Chapter 1366: Zhang Xuan Deploys the Formation

The murderous intent was so palpable it permeated his skin and drilled into his soul, causing his body to involuntarily stiffen.

His eyes narrowed, and his mind raced.

When he had previously asked about Luo Ruoxi, the man had only become angry, without any murderous intent. But now, asking this question elicited such a strong reaction. Could it really be tied to some secret?

"I'm just curious, I find it unbelievable!" Zhang Xuan said with a faint smile.

Luo Xuanqing stared intently at him. Seeing his sincere smile and that he didn't seem to be deliberately prying for information, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and snorted, "This is a matter for the Luo Clan and the Zhang Clan. Since you're an outsider, don't get involved!"

"Understood!"

Zhang Xuan nodded.

Although he hadn't uncovered any specific information, he had confirmed one thing: the marriage alliance between the two clans was inevitable and unstoppable!

Even with Luo Xuanqing's intense dislike for the Zhang Clan and his profound love for his sister, he was powerless. The marriage alliance likely involved some major affairs of which he was unaware.

"This is so difficult!"

He rubbed his glabella.

He had previously thought that as long as he became the Hall Master of the Saint Son Hall, a position no weaker than the Zhang Clan Head, he could go propose, and with their mutual affection, the other party would most likely agree. Now it seemed it wasn't that simple.

Luo Ruoxi, as the Clan Head with such formidable strength, couldn't even break free from this... That was rather intriguing.

A buzzing sound!

As he was musing, a buzzing sound, like a swarm of insects flying, suddenly arose from the air.

Bi Hongyin's pupils contracted. "It's Red-tailed Poisonous Bees!"

Everyone quickly looked ahead and saw a swarm of longan-sized bees flying over like a dark, oppressive cloud.

"Red-tailed Poisonous Bees?" Zhang Xuan's heart sank.

He had read countless books and knew that these creatures, though not large and only at Saint 3-dan or 4-dan, possessed extremely potent venom.

If too many gathered, even Saint 6-dan or 7-dan experts would be poisoned to death on the spot!

Most critically, these creatures were extremely numerous and hidden in the mountains, making them even more terrifying than Saint Beasts at Saint 8-dan.

"It was the murderous intent from earlier that alerted them..."

He understood in the blink of an eye.

After entering the valley, they had concealed themselves well, not releasing any aura. Normally, they wouldn't attract the attention of any powerful life forms. Yet now, these creatures had suddenly appeared, clearly disturbed by Luo Xuanqing's uncontrolled murderous intent from earlier, seeking to find the source and hunt it down.

"What do we do?"

Yun Lianhai's face twitched as he urgently asked.

He seemed to have an extreme fear of these poisonous creatures, and his face had gone pale.

"If we fight, the commotion will be too great, easily attracting even more powerful creatures," Bi Hongyin's voice was urgent. "Furthermore, the most crucial thing is... Red-tailed Poisonous Bees are extremely numerous and endless to kill. When one dies, it releases a certain amount of poisonous mist. If too many are released, the surroundings will be filled with poison gas, leading to a dead end!"

After entering the valley, the greatest fear was encountering such creatures. Unable to kill them, yet unable to wait for death, it left them helpless and without any options.

"First, let's retreat from the valley and find a way to eliminate these creatures outside!" Luo Xuanqing's eyes flashed as he spoke.

As one of the core disciples of the Luo Clan, despite appearing somewhat reckless, he wouldn't panic when faced with problems, possessing his own plans and methods.

"Alright!"

Knowing this was the best course of action, everyone immediately retreated.

"It seems we're too late..."

After only a few hundred meters, Zhang Xuan shook his head.

Everyone quickly looked back and saw another swarm of Red-tailed Poisonous Bees behind them, roaring as they flew closer, making their scalps tingle.

Creatures capable of reaching Saint 3-dan or 4-dan already possessed their own intelligence. Seeing so many "delicacies" approaching, they had already made preparations.

"Let's fight!"

Knowing they couldn't escape, Luo Xuanqing no longer hesitated and narrowed his eyes.

"Teacher Zhang, please set up an aura-isolating formation to prevent the power and sounds of battle from spreading! Bi Hongyin, use your demonic melodies to interfere with their communication, preventing them from forming formations or coordinating. Yun Lianhai, use your secret art to locate the Queen Bee. Yuan Xiao, your defense is strong, and your body must have some poison resistance. The two of us will be ready. Once the Queen Bee is found, we'll immediately rush over and kill it!" Luo Xuanqing's voice was extremely fast as he quickly laid out the plan: "When the Queen Bee dies, panic will surely ensue. At that point... we can seize the opportunity to escape!"

"Understood!"

Everyone nodded simultaneously, each with a solemn expression.

Hearing the reasonable and appropriate arrangements, with no superfluous commands and each striking at the crucial points, Zhang Xuan couldn't help but admire him inwardly.

If it were anyone else, they would surely have panicked long ago. This Luo Xuanqing, however, not only didn't rush but also utilized everyone's abilities to their fullest, optimizing the plan. He truly was a genius cultivated by the Saint Son Hall, displaying a side different from ordinary people when faced with danger.

"Let's begin!"

Seeing that everyone understood the command, Luo Xuanqing let out a soft shout and grabbed with his palm, causing the surrounding space to immediately feel controlled and viscous.

"Teacher Zhang, I'll hold them off first, you set up the formation as quickly as possible..."

"Alright, but about this..." Nodding, Zhang Xuan looked over somewhat awkwardly. "Does anyone have Grade-8 formation flags?"

He was penniless, and having just completed his Grade-8 Formation Master examination, he had no materials even if he wanted to set up a formation.

"You don't even have formation flags?" Bi Hongyin's face twitched.

The grandmaster formation master whom Luo Xuanqing had specifically invited to break formations didn't even have formation flags... It was truly baffling.

"Here, I've prepared some..." She snorted, flipped her wrist, and a pile of densely packed formation flags, numbering five or six hundred, appeared before them.

She was skilled in formations and had prepared many of these; not only were there many, but their quality was also excellent.

"Many thanks..."

With a grab of his palm, the formation flags slowly floated as his true qi suddenly burst forth from within him.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The flags immediately flew out.

"You... I only have this many formation flags in total," Bi Hongyin exclaimed. "If you throw them out like this, and the formation fails, we'll have to fight head-on..."

Seeing this fellow just throw the flags out without even looking, Bi Hongyin's pretty face flushed with anger. Before she could finish speaking, she saw mist rising all around them, and everyone had already entered a formation.

A Grade-8 formation that isolated sounds and concealed energy fluctuations!

"It's... already done?"

Swallowing, Bi Hongyin's throat felt dry.

It wasn't just her; Yun Lianhai and Yuan Xiao also had their eyes wide with disbelief.

Although they had heard Luo Xuanqing say that this person's formation-setting speed was extremely fast, seeing it with their own eyes, they still couldn't believe it.

A Grade-8 formation completed in less than a breath...

Not even some 9-star formation masters could be this fast!

After all, setting up a formation involved numerous factors such as terrain, environment, and the opponent's strength... To complete it in the blink of an eye, without even properly observing the environment, how was that possible?

"No... This formation doesn't just conceal auras; it also seems to act as a labyrinth formation, preventing the poisonous bees from escaping..."

After her initial shock, Bi Hongyin was about to use her zither melodies to attack when she seemed to discover something, and her pupils contracted.

The formation before them didn't just isolate auras, preventing outsiders from detecting them. More importantly, it actually had a labyrinth effect, causing the poisonous bees to merely wander within, unable to escape.

This way, there was no need to worry that these creatures would go out to alert others and attract more powerful life forms.

"Oh, you gave too many formation flags just now," Zhang Xuan said with a smile. "After setting up the concealing formation, there were still some left, so I casually added a labyrinth formation!"

"Casually... added a labyrinth formation?"

Everyone's mouths twitched.

So, in less than a breath just now... this fellow set up two formations?

The most crucial thing was... a superimposed formation!

Overlapping formations involved even more factors, far more complex than adapting to the environment. Many grandmaster formation masters would need to measure with a compass for several months and still wouldn't be able to place a single flag... Yet this fellow, feeling there were flags left, just set it up...

Bi Hongyin only felt her face burning, feeling as if she could go crazy at any moment.

She was also a formation genius, but compared to him, she felt like nothing.

Like a complete novice who couldn't set up formations at all.

"With this labyrinth formation, these Red-tailed Poisonous Bees can't fly out, so won't we not have to fight?"

After being stunned for a moment, Yun Lianhai couldn't help but ask.

"This..."

Everyone was taken aback, and then all nodded eagerly.

That's right, their goal wasn't to kill these poisonous bees, but to prevent them from delaying their search for the Dimension Silkworm Gourd. Since they were trapped by the labyrinth formation, why bother fighting?

They might as well just leave.

"We definitely have to fight," Luo Xuanqing said. "A formation casually set up like this, without time to accumulate, also lacks spiritual energy to sustain it. It won't last long before it disperses. If we don't thoroughly resolve this, once we're surrounded deeper in the valley, it will only be more dangerous!"

For a formation to operate, it requires spiritual energy to sustain it, just as a carriage needs horses; without power, it cannot last.

A labyrinth formation might be fine for trapping one or two poisonous bees, but with so many launching a coordinated attack, their power would be immense. Without sufficient spiritual energy support, it should collapse very quickly.

Rather than being passive later, it was better to resolve the trouble now.

"No..." Zhang Xuan interrupted him, explaining, "When I was setting up the formation just now, fearing it wouldn't last, I also casually set up a spirit-gathering formation. With the spirit-gathering formation collecting spiritual energy, this formation should last for several hundred years without any issues!"

"He even set up a spirit-gathering formation?"

Everyone was startled again.

They hurriedly looked and indeed saw that the formation was extremely stable, seemingly supported by a massive, continuous flow of energy.

"This..."

Everyone's scalps tingled.

A triple-superimposed formation... completed in a single breath! Brother, are you cheating?!

"Since that's the case, let's go..." His face flushed red with suppressed emotions as Luo Xuanqing hastily said.

He had planned so many methods, but not a single one was used; the other party had simply thrown out a pile of formation flags and solved everything completely... leaving him filled with frustration.

"Leave? If we just leave like this, won't all these formation flags be wasted?" Zhang Xuan blinked.

These formation flags were very valuable once refined. To leave the formation and abandon them would be equivalent to throwing them away, which would be a great pity.

"What else can we do if we don't abandon them?" Luo Xuanqing frowned. "If we kill all these creatures, we'll certainly suffer significant losses..."

"Losses? What losses could there be?" Zhang Xuan said with a smile. "Just now, seeing there were quite a few formation flags, I also casually set up a killing formation. It will automatically activate once there's enough spiritual energy. We just need to wait here!"