Chongming Xianzong

Chapter 565 Breaking the Formation and Capturing the Enemy: The Edge Points to the Witch Master
The one who fell was Yu Nian'en, the fourth hall master of the Yunze Witch Lord Hall. After being hit by the Golden Eye of Deception, this Golden Core cultivator suffered severe pain in his internal organs, and even his Qi could not circulate smoothly.

The pain was so intense that his face became extremely contorted, and his once dashing long beard broke off inch by inch. You could no longer see any semblance of his usual dignity.

"This young man surnamed Kang is far more capable than the Palace Master previously described."

Yu Nian'en continued to complain bitterly, which made even the most determined warriors and monks change their expressions.

This caused Ziling's already precarious situation to collapse completely, and Ren Zhongming Sect disciples began to systematically use their magic and artifacts to reap lives.

Fortunately, the alchemists of Yunze Witch Lord Palace had not completely lost their composure. They unanimously used some of their trump cards to force their enemies to retreat.

Even without any attempt to conceal it, there were always a few fake pills who were more skilled than the real ones, abandoning their opponents and rushing to Yu Nian'en's side to protect her.

However, none of these people looked well. Yu Nian'en could be considered the third-ranked figure in the Yunze Witch Lord's Palace, yet after fighting against that Kang, a lackey of the Immortal Dynasty, they had all turned into this disheveled state.

How could these mere Pill Masters possibly withstand several halberd strikes from Sect Leader Kang?

People's joys and sorrows are never the same. The alchemists of the Yunze Witch Lord Palace were as if they had lost their parents and were uneasy, but Duan Anle under the banner was invigorated.

He could already see the long sword behind Jiang Qing trembling incessantly, but he ignored it and was unwilling to let go of this rare opportunity. Only when the formation of the Yunze Witch Lord Palace was completely dissipated did the five hundred Sky-Treading Cavalry, which had been kept hidden, finally come out.

As Yuan Jin had previously planned, this team should have been equipped entirely with the Cloud-Stepping Steeds bred in the Chongmingzong Beast Garden. However, this was not enough for the short term, so they had to be supplemented with many other animals to serve as training grounds for combat.

Like the Crimson Guard, the Sky-Treading Cavalry were also selected from law-abiding families within the jurisdiction of the Chongming Sect. However, unlike the former, the Sky-Treading Cavalry was still in its initial stage, and even the name of the team was hastily decided when the Grand Master Kang arrived in Xianzhou.

The current army is poorly trained, lacks proper armor, and is unfamiliar with battle formations; it is far from being a capable fighting force. Therefore, if it had hastily faced those shaman soldiers and warrior monks who had been trained for many years, it would have likely fallen apart in a single encounter.

However, in this situation, these cultivators riding decent warhorses were quite useful. They were fast and easily caught up with the tail of the fleeing soldiers of the Yunze Witch Lord Palace.

Jin Shilun's son, Jin Tanglu, had not yet established his foundation, but he was extremely courageous. At this time, he took the lead as a junior officer of the Sky-Treading Cavalry without hesitation.

In terms of courage, even Jin Shilun, who was used to being cautious under the tutelage of Master Kang, was a notch below him.

After Jin Tanglu entered the remnants of the enemy formation, he began to stir up the scattered soldiers. Before long, the already chaotic army formation was further disrupted and became indistinguishable.

At this time, there were not many rational shamans and warrior monks, and even fewer who dared to form a defensive formation. However, they were given special attention by Jin Tanglu and his team, who had freed up their hands.

This matter is extremely dangerous, let alone for someone who is merely at the Qi Refining stage. Even Liu Ya, the Chongming Sect's Punishment Hall Elder who is temporarily in charge of the Sky-Stepping Cavalry, is very nervous and keeps urging the Foundation Establishment cultivators in his hands to help.

However, things were strange on the battlefield. Jin Tanglu did not shy away from death and was unharmed despite the stubborn resistance of the remaining enemies. On the contrary, many of the true cultivators who came to help were somewhat hesitant and were targeted by the remaining enemies, resulting in deaths and injuries.

However, given the overwhelming tide of battle, these remaining enemies were nothing more than rotten wooden stakes disguised as reefs. With Liu Ya leading a group of true cultivators and personally escorting the Sky-Treading Cavalry to their aid, they dared not put up a stubborn resistance, and blood flowed like rivers wherever they went.

If the five hundred Sky-Treading Cavalry had been placed in the previous battle formation, they might not have even made a ripple. But at this moment, they were like griffins guarding a flock of sheep, chasing these Dao soldiers, who had been trained at the cost of countless resources from the Cloud Ze Witch Venerable Palace, into a panic.

Seeing this, Kang Rongquan wanted to urge his subordinates, the Red Jade Guards, to pursue the enemy again. After all, in Elder Kang's eyes, there was no reason to only gnaw on bones without eating the meat.

But just as he was about to move, the central command flag changed, halting the movement of his entire battalion. Kang Rongquan was only surprised for a short while before he saw those conscripted soldiers who only knew how to obey orders and kill had already come out.

These conscripted soldiers were indeed fearless, but they shared the same problem as the poorly organized Sky-Treading Cavalry: they were extremely weak.

Therefore, Kang Rongquan thought to himself that if he were in charge of the entire army, he should use these weak soldiers to wear down the morale of the opposing shaman soldiers and warrior monks before sending the elite troops to engage the enemy.

However, judging from Duan Anle's current actions, he seems to want to keep these recruits for a while longer, in anticipation of future developments.

Yu Nian'en took in the entire scene before him, but no matter how anxious he was, he was completely helpless.

In fact, if Huozhou hadn't been the location of the Yunze Witch Lord's Palace, he might have been fleeing for his life along with the other disciples and a group of alchemists.

Yu Nian'en was neither the legitimate son-in-law of a powerful family nor a lackey of a celestial dynasty. He had cultivated diligently for three or four hundred years, and his wealth, body refinement, Daoist techniques, and magical treasures were far inferior to those of a junior who had only recently formed his core. What ability did he have to stop him?

But if Huozhou is lost just like that, how will the Grand Master Huang Mijia explain it to him?
Yu Nian'en's original intention was to rely on the elite of the shaman soldiers and warrior monks to barely hold off the Chongming Sect. As long as the battle formation was effective, even if that Kang fellow was cunning, he would still find it difficult to withstand the combined strength of thousands of cultivators, wouldn't he?

However, Yu Nian'en did not expect that Chongming Sect, a rising star with almost no lineage, could actually train such a large elite force in just a hundred years, rendering all his plans futile.

Even so, he had no intention of abandoning the formation and leaving. After all, if that were the case, there would probably be very few disciples left among those he had brought. If that were the case, how could he, a Golden Core cultivator who had grown up in the Yunze Witch Lord's Palace since childhood, have the face to live on?

But if war is to be fought...
The halberd's light, piercing through the Jade Palace's filth, swept over, so bright that most of the alchemists could hardly look directly at it. They had to quickly form hand seals and channel their spiritual energy into their eyes to be able to see about 50-60% of it.

As for blocking
Among these alchemists was a sword cultivator named Hua Mei, who was a direct disciple of Yu Nian'en. He usually boasted that he had already reached the threshold of sword essence and was unmatched by his peers.

At this moment, Yu Nian'en's internal energy was not fully restored, so he was powerless to provide support. The alchemists were also disorganized and unable to form a defensive formation in a short time. Therefore, the swordsman who drew his eyebrows to repay his master's kindness drew his sword and gritted his teeth to block, but the outcome was not good.

But after a clang of metal clashing, the swordsman with the painted eyebrows bled profusely. His precious flying sword was wiped away by the halberd's light and fell into his master's hands, where the divine imprint on it was quickly erased.

"This...this is what a cultivator at the early stage of the Golden Core realm is like?"

The swordsman who drew eyebrows clearly had some reputation among the alchemists of the Yunze Witch Lord Palace; he was at least comparable to Yuan Buwen of the Yuan family and Yue Lan of the Yue family.

But anyone with eyes could see clearly that the person on the other side was holding back, afraid of damaging the still valuable flying sword magic weapon, which was why they didn't take the life of the eyebrow-drawing sword cultivator with a single blow.

Yu Nian'en could also see that the surrounding alchemists were terrified. He still had some composure, and with his best efforts, he blocked another halberd beam shining down from the clouds. Only then did he order the group of fake alchemists to form an array to protect themselves.

Their Yunze Witchcraft Palace was indeed a well-established lineage, quite different from those wild foxes. But just as the cultivators were about to form their array, their previously abandoned opponents all came looking for them again.

Unlike the Pill Master of Yunze Witch Lord Hall, whose hearts were turned to change after being frightened by the tragic state of the sword cultivator who drew eyebrows, the group of fake pill cultivators from the Chongming Sect led by Yuan Buwen did not need to worry about Yu Nian'en, a superior cultivator, taking action.

Although the halberd technique practiced by Yuan Buwen, the leader, was far inferior to that of Master Kang, it still originated from the same source.

The latter also understood the principle of reciprocity, which made the old cultivator, who was nearing the end of his lifespan, improve his halberd skills even more. This was quite conspicuous in the eyes of Yu Nian'en and the other cultivators of the Yunze Witch Venerable Hall.

Yu Nian'en's eyes were filled with hatred. She had just finished forming the Xuanjutsu in her hand when she was startled by the golden light that came from the clouds and dropped the spell into empty air.

Having tasted the flavor of the Golden Eyes of Delusion, Yu Nian'en dared not be negligent in the slightest, and summoned a tattered stone shield to block it. As the golden light dissipated, the magical artifact in his hand shattered into dust.

Yu Nian'en was in so much pain that blood spilled from the corner of her mouth. Only then did she become even more determined. She took out a strange pill and swallowed it whole. After that, a mysterious light rose up behind her. As soon as three beams of spiritual light appeared, they transformed into three third-tier puppets, which blocked the halberd light that Kang Dabao was about to attack.

The Yunze Witch Lord Palace had already lost several palace masters, and it was already struggling to cope with the long-standing rivals, the Red Powder Temple and the Thousand Buddha Forest, in Sizhou. The fact that it was still possible to leave the fourth palace master, Yu Nian'en, to guard Huozhou alone seemed like a poor and unwise move, but in reality, it was the result of its utmost efforts.

Master Huang Mijia knew that the sect leader Kang, whom he had fought before, was somewhat difficult to deal with, so he left three of the five third-tier puppets sent by Zhaixinglou to Yu Nian'en for protection.

Just like the cultivator who was refined into a flesh and blood puppet by the third-tier military talisman, if he wants to bring out the maximum effect of the third-tier puppet, he needs to be controlled by a genuine golden core.

However, Yu Nian'en's spiritual sense was only mediocre among those of the same level. If he did not take the Tiger and Wolf Pills, how could he possibly control three third-level puppets at the same time for protection?

Even so, Yu Nian'en's spiritual consciousness, which had surged due to the consumption of the pill, was instantly drained by the third-tier puppet, leaving her in a critical situation.

As the golden light and halberd beams that came one after another were blocked by the third-tier puppets wielding swords and shields, Yu Nian'en felt much relieved. However, these puppets could only help him prolong his life; they could not protect the lives of the other alchemists around him.

Yu Nian'en watched as the heavily injured swordsman with painted eyebrows was knocked to the ground by Yuan Buwen's halberd. Before he could get up, he was covered by a group of Chongming cultivators wearing red armor and holding long spears.

When the sword light rose afterward, even though there were still severed limbs and screams flying out from the crowd, the fierce and courageous aura of those cultivators did not dissipate in the slightest.

In fact, only a few breaths had passed, and before Yu Nian'en could even spare a moment to save him, a handsome cultivator wielding a pickaxe rushed out from the crowd. Taking advantage of the fact that the sword cultivator had not yet regained his strength, he relied on three grass puppets and a wooden demon to manage to withstand half of the remaining sword energy. Then, he approached the sword cultivator and, with a single hoe, severed the latter's path.

Seeing his disciple's brains splatter and the cheers from the enemy ranks reaching the heavens, Yu Nian'en was momentarily speechless with grief and pain.

Tears welled in his cloudy eyes, but he only paused for a brief moment before suppressing his grief and engaging in combat with his powerful enemy. His three puppets, all mid-tier third-order puppets, wielded a sword and shield, a purple-gold alms bowl, and a whisk, respectively dressed as Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist figures. Yu Nian'en endured a splitting headache and bleeding from his seven orifices, managing to barely maintain his composure.

Seeing Yu Nian'en working so hard, even the usually aloof Master Kang finally decided to step down.

The scene before him was a sudden, blinding golden light bursting from the armor plates of a sword-and-shield puppet, with an ancient bronze sword, imbued with a chilling aura, slashing towards him.

The purple-gold alms bowl was inverted in mid-air, and mysterious runes condensed into a vortex-shaped black hole. The airflow in the entire space was collapsing towards the mouth of the bowl, and even the dust was twisted into spiral patterns.

The whisk unleashed thousands of feet of silver threads, each thread carrying the power of a restriction, forming a sky-covering net in the void.

These three oppressive forces each had their own merits, and could all be considered Huang Mi's last trump card left for Yu Nian'en.

Duan Anle, standing beneath the banner, couldn't see clearly, but felt as if the bright sunlight overhead was obscured by dark clouds, barely visible. Unlike the solemn-faced Duan Anle, Third Master Jiang remained as calm as ever.

Even though he knew that the three third-tier puppets in front of him were no ordinary objects, Jiang Qing seemed even more confident than the sect leader Kang, who was on the front lines.

The latter's pupils suddenly turned golden, and two golden rays shot out, causing the ancient sword to fly away, the black hole to shatter, and the silver threads to break.

The overwhelming pressure that Yu Nianen had painstakingly created suddenly crumbled by more than half.

Fortunately, Master Kang's Golden Eyes of Truth-Seeking were already at their peak, but unleashing such power was no easy feat. He then extinguished the golden light in his eyes and raised his halberd to fight.

Before long, Yu Nian'en's knuckles were clenched so tightly they turned white, his temples throbbed like drums, and drops of blood from his nose dripped onto his clothes, gradually spreading into dark red marks.

He clenched his teeth, his tongue tasting the metallic sweetness of rust. His spiritual energy surged through his meridians like a wild horse, yet he still managed to reassemble his scattered consciousness with sheer tenacity.
"Boom!" The sound of the clouds breaking apart drowned out the trembling of the puppet's armor.

The halberd in the hands of the Great Master Kang was covered with a layer of bright silver light. He slashed down at the sword and shield puppet that looked like a Confucian scholar. The latter, who was holding a shield to block, was forced to break through the clouds and fall to the ground.

Kang Dabao's gaze swept over Yu Nian'en's bleeding eyes. With a slight frown, he formed a hand seal with his left hand and gathered power with his right. Just then, he once again commanded the reviving sword and shield puppet. The ancient bronze sword was already three inches in front of Kang Dabao's eyebrows.

The sword suddenly grew to a length of about ten feet, and the Confucian inscriptions on the spine of the sword seemed to come alive, carrying a chilling sword aura of "sacrificing oneself for righteousness" as it pierced straight towards the face.

Without dodging or avoiding, Master Kang drew an arc in the air with his left index finger to block the sword energy, while simultaneously unleashing his long-prepared Eight Desolations Mountain Suppression, which landed on the puppet's true form.

With a loud bang, the sword and shield puppet's armor shattered into dust, and the magic shield in the puppet's hand flew wildly. The ancient sword's murderous aura seemed to freeze for a moment.

Yu Nian'en hurriedly summoned the puppet that resembled a Buddhist monk to the rescue. The purple-gold alms bowl in its hand regenerated a black hole, which expanded to a radius of ten zhang in just a few breaths, encompassing all the surrounding soil, rocks, and trees.

With a wave of his sleeve, Master Kang caused intricate runes to reappear on the armor plates of the Heluo Xuan Armor, dispelling the endless Buddhist light that surged towards him.

"Swish,"

The silver net of the whisk had already descended upon them. Each silver thread shimmered with mysterious restrictions, and the mesh of the net was shaped like the Bagua (Eight Trigrams). The moment it touched Kang Dahe Luo Xuan Armor, it collided with the endless runes and immediately exploded with a crackling sound, causing even the Great Master Kang to frown slightly.

"It's alright, we can just avoid it." The golden core in his dantian suddenly lit up, and the flowing spiritual energy condensed into phantom images of weapons in his meridians.

As Kang Dabao gazed at the three puppets approaching in a triangular formation, he pressed his tongue against his palate and uttered a soft shout. At that moment, the military strategy taught by the Wood Mansion Star Lord, the Halberd Master, was being dissipated from his short halberd.

"Seven Fiends Lock the Dragon!" With this shout, Kang Dabao's figure suddenly split into six afterimages on the spot.

Seven figures moved about according to the Big Dipper, and the arcs drawn by their short halberds wove into dark golden dragon-shaped chains in the void.

Just as the sword-and-shield puppet was about to charge forward with its shield, its ankles were already bound by chains. The chains, formed from battle energy, were covered with fine star patterns. With each tightening, a wisp of green smoke seeped out from the gaps in the puppet's armor.

The black hole in the purple-gold alms bowl suddenly accelerated its rotation, still undeterred, determined to suck Kang Dabao's true form into it.

But the six afterimages turned around in unison, their sword tips pointing at the center of the black hole. The chains suddenly taut like strings, and the originally collapsing airflow was pulled back by this force. The gilded Buddhist mantra on the chest of the bowl-holding puppet suddenly burst out with spiritual light, as if it had been hit hard by an invisible warhammer.

Just then, the silver silk net of the whisk puppet descended. Kang Dabao's true form suddenly soared into the sky, and the seven figures instantly merged into one. The semicircle drawn above their heads by the Jade Palace Broken Purity shone with a cold, moon-like radiance.

"Greedy Wolf Devours the Moon!" With a flick of his wrist, the battle aura on the short halberd suddenly transformed into a silver wolf with its blood-red maw wide open, which actually bit and shredded all the silver threads that were shimmering with restrictions.

Taking advantage of the moment the chains loosened, the sword-and-shield puppet swung its sword, and the Confucian inscriptions on the ancient bronze sword lit up once more.

Kang Dabao, however, kept his eyes straight ahead, letting the sword blade graz his shoulder. His powerful body, sculpted from the Primordial Primal Body, allowed him to almost engage in hand-to-hand combat with this puppet made of metal and stone. He probed with his divine sense, made a mental calculation, and then unleashed another Eight Desolations Mountain Suppression, which struck the sword-shield puppet's wound, where the armor plates had been removed.

This time it wasn't as easy as before; the immense force quickly spread to the puppet's true form.

Seeing that the sword and shield puppet was beginning to crack all over its body and that the carefully drawn spiritual barrier seemed to be collapsing, Yu Nian'en gasped and hurriedly commanded the bowl-holding puppet and the whisk puppet to rush to the rescue.

The golden alms bowl suddenly fell over, and a soul-stirring shriek suddenly emanated from the black hole; the ox-tail whisk flicked, transforming into countless silver threads that rushed towards Kang Dabao as if they were free.

Kang Dabao abandoned the sword and shield puppet that he couldn't even hold onto the ancient bronze sword. With a light touch of his toes, he soared into the air, and golden light shone out again, instantly annihilating the once majestic black hole.

The golden alms bowl shattered instantly, and the joints of the puppet holding the bowl creaked. The runes on the bowl dimmed, and it instantly turned into an ordinary object.

Yu Nian'en's face showed shock and fear, and his eyes suddenly became even more serious. He saw that the silver threads in front of the whisk puppet had re-condensed, this time forming a death array in the shape of a tai chi symbol.

Kang Dabao remained fearless, sweeping his short halberd across the battlefield, repelling thousands of silk ribbons.

Yu Nian'en remained unconvinced and continued to pester him, but was once again grabbed by the Great Master Kang with one hand and had countless silver threads torn off. If the former had not been quick to assess the situation, he might have even torn away the whisk magic weapon.

The silver threads broke and grew back, and the Tai Chi Death Formation couldn't harm Kang Dabao, but it could buy Yu Nian'en time to repair the other two puppets.

The sect leader, Kang, with a calm expression, examined the formation for a long time. Suddenly, his left ear twitched, and he took a half step to the side. An ancient sword light grazed past his temple. If it weren't for his tough body, the mere grazed light would have burned his head to ashes.

However, there is no such thing as "if it weren't for" . Having dodged the ancient sword's sudden attack, Kang Dabao's eyes suddenly flashed with golden light, and with a flick of his finger, the short halberd in his hand shot out.

Yu Nian'en below only knew about the power of the Great Master Kang's pupil technique for conquest, but she was completely unaware that the words "breaking through illusions" were not just for show!
Yu Nian'en watched helplessly as the tip of the Jade Palace Halberd struck the eye of the Death Array. The loud "boom" made his body tremble. Afterwards, his fingers, which were forming a hand seal, suddenly broke open, and soon his hands were stained bright red.

At this moment, his already difficult-to-control injuries were exacerbated by this, making him feel as if his internal organs were churning, and he could not find any relief.

Just as the bare ox-tail whisk fell to the ground, the bronze ancient sword was also chased down by Master Kang, who had broken through the Tai Chi Death Formation. With a slash, the sword's spiritual essence completely dissipated, the runes became disordered, and it no longer had any power.
The purple-gold alms bowl shattered, the ancient bronze sword's malevolent aura vanished, and the ox-tail whisk no longer resembled a whisk. The three puppets could barely be considered intact, but if they were to fight again, they would truly have to raise their three pairs of fists to compare with Master Kang and see whose true body was more solid.

"We've lost!" Yu Nian'en was quite straightforward and immediately had the idea of ​​fleeing.

As for whether he could leave, it would be a joke for someone who had cultivated to the Golden Core stage not to have any means of survival. Yu Nian'en held a high-level talisman and transformed into a stream of light, disappearing in an instant.

He didn't provoke his three puppets into self-destruction, lest he anger the "vengeful and womanizing" Master Kang and have him hunted down for his life.

Even at his peak, he had used every trick in the book to not harm the latter in the slightest. Now, Yu Nian'en thought to himself that if he were to run away on his own and not be rescued, he might not survive.

Therefore, in this critical situation, how could we care about the consequences if these external things fell into Kang Dabao's hands?
However, Sect Leader Kang was clearly unwilling to just watch Yu Nian'en retreat. Even if Jin Guang and Yu Que Po Hui Halberd could not catch up with him, the former, who was only at the rudimentary level of the Divine Thorn, suddenly unleashed it. It easily caused the latter, whose consciousness was on the verge of collapse, to suddenly pause and fall down.

At this moment, the battle of Golden Core cultivators finally came to an end. The group of Golden Core cultivators from the Yunze Witch Lord Palace no longer dared to fight like cornered beasts. They simply looked at the gaze cast by Sect Leader Kang, withdrew their magic and fighting spirit, lowered their heads and magic weapons, and surrendered without resistance.

The disciples of the Chongming Alliance were overjoyed and cheered for a long time.

"If it weren't for the need to protect these three puppets, I wouldn't have gone to such lengths!"

However, the protagonist, Sect Leader Kang, casually sheathed his short halberd, then methodically picked up the treasures scattered on the ground. Finally, he carefully collected Yu Nian'en and the three third-tier puppets, turned around, and loudly proclaimed to the Chongming cultivators:
"The Yunze Witch Lord's Palace is just ahead. I will go first, and you all will follow behind. The blade will be mine, and wealth and a bright future will be yours!"

(End of this chapter)