Chapter 398: Same Thoughts
Three days later, six level five formation masters gathered at the edge of the empty lake.
The first and oldest was Zhu Fei.
Zhu Fei was a formation master of the Great Zhu empire and he was the only late-stage fifth-level master amongst the five.
Following behind him were two fourth-level formation masters and ten protectors from the Zhu family.
Beside Zhu Fei was Gui Xiong, the formation master of the Ice Palace sect.
Like Zhu Fei, he was also followed by two fourth-level formation masters from the Ice Palace sect and ten protectors from the Thunder God temple.
In the third position was Huangfu Yan.
Huangfu Yan was the ancestor of the Huangfu family which was a leading clan in the Great Artisan city.
Because of this, her team had the most formation masters and the protectors also came from different clans.
On the fourth place was Shen Jin.
Shen Jin was a casual cultivator and all his knowledge was accumulated from many adventures.
From what Jiang Yue heard, Shen Jin planned to cooperate with several big forces to divide the opportunities they found.
Finally, there was Jiang Yue.
Jiang Yue was followed by three fourth-level formation masters and ten protectors including Yu Nianzhen.
"If everyone is ready, let’s start." Zhu Fei said in a cold voice.
After Jiang Yue heard the old man’s words, he led his people towards the North side of the lake.
In the past three days, major forces came together and negotiated a compromise.
According to the compromise, forces that had fifth-level formation masters would be responsible for arranging and breaking formations.
However, having a fifth-level formation master didn’t mean those forces would have a bigger share of the pie.
Those forces without formation masters also had responsibilities and could contribute in one of two ways.
The first way was to provide fifth-level and other formation materials.
If they couldn’t do that, they could also contribute by joining the temporary army.
Since the righteous and neutral factions arrived before the evil factions, they wanted to control the situation.
In that case, a temporary army was formed to resist evil cultivators.
[Azhen, do you think it’s possible to keep out the evil cultivators?] Jiang Yue transmitted as the group walked.
[In the short term.] Yu Nianzhen answered and Jiang Yue nodded.
[I also think so.]
In the short term, there were no benefits to controlling the situation.
On the contrary, those who took the initiative would lose a lot of resources to arrange and maintain the isolation formation around the lake.
Knowing that, the evil cultivators would probably not be too motivated to take control of the lake.
However, when the formation was broken, the evil cultivators would likely come out in droves to take advantage.
[Don’t think too much about it. For now, it’s enough to arrange the formation.] Yu Nianzhen said.
If he and Jiang Yue could see the problem, he believed that others could see it too.
In that case, he and Jiang Yue only needed to worry about the things they could control.
"You are right." Jiang Yue said and stopped in front of his allocated position.
"We will start from here." He said and gestured for the three fourth-level formation masters to come closer.
Soon after, the formation masters began to arrange their part while Yu Nianzhen and the other protectors protected them from behind.
.....
"Master, are we really not going to take part?" A young man asked, looking a little dissatisfied.
"Who says we are not going to take part?" The young man’s master sneered.
The master was an old man with white hair and a long white beard.
From a distance, he looked like a kind-hearted immortal but when one was close enough to see his eyes, they would inevitably be horrified by the cruelty in them.
This old man was the ancestor of the Blood Refining cult and one of the pillars of the evil faction.
"If so, then why..." The young man started but stopped.
He wanted to ask why they didn’t fight for the right to enter the tomb.
However, when he saw the red in his master’s eyes, he knew he was thinking too simply.
"Fang Zhang, what do you think is going on?"
"Master..." Fang Zhang called in confusion.
He didn’t understand his master’s question and didn’t dare to answer casually.
Unfortunately, his confusion still irritated his master and the old man glared at him coldly.
’Am I going to lose another drop of blood essence?’ Fang Zhang wondered and his eyes filled with bitterness.
During the war, his master was injured.
To recuperate, the old man harvested a few drops of blood essence from everyone in their region.
This incident left a shadow in Fang Zhang’s heart and he always felt that his master was greedy for his blood.
While Fang Zhang was in a daze, the old man had become angrier.
His eyes turned red and a short sword appeared in his hand.
A moment later, the old man swung the short sword and Fang Zhang was flung to the opposite side of the cave.
At the same time, a layer of blood covered the short sword’s black blade and the ancestor couldn’t help but take a long lick.
"Have you absorbed mortal blood?" The ancestor sneered and asked.
"This..., master..., I came across a few and absorbed a little." Fang Zhang explained.
If he could, he didn’t want to absorb mortal blood.
However, the severe loss of his blood essence left him a little desperate.
In the past few months, he hadn’t distinguished between mortals and cultivators.
Although mortal blood was not ideal, it could also be used to replenish his blood essence.
Since mortals were easier to catch than cultivators, Fang Zhang had killed a few hundred to make up for his blood essence.
"Trash." The ancestor mocked but Fang Zhang didn’t dare to say anything.
Fortunately, after releasing his irritation, the ancestor was no longer so irritable.
"Right now, the righteous bastards are bleeding to arrange the isolation formation. After that, they will continue to bleed to maintain it." The ancestor started and Fang Zhang pulled himself up from where he had collapsed.
"I have heard that the tomb formation is not easy to deduce and will take a few years to break. Tell me, what’s the benefit of fighting now?"
When Fang Zhang heard his master’s words, he immediately understood.
"There is no benefit to fighting now." Fang Zhang said with a confident look in his eyes.
"Good boy." The ancestor nodded with approval in his eyes.
’Master’s mood changes are too difficult to handle.’ Fang Zhang complained but didn’t dare to say it out loud.
Instead, he continued to listen to his master’s analysis which was similar to what Jiang Yue and Yu Niaznehn discussed.
"Even if we fight and win, there will be no immediate benefits. If we win, we will replace those losers to continue bleeding resources. Most importantly, we will give them a chance to whittle our numbers and end up making a wedding dress for others."
"Master is right." Fang Zhang praised.
"Hmmm." The ancestor nodded and then towards the cave’s entrance.
"Go out and lead the visitors into the cave."
"Yes, master." Fang Zhang said and left.
.....
"How is it?" A female voice asked as she walked into a portable cave.
"Young pavilion leader." An old voice greeted and waited for Meng Zihua to sit down.
"Seventh grandpa, is the talisman map useful?"
"It is useful." Elder Meng said and nodded.
As an old nascent soul realm cultivator, this was not the first time that he had come across ancient characters.
However, there were few complete maps which made studying them very difficult.
Fortunately, the talisman map bought from the Sea Cloud sect was complete and studying it was not difficult.
"Seventh grandpa, can the talisman block demonic qi?" Meng Zihua wanted to clarify.
Although she had dealt with Jiang Yue and Yu Nianzhen in the Nine Treasures secret realm and the Thousand Herbs Garden, she still had to make sure.
After all, her life and the lives of everyone in the BlueStar Treasures Pavilion depended on it.
"I am nine points certain that it can." Elder Meng said and Meng Zihua sighed in relief.
"How long until you can complete a talisman?"
"Give me two days." The old man said.
"Good." Meng Zihua nodded and said.
"Seventh grandpa, is it okay to refuse the cooperation with the Sea Cloud sect?"
"Girl, our BlueStar Treasures Pavilion does not take sides." Elder Meng said in a solemn voice.
"If we cooperate too closely with the Sea Cloud sect, we will isolate the other groups. Like usual, it’s better to transact with everyone."
"I have been taught." Meng Zihua said and bowed to the old man.
"As the young Pavillion leader, you have to always look at the bigger picture. Our BlueStar Treasures Pavilion must retain its image of impartiality."
"I know this." Meng Zihua agreed.
