming but also ineffective since the original formation had already been broken. The Partial Star Formation, however, didn’t rely on the Four Symbols’ mutual generation but on the Five Elements’ mutual destruction. Coincidentally, they had the Tiger Tally and the Black Bird Mirror, which represented metal and fire. The clash between metal and fire would generate a destructive force, and with the Mirage Dragon as a mediator, this wasn’t just about suppressing the Spiritual Aperture—it was about restraining or even destroying its transformation. It was risky, but it was their only option.

“Exactly. At this point, we have no choice but to take the risk. Xiao Qi, move quickly…” Before Zeng Jingxuan could finish, his body suddenly stiffened, and he stared fixedly at the sky. The moon, which had been obscured by dark clouds, now revealed itself—but it wasn’t the usual silver-white moon. Instead, it was a blood-red moon, an omen of disaster.

As the blood moon rose, the entire mountain fell silent. Even the gentle breeze stopped, and the world became as still as a graveyard. However, after just a few seconds, the deathly silence was shattered by a terrifying tremor that shook the earth beneath their feet.

Zeng Jingxuan’s face paled: “They’ve activated the formation!”