Chapter 90 - Heaven and Earth Binding Formation
As a veteran of the Heavenly Cloud Sect, he analyzed the situation rapidly.
The Heaven and Earth Binding Formation was a standard sealing array of the Heavenly Cloud Sect. While powerful, it possessed a strict requirement. It could not be anchored by a single Nascent Soul cultivator. Deploying the formation required two cultivators, a Heaven point compressing from above, and an Earth point holding from below. Mu Bairong alone could only defend. With Su Ming’s Nascent Soul cultivation base, they now had the two pillars needed to deploy such an advanced formation.
Mu Bairong did not waste a single second of their renewed morale. He pushed his remaining late-stage Nascent Soul Qi, his voice booming across the valley.
"Deploy the Heaven and Earth Binding Formation!" Mu Bairong commanded. "I will anchor the Heaven point! Elder Su, take the Earth point! All Golden Core elders, anchor the secondary nodes to secure the formation! Core Formation and lower-ranked disciples, reinforce the anchoring lines!"
"But before the formation can bind, we must distract the beast and change its focus!" he roared. "Hold the line! Focus your attacks!"
The Golden Core elders acted immediately. Ji Han coordinated with thunder spells, his hands shaping rapid seals to hurl crackling bolts of blue lightning. Beside him, Elder Lie channeled his flame mantra, wrapping the Behemoth King’s neck in fire, while Han Chen guided the defensive lines to deflect the shockwaves.
Zhao Kang and the remaining elders launched a barrage of spells, throwing lightning and earth spikes. The combined elements lit the sky, forcing the Demon King to raise its wings to guard its face, halting its progress.
Su Ming’s divine sense, enhanced by his Essence Sight, scanned the beast’s core through the distraction. The Demon King’s wind and space control was immense, but its movements were slightly sluggish under its mountain-like body and heavy crystalline armor.
As a Peak Master of the Heavenly Cloud Sect, Su Ming had to study the sect’s standard formations when taking charge of White Lotus Peak officially. He knew exactly what the Earth anchor required.
He vanished from his position, executing another spatial teleportation to reappear instantly at the base of the pass, taking up the Earth anchor position directly behind the Behemoth King’s massive armoured back.
He focused his attention on the Demon King, sending a targeted sound transmission directly to Elder Mu. "Second Elder! I have taken the Earth position. But this beast is too violent. Clashing with this beast has given me clarity. I might have a way to pierce this tough armor and subdue it for a while."
"Alright, do it," Elder Mu agreed.
In his thoughts, he formulated the execution. ’When I fought the Mutated Abyss Earth Tyrant, the chaotic property of its Hundun bloodline allowed it to deflect attacks. By utilizing my Yin-Yang mastery at my current Nascent Soul stage and a trace of Chaos Qi, I can likely match that phenomenon. I should be able to slip my sword Qi through, bypassing the armor and its defensive aura entirely.’
’That probably is the reason why my True Dragon Calamity broke through its defence.’
Containing a trace of the Chaos Qi along with his Yin-Yang Qi was the key to piercing its unbreakable armor.
Su Ming drew back his sword, his voice booming down to the vanguard below. "Hold the beast for ten breaths!"
***
Mu Bairong stood at the central command altar, ignoring the sharp pain in his cracked ribs. He exhaled a breath of heavy mist and leaped high into the air, his body rising above the pass as his late-stage Nascent Soul Qi expanded like a silver cloud.
Coordinating with Su Ming’s Earth point anchor, Elder Mu Bairong’s voice boomed across the pass, carrying a powerful resonance that cut through the howling gale.
"Golden Core elders, take your positions! Anchor the auxiliary nodes!"
The response was immediate. Stationed along the high stone walls, the twelve Golden Core elders of the defense line began to anchor the grand array’s nodes. Their movements were fluid and practiced, born of centuries of sect training.
On the left flank, Han Chen placed his hands directly on the earth surface. A thick, resonant brown Qi surged down the earth, locking the seventh node deep into the mountain’s bedrock.
On the right, Elder Lie stood amidst the smoke, his hands shaping rapid fire seals. Bright flame runes flared in the air, anchoring the third node with a roaring, heat-distortion field.
Ji Han stood on the crumbling wall, his fingers twisting into lightning seals. Electric arcs hissed from his fingertips, anchoring the ninth node with a crackling blue spark.
One by one, the twelve elders established their links. To the disciples watching from the lower platforms, the battlefield seemed to transform into a giant, complex machine. Each node activated in sequence, clicking into place like the gears of a massive clockwork.
Bright runic chains materialized from the empty air, wrapping around the Demon King, pulling the laws of the nearby space tightly. Below them, the Core Formation elders and lower-stage disciples funneled their own Qi into the formation lines, reinforcing the boundary nodes to secure the anchors.
Sensing the spatial restriction tightening around its body, the Behemoth King thrashed violently. The massive Demon King flapped its dark wings, generating another violent tempest that slammed against the runes, scattering the rune fragments into the air. The beast let out a low, rumbling roar of frustration, stomping its front limbs to shatter the array lines before they could bind.
"Hold the line!" Mu Bairong bellowed, blood seeping from his nose under the immense strain of holding the Heaven point from above. "Do not let it break the nodes!"
The Core Formation disciples and lower-ranked cultivators launched a desperate barrage of elemental attacks. Fireballs, earth spikes, and sword Qi rained down on the Behemoth King’s head, forcing the giant beast to guard its face and halting its advance.
Yet the struggle was too violent. A massive tremor ripped through the eastern section of the wall, shattering the stone footings of the tenth auxiliary node. The defensive line wavered, leaving a sudden breach in the defense.
Sensing the opening, the Behemoth King flapped its wings, condensing a howling wind-scythe in front of its chest. The crescent-shaped gale shot forward, tearing through the rubble directly toward the exposed, defenseless cultivators holding the binding formation.