Around them, black fire dragons swirled, and the cold air was so biting that it made movement stiff. A chilling wind swept through the spirit platform, causing their senses to become scattered. A purple lightning bolt suddenly appeared in the air, striking deep within.
The King of Chaos, with his four wings, narrowly dodged the terrifying joint attack. He looked up, and a snake-like figure flashed by like a bolt of lightning. His single eye emitted a divine light, and the snake vanished. Then, a fierce roar erupted from the opposite side, as the King of Guo's tiger claw came crashing towards him.
They had entered the formation and were trying to break through.
The difficulty was greater than they had imagined. This was a classic formation of the demon clan, known as the "Ten Thousand Changes Formation." Each person set it up differently, but overall, it combined attacks from the five elements, illusions, and the ability to break illusions, while also suppressing speed. Inside the formation, their speed was greatly slowed.
They could fly, but flying in the air meant facing a more complete attack. It was better to stay on the ground.
As a defensive formation, it was very suitable.
Formation techniques, external pills, weapon refining, divination, and so on—these were methods that took advantage of the natural world, turning the impossible into possible. For thousands of years, humans had learned from nature and used external forces to "cheat."
The ancient saints of the demon clan had always looked down on this. They relied on their own strength, with their bodies and claws being their divine weapons, and their innate abilities serving as treasures. They viewed formations as a joke, despising humans for their cunning ways. However, after being beaten down for so many years, the demon clan had to start learning human methods. The King of Chaos was skilled in alchemy, and the King of Guo was also very adept with formations.
But they realized that with every step they took, the core of the formation, Qin Yi, changed the rules. The variations were countless and utterly unpredictable, which was extremely frustrating.
The King of Chaos dared to say that even if the person who set up the formation came to break through, they wouldn’t know how to solve the ever-changing operations.
The only way was to charge through.
With the combined strength of the two of them and their various treasures, they had to break in, kill that human and the snake, and the formation would collapse.
But this was too difficult.
This formation had the power of illusions, and he couldn’t even be sure that what he and the King of Guo saw was the same. It was like when he thought he saw the snake pass by, but it was actually the King of Guo.
The two of them clashed awkwardly, each retreating, and then got caught up in powerful attacks from the five elements, struggling to defend themselves.
Qin Yi was not having an easy time either.
The opponent understood formations, and the King of Chaos was very skilled, while the King of Guo was no novice either. They had already memorized the various changes in the formation.
Their attempt to break through wasn’t just a reckless charge; they could almost always move toward the current weakest point. Especially since both of them were peak-level cultivators, their senses covered the area, and they were extremely sensitive to the flow of spiritual energy within the formation. As soon as Qin Yi changed a deadly spot, they would avoid it in advance. They had been in the formation for a while, but had never truly clashed head-on.
It felt like a game of chess now.
Qin Yi’s focus and fine motor skills were like a fish in water in this situation. The opponent’s movements were so fast that they were almost invisible, but inside the formation, they were slowed down. He could keep up completely.
The King of Guo summoned a bronze bell, and a golden light surged around him, withstanding a wave of joint attacks, and he was already in front of Qin Yi.
Qin Yi subtly moved his magic power, and the formation changed again. When it reappeared, he was far away from the King of Guo, and the King of Chaos absorbed the King of Guo's attack.
This kind of formation, which involved positional changes, could trap enemies and play with them, even without any killing power, as long as someone was operating it.
The two kings turned to look at Qin Yi, both with surprised expressions.
This space seemed large, but even for a martial artist, it could be crossed in an instant. A peak-level cultivator, slowed by the formation, could still reach you in a flash. It was always possible for them to take a hit and come right at you. Qin Yi seemed calm, but he couldn’t afford to be distracted for even a moment; he was constantly dancing on the edge of a knife, and one misstep could mean disaster.
They had been trying to break through for nearly a stick of incense’s worth of time, yet Qin Yi remained composed. They couldn’t imagine how a young human could understand formations so deeply. This wasn’t something that could be achieved through rote memorization; every step had to be the right one based on the actual situation.
How was he doing this?
No matter how he was doing it, for a low-level cultivator to accomplish such a feat was definitely not easy. The mental strain and the flow of magic power were overwhelming; he couldn’t keep up!
That was right; this was where Qin Yi was struggling.
His magic power was still okay; the newly equipped jade pendant was nourishing it, so he should be able to hold on for a while longer. This was probably something that the King of Chaos had calculated long ago...
But the mental pressure was too much. A stick of incense felt like he had stayed up several nights in a row. This wasn’t something that could be easily resolved; it relied solely on willpower.
Suddenly, the King of Chaos’s single eye spun a few times, and he laughed like an owl in the night before whistling.
Qin Yi was slightly stunned, and then he heard a rush of sounds from outside, as thousands of demons from the Chaos Kingdom charged in.
The King of Guo also realized it, and with a roar of a tiger, another thousand demons from the Guo Kingdom rushed in.
Qin Yi’s pupils slightly contracted.
Were these people here to die?
No, before, they had come in to die. But at this moment, with a swarm of demons pouring in, he really might not be able to execute precise maneuvers anymore.
This was going to wear him out!
He kept his expression calm and quietly instructed Ye Ling, "Go take the Kun position, and place the snake fire at the Zhen position. I will coordinate with you."
Without a word, Ye Ling went.
Qin Yi quickly changed the formation, silently calculating. The King of Chaos had said that the golden door would open for half an hour and then close. There was less than half a stick of incense left until it closed; if he could just hold on...
Wait a minute!
Even if he held on, he wouldn’t be able to escape!
What was going on? Was he just going to let them pile him up and die?
This was the back mountain of the White Kingdom’s palace! Where were the others from the White Kingdom? Where were Ying Li and the others?
...
Outside the palace, Ying Li faced off against the White Kingdom's own forces.
The forces of the Jackal Clan.
A jackal man stood at the front of the group, smiling as he looked at Ying Li across from him. He didn’t rush to attack but simply said, "Brother Ying, you don’t have a chance. Our king has entered the sacred land and won’t be out for at least three to five days. The two kings of Guo and Chaos have already arrived. Even if they can’t enter the sacred land, when they come back here, will you have any way out?"
Ying Li replied calmly, "I’m quite curious. You, as a jackal, are second only to the king in the White Kingdom. If the White Kingdom falls, what position will you have as just a mere minister?"
"What good is position?" The jackal man laughed heartily. "What I want are treasures, resources, and the power to plunder at will! We are demons; we don’t want to live like useless humans! From the former king to this little wretch, using human methods to govern the demon kingdom is simply a sickness!"
"Studying human strengths is to build and develop our own country."
"So what has developed? Beautiful buildings? Clothes? When have we demons needed these?"
"As a minister of the jackal clan, do you not know that our country’s wealth surpasses that of Guo and Chaos combined?"
"What use is that? Can you keep it?" The jackal man laughed to the sky. "Demons believe in the law of the jungle, yet you want to learn from humans how to nurture the people. After so many years, hasn’t it just benefited others?"
"If it weren’t for your shortsighted collusion with foreign enemies, within a hundred years, the strength of the White Kingdom would surpass that of Guo and Chaos." Ying Li sighed. "It’s just that you can’t tame your wild nature and can’t stand such constraints. Why bother with grand principles?"
The jackal man stopped smiling and said coldly, "Can you endure it? Don’t talk about development principles; it’s clear that the former king favored human women and deliberately elevated their status. This little wretch clearly has half human blood. What they do is not out of foresight; they just have human thinking!"
Ying Li fell silent.
The jackal man continued, "Just like how many demons sought the king’s favor, she ignored them and instead took a liking to a human man... Haha, she is merely half-demon, and if she combines with a human, what will the offspring be? Is the White Kingdom a human kingdom or a demon kingdom?"
"That human..." Ying Li paused for a moment and slowly said, "The king said it was just using."
"You believe that?"
"I... believe." Ying Li said slowly, "You will soon find out."
The jackal man was taken aback, not knowing what to think, and his expression suddenly changed.
(End of chapter)