FRGNM -Chapter 227 The Formation

“General, this is bad! This unit only has shield troops—they don’t seem to have fully entered yet, and our retreat…” The guard beside him turned pale, looking back toward where they had entered. What they saw, however, was a corner of the city wall—not the city gate at all!

Jiang Wei’s face darkened as he clenched his fists. “It’s a formation. They’re using a formation to split up our forces. Everyone, be careful—don’t get separated!”

Whoosh!

A dozen black shadows slipped through the walls ahead, moving as fast as ghosts, appearing and vanishing in an instant.

“Go check it out!” Jiang Wei’s expression sank as he rushed forward, instinctively gripping his sword. He slashed out—but there was no one there.

Around him, the shield troops raised their shields, staring at the scene with grim faces.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Arrows shot in from all directions. The army reacted instantly, forming ranks. This was a well-trained force—within moments, the scattered units regrouped, surrounding Jiang Wei. Shields were raised, blocking the incoming arrows.

“Hahaha! So this is all you’ve got—sneak attacks!” Jiang Wei sneered. “Fine, I’ll destroy these city walls and see what you can do then!”

With a flick of his wrist, blue Dou Qi surged into his sword. He leapt up and slashed hard at the wall—then his expression changed.

The wall crumbled like tofu. Liquid gushed out, soaking the shield troops below, making them shudder.

“It’s wine! These walls are built with wine!” Seeing the wine jars nearby, one of the shield troops spoke in disbelief.

Jiang Wei’s ears twitched. His face changed sharply as flames flickered ahead. Dozens of arrows shot out, carrying multicolored Dou Qi—and vanished in an instant.

Even with ten hands, Jiang Wei couldn’t block arrows coming from every direction. He leapt away, letting the arrows strike the shield troops instead.

Boom!

Like an explosion, the flames met the wine and erupted violently. Fire spread across the ground. Encumbered by heavy armor, the soldiers had no time to remove it. Screams filled the air as they rolled on the ground, desperately trying to extinguish the flames.

The area was engulfed in raging fire, thick smoke and the stench of burning flesh rising. Jiang Wei dashed forward, leapt into the air—and his face turned pale.

Ahead, the archers were trapped in narrow alleys. Massive boulders crashed down, crushing them. Elsewhere, the cavalry that had entered the city ran straight into a swamp that appeared from nowhere. Horses had their legs severed and fell into the mire, and the riders were instantly devoured by swamp beasts.

As for the infantry advancing deeper into the city, before they could sense danger, the formation beneath their feet activated. In an instant, they were teleported elsewhere—straight into the waiting arms of prepared troops.

Damn it… damn it!

No matter how Jiang Wei imagined it, he never expected formation masters to be hidden here—capable of relocating entire units instantly, without them even realizing it.

How was this possible? Yesterday’s intelligence mentioned nothing of the sort. Had all this been set up overnight?

Whoosh!

A gust of wind struck from behind. Jiang Wei’s face changed as he dodged. A spear swept forward like a golden dragon leaving the sea. Clad in armor, Qian Yi sneered—on the battlefield, she was fiercer than any man.

Her ruthless techniques flowed one after another like lightning. Green Dou Qi coated her spear as she charged forward like a raging tiger.

“Damn it!” Jiang Wei roared. As a Purple Sovereign, he flicked his sword aside, knocking her spear away. Even so, he couldn’t stop her advance and was forced to retreat repeatedly, finally leaping out of the city and landing outside the imperial walls.

In mere moments, nearly all thirty thousand troops he had led inside were wiped out—while the enemy had not lost a single soldier.

So strong!

Cold sweat dripped from Jiang Wei’s forehead. His once white clothes were blackened by smoke, and blood streaked his face.

“Big brother!” Jiang Feng rushed up. Seeing Jiang Wei’s sorry state, he asked urgently, “What happened? Why was there no movement after you went in?”

Thanks to Jiang Feng’s restraint, the rest of the troops hadn’t entered—preserving much of their strength. Jiang Wei was certain: if everyone had gone in, that group would have slaughtered them all with endless traps.

Cold light flashed in Jiang Wei’s eyes as he stood silently.

On the city wall, Nangong Mo smiled faintly. “What’s wrong? Didn’t you want to go in? I gave you the chance—why did you come out so quickly?”

“You!” Jiang Wei’s face darkened before he sneered. “Nangong Mo, do you really think we have no way to break your traps and mechanisms?”

“Oh?” Nangong Mo laughed coldly, leaning against the wall. “If you have a way, then show me. I’m curious how you plan to do it.”

Jiang Wei’s expression changed. He turned and whispered something to Jiang Feng. Jiang Feng’s face grew grim as he quickly left.

Nangong Mo’s heart sank—danger was coming. After all that effort, they had only killed about thirty thousand. If more were to come, things would get worse.

Thirty thousand down, ninety-seven thousand to go. The magical beasts were gone, the barrier destroyed—now it was a battle of will.

“Ruoxi, you have to hold on…” Cold sweat slid down Nangong Mo’s face as he stared ahead, his clothes already soaked.

“Oh?” In the courtyard, Ling Ruoxi smiled calmly. Watching the withdrawing troops, she flicked her hand. All the white chess pieces fell from the board. She rose slowly, lips curving upward.

Did he really think only those twelve knew formations?

After one incense stick’s time, as if receiving a signal, a figure sneered coldly and shot into the sky. Blue Dou Qi burst forth.

At the same time, blue light surged in another direction. Twelve beams connected, forming a massive twelve-pointed shape that enveloped the entire imperial city.

Hum!

Flying swords whirled around Jiang Wei. Inside the blue light, the figures formed hand seals, sneering. With a gesture, the swords trembled violently.

“It’s a formation—the Heavens-Slaughter Formation!” Nangong Mo’s face sank. He had seen this formation before. Pulling Qian Yi back, he said urgently, “Get back—don’t stay here!”

“We should trust Ruoxi, shouldn’t we?” Qian Yi sneered. “What do you think twelve people can really do?”

“With formations powered by Dou Qi, it’s different,” Nangong Mo frowned. “My father’s three thousand elite soldiers fight in perfect coordination, but their Dou Qi is only green-rank. Against a Purple Sovereign-level formation, the gap is too large.”

Beside him, Qian Yi laughed coldly. “Do you really think she’d act without confidence? At a moment like this, you still don’t fully trust her.”

Nangong Mo froze. His heart jolted—had he been unconsciously underestimating Ling Ruoxi all this time? In his memories, she was always just the woman who grew up in the residence.

“Watch,” Qian Yi said coolly, lifting her chin.

Green Dou Qi erupted. The three thousand elites leapt into the air together, killing intent surging around them. Each held a crossbow. In perfect unison, they fired.

Three thousand streams of green Dou Qi converged into a massive wave and slammed into the blue barrier.

Boom!

The green qi exploded—but the blue barrier didn’t even tremble.

“Hahaha! Green-rank cultivators daring to embarrass themselves!” Jiang Wei laughed arrogantly. “Don’t think numbers can surpass us—we’re Purple Sovereigns!”

The elites didn’t give up. They leapt again, firing in perfect silence and coordination.

Boom!

Still, they couldn’t break the barrier.

“Ha!” Once more they leapt and fired. The green qi vanished upon impact.

“Now it’s our turn!” Jiang Wei sneered, his Dou Qi exploding outward as countless flying swords shot forward.

At the same moment, the three thousand elites leapt again, firing their qi at Jiang Wei himself.

Jiang Wei laughed coldly. His flying swords ignored the attack aimed at him and instead streaked toward the elites below.

It was over…

Many closed their eyes. But before they could even breathe—

The green Dou Qi suddenly accelerated, striking the barrier like lightning. It exploded violently—and within it, purple Dou Qi surged forth, tearing the formation apart.

BOOM!

The shattered barrier collapsed as the purple qi pierced straight through Jiang Wei’s body.