Chapter Ninety-Two: Counterattack

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The black robe that cloaked the figure vanished completely, revealing the serpent demon’s body beneath. Meanwhile, a streak of crimson blood lingered at the corner of Hu San’s mouth.

Between Hu San and the robed figure lay the Black Wind Formation Plate. But now, its once radiant glow had dimmed, and the swirling black energy inside struggled to complete even a single rotation. Cracks spiderwebbed across the base of the plate, as if it were on the verge of shattering entirely.

The three-headed serpent demon’s eyes gradually cleared of their confusion. Then, the flesh along its long neck began to recede, unveiling pristine white cervical bones. A trembling voice echoed through the heavens and earth: “I am a mighty demon of the Sixth Realm of the Gathering Law, yet my physical strength is no match for an early-stage human cultivator? Cough… cough cough… how could this be? How could this be?”

Amid the faint murmurs, the serpent demon’s body exploded, its flesh peeling away in an instant to become a puddle of gore scattered across the ground.

“Phew.”

Only then did Hu San exhale deeply. He stepped forward a few paces, picking up the nearly shattered Black Wind Formation Plate and sighed with some emotion, “What a formidable formation—that it could pierce through talisman defenses directly. At the crucial moment, if my physical body hadn’t been so much stronger than this serpent demon’s, I might have been the one reduced to a pile of flesh.”

“This was truly overconfidence on my part. The cultivation world is filled with experts, and I am only just beginning. I must be careful in all matters and remember today’s lesson well.”

With a soft breath, Hu San stowed away the Black Wind Formation Plate. His heart still pounding, his thoughts drifted toward the serpent demon’s origins, and his gaze involuntarily fixed on where the house’s door once stood.

A few steps later, he lifted the rubble of the collapsed dwelling, revealing a deep pit filled with human bones—undoubtedly the work of the serpent demon.

At the front of the pit was a small hollow containing the bodies of a middle-aged woman and two children—likely the mother and siblings of Xiao Xiang. Yet Xiao Xiang himself was nowhere to be seen, probably buried under the soil or having escaped through a secret tunnel during the battle.

Suppressing the stench from the hollow, Hu San jumped down and examined the area carefully. Sure enough, he found a small cave in the mountain wall that led directly toward the Star Rock Territory. It was just large enough for Xiao Xiang’s body and bore signs of recent passage.

“Clever little one,” Hu San murmured, shaking his head slightly. With the serpent demon dead, he had no time to search for the child. His priority was to locate the demon’s cultivation site before other monsters discovered it. Given that the demon was of the Sixth Realm of the Gathering Law, its collection should prove very useful to Hu San.

Circling the pit and passing through the forest of bones, Hu San finally discovered the demon’s cultivation site deep inside. Yet he was disappointed to find nothing there but a tattered book.

“Hm? Black Wind Formation?”

Picking up the book, Hu San flipped through it casually and was instantly invigorated. It was a treatise on formation techniques, detailing the crafting and deployment of the Black Wind Formation Plate used by the serpent demon.

Having witnessed the formation’s power firsthand, Hu San’s earlier disappointment vanished.

He realized that if the serpent demon had not aimed for a swift victory, and if he himself were not an extraordinary cultivator, he might have truly perished here today. The demon’s defeat did not mean the failure of the Black Wind Formation. On the contrary, without it, Hu San might have fallen even faster.

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Delighted, Hu San stored the formation manual inside his spirit stone. He leapt out of the pit, hastily tidied the battlefield, erased some traces that might reveal his methods, and buried the serpent demon’s scattered flesh in a hole. Without lingering further, he swiftly departed.

With the demon’s death, the chill that had hung over the mountain village vanished completely. One by one, the villagers emerged from their homes as if just awakening, and the sounds of roosters crowing and dogs barking restored life to the place.

Before leaving the village, Hu San cast one last glance at the Star Rock Territory. Despite the great gains, a shadow of doubt deepened in his heart.

According to Ren Tang and others, this area was already human territory with no place for monsters, let alone a Sixth Realm demon.

More surprising to Hu San was that such a demon had wreaked havoc here, yet the strongest sect in the Heavenly Luo Village’s background, the Supreme Kingdom, had apparently turned a blind eye.

“Have they simply failed to notice? Or is there something else at play?”

He sighed deeply and looked up at the sky. A gray mist began to spread, soon rising and mingling with the evening glow, blanketing the entire Heavenly Luo Village.

Near the corner of the Lingbing Pavilion’s street stood a filthy child stealthily peering out. His trembling eyes scanned the magnificent hall, emotions of pain, hatred, and barely concealed excitement flickering across his face. If not the Xiao Xiang lost in the pit, then who else could he be?

“Damn monsters, damn demon clan, I will kill you all to avenge my mother and siblings.”

After lingering for some time, Xiao Xiang took a deep breath, clenched his fists so tightly that his black nails pierced his skin, blood dripping to the dust below. Yet he felt no pain. Rising to his feet, he stepped forward with a mixture of apprehension and resolve toward the Lingbing Pavilion—his only hope. For revenge, he was willing to forsake everything.

By evening, after a swift journey, Hu San returned to the inn. Asking briefly after the servants, he found that Ren Tang and the others had yet to return, possibly staying overnight at the Sanhua Tower.

Preoccupied, Hu San gave a simple instruction and ignored Ren Tang’s group, turning instead to his room on the second floor.

Eagerly, he retrieved the formation manual and Black Wind Formation Plate from his spirit stone. By the dim lamplight, he began to study the only formation manual he had ever encountered.

After a long while, Hu San set the book down, his eyes calm as he exhaled slowly.

Though incomplete, the manual filled gaps in his foundational knowledge of formations. In the future, encountering formations would no longer leave him utterly clueless as before.

However, breaking a formation was still beyond his current ability. The manual only explained general concepts; true mastery required starting from the basics—which Hu San lacked.

As for forging a Black Wind Formation Plate as described, materials were scarce and difficult to procure. Even with all the ingredients, Hu San’s current understanding made successful crafting unlikely.

If the manual was accurate, the Black Wind Formation was a formidable technique. Fully unleashed, it could not only kill Foundation Establishment experts but at least offer some chance to escape their grasp.

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Yet to manifest the Black Wind Formation’s full power, one’s cultivation level needed to be at least late Gathering Law, the seventh realm. Otherwise, not only would the formation’s effectiveness be compromised, but vulnerabilities could arise, even backfiring upon the user.

Having read the manual, Hu San understood the Black Wind Formation Plate was certainly not crafted by the serpent demon itself. Given the demon’s displayed skills and knowledge, it was impossible for it to have forged the plate at the Sixth Realm of Gathering Law. If Hu San’s guess was right, the demon had acquired the formation manual along with a matching formation plate.

With the plate’s assistance, activating the formation became much easier, though many materials were required—ten spirit stones being one such necessity. The rest, Hu San saw, were common materials which, while valuable in the secular world, were purchasable.

Once triggered, the Black Wind Formation allowed its wielder to command the swirling black wind within, condensing it into a phantasmal echo of themselves. This not only enhanced their strength but granted a kind of immortality.

Beyond the phantasmal echo, the formation held a devastating trump card: the Black Wind Strangle. This technique concentrated the formation’s immense power onto an opponent, crushing them bit by bit until death. However, this required complete mastery of the formation. The serpent demon had clearly been unable to use this move before, or Hu San would have been in serious trouble.

Additionally, the demon had employed a streak of black light called the “Law-Breaking Light.” According to the manual, once perfected, this light could pierce through any magical defense beneath its rank, making it the ultimate finishing blow of the Black Wind Formation.

“The formation’s power is indeed formidable,” Hu San mused, “but this plate is on the verge of breaking. I can probably use it only once or twice more. Before I can forge one myself, I must first repair this.”

“According to the manual, all that’s needed is Chen Silver Liquid and Lotus Soil. Mixing and infusing them into the plate can temporarily mend it. But where to find these? Probably only after truly entering the cultivation world. Fortunately, the plate will last a couple more uses.”

Hu San stroked his chin, placing the manual and plate back into his spirit stone as he began to ponder.

Shortly thereafter, the trading caravan members—whom Hu San had expected to stay overnight at the Sanhua Tower—unexpectedly returned. This not only interrupted Hu San’s plan for quiet study and reflection but also piqued his curiosity.

He knew their temperament well: unless something grave happened, they would not return halfway through their journey. Their return thus signaled a matter far more serious than he had imagined.

In Ren Tang’s superior guest room sat Hu San, the two Purple-Robed Assassins, the caravan’s deputy leader, an elderly man surnamed Zhou, and several capable warriors from the caravan.

Once the banquet was laid out, the group first raised their cups. Hu San glanced at Ren Tang’s solemn expression and spoke, “Brother Ren, weren’t you all off to relax at the Sanhua Tower? Why have you returned so soon? To be honest, I was planning to seek you out after nightfall.”

Upon their return, every one of them wore grave expressions and gave no explanation for their early arrival. Instead, they instructed the innkeeper to prepare a feast and invited Hu San and company to join.

Though Hu San had anticipated trouble, witnessing the scene made his heart skip a beat. It seemed the situation was even more dire than he had imagined. But the truth would have to come from Ren Tang himself.