Chapter 104 The Fall

"Was someone attacked?"

Hearing the exclamations from his clansmen behind him, Xu Yuanzhen immediately calmed down.

"You two leave immediately and report the attack to the clan. Judging from the tremors caused by the attack on the formation, the enemy's scale is extraordinary. You must tell the clan to provide support as soon as possible!"

"But this century-old red maple tree..."

"What time is it? Why bother with these material possessions? They're not going to run away. As long as we get rid of these bastards, Red Maple will be ours sooner or later."

"And you, Third Brother?"

"Me? I don't need your concern. Don't worry, I have plenty of ways to get out of here. Get lost and don't drag me down with you."

Xu Yuanzhen cursed, and the two men seemed to wake from a dream, quickly heading towards their family.

"Zheng..."

Xu Yuanzhen did not retreat, but instead gripped the magic sword in his hand tightly. The magic sword, which was connected to his mind, began to tremble and emit a series of sword cries.

"Azure Profound Sword! Haha, you want to fight alongside me too, don't you? Then let's go!"

Xu Yuanzhen raised his head and gazed at the distant flames. His pair of sinister eyes burst forth with an unprecedentedly intense light, a light that was reckless and like a moth drawn to a flame.

"Um?"

The cultivator in black robes stood with his hands behind his back, staring at the great formation in front of him. He frowned and subconsciously hummed in confusion.

"Elder, is something wrong?"

Someone nearby quickly asked, and the cultivator turned to look at him. His blue and white eyes were completely calm, as if nothing could stir any emotion in his heart.

"That's not right. This spiritual vein is a first-grade high-quality one, and the formation is the same. Correspondingly, the cultivator who controls the formation must be in the late stage of Qi Refining."

"If someone were controlling an array at the late stage of Qi Refining, this array shouldn't be so weak."

The word "weak" sent chills down the spines of the cultivators who asked the question. They had never felt this way before. The array that covered the entire spiritual vein was like an indestructible fortress. Their attacks, when they landed on it, at most caused the array to fluctuate a few times.

"Your cultivation levels are not high enough. It's very likely that the cultivator in charge of the formation has left. I'll break the formation!"

The black-robed cultivator waved his hand to signal the person behind him to make way. The person obediently stepped back, and the black robe on the cultivator's body moved without any wind.

Streams of spiritual energy surged into his palm, and a three-foot-long, two-inch-wide, azure-blue sword, as clear as autumn water, appeared in his hand. He gently gripped the hilt, and all the spiritual energy flowed into the sword without hindrance.

He gently raised his longsword, a movement that, while not slow, appeared to the onlookers as if it were in slow motion.

As he slowly raised his longsword, his aura surged, making him resemble a sword drawn from its sheath, its sharpness so intense that no one dared to look directly at him.

Inside the spiritual vein, Xu Yuanhua, who was controlling the array plate, immediately noticed the sword aura that soared into the sky. His mind was in turmoil, and his fingers, which were controlling the array plate, were trembling.

"This guy's gaining momentum; we have to interrupt him!"

Xu Yuanhua disregarded everything else, forcefully slapped his chest, and spat out a mouthful of blood essence onto the array plate. He saw the blood essence directly merge into the array plate.

The entire array shone brightly, its power increasing by three points out of nowhere. The cultivators who were attacking were not expected to see this happen. Their attacks not only had no effect on the array, but were also bounced back.

"Pfft!"

Those with weak cultivation coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, suffering internal injuries.

"A desperate struggle, break through!"

The black-robed cultivator noticed this, but only glanced at it disdainfully. His arms were already outstretched, and his sword aura had reached its peak, like a surging torrent that could not be contained.

As he softly uttered the sound of "break," he slowly swung his sword, gripping the hilt with both arms. It was slow, yet it seemed incredibly fast to others. A few breaths later, the sword gently landed on the formation. The moment they touched, the formation caved in.

The big sound is loud, the elephant is invisible.

It was just a light, casual sword strike, yet it caused Xu Yuanhua, who was controlling the array plate, to shrink his pupils to the size of pinpoints.

He felt the array plate trembling wildly. He spat out another mouthful of blood essence in an attempt to stabilize the array, but the array plate in his hand made a cracking sound.

Three cracks suddenly appeared on the array plate, almost piercing through the entire plate. And that wasn't all; dozens of sword wounds appeared on his body, and a large amount of blood gushed out from the wounds. This was a sign that the array was about to be broken.

Xu Yuanhua's face was contorted with rage as he desperately squeezed out every last drop of potential from his body.

"What is a family? What are clansmen? It is like an ancient tree to a weak grass. As long as the ancient tree is there, the wind and rain will not fall on the grass."

Even the weakest blades of grass are not simply protected; they grow, mature, and eventually die beneath ancient trees, becoming nourishment for the trees, thus perpetuating the cycle of life.

A phrase from his elders at school echoed in Xu Yuanhua's ears. He smiled and murmured to himself.

"Life is endless, so let me become nourishment, hahaha!"

Xu Yuanhua burst into laughter, his face showing no sign of pain or fear, as blood splattered all over his body.

"Bang!"

The array plate shattered with a crack, sending countless fragments flying in all directions. Xu Yuanhua stared wide-eyed at his bloodied fingers.

"Run!"

With his last breath, he roared, his voice echoing throughout the entire formation. The clansmen who were on guard in various places trembled and hurriedly turned around to look.

"Tenth Brother?"

"Yuen Wah!"

"A Celestial Master?"

"Run!"

One of the white-haired members of the Zhen generation quickly pushed the two young men next to him.

"No, Grandpa Zhenlin, we are cultivators too, not cowards. We will surely live and die with the spiritual vein."

Xu Lingmin, who now looks like a young man, grips his magical artifact, his eyes fixed on the enemy outside, his body tense, ready to fight.

"Stop fooling around. The great formation has been broken. The enemy's numbers are at least five times ours. What's the use of staying here? Lingmin, you are the strongest. Run!"

Xu Lingmin gritted his teeth. He instinctively wanted to stay and fight alongside them, but reason told him that Grandpa Zhenlin was right and there was no benefit in staying here.

"Grandpa, please take care of yourself."

He forcefully wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards Xu Zhenlin, who did not turn around to look at him. He only heard the footsteps gradually fading away, and he laughed happily.

"It's good that you're gone!"

The formation contained not only cultivators, but also pseudo-cultivators created by the golden beetles, and even ordinary people. They heard a loud bang in the sky and subconsciously looked up, only to see dozens of magical artifacts falling from the sky.

"Boom!"

"Kill everyone!"