Chapter 2189: Mang

No one on the battlefield had ever witnessed such a breathtaking sight.

At first glance, it appeared to be a colossal divine crane, its wings spread wide, radiating over hundreds of miles. Lifelike and vivid, it seemed to have emerged from the ancient currents of history, sacred and pure, yet enveloped in a terrifying murderous aura.

A closer look, however, revealed that it was not a divine crane at all. Instead, it was a phantom formed by countless figures channeling their power, merging and interconnecting. The crane was merely the manifestation of that collective strength.

As the divine crane appeared, flecks of crimson burst forth like blossoming flowers. Each crimson bloom marked the end of a Bug Clan or Blood Clan cultivator's life.

The divine crane flapped its wings and shrieked, unleashing a torrent of power that caused more crimson flowers to continuously bloom.

"Crane Wing Formation?" The commander observing the battlefield from beside the temporary palace could scarcely believe his eyes. He, too, hailed from an aristocratic family, though not one of the four most prominent ones, but rather a medium-tier clan.

While not exceptionally strong himself, he had been well-read since childhood and naturally knew of the Crane Wing Formation.

Records clearly showed that over three millennia ago, the Huang family, one of the four great aristocratic clans, had attempted to create a Crane Wing Formation. They had invested immensely in this endeavor, spending over a century just on training. Eventually, they successfully formed a Crane Wing Formation composed of nearly fifty individuals. During this period, these fifty people ate, slept, and moved together, and even used various secret medicines to harmonize their auras, making them as similar as possible.

The Huang family had placed great hopes on these fifty individuals, but when the formation was finally deployed on the battlefield, they discovered that while it was effective, its impact was not as significant as they had imagined.

It was a disappointing outcome, especially considering the enormous investment and waiting period.

As battles continued and casualties mounted, the Crane Wing Formation gradually faded from use. Since then, no aristocratic family had spent the time and effort to create large-scale formations; at most, they would form small groups of three to five people.

But what was he seeing now?

It was still a Crane Wing Formation, but this one was composed of a hundred individuals.

And these hundred people seemed to have only been together for three days!

How was this possible?

The commander was utterly perplexed.

He finally understood why Lu Ye's vanguard unit had been so audacious, charging with only a hundred men into that sea of blood. They were relying on this formation!

The results were astonishing. The sea of blood had been breached, causing massive casualties among the Bug Clan and Blood Clan cultivators hidden within. This number continued to grow as the divine crane danced through the fray.

The figures within the Crane Wing Formation moved with incredibly skilled coordination and impeccable teamwork. Even amidst such fierce combat, the formation showed no sign of error.

After five breaths, the surviving Bug Clan cultivators finally realized their peril and scattered, fleeing in all directions. As for the Blood Clan, the Crane Wing Unit had specifically targeted them, wiping them out with a concentrated assault.

The first truly formidable obstacle on the battlefield was overcome, even before it could fully exert its influence.

The commander watched from afar, his mind reeling. A surge of hot blood rushed through his chest, and had he not been required to remain there to coordinate the overall situation, he would have undoubtedly rushed out to join the slaughter.

"Change formation!" In the center of the Crane Wing Formation, Lu Ye gave the command, simultaneously channeling his power to guide the shift.

The next moment, the colossal divine crane gracefully maneuvered, spreading its six-hundred-mile wingspan and surging towards a nearby combat zone.

It swiftly reached its destination, sweeping through the intense battle area like a phantom. But after the divine crane passed, the ground was littered with enemy corpses, their very essence extracted.

"What exhilaration, what exhilaration!" On the tip of the left wing, Wang Xun’s expression was ecstatic. He felt that after so many years of fighting on battlefields, he had never experienced such a satisfying kill as today. Wielding a Dao artifact, he could originally exert the power of twelve 'Dao'. Now, with the enhancement of the Crane Wing Formation, he could subtly unleash the power of thirteen 'Dao'.

Against enemies below ten 'Dao', touching them meant instant death, and striking them meant immediate injury.

It wasn't just him; every cultivator within the Crane Wing Formation felt the same.

Enveloped by the formation, a sense of omnipotence arose.

This was no longer a hundred ordinary cultivators; the formation's enhancement allowed each person to unleash power beyond their individual capabilities. Objectively speaking, this was a sophisticated entity composed of nearly a hundred cultivators, each at or above ten 'Dao', and the power it could unleash was far greater than that of a mere hundred cultivators, each with ten 'Dao' of power.

Advance...

Pierce through, pierce through, pierce through!

Wherever the divine crane passed, it utterly destroyed everything in its path.

Previously, it was impossible to discern who had the upper hand on the battlefield, but with the entry of the Crane Wing Unit, the balance of the situation gradually shattered. The most apparent sign was the increasing number of breaches in the Blood Cloud War Star's defenses, forcing the Insect Queen to order a contraction of their lines.

But it was entirely useless.

No matter how impregnable a defense appeared, it could not withstand the onslaught of the Crane Wing Formation. A mere hundred individuals acted like a towering tsunami, their fierce impact causing enemy defenses to crumble.

The divine crane's form resembled a ferocious beast. Each swift movement devoured numerous enemies, pulling them into its maw. After the crane passed, those consumed enemies would reappear as corpses, left behind on the ground.

Such a prominent unit on the entire battlefield naturally caught the attention of the Insect Queen. Having some understanding of formations, it quickly devised a countermeasure.

Moments later, the Crane Wing Unit had already carved a path straight through the vast battlefield. Without pausing, the immense crane phantom changed direction and charged back.

Still unstoppable and invincible, not even the sea of blood painstakingly spread by the Blood Clan could hinder it. The crane phantom broke through effortlessly with a mere flap of its wings.

Suddenly, however, Lu Ye felt three of the ninety-nine vital energy connections linked to him abruptly extinguish. He quickly looked towards the nearest direction and saw a Bug Clan member with a Dao artifact, their face contorted in a ferocious grin, standing over the corpse of a Crane Wing Unit cultivator. The very next instant, that individual was engulfed by attacks from all directions. Even though he wielded a Dao artifact and could unleash the power of eleven 'Dao', he couldn't withstand so many potent assaults at once, especially while trapped within the divine crane's "belly," with no space to dodge or maneuver. Death was imminent, yet he showed no fear, only a continuous sneer. He had completed the mission assigned to him by the Insect Queen! This powerful formation... was broken!

Two other Bug Clan cultivators in different locations, also wielding Dao artifacts, met the same fate.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to kill Crane Wing Unit cultivators in such a short time.

These three Dao artifact-wielding Bug Clan members could each unleash at least ten 'Dao' of power, making them elites on any battlefield, but their presence against the Crane Wing Unit was fleeting.

With three comrades lost, there was no sadness, nor time for it. After so many years of combat, life and death were long accepted. The fallen had completed their mission; the living pressed on.

Furthermore, before the battle, Lu Ye had already warned them that the Crane Wing Unit would inevitably be targeted and given special attention by the Insect Queen, so everyone had anticipated such an event.

And just as these three Crane Wing Unit cultivators were killed, countless cheers erupted from the surrounding Bug Clan and Blood Clan forces, who swarmed forward. They had clearly received secret orders from the Insect Queen to converge and utterly destroy the hundred-man unit the moment a vulnerability appeared.

The Insect Queen was also somewhat startled, as a formation this formidable had never appeared in Splendor Realm throughout history. If human cultivators could all form such formations, what future would the Bug Clan and Blood Clan have? Battles at the Dao Attainment level would surely end in utter defeat.

Therefore, they had to be completely annihilated to prevent future trouble!

"Oh no!"

Beside the temporary palace, the commander, who had been paying close attention to the Crane Wing Unit, immediately noticed the change. He involuntarily gasped, clenching his fists.

He had already anticipated what would happen next.

However, as the divine crane flapped its wings once more, still as ferocious as ever, the commander was dumbfounded.

Things were not unfolding as he had expected...

Not only was he dumbfounded, but the previously jubilant Bug Clan and Blood Clan cultivators were also equally stunned.

The formation... hadn't broken at all! It remained intact, unassailable.

Under normal circumstances, if three people suddenly died in a hundred-person formation, the formation would very likely collapse. This is because, when forming a formation, each person's vital energy is closely linked to several nearby individuals, allowing everyone to form a cohesive whole through this interconnection.

During this process, the disruption of any single person's vital energy could trigger an avalanche-like crisis, causing the formation to disperse. This was the greatest challenge in forming multi-person formations.

This was why the Insect Queen secretly dispatched cultivators with Dao artifacts to assassinate the Crane Wing Unit members. It had actually sent more than three, but only three succeeded, with most of the other threats being fended off.

If three people died in a hundred-person formation, even if it didn't collapse, there would be severe tremors. At that point, if external pressure were applied, a major breakthrough would be within reach.

Yet, no one knew why. Even with three members dead, the formation remained impregnable. Far from being broken, there wasn't even the slightest tremor.

This turn of events spelled disaster for the nearby Bug Clan and Blood Clan cultivators.

While the Crane Wing Formation was powerful, it was ultimately formed by a hundred individuals, making it less flexible. It had been able to continuously kill enemies earlier because enemies were everywhere, and some, unable to evade in time, were always swept into its path.

However, this formation was not suited for pursuit.

After witnessing its power, many enemies became wary and would flee early when the Crane Wing approached.

Therefore, while this latest assault yielded significant gains for the Crane Wing Unit, it still fell somewhat short of expectations.

Now, however, large numbers of enemies, under the Insect Queen's command, had swarmed and surrounded them, tightly packed, waiting to capitalize on any perceived weakness. The divine crane, with a sweep of its wings, scooped many figures into its embrace and then swallowed them.

On the battlefield, death became the eternal melody.