Journey to the West: Starting with the True Lord of the Pure Land

Master Xuanguang did not retract his sword stance, but his brows suddenly furrowed.

The Golden Core Spiritual Senses frantically warned, and a strong sense of crisis arose spontaneously, like an ice spike piercing the soul.

"Boom—!"

A deep, muffled roar, like the earth's veins raging, came from the very depths of the Yunmang Mountain beneath our feet.

The accumulated earth fire evil energy, taking advantage of the moment when the wood energy dissipated within the Yi Wood Green Breath Array, suddenly erupted.

The dust and debris of grass and trees that had been annihilated by the sword light did not dissipate; instead, it instantly burst into flames.

A single spark ignites a prairie fire.

The fiery flames were dark and blood-red, yet their core pulsed with a chilling paleness.

The heatwave, like an invisible giant hand, squeezed and seeped in from all directions, burning the golden elixir body and scorching the soul.

The fire, fueled by the wood, soared hundreds of feet high, its heat reaching the heavens, instantly engulfing Xuan Guang Shangren. The flames licked at his protective spiritual energy, hissing as they did so.

"not good!"

Master Xuanguang's expression changed drastically.

This third attack was actually the deadly fire hidden behind the first two attacks!

He hurriedly activated all his golden core magic power, casting a spell. The brilliant light of the cloud-cutting spirit protected him, transforming into a sword light shield to desperately resist the scorching fire.

However, the dark red evil fire seemed to have a life of its own, its flames twisting and turning into countless ferocious fire beasts and fire snakes, relentlessly attacking Xuan Guang Shangren.

Several extremely condensed, pale streams of fire, like venomous snakes, slipped in through the cracks.

Although it was shredded by the sword energy, the instantaneous scorching heat caused Xuan Guang Shangren's soul to tremble.

The hem of his Taoist robe was scorched by the remaining flames, turning it black, and his hair was also disheveled by the heat, with a few strands of loose hair curled and charred yellow!

Master Xuanguang had no choice but to repeatedly use his movement techniques to dodge and weave through the sea of ​​fire, his posture already showing signs of disarray, a far cry from the dashing style he displayed when he broke through the formation with a single sword strike.

Although he was not seriously injured thanks to his Golden Core cultivation and the advantage of the Cloud-Cutting Technique, being forced into such a chaotic situation was a great humiliation for him.

Finally, he found a gap in the sea of ​​fire, shouted sharply, changed his spells, and unleashed a Thousand Shadows Sword Qi, which caused the Cloud-Cutting Technique to burst forth with unprecedented brilliance.

The sword light was as thin as a cicada's wing, splitting into countless forms, shining like bright light, instantly filling the sea of ​​fire and annihilating the earthly fiery spirit energy.

They forcibly broke through the fiery formation, and the evil flames finally extinguished.

Master Xuanguang rode his sword and soared into the sky.

When the flames subsided, he stood in the air, his breath rising and falling, his Taoist robe charred black, and his hair disheveled.

Although he was not seriously injured, a malevolent fire within his body continued to burn his meridians, and his elegant and refined demeanor was completely gone, leaving his face terribly gloomy.

He stared intently at the gradually calming sea of ​​fire below, and beyond that, the Yunmang Mountain, shrouded in mist and as tranquil as ever.

He may be arrogant, but he is not a fool.

Gripping the Cloud-Cutting Sword tightly, he secretly resented the boy's cunning and treacherous nature, but no longer underestimated him in the slightest.

……

The square in front of the precious mirror was completely silent.

Most of the guests at the table looked bewildered and incredulous.

A Golden Core cultivator arrived with the force of thunder.

They were actually blocked, trapped, and injured by a triple formation set up by a Foundation Establishment demon cultivator!

They saw it clearly: what ultimately injured Master Xuanguang was a powerful Earthly Fiend Fire Array, with raging flames and menacing aura.

Even so, how could Master Xuanguang, with his Golden Core cultivation, be forced into such a sorry state?

This doesn't make sense!

"Strange... Although this Earthly Fiend Fire Formation is indeed fierce, Fellow Daoist Xuan Guang is a Golden Core cultivator, how could he...?"

An elderly man dressed in a Bagua Taoist robe stroked his beard and pondered, looking puzzled.

He boasted of his considerable skill in array formations, yet he hadn't fully grasped the intricacies of it.

"Indeed, although this fire is raging, it is ultimately a fire without a source. Why should it require such great effort from you, Master?"

Someone nearby echoed this sentiment, and everyone felt puzzled. They felt that the formation of the Yunmang Mountain Master was strange, but they couldn't quite put their finger on what was so strange about it.

Just as whispers began to rise, the Crimson Cloud Immortal, who had been gazing intently at the mirror in silence, suddenly let out a soft "Eh."

His soft exclamation immediately drew everyone's attention.

Everyone present knew that True Person Chixia was a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator with extensive knowledge and was especially skilled in fire magic. Even he was shocked, so this matter was definitely not simple.

"I see... Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!"

Master Chixia murmured to himself, his voice low but clearly reaching everyone's ears.

He slowly set down his teacup, his gaze sweeping over everyone, and his voice, unusually solemn, began:

"Fellow Daoists, you have only seen the surface, but not the underlying structure. These three formations were not arranged arbitrarily."

He pointed towards the Yunmang Mountain in the mirror, his fingertips seemingly shimmering with rosy light, as if tracing some invisible path:

"As you can see, the first layer of water formation is not merely to block the enemy; its true purpose is to moisten the land."

The pervasive moisture, soaking the rocks and trees, was actually building up energy for the second layer of the wooden formation.

"The second layer of the wooden formation is only a facade for trapping the enemy."

The myriad plants and trees, nourished by the water element, were seemingly destroyed by Fellow Daoist Xuan Guang's sword light, but in reality, the dispersed essence of the plants and trees was the true fuel.

Master Chixia's tone quickened, and a glint of light flashed in his eyes:

"And this final fire formation did not appear out of thin air."

It uses the water formation as its foundation and the wood formation as its storage to draw upon the earthly evil fire energy, which is then transformed into fire.

"Water descends and wood is born; wood assists fire to rise! This is the wonder of the three elements transforming and circulating endlessly!"

He let out a long sigh, his tone filled with astonishment and disbelief:

"The water formation is laid out, the wood formation gathers strength, and the fire formation erupts."

The three formations are interconnected and infinitely transformative, based on the subtle interplay and mutual generation of the three elements of water, wood, and fire.

The person who sets up the formation has reached a state of perfection in understanding the principles of formation and the flow of Qi in the world!

This is not a formation for brute force, but... a formation for magical combat! Such methods are unprecedented in my life!

His explanation, like a morning bell and evening drum, resonated deeply in everyone's hearts.

The guests, who had been puzzled just moments before, now looked at the seemingly calm Yunmang Mountain in the mirror.

It seemed as if, beneath the swirling clouds and mist, lurked a master chess player with profound array formations and mysterious Taoist magic.

They are using mountains and rivers as a battle formation and spiritual energy as chess pieces, patiently waiting for their prey to fall into their trap.

"The three elements give rise to...borrowing the power of heaven and earth..."

"No wonder! No wonder Master Xuanguang is in such a sorry state. It's not that he's weaker, but that his Daoist techniques are inferior."

"Just who is this Lord of Yunmang Mountain? How could he possess such extraordinary abilities?"

A wave of horror swept through the room.

Those cultivators who were unfamiliar with formations and were only watching the spectacle, though unable to fully comprehend its profound mysteries, were still terrified by words like "reached the pinnacle" and "unprecedented in their lives."

Upon hearing the words of True Man Chixia, Elder Changhe looked at the disheveled figure of Venerable Xuanguang in the mirror.

Recalling the day the Venerable One broke through to the next realm, the spirit-sealing formation of the Sealed Sword Pavilion... the chaotic spiritual energy of Thousand Needle Valley... and the Hidden Truth Hall...

All of this is on my mind.

A chilling thought, like a venomous snake, slithered into his mind and could no longer be contained.

The First Elder, Changhe, was ashen-faced, his body trembling slightly as he spoke in a trembling voice:

"It's him! It's him!"

Only with such mastery of array formations could one leave such chaotic traces of spiritual energy in Thousand Needle Valley, interfere with the Venerable One's breakthrough to the Golden Core stage, and silently break the restrictions of my Hidden Truth Hall...

He's no ordinary demon cultivator; his mastery of formations... far surpasses our imagination! Just... just who is he?!

The elders of the Sword Pavilion standing nearby were all startled.

After a moment of silence, the fourth elder, whose face was as red as fire, suddenly burst into laughter:

"Senior brother, don't panic. Even though this fiend's formation was exquisitely crafted, in the end... in the end, it was broken by Master Xuanguang!"

He seemed to be encouraging himself, or perhaps reminding everyone else; his loud voice carried throughout the surrounding area.

"No matter how skilled he is, no matter how many formations he sets up, he is only at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage!"

All the previous petty scheming was nothing more than a plot and trickery that took advantage of the fact that my Sword Pavilion Master had not yet emerged from seclusion.

Now that the formation he relied on has been broken, does he really think he can confront a Golden Core cultivator head-on with his Foundation Establishment cultivation level?

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up.