The Myriad Heavens Spirits Locking God Formation?
Venerable Chongxiao was taken aback. "Sect Master, why do you suddenly bring this up? Where did you hear the name of this formation?"
"So it does exist?" Jiang Chen's brow furrowed slightly. He had actually heard of this formation from Mang Qi long ago, back during his trial in the Endless Underground Cavern of the Eastern Kingdom. Later, when he traveled to the sealed lands of the Desolate Demon Tribe and visited the Endless Underground Cavern once more, he had sought Mang Qi out to confirm it again.
At the time, Mang Qi had offered him certain explanations, but Jiang Chen wanted to verify them with Venerable Chongxiao—to find out whether Mang Qi's words had held any real substance.
"This formation..." Venerable Chongxiao let out a soft sigh, his tone growing immediately complicated. "Sect Master, if we're to speak of this formation, it's truly a long story."
No matter how long the story might be, Jiang Chen wanted to hear it.
"Venerable, this formation has some connection to me. Might you share what you know?"
"Since the Sect Master asks, I will hold nothing back." Venerable Chongxiao had no intention of hiding anything from Jiang Chen. He sighed. "In truth, our Danxiao Ancient Sect was involved in this formation as well. At the time, a full eight sects participated in its construction—all of them leading formation sects of that era. Our Danxiao Ancient Sect was considered among the finest of them. Of the Myriad Heavens Spirits Locking God Formation, we were responsible for at least twenty to thirty percent."
That the Danxiao Ancient Sect had participated in constructing this formation did not surprise Jiang Chen.
After all, it was a formation built by ancient sects, and the Danxiao Ancient Sect, being a powerful ancient sect in its own right, would naturally have taken part.
"This formation wasn't constructed solely by us formation sects. Every major sect of the ancient era contributed resources—the spirit stones needed for the formation, the tools required, and all manner of other materials. At that time, everyone was united in purpose. They even intended to place the entire burden of suppressing the demons on this single formation."
"Oh?"
Jiang Chen's brow twitched. He hadn't expected this formation to carry such a history.
"This is no exaggeration. At that time, the human race was still powerful on the Spirit Abyss Continent, with abundant resources to match. Otherwise, the demon tribe would never have chosen our human territory as their main invasion front. It was precisely because our lands became the battlefield that the ancient war of demon suppression cost our race so dearly. This formation alone... dozens of formation grandmasters burned themselves out and died during its creation..."
"That extreme?" Jiang Chen was truly stunned. He had never imagined that a single formation could exact such a devastating toll.
"Not extreme at all." Venerable Chongxiao's tone was grave. "The Myriad Heavens Spirits Locking God Formation is the most powerful, highest-level formation in the entire heritage of the human race on the Spirit Abyss Continent. No single sect could have completed it alone. No single sect could have shouldered the resources it required. If we had been given ten or eight years, there would have been no need to sacrifice our lives. But the time allotted to us was three months. This formation had to be completed within three months."
The war against the demons allowed for no delay. There truly could be no waiting eight or ten years. Time was life itself. Every single day was precious—wasting even one could completely alter the course of the war.
In that moment, Jiang Chen finally understood why so many formation grandmasters had perished.
A formation meant to take ten years, forced into completion in three months. The urgency was truly staggering. They had literally been burning their lives to lay the formation.
Jiang Chen couldn't help but feel a swell of emotion.
"Our Danxiao Ancient Sect lost nine elders during the construction of this formation. One of them was my own younger brother, born of the same mother." Venerable Chongxiao's voice was low.
"It wasn't just our sect. Dizang Gate—then known as the foremost formation sect—also lost over a dozen people. And many other sects as well..."
Venerable Chongxiao's voice grew even heavier as he continued. "It's just a pity... just a pity... we ultimately underestimated the cunning of the demon tribe."
"The formation we had painstakingly built, the formation we had prepared for the decisive battle against the demons—seen through by them. The demon army never committed their main forces as we had anticipated. Instead, they sent a batch of puppets to fight. These puppets were slaves the demons had captured and subjugated from other planes. They were coerced by the demons and had no will to fight whatsoever. They were purely sent to die—to trigger our formation. They were nothing more than expendable sacrifices!"
Venerable Chongxiao's teeth clenched as he spoke of the demon tribe, his hatred so fierce he could have torn their flesh apart.
This account was nearly identical to what Mang Qi had told him.
"So Mang Qi didn't lie about this," Jiang Chen thought to himself with a sigh.
"Sect Master, this formation has always been a scar on the hearts of our ancient human race. This formation, which cost us countless efforts and immeasurable sacrifices, failed to trap even a single demon. We let down those comrades who gave their lives for it... If that battle had succeeded in trapping the demon army's main force, there would not have been so many brutal wars to follow, and our sacrifices would not have been so catastrophic. It was precisely because this formation failed its intended purpose that the subsequent great war against the demons cost the human race nearly seven or eight out of every ten of our strongest warriors, while every major power was forced to expend nearly all their manpower and resources."
The Myriad Heavens Spirits Locking God Formation had been prepared for the demon tribe, yet the demons had simply sent expendable puppets in their stead.
If the Myriad Heavens Spirits Locking God Formation had trapped the demon army's main forces, perhaps all the brutal battles that followed could have been avoided, and the fortune of the human race would not have plummeted so catastrophically to its current state of ruin.
One could only say that fate was a cruel master.