Chapter 71: Formation Activated

Chapter 71: Chapter 71: Formation Activated

All that planning eventually led to the situation they were in now.

Yizhou and Shi Yan were still locked in a fierce battle when another sword attack suddenly came from the side.

Shi Yan reacted quickly, turning her head just in time to see a woman in red rushing toward her. A sword was already in her hand, her long hair tied neatly into a ponytail, while her sharp phoenix eyes gleamed beneath the darkening sky. Her movements were swift and decisive, each step carrying a sense of confidence that gave her an especially valiant air.

It was Luo Qingya.

The sword in her hand flashed as she swung it toward Shi Yan.

Shi Yan immediately raised her own weapon to block.

Clang!

The collision sent sparks flying, and the force behind Luo Qingya’s strike caused Shi Yan’s body to shift several steps backward.

Before Shi Yan could fully respond, an arrow suddenly shot toward her from behind.

She twisted her body to avoid it.

The arrow flew past her shoulder and struck the ground, sinking deeply into the earth.

Luo Qingxue had joined the fight as well.

The sisters worked together with remarkable tacit understanding. There was no need for either of them to give instructions. One attacked from the front while the other covered the rear, their attacks complementing one another perfectly.

Shi Yan’s expression gradually became more serious.

What had originally been a one-on-one battle instantly became a three-on-one.

With Yizhou attacking from one side and Luo Qingya and Luo Qingxue working together from the other, the pressure on Shi Yan increased sharply. Every time she attempted to retreat, one of the three would immediately cut off her path. Every time she tried to focus on a single opponent, another attack would arrive from her blind spot.

The three Golden Core cultivators worked together without giving her any opportunity to breathe.

Under the combined assault, Shi Yan was gradually forced into a disadvantageous position.

They still could not determine her true cultivation level, but judging from the battle so far, they were confident in their advantage.

After all, there were three Golden Core cultivators on their side, and Yizhou was even at the peak of the Golden Core stage.

As long as they continued working together, they believed they could suppress Shi Yan.

"Surrender yourself, Shi Yan—or should we call you the Lady Boss of Yaomei Pavilion?" Luo Qingya said coldly, her voice cutting through the clash of weapons like a drawn blade. Her phoenix eyes remained fixed on Shi Yan, sharp and unyielding, while her blade continued to attack

Shi Yan’s eyes narrowed slightly. The faint smile that had lingered on her lips disappeared, replaced by a guarded expression as she sensed something unusual beneath her feet.

Before she could respond, the ground beneath them slowly began to lit up.

Pale golden lines spread across the earth like cracks of light, racing outward in every direction. Intricate runes emerged one after another, weaving together into a vast formation that encircled the battlefield. The air trembled as a heavy, as a strong pressure descended from above, and the glow beneath their feet grew brighter with every passing breath.

What initially looked like ordinary lines soon connected into a complicated network of runes.

Shi Yan’s expression changed as she immediately realized what was happening.

Before she could react, the formation beneath her suddenly erupted with light.

Boom!

An invisible force seized her body and dragged her downward, as though an enormous weight had suddenly descended upon her shoulders.

Her feet sank into the ground as the pressure continued to increase.

Shi Yan’s knees bent slightly under the immense force, and even moving her arms suddenly became difficult. The demonic energy circulating through her body seemed to slow under the suppression.

This was a formation passed down through generations of the Xu family’s ancestors, specifically designed to suppress demons. The fact that the formation had reacted to Shi Yan and successfully suppressed her was already enough to prove that she was not human.

Yizhou, who had been fighting alongside them, had already received the signal that the formation was about to activate. He immediately withdrew from its range, successfully avoiding being caught by the formation as it was activated.

"Surrender yourself, demon. Tell us, why have you returned to wreak havoc in the Human Realm? Twenty years ago, you even established a stronghold in Yaomei Pavilion. What exactly are you demons planning?"

The voice came from behind the formation.

It was City Lord Xu.

He had remained nearby all this time, personally overseeing the activation of the ancestral formation. Now that Shi Yan had been completely suppressed, he stepped forward, his gaze cold and stern as he stared at the demon trapped within the formation.

Hearing this, the atmosphere suddenly changed.

Shi Yan, who had been suppressed beneath the formation, suddenly began to laugh. Her laughter was soft at first, but it gradually grew louder, carrying an unsettling mixture of amusement and madness.

"Good... good. This makes things much more exciting."

Her voice had become strangely sultry, yet there was an unmistakable hint of derangement beneath it.

"I didn’t expect things to develop like this. To think you already know even this much..." She chuckled softly, her voice filled with surprise. "That is truly, truly unexpected."

She paused for a moment before her lips curled into a strange smile.

"But since things have already come to this, I suppose I have no choice."

As she spoke, Shi Yan slowly pushed herself up from the ground.

The formation continued to suppress her, its powerful force bearing down on her body, yet she seemed to be gradually adapting to the pressure. Her movements, which had initially been restricted, were becoming steadier with every passing moment.

At her feet, wisps of dark purple smoke slowly began to rise.

No one noticed that beneath the formation, hidden from everyone’s sight, a thin crack had quietly appeared across one of its intricate runic patterns.

In one corner of the battlefield, Lin Fan had been watching the situation unfold.

[System Advice: Attack the demon before it can escape.]

Lin Fan’s eyes immediately lit up.

The demon was already weakened and trapped beneath the formation. If he struck now and managed to kill her, not only could he complete the system’s mission, but he could also take the credit for bringing down the culprit.

Such an opportunity was too good to pass up.

He immediately stepped forward.

"Why are you still wasting time asking questions?" Lin Fan suddenly shouted, his voice loud enough for everyone nearby to hear. "She’s already been suppressed by the formation! This is the perfect chance to take her down. Don’t give her the opportunity to recover!"

Before anyone could object, Lin Fan drew his sword and charged straight into the battlefield, eager to be the first to land the killing blow.

Seeing someone take the initiative, the surrounding cultivators were quickly swept along. They exchanged glances before drawing their own weapons and following after him, rushing toward Shi Yan while she was still trapped beneath the formation.

Sui Sui, however, felt that something was wrong.

According to City Lord Xu, the ancestral formation was specifically designed to suppress demons. Yet Shi Yan was clearly not being suppressed as completely as she should have been. Not only had she managed to stand, but she seemed to be gradually adapting to the formation’s pressure.

A thought suddenly flashed through Sui Sui’s mind.

If Shi Yan really was a Qingmei demon, then she should excel in two particular arts—charm spells and illusions.

It might not seem like much, but both arts relied heavily on rune inscriptions. And formations were also a type of rune inscription.

Could it be that Shi Yan had found a loophole in the formation?

The realization made Sui Sui’s heart sink.

"Everyone, don’t get too close! She might be—"

Before he could finish his warning, Lin Fan and the others had already entered the area where Shi Yan was being suppressed.

The next instant—

BOOM!

A violent explosion erupted from within the formation.

"How could this be? The formation actually failed?" someone in the crowd exclaimed, their voice filled with disbelief.

Sui Sui hurriedly tried to retreat to the side, but as a Qi Formation cultivator, his speed was nowhere near fast enough to escape the blast in time.

Before he could get far, a pair of strong arms suddenly wrapped around his waist and pulled him backward.

Sui Sui stumbled straight into someone’s embrace, his nose bumping against a broad chest. A familiar scent immediately reached him.

He knew that scent.

It was Yizhou.

"A bunch of idiots," Yizhou said coldly, still holding Sui Sui securely in his arms. "The moment she started standing, they should have realized that she wasn’t being fully suppressed. Yet they still rushed in without thinking."

His gaze remained fixed on the battlefield as the dust and smoke slowly spread across the battlefield.

"There are only two possibilities. Either she found a way to dismantle the formation, or she is simply stronger than the people who created it." His voice turned slightly colder. "Neither possibility is good."

As the dust gradually settled, the scene within the formation finally became visible.

Where Shi Yan had been standing moments ago, several cultivators lay scattered across the ground. Some were completely unconscious, while others were motionless with injuries covering their bodies. They had taken the explosion head-on without even having the chance to defend themselves.

"Thank you for delivering yourselves to me," Shi Yan said with a soft laugh. "You saved me the trouble of tricking you into entering my range so I could absorb your energy."

The moment her voice fell, a surge of demonic energy suddenly erupted from her body.

Dark purple energy rapidly enveloped her entire figure, obscuring her appearance from everyone’s sight. The surrounding air seemed to distort beneath the overwhelming pressure, and the demonic aura continued to rise.

Then, in the next instant, the figure standing within the formation changed completely.

It was no longer Shi Yan.

The woman who emerged from the dissipating demonic energy was a completely different person. She possessed an exquisite and enchanting appearance, with a pair of alluring phoenix eyes. Long red robes flowed around her body while her long black hair danced wildly in the air, stirred by the surging demonic energy surrounding her.

At the same time, her spiritual aura began to climb at an alarming rate.

Golden Core...

The pressure continued to rise.

Peak Golden Core...

Then, with a sudden surge, the aura broke through another level entirely.

The oppressive might spread across the battlefield, causing everyone’s expressions to change.

This was no longer the aura of a Golden Core cultivator.

"I—it’s the power of a Nascent Soul demon!"