189 Chapter 1347: , the Formation Master (2/2)
The expert formation master whom Luo Xuanqing had specially invited into their group actually had no formation flags at all!
The other members of the group could not help but feel a little light-headed. Their journey had barely started, but everything was already looking so grim.
”Here, take mine!” Exhaling deeply in frustration, Bi Hongyin flicked her wrist and threw roughly five to six hundred formation flags over to Zhang Xuan.
As one who specialized in formations, it was a given that she would bring large quantities of formation flags wherever she went in case of emergencies. Of course, considering that she was a genius from the Demonic Tunist Guild, there was no questioning their quality too.
”Thank you.” Zhang Xuan swiftly grabbed all of those flags as he drove his zhenqi.
Sou sou sou!
The next moment, the flags flew out in all direction.
”You…” Seeing how Zhang Xuan tossed all of the flags out without even giving them a second look, Bi Hongyin's face flushed scarlet in fury. ”I only have that many flags! If you throw all of them out at once and fail to form a formation, we'll have no choice but to force our way through using brute…”
But before she could finish her sentence, a huge congregation of mist suddenly settled into the surroundings. A formation had been successfully formed and activated.
Grade-8 Aura Isolation Formation, typically used to prevent any noise, shockwaves, or any sort of intangible disturbances from traveling in and out of the formation.
”T-this… He's already done?” Bi Hongyin gulped in awe, but that hardly helped alleviate the hoarseness in her throat.
Not only was she in such a state, even Yun Lianhai and Yuan Xiao were completely dumbstruck as well.
Even though Luo Xuanqing had showered plenty of praise upon Zhang Xuan about how swift he was in setting up formations, the sight before them was still too inconceivable. It was simply beyond the limits of their imagination!
To complete a grade-8 formation within less than a breath… Could 9-star formation masters even set up a grade-8 formation that quickly?
After all, setting up a formation was a very complex business. It involved analyzing the surrounding geographical terrain, environment, strength of the opponent, diffusion of power, and many other factors. Yet, to finish it in the blink of an eye without even assessing any of those conditions… or was his mind capable of processing all of that complex information in an instant?
Recalling that they were still in the midst of a battle, Bi Hongyin swiftly shook herself out of her shock and whipped out her zither, preparing to play an offensive demonic tune. However, she suddenly realized something then, and she widened her eyes in astonishment. ”Wait a moment… this formation doesn't seem to have just concealed our presence—it seems to harness the effects of a Beguilement Formation as well. Look, those Crimsontail Wasps are clearly in a disorientated state, traveling aimlessly around the area.”
To her shock, she realized that the formation did not just isolate their presence from the rest of the world. It seemed to be trapping all of the Crimsontail Wasps within it as well, not allowing even a single one of them to escape.
This was extremely significant to their current situation. If even a single Crimsontail Wasp got away, they could possibly draw the powerful saint beasts in the valley over to save their comrades.
”Oh. You gave me quite a few flags there. There were still some remaining after I finished the Aura Isolation Formation, so I compounded a Beguilement Formation while I was at it,” Zhang Xuan replied with a cheery smile.
”You compounded a Beguilement Formation while you were at it?”
Everyone's cheeks convulsed wildly after hearing how casually Zhang Xuan spoke of the matter.
Within a short span of less than a breath… that fellow actually set up two formations!
And as if that was not enough… the both of them were compounded upon one another!
Overlapping two formations on top of one another was a task that was many times more complicated than just setting up just a single formation. Many more variables and factors had to be taken into account when making the calculations. Even expert formation masters would have to spend several months working with multiple compasses in hand, and yet, that fellow was actually able to achieve it on a whim.
Bi Hongyin felt a searing pain on her cheeks, as if someone had just dealt a tight slap to her face.
She was considered a genius formation master as well, but compared to the other party, she felt like she was not anything at all.
It was almost as if she was a complete amateur standing before a professional.
Yun Lianhai also quickly shook himself out of his shocked state before asking, ”With this Beguilement Formation, those Crimsontail Wasps shouldn't be able to get away. With that, we shouldn't have to fight them anymore, right?”
”This…”
The others were dazed for a moment before hurriedly nodding in agreement.
Indeed! Their goal was not to kill these Crimsontail Wasps but to bypass them so that they would not hinder the group from finding the Dongxu Gourd! Since they were already trapped by the Beguilement Formation, there was no reason for them to fight anymore.
They could just walk away, and the disoriented and trapped Crimsontail Wasps would not be able to stop them.
”That won't do.” Luo Xuanqing shook his head and said, ”A formation that is set up on a whim won't have sufficient spiritual energy to sustain it for too long. Soon, it will run out of energy and deactivate. We might be able to get away from them now, but if we encounter them once more in the depths of the valley, we'll be in a far more dangerous position!”
Formations required a constant input of spiritual energy in order to remain active. This was similar to how a carriage required a horse to drive it. Once the horse ran out of strength, the carriage would not remain moving for long.
The Beguilement Formation might have been able to last for quite a while if it was only trapping one or two Crimsontail Wasps, but there was an entire legion of them in here! Under their furious thrashing, the Beguilement Formation would only deplete its spiritual energy faster than ever. By Luo Xuanqing's estimate, it should be collapsing very soon.
Rather than be placed into an even more dangerous situation later on, it would be much wiser for them to get rid of the threat then and there, while they still had the upper hand.
”Run out of energy? Brother Luo, that won't be a problem. I also noticed that problem while I was setting up the formation earlier, so I compounded a Spirit Gathering Formation on top of that. With the Spirit Gathering Formation drawing in the surrounding spiritual energy to fuel the other formations, I think it should have no trouble running for several hundred years!” Zhang Xuan quickly clarified.
”You even compounded a Spirit Gathering Formation on top of that?”
The others staggered upon hearing those words.
They quickly turned their gazes over to assess the formation, and indeed, it was as sturdy and stable as it could get. It seemed like there was an endless source of spiritual energy fueling its power depletion.
”This…”
The crowd felt as if their minds had just blown up.
A triple compounded formation… and finished in a breath at that. Brother, are you high?
It took a long while before the deeply stifled Luo Xuanqing was able to find his words once more. ”Since that's the case, it should be safe for us to leave then…”
He had prepared so many contingency plans, but in the end, he did not get a chance to use any of them at all. Just by throwing out a pile of flags, the young man had already resolved the crisis they were facing. This left him with a crushing feeling of defeat.
”Leave? Isn't it a huge waste to leave behind so many formation flags?” Zhang Xuan blinked in confusion.
These formation flags were of top-notch quality, and every single one of them was worth a bomb! It would be too wasteful to toss away such a huge fortune here!
”What other choice do we have? These Crimsontail Wasps produce poison clouds upon their death. Even if we manage to slaughter every last one of them, we'll also suffer heavy damage,” Luo Xuanqing said with a frown.
”Heavy damage? Why would that be the case? There were still some spare formation flags after setting up those three formations, so I decided to add in a Slaughter Formation. It will activate automatically once the formation gathers sufficient spiritual energy. All we have to do is wait here,” Zhang Xuan replied with the same cheery smile.