36: Breaking the Formation

"This is Lin Feng, my Junior Brother," Sun Hao said with a smile.

Lin Feng also offered a salute.

Patriarch Mo welcomed them with a smile: "My humble abode is crude, please forgive any neglect. Please come in, the Spiritual Tea is already prepared."

At the banquet, the members of the Family were extremely attentive, constantly offering toasts. In their speech, they praised the Sun Family highly, while repeatedly emphasizing how dangerous the ruins were and how much they needed to rely on the two Sect Disciples, their words earnest.

Lin Feng sat quietly below Sun Hao, observing silently.

The Family Disciples moved back and forth to serve them; their eyes were mostly filled with awe and envy for the Sect Disciples, showing nothing unusual.

'Although this place is small, it has its own order.'

The next morning, led by Patriarch Mo, Lin Feng and Sun Hao left Mo Yun Residence and headed towards the depths of the primitive mountain forest behind, which was shrouded in clouds and mist and rarely visited by humans.

These Qi Refining third or fourth level Family Cultivators followed behind them.

After walking for about an hour, they arrived at a hidden mountain col.

Patriarch Mo pointed to a cave entrance half-hidden by a large amount of vines and collapsed rubble, his expression grave: "This is the place. A few days ago, the heavy rain in the mountains triggered a small-scale landslide, shaking the Spiritual Vein here, which is why this cave entrance was revealed. A Disciple of my Family discovered it by accident while gathering herbs and did not dare to enter without authorization."

The cave entrance was pitch black, barely wide enough for one person to pass through. The broken rocks at the edge of the entrance were still fresh, confirming that a collapse had indeed occurred not long ago.

"Please be very careful, you two," Patriarch Mo urged again.

Sun Hao surveyed the environment, nodded, and took the lead, focusing his attention and holding his sword to push aside the vines before stepping sideways into the cave entrance.

Lin Feng followed closely, his gaze sweeping over the edge of the cave entrance and the collapsed rubble.

Inside the cave, it was initially narrow and damp, but after walking only a few dozen steps, the view suddenly opened up to reveal a huge space.

Dilapidated bluestone steps led into the distance, where the outlines of collapsed palaces and broken stone pillars could be seen.

This was clearly the outer square of some Sect ruins.

They carefully explored several collapsed side halls and chambers, finding only some broken Magical Artifact fragments that had long lost their Spiritual Qi and a few rotten Jade Slips that could not be identified.

Sun Hao appeared somewhat disappointed, muttering, "It's all just junk."

It was not until they tried to pass through a relatively intact corridor to head deeper inside that a pale blue, almost transparent light screen appeared silently, blocking their path.

"It's a remaining defensive Formation!" Patriarch Mo exclaimed, taking a step back.

Sun Hao tried to slash with his sword, but the sword light only stirred faint ripples on the light screen, which remained motionless. He tried several other Spells, but all were in vain.

"Although this Formation is ancient and its power is less than one-tenth of its original, it is still tricky." Sun Hao frowned, somewhat at a loss.

Lin Feng stepped forward, his calm gaze sweeping over the runes flowing on the light screen.

'In Martial Uncle Zhao Ming's previous notes on Formations, there were similar records, though they were more complex. The core of this Formation is damaged; these few nodes... should be its weak points.'

He took out a few unremarkable Formation Flags from his Storage Pouch. He formed hand seals, muttered incantations, and injected his own Spiritual Qi into the Formation Flags.

Then, with a wave of his arm, the several Formation Flags turned into faint lights and shot towards several seemingly unremarkable nodes on the edge of the light screen, hovering in the air in front of the nodes.

"Hum..."

The Formation Flags vibrated slightly, emitting a Spiritual Qi fluctuation that was completely different from the remaining defensive Formation.

The remaining Formation flickered violently, and the runes on it flashed on and off.

Immediately after, accompanied by a few slight "crackle" sounds, the light screen began to dim from the nodes pointed to by Lin Feng's Formation Flags, and finally dissipated silently.

Patriarch Mo and the several Family Disciples widened their eyes, mouths slightly agape, stunned for a moment.

Sun Hao also turned his head, looking at Lin Feng and the several unremarkable Formation Flags that had not yet been retrieved in disbelief: "Lin... Junior Brother Lin? You... when did you learn Formations? And you are so... proficient?"

He knew well that although this Formation was damaged, it was definitely not something an ordinary Qi Refining Disciple could break with such ease.

Lin Feng waved his hand to retrieve the Formation Flags: "I just have a slight interest in miscellaneous studies in my spare time and have read a few books on the basics of Formations. It just so happens that I recognize the operating principles and weak points of this Formation."

Patriarch Mo came back to his senses and praised him repeatedly: "Young Friend Lin is actually able to use a Formation to break a Formation. To have such attainments in the Dao of Formations at such a young age, you will definitely be a pillar of the Sect in the future."

Passing through the corridor, they didn't go far before a rustling sound suddenly rang out in a dark corner.

A dozen or so large, pitch-black Ghost Spiders with compound eyes flashing with eerie green light pounced out, spitting sticky white spider webs from their mouths.

"Careful!" Sun Hao shouted, summoning a small bronze shield to block in front of Lin Feng, and slashed with his sword, hacking the two Ghost Spiders at the very front and sending them flying, green fluid splattering everywhere.

But there were numerous Ghost Spiders, swarming in from all directions, with spider webs entangling and poison splashing.

Sun Hao was struggling to fend them off; although his sword light was sharp, it was difficult to cover everything.

Puchi! A moment of carelessness, and his arm was slashed by the chelicerae of a Ghost Spider attacking from the side. Blood gushed out immediately, and a feeling of numbness spread from the wound.

"Damn it!" Sun Hao cursed angrily, his sword momentum becoming more fierce, barely forcing back the surrounding Ghost Spiders, but his face had already turned somewhat pale.

Lin Feng stood to the side, using the Willow Catkin Following Wind Step to dodge the spider webs, while simultaneously using the Flowing Shadow Sword Art to attack the Ghost Spiders' compound eyes or joints—their weak points—as they tried to bypass Sun Hao to pounce on him.

The pressure of the main attack fell entirely on Sun Hao.

Sun Hao's eighth-level Qi Refining cultivation was fully displayed at this moment; his sword light flashed, and wherever the sword edge passed, a Ghost Spider was bound to be slashed or forced back.

In the gaps between dodging and attacking, Lin Feng's gaze keenly swept towards those few people from the Family.

He saw that Patriarch Mo and those few Disciples had somehow retreated to the edge of the battle circle, each with a nervous expression, showing no intention of stepping forward to help.

Just at this moment, a Ghost Spider took advantage of the gap while Sun Hao was dealing with a frontal attack, darting out from the shadows on the side rear, its sharp chelicerae stabbing straight at Sun Hao.

"Senior Brother, watch out!" Lin Feng called out a warning, and a Sword Qi shot out rapidly, hitting the chelicerae, but it only caused it to deflect by half a fraction.

By the time Sun Hao heard the warning, it was too late to fully dodge, so he had to twist his body violently.

Puchi.

The chelicerae still slashed his arm, leaving a wound deep enough to see the bone. Blood gushed out immediately, and the skin around the wound instantly turned an abnormal blue-black.

"Ugh!" Sun Hao groaned in pain, his sword momentum falling into disarray.

Sun Hao was shocked and angry, but had no time to spare. He could only endure the intense pain and numbness, frantically driving his Spiritual Qi, causing his sword light to surge and forcefully forcing back the surrounding Ghost Spiders. Finally, relying on his cultivation and the advantage of his Magical Artifact, he killed the entire group of Ghost Spiders.

But he himself was as pale as paper, his breath chaotic, and he immediately collapsed to the ground, taking out an antidote pill to consume, then circulating his energy to force out the poison and regulate his breathing.

Lin Feng put away his stance and glanced coldly at the Family group.