[Ice Wall]

A wall of ice formed in front of him as San Wanfan dodged to the side.

Crack-!

The ice wall crumbled instantly upon impact, like a mantis trying to block a carriage.

However, San Wanfan had already expected as much.

He had never banked on the ice wall holding up. All that mattered was that it lasted long enough for them to get out of the way.

And it did.

Making full use of the split second bought by the ice wall, the Mo Group desperately scuttled to the sides, just in time to see the Yin Yang Sword Sisters following after the Yin Yang Sword Diagram, charging right past them in a grand and imposing manner.

Chen Pingxi and Zhou Qin followed closely behind, not leaving any real gaps between the two groups.

As the Mo Group noticed the quartet, the quartet naturally noticed the Mo Group as well.

One group was charging forward in an imperious manner, while the other was desperately scampering across the ground.

This situation made San Wanfan feel very uncomfortable, almost as though he was a peasant looking up at a noble’s entourage.

Fortunately for him, the quartet did not feel the same.

“Black Tortoise Sect!” all four of them exclaimed in surprise.

“Run! There is a monster chasing after us!” Chen Pingxi quickly cautioned.

Rather than apologising, she decided that the priority right now was still to warn them of the current situation.

“D-Don’t worry, we can take it on if we work together!” San Wanfan quickly gathered his nerves and replied. “Just follow my lead!”

Not only was he angry about being attacked out of nowhere, but he was also slightly shaken by the close shave with the Yin Yang Sword Diagram. However, he was definitely not going to let his emotions show.

In front of the disciples of their subordinate sects, he had to maintain the air of a superior!

With that, the Mo Group gathered up once more and got into position.

“Wha-?! Wait, that’s not it!” Chen Pingxi was shocked to see this. “We are trying to lead it to the river!”

“There’s no need to run from it any longer,” San Wanfan assured. “We will do the heavy lifting. You just have to support us wherever necessary!”

As he spoke, San Wanfan could not help but feel akin to the heroes in classic romance stories, saving the damsels in distress in a suave and confident manner.

Be it Ye Yuyin, Ye Yuyang, or Chen Pingxi, all three of them were great beauties with great cultivation potential. This made them the ideal candidates as cultivation partners.

Not just that, but they were also from the subordinate sects.

Because of that, many inner disciples of the Black Tortoise Sect believed that they had a better chance with these beauties.

After all, disciples of the subordinate sects were usually more easily impressed, with some even tempted by the potential opportunity to enter the Black Tortoise Sect through marriage!

Since he had already climbed his way up to become a party leader in the inner sect, San Wanfan believed that his conditions were not too bad as well. All he needed was an opportunity to create a connection with these beauties without it feeling too forced.

And this, right here, was the opportunity he needed.

He definitely had to make use of this situation to leave a lasting impression!

Before the quartet could speak further, he charged forward with the rest of his party in tow.

Roar-!

The Bloodtoothed Dragon Alligator saw the six of them approaching, and its attention quickly shifted away from the quartet earlier.

“This...!” Chen Pingxi looked on with worry in her eyes.

“Do they have holes for ears?” Ye Yuyang complained in irritation.

“Let’s just go help them!” Ye Yuyin said.

“Wait, they are a party, so they might have some established battle patterns. If we carelessly enter the battle, we might even end up getting in their way,” Chen Pingxi stopped them. “Let’s wait and observe for now.”

“Come, you arrogant beast!” San Wanfan shouted confidently, oblivious to the conversation happening behind him. “Thirty Thousand Sails Formation!”

He took the centre while his party members fanned out along his left and right, seeking to form a circle around the approaching Bloodtoothed Dragon Alligator. As they moved, all of them retrieved a huge flag and raised it with one hand.

Each flag had the word ‘sail’ written on it, albeit in a different handwriting.

The moment they surrounded the Bloodtoothed Dragon Alligator, the party started moving in unison, circling the monster in a clockwise direction.

[Three Thousand Sails Formation]

As they moved in a circle, the surroundings started spinning as well, seemingly aligned to their movements.

Rumble-!

It was like a powerful earthquake had struck with the Bloodtoothed Dragon Alligator at the epicentre.

A circular portion of land seemed to have detached itself from the greater part of the forest, rotating quickly while carrying along the various vegetation growing upon it.

Carrying the flags and running in circles, the Mo Group members were like sails attached to a ship that was the ground under their feet, allowing the winds to move it as it pleased.

Outstretched tree branches crashed against one another along the edge of the rotating piece of land, causing trees to fall all over.

This was not an illusion.

Through this battle formation, the Mo Group had well and truly made the Bloodtoothed Dragon Alligator’s world spin!

The land was spinning, but the speed of rotation was not exactly the same as the movement speed of the party members.

This meant that the Bloodtoothed Dragon Alligator would not be able to lock onto a party member and run in a straight line towards them either.

However, the Bloodtoothed Dragon Alligator still did not slow its charge.

While the direction of its charge continued to shift due to the rotation of the ground, its speed and power remained the same as it headed straight towards the edge of the affected circle.

This way, it wanted to escape the boundaries of the ground that was currently spinning.

But for every step it advanced, the Mo Group moved in pace.

And with this movement, the area that was spinning actually moved along with them.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

By doing so, they ensured that the Bloodtoothed Dragon Alligator remained at the very centre of the rotating ground.

It was a battle formation that taxed heavily on its users’ energy reserves. But in exchange, it created significant mental pressure on its target by inducing a sense of confusion and helplessness.

As expected, the Bloodtoothed Dragon Alligator soon stopped its charge after falling to this battle formation, looking around in an obvious state of confusion.

San Wanfan could not help but smirk upon seeing this.

This battle formation that he came up with was especially effective against monsters with low intelligence, and it would appear that the Bloodtoothed Dragon Alligator was no exception!

But just as he was thinking this, he felt a surge of essence energy erupting from within the monster alligator.

Hmm?

San Wanfan raised an eyebrow.

The Bloodtoothed Dragon Alligator was a monster known for its physical prowess and venomous breath, so they would be safe as long as they kept it at bay.

There was no need to worry about any ranged attacks.

Then again, he had never heard of it using any special techniques that required essence energy?

Wait, could it be... an anomaly?

The very next moment, dark flames shot out from the jaws of the monster alligator, instantly sweeping across the entire ground that had been rotating under the effect of the Three Thousand Sails Formation!

***

“Energy expenditure spiking, health status falling. San Wanfan’s party is likely to have entered a difficult battle,” Zhao Yunxiao reported with a frown.

He thought that he would have some time to think about how to help Cheng Kai. Who knew that San Wanfan’s party would suddenly start giving problems once again?

“Did those people from the Vermilion Bird Sect catch up to them?” Yuan Shang asked worriedly.

“Is that likely to be the case?” Sect Protector Pei directed the question over to Zhao Yunxiao.

“We cannot rule out such a possibility,” Zhao Yunxiao answered.

“Damn it, those brats from the Vermilion Bird Sect! Quickly help them!” Sect Protector Pei said.

“We don’t know enough to be able to help them just yet,” Zhao Yunxiao shook his head solemnly. “Or is there a particular message that you would like them to hear, Senior Pei?”

“Tch! Just keep watching them and let me know if the situation worsens!”

Zhao Yunxiao let out a silent sigh of relief.

At the very least, Sect Protector Pei was someone who would listen to reason instead of doubling down on his foolish instructions.

But the fact remained that the Mo Group was currently in a precarious situation.

A quick glance at their jade tablets revealed just how critical their health statuses were at the moment, a huge contrast to how they were just a few minutes ago.

It was likely that they had been targeted by a sudden attack, but just what they could be facing?

What could possibly force them into such a precarious situation all of a sudden?

If only he knew where they went after escaping from Trident Lake. Without that information, he was truly helpless!

As he was thinking that, another change in the jade tablets caught his eye.

This time, it was those of Wei Group.

Zhao Yunxiao let out a helpless sigh upon seeing this.

Increase in energy expenditure without much movements...

There was no doubt about it. Nuo Qianling’s party had decided to go ahead with melting the black ice after all.

Sometimes, people simply overestimate their current position.

Just because they had a way to pull out of the mystic realm at any given moment, many participants mistakenly believed that they could simply do whatever they wanted without fear of any real consequences.

Unfortunately, reality had proven time and again that what they believed might not be entirely true.

Just because they had a way to escape did not mean that they would always have the opportunity to use it. Every single year, there were participants who ended up losing their lives within the Four Symbols Mystic Realm.

Zhao Yunxiao could only hope that the Wei Group would not end up like that.

And even if they survived, was it worth sacrificing the rest of their time in the Four Symbols Mystic Realm over such a risky gamble, where the odds were clearly against them?

If it were up to Zhao Yunxiao, he would never make such a decision.

But since it had already come down to this, he had to at least do his best to help them out!

***

Blacksnow Tundra, Four Symbols Mystic Realm.

An ape monster crashed to the ground, its black fur stained with fresh blood that was still spurting out of the hole in its chest.

Nuo Qianling retracted her hand that was armed with the Hail Lance, standing imperiously over the now-motionless ape monster.

After making sure that it was dead, she turned around to look at the black ice pyramid. Right now, Zhuang Chan was holding up a crimson flame with her essence energy, pressing it against the black ice.

The sect administrators were right on both ends.

Firstly, using the eerie eye flames from the Red-Eyed Skeletal Ghouls truly allowed them to melt the black ice.

Secondly, melting the black ice truly released a storm of energy that seemed to be attracting monsters to their location.

That was the case with this ape monster as well. By the time it came into view, it had already been charging straight towards them.

Unless its detection capabilities were that much better than theirs, it was clear that the ape monster was headed for the location instead of them.

There were others that came before it as well, be it wolf monsters, bear monsters, or fox monsters.

Thankfully, all of them had been rather easy to deal with so far. Still, Nuo Qianling was not nearly naive enough to believe that this was the end of it.

But... so what of it?

In order to get to the wooden sword in the black ice, they would gladly deal with anything that the Blacksnow Tundra wanted to throw their way.

If the Blacksnow Tundra wanted to challenge their determination, then let the siege commence!

At this point, messages from the sect administrators started coming through in her head once again.

[There are five enemies that pose the greatest threat to your party. First are the Rainbow Scythe Ants – identifiable by the rainbow light emitted by their mandibles and how they move in a swarm. They rely on two things to overwhelm their opponents – their numbers, and their extremely hot mandibles that could melt down even treasure weapons. Instead of taking them head on, either use overpowering scents to confuse them or try to cut off their feelers. They rely purely on capturing the scents in the air, so they would not be able to pinpoint your positions once that is taken from them.]

[Second is the Blacksnow Wyrm – identifiable from the white lines stretching across the entirety of its enormous black body. The Blacksnow Wyrm is extremely tough and impervious to almost all elemental attacks. It usually strikes from underground, seeking to catch its targets by surprise by swallowing them whole along with the ground itself. Always be wary of loose ground, as it might be due to the presence of the Blacksnow Wyrm lurking beneath. Piercing attacks are the way to go when facing the Blacksnow Wyrm, though they need to be strong enough to penetrate its tough skin.]

[Next are the Serpent Mammoth – identifiable by the black serpents on its body instead of hair, the True Ice Wyvern – identifiable its resemblance to a black ice sculpture, and finally the Moonlight Wolf – identifiable by the extremely bright silver light from its eyes. If you meet any of these three, abandon your plan and escape immediately. You cannot beat any of them.]

Nuo Qianling was initially paying attention, but immediately frowned upon hearing the last line.

She might not have heard of the Rainbow Scythe Ants or True Ice Wyvern, but she had indeed heard of the Blacksnow Wyrm, the Serpent Mammoth, and the Moonlight Wolf. Without a doubt, they were all extremely dangerous opponents.

But to tell them to abandon their plan and escape immediately?

Hah.

Nuo Qianling let out a faint chuckle, feeling like she was being underestimated by the sect administrators simply because of the predicament that they had landed in earlier.

However, undying creatures like the Red-Eyed Skeletal Ghouls should be considered an exception, and should not be used as the basis of judgement.

When dealing with actual opponents that could be killed in a normal manner, she was absolutely confident in her party’s capabilities.

If the sect administrators had not sent such a message, perhaps she would still have chosen to take the safe route. But now that she knew this was their current impression of her group, there had appeared an urgent need to prove their worth.

At this moment, she even thought that perhaps it would be best if one of those three appeared.

That way, they could decisively show the sect administrators just how strong they truly were!