The Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 878 - Going Against the Seven Stars, Breaking the Saber Formation

Very quickly, the 22 of them surrounded the area. Each of them was holding a five-foot purplish green battle saber in his hands. Moreover, the positions they stood at were the positions of the seven stars...

There were three people in each position, and the young man was standing in the eye of the formation with three other people...

Although Qing Shui was not trained in the art of formations, everything appeared clearly in his mind. He could sense that a formless line of Qi was being connected between them, forming a whole. More importantly, the entire body could draw out the powers it received from the individual members...

So this was how a formation was like... Qing Shui was enlightened, and a hint of change occurred in his consciousness, as if it had gained some important knowledge. However, it was a pity that he didn't have the time to observe it at the moment.

Mu Qing stood next to Qing Shui, her mind in a chaotic state. These people were well-known, but for being people that others didn't wish to come across, especially not in a place like this.

Mu Qing had not expected to come across them. Although the Mu Clan did have quite a bit of influence in the city, it meant nothing in the Sky Penetrating Mountains. The only thing here that was important was one's abilities. If anything were to happen, no one would be blamed. If one was to die without leaving even a corpse behind, how would others know who were the killers? They might not even know if these people were still alive.

"Miss Mu, do you still remember me?" The guy smiled and asked Mu Qing as he stood there, unmoving.

Qing Shui also smiled as he looked at the people in the surroundings, then at Mu Qing who appeared extremely unnatural. However, he was still inwardly thinking... Could the Sky Prison Sect be a sect which had relied on things similar to "formations" to become an influential faction?

"I have never met you. Why are you stopping us?" Mu Qing looked at the guy and frowned.

"Haha, I previously heard Miss Mu had said quite a bit about me, but why are you saying that you don't know this friend? That makes me feel so sad. I do have a strong admiration for Miss Mu." The guy looked at Mu Qing teasingly, a hint of wild glow flashing in his eyes.

Mu Qing once again frowned before saying gradually, "What on earth do you want?"

"What do I want? Haha, since you know me so well, you should know what I want. You're the top beauty in the city, and I've taken a liking to you. So, what do you think I want? What do you think I should do?" The guy laughed, his unblinking gaze still fixed on Mu Qing.

"I'm sorry, I have someone I like. We're leaving, please make way." Mu Qing said unhappily.

"Miss Mu, this might have worked if were in the city. But it's a pity that we're in the Sky Penetrating Mountains and now, you only have one choice." The man laughed, his gaze on Mu Qing like a predator looking at his prey.

"You can dream on. Things won't go so easily for you." Mu Qing bit her lips and said.

"Do you think that you can stop us with just the two of you? Let me tell you, you can forget about dying. If you die, all of your group dies as well. If you agree, I won't hurt any of them. You should know my means very well, and that I do have the ability to do so." The guy spoke with confidence. He liked the feeling of exerting control over other people.

Mu Qing bit her lips so hard that they started to bleed. Qing Shui knew that he could no longer stay silent. He took a step forward and stood in front of her, saying, "You guys aren't men to be bullying a lady like this. In the future, you shouldn't smile. You smile like an idiot."

Qing Shui's words caused everyone to be frozen in their tracks. No one had expected him to say this. Especially after hearing his last line, the guy froze and let out two dry laughs before he glared at Qing Shui.

"Lad, you doomed yourself the moment you stood together with Miss Mu," The guy didn't even try to conceal the killing intent in his eyes.

Mu Qing wanted to laugh, but she found it hard to do so. While it appeared that she had two options, she really only had one. It was not to give in, but rather to fight it out with him.

However, there were over twenty opponents who were all highly skilled, especially that young-looking guy. He was in no way weaker than her. Most importantly, they were all core disciples from the Sky Prison Sect. The guy even seemed to have some special status in the sect.

She gradually drew out her Rhinoceros Spirit Deity Sword, fully prepared for a fight. She also called out her four Golden Beasts.

"Haha, this is the decision you have made? It's useless, even if you were to call out a hundred of them. Remember, I won't let you go even if you die." A hint of bloodthirst flashed in the guy's eyes.

"Assemble the formation!" The guy let out a soft bellow.

The people who had surrounded Qing Shui and Mu Qing started to move in a strange footwork pattern in a three-meter radius around them. At the same time, they also started to wave their sabers strangely.

In that instant, Qing Shui could sense that the pressure of his surroundings was escalating, and that twenty-odd people seemed to have been connected as one. Qing Shui now knew why Mu Qing was frowning. If they had no way to break through this, it would be really hard to have a fighting chance. Even if they were to call out everyone from the cave, it would probably still be useless unless they were over ten times stronger than the opponents.

What a powerful saber formation.

Earlier, Qing Shui had heard the guy shouting out for the formation to be started. It seemed that this should be a saber formation.

"This is a saber formation!" Looking at Mu Qing, Qing Shui said softly after ascertaining that it was indeed called a formation here.

"That's right, but there's nothing we can do against it. I don't even know how to fight it. It seems as though no matter where we were attack it, it'd be impregnable." Mu Qing looked at the people from the Sky Prison Sect who continued on moving inwards.

"A formation makes use of time, favorable climatic conditions, human relations, and the linking martial technique in order to amplify its power by several times. The most important thing is the positioning." Qing Shui said, calm and collected.

"You know about formations?" Mu Qing looked at Qing Shui in astonishment, a hint of joy in her voice.

"I don't!" Qing Shui said calmly.

Hearing Qing Shui's reply, Mu Qing appeared to be slightly disappointed. She had thought that he had known about formations and that they might have been able to break through the opponent's' formation. However, it seemed like he was not a person who knew everything.

"But I'm still able to break this formation." Qing Shui continued, his tone filled with certainty.

In the blink of an eye, Mu Qing's expression changed from that of disappointment to that of joy. That feeling made her forget about everything else as she grabbed Qing Shui's hand, "Really?"

Her tone was one of great surprise, or rather, that of great joy. It was a change from hell to heaven. She now seemed to trust this guy, and even liked the surprises he brought her.

Her soft touch made once again made Qing Shui's heart skip a beat, as he lowered his head to look at her hand. The lady anxiously let go off his hand once again, her face flushed red, causing Qing Shui to lost his sense momentarily.

The guy opposite him seemed even more infuriated after seeing this. To think that this guy would let the lady from Mu Clan get so close to him. He was so angry that he immediately shouted to the others, "Kill that gigolo!"

Qing Shui quickly drew his Big Dipper Sword and used his other hand to grab Mu Qing's wrist, urging her to call back her demonic beasts.

Mu Qing was hit by anxiety, but another feeling was growing in her heart. She quickly called back the Golden Beasts.

"Follow me. There's no need for you to do anything." Qing Shui said softly before grabbing Mu Qing and dashing out, going against the flow of the seven stars.

Seven Star Armored Vest!

Qing Shui's footwork was very fast and profound. As Mu Qing followed Qing Shui, she felt that the pressure was getting increasingly weaker. The Big Dipper Sword in Qing Shui's hand also quickly blocked the people who attacked and pushed them back.

From the start, the guy had not moved at all but just looked at Qing Shui. However, his expression of astonishment was gradually turning into that of fear.

He was standing in the supporting spot of the formation and could not move. If he did, the entire formation would be messed up. His position was very profound, and if Qing Shui were to attack him, he would naturally be stopped by the others. Basically, as long as the others were still alive, it would be very hard to attack him.

In fact, most people would think of attacking the person in this position right from the start. This was actually the most stupid idea.

However, Qing Shui was not ignorant and knew how to break the formation. Adding on to the essence of his Taichi, he could push off all the blades in his surroundings. His technique was like a fish in the water, as he headed towards an inconspicuous spot.

The three people in that position followed Qing Shui, but did not attack. They were in a position that was easily neglected by others, but that was the direction Qing Shui headed in.

It was the second Eye in the entire saber formation. It was also the best way out in the event that one couldn't directly wipe out the entire saber formation.

Mighty Elephant Stomp!

Qing Shui's foot landed strongly on the ground, and a huge impact wave was unleashed. At the same time, two Frosted Iron Balls also shot out rapidly.

Ding ding!

For the first time, Qing Shui's hidden weapons and Might Elephant Stomp were blocked easily.

The saber formation was really formidable...

Although his Mighty Elephant Stomp was at the strength of ten stars, twenty of them shared the burden. Moreover, this formation could also help divert away part of the strength of the attacks they received. Like what the other party had said, it would be useless even if they blindly attacked with even more people.

The power of this saber formation was that it could block off many of the attacks from weapons with essences incorporated into them. It could even block off poison weapons.

Formations were really good stuff!

Sword of Sixth Wave!

Qing Shui's sword impacts landed on the sword of one of the three in the position. This was the weakest spot in the entire saber formation!

He then quickly retreated!

Qing Shui grabbed onto Mu Qing. With each round, he would use the Sword of Sixth Wave to attack that same spot, and on the third attempt, he killed one of them!

This was like the seventh inch of a snake's body¹, or a person's throat. The entire saber formation crumbled, losing its formidable effect.

Without their saber formation, these people became like dragons who had been demoted to snakes. Qing Shui's hands didn't stop and he slashed out his Big Dipper Sword towards their throats like a venomous snake, as he unleashed another Mighty Elephant Stomp as well.

He would not give them time to set up the formation once again. Who knew if they had an even more powerful formation? It was safer to just kill them off.

Mu Qing's Mystical Connection Divine Sword was not to be outdone either!

¹ An old Chinese saying was that a snake's heart was at the seventh inch from its head, and one would be able to kill the snake instantly when it was struck at this critical position. Nowadays, it's used as an idiom to describe the critical or weakest points of events.

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