Chapter 70—Formation

Chapter 70: Chapter 70—Formation

Chapter 70—Formation

’Crap.’ Lei Cheng cursed internally. ’What the hell now?’

He glanced at the sky, now covered by a transparent white barrier. The brief relief after defeating the Shadow vanished almost instantly.

Turning toward the trembling people who had also noticed it, Lei Cheng yelled, "Everyone, stay calm and hide inside your houses! Don’t come out until everything is over!"

His sharp words carried authority. He had already saved them once, and they believed he could do it again. Without any resistance, they rushed back into their houses and tightly shut the doors. Thud! None of them questioned his orders. Trust had replaced the panic.

Lei Cheng turned in the opposite direction instead of heading toward the inner city and broke into a run. He returned to the open wasteland left behind by the Shadow Bizarre, and continued without slowing down.

Soon, he entered the other slums untouched by the Shadow Skeleton’s destruction.

’It seems this was outside its domain.’ Lei Cheng clicked his tongue.

The Shadow Disaster Domain had covered only forty percent of the western outer city and slums.

He quickly reached the city walls, towering dozens of meters high. The city guards stood watch, trembling as they repeatedly glanced at the barrier overhead.

Lei Cheng passed through the massive brown gates and stepped outside. No one dared to stop him. They were too frozen to even notice him.

As soon as he stepped out, towering trees appeared at the edge of his vision. He stood on the official road.

The road, built from white bricks darkened with age, stretched toward the distant cities before disappearing deep into the forest.

Lei Cheng raised his head.

’It’s still here... It’s covering this area as well.’ He spotted the barrier extending far into the distance. Whatever had created it wasn’t targeting a single city—it had trapped an entire region. He frowned. ’It seems the entire surrounding area is trapped by this barrier.’

Almost like a dome, with Azure Cloud City at its center. He felt something dangerous had targeted the city. He turned around and rushed back toward the city.

As soon as he stepped through the inner city gates and walked forward a little, he glanced down.

His right leg had vanished.

He paused, his expression darkening. "It’s a Bizarre Domain." He pulled his leg back, and it reappeared before his eyes. ’Indeed, a Bizarre Domain.’ He glanced at the sky once again. ’But how can a Bizarre Domain form a barrier like this?’

He took a deep breath. ’It seems only Yue can answer me.’ He stepped into the Bizarre Domain. Without answers, standing outside would accomplish nothing.

As soon as he entered, he found himself standing in a forest filled with towering trees. A canopy stretched overhead, blocking the sunlight. He turned around and found another forest behind him.

Yet he knew it was the domain’s boundary.

He raised his leg and tried to walk through it. It felt as though he had struck an indestructible wall.

He slammed his shoulder into it. Bang!

Yet he didn’t move forward even an inch. He clenched his fists. ’My cultivation has been suppressed again.’

He sensed a tremendous pressure weighing down on his body as his cultivation strength once again disappeared. He was now no different from a mortal, possessing only the strength of his intents. The familiar weakness returned, but unlike before, it no longer unsettled him.

He sensed a familiar aura spreading throughout the forest. He turned around and walked deeper into it.

’This aura... there’s no doubt.’ He scowled. ’It belongs to Xiao Ming.’

He clenched his fists. ’Damn that Xiao Ming.’ He hissed. ’What is she planning now?’

After walking for a few minutes, Lei Cheng paused.

"ROAR!" A growl echoed through the forest.

He turned to his right and spotted a furry wolf with human limbs glaring at him. It was standing two meters tall with a muscular body.

’Yet another Bizarre Creature.’ He rubbed his forehead.

"Wait... did Xiao Ming allow it to stay inside her domain?" He mused for a moment. ’It seems that if the domain owner permits it, other Bizarre Creatures can remain within the domain.’

Bang!He lunged at the wolf and slammed its head with his right fist, which was burning with white-golden flames. The wolf didn’t move even an inch. Instead, it growled and snarled, emitting waves of air through its nose in fury, "Miss Hua agreed to get my fill today." Even ordinary Bizarre Creatures had begun treating humans as livestock.

However, in the next moment, its body burst into flames.

Before it could retaliate, Lei Cheng jumped back.

The wolf screamed in agony. "Ahh!"

Within moments, its body burned to black ashes. The encounter confirmed his suspicion—ordinary Bizarre Creatures were no longer the greatest threat inside this forest.

Lei Cheng dusted off his hands and continued walking. ’I should find Dad... and Yue first.’

He scanned his surroundings. All he could see were towering trees and grassy fields. There wasn’t a single person in sight.

He could only continue forward.

A few minutes later, he suddenly stopped.

"Someone save me!"

"Someone, help!"

Lei Cheng dashed toward the voices.

Soon, he spotted more than ten people running through the forest, their bodies covered in injuries.

A seven-tailed female Bizarre fox was slowly walking behind them. A cruel grin spread across her face as she barked in a cute baby voice, "Run, run, my food." She was clearly playing with them.

The moment they spotted Lei Cheng, the humans instantly felt relieved.

One of them immediately shouted, "Young Master Lei, help us!"

"Help us!"

"Kill this Bizarre Creature!"

The fox froze.

Her head cracked as it turned toward Lei Cheng like a robot.

She muttered in disbelief. "Why is he here?"

Then she swiftly turned around and fled. The predator reacted like prey.

Lei Cheng raised his hand and muttered, "Life Intent."

Crack!

Green vines erupted from the ground and bound the fox. The people smiled broadly and thanked him.

"Thank you for saving our lives!"

"As expected of Young Master Lei!"

Their heartbeats slowed down as they slumped to the ground.

Ignoring them, Lei Cheng walked straight toward the fox and stopped in front of her.

He pointed at the white barrier in the sky.

"Care to explain what that is?"

The fox grinned crazily. "Humans... your day of death is coming soon."

A small vine shot out from one of the larger vines and slapped her across the face. Slap! Lei Cheng had no patience left for meaningless threats.

A dark red mark instantly appeared on her cheek.

Yet the fox continued smiling. "You’ll die soon too, Lei Cheng."

Lei Cheng raised his arm, which started to glow with green light.

The fox shook her head. "Why are you in such a hurry?"

She raised her head. "That is a formation that seals both the entrance and exit."

Lei Cheng pressed further. "So why did you foxes create it?"

"The breeding zone." The fox answered almost proudly. "Our clan made a plan. We placed formation plates in the four cities surrounding Azure Cloud City and within the city. Once this formation activated, everything inside it fell under our clan’s control." She licked her lips, "This had never been a local attempt. It had been planned to be this scale from the very beginning."

Lei Cheng narrowed his eyes. "Your clan’s control?"

The fox nodded. "Humans will be under our clan’s control."

"Why? Isn’t Xiao Ming’s domain enough?" Lei Cheng asked.

"Not enough." The fox shook her head. "We’re preparing for the future. We want to create our own breeding area."

"Breeding area..." Lei Cheng repeated the words silently.

"It wanted to create a place where humans were raised like sheep, cows, and other livestock."

Suddenly, a trembling voice came from behind him. "They... they want to fatten us up and eat us once we grow." The words alone were enough to drain the remaining color from the survivors’ faces.

"Indeed. You’re clever." The fox glanced with slanted eyes at the thin man dressed in a violet brocade robe.

"What do you mean by preparing for the future?" Lei Cheng asked. "And can this formation be broken?"

The fox’s eyes turned crimson. "We foxes want to increase the prestige of our Celestial Fox Clan. Soon, we Bizarre Creatures will wage war against one another. So we need our own breeding zone to grow stronger by feeding on humans."

Lei Cheng remained silent, staring at her.

The fox continued. "As for the formation... yes, it can be broken."

"You need to find the core formation plate."

She smiled, "By the way, Young Miss Hua is guarding it."

"Good." Lei Cheng spat, "Life Explosion."

The vines erupted with green energy.

Bang!

The fox exploded into dust.

"Let’s go." He swiftly poured a bit of life intent into them as green dust.

Lei Cheng scowled. ’Breeding zone. I need to quickly break the formation.’ Without another word, he waved his hand and continued deeper into the forest.

Only those willing to follow came with him.

Two people had already fallen to their knees, trembling uncontrollably.

Lei Cheng ignored them. Some wounds couldn’t be healed by strength alone.

He could only protect those who still had the will to move.

The thin man quickly pulled them up. "Young Master Lei is strong. He’ll protect us. Don’t give up hope."

By the time they caught up, Lei Cheng had already covered a considerable distance. But he was walking at a moderate pace so they could have a chance to catch up in the first place.

He suddenly frowned. A few black particles of dust lay scattered across the grass before him.

He broke off a tree branch and carved a star into the trunk before continuing onward.

A few minutes later, the surroundings began to look familiar.

He turned toward a nearby tree.

The same star was carved into its trunk.

’We’re running in circles.’

He exhaled. The forest wasn’t changing. Something was changing their path instead.