Immortality Through Array Formations

Yu Chengyi had exhausted the strength of nine oxen and two tigers to kill the monster beast before him.

It took him more effort than he had originally anticipated.

The monster beast was not particularly strong, but it was quite cunning and fast; even when severely injured, it still found ways to escape from his hands.

Originally, he had plenty of help to encircle and kill the beast, which would have made its escape impossible. But after lending a few people to Mo Hua, the gaps in their encirclement widened.

The monster beast took the opportunity to flee several times, and it wasn’t until nighttime that Yu Chengyi finally hunted it down to its death.

The others were more or less injured, but fortunately, they were only superficial wounds, nothing serious.

After dealing with the monster beast, they rested at the nearby Monster Hunting Campsite.

It was too late to travel, and after a day of labor, they also wanted to rest for a while.

A few Monster Hunters lit lanterns, and the dim yellow light immediately warmed up the cramped campsite.

Yu Chengyi took out a few bottles of strong liquor and poured some for everyone.

They raised their cups, downed the drinks in one gulp, and the burn of the strong liquor seemed to disperse much of the fatigue from their bodies.

Yu Chengyi smacked his lips and said, “What a pity, we have liquor but no meat.”

One of the Monster Hunters coughed and pulled out a paper-wrapped package from his Storage Bag. When he opened it, it revealed several pounds of sliced Bull Monster Meat.

The meat, a soy red in color and dotted with piquant spices, was fragrant and spicy to smell.

Yu Chengyi cursed, “Why the hell didn’t you take it out earlier? I’ve already had a few drinks.”

The man retorted ungraciously, “Then don’t eat it. I didn’t even feel like sharing!”

After a few more jibes and jokes, they all started to eat meat and drink liquor, reveling in the feast.

“This beef, it’s from Mo Shan’s family, right?” someone asked.

“No shit, where else could you get such tasty meat besides his family’s?”

“You go to the Spiritual Meal Building on North Street, the spiritual meat there is absolutely top-notch!”

“Too expensive, it’s not satisfying to eat.”

“Next time I’ll cozy up to Mo Shan, see if he’d give me some…”

“You’ve got some nerve?”

“Go to hell!”

They continued to eat and chat.

Yet Yu Chengyi’s brows were slightly furrowed; mentioning Mo Shan made him think of his son, Mo Hua.

He wondered how Mo Hua was doing now and whether he had encountered any danger.

Just then, Yu Chengyi tensed up, his expression turning grave, “There’s a noise!”

The Monster Hunters quickly put down their cups, crouched and reached for their knives, staring warily at the entrance of the campsite. One Monster Hunter went to the entrance, peered out sideways, and then relaxed, turning back to say, “It’s Old Zhao.”

Everyone also breathed a sigh of relief, they sat back down in their places and picked up their cups to drink again.

Old Zhao entered the camp and cursed when he saw them, “I’ve been rushing here all night, and you lot are comfortably enjoying yourselves, with both liquor and meat!”

“We thought you weren’t coming back.”

“Your wife is pregnant, we all thought you went back to her.”

“It’s your own bad luck…”

The group laughed.

Yu Chengyi poured a cup of liquor and beckoned Old Zhao to sit down.

Old Zhao didn’t stand on ceremony. Having been on the road for half a day, tired and thirsty, he picked up the cup and downed it, the spicy liquor burning down his throat, but he felt much more comfortable.

Unable to help himself, Yu Chengyi asked, “Mo Hua is alright, isn’t he?”

Upon hearing this, Old Zhao’s expression complicated.

Yu Chengyi’s heart skipped a beat, “What, did something happen?”

Old Zhao shook his head, “No, he went back home.”

“Oh, that’s good,” Yu Chengyi sighed in relief, then cursed, “Can’t you speak plainly? You scared the hell out of me!”

Yu Chengyi took another sip of his drink, casually asking, “What did Mo Hua go off to do?”

“Nothing much, went off to kill monster beasts…”

Yu Chengyi spat out his drink, “What?”

Old Zhao repeated helplessly, “To kill monster beasts.”

“Middle Phase of First Rank?”

“Middle Phase of First Rank.”

Yu Chengyi was startled, “How was it killed?”

Old Zhao sighed. Yu Chengyi suddenly understood and patted Old Zhao on the shoulder:

“You did well, Old Zhao, it must have been hard on you!”

Having said that, he felt something was off and voiced his doubt:

“You weren’t injured, it doesn’t look like you were the one who killed it.”

“I didn’t kill it…” Old Zhao said, “At least, I don’t suppose it counts as me killing it.”

Yu Chengyi frowned and said, “What do you mean it doesn’t count? Stop beating around the bush and just speak clearly!”

Old Zhao organized his thoughts and replied, “Mo Hua, that kid, set up a trap and laid a formation. When the monster beast walked into the trap, he ignited the formation with the Fireball Technique, and the beast was blasted into a critical state…”

“Then the rest of us, actually, I wasn’t even needed, those Qi Refinement Middle Phase youngsters were enough to kill the critically wounded monster beast…”

Yu Chengyi knitted his brows.

The other Monster Hunters then said, “Old Zhao, have you drunk yourself stupid, what nonsense are you talking about?”

“Could this monster beast really be of the Middle Phase of the first rank?”

“You haven’t drunk that much, have you? Can’t handle your liquor anymore?”

“Get lost!” Old Zhao couldn’t be bothered with them.

Yu Chengyi, however, was somewhat convinced and asked, “What formation?”

“How would I know?”

“Couldn’t you have asked?” inquired Yu Chengyi.

“I was too shocked to think of it,” replied Old Zhao.

“And then what happened?”

“After that, he bled the monster beast, we sold it, and I… got a share of eight Spirit Stones…”

Yu Chengyi looked at him with disdain, “You’re taking advantage of a kid.”

Old Zhao’s face turned red, “I tried to refuse, but I couldn’t refuse it!”

“Can you even feel at ease keeping those Spirit Stones?”

“I’ll send them to his family’s eatery tomorrow, buy some meat to bring back and share with everyone…”

“If you feel uneasy, we’ll share the burden with you.”

“You bastards!”

The men laughed boisterously for a while.

However, Yu Chengyi’s brows remained furrowed.

“What’s wrong?” asked Old Zhao, seeing his expression.

“Are you certain that the formation could actually blast a Middle Phase first-rank monster beast into a critical state?” Yu Chengyi asked seriously.

Old Zhao’s expression grew solemn, “I saw it with my own eyes!”

“What kind of monster beast was it?”

“A Red-eyed Sheep, over three meters tall, with curled horns, white fur, red eyes, and a fondness for entrails. It had just finished eating something; its mouth was covered in blood.” After speaking, Old Zhao opened his Storage Bag, took out a bloodstained hoof, and said:

“This is the hoof of the Sheep Demon. It wasn’t worth much, so I didn’t sell it.”

When everyone saw the hoof as thick as a Cultivator’s thigh, with tips red as blood, even blackening, their mirthful expressions faded.

“It is indeed a Middle Phase first rank, and moreover in its prime, having feasted on quite a lot of flesh.”

A Monster Hunter hesitantly said, “That Mo Shan’s son is only at the fifth or sixth layer of Qi Refinement, right? Could he really set up such a powerful formation?”

“I find it unlikely.”

“It’s hard to say, the Iron Armor Formation on my son’s Rattan Armor was drawn by him. Although I don’t understand it, it is indeed well-drawn!” another Monster Hunter stated.

“If you can’t understand it, how do you know if it’s good or not?”

“Haven’t eaten pork, but haven’t you seen a pig run?”

The crowd argued with many voices at once.

Yu Chengyi thought for a moment and then said, “I’ll go ask him tomorrow…never mind, I will ask him myself to see what kind of formation was used and if it truly could injure a Middle Phase first-rank monster beast.”

Old Zhao nodded, “But aren’t we supposed to go to the Inner Mountain tomorrow?”

“We’ll postpone it by one day, and go the day after tomorrow,” Yu Chengyi answered.

Everyone was taken aback, “Is this formation that important? To make a team wait an extra day…”

Yu Chengyi nodded, “It’s not that important to us, but it’s very important for rookie Monster Hunters.”

“How so?” they asked.

Yu Chengyi thought briefly, looked at everyone, and slowly said:

“With this formation, if there are only three or four Qi Refinement Middle Phase cultivators, couldn’t they kill a Middle Phase first-rank monster beast?”

The crowd looked at each other, each feeling their hearts skip a beat.