Chapter 1241: The Simultaneous Opening of the Four Gates
The Cakravarti King, a powerful cultivator who had attained the Immortal Soul Second Level, had many flashes of light swirling above his head. It was as though the truth of his martial way was about to coagulate into something solid, forming the sight of masses in hell reincarnating. The fingers on both of his hands took on the shape of claws and looked as though they were about to claw the soul in front of him into smithereens.
At this moment, his Saṃsāra Claws of the Hell were unleashed as his figure radiated a heavy aura permeated with the coldness of a murderer. The Cakravarti King lunged forward in a flash and chose to aim for Li Yuanfang rather than his cosmic form.
The body, which was supposed to be radiating with heat and strength from the martial way, was instead enshrouded with a cold aura that sent shivers down spines as it lunged forward towards Li Yuanfang.
It would definitely be a disastrous scenario for any cultivator who specializes in formations to come up close with a Martial Way specialist. And this includes Li Yuanfang!
After the dismemberment of the Formation of Nine Bends of the Heaven River, the Cakravarti King had seized the opportunity to launch a sneak attack. He mustered the explosive power which belonged to a Martial Way specialist as he unleashed his bursting speed to emerge in front of Li Yuanfang. He was so fast that Li Yuanfang had no time to react at all.
If Li Yuanfang were to suffer a blow from a full-power claw by a Immortal Soul Second Stage Martial Way Specialist, his soul and body would disintegrate into nothingness!
But right at this moment, the center of Li Yuanfang's belt began to emit a strong glow, revealing an incredibly complex formation.
This formation was mysterious as it revealed the convolution within its structure. However, it was somehow able to be compressed within the small area carved onto the center of Li Yuanfang's belt.
The glow was not triggered by Li Yuanfang's intent. Instead, it was preset to be triggered upon the detection of impending danger.
Under the pressure from the incoming Saṃsāra Claws of the Hell, the formation expanded and encroached into the space around it. After assuming the size of a formidable formation, countless Heavenly Squalls howled about the formation.
It was the Nine Heavens Squall Formation which had concentrated the power of the Nine Heavens Formless Squall!
Countless Heavenly Squalls stacked their strengths as though they were about to materialize into something solid and physical. They were slowly losing their formlessness as eye-catching flashes of colors started to become visible.
At this moment, the formation gave up on all of its offensive capabilities and concentrated all of its energy into defense.
The powerful Saṃsāra Claws of the Hell landed on the colorful layers of the Heavenly Squalls. The friction between the scarily powerful physical might and the Heavenly Squalls gave off a dizzying loud sound.
The Squalls gave way as they shattered. But they continued to circulate and revolve as they cut straight into the hands of the Cakravarti King.
The formless storm might have shattered but was as good as the toughest metal in the world right now. It was putting up a tough fight even after being penetrated by the claws of the Cakravarti King.
Both the Cakravarti King and King Pingdeng revealed a shocked expression as a common thought flashed across their minds.
This person had specially prepared the Nine Heavens Squall Formation to protect himself in the event where someone launched a near-body ambush!
Li Yuanfang's cosmic form gave a loud howl as the Heavenly Fire God-Slaughtering Formation turned its attack onto the Cakravarti King.
Li Yuanfang revealed a calm expression as no emotion could be detected from the look on his face.
Because of the unexpected dismemberment of the Formation of Nine Bends of the Heaven River coupled with the appearance of the Heavenly Demon Ape Puppet, the Cakravarti King managed to pull off a sneak attack on Li Yuanfang. With the speed at which the Cakravarti King attacked Li Yuanfang, it was impossible for Li Yuanfang to react in anyway.
But Li Yuanfang had never been a person who was slipshot in his preparation. He knew very well his strengths and weaknesses if he were to specialize in the cultivation of formation spells.
Even if he were able to react instantly when ambushed by a martial way specialist, the formations which he would be able to conjure might not possess the necessary defensive fortitude.
Hence, Li Yuanfang often prepared the Nine Heavens Squall Formation in advance and stored it in his belt.
The formation would remain dormant during normal times and would only be attack people with hostile intent upon Li Yuanfang's activation. However, it could spring into action on its own accord and protect Li Yuanfang upon any attack from Li Yuanfang's enemies.
It has always been Li Yuanfang's character to map out his plans in detail to reduce threats and risks from any unforeseen circumstances. This gave him the ability to always be in the control of situations and to achieve his projected goals on time.
Even if Li Yuanfang's opponent were to be able to overcome the Nine Heavens Squall Formation without difficulties, Li Yuanfang would not be too anguished by that because it would simply mean that the opponent was too strong to begin with.
However, if the opponent were unable to penetrate the formatio, it would give Li Yuanfang sufficient time to react and retaliate against the opponent.
And as expected, Li Yuanfang took advantage of the situation and activated the violent Heavenly Fire God-Slaughtering Formation. The fearsome flames poured themselves towards the Cakravarti King.
The Soul-Repressing Clock within the Black Nightmare Saint-Trapping Formation rang endlessly and combined seamlessly with the formation to launch an attack on King Pingdeng.
King Pingdeng thought, "This person is not to be belittled. He could remain calm even after being pressured into close combat by the Cakravarti King."
Even though the Cakravarti King did not manage to take Li Yuanfang with a single blow, the pressure dealt by a martial way specialist on a cultivator skilled in formations should have been immense.
But the calmness which Li Yuanfang had exuded when facing the Cakravarti King was truly impressive as he did not flinch nor fumble. Instead, he kept his wits about him and maintained his pressure on King Pingdeng.
If Li Yuanfang were to focus his energies on the Cakravarti King and to neglect the presence of King Pingdeng, he would be digging his own grave.
If the Cakravarti King were to link up with King Pingdeng, where the Cakravarti King would lead the attack while King Pingdeng would assist from the side, they would pose a much greater threat when it came to penetrating Li Yuanfang's formations.
Hence, the best option available was to separate them and to prevent them from working together.
An increasingly serious look crept onto Li Yuanfang's face but no semblance of fear was visible. He continued in his composed methods as he parried the Cakravarti King's and King Pingdeng's attacks.
The Cakravarti King did not fall into despair after failing to overcome Li Yuanfang's defence and continued to send his Saṃsāra Claws of the Hell towards Li Yuanfang after a chilling snarl.
The claws seemed to be endless just like the cycle of death and reincarnation.
Even though Li Yuanfang had already surpassed the Cakravarti King's expectations, it was nonetheless extremely unfavorable for a formation specialist like Li Yuanfang to be fighting up close with a martial way specialist.
The Cakravarti King had already smelted his virtual entity into his physical body and had unleashed all of his martial way cultivation upon Li Yuanfang at this very instant. His attacks started to rip apart the layers of defence built by the squalls and headed straight towards Li Yuanfang. The speed of his attack was so fast that it looked illusory as his body flashed towards Li Yuanfang leaving shadows and illusions everywhere.
The Cakravarti King chose to tackle the Heavenly Fire God-Slaughtering Formation head-on as he launched an attack on another attack. He was betting on the advantage he had from launching a sneak attack to take down Li Yuanfang's defence and kill him.
King Pingdeng also sorted himself out as the grey ring formed from his immortal soul emitted streaks of lights which reinforced the Boat of River Luo. He then used the Soul-Amassing Lamp to guard himself as he surged past Li Yuanfang's Black Nightmare Saint-Trapping Formation. It was a mad attempt to link up with the Cakravarti King to fight side by side against Li Yuanfang.
Li Yuanfang kept his composure as he launched a series of transformations in his formations to prepare for a tough battle against the two powerful cultivators from the Hall of the Dead.
Despite facing the wrath of the Cakravarti King, King Pingdeng, and the Boat of River Luo, Li Yuanfang never demonstrated any hint of panic. Even though he might have lost the upper hand, Li Yuanfang still kept a water-tight defence, and he did not allow his foes to trespass into his personal territory.
However, it was not easy at all for Li Yuanfang at all. The biggest threat was neither the Cakravarti King nor King Pingdeng. Instead it was the Heavenly Demon Ape Puppet which had penetrated his Formation of Nine Bends of the Heaven River.
The Heavenly Demon Ape Puppet was extraordinarily fast. Even though the Cang Heaven Spell Blade was able to match its speed, the constant intervention by Mo Xiuluo and the Bastille Black Dragon puppet impeded its advance.
Other than these two extremely formidable puppets, there were also a few other weaker puppets which joined in the rest that were surrounding and encircling around Gu Peng, Yang Qing, Li Yuanfang, and the rest.
One puppet formed from a Suan Ni at the Undying Demon Soul Second Level propelled itself towards Li Yuanfang. Even though it was unable to muster the Purple Smoke Earthen Thunder which belonged to the Suan Ni species, its physical prowess was not to be underestimated.
The Cang Heaven Spell Blade formed into an illusory shadow as it flashed towards the Suan Ni puppet, injuring it seriously. But on the other hand, the Heavenly Demon Ape Puppet was able to rip apart the Nine Heavens Squall Formation, which was protecting Li Yuanfang, in a single action!
The flash of the sword flickered as the Cang Heaven Spell Blade caught up with the Heavenly Demon Ape Puppet and forced it to retreat from Li Yuanfang. But then, Mo Xiuluo and the Bastille Black Dragon puppet caught up as well, resulting in an extremely chaotic situation.
The Cakravarti King took advantage of this opportunity and surged past the broken Nine Heavens Squall Formation to claw at Li Yuanfang.
A worried expression appeared on Li Yuanfang's face, but he did not lose his cool. The cosmic form above his head flickerd as a long stream of flashes extended itself in front of Li Yuanfang in an attempt to stop the Cakravarti King.
That was the Formation of Nine Bends of the Heaven River which he had constructed in a rush from his own mana . The Cakravarti King was still able to rip the formation a part. The cosmic form successfully sustained all of the damage from this blow as the the attack left deep and scary claw marks on it.
But it was also right at this moment when Li Yuanfang's Heavenly Fire God-Slaughtering Formation exploded as the wild and raw energy slammed onto the Cakravarti King.
Because of the slight loss in concentration, the Black Nightmare Saint-Trapping Formation, which was trapping King Pingdeng, weakened and the Boat of River Luo was able to ferry him out of the formation.
But the Nine Heavens Squall Formation also took the time to reconstruct its defenses as a solid wall formed again, sealing King Pingdeng to the outside.
But the Cakravarti King, who was trapped within the formation, increased the intensity and power of his attacks, giving Li Yuanfang no time to even take a breather.
Li Yuanfang opened Heluo Heavenly Gate Formation's Light Dust Spell-Manifesting Formation as he merged both the Formation of Nine Bends of the Heaven River and the Nine Heavens Squall Formation. The hybrid formation was one that was capable of both defensive and offensive functions as it parried te Cakravarti King's attacks.
However, the Cakravarti King's speed at such a short range was extremely quick, and he did not give Li Yuanfang much time to react.
And while Li Yuanfang was busy fending off the Cakravarti King, King Pingdeng who was on the outside also began his furious attack against the Nine Heavens Squall Formation in a mad attempt to rejoin the Cakravarti King in their team effort.
Li Yuanfang was definitely not in a favorable situation.
A slightly worried expression formed as he communicated with the Black Nightmare Saint-Trapping Formation, while he manipulated the Light Dust Spell-Manifesting Formation and the Formation of Nine Bends of the Heaven Rive. In the midst of this flurry of actions, he brought his palms together and at that very instant, the Heavenly Fire God-Slaughtering Formation emerged again!
It was the first time that the four gates of the Heluo Heavenly Gate Formation were simultaneously opened!