NOVEL WEB Ch. 50
Chapter 50：Tit for tat
Xu Zhengyang moved from the Kun position to the Zhen position, while Yang Hong moved from the Zhen position to the Kun position.
A moment passed.
When Xu Zhengyang and Yang Hong, each holding a formation flag of the Mist Shadow Thousand Kill Formation, encountered each other midway, they exchanged a smile.
Then, the two of them quickly went to each other's original flag position and swapped the two formation flags.
After doing this—
Only then did Xu Zhengyang and Yang Hong, feeling quite satisfied, head toward the life gate of the Mist Shadow Thousand Kill Formation, ready to leave.
……
Meanwhile—
Ye Mingyu of the Diancang Sword Sect had already walked out of the Azure Edge Absolute Shadow Formation.
He once again summoned his semi-transparent small sword and strode into the formation.
Not long after—
The third person to emerge from the Azure Edge Absolute Shadow Formation was Tian Xiyue.
At this moment, Tian Xiyue's face was as cold as frost.
But when she saw the Mist Shadow Thousand Kill Formation ahead, a trace of schadenfreude flashed in her eyes. Then, without hesitation, she charged into it.
However——
Tian Xiyue had only taken about a dozen steps forward.
Suddenly！
Multiple ice spikes appeared out of nowhere and attacked Tian Xiyue from all directions！
“？？？”
Tian Xiyue had not expected such a thing to happen. In a flustered panic, she responded quickly, but could only knock away seven or eight ice spikes.
The remaining ice spikes unhesitatingly pierced toward Tian Xiyue’s body！
“Ding！”
“Ding！”
“Ding！”
……
Just as Tian Xiyue was about to perish here—
A jade token hanging around her neck suddenly shattered, transforming into a green shield that blocked the deadly strike for her！
……
*
At the same time, outside the Absolute Shadow Wall of Celestial Mechanism Peak—
A short while ago—
While Pei Zhen and Chen Qiang were drinking joyously, Xu Zhengyang and Yang Hong had already stepped into the Mist Shadow Thousand Kill Formation.
At that moment—
A faint smile curled at the corner of Xiao Yueling’s lips. She approached Pei Zhen and Chen Qiang and said with a smile, “As the senior sister… May I ask Junior Brother Chen for a cup of Spirit Wine to taste?”
“Oh？”
Chen Qiang was in high spirits at the time and didn’t hold back upon hearing this.
He immediately took out a new bowl, filled it with fine wine, and handed it to Xiao Yueling, just about to say something—
Suddenly！
Chen Qiang saw the scene of Xu Zhengyang and Yang Hong being attacked by ice spikes within the Mist Shadow Thousand Kill Formation！
At the time, Chen Qiang simply thought that Yang Hong had misstepped in his usual reckless manner, so he still handed the bowl of Spirit Wine to Xiao Yueling.
But Pei Zhen was different.
Having immersed himself in formation arts for many years, he noticed something unusual in the details.
He immediately slapped the table and stood up, pointing at Xiao Yueling and angrily rebuked:
“You actually dared to change the positions of the formation flags in the Mist Shadow Thousand Kill Formation without permission?!”
Xiao Yueling raised the bowl of Spirit Wine that Chen Qiang had just given her with a charming smile, respectfully toasted Pei Zhen in the air, and proudly said, “Without permission? Didn’t I suggest earlier that we all go check the Mist Shadow Thousand Kill Formation together, just in case anything went wrong? You two found it troublesome and couldn’t be bothered, and now you’re blaming me?”
“Poisonous woman.”
Pei Zhen looked at Xiao Yueling and coldly spat out the two words.
Before the words had fully fallen—
Pei Zhen’s spiritual power erupted with a roar, and his eyes were filled with unmistakable killing intent!
Chen Qiang looked at Pei Zhen in astonishment.
The two had competed for most of their lives, and Pei Zhen had always been level-headed, never once losing his composure like this.
Just then—
As Pei Zhen was about to strike at Xiao Yueling—
A voice transmission from Master Xuan Yin simultaneously echoed in the minds of Pei Zhen, Chen Qiang, and Xiao Yueling:
【Enough! With so many outsiders present today, must you three really make the internal discord among the three main branches of the True Essence Sect known to all?】
“……”
Pei Zhen remained silent for a moment. Compelled by the sect master's decree, he could only silently suppress the surging spiritual power within him.
Seeing this, Xiao Yueling wore a smug look and said, “What good is walking fast? Walking steadily is the real way.”
Just as Xiao Yueling finished speaking—
Chen Qiang, who had been half-focused on watching the Absolute Shadow Wall, suddenly asked Pei Zhen, “Eh, why isn’t Nephew Xu using that method he mentioned earlier to break the formation? Why did he suddenly hand a Jade Slip to Hong’er?”
Upon hearing this, Pei Zhen also turned his gaze back to the Absolute Shadow Wall.
At first—
Pei Zhen had also been curious about this question, wondering why Xu Zhengyang hadn't immediately tried breaking the formation.
But when he saw Xu Zhengyang and Yang Hong begin testing the method Xu Zhengyang had deduced to break the formation—
Only then did he realize and exclaim in surprise, “Ah Zheng is… testing each possible variation of the Mist Shadow Thousand Kill Formation he deduced?!”
Just as Pei Zhen finished speaking—
“Heh.”
Xiao Yueling let out a mocking laugh, crossed her arms, looked askance, and clearly didn’t believe it, ridiculing, “Junior Brother Pei, that’s quite the joke.”
But right after—
When Xu Zhengyang successfully found the correct method to break the formation and walked toward the Life Gate alongside Yang Hong—
Xiao Yueling’s smile instantly froze on her face.
Pei Zhen felt both shocked and delighted, thinking to himself:
【If it were me, could I have deduced all the variations of the Mist Shadow Thousand Kill Formation this quickly?】
Thinking this—
Pei Zhen involuntarily shook his head and continued inwardly:
【If given enough time, I could indeed deduce all the changes of the Mist Shadow Thousand Kill Formation. But… How long did Ah Zheng take to go from identifying the issue to deducing the changes? Thirty breaths?】
At the same time—
Pei Zhen let out a long breath and thought to himself: 【Ah Zheng truly lives up to the Seven‑Orifice Exquisite Body, the lineage of the Divine Mechanism… No! There is hope for the revival of our True Essence Sect!】
While Pei Zhen was lost in thought, Chen Qiang had already seen Yang Hong running to the Zhen position of the Mist Shadow Thousand Kill Formation to pull a formation flag.
Unable to hold back, he angrily scolded, “That brat isn’t rushing out of the formation to retrieve the Bodhi Fruit— What’s he doing pulling a formation flag…”
Before Chen Qiang could finish speaking, he simultaneously noticed Xu Zhengyang’s actions and asked in confusion, “Eh? Why is Nephew Xu also going to pull a formation flag?”
Pei Zhen and Xiao Yueling were not like Chen Qiang, who was utterly clueless about formations.
Upon seeing the actions of Xu Zhengyang and Yang Hong, the two instantly understood their intent.
Smiles don’t disappear—they just change faces.
At the same time—
The smile on Xiao Yueling’s face had already transferred entirely to Pei Zhen’s face!
Seeing Xu Zhengyang and Yang Hong successfully switch the formation flags in the Mist Shadow Thousand Kill Formation—
Pei Zhen squinted his eyes and smiled as he explained to Chen Qiang, “We two couldn’t be bothered to check the formation.
Naturally, our disciples have to ease the burden for us as their teachers.
It’s just unfortunate for Nephew Tian.
The formation-breaking method she memorized earlier might be useless now.”
“Hahahaha!”
Only then did Chen Qiang understand what Xu Zhengyang and Yang Hong had just done and laughed heartily, “Brilliant, brilliant!”
Just as Chen Qiang finished speaking—
Tian Xiyue had already stepped out of the Mist Shadow Thousand Kill Formation within the Sunset Cloud Blessed Land, confidently beginning to break the formation!
Moments later—
After the protective treasure on Tian Xiyue shattered and turned into a shield that blocked a fatal strike for her—
Pei Zhen pretended to be pained and said to Chen Qiang:
“Aiya, that thing which just blocked the ice spike for Nephew Tian was the Mystic Light Wall, a Tier 2 magical treasure! The Mystic Light Wall has the ability to protect its master automatically. Once its shield activates, even a Foundation Establishment cultivator would need the time of a cup of tea to break through it. Now… The Mystic Light Wall was forced out by just a few small ice spikes. What a shame…”
“No worries, Senior Sister Xiao has plenty of Spirit Stones!”
Hearing this, Chen Qiang chimed in, “She can just buy Nephew Tian another one.”