Chapter 1017: Zhang Xuan Breaks the Seal (2)
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
All kinds of defensive formations had been set up in the depression. Tossing a boulder over could be considered an attack, and it could very well incur the seal's retaliation.
While the other formation masters were relying on their compasses to search for the crux of formidable formations to decipher them, this fellow had actually tossed a boulder in. This was no longer an attempt to decipher the formation but one to activate it!
Even while the seal was dormant, the twenty thousand of them here coupled with two powerful formation masters were already finding it hard to stabilize the seal. If it were to be activated, wouldn't it cause a huge calamity?
Just what was in the mind of that fellow? Was there a loose screw in there or something?
Otherwise, how could he make such a foolish decision? He was a 6-star pinnacle formation master, but he was making an error that even an apprentice formation master would know better than to do!
Stifled, Han Xu and Liu Mo hurriedly rushed forward to stop the other party, but it was already too late. The boulder plummeted into the formation and came into contact with the seal.
However, it didn't induce a change in the seal.
Seeing that nothing had happened, Liu Mo heaved a sigh of relief. "That was a close one! It seems like the seal only reacts to living beings, so it wasn't activated after coming into contact with the boulder. Otherwise, I can't even begin to imagine what would have happened."
The seal was intricately linked to the rampaging energies that had accumulated beneath it. Once activated, there was a good chance that it could cause a disturbance in the energies below and cause them to act up once more, thus bringing more work to the already exhausted students. In the worst-case scenario, it might even induce an explosion on the spot.
After the fellow tossed the boulder in, he had suddenly fallen still. As a 6-star pinnacle formation master, he must have realized how risky his previous action was and was trembling fearfully at the thought of what could have happened.
Just as Liu Mo thought the other party would give up, the other party abruptly beckoned with his hand, and one of the students of the Hongyuan Master teacher Academy rushed over. The other party leaned forward and whispered a few words into the other party's ears.
A grim expression immediately surfaced on the student's face. Without any hesitation, he bellowed loudly and jumped straight into the depression, heading toward the seal.
Pu!
Not expecting that the other party would disregard his own student's welfare and send him to his death, Liu Mo felt so stifled that he nearly fainted on the spot.
That fellow was a fool, but to think that his student would be even more foolish! To charge in like that... It was possible to activate the formation in such a manner, but the instant the formation came to life, that student would die!
"Preposterous!" While Liu Mo was shocked by the sight before him, his teacher was completely enraged by the scene.
While others regarded their own students as their own children, protecting and caring for them, this fellow actually sent his student into the depression to test out the seal. To recklessly place his student in such danger, just how much more ridiculous could he get?
"Stop right there!" Bellowing furiously, Han Xu was just about to rush up to stop them when Zhang Xuan abruptly stretched his hand forward and grasped tightly. His zhenqi shot forth like a rope, swiftly wrapping around the student who had just jumped into the depression.
Just as he was about to come into contact with the seal, the zhenqi rope wrapped around the student abruptly pulled him back, dragging him out of the depression at an incredible speed.
At the same time, the seal seemed to have sensed the presence of life, and brilliant radiance flickered from it. However, contrary to Han Xu's previous worry, the activation of the seal didn't cause the explosion of the energies below. Instead, the formation whirred into action for a short moment before slowing to a stop, as if its activation wasn't complete.
"What precise control..." Guild Leader Han Xu's face warped in astonishment.
To be able to pull his student back in the very instant that the other party came into contact with the seal required an extremely deep understanding of the seal and very precise calculations of the positioning and velocity of his student!
Even the slightest centimeter of difference could either cause the formation to completely activate and devour the student or the formation to not sense the student altogether and result in nothing happening at all.
Of course, after the past two days of studying the formation, he was also capable of achieving the same feat. What truly left him astonished was the impressive teamwork and deep trust between the student and Principal Zhang!
Had there been the slightest difference in the action just a moment ago, the outcome could very well have been vastly difference. For the student to remain completely still while falling into the depression, not struggling in the slightest, it could only mean that he had complete trust in Principal Zhang.
Furthermore, for the student to jump without any hesitation just because Principal Zhang told him to... If Han Xu were to issue the same command to Liu Mo, the latter was unlikely to do the same.
It was not that Liu Mo didn't trust him, but there was a clear line of difference between trust and blind faith.
After the student was retrieved, Principal Zhang froze on the spot once more, seemingly falling into a daze. A moment later, he turned around.
"Wu shi, are you done preparing the grade-7 pinnacle formation flag yet?"
After a moment of hesitation, Wu shi flicked his wrist and passed a formation flag over. "Here it is."
On top of being a 7-star pinnacle master teacher, he was a 7-star formation master as well. While his proficiency as a formation master was beneath that of Guild Leader Han, he still had a couple of grade-7 pinnacle formation flags in his possession.
"Un." Taking the formation flag, Zhang Xuan nodded in satisfaction. Without any hesitation, he stomped on the ground and flew into the air, heading toward the airspace right above the depression.
Driving his zhenqi, he grasped his formation flag tightly, seemingly searching for a node to plant it into.
"That fellow has gone bonkers! Liu Mo, hurry up and stop him!" Seeing that Principal Zhang was going to try creating an opening without even discussing the matter with them, Guild Leader Han nearly died of shock.
He had seen reckless people in his lifetime, but never had he seen someone as reckless as that!
Even if you have confirmed a node to plant your formation flag into, you should at least discuss the matter with us! To rush right over without saying a word at all... Are you really that confident that your judgement is correct?
You must know that if you err, it won't just be the twenty thousand master teachers on the Swallow Embracing Mountain who will pay for your mistake. It will be all living beings within a radius of a thousand kilometers!
This is truly making light of the matter!
"Yes!" Hearing his teacher's command, Liu Mo immediately flitted right toward Zhang Xuan.
At this moment, he was also extremely enraged by the impetuous actions of the other party. If he could, he really would tear the self-important fellow before him into pieces!
Hu!
Liu Mo thrust his palm forward, and a powerful burst of zhenqi shot forth from his hands.
In that instant, it seemed as if even the world had dulled before his powerful might as a Saint 3-dan cultivator.
"Hmm?"
Zhang Xuan was in the midst of searching for a node to stabilize the formation, but before he could make a move, he suddenly found that Liu Mo had launched an attack against him. His eyebrows immediately shot up in displeasure.
This fellow... just what kind of insanity streak was he on?
They had only had a small verbal conflict earlier. As a 7-star formation master, surely he didn't need to be so narrow-minded!
But since the other party had already made his move, he couldn't possibly sit idly and allow the other party to do as he pleased. With a deep frown, Zhang Xuan retaliated with a palm on his own.
Hong long!
Zhang Xuan's palm carried immense strength as well. Clashing squarely with the other party's palm strike, a deafening explosion resounded in the air. Surprisingly, they were actually equally-matched.
"What powerful strength!" Liu Mo narrowed his eyes in alarm.
Even though he had used less than a tenth of his strength to stop the other party, the fact that the other party had been able to parry his blow so easily went to show that the other party wasn't just an ordinary Nascent Saint!
With such strength, the other party was already on par with most Saint 2-dan cultivators!
Geji! Geji!
Liu Mo began gathering his strength once more to launch yet another attack at Zhang Xuan so as to force him to back down, but at that moment, a shrill sound abruptly echoed in the air.
Following which, the deep rumbling of thunder suddenly boomed beneath the ground, threatening to burst forth at any moment.
"This is bad, the rampaging energies are going to strike again..." Liu Mo's eyes widened in fear.
The rampaging energies struck once every ten minutes. Clearly, ten minutes had just passed, and it was ready to strike once more.
Liu Mo clenched his teeth tightly and roared furiously, "Stop what you're doing right there! If you don't wish to kill everyone here, you'd better stop moving right now!"
He knew full well that the rumbling heralded another burst of rampaging energies. It was already difficult for their group to withstand the burst as it was; if anything were to happen at this moment, their entire group might just be decimated!
Knowing that he had to stop Zhang Xuan at all costs, his hand darted swiftly toward the other party.
This was the most powerful attack he had. As soon as his hand clawed forward, the air surrounding the Swallow Embracing Mountain suddenly seemed to gather together, causing the flow of spiritual energy to halt.
Seeing that Liu Mo was making a move against him once more, Zhang Xuan frowned in displeasure. What is that fool trying to do?
Once the current wave of rampaging energies burst forth, the entire seal would be jolted, resulting in a slight deviation in the calculations he had made with great difficulty.
Due to the precarious situation of the seal, even the slightest deviation in the force and positioning when creating the opening could result in a vastly different outcome. As such, there was no room for error at all. He had just managed to find the correct node, and all he had to do at the moment was plant the flag, then the crisis would be averted. Yet, this fellow had caused trouble at this crucial moment.
Truly, there was nothing worse than a pig-like teammate!
No, this won't do. The energies below are about to burst forth, and once it does, I will have to redo my calculations right from the start once more, Zhang Xuan thought anxiously.
But this fellow is far stronger than me. I was only able to withstand his assault earlier because he underestimated me and didn't use his full strength. Now that he is putting his entirety into attacking me. He won't be able to kill me, but to dodge his attacks while successfully planting the formation flag into the node will be practically impossible.
The planting of the formation flag should have been something that only took an instant, but the matter had been complicated with that fellow causing trouble.
The other party was a Saint 3-dan cultivator. Even with Zhang Xuan's superior fighting prowess that allowed him to rival opponents stronger than him, he was still hardly a match for the other party.
"Since that's the case... pardon me!"
Knowing that he couldn't afford to be tied down by the other party at this crucial moment, Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes and bellowed loudly, "The students of the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy, listen to my command. Beat the living hell out of that fellow!"
"Yes!" Upon hearing their principal's command, the twenty thousand students simultaneously released a war cry as they raised their palms together.
Hong long!
Individually, these students weren't too powerful; a huge proportion of them were only at the Cosmos Bridge realm and Perfect Harmonization realm. However, when their strength was put together, they were a sight to behold. Twenty thousand surges of zhenqi gathered together as one, forming a massive dragon that charged furiously toward Liu Mo. Under the overwhelming might produced by the collaborative strength of the students, even the surrounding space began to distort under the pressure.
"This is bad..." Not expecting the other party to order all of his students to launch an attack against him, Liu Mo's face turned ashen.
He could already hardly fend for himself at this point, let alone persist in his attack against Zhang Xuan. Thus, he hurriedly retracted his palm and redirected his might toward the massive dragon headed toward him.
The next instant, the moment the two forces collided, Liu Mo's figure was rocketed backward as if a cannonball, spewing out huge mouthfuls of blood in the midst of his flight.
Even a Saint 5-dan expert would have no choice but flee in the face of the combined might of the twenty thousand students, let alone him!
"Good!" Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief.
He could tell that his students had held back in their attack so that the other party wouldn't suffer any life-threatening damage. With the hindrance resolved, Zhang Xuan hurriedly aimed the formation flag in his grasp toward a certain location, preparing to throw it in.
"Hold it right there!"
But before the formation flag could leave his grasp, he heard another bellow. Glancing over, Zhang Xuan saw Guild Leader Han charging toward him as well.
Hong long long!
While Guild Leader Han made his move, the rumbling beneath the ground grew more and pronounced, heralding the imminent arrival of a devastating force.
Knowing that it would be too late if he didn't make a move soon, Zhang Xuan bellowed furiously once more. "Beat him down as well!"
"Yes!"
All of the students nodded simultaneously as they gathered their strength together once more, ready to strike down the lone figure in the air.
"You all dare..." Guild Leader Han's face turned livid.
He might have been a Saint 4-dan pinnacle expert, but he was still unable to withstand the simultaneous attack from twenty thousand students.
Clenching his jaws tightly, he roared indignantly, "I am trying to save you all! If your principal's flag lands, all of you will be goners..."
Hong long!
But before he could finish his words, a powerful burst of radiance struck him.
The vision before him darkened before he was rocketed into the distance, similar to Liu Mo. His body crashed heavily into a cliff face some distance away, and the impact cloaked his entire body with a layer of dust.