Chapter 304

Chapter 304: The First Formation Setup

It turned out Ao Wushen, seasoned and insightful, had keenly observed the situation. Seeing Gui You Quan glance at Lou Yun before suddenly disengaging from the fight against the five of them and unleashing Spirit Transformation against them all, he immediately realized Gui You Quan was clearly shifting his focus to deal with Lou Yun!

Although Ao Wushen still had no idea what Lou Yun had been busily drawing on the ground for so long, it was evident Lou Yun hadn’t yet completed his objective. Lou Yun was their last, desperate hope. Therefore, even if it cost him his life, Ao Wushen was determined to stall Gui You Quan. That was why, at this critical juncture, he activated his own Spirit Transformation. Utilizing the combined momentum generated from both Gui You Quan’s attack and his own maneuver, he intercepted Gui You Quan, arriving at Lou Yun’s side first. He intended to use his final strength to buy Lou Yun a little more time!

But this act came at a heavy price. Ao Wushen’s internal organs were injured in the collision. After all, that blow was delivered by Gui You Quan at the Weapon Emperor Realm while performing Spirit Transformation. Its devastating force was unimaginable!

Ao Wushen’s move completely caught Gui You Quan off guard. He hadn’t expected Ao Wushen to see through his intent, not only successfully blocking his attack but also outpacing him to Lou Yun’s side. And by the looks of it, Ao Wushen still intended to obstruct him!

Gui You Quan let out a cold sneer, utterly dismissing Ao Wushen. Though Ao Wushen tried hard to mask his injuries, how could it escape Gui You Quan’s spiritual senses? Five of them combined were no match; what resistance could a wounded Ao Wushen offer?

However, Gui You Quan wasn’t ready to grant Ao Wushen a swift death just yet. So he snorted contemptuously, “Beat it!”

With a single palm wave, a fierce gust of wind erupted, smashing hard into Ao Wushen’s magical weapon!

Ao Wushen instantly felt an immense force surge through his hands. But what Gui You Quan hadn’t anticipated was the faint smile that appeared on Ao Wushen’s face at that moment. Ao Wushen voluntarily released his grip on his magical weapon. Under the tremendous force of the impact, he was hurled backwards. His magical weapon, meanwhile, emitted a flash of golden light, transforming into a suit of armor that clad itself onto Lou Yun’s body.

“Hahaha! Didn’t expect you to be on the verge of death yourself, yet still thinking of protecting this brat!” Gui You Quan mocked, understanding Ao Wushen’s acts were meant to shield Lou Yun – a notion he found utterly laughable! “But do you really think it’ll be of any use?”

“Now, I’ll send this kid on his way first. Watch closely!”

With that, Gui You Quan flashed to Lou Yun’s front. He raised his leg, powerful energy concentrated on his toe, and kicked viciously toward Lou Yun’s head!

However, at that precise moment, Lou Yun, who had been bent over writing on the ground all this time, suddenly lifted his head. Seeing Gui You Quan’s foot laden with dangerous force hurtling toward his face, a flicker of sharp light passed through Lou Yun’s eyes.

“Swish!”

Lou Yun suddenly thrust out both hands, grabbing hold of Gui You Quan’s foot with all his might!

Although he caught the foot, the terrifying power concentrated there remained undiminished and slammed squarely into Lou Yun’s chest!

Fortunately, Lou Yun was wearing the armor formed from Ao Wushen’s magical weapon. Moreover, since Gui You Quan was aiming a kick at Lou Yun’s head, he hadn’t poured his full power into the blow. Thus, this kick failed to kill Lou Yun. Nevertheless, Lou Yun felt a piercing pain explode across his chest!

Yet, at this moment, Lou Yun couldn’t afford to pay attention to the agony. This was his chance, the final chance for everyone present!

Clutching Gui You Quan’s single foot, Lou Yun drew a deep breath and let out a fierce shout. His body arched like a drawn bow. Employing every iota of strength left within him, he pulled with all his might.

Lou Yun’s action was too abrupt. Gui You Quan hadn’t anticipated Lou Yun suddenly snapping to awareness. Caught off guard, his foot was seized. Then, as Lou Yun pulled violently, Gui You Quan stumbled forward uncontrollably, propelled by the force of the pull.

He took two lurching steps.

It was just these two steps.

Suddenly, a crimson light blazed beneath his feet. Simultaneously, a massive, illusory red lock materialized in the air. Gui You Quan’s expression instantly changed dramatically.

At that same moment, Lou Yun released his hands from the foot. He fell limply onto his back, choking and coughing violently with each spasm spraying blood from his mouth.

Gui You Quan’s kick had been far too powerful!

Despite being wracked with excruciating pain, a triumphant smile surfaced on Lou Yun’s face. Though he couldn’t see Gui You Quan, he clearly saw the glowing red light. This signified that the very first formation layout of his life, the Binding Dragon Formation he had carefully “copied” stroke by stroke onto the ground, had successfully taken shape and activated!

Gui You Quan was trapped within the Binding Dragon Formation!

In truth, Lou Yun had already finished setting up the formation well before Gui You Quan sensed danger and locked onto him as the target. But he gave no sign, only secretly sending a mental message to the other five – Beichen Ming and his companions – instructing them to find a way to lure Gui You Quan to his location.

Though all five heard the message, Ao Wushen was the sole one able to respond meaningfully!

At that point, Ao Wushen had no choice but to gamble everything on Lou Yun. This desperation fueled his subsequent series of actions!

Furthermore, Ao Wushen’s intelligence was peerless. He calculated that Gui You Quan wouldn’t let him die easily; he would first kill Lou Yun, then slowly torment Ao Wushen. Hence, Ao Wushen had transformed his magical weapon into protective armor for Lou Yun.

Events proved Ao Wushen’s deduction correct. Gui You Quan did indeed launch an immediate attack against Lou Yun!

Gui You Quan brought this misfortune upon himself. Had he employed any other method to assault Lou Yun, Lou Yun likely couldn’t have so easily dragged him into the designated area of the Binding Dragon Formation. But he just had to use his foot—ironically doing Lou Yun a huge favor, enabling him to clutch the leg and forcibly haul Gui You Quan’s entire body onto the formation.

Now, seeing Gui You Quan fully ensnared within the Binding Dragon Formation, incapable of escaping, Lou Yun, despite his grievous injuries, couldn’t help but laugh. His desperate, audacious gamble had genuinely succeeded!

Yet Lou Yun understood this was no time for celebration. While the Binding Dragon Formation confined Gui You Quan, restricting his freedom of movement, it couldn’t completely seal away his cultivation level or power.

Once trapped within the Binding Dragon Formation, a person would be temporarily unable to utilize their spiritual energy – losing their powers for a duration. The length of this powerless state depended entirely on the strength of the entrapped individual.

The higher the cultivation level, the shorter the duration of powerlessness. The weaker the cultivation level, the longer the duration.

However, losing power didn’t equate to vulnerability to death. Due to the nature of the formation, external forces couldn’t kill someone inside. Furthermore, formations constructed with inscribed characters such as this one possessed a distinct weakness: any external infusion of weapon spirit power covering the characters could disrupt and dismantle them.

Back when Nan Qu Xing successfully confined the Illusory Wolf Heavenly Fire using the Binding Dragon Formation, he dared not employ weapon spirit power to kill it. The Illusory Wolf Heavenly Fire was essentially a concentrated mass of celestial flames. Attempting to kill it without weapon spirit power, solely using common weapons, was utterly impossible. Any mundane weapon would merely vaporize into smoke long before touching the creature, simply evaporating from the searing heat radiating from its body. Forced by this limitation, Nan Qu Xing had to undertake massive construction to establish the Ancient Weapon Academy, essentially encasing the formation to induce the creature into a prolonged slumber.

Lou Yun was certain Gui You Quan’s power vastly exceeded that of the Illusory Wolf Heavenly Fire. Consequently, the duration the Binding Dragon Formation could render him powerless would undoubtedly be brief. Lou Yun similarly lacked the means to kill Gui You Quan without weapon spirit power. If Gui You Quan regained his power while still confined, even unable to move freely, he could effortlessly slaughter everyone present.

Therefore, after violently coughing up several mouthfuls of blood, Lou Yun gritted his teeth, enduring the agony that felt like his organs were about to shatter. He struggled to his feet. He cast a cold glance at Gui You Quan, who stood trapped within the circle he himself had drawn with his own blood, his face now twisted with shock and rage. Lou Yun smirked coldly, then staggered unsteadily right past him.

Gui You Quan finally realized he had fallen into Lou Yun’s trap and become ensnared in the very thing he feared most: formations!

Staring at Lou Yun, intense, knife-sharp killing intent radiated from his eyes. Yet, strangely, a smile returned to his face. “Kid,” he said, sounding almost conversational despite his rage, “I underestimated you. I see you truly do possess considerable knowledge of formations, to have actually set one up this quickly and successfully confined me in it!”

This fact shocked not just Gui You Quan, but everyone else lying wounded on the ground – everyone save Leng Cangqiong, who remained unconscious – and even Chang Xiang!

Chang Xiang, in particular, found it almost incomprehensible. Only he knew the entire sequence of events intimately. Although Lou Yun had spent seven days immersed in the "Formation Path Expansion Decision," attempting a formation layout at this moment—especially recreating the Binding Dragon Formation stroke-by-stroke purely by imitation, without any genuine understanding of formation principles—defied all logic!

Lou Yun’s internal injuries were severe; his body screamed in agony, threatening to overwhelm his consciousness. He had no energy to respond to Gui You Quan’s taunts. He continued moving past the ensnared foe, slowly making his way towards where Ao Wushen lay.

Suddenly, a familiar wave of chilling dread washed over him again from deep within. He snapped his head up. Gui You Quan was glaring intently at him. Lou Yun’s heart lurched in alarm. Has Gui You Quan’s power truly already begun to break free? Could the Binding Dragon Formation only suppress someone of his level for such a pitifully short time?

At that critical moment, Chang Xiang, who had remained silent throughout, finally spoke, the urgency palpable in his unusually rapid voice, “Boy! Hurry! Find a way to seal his cultivation base!”

“How?!” Lou Yun gasped weakly, “If even the Binding Dragon Formation can’t fully contain him, how could I possibly seal his power? My only option is to get my brother and the others away from here as quickly as possible!”

“No!” Chang Xiang insisted, genuinely terrified that Gui You Quan would recover his full might any second. “Use the Seal Technique! Seal away his magical weapon!”