meet through investments or sponsorships."Since we are all family members then," Zhao Hongyu seized the moment again, "why don't Aunt come stay at our place for a few days You can rest and recuperate....Chapter 638: Duan Yao, Setting Up an Array!
Hao Ren's new conditions were released, and the dozens of cultivators guarding the valley entrance immediately flew back to their camps.
The role these cultivators played at the valley entrance was to listen in real time to Master Medicine King’s instructions and to count which sects had received Master Medicine King’s spirit-restoring talismans.
Hao Ren turned around, looked at Duan Yao standing awkwardly in the Spirit Field, and shook his head with a smile.
In an instant, all of the elders who hadn’t recovered their cultivation levels rushed to the valley.
Although they didn’t know what Master Medicine King wanted them to do or that they would lose a hundred years’ worth of cultivation power, how could six-level spirit herbs be collected so easily
The only way was to restore their cultivation level back to the Nascent Soul stage. Even if it meant losing a hundred years’ worth of cultivation power, it was better than being hunted down by other elders who had already recovered.
Xie Yujia felt all the cultivators suddenly gather at Immortal Peak’s valley entrance and came out of her cave.
"Junior is willing to help Master Elder!"
"Please accept me, Master Elder!"
"The Qingcheng Sect has received Master Elder’s kindness; we will do anything for you, no matter how dangerous!"
These once proud Nascent Soul-stage elders crowded at the entrance of the valley and recommended themselves one after another. They pushed each other to get closer to the front so that they could be seen by the elders inside the valley.
This scene left the Core Formation disciples dumbfounded. In front of Master Medicine King, these Nascent Soul-stage freaks lost all their dignity!
The only ones who were relatively careful about this situation were the few elders from the Tianshan Sect. They weren’t unwilling to recommend themselves; they just thought that Master Medicine King wouldn’t choose them.
Duan Yao, standing in the Spirit Field of the valley and looking at the chaotic scene by the entrance, looked back at Hao Ren who was calm as usual. She couldn't believe that a simple sentence from him had such power.
These lofty Nascent Soul-stage freaks were actually scrambling to offer their labor for Immortal Peak!
"Nascent Soul-stage late-stage cultivators, please stand in front and I’ll carefully select."
The chaotic scene at the entrance suddenly quieted down.
Twelve elders who had once been Nascent Soul-stage late-stage stood up front. One of them was Leye Elder from Xinyang Sect.
Hao Ren looked through the red barrier and saw that he needed three more, so he said, "Tianshan Sect, send up another three."
The three cultivators from the Tianshan Sect at the Middle Core Formation stage were somewhat surprised. They looked at each other and hurriedly went up.
The other sects felt envious when they saw that the Tianshan Sect had occupied three spots all of a sudden.
The Tianshan Sect had a total of three cultivators in the Middle Core Formation stage, five in the Early Core Formation stage but no one in the Late Core Formation stage. The peak-stage core formation cultivator, the Sage Ancestor Lingwu, was beaten back to the Foundation Establishment stage and was currently recuperating within the sect.
They all thought that Tianshan Sect would definitely not get a chance this time. They were prepared to restore their realm first before going after the Tianshan Sect bit by bit. However, they did not expect Sage Ancestor Yaogong to pick three people from the Tianshan Sect in one go.
Even though they had some reservations, none of them dared to speak up. If Sage Ancestor Yaogong did not give them soul-restoring talismans, their realms would never recover and neither they nor their sects would have much time left.
"Rujia, is it enough for 15" Hao Ren turned around and asked Xie Rujia gently.
Standing at the cave entrance, Xie Rujia nodded. She had just returned to the cave compound and while she trained, she drew talismans. She already had more than twenty of them and each one was a success on the first attempt.
"Be careful," Xie Rujia reminded him as she walked down the steps and handed 15 talismans over to Hao Ren.
Hao Ren smiled and distributed the talismans to Lu L琳琳 and Lu 莉莉.
The sisters from the Lu family plucked their fingers together, causing the 15 talismans to shoot out as parallel beams of golden light. They hit the foreheads of these ancestor elders without fail.
Outside, the cultivators could not see what was going on inside and only saw 15 talismans suddenly shoot out. There was no time for them to evade before they were struck.
Their palms also trembled at this moment when the talismans were shot out.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The realms of these 15 Core Formation-stage ancestor elders instantly recovered!
These cultivators rejoiced in their hearts but did not dare to show it too much. They all bowed and said, "Thank you so much for Sage Ancestor’s rescue!"
Falling from the Core Formation stage back down into the Nascent Soul stage was like falling from a god to an ordinary person. And going back up from the Nascent Soul stage to the Core Formation stage, this sense of relief was not any less pleasant than the feeling they had experienced when they first broke through to the Core Formation stage.
"You guys shouldn’t be too happy yet. These soul-restoring talismans only have an efficacy that lasts for a jiazi cycle1 but as long as you don’t provoke Mysterious Peak, the power of the remaining talismans will dissipate slowly," Hao Ren said.
Xie Rujia was taken aback at Hao Ren’s words and was stunned for several seconds before she realized that this was something Hao Ren had made up. The purpose was to scare these Core Formation-stage cultivators from causing trouble.
She smiled as she lowered her head and found that Hao Ren also had his own little tricks.
Indeed, after hearing what Hao Ren said, the cultivators outside looked at each other in shock. They were afraid of provoking Mysterious Peak and having their realms sealed again.
"Moreover, I need 150 Nascent Soul-stage cultivators and 1,500 Foundation Establishment-stage cultivators. Let Tianshan Sect gather them within the duration of one joss stick," Hao Ren said.
Hearing Hao Ren's casual words from inside the valley, the cultivators outside were once again shocked.
Would the Medicine King Ancestor need a considerable number of low-level cultivators, specifically those from the Heavenly Mountain Sect, in order to trick them into killing off the core strength of the Heavenly Mountain Sect
Duan Yao was also astonished as she looked at Hao Ren, unable to understand what he intended to do.
Hao Ren didn’t bother with her; instead, he raised his fists and started practicing the basic boxing techniques of the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace to pass the time.
Duan Yao watched Hao Ren in puzzlement. Suddenly, she felt that Hao Ren was unfathomable. She had trained since childhood and had a solid foundation, but when she saw how powerful each of Hao Ren’s punches and kicks were, she knew that his strength wasn’t weak either.
However, after being stunned for just a moment, she continued to focus on clearing the spirit fields. The Heavenly Mountain Sect had no other way out; its fate was in the hands of the Mysterious Peak. Since it wasn’t about becoming a "furnace tripod," this minor humiliation could be temporarily endured.
After a short while, a massive army of cultivators from the Heavenly Mountain Sect descended to the Fifth Layer Sky from the Sixth Layer Sky.
A hundred and fifty mid-core formation stage or higher cultivators, along with fifteen hundred late foundation establishment-stage cultivators, all wore anxious expressions but stood neatly in formation high above Mysterious Peak.
Hao Ren had witnessed the Heavenly Mountain Sect’s assault on Mysterious Peak as well as their internal organization. He knew that these cultivators from the Heavenly Mountain Sect were skilled at forming formations and very disciplined; even when facing a powerful enemy, they didn’t panic or flee. They were almost comparable to soldiers under Zhao Kuo of the Eastern Sea.
Thus, when Hao Ren repaired the array formation, his first thought was the Heavenly Mountain Sect: there were enough cultivators, and they followed rules well.
"
Zhen Cunming, you take care of the outer perimeter."
"Alright!" Zhen Cunming snapped his fingers and flew out of the valley on a black disc.
These elder core formation-stage cultivators from the Sixth Layer Sky all felt that Zhen Cunming looked familiar; they seemed to be the legendary "medicinal herb thief," but no one dared speak recklessly in this situation.
The array formation that Zhen Cunming was setting up now was called the "Seven Stars Eight Extremes Array." Compared to his previous "Northern Dipper Cluster Star Array," it had fewer variations, but its power had increased by three levels. If it could be successfully activated, it would easily defend against attacks from core formation-stage cultivators!
Zhen Cunming was furious when the Northern Dipper Cluster Star Array was destroyed, so this time he designed an ultra-strong "tortoise shell" and didn’t even expect Hao Ren to control the array actively.
"You—come here! You go there!"
Only a foundation establishment-stage Zhen Cunming shouted at these core formation-stage cultivators without hesitation, having them stand in corresponding positions around the valley’s perimeter.
A more advanced array formation would rely on celestial and terrestrial spirit energy to operate automatically. The Northern Dipper Cluster Star Array that Zhen Cunming set up previously belonged to this category.
Lower-level formations required spirit stones to run, such as the array formations in the Heavenly Mountain Sect’s scripture pavilion.
The most advanced formations gathered the boundless magical power of ancient cultivators, allowing them to sustain thousands of years of operation. Zhen Cunming couldn’t find a super expert like his master Qiu Niu or didn't have the qualification to ask for a transcendent transformation-stage cultivator to pour in vast amounts of magical energy, so he had to recruit fifteen core formation-stage cultivators as substitutes.
The effort of 15 Nephew Cultivators at the Essence Formation stage, who pooled a century's worth of cultivation power, barely managed to activate this ultimate formation. The formation absorbed and stored an amount equivalent to 1,500 years of cultivation by Essence Formation-stage cultivators, sufficient to maintain its operation for a hundred years.
Meanwhile, 150 Core Formation-stage cultivators from the Snow Mountain Sect, along with 1,500 Foundation Establishment-stage cultivators, were like densely packed formation feet that fixed this grand formation in place.
This ultimate formation could not be completed by just a couple of people. Without coordinated actions among the cultivators, it would also lead to flaws within the formation.
Xie Yujia hid over ten young snow lion cubs inside her cave abode and then opened the boundary, allowing 150 Core Formation-stage cultivators and 1,500 Foundation Establishment-stage cultivators from the Snow Mountain Sect to enter.
The spiritual field in the valley's center had already been surrounded by wooden fences to prevent these cultivators from trampling it down.
A golden shield floated in mid-air above the valley and released a thousand golden clones, illuminating the entire valley. This made the Snow Mountain Sect cultivators who entered the valley dare not move rashly.
But actually, even without the golden shield, the Lu family sisters at the Essence Formation-stage level could also control the situation.
The disciples of the Snow Mountain Sect were led by Ye Yan, the head disciple and first student of the sect's patriarch. He was seeing the interior of the valley for the first time and was secretly shocked to see how young Hao Ren appeared.
Duan Yao had tears in her eyes as she stood beside Hao Ren upon spotting the Snow Mountain Sect cultivators. She did not feel joy but rather joined Hao Ren's side.
Ye Yan, who would be the future sect leader, discreetly sized up Hao Ren and realized that he could hardly sense any spiritual energy from Hao Ren’s body.
To hide one’s realm so deeply was incredibly powerful! It really was the personal disciple of Old Ancestor Medicine King!
Ye Yan's eyes showed some surprise, but he couldn't imagine that Hao Ren wasn’t hiding his realm. In fact, Hao Ren had genuinely depleted all spiritual energy from his body.
When Ye Yan saw his former junior sister Duan Yao standing by Hao Ren’s side, a sense of unwillingness suddenly arose in him. Hao Ren was handsome and dashing, and also the imposing personal disciple of Old Ancestor Medicine King.
He had originally thought that Duan Yao would be taken as an incense burner by Old Ancestor Medicine King, feeling some disgust towards it. However, seeing how young Hao Ren appeared made him feel a creeping jealousy over his junior sister possibly being chosen by him.
"Junior Sister..." he couldn't help but call out her name once more.
Duan Yao turned her head away and ignored him completely.
Hao Ren, however, turned to look at Duan Yao. "Setting up the formation is not an easy task. These are all your Snow Mountain Sect disciples; I'll give orders, while you control them."
The emotionally complex and lonely Duan Yao suddenly heard Hao Ren's words and looked at him in surprise.
(To be continued) it was going abroad, Hao Ren thought to himself."We’re done eating. Let’s go! We still have lots of things to do!" Zhao Yanzi said as she finished her last bite of pizza and pulled Hao Ren up."I’ll p...