Chapter 1348: Array Talismans

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Winds of Kyushu

When he appeared, Duan Xiuchen's expression was grim. Before this combat drill, no one could have predicted such an unusual turn of events. Currently, within the Black Abyss, the Eastern faction held an absolute advantage; not only did they possess all four spirit orbs, but the previous battle had also nearly wiped out the forces from both the Southern and Western factions.

This left everyone from the Southern and Western factions with a profound sense of defeat and humiliation. With little time remaining, this final push would determine if they could seize the spirit orbs from the Eastern faction!

Originally, Duan Xiuchen wouldn't have dared to easily leave his own main camp, as the elusive Lu Ye was still there. However, after several early-stage Star Constellation cultivators from the Southern faction died and respawned, bringing back much information from this area, Duan Xiuchen immediately realized that the Lu Ye he had seen previously raiding their camp had already arrived at the Eastern faction's main camp.

Given this, the Southern faction also had an opportunity to go all out. Therefore, upon sensing the summons from Ye Chaoqun's Grand Teleportation Talisman, he made a decisive decision and led all his forces to teleport over.

He turned to look and saw Ye Chaoqun sitting pale-faced in front, his aura extremely weak, and blood staining his clothes red over his right chest. Duan Xiuchen immediately understood that Ye Chaoqun no longer had the strength to fight.

It wasn't due to his injuries; for a late-stage Star Constellation cultivator, a penetrating wound to the right chest wasn't a major issue. The main reason was the depletion of his spiritual power. The Grand Teleportation Talisman was a top-tier jade talisman crafted by a Sun-Illuminated realm expert, and it couldn't be activated casually. Under normal circumstances, Ye Chaoqun would either activate it jointly with others or first set up a formation and use its power to activate it.

But he was alone, with no external help, and time was pressing, so he had no time to set up a formation. Relying solely on his own abilities, the spiritual power consumption was terrifying. Coupled with the continuous fierce battles he had fought, Ye Chaoqun's spiritual power was almost completely depleted at this moment. In such a state, he simply couldn't participate in the upcoming battle. It was fortunate he was a late-stage Star Constellation cultivator; an early-stage or mid-stage cultivator might not have been able to activate the jade talisman's power even if they completely drained their spiritual power.

Their eyes met, and Ye Chaoqun gave a wry smile. "Brother Duan, the rest is up to your Southern faction," he said. "If we really let the Eastern faction take first place, it would be too humiliating for us."

Duan Xiuchen's expression was solemn. "Brother Ye, rest assured," he replied. "With the Western faction's strong assistance, if my Southern faction cannot seize this opportunity, then we would be utterly useless. We will certainly throw the Eastern faction into utter disarray!"

Ye Chaoqun nodded slightly, closed his eyes to concentrate, and held two spirit jades to recover his strength.

Turning to look at the Eastern faction's main camp, the four dazzling spirit orbs there were extremely glaring. Duan Xiuchen's gaze became resolute as he low-pitched, "Activate the talismans!"

For this final push, the Western faction had already used their trump card and given the opportunity to the Southern faction. How could the Southern faction be stingy then? With Duan Xiuchen's command, a magnificent momentum and powerful aura began to surge, spreading in all directions.

At the Eastern faction's main camp, Han Molong's expression was stern. "They've used formation talismans," he said. "Is it necessary to fight so desperately?"

Haitang stepped forward. "It has always been the Southern and Western factions contending for first place in the combat drills," she explained. "Especially this time, the lineups of both factions are unprecedentedly strong. If they cannot secure first place, they will have no face to meet their respective Sun-Illuminated realm superiors. They have no choice left!"

Han Molong nodded. "It seems we also have no choice!"

Haitang held a jade talisman in her hand, from which an extremely profound aura surged forth. "Activate the talisman!" she cried.

Formation Talismans were the pinnacle of the Little People's art of talismans. Their crafting requirements were extremely high, and only Sun-Illuminated realm cultivators were qualified to craft them. Strictly speaking, they could be considered a strategic reserve for the Little People. With the power of formation talismans, cultivators could easily form battle arrays and then collectively unleash power beyond their original level.

From this perspective alone, Formation Talismans shared a similar marvelous effect with the 'Same Breath, Connected Branches' formation plates. However, Haitang had previously mentioned that while formation talismans were talisman-centric, formation plates were human-centric. Relatively speaking, when cultivators formed a battle array using the 'Same Breath, Connected Branches' formation plate, they could be more flexible and adaptable, which was something formation talismans couldn't compare to. But this did not negate the power of formation talismans.

Lu Ye had never seen a formation talisman before and didn't know what to do. It was only after Haitang's brief voice transmission explanation that he understood. Because it was talisman-centric, once the formation talisman was activated, there wasn't much need for tacit coordination among participants. He only needed to pour his spiritual power into the formation talisman. He was doing this, and so were the other members of the Eastern faction. The formation talisman held by Haitang immediately erupted with dazzling light, and its grand power steadily increased.

After a full dozen breaths, the jade talisman in Haitang's hand suddenly shattered, turning into scattered specks of light that drifted around, enveloping the nine individuals. When the specks of light dispersed, a colossal entity had appeared on the platform of the Eastern faction's main camp. Looking closer, it was indeed a colossal nine-headed serpent. Its appearance was ferocious and remarkably lifelike, as if it were a living creature. Its sheer size was like a small mountain, with nine serpent heads held high, and its tail even coiled once around the platform.

However, this was ultimately just a manifestation of the formation talisman, not a true living creature. So, on the surface, the nine-headed serpent's body wasn't solid but was purely condensed from energy. Through its body, the nine individuals from the Eastern faction could be clearly seen, each occupying one serpent head.

Lu Ye was still sensing the profound mysteries of the formation talisman when, in his perception, an extremely fierce aura rapidly approached. He looked up and saw a giant wolf rapidly rushing from the direction where the Southern faction cultivators had previously appeared. The giant wolf's size was in no way inferior to their own nine-headed serpent, and it even had a single horn on its forehead that flickered with electric arcs! This was clearly a manifestation of the Southern faction's formation talisman, though he didn't know its special abilities.

Similar to the situation with the Eastern faction, the giant wolf's body was not solid. Through its form, the nine individuals from the Southern faction could be seen positioned throughout its body, their auras interconnected. Such a colossal entity rapidly charging towards them created a powerful visual impact. Furthermore, Lu Ye could tell that the single horn on the giant wolf's forehead was definitely not merely decorative; it surely had some special function. What also caught his attention was that the giant wolf's surface was not covered in fur, but by angular, scale-like structures. It could be foreseen that the giant wolf's defenses would certainly not be weak!

A great battle was imminent, and there was no time to get accustomed to it. Almost at the same moment Lu Ye saw the giant wolf's form, dazzling electric light surged from the opponent's single horn. After roughly three breaths of charging, a colossal pillar of light erupted and came crashing down towards them. The pillar of light shot forward silently, but its speed was extremely fast. Almost simultaneously with seeing the pillar of light erupt, the attack had already landed on their own nine-headed serpent.

A penetrating hole was immediately blown through the thick serpent body, and its massive form became somewhat unstable. Lu Ye, standing in one of the serpent heads, even felt a sense of the earth shaking and mountains trembling, as if the opponent's attack had truly landed on him. Before he could regain his footing, he immediately felt a pulling force rapidly consuming his own spiritual power to replenish the serpent's body. At the same time, the nine-headed serpent's tail slammed onto the main camp platform, using the recoil force to spring forward and directly meet the giant wolf.

This was clearly Haitang controlling the power of the formation talisman. With nine people collectively activating the formation talisman, there was naturally a primary and secondary controller. At any other time, given Lu Ye's strength and previous performance, Haitang would certainly have let him take charge. However, Lu Ye had no prior understanding of formation talismans and no time to get familiar with them now, so Haitang unhesitatingly took the lead. Although she didn't have much experience in direct combat, she understood the principle of playing to one's strengths and avoiding weaknesses. Since the giant wolf manifested by the opponent's formation talisman had long-range attack capabilities, they should engage in close-quarters combat.

The holes blown through the serpent's body looked terrifying, but after all, it wasn't a true flesh-and-blood body. As long as there was enough spiritual power, it could be quickly repaired. Of course, this was a huge test for the spiritual power sustainability of the cultivators controlling the formation talisman, because repairing such holes consumed a considerable amount of spiritual power.

Lu Ye immediately realized that this battle of formation talismans was not just a contest of how well each side controlled their formation talismans, but probably also a clash of their respective reserves! Both were formation talismans crafted by Sun-Illuminated realm experts of the Little People. Even if there was a difference in the talismans themselves, the gap shouldn't be too large. So, strictly speaking, the maximum power of the two sides' formation talismans was similar. However, because the cultivators controlling the talismans were different, it would naturally lead to different levels of power from the talismans. The Eastern faction was clearly at a significant disadvantage because their overall strength was much weaker!

This was probably one of the reasons the Southern faction decisively activated their formation talisman. Having been mentally exhausted by the Eastern faction's various schemes, they decided to have a true, head-on fight. Formation talismans required collective effort to activate, which could greatly suppress Lu Ye's individual performance. Even if he had the ability to defeat opponents of higher cultivation levels, he couldn't display it in such a battle, and it also deprived the Eastern faction of the space to continue using schemes. Haitang knew how to play to strengths and avoid weaknesses, and there was no reason the Southern faction wouldn't know the same.

In the air, the two colossal entities rapidly approached each other and soon collided. A faint wolf howl could be heard as the giant wolf opened its jaws and bit one of the serpent heads, while simultaneously extending both claws to grip two other serpent heads. But the remaining six serpent heads, under the control of the Eastern faction's cultivators, all bit into the giant wolf's body. From a distance, if one ignored the fact that the two colossal entities' bodies were not solid, this was not a battle between cultivators at all, but the most primal struggle between two ancient fierce beasts!

Lu Ye felt that the opponent intended to focus their attack on him, because the direction from which the wolf's jaws had just bitten was precisely his serpent head. Fortunately, he dodged fast enough, preventing the opponent from succeeding, but instead causing Zhang Chao next to him to suffer. The giant wolf was exerting force, trying to bite off the serpent head where Zhang Chao was located. But this was ultimately a manifestation of a formation talisman; how could it be so easy to bite through? Lu Ye only felt his own spiritual power rapidly draining away, flowing towards the serpent head where Zhang Chao was located to replenish the consumption there.

On his own side, he experienced a peculiar sensation, as if he had truly transformed into a serpent head and was biting the enemy. The only sensation that came back was... hard! The angular scales covering the giant wolf's body indeed provided extremely strong protection.

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