Chapter 40: The Formation is Broken Twice

The Abyssal Demon Elephant King collided with the Five Elements Formation’s protective barrier, but the sound and force of the impact were far beyond its imagination.

The invisible barrier retreated, with the entire process serving as a means to dissipate the force of the attack.

One after another, abyssal demon elephants followed suit, their continuous assaults failing to breach it.

As the formation contracted, so too did the fortune force within it, gathering strength in preparation for a counterattack.

With each step forward, the resistance faced by the dozen or so abyssal demon elephants increased, their pace slowing until they reached three kilometers, at which point they could no longer advance even an inch.

Without the momentum of their charge, these behemoths, despite their colossal size and razor-sharp tusks, found themselves unable to penetrate the formation’s defenses.

Realizing this, one by one, they began to turn around, preparing to retreat before launching another assault.

But how could Qin Shu possibly give them such an opportunity?

“Break!” he commanded.

In that instant, the energy amassed within the contracting formation erupted with greater ferocity than a volcano on the verge of eruption.

The four-kilometer-wide array expanded to ten kilometers in a flash, the explosive force sending over a dozen abyssal demon elephants flying, including the Abyssal Demon Elephant King.

The power was so immense that, mid-air, the elephantine creatures—each akin to a small mountain—began to disintegrate. Their skin, resembling layers of rock, shattered into countless fragments, flesh and blood scattering in all directions. Not even their bones escaped the pulverizing force.

It was as if an ordinary person had been struck by a speeding hovertrain.

In a mere instant, Qin Shu had all but resolved this wave of peril.

Only the Magic Elephant King remained, half-dead yet tenaciously clinging to life.

But who knew where it had been flung off to?

Qin Shu decisively charged out of the array, soaring thirty kilometers on his sword before catching sight of the Abyssal Demon Elephant King.

It was embedded in an enormous stone cliff, half its body buried within the mountain itself. Its shattered hide oozed blood, staining the rock face crimson.

Yet even then, Qin Shu could sense its life force—stubbornly persistent despite its state.

So he loosed another Qingping Sword Pill as a finishing blow.

These abyssal monsters might have their shortcomings, but they possessed an extraordinary vitality. As long as a single breath remained, their abyssal essence would aid them in healing wounds and gradually restoring peak condition.

The Qingping Sword Pill bored into the Abyssal Demon Elephant through the wound, unleashing a cyan lotus that blossomed from within, reducing the creature to rubble.

Skree!

From mid-air came the cry of an eagle.

Qin Shu looked up to see a giant bird winging towards the location of the array.

He caught only a fleeting glimpse—a pair of wings vast enough to blot out the sky, feathers rough-hewn like steel needles. Four limbs propelled a streamlined body at incredible speed.

Another fourth-rank monster, though thankfully a solitary one.

Qin Shu activated the Hurricane Step, boosted by the Xun Wind Escape technique. His velocity now nearly matched that of his sword flight.

His body transformed into a gentle breeze, free from any air resistance. In less than three minutes, he effortlessly slipped into the formation.

Above, in the vast expanse of sky, the colossal bird had been relentlessly attacking the Five Elements Formation for some time now.

Shafts of black light, sharp as steel needles, crackled against the formation, but they were like raindrops striking brick—futile, causing no harm or even a ripple in the array.

Then, with a mighty flap of its wings, the creature soared high into the heavens, vanishing from sight.

Qin Shu understood at once what the giant bird intended. Employing the same strategy as before, he allowed the protective shield of the Five Elements Formation to relax.

In that instant, a beam of black light streaked down like thunder itself.

It was as if a steel needle aimed to pierce through a balloon, seeking to rupture the Five Elements Formation at its core.

This focused assault was incredibly swift; the protective barrier couldn’t possibly contract fast enough to defend against it.

With one strike, the defensive structure shattered.

However, the steel needle also snapped—the neck of the enormous black bird broke, its head nearly separating from its body, embedding itself deeply into the earth below.

It was a suicide attack pure and simple.

The five directional flags materialized, shimmering for a moment before being nurtured by the power of fortune back into the void, reforming once more as the Great Array of Five Elements.

Empowered by the Cyan Lotus Spiritual Soul, the potency of this array was amplified at least threefold, now boasting an indestructible nature.

Qin Shu stepped forward, his movements fluid as he executed another Lotus Blossom maneuver. The colossal bird, its head now a mere pulp, was sent crashing to the ground.

Though mangled, Qin Shu could discern the creature’s identity—a fourth-rank abyssal monster known as a thorn black vulture.

His heart stirred with an idea, and a flash of green light signaled Xiao Yan’s release.

“Master, what kind of place is this?” Upon being freed, Xiao Yan seemed exhilarated. He gulped down the fortune force in great mouthfuls, feeling the potency of his bloodline surge within him. With evident delight, he remarked, “This feels incredible—truly blissful.”

“Xiao Yan,” Qin Shu instructed, “stay here and don’t wander off. Take some time to acclimate. Once your strength catches up, we’ll conquer the Abyss together, sweeping across it like a whirlwind.”

“Yes, Master.” Despite being only a few months old, Xiao Yan possessed the intellect of a five- or six-year-old child—and he was remarkably obedient.

As commanded, he remained steadfastly in place. The transformed fortune force continuously flowed into his nostrils, gradually unlocking the power of his fused ancestral bloodline.

Two fourth-rank monsters had already fallen to the Five Elements Formation. Qin Shu estimated that after two more such creatures, this fragment of the Abyss would likely disintegrate.

He reached this conclusion by observing both the intensity of the shaking and the state of the Cyan Lotus spiritual soul.

The Cyan Lotus seedpod had fully formed, shining brightly among all other parts of the lotus. Within this seedpod, a new Cyan Lotus Dao Seed was taking shape.

Perhaps driven by some subconscious need, Qin Shu could foresee what extraordinary treasure would emerge from this newborn Cyan Lotus Dao Seed:

The initial version of the Cosmos Manifestation Cauldron—the Karma Cauldron.

The seedpod bore eighty-one holes, each imbued with the power of heaven and earth. The central hole contained the most potent life force and fortune energy.

Outside the array, second-rank monsters continuously slammed against the defensive barrier, their bodies pulverized into layers of flesh on the ground before swiftly decomposing.

Across the entire world, tens of thousands of monsters were repelled by the spell formation.

In places beyond Qin Shu’s sight, at the very edges of this fragmented world—where it was weakest—the void began to collapse inward.

Under the strain of the collapsing void, the earth shattered, dissolving into nothingness.

One by one, unfortunates—first- and second-rank monsters that hadn’t yet met their demise—were crushed as the void imploded, likewise reduced to naught.

A flock of black gold sword-horned sheep lived in this Fragment Abyss Realm on its edge. The fourth-rank head ram could no longer care for his herd; he transformed into a streak of black light, shedding these burdens.

Unshackled, it reached its speed limit and abruptly appeared before the Five Elements Formation.

With a five-meter-tall body and a pair of one-and-a-half-meter-long sword horns, it lowered its head and charged, breaking through the defense of the Five Elements Formation.

The moment it breached the defense, its body jolted.

Qin Shu sensed this as well and swiftly responded:

“Change of Five Elements: Chaos! Trap! Rotate!”

The defensive formation rapidly shifted into a composite of entrapment and confusion arrays, altering directions and disrupting perception.

The black gold sword-horned sheep that had broken through the formation was heading straight for the Cyan Lotus Spiritual Soul but involuntarily changed course, then began to dart around wildly within the array.

In a ten-kilometer-wide formation area, there was plenty of room for it to run around.