Chapter 284 — The Great Formation!

A vast pit, and Zuo Yan was digging steadily downward.

The opening overhead was now no bigger than a palm, and he had gone fifty zhang deep. The shaft was about a zhang across; the female cultivator stood close by. Looking up, that height of fifty zhang gave one a smothering sense of vertigo.

Suddenly Zuo Yan stopped, delight breaking across his face.

"Let's go up," he said to the female cultivator. She could not hear him, but he greeted her all the same; then he flew upward, and she kept close at his side.

Once out of the opening, Zuo Yan halted and drew a deep breath.

Then he loosed a full-power Glazed Heaven Wave!

A fist like glazed glass plunged into the hole and slammed into the bottom.

Boom!

Red-hot subterranean fire and magma burst upward, surging higher and higher like an ancient beast of prey just loosed from its cage; even from far off, Zuo Yan could feel a scorching breath rushing at his face.

Now and again tongues of flame jetted from the deep crimson magma. Faced with such natural fury, Zuo Yan could not help paling. Should one be caught in that subterranean fire, unless one had golden-core cultivation, no bones would remain.

For all his awe, a touch of joy crept into his face.

Pulling the female cultivator along, he flew higher. At last the torrent of molten rock surged up to the surface, and this place was precisely the core of the great formation Zuo Yan had laid. The thick, dark-red lava crawled slowly forward, and the moment it flowed into the pit, the runes on its walls blazed to life.

At last Zuo Yan could no longer contain his smile.

Success!

Success at last!

Directly above him, in the night, Hengxiao City suddenly erupted in light: countless golden rays, like golden mullet swimming upstream, rose into the sky above the city. These fine golden threads gathered and would not disperse, now clustering, now scattering.

Everyone in Hengxiao City was startled by this vast and uncanny spectacle; people came out of their houses one after another and stood gazing up at the golden radiance that filled the heavens.

Every cultivator versed in rune art changed countenance. In those golden threads drifting like fish, the shadows of runes could be glimpsed again and again. Could this be some formidable rune art? Such means were truly unfathomable! And who knew what rune art could produce so astounding a phenomenon.

The various powers encamped outside the city were stirred as well.

"What is that?"

"Can some rare treasure have come into the world?"

...

In the night, the distant Hengxiao City blazed brighter, wrapped in piercing golden light like a sun in the darkness.

"What a grand undertaking!" On a mountain peak, a bearded middle-aged man exclaimed in admiration. Beside him stood a burly, tiger-backed man.

"How so?" the big man asked.

"This city must conceal an exceedingly formidable rune art; this display is exactly what one sees when a great formation has just been completed. When I entered the city yesterday I noticed its materials were most peculiar. You would never guess, my lord," the middle-aged man said with a smile.

"Oh? What high-grade materials did he use?" The big man was curious.

"Exactly the opposite of what you imagine. The bricks of this city are nothing but ordinary bluestone."

"How is that possible?" The big man was dumbstruck; then he shook his head. "If bluestone alone could build walls that strong, the Little Mountain Realm would already be crowded with cities."

"Heh heh, bluestone it is, only this bluestone has been refined with Golden Crow Fire," the middle-aged man said mildly.

"So that is it!" The big man understood all at once.

Admiration rose on the middle-aged man's face. "This man's mind is exceedingly ingenious. Small as this city is, what he has actually used is the method of artifact refining."

"Artifact refining? You mean he treats Hengxiao City as a magic treasure?" The big man was struck dumb again.

"Precisely. The whole of Hengxiao City is covered in runes; every building is joined into one body by those runes, so that all prosper together and all perish together. By day, sunlight always forms a pillar of light that falls into the city. Did you notice, my lord?"

"Is there some trick to that too?"

"Sunlight contains a trace of Golden Crow Fire, which Hengxiao City absorbs without cease. The longer the time, the purer the city becomes. Is that not the method of artifact refining?" The middle-aged man's eyes flickered with admiration. "Sunlight is good, but it requires long ages of work, and this city lord plainly cannot wait. If I am not mistaken, he means to draw up subterranean fire to temper the city. Hence my talk of a grand undertaking."

"Draw up subterranean fire to temper the city?" The big man's face went blank; after a long while he shook his head. "I never thought the Little Mountain Realm harbored dragons and crouching tigers, that there could be such a formidable figure here. To let him slip through my fingers would gall me. What do you think, sir? Could he be recruited?"

The middle-aged man shook his head. "That you thirst for talent, my lord, is a good thing. But by my reading of this man, his power is already established, and he even has generals under him; his origins are likely no simple matter. Besides, your retinue is full to its quota. Were you to recruit him, where would you put him?"

At these words the big man froze for a long time, then heaved a sigh.

"My lord need not be cast down." The middle-aged man consoled him gently. "Our sect is strong and rich in resources; you need only establish yourself firmly within it, and recruiting men of rare talent will not be difficult. This time the sect master sent you to investigate matters in the Little Mountain Realm; the intent to cultivate you is plain. You need only complete your appointed task. Why trouble yourself over one man?"

"You are right, sir." The big man's expression returned to normal, then a hint of anger showed on his face. "Hmph, that old Mingxiao is truly bold, to ravage an entire realm like this. He plainly does not wish to live."

All along the road, everything he had seen and encountered had been cruel and miserable beyond words.

"I fear the news has spread by now, and his days will not be easy." Cold light flickered in the middle-aged man's eyes. "His disciple slain, call it retribution. By my reckoning, other powers will not be long in intervening."

The big man said suddenly, "Tell me, could Huang Zhuoguang have been killed by those people in there?" He pointed at Hengxiao City.

The middle-aged man started, then his heart stirred. "It is possible! But it has little to do with us." He thought a moment, then shook his head. "The main business comes first. The daytime star apparition is a chance that comes once in a thousand years for you, my lord. Your luck is indeed excellent."

They had been sent out to investigate the demon army that had appeared in the Little Mountain Realm and to seek the chaos rift; they had never expected to encounter the daytime star apparition on the way.

"But we still have no results," the big man said, somewhat helplessly.

"Take it slowly; this is not a thing to be hurried." The middle-aged man was equally helpless.

The Little Mountain Realm was in chaos. The Outer Hall's unprecedented large-scale operation and Hengxiao City's sudden rise at once made the two the focus of all eyes in the realm. News of every kind spread without cease; the Outer Hall's branch halls had been destroyed down to a third of their number.

And before two days had passed, word came again that the mysterious company had routed three more of the Outer Hall's relief columns in succession.