Stepping on the demon door, the witch becomes the strongest

Chapter 836 Let Me Lend You My Sword

Ten thousand gods and demons besieged Mount Shu, laying down layers of inescapable nets, claiming that not even a sparrow or a mouse could escape from Mount Shu.

In reality, most of the demonic cultivators had no interest whatsoever in annihilating the Shangqing Sect of Mount Shu.

However, they were very interested in plundering the various spiritual flowers and herbs within the Shu Mountain region.

During the heyday of the Shushan Shangqing Sect, all the rare and precious materials produced in this vast territory, from Hanyang in the north to the plateau in the west, from the southern border to Jingxiang in the east, belonged to the Shushan Sword Immortals, regardless of who discovered them first.

Now that the Shangqing Sect is about to be breached, the sword immortals are all hiding in Mount Emei, and many demonic cultivators with low cultivation levels have also lost all restraint and have begun to plunder the forest.

A wandering Taoist priest in a gray robe picked a he shou wu (Polygonum multiflorum) from a mountain stream. It wasn't very old, probably only about 200 years old, but that was enough to make him very happy.

Suddenly he raised his sword finger, and a small sword flew out of its sheath from behind him. Instead of flying into the air, it hid on the ground, like a treacherous venomous snake.

Two Taoist priests emerged from the opposite side of the forest, a man and a woman, their robes filthy, which relieved the wandering Taoist.

Because cultivators from reputable sects, including the sword immortals of Mount Shu, tend to pay close attention to the neatness of their attire. After all, the impression they give when they go out reflects the reputation of their sect, and righteous sects are generally very concerned about their image.

The two cultivators in front of me were clearly independent cultivators from no sect. They didn't even dare to openly carry their flying swords on their backs, but instead secretly hid them in their clothes—they had an extreme sense of security, unlike those who were taught by those rigid major sects.

The wandering Taoist priest flipped his right hand and slipped the he shou wu into his sleeve, while his left hand subtly formed a sword incantation. He then asked with a smile:
"Greetings, fellow Daoists."

"Greetings, fellow Daoist." Yan Yu also greeted him with a smile, bowing with his left hand while concealing his right hand in his sleeve, deliberately making it unclear whether he was making a hand seal inside.

This single defensive gesture was enough for the wandering Taoist to confirm that the other party was definitely not a novice cultivator, so he abandoned his idea of ​​a risky sneak attack and casually asked:

"Do either of you have a need for an exchange?"

"No." Yan Yu naturally had nothing to exchange with him, but instead inquired, "We couldn't find anything good here and were planning to leave, but we found that no matter which direction we went, we would only end up back where we started. Do you have any clue about this, fellow Daoist?"

"I see," the wandering Taoist priest said with a smile. "Fellow Daoist, you may not know this. In order to prevent the remnants of Mount Shu from escaping, Long Qianpo from the Southern Frontier specially invited a master to set up the Five Elements Reversal Array within a hundred miles."

"Anyone who gets close to this place, whether they are remnants of the Shu Mountain sect or fellow Daoists from all walks of life, will unknowingly fall into the formation. Only Long Qianpo's disciples come to patrol and check every few days, releasing those of us who have mistakenly entered the formation."

“This is difficult,” Yan Yu said. “When you catch small shrimp in a big net, you never hear of a fisherman who only wants big fish and releases the shrimp. To put it another way, when the formation is activated, whether to release or kill them is entirely up to them. I dare not entrust my life to someone else’s mercy.”

The wandering Taoist priest remained silent for a moment, then said sullenly:
"That's right, but once you're in the formation, you're like a fish on a chopping board. What can you do even if they're unreasonable? It's said that the master who set up the formation is a Nascent Soul Realm expert. We rogue cultivators have no one backing us up. We're already lucky if we can even form our core. What else can we do?"

"How many people are trapped in this formation?" Mei Yingxue asked. "Even if the one who set up the formation is a Nascent Soul Realm expert, they can't possibly be sitting here for twelve hours a day. As long as we can gather a few people who are proficient in formations, and they split up to find the key points of the formation, we will eventually have a chance to break out of the formation."

"I don't know that," the wandering Taoist said calmly. "However, I do know a few fellow Daoists who have recently gathered together to discuss countermeasures."

At this point, he suddenly smiled without saying a word.

Yan Yu and Mei Yingxue exchanged glances for a moment, and immediately guessed what the wandering Taoist meant:
ask for money.

He had indeed obtained some spirit stones while killing, searching the bodies, and changing clothes, but Yan Yu naturally couldn't give them to him directly. Instead, he smiled and said:

“If you don’t understand formations, there’s no need to communicate. We have no interest in giving people a free ride.”

"You also understand formations?" the wandering Taoist priest asked skeptically.

“As you said, the Five Elements Reversal Formation is set up around here,” Mei Yingxue replied. “If one is completely ignorant of formations, going south is going north, and going east is going west, one would probably not even be able to get out of a hundred feet. The fact that we were able to meet you in the formation speaks volumes.”

The wandering Taoist smiled without saying a word. He knew the name of the Five Elements Reversal Formation, so he couldn't possibly be someone completely ignorant of formations. Although he couldn't completely break free from the formation, he could more than use its power to wander within and collect some spiritual flowers and herbs.

If these two people also knew about formations, there might actually be value in cooperating with them. After all, no matter how many treasures they obtained, the most important thing was to get out alive.

"Then please follow me." He turned and walked back.

Yan Yu and Mei Yingxue followed closely behind him. They saw that the wandering Taoist priest sometimes leaned to the left and sometimes moved to the right. Although he did not seem to be walking in a straight line, judging from the changes in the surrounding scenery, he always seemed to be moving forward.

Mei Yingxue kept walking, her hands already forming arithmetic gestures, silently chanting to herself.

In the field of array formations, she was actually a latecomer, but the advantage was that all the array formation books obtained from the secret realms in the entire Lu Kingdom were gathered in her hands. The endless knowledge resources were something that the cultivation world could not obtain at all. Even if the master here was very knowledgeable, he would still hold back some of his skills when teaching his disciples. How could there be a true sense of imparting everything and giving away all his knowledge?
After walking for a while within the formation, Mei Yingxue quietly transmitted her voice to Yan Yu:

"This Five Elements Reversal Formation looks like it was created based on the disorder of the Five Elements, but many details are mixed up and have no rules, making it really difficult to identify."

“That’s normal, because this formation isn’t a real formation, but an illusion created from the memories of the Sun True Sword,” Yan Yu replied. “During the siege of Mount Shu by the demonic forces, the Sun True Sword probably heard about this formation somewhere, so it created it in this dream.”

"You can think of passing through the dream as a tabletop role-playing game. There is a supreme referee in this world. The key to passing through this Five Elements Reversal Formation is not whether you have the ability to break the formation, but how to convince the referee that 'you have the ability to break the formation'."

Mei Yingxue seemed thoughtful. Although she had never played tabletop role-playing games, she had heard the researchers at the base mention them, so she said:
"Therefore, the Sun True Sword is that referee."

"He wants to know if there is a way to save the Shu Mountain Sect," Yan Yu summarized telepathically. "We just need to convince him that there is."

Even if it's a lie.

The two followed the wandering Taoist priest and arrived at a nearby village.

The village was built in a secluded valley, appearing extremely deep and tranquil. There were a dozen or so households and twenty or so villagers. At first glance, there was nothing unusual about them, but upon closer inspection, it was discovered that they all had dull eyes and bloodless faces. They were clearly zombies who had been turned into corpses after death, and were deliberately made to live normal lives to deceive the cultivators flying overhead on their swords.

Mei Yingxue frowned slightly. She knew perfectly well that this was a case of a demon-summoning cultivator killing the entire village to cover their tracks and ensure they were silenced.

But then I thought, it's just an illusion, so it doesn't matter.

The wandering Taoist priest walked ahead, seeing the two men staring straight ahead, seemingly oblivious to the zombie villagers, which further convinced him that they were not those hypocritical and pedantic orthodox cultivators—those self-righteous priests would surely jump up and down at the sight of innocent living people being turned into corpses. The three entered a room, where they saw four cultivators gathered around a table, writing and drawing with chopsticks.

"The way to break this formation is to start from due north, turn southeast, then southwest, and then back to due north!"

"Bullshit! The North is associated with water. Did your father teach you to start with the water element when he passed on your formation skills?"

"The normal Five Elements certainly cannot start with the Water element, but this is the reversed Five Elements!"

The crowd was arguing fiercely, seemingly about to start a fight with their chopsticks. The wandering Taoist quickly stopped them, then introduced Yan Yu and Mei Yingxue to the crowd, saying:
"We met by chance and were forced to cooperate because we are trapped in the formation, so there's no need for us to reveal our real names. According to the order in which we joined the alliance, I am number three, and you are number six and number seven respectively."

"Don't rush to join," Number One called out. "How's your skill in formations?"

“I’m better than all of you,” Yan Yu said with a smile.

"Oh ho, you've got quite the big mouth." Number Three sneered as well. "Let me test you. What exactly is the relationship between the level of the formation itself and the cultivation level of the person who sets it up?"

“It doesn’t matter,” Mei Yingxue replied. “The level of an array depends on the ritual materials and the array setter’s mastery of numerology. Numerology level is not necessarily related to cultivation level.”

Everyone fell silent, as if their brains had crashed.

Clearly, in the memories of the True Sword of the Sun, array masters had a professional habit of testing each other's professional abilities. However, the True Sword of the Sun himself did not understand arrays, so the questions he asked seemed too basic to Mei Yingxue.

"Good!" Number One finally spoke, "As expected of a formation master! I acknowledge that you are qualified to cooperate with us!"

Yan Yu suppressed a laugh, only to hear Number Two say:

"What do you think of the deployment route that Number One just proposed: first due north, then southeast, then southwest, and finally back to due north?"

"Hmm, wouldn't going this way just take us back to where we started?" Yan Yu asked curiously.

Everyone fell silent again. After a moment, Number One called out:
"Then tell me which way to go!"

"Teacher Mei, come up with a solution that's 'I don't understand it, but it sounds really impressive'," Yan Yu whispered.

“I think it’s possible.” Mei Yingxue picked up her chopsticks and poked them on the table. “Use Qian to approach Kun, and Kun to return to Qian; before the beginning of heaven and earth, there is disharmony, after the beginning of heaven and earth, there is peace; there is no flat land without a slope, and no going without returning; perseverance in adversity is without blame, and do not worry about its trustworthiness.”

She used wooden chopsticks as sharp swords to stab and carve on the table, wearing away the fine and meticulous marks—which looked like mysterious lines with extremely regularity and geometric beauty.

Everyone stared at her blankly for a long time before finally saying:

"That's the right answer! That's the correct answer! Set out of the formation immediately! Set out of the formation immediately!"

The five people immediately scattered like birds and beasts, rushing out of the house in an instant and heading to break the formation according to the route.

Mei Yingxue breathed a sigh of relief, only to hear Yan Yu transmit his voice and ask:
"Is this really the solution to the Five Elements Reversal Formation?"

“Of course not,” Mei Yingxue replied with a smile. “This is a general solution for formations, similar to someone asking you how to solve a multivariate equation, and you answer ‘elimination.’ In reality, you definitely need to analyze each specific problem in detail.”

"Then we must be careful." Yan Yu was more worried than happy, and suddenly said in a voice transmission, "I just thought about it, and it seems that there are no cultivators in the Shangqing Sect of Mount Shu who know formations. In other words, even if we can get through this road, it doesn't mean that Mount Shu had a chance to escape and go out to seek help back then. It's like we still haven't solved the problem of the Sun True Sword."

"If that's the case, what should we do?" Mei Yingxue was somewhat stunned.

The next second, the surrounding space suddenly began to distort.

A moment later, the two reappeared at the top of Mount San'e, as if they had simply reloaded their save file.

"It seems that seeking help from the outside world is also a dead end." Yan Yu said with a smile, "No one in Shu Mountain knows formations, and the Sun True Sword does not approve of our operation."

“If the area around Mount Shu is covered by formations, then going out to seek reinforcements is definitely not an option,” Mei Yingxue pondered. “Is it really the only option, like in the official history, to find a place to hide and live in seclusion, and then come out after the siege is over?”

If that's the case, it means the two of them can't leave this dream. Because if they just stand by and watch the Shangqing Sect of Mount Shu perish, they certainly won't gain the approval of the Sun True Sword.

The two continued to fly on their swords and arrived at the Ancestral Hall according to the original plot. After listening to the elders' debate, they were asked for their opinions by the sect leader, Chen Yanwei.

"Wait a moment." Yan Yu suddenly looked at the fourth elder who had remained silent throughout and asked respectfully, "This disciple noticed that you have not uttered a word. Is there some idea or strategy that you are unwilling to reveal?"

"There's no solution," the elder said with a smile. "I just feel that there's no way to resolve this situation, which is why I'm keeping quiet."

"If you were here alone, possessing the sect's legacy, what would you choose to do?" Yan Yu continued to ask.

"Of course, we must fight our way out." The elder was silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "There's no other reason. I know nothing but fighting."

These words resonated deeply with Mei Yingxue. Sword immortals are like this: they are devoted to practicing swordsmanship, single-minded, and the further they progress in the realm of swordsmanship, the more they possess the strength to overcome the weak and turn defeat into victory.

However, the cost is that the means of combat are extremely limited. If one is completely overwhelmed in such a situation, with no possibility of winning against overwhelming odds, then one is most likely doomed.

"Doesn't the sect possess any magical treasures?" she couldn't help but ask. "We sword immortals rely on nothing but our immortal swords, but surely we should have some spoils of war from our enemies!"

"If we had a magic weapon that could break this deadlock, we would have used it long ago." The speaker was Sect Leader Chen Yanwei, his expression desolate, as he sighed, "Unless I can unleash the full power of the Sun True Essence Sword. Alas! My skills are insufficient, and now I have brought this to the sect's demise, I have failed my ancestors!"

"I've got it!" Yan Yu suddenly had a flash of inspiration, clapped his hands and shouted, "Sect Leader, you may not be strong enough, but I am!"

"Lend me the Sun True Sword and let me wield it!"

(End of this chapter)