Chapter 41
Yu Sui was pulled aside by Mei Liangyu, and under Mei Liangyu's threatening gaze, she made a zipping gesture at him.
"Senior Brother," Yu Sui waved her hand in front of his eyes, "are you awake? If not, should we wait until you're awake before going in?"
Mei Liangyu glanced at her.
Yu Sui smiled sweetly and innocently.
Li Jin Shuang finished registering and came over with the formation jade token. The two instructors behind her were still laughing about Yu Sui's comment.
"Shall we go in?" Li Jin Shuang asked, proving she wasn't mute.
Mei Liangyu was still holding Yu Sui and hummed in agreement. Li Jin Shuang immediately smashed the formation jade token on the ground. The shattered token created circles of white ripples beneath the three of them, instantly transporting them into the military formation.
The oncoming sandstorm made Yu Sui turn her face away. The air was filled with the smell of blood, and it was another night when nothing should be attempted. Dark clouds pressed overhead, and a solemn, oppressive atmosphere was everywhere.
However, this time they weren't on a smoke-filled battlefield outside the city, but in a city full of screams and cavalry pursuit.
This city was being ransacked by an army. Bodies piled up like small mountains on the ground, blood flowed like rivers in the streets. Though no living beings were visible, screams would occasionally ring out near the three of them, growing distant, twisted and fierce, greatly affecting one's state of mind.
As flames burned buildings ahead and beacon fires and smoke rose from the city walls, the three could see thin blood mist spreading before them.
"A bit bloody, don't get scared," Mei Liangyu withdrew his hand from holding Yu Sui, making her stand behind them. Looking ahead, golden Five Elements energy had already formed a protective barrier around his body.
Both Li Jin Shuang and Mei Liangyu stood in front of Yu Sui. These two seemed prepared to consciously handle the obstacles, thereby taking Yu Sui sightseeing through the Level One Military Formation.
The drifting blood mist gradually formed a group of red cavalry in the street ahead. The cavalry wore black and gold armor, holding blood-stained long swords. The sword blades and black-gold armor reflected each other's light. These undead cavalry were searching for something everywhere, their horse hooves making elegant yet deadly sounds on the ground.
"We're in the city this time," Yu Sui stood under the eaves, looking around. "Do we need to fight our way out to win?"
"Right," Mei Liangyu stared at the undead cavalry approaching them. "See those undead warriors ahead? Each undead warrior has Ninth Realm strength and can only be killed by destroying their light cores."
Ninth Realm?
Yu Sui nodded.
Mei Liangyu glanced at her reaction from the corner of his eye. Seeing that Yu Sui showed no surprise at all after hearing that Black Wind City was full of Ninth Realm opponents, he didn't know if she truly wasn't afraid or had no concept of Ninth Realm practitioners.
If this had been before Yu Sui unleashed Asura Hell, she would have expressed shock. All Ninth Realm undead warriors, endless numbers, how terrifying!
Unfortunately, after experiencing being instantly killed by Thirteenth Realm undead warriors across the river in Asura Hell, Yu Sui felt other military formations weren't worth much.
If facing real Asura Hell, you'd go in and get instantly killed by the Thirteenth Realm black-armored cavalry inside without any resistance.
The minor soldiers in high-level Level One Military Formations were only Ninth Realm, not even counting as Divine Soul realm, while Special Level Military Formations went straight to Thirteenth Realm.
Yu Sui complained inwardly while looking around, suddenly hearing Li Jin Shuang draw her sword. The clear sword song was like heavenly music, shattering the surrounding soul-disturbing wails and howls.
It also attracted the red horse cavalry ahead.
When the red horse cavalry locked their gazes on the three, Yu Sui felt the surrounding air tremble. Floating dust whooshed away and scattered, and being locked on by invisible gazes felt like invisible ropes binding her hands and feet, giving her a heavy sense of restraint.
The horse hooves that had been elegantly advancing moments before suddenly became frenzied. The undead warriors spurred their horses forward, raising their swords and roaring at the three.
The undead warrior charging at the front raised his sword for a high strike. The air blast tore through the blood mist with overwhelming force rushing forward as if to cut through everything. Despite the great distance, it could shatter the Five Elements energy circulating around the three, tearing it apart and dispersing it.
Li Jin Shuang and Mei Liangyu simultaneously used Wind-Riding Techniques to retreat to a nearby rooftop. Yu Sui followed closely, seeing their former position where the undead warrior's sword energy had lifted floor tiles, and the corpses lying on the ground shattered from this, blood spattering again.
Indeed bloody.
Yu Sui raised her hand, her fingertip gently wiping away blood that had splattered to the corner of her eye.
Li Jin Shuang and Mei Liangyu attacked without hesitation, both leaping down from the rooftop and landing directly in the center of this batch of undead warriors. Li Jin Shuang executed a hundred slashes with one sword, the blade's light incredibly fast. Her target was clear: kill the first undead warrior who had swung his sword.
This wasn't their first time attempting formations. They already understood this military formation and knew they needed to shatter their opponents' Five Elements Light Cores to eliminate them.
Yu Sui had seen Li Jin Shuang's Military School swordsmanship before, so now her gaze fell on Mei Liangyu.
She seemed to have never seen what Mei Liangyu looked like when fighting.
Nine Schools Arts could be simply summarized as: Military School's blades and swords, Ghost Way School's talismans.
But Mei Liangyu didn't use any talismans. He seemed to fight bare-handed, yet relying on his Five Elements energy protection, he moved with ease through the military formation.
An undead warrior's long sword swept horizontally at incredible speed, seemingly about to decapitate Mei Liangyu. But Mei Liangyu raised his hand, and tiny thunder snakes flashed between his fingers. He flicked the sword blade with his finger, creating a crackling sound as two overwhelming forces collided. The twisted thunder snake was like a strange talisman, flashing rapidly across the sword blade.
The ground trembled with a thunderous roar. Yu Sui, standing on the rooftop, caught sight of the thunder snake talisman that flashed across the sword blade and slightly raised her eyebrows.
Both using Eight Trigrams Life Techniques, why didn't her thunder snakes twist into that strange talisman shape?
The undead warrior, both rider and horse, was sent flying far away, but their speed was fast. Before the first one had completely fallen, another's bloodthirsty long sword was already at Mei Liangyu's eyes.
Gen Trigram, Life Technique, Mountain Shake.
Mei Liangyu glanced at the sword tip that reached his eye corner. A giant mountain pressed down on the formation, and all things paused briefly due to irresistible gravitational suppression, even the fluctuating Five Elements energy stopped.
The man's well-defined fingers touched the bloody sword tip, pressing down gently. A tiny thunder snake that emerged from his fingertip opened its mouth to bite the sword tip. The undead warrior on the red horse contorted its limbs with terrifying cracking sounds, falling from the horse as its Five Elements Light Core was crushed by the thunder snake.
In just two instants, Mountain Shake withdrew.
Yu Sui observed from above, her eyes rolling as they followed Mei Liangyu's movements.
Same Eight Trigrams Life Techniques, clearly everyone knew the same moves, but Mei Liangyu's were somewhat different. This should be one of the three tests in Taiyi's rank advancement challenges: Five Elements Life Techniques, self-modified trigram techniques.
If Mei Liangyu hadn't been fully awake before, he was completely awake now in battle. His current combat state lacked his usual casualness, instead showing focus and decisiveness.
Though Li Jin Shuang also felt some pressure, it was much easier than when she attempted formations alone. After all, Mei Liangyu was a Ninth Realm practitioner, matching these undead warriors or even having an advantage since he was at the Tenth Realm threshold.
Yu Sui watched from above for a long time, feeling Mei Liangyu wasn't using his full strength, so she couldn't see his true capabilities. He mostly used Eight Trigrams Life Techniques, barely even using Ghost Way School's Nine Schools Arts.
Mei Liangyu seemed more like he was leading Li Jin Shuang. He would first exhaust the undead warriors' Nine Schools Arts, then hand them over to Li Jin Shuang to finish when their Five Elements energy was depleted, occasionally observing Li Jin Shuang's swordsmanship.
He also firmly protected Yu Sui behind him, not letting any undead warrior's Nine Schools Arts bypass him to disturb Yu Sui on the rooftop.
Batch after batch of undead warriors surged forward and were eliminated, but they had barely moved from their position. The commotion they caused wasn't small, drawing undead warriors from all directions, with more and more enemies and their Five Elements energy being consumed more and more.
Yu Sui saw large numbers of undead warriors rushing from the distance. She crouched at the rooftop edge, leaning over to look at Mei Liangyu below: "Senior Brother."
Mei Liangyu signaled for her not to come down yet, while looking at Li Jin Shuang holding her sword not far away: "Are you unwilling to use your sword spirit, or do you not have one?"
Yu Sui looked toward Li Jin Shuang, who stiffened slightly upon hearing Mei Liangyu's question and fell silent.
Mei Liangyu held the formation jade token and said to Li Jin Shuang: "If you don't have a sword spirit, you won't even make it through half the formation. If you're unwilling, then letting my Junior Sister watch Military School swordsmanship for a while is enough."
The undead warriors riding red horses were becoming more numerous. In the brief pause in combat, sharp screams rose from all directions.
Mei Liangyu said: "If you plan to attempt the formation today, you need to use your sword spirit. If you're just accompanying my Junior Sister for a look around, then I'll break the formation and leave."
Li Jin Shuang remained silent without answering. She lowered her eyes and stayed quiet for a moment, then slowly sheathed her sword.
An expected result.
This person would have problems if she continued fighting.
Mei Liangyu smashed the formation jade token, leaving the military formation the instant the undead warriors came charging with raised swords.
……
Before entering the military formation, the Military School trial ground had been dimly lit, but now it was bright daylight, seeming almost noon, with many more people than before.
Disciples entered the formation full of confidence, then came out disheveled and defeated.
Nearly every disciple emerging from the military formation was bloodstained, either their own blood or blood from inside the formation.
The two instructors responsible for military formation registration held tea cups, slowly telling the injured disciples who came out: "Figure it out yourselves, yes yes, go to the Medical School yourselves."
Mei Liangyu's Wind-Listening Ruler buzzed. He opened it to check, and Xing Chun asked: "Dinner?"
"Dinner," Mei Liangyu replied, then glanced at Yu Sui beside him.
Yu Sui was also looking at him. Seeing Mei Liangyu's gaze, she smiled: "Senior Brother, thank you for taking me to see the military formation. Can I treat you to dinner?"
Free food shouldn't be refused.
Mei Liangyu took Yu Sui to the dining hall. Yu Sui asked if Li Jin Shuang was going to the dining hall. Li Jin Shuang shook her head and left alone.
Yu Sui had originally planned to have these two take her into the military formation to observe, then attempt it herself later, so she didn't mind much. On the way to the dining hall, she asked Mei Liangyu: "Senior Brother, do you know about Li Jin Shuang's sword spirit?"
"No," Mei Liangyu walked ahead, saying lazily, "Military School blades and swords each have spirits. You can cultivate them from Third Realm onward. Her sword spirit might not be nonexistent, but it's very dangerous, and she's probably afraid she can't control it."
Yu Sui ran to catch up with him: "Why do you say that?"
Mei Liangyu turned back to wait for her: "Li Jin Shuang's sword energy nearly got out of control and could have cut both you and me. If she kept fighting, I would have killed her along with the formation puppets."
Yu Sui couldn't help looking up at him, her eyes showing uncontainable amusement.
Who was more dangerous, Li Jin Shuang or Senior Brother?
Mei Liangyu's gaze pointed at her: "What are you laughing at?"
"Nothing," Yu Sui shook her head. "Generally, sword spirits that can't be controlled are particularly powerful."
Mei Liangyu snorted lightly: "If you can't control it, you're harming both yourself and others."
Yu Sui raised her hand to smooth her hair: "What if you could control it?"
Mei Liangyu: "If you could control it, then what's there to say? That would be powerful."