Techniques and Dao

Chapter 75 Strange Beasts from the Human World
The immortal masters within the Heaven-Covering-Earth-Supporting Array, just inches below, knew the danger was immense, yet none of them left the array to escape.

Master Yu Ran's selfless lunge bought precious time for Sun Xiaoming, who was responsible for defense below. Although it was only a matter of seconds, Sun Xiaoming had already led his sixty-four team members to raise their hands high within the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation.

"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands! Unleash the full power of the formation!"

The light emanating from the protective Dao Academy intensified, and the icy rain from the spirit serpent slammed heavily onto the outermost protective barrier, shattering it with a deafening roar. The entire academy, suspended in mid-air, shook violently.

The "HOPE" members, trapped within the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation, were instantly crushed to their knees by the immense pressure. As they struggled to hold on, a cracking sound, like porcelain shattering, came from beneath their feet, and an extremely unsettling crack appeared in the formation beneath their feet.

Upon seeing this, the Fire and Thunder Immortal Master above immediately shouted to the Supreme Lord Xiaojun, "Danger! The spirit snake's magic power is too strong; the Eight Trigrams Formation may not be able to hold! You and I must go and save the formation!"

Seeing that Sun Xiaoming and the others could not hold on any longer, Tai Shang Xiaojun led the disciples in the formation to descend rapidly and attack the spirit snake from behind. However, the spirit snake had already sensed the abnormality. It swung its tail and created gusts of wind from behind, blowing away most of the prayer lanterns and the Crane Wing Heavenly Absolute Formation in the air.

Amidst the hurricane, Tai Shang Xiao Jun attempted to approach using the Teleportation Technique, but the strange wind was too strong, and he only managed to move a few hundred meters each time he tried.

At this moment, the serpent tumbling in the air roared again at the Academy of Arts and Sciences, and another torrential rain of ice swept down. This time, the ice was clearly targeting the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation on the right, heading straight for Sun Xiaoming.

"You big earthworm! You can come a hundred times, but this goddess won't lose!" Sun Xiaoming's shrill shout pierced the sky. She raised her arms high, her back soaked with sweat, desperately resisting the impact of the giant ice blasts.

Crack! Another unsettling sound!

Under repeated attacks, the Bagua Formation was torn open again. The spirit serpent was actually trying to use its own magic to forcibly destroy the Nine Palaces Bagua Formation. To make matters worse, some sharp ice shards had already pierced through the outer protective barrier, heading straight for the girls from the "HOPE" team!

Although the disciples of the Xiyuan Academy responsible for guarding the area leaped into the air to parry, several icy blades still pierced the members below. Then came the girls' agonizing screams, one after another. Many members had been wounded on their bodies, arms, and legs by the icy blades; before long, more than ten girls lay bleeding profusely on the ground, unable to rise. The formation diagram beneath their feet was instantly covered with spots of their deep red blood.

Because the "HOPE" members fell to the ground, causing the formation to shift, the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation instantly collapsed and disintegrated. The entire Arts Academy lost its defense system and was directly exposed to the Spirit Serpent!

On the other side, Jin Fan, inside the magic array, felt his heart ache upon seeing "HOPE" severely damaged and the situation at the Magic Academy extremely critical. He raised two fingers of his right hand, and countless steel swords shot out from the Six Ding Six Jia Formation, piercing straight into the vital point of the spirit snake.

The spirit serpent merely summoned numerous strange beasts to shield itself from the sword, without sustaining any harm whatsoever.

Sun Xiaoming's hands and feet were pierced by the ice. She had been kneeling on the ground, but she stood up unsteadily, her teeth grinding together. Despite the pain, she roared, "You damned mudskipper! Don't underestimate me! Ah—!"

Under Sun Xiaoming's sky-piercing roar, the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams formation beneath "HOPE's" feet, which had been dim and lifeless, began to flicker like fluorescent lights, as if the formation was about to be restored by her own power.

Meanwhile, the injured and fallen team members, upon hearing Sun Xiaoming's voice, forced themselves to stand up. However, with several girls already seriously injured and unconscious, the formation could not be activated immediately.

At this moment, Sun Xiaoming shouted at the Dharma protectors outside the formation, "What are you all doing just watching! Get all those trainees offstage to come up and fill in!"

Sun Xiaoming secretly breathed a sigh of relief. His insistence on bringing the trainees with him before coming to Shengpingning had indeed come in handy. If he hadn't brought them along to train in the magic array, he wouldn't even have any substitutes right now.

Several guardians then realized what was happening and flew into the formation to quickly help the unconscious members away from the Bagua formation. The trainees then rushed into the empty spaces.

"Quick! Everyone who can move, wipe up the bloodstains on the ground! Don't let it affect the magic of the incantation!" Sun Xiaoming shouted as he wiped the bloodstains that had dripped onto the formation with his clothes. The other members followed suit, kneeling on the ground and frantically wiping away the bloodstains with their clothes while wiping away tears.

"Stop crying! Don't let people look down on us, show everyone our strength!" Sun Xiaoming shouted, clenching her fists. "Go for it! Even if I die here, I will never back down!"

The members around him wiped the blood and tears from their faces and shouted together, "Keep going! Never give up!"

"You big mudfish, get out of my way! By the power of the law! Reactivate the Eight Trigrams Formation!"

Under Sun Xiaoming's leadership, the active members and trainees of the "HOPE" group took their positions, raising their sleeves soaked with blood and tears, and re-established the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation. In less than a minute, the injured were relieved of their injuries, and the defensive array outside the Academy of Arts and Sciences was activated once more!
"Impossible, how can these girls keep up?"

The Supreme Lord Xiaojun, positioned above, watched as the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation's defenses were reactivated and couldn't help but sigh in amazement.

At this moment, the Fiery Arrow Formation led by Master Huo Lei and the Crane Wing Heavenly Annihilation Formation led by Tai Shang Xiao Jun had also arrived, engaging in a fierce battle with the Xuanwu Spirit Serpent that was tumbling back and forth in the air. Meanwhile, the Fish Scale Ice Formation, due to Master Yu Ran's serious injury, had its formation power greatly reduced and gradually dissipated, engaging in close combat with the surrounding strange beasts.

Amidst the deafening roar of battle cries in the stratosphere, the Xuanxiang Wind Howling Array, deployed in the troposphere, was also facing its own challenges. News from the front lines nearly threw even the usually composed Tianjizi into disarray.

How could Wei Yu, the deputy registrar who has been by my side for so long, be the same person as Ming You?
As the saying goes, one's appearance reflects one's heart. How could someone who attacked Xiyuan and harmed the world possibly possess Weiyu's flawless appearance?

Wei Yu was a secret deep in his heart. Even if Wei Yu's appearance could be disguised, how could her clear and pure eyes hide the words "utterly wicked"?

Why did it turn out this way? Having witnessed the immortal power that Wei Yu displayed when she fought Dao Ling Xing Jun, Tian Ji Zi couldn't understand why she would go to such lengths to conceal her own power and remain hidden in the Daoist Academy for so long. If it was only for the purpose of slaughtering living beings, why go to such great lengths?
He believed that Wei Yu had a real purpose. Everything she did must have a reason that no one would expect. It's just that Wei Yu couldn't tell anyone, or even if she did, no one would believe her.

Tianjizi wanted to fly to the stratosphere to ask in person. However, with only five thousand men, his primary mission was to escort the Qitian Lantern into the stratosphere. But he soon discovered that due to the sheer number of alien beasts, many of them bypassed the upper battle lines or accidentally wandered into the lower troposphere during the chaos.

If he leaves and disrupts the formation of the Xuanxiang Wind Howling Formation, preventing the Praying Sky Lantern from safely reaching the stratosphere, or allowing the alien beast to break through the troposphere, then the Seven Immortals Formation could very well be completely lost.

With a heavy heart, Tianjizi gripped his whisk and swiftly traversed the troposphere, his last line of defense constantly on the move. If the strange beasts were allowed to fall into the human realm, even just a few in the city center, it would result in a large number of civilian casualties.

As he feared, due to the sheer size of the monstrous army, there would always be sporadic "escaped fish" along this battlefront stretching thousands of miles. If the monstrous beasts fell into the deep sea, they wouldn't have much impact on the people on land for the time being. However, if they landed in cities, especially densely populated city centers, the light weapons equipped by the city police would be like scratching an itch through a boot, having little effect on the monstrous beasts.

Tianjizi positioned his main force in the troposphere, while he himself led six disciples from the Daoist Academy to descend to a point about two kilometers below the troposphere. He then retreated to an altitude of only about six kilometers above the ground, ready to immediately eliminate any strange beasts that fell to the surface.

Just as he used his talisman to knock an approaching beast into the sea, a hole suddenly appeared in the clouds about 100 kilometers away. A huge snake tail emerged from the hole, and several disciples of the academy fell in injured from the opening.

Tianjizi thought to himself that something was wrong. He figured that during the fight, the spirit snake must have punched a hole through the Fire Thunder Immortal Master's Arrow Blazing Fire Formation.

As expected, hundreds of strange beasts, including Qiongqi, Gu Diao, and Hu Jiao, rushed through the hole in the formation. Although the disciples of the Feng Shi Lie Huo Formation managed to close the large hole in time, the beasts that had broken through the clouds landed on the ground without any hindrance.

"The cities below are going to be in trouble, we have to go down!"

Tianjizi flicked his whisk and called upon the disciples of his academy to quickly ride the clouds and swoop down. At the same time, he saw several disciples from his own formation leaping down from the clouds, trying to chase after the group of strange beasts.

"Get back into the magic circle quickly! Don't let the beasts behind us get through any gaps!" Tianjizi shouted urgently. "The beasts are attacking the city below to distract us! Don't panic, we'll deal with those who fall!"

"Thank you for your trouble, senior brother!" Upon receiving the order, the disciples of the academy immediately rode the clouds back to the upper troposphere war zone.

The Celestials accelerated downwards, the city lights blazing on the ground. As they swooped down, they carefully avoided the prayer lanterns soaring into the sky while keeping a close eye on the falling beasts. Just as they approached the surface, the hundreds of beasts suddenly scattered, falling in different directions from the city.

Tianjizi turned to the six disciples behind him and said, "The cities below should be in the Guangzhou area of ​​southern Guangdong. We will spread out and support each other in pairs. You two go to Baiyun Mountain, you two go to Panyu, and you two go to Pazhou. Leave the exotic beasts in the central area to me."

The six disciples each received their orders and split into three groups in the air to pursue the strange beast.

Tianjizi chanted an incantation, scattering the talismans in his hand like snowflakes in the air. The talismans seemed to sprout wings and swirled around him. Tianjizi aimed at the nearest few strange beasts and pointed, sending the talismans flying like bullets, instantly shattering them in mid-air.

As he landed, he used this method to kill more than a hundred more strange beasts in the air!
Why was Tianjizi deceived by the "fake quantum space"?
I answered this question in Chapter 36, but that was a "surface analysis." There is actually an "inner analysis," which is only appropriate to discuss when the story has progressed to this point.

First, ultimate destiny absolutely exists, so regardless of whether Tianjizi's consciousness wavers, ultimate destiny will steer future events in his favor. However, if Tianjizi fails "too directly," he may be unable to understand what happened, and thus repeatedly ponder, "I clearly have ultimate destiny, yet I can't win; there must be a reason."

However, the actual reasons revealed in the subsequent plot are something that Tianjizi cannot possibly understand or guess at the moment. Therefore, Zhiyun must simultaneously "deceive" both Tianjizi and Huasheng, making them both believe in the "collapse of Zhiyun," rather than logically deducing "why Zhiyun only helped Tianjizi until opening the correct puzzle box before malfunctioning?"

In fact, in order to avoid Tianjizi directly confronting Mingyou in the Qiankun Guard War, Zhiyun had to have Huasheng obtain the Holy Buddha's Path Pass, but at the same time, he also had to make Huasheng believe that he had truly defeated Tianjizi.

Therefore, when Hua Sheng directly opened the puzzle box, the Holy Buddha's Path Guide did not simply appear in his hand. If the Holy Buddha's Path Guide had appeared at that moment, everyone present (including Mie Ying and Tai Shang Xiao Jun) would have immediately realized that taking the Holy Buddha's Path Guide would bring "bad luck," and not taking it would be "lucky."

Therefore, Zhiyun must trigger the condition that "Tianjizi believes he has lost, and Huasheng believes he has won" in order to truly protect Tianjizi.

Of course, the analysis of this issue does not end here, and it also affects the plot of the second part...

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(End of this chapter)