172. Final Array
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'He's indeed a true Medical Genius!' Zhurong Fen gritted her teeth, nearly grinding them to powder.
More annoying was the fact that she had fallen completely for Luoyin's trap and helped him achieve his goals!
"Yin Xiaolong!!!" She growled in pure fury, and deadly ice waves rolled off her skin, tinged with black demonic aura. "On what grounds are you so favoured by the heavens???!!!!!"
Her voice and aura rumbled the ground and a fierce wind picked up, making the dead trees around them nearly lay flat from the force.
"So what if you're an immortal?!!! You've lost the advantage of your father's and brother's Pearls! You're just a Grand Immortal beneath me!
"I will destroy you!!!!"
She leapt towards Luoyin with even more aura than before, but...
"Hmph." Luoyin suddenly flashed behind her, and one tiny sweep of his hand had her flying towards the far side of the clearing.
'Wh- what-?!' Zhurong Fen caught herself, but staggered in confusion, and she looked up only to see the bottom of Luoyin's feet just before it connected with her middle, kicking her a great distance into the dead trees.
"I don't hit women..." Luoyin appeared just as she landed. "But I must slap a grand sense of wisdom into you!" His hand lashed out in a wicked backhand which sent her crashing into more trees.
"Since I once called you 'Little Sister', then isn't it my duty to educate you on behalf of your father and brother?" He said, appearing before she landed and doling out a deadlier fronthand slap, spiralling her even further.
"Let me tell you, confronting you was also the fastest way to trap you." He explained as he appeared here and there in sharp bursts, 'guiding' her through the space with a series of kicks and punches.
"Old man Bao would have come looking for you, but we knew you would endlessly evade him and even the other Eternal Tier Immortals." He smirked.
"But there was one person you would never avoid... Hmph. In fact you were even looking for me, weren't you? *'The mantis stalks the cicada', unaware it was a disguised oriole...
(*From - 'The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind it...' Means while hunting, you might be hunted, or someone is so focused on pursuing their own goal/prey, that they don't notice a greater danger behind them, etc...)
"I knew you would drop your guard simply because I was mortal, and would even fall for my provocations, granting me the perfect chance to corner you like this!"
He finished with another well-aimed kick to her middle, sending her right back to the clearing and skidding across the frosty jagged ground.
Zhurong Fen roughly crashed into the larger shards of her own icy spikes, leaving a trail of blood behind.
After such a brutal onslaught, she remained still as the clearing settled into a brief silence...
Then,
"You freak of nature...!!" Zhurong Fen began, crudely spitting stale blood out.
Despite feeling like she had been dragged over nails for miles, she forced herself to her feet growling,
"Zhang Luoyin!!!!" She unleashed the full force of her aura and her sword reappeared, now collosal and blocking the moonlight, casting a massive shadow over Luoyin and most of the clearing.
Zhurong Fen's usual calm and elegant facade had been shattered, and all Luoyin could see was a beautiful, yet sad and deranged entity, twisted by her own ambitions and failures...
"Blame me for underestimating you!!" She cried in a raw and bitter voice, her stance slightly off kilter. "I can assure you...
"It won't happen again...!!!!"
She instantly darted towards Luoyin in swift and graceful leaps, too fast for most eyes to follow.
But Luoyin didn't move an inch and he simply raised a hand.
"Down." He uttered with an almost lazy downward wave of his hand, and a sudden overwhelming pressure forced Zhurong Fen back down to the floor, flattening her against the frozen ground.
She let out a shocked and sickening *Ack!*, and blood splashed from her mouth, staining the snow red.
"You-!" She choked out as her sword vanished, filling the clearing with weak moonlight. "H- How...?!"
"Didn't you forget something? Umh?" Luoyin's feet gently landed as she wheezed there.
The sea blue lines on the floor glowed brighter.
Her eyes widened in horror... She had forgotten the Formation!
"You-! You played dirty...!" She wheezed pitifully as her qi swirled in utter disarray.
"I don't want to hear such words from you." Luoyin said, his eyes narrowing coldly down at her. "If we are to settle accounts, you've been 'playing dirty' for a good many years now... You've always hidden in the shadows, striking out when we least expect, and you've torn countless lives apart...
"As a 'helpless mortal', wouldn't I take protective measures?"
"Impossible!" Zhurong Fen rasped. "I watched out for any formation flags!"
"Hmph. I knew you would expect such a move," Luoyin told her. "...so I disguised my formation flags as qi needles. In the chaotic rain of needles, you would never notice a few slipping into the trees, especially since you believed you had the upperhand at the time...
"Also," He raised a hand showing one of his blue danger seals behind his wrist. "The Old man would have automatically reverse-summoned here if I faced any real mortal danger, and even if you isolated me with your demon aura, this formation was waiting for you.
"It's the most advanced gravity spell. The more qi you use, the more it affects you, and it's fortified with the Old man's aura, so even someone on your level can't escape... From the start, you had no chance of winning!"
He walked over to stand right before her eyes. "And I might as well shatter your hopes completely...
"There's no way Sky Realm has fallen!"
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..
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Central Sky Realm...
Hopelessness and Fear had indeed spread as the Eternal Tier demons self-destructed, claiming the lives of countless Sky soldiers and destroying their arrays.
But the War Deity's eyes turned cold. "Hmph! Since they're prepared to die, then we can't be flimsy either!"
His fingers flew in a series of swift hand seals, and his voice rang out to the last Sky General, the Commandants, and the few higher leveled elders still in Sky Realm.
~"Initiate the Final Array!"~ He ordered through telepathy.
"Final Array..." The Sky General repeated slowly, then his eyes widened in realization. ~"F- Final Array?! Master! Isn't that -?!"~
The 'Final Array' was a powerful formation, yet again created by Yin Xiaolong... But it was so dangerous that no one had dared use it back then, including Yin Xiaolong himself!
The Sky General did not know many details, but it was recently revealed that the Formation had been created with Yin Xiaolong's ability to bend space, and Old Man Bao had redrawn parts of the flags to fit the War Deity's fiery aura.
It was a last resort, and it indeed held the power to turn the tide...
But they all knew... Whoever activated such a powerful Formation would most likely lose their life!
~"Hurry!"~ The War Deity simply commanded, his lips mildly curling. ~"Isn't this the true heart of our duty as guardians of Sky Realm? How long will you hesitate?!
~"Besides... I'm an old relic. If this life of mine can buy the safety of the realms, then it can also serve as atonement for the Sky Army!"~
By atonement, he was speaking about the Caoyang massacre yet again, and this only weighed heavier on their hearts...
Because he hadn't been around back then.
He had been absent, and given his behaviour after his return, he would have done all in his power to stop it, if he had been present.
He hadn't even been one of the sinners, and yet he wanted to atone for the Sky Army!
There was a brief silence... But then the Sky General spoke.
~"Hao! Then at the very least, permit me to fulfill this duty by your side!"~ He said. ~"Master, quite frankly, I don't think High Grand Immortal Yin (Yin Xiaolong!) meant for the user to sacrifice their life!
~"It isn't said anywhere that one must bear the weight of the formation alone, so I'll stand by you! I'm no where near as powerful, but I'm at least a High Immortal, and a flame core like you... A little bit of support might turn things around!!"~
~"I'll join in as well!"~ A Commandant piped in. ~"Early stage High Immortal flame fox!"
~"I also..."~ An elder immortal responded. ~"Grand Immortal, Fire Core Peacock!"~
~"Count me in!"~ Another Commandant spoke.
~"I as well!"~ Yet another elder replied, and on it went...
Soon, the Sky General, more than twenty Elder Immortals, and almost a hundred Fire Core Commandants had risen into the night sky, falling into a massive circle with the War Deity at the center!
"Hao! Then let's uphold the Skies together!" The old War Deity believed he was far too old to shed the thing called 'Tears'... Surely he had seen everything by now...
Yet, his eyes were suspiciously wet as he held his hand up in a final seal.
"Severed Heaven Array!!" He yelled, and within moments, an endless array of talismans ignited across the darkened skies.
Unlike the earlier formations, these did not directly attack the demons.
Instead, gold and sea-blue lines shot upward, weaving together into a massive dome which covered the entire skies of the Realm, it's criss-crossing lights brightening the night sky like some heavenly net.
The sky dimmed suddenly as the War Deity stepped forward, his qi pouring out in waves.
Recognizing the move, the Sky General gave a final order before pouring in as much of his own qi as he could:
~"All Sky Soldiers, maintain formation!! Corner all demons!"~ The order rang throughout the realm, surprising the soldiers.
They had begun to fall back when the demons began self-destructing, but now they readied themselves and jumped in as one, re-enforcing their efforts to corner and trap the demons! instantly retreated.
Below, the remaining demons roared and charged, thinking the immortals were perhaps giving up on life.
"Oh?!" One of them laughed wildly. "First they sealed off the realm, and now they still dare to face us?!"
"Heh! Are they hoping to destroy us along with themselves?! That still works in our favour!" Another demon thundered as he swiftly cast a hand seal to self-destruct, his aura bursting out in waves.
Demonic qi surged violently as cracks spread across his flesh, and there was a blinding light as he Self-destructed!
Except...
This time...
The moment the demon's aura peaked, a sudden ripple passed through the massive sky net above, and the violent demonic energy that had been expanding outward suddenly collapsed inward.
The demon had screamed. "Wh- What is this?!"
Instead of exploding, the massive force of energy compressed violently, forcing itself back into his core.
His body shrank and his aura twisted, and then...
*BOOM!*
The expected explosion followed, but did not spread more than an inch outward before vanishing completely!
Silence followed as the surrounding soldiers and demons alike stared in shock.
"What the-?!"
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