Chapter 142: The Blade Falls, the Dragon Raises Its Head!

The dozen or so cultivators within the formation suddenly felt as though they were being confronted by some terrifying primordial beast. Cold sweat broke out across their bodies involuntarily, and a sudden urge to flee this place immediately took root in their hearts.

"Could this be... the Five-Dragon Blood Formation?" Xia Chuan's face was filled with utter disbelief at the sight, but he quickly regained his composure and muttered to himself, "No, that's impossible. With merely the cultivation base of the Golden Core realm, it is impossible to deploy a fourth-tier formation that only those in the Nascent Soul realm can handle."

"It should merely be a weakened version of the Five-Dragon Blood Formation. This youth possesses an exceptionally high attainment in the Dao of arrays." Xia Chuan stared fixedly at the scene before him; such a spectacle was exceedingly rare even for someone of his standing.

"Array rise, array open! Blood Dragon Formation!" Baili Mo’s hands, which had been continuously forming hand seals, suddenly paused, executing a uniquely intricate and complex seal.

Following this, the blood dragon coiled beside Baili Mo abruptly opened its eyes—vicious, slit-pupilled eyes the color of fresh blood. It gazed at the dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators before it, a look that seemed to herald their imminent demise.

A yin wind laden with an intensely heavy stench of blood swept wildly through the formation. The blood dragon reared its head straight up and let out a heaven-shaking roar that resounded through the entire canyon, a violent wave of sound directly knocking the men in front flat onto their backs.

The blood dragon detached itself from Baili Mo’s side and soared into the air. Its blood-red pupils contracted sharply as it locked its gaze onto the people before it, then lunged forward like a streak of lightning toward the cultivators. Its ferocious dragon maw opened wide, revealing a gaping maw that released an even heavier stench of blood.

Those dozen individuals made a split-second decision: a few stayed behind to face the blood dragon head-on, while the rest scattered in all directions to minimize casualties. In return, however, they received only a contemptuous glance from Baili Mo.

"Oh no!" Xia Chuan let out a soft exclamation. Before the cultivators behind him could even react, a series of miserable screams rang out.

"Stasis formation! Rise!" Baili Mo formed another hand seal. Within the blood-red array, a dazzling flash of white light flickered into existence. The cultivators trapped inside the formation froze for a fraction of a second, suddenly unable to move, yet almost immediately, as the white light shattered like a sheet of ice, they regained their mobility.

On a battlefield, however, even the span of a single breath is crucial. That single breath was enough to cost them their lives. The roar of the dragon sounded once more, accompanied this time by blood-curdling screams that made one's hair stand on end.

The dazzling crimson hue gradually receded, and the formation began to dissipate. When Xia Chuan and his group recovered their vision and looked back again, all they saw was pool after pool of blood flowing with the fierce wind across the canyon floor. The heavy smell of blood lingered, unable to be dispersed anytime soon even by the biting cold wind.

"An array within an array," Xia Chuan said through gritted teeth. Originally, this entire maneuver was meant merely as a tentative probe to test whether there truly was only a single person behind the scenes as claimed. But now, it seemed they had truly kicked a hard rock.

In mere moments, out of a hundred cultivators, dozens were missing. Though they were all mere Foundation Establishment cultivators, the loss still ached deeply for Xia Chuan. Moreover, this was a resounding slap to his face, making him feel all the more unworthy to face the Great Xia Emperor who had entrusted him with such a heavy responsibility.

"You cannot possibly be a rogue cultivator. To be at the Golden Core realm at such an age, coupled with the array talent you just displayed, it is impossible to achieve this without substantial resources and a renowned master."

"I truly underestimated you. You forcefully modified a fourth-tier formation—usable only by the Nascent Soul realm—so that it could be deployed with a mere Golden Core cultivation base. Although its lethality was drastically reduced, it still retains the might of a mid-third-tier, enough to contend with mid-stage Golden Core experts."

"You arrived here long ago, not only laying down a weakened Five-Dragon Blood Formation in advance, but also ingeniously integrating a mid-first-tier stasis formation of your own devising within the blood array to restrain your opponents at a critical moment. An array within an array—even some grandmasters of formations would not dare claim they could succeed in this."

"If my eyes do not deceive me, the technique you just used should be the secret art of the South Profound Sect, the Nine-Word True Formula, which can only be taught to direct disciples. And you, you must be the direct disciple of some elder or immortal of the South Profound Sect."

Xia Chuan spoke slowly. On the battlefield, the greatest taboo is impulsiveness. Once anger consumes one's reason, it becomes a fatal flaw for a commander.

Therefore, even after losing dozens of cultivators, he had no choice but to forcefully suppress the fury in his heart and compel himself to remain calm.

"A rogue cultivator, Baili Mo." Baili Mo did not say much, merely repeating those words.

His complexion was somewhat pale. Even with the advantage of early Golden Core realm cultivation and the aid of formations, wiping out dozens of Foundation Establishment cultivators in one fell swoop still demanded a considerable expenditure of energy from him.

Baili Mo flicked his sleeve, and ten longswords that had been flying aimlessly in the distance soared toward him, merging into a single sword that finally settled back into his hand.

He remained just as he was: one man, one sword, pointing straight ahead.

He would not rest until he took her away, come hell or high water!

"Rumor has it that the South Profound Sect holds one of the Six Classics in its original manuscript, the *Six Jia Secret Incantations*. At first, I did not believe it; after all, every single one of the Six Classics possesses unfathomable might, so how could they easily fall into the hands of the South Profound Sect? To put it bluntly, the South Profound Sect is merely the overlord of this Southern Province; in the Celestial Realm and across the Eight Domains, it is utterly unremarkable."

"Until I witnessed your Nine-Word True Formula. It is remarkably similar—truly resembling the *Six Jia Secret Incantations* described in the legends. I imagine the South Profound Sect must have simplified the *Six Jia Secret Incantations* through certain methods, thus giving birth to the present Nine-Word True Formula."

Xia Chuan cared little about who Baili Mo actually was; instead, his eyes were fixated on the youth's Nine-Word True Formula. Within his slightly angry gaze, the covetous desire was not concealed in the least.

"Lin, Bing, Dou, Zhe, Jie, Zhen, Lie, Qian, Xing! Troops, rise!" Baili Mo uttered no superfluous words. He had never come here to engage in idle boasting; direct action was his swift and decisive style.

"A hundred swords! Rise!" Baili Mo let out a deep roar, the bulging veins on his handsome face clearly visible, indicating that even for him, wielding a hundred swords simultaneously required immense effort.

"How tedious." Seeing that his words were met with utter silence and complete disregard, Xia Chuan’s face darkened instantly. He ordered, "Capture him! Sever his tendons and hamstring him. Just make sure he stays alive."

"Understood!" the remaining men shouted in unison.

"A hundred swords! Slaughter!" Baili Mo roared, pouring all his pent-up sorrow and frustration into the cry. He wanted to tell her: I have come.

"Kill! Slaughter all scoundrels and glorify our Great Xia!" Nearly a hundred men shouted in unison, their combined morale manifesting into a tangible form—a faint golden dragon materialized and coiled above the heads of the Great Xia warriors.

Noble, powerful, proud, and awe-inspiring—this was Great Xia!

"Not an array formation, but a battle formation?" Baili Mo muttered softly. Then, he manipulated the hundred flying swords to charge forward in a swarm, the sharp blades flashing with silver sword light in the air, looking utterly unstoppable.

"Slash!" The numerous cultivators gripped their uniform sabers and roared in unison. With a single synchronized motion, nearly a hundred sabers cleaved downward together. A mysterious, profound power surged from their bodies, and the golden dragon formed by their morale grew increasingly distinct, shedding its previously dim appearance.

The sabers fell, and the dragon raised its head!