The Dao of formations had a long and storied history, often capable of turning the commonplace into the miraculous. Across the whole world, which great sect didn't have its own formations? Setting aside massive formations like Sect-Protecting Grand Arrays and Mountain-Guarding Arrays, formations executed by groups of people were equally common.
Since they were fellow disciples, they had ample opportunity to practice and coordinate with one another during normal times. When the moment came to face a powerful enemy, deploying those formations often produced extraordinary results.
The Feng Yun Pavilion naturally had formations as well, and its most formidable one was a Sword Array — a formation geared primarily toward offensive lethality.
This Sword Array was called the Yin-Yang Five Elements Grand Primal Mystic Sword Diagram, an inheritance passed down from the Feng Yun Pavilion's ancestors that had endured for over ten thousand years. Throughout the pavilion's history, this Sword Array had repeatedly pulled them back from the brink of disaster and kept the flame of their legacy burning.
The Yin-Yang Five Elements Grand Primal Mystic Sword Diagram required a minimum of five people to activate, with no upper limit — the more participants, the greater its power.
Ordinarily, just ten Dao Source Third-Order disciples forming the array could contend with an average Emperor Realm cultivator. With twenty, they could slay a First-Order Emperor Realm master outright.
Every Feng Yun Pavilion disciple who reached the Dao Source Realm was required to study this diagram. Each month, they also held large-scale joint drills, so every Feng Yun Pavilion warrior at or above the Dao Source Realm knew the formation inside and out.
All of it was preparation for the day the Feng Yun Pavilion might provoke a powerful enemy — just in case.
The last time the Feng Yun Pavilion had deployed the Yin-Yang Five Elements Grand Primal Mystic Sword Diagram was over a century ago. Hua Xing had been away traveling at the time and hadn't returned. The pavilion's previous master was aging, and the Feng Yun Pavilion showed signs of decline, which enticed several great powers of the Western Region into a joint assault.
A Third-Order Emperor Realm powerhouse had even breached the Sect-Protecting Grand Array.
It was precisely by relying on this grand formation that the Feng Yun Pavilion's disciples had repelled the invaders. The battle earned the pavilion tremendous renown, and after Hua Xing returned and assumed leadership, the situation gradually stabilized.
Now, a hundred years later, the Yin-Yang Five Elements Grand Primal Mystic Sword Diagram rose once more.
And this time, the opponents were merely two First-Order Emperor Realm cultivators.
It wasn't the Grand Elder making a mountain out of a molehill — he knew full well how terrifying these two were. In recent days, the Feng Yun Pavilion had dispatched powerhouse after powerhouse to intercept them. More than one Second-Order Emperor Realm cultivator, lured by the twenty million high-grade Source Crystals, had stepped forward. And what was the result?
Those two youngsters were still alive and kicking. They had even fought their way into the Feng Yun Pavilion itself, while every so-called powerhouse sent against them had fallen.
The Grand Elder was only a Second-Order Emperor Realm cultivator himself. Learning from the misfortunes of others, compounded by the firsthand experience of fighting Yang Kai and grasping his strength, the Grand Elder had not hesitated to unleash his trump card.
The many Elders and Disciples of the Feng Yun Pavilion heard this and all turned solemn.
"Activate the array!" the Grand Elder roared, thrusting his long sword skyward. A towering surge of sword intent erupted and spread in all directions.
Five or six First-Order Emperor Realm Elders, along with over a hundred Dao Source Third-Order Feng Yun Pavilion Disciples, simultaneously drew their Artifact long swords. Each formed a different set of hand seals. Their swords trembled as they unleashed dazzling volleys of sword techniques, all shouting in unison: "Activate the array!"
A hundred voices merged into one, and even their collective aura seemed to be linked by some mysterious power. The heavens and earth hummed, and the void shuddered.
Yang Kai's eyes narrowed. Though he didn't know exactly what kind of formation this was, his instincts screamed danger. His gaze swept toward the densest cluster of enemies, and he murmured low: "Million Sword Radiance — Chase the Moon and Devour the Wolves!"
The Million Sword swept downward, and an overwhelming torrent of sword radiance materialized, descending like a plague of locusts upon the Dao Source Realm warriors.
Under normal circumstances, this kind of attack would be difficult even for a First-Order Emperor Realm cultivator to withstand easily — the Dao Source Realm ones should have been cut down without exception.
Yet when the sword radiance arrived, those Dao Source Realm Disciples showed not the slightest panic. They simply watched with cold indifference, maintaining the circulation of their sword formations and the channeling of their sword intent.
"Hold!" The Grand Elder flicked his long sword and tapped a sword flower into the void, shouting the command.
A formation diagram materialized out of thin air in midair, slowly rotating and forming a visible barrier that shielded the Dao Source Realm warriors behind it.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM…
Every streak of sword radiance struck the formation diagram. To Yang Kai's surprise, the attacks accomplished nothing — the diagram absorbed them all.
Yang Kai raised an eyebrow, sensing this was going to be troublesome. This grand array seemed far from ordinary.
Before he could fully process the thought, the Grand Elder barked: "Release!"
The formation diagram suddenly reversed its rotation. From within, streak after streak of sword radiance burst forth, arriving before Yang Kai in the blink of an eye.
"Uncle Yang, watch out!" Lin Yun'er cried out.
Yang Kai had been prepared all along. The Million Sword swept up, deflecting the incoming radiance. He lifted his brow: "A rebound?"
He realized that the sword radiance now hurtling toward him was exactly what he himself had launched moments earlier. Considering the diagram's mysterious nature, understanding dawned on him at once.
That formation diagram that appeared from nowhere could not only absorb his attacks but redirect them back at him. This array was practically heaven-defying.
"Shift!" Over on the other side, the Grand Elder executed another sequence of sword movements and shouted the command.
In the next instant, the world transformed.
Everyone vanished. The entire surroundings seemed to have changed utterly — looking in every direction, Yang Kai saw countless swords of eerie presence standing tall in the void. Some solid, some illusory, they clustered like stars across the sky, too many to count, stretching farther than the eye could reach.
This was a world made entirely of swords.
Terrifying sword intent pressed in from every direction. Invisible blades of sword qi sliced through everything in this world, making even Yang Kai's skin sting with pain.