Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 209 Second-Tier Array Master

Dark clouds, as black as ink, shrouded the entire sky.

With a series of thunderclaps, a torrential downpour began, the raindrops hitting the ground and splashing up in bursts, giving people an inexplicable chill.

In the rain, more than thirty streaks of light streaked across the sky like shooting stars—the disciples of the Moving Mountain Sect, led by Li Dong, were rapidly approaching the Maojing Mine.

"Brother, the other side has one Foundation Establishment mid-stage cultivator, six Qi Refining level nine cultivators, ten Qi Refining level seven and eight cultivators, and the rest are all Qi Refining mid-stage cultivators."

More than a hundred miles away from the Maojing mine, Li Xiangming whispered to Li Xiangren beside him.

Li Xiangren's gaze turned serious as he looked into the distance: "More than half of them are in the late stage of Qi Refining. It seems that the Mountain Moving Sect is determined to attack the mine."

"But they didn't expect that we were prepared!"

Li Xiangru smiled and chimed in, "I just saw the rocket signal, and the mine immediately activated its array. They should be on guard. Plus, with Uncle inside, they can't break in."

The formation set up at Maojing Mine is called Liuhe Guizhen, and it is the same as the Yuyuan Formation that was destroyed by the Mang Sect in the past.

However, the materials used in Yuyuan's formations are generally rudimentary and only effective within a few areas, such as the encampment.

The Six Harmonies Returning to One Formation of the Li family was set up by a formation master from the White Dew Sect. It cost a fortune and not only covered most of the mine but also added many variations.

The two are not comparable in power.

Of course, the power of a formation largely depends on the person controlling it.

The reason why Yuyuan could not withstand the Mang Sect was not only because the Mang Sect brought special talismans to break the formation, but also because Yuyuan lacked outstanding talents.

In other words, Yuyuan failed to fully utilize the Six Harmonies Return to One Formation, which is why it was beaten from beginning to end by Luo the Blind and others.

The Maojing Mine is different; the one currently controlling the formation is Li Qianxiao, a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

If the Moving Mountain Sect didn't have any formation masters, let alone one Foundation Establishment cultivator, even three or five wouldn't be able to break the formation.

This is not Li Xiangru's blind confidence, but rather there are too many such cases in the cultivation world.

"The fight started!"

Suddenly, Li Xiangyu's deep voice rang out.

Everyone's eyes immediately focused on the grayish-white stone in his hand.

On the surface of the stone, countless shadows flickered. Through these blurry images, one could vaguely discern the buildings and facilities within the Maojing mine, as well as the ordinary miners who appeared panicked and helpless in the face of the sudden attack.

This is undoubtedly the scene inside the Maojing mine.

With the arrival of the Mountain Moving Sect, massive streams of magical energy crashed against the Six Harmonies Returning Formation like raging waves.

However, the formation only trembled slightly and was not seriously damaged.

Protected by the formation, a cultivator dressed in burlap flew forward and engaged in a fierce exchange of insults with the members of the Moving Mountain Sect.

Li Xiangming's gaze sharpened, and he said with slight surprise, "It's Yu Liu! I didn't expect him to have stayed at the mine!"

As a confidant of Master Duyin, Yu Liu usually cultivates in the Flying Fox Cave or does things for his master, and rarely does hard work like guarding the mine.

But he still came to the mine, even at such a critical moment.

This was quite different from Li Xiangming's expectations of him being cunning.

It should be noted that the news of the Mountain Moving Sect's attack was first learned by the Flying Fox Cave—the Flying Fox Cave and the Mountain Moving Sect are mortal enemies and pay close attention to each other's movements. It is common for them to secretly place spies and collect intelligence.

Therefore, Yu Liu was well aware of the dangers of staying at the mine.

Although the Li family promised to rush to the mine immediately, and Feihu Cave was confident in this, because the Li family still had several cultivators and a large number of miners at the mine who had not evacuated, the specific personnel and number of support personnel from the Li family were not communicated to Feihu Cave in advance.

Li Qianxiao arrived at the Maojing mine at the last minute.

Under these circumstances, Yu Liu's choice to remain at the mine on behalf of Feihu Cave was undoubtedly worthy of Du Yin Shangren's cultivation.

"Yu Liu, you're about to die and you're still so arrogant. I'll tear you apart in a minute."

Li Dong was not good with words. As soon as he arrived at the mine, Yu Liu cursed his ancestors for eight generations, which made him furious.

"Li Lengzi, you think you can take on all this? Break our Six Harmonies Return Formation first."

Yu Liu was relentlessly provoking Li Dong, completely disregarding him.

"How hateful!" Li Dong was so angry that his nose was crooked. Since he had established his foundation, when had he ever been insulted like this?

Even the old man Du Yin didn't dare to scold him to his face, yet Yu Liu, a junior in the Qi Refining stage, spoke rudely.

“Li Lengzi, you look like a plucked rooster to me, you can’t shake anything off even if you want to.”

Yu Liu became increasingly agitated as he cursed, and even made some indecent gestures.

The Li family members outside the stone wall looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Yu Liu is quite a remarkable person!"

Li Xiangren laughed heartily, and the rest of the Li family laughed along with him.

Only Li Xiangming looked serious. He pointed to a person in the mural and said in a deep voice, "Something's not right about this person."

"Oh?"

Everyone looked at the person, but couldn't see anything unusual.

Li Xiangming explained, "When this man in purple first arrived at the mine, he was near the Foundation Establishment stage, so he should have been a main force of the Moving Mountain Sect. However, after attacking the mine, he hid in the back and changed positions four or five times in a short period of time. He also attacked very infrequently, which I found quite strange."

"Furthermore, the Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Mountain Moving Sect is a person of status. It is unwise for him to exchange insults with Yu Liu like this. It is hard to say that there is no conspiracy involved."

Hearing Li Xiangming's analysis, everyone became awestruck and focused their attention on the man in purple.

After observing for a while, Li Xiangru suddenly realized, "Oh no, this person is breaking the formation!"

"Breaking the formation? Could it be a formation master?"

The crowd immediately stirred. It is extremely difficult to become a formation master, and even more difficult to become one. It has always been one of the rarest professions in the cultivation world.

Many people, even those who have inherited array formations, only scratch the surface.

Let alone breaking the formation, even understanding how the formation works is not easy.

Over the past few decades, the Li family has trained a number of weapon refiners and alchemists, but only two can be called array masters. One of them is an old man from the Cheng generation who is now an instructor at the Qingmiao Academy.

The other person is Li Xianghua.

In fact, Li Xianghua was not the only member of the Li family's Xiang generation who studied formations.

Li Xiangru had studied under the old man for two years, but ultimately gave up due to insufficient comprehension.

However, Li Xiangru had some basic knowledge. After observing for a while, he immediately discovered that the location where the purple-clad man lingered perfectly matched the key points of the formation, and that the man's gait was very different from that of ordinary people.

"Does the Mountain Moving Sect have any formation masters capable of breaking second-tier formations?"

Li Xiangming hesitated, knowing that setting up and breaking formations were two completely different skills.

Those who can skillfully set up a second-order formation do not necessarily possess the same level of ability to break it.

For example, Li Xianghua, the recognized genius of the Li family in formations, is only a first-tier high-grade formation master, but he can set up the Wind Control Spirit Barrier Formation in Monkey Valley. The Wind Control Spirit Barrier Formation can not only release barrier energy to resist external enemies, but also trap demonic beasts. It is a genuine second-tier formation.

However, Li Xianghua could not break the formation he had set up without the array flags and without remembering the array's core.

If the man in purple could discern the weaknesses of a second-tier formation solely through his eyesight, he must undoubtedly be a second-tier formation master.

Second-tier array masters hold an extremely high status, being even rarer than alchemists and weapon refiners of the same tier.

The reason is simple: the Qi Refining families like the Chen family of Baolong Valley and the Luo family of Shangqingyuan, allies of the Li family, only have second-order formations set up at their mountain gates.

If the Li family could possess a second-tier array master, and work with a Foundation Establishment cultivator, they could almost easily attack these forces.

In just a few days, one can plunder the accumulated wealth of a family that has been passed down for decades or even centuries. Isn't this much faster than making money through weapon crafting or alchemy?

Formation masters can not only be sharp blades to attack enemies, but also solid shields to protect their own side.

Every faction has an urgent need for formations.

Whether it's a spirit-gathering array set up on a spiritual vein, a mountain-protecting array to defend against external enemies, or a small array with various functions on a spiritual field, all of these demonstrate the indispensable status of array masters in the cultivation world.

Therefore, second-tier array masters are always honored guests, no matter where they are.

Does the Mountain Moving Sect have such a figure?
(End of this chapter)