novelE2F Chapter 134: Fighting
Chapter 134: Fighting
From the moment he decided to reveal Judge Cui's Pen, Li Lan had already made up his mind.
Knowing one secret and knowing a pile of secrets
made no significant difference.
Only one of them was destined to leave this place alive.
After this brief delay,
all the Spirit Bean Soldiers were in position,
inserting their Formation Flags into the Formation's eye.
Li Lan flicked his sleeve,
and numerous cold iron chains were thrown out by him.
Like thick pythons, they slowly burrowed into the ground.
With a rumbling sound, the Grand Formation was successfully activated.
During this time,
Wang An remained motionless,
as if he didn't know what Li Lan was doing.
This caused Li Lan's heart to sink slightly.
Li Lan had actually secretly placed the Qinghao Fenxiao Talisman into the mouths of the Spirit Bean Soldiers beforehand.
The reason he didn't hesitate to expose himself and used Judge Cui's Pen to control the opponent's Magical Artifacts
was not for the smooth deployment of the Grand Formation.
Instead, he wanted to force the opponent to get closer to the Spirit Bean Soldiers to break the Formation.
Only then could he detonate the Qinghao Fenxiao Talisman at close range.
Even if it didn't completely annihilate the opponent, it would at least give him the initiative and cause some trouble.
But to Li Lan's disappointment,
after his Magical Artifacts became ineffective,
this fellow showed no further intention of interrupting.
He just quietly watched him activate the Grand Formation.
The cold iron chains, like Earth Dragons turning over, quickly devoured all the ground.
Both Li Lan and Wang An stood on the continuously wriggling black chains.
The latter was quite knowledgeable;
he recognized the origin of this Formation at a glance.
With a hint of surprise in his voice, he said:
"You actually completed that famous incomplete Formation from the shop in Jiuhua County City?
Tsk, tsk, you're truly lucky.
How many times did you try, and how many Materials did you waste, to achieve this?"
Seeing Li Lan remain silent,
he shook his head and sighed softly, commenting:
"This Formation was set up so quickly, and its effect is so outstanding, it can absorb the Spiritual Qi of all Cultivators within it. It's truly not an ordinary item.
What a pity, the Materials you used to refine the Formation are too crude.
You should know that Formation diagrams, unlike Magical Artifacts, don't have a fixed grade.
As the Formation Materials improve, the Formation's grade will also increase, right?
If the cold iron and Formation Flags used to refine this Formation were older, perhaps this old man would be somewhat wary.
But now, this Formation's restriction on this old man is negligible.
Comparatively,
the restrictions on you should be greater, shouldn't they?"
Li Lan's heart stirred.
So, the reason the opponent allowed him to set up the Grand Formation without stopping him was this.
Formations have always treated the Cultivators within them equally.
There was no such thing as a Formation Master being exempt from the Formation's effects.
At most, the Formation Master could activate, deactivate, and change the position of the Formation's eye at any time,
which was merely more convenient for himself.
Wang An was right.
Although this Formation was barely Medium Grade Second-Tier,
if he remained within the Formation for a long time,
the Magical Power Li Lan, a Middle Stage Cultivator, would need to expend would naturally far exceed that of his opponent, a Late Stage Cultivator.
The fellow in front of him clearly possessed considerable intellect and combat experience, far beyond what someone of his apparent age should be capable of.
Wang An appeared as a young man,
looking around twenty years old,
with a simple and honest quality in his square facial features.
His eyes seemed to turn a beat slower than others, as if his reactions to everything around him were somewhat delayed.
Yet, shrewdness and calculation were precisely hidden beneath this dull appearance.
His trump cards were revealed one after another, but they didn't have much effect,
which gave Li Lan a headache.
The opponent he encountered this time was quite cunning, further exposing his shortcomings.
Li Lan pondered for a moment and finally made a difficult decision.
As it seemed now,
he could only use that Talisman Treasure.
Although each use would permanently diminish a portion of its power,
using it just to deal with this Late Stage Cultivator seemed like overkill.
But this was a life-and-death battle, not a time to hold back.
Moreover, no matter how precious an external object was,
it could only unleash its true value when used.
If one possessed a great treasure but was unwilling to use it,
they would ultimately only regretfully make a wedding dress for others.
Having made up his mind,
Li Lan waved a single hand,
and numerous low-grade Magical Artifacts floated behind him.
These Magical Artifacts automatically flew into the hands of the Spirit Bean Soldiers,
imbuing these originally nearly harmless Puppets with some lethality.
The Spirit Bean Soldiers, holding various sharp-edged Magical Artifacts, tacitly moved forward to close in,
subtly forming a encirclement around Wang An.
With Judge Cui's Pen present,
all of Wang An's Magical Artifacts were unusable, seemingly leaving him in a tight spot.
But his face still exuded extreme confidence.
"These Puppets are exquisite, but using them to deal with me, an eleventh-level Cultivator, isn't that a bit too condescending?
Fellow Daoist, if you don't quickly use the skill that allowed you to kill a Human Emperor Hall Deacon, I'm afraid you won't have another chance."
Wang An waved his hand,
and the scroll reappeared.
The light of Judge Cui's Pen shone down,
but it had no effect on the painting.
Seeing this, Wang An's last trace of worry vanished,
and he chuckled, saying:
"As expected, Fellow Daoist, although you were fortunate enough to kill a Human Emperor Hall Deacon and successfully snatched this Judge Pen,
you clearly have a shallow understanding of this treasure and cannot unleash its true power.
Such a precious treasure, in your hands, is truly a waste.
Let this old man unleash its true power instead."
After speaking,
the scroll slowly unfurled.
The immortal-like old man in the painting flicked his fishing rod,
and the fishing line flew straight towards Judge Cui's Pen.
He actually harbored the desire to forcibly seize this treasure.
After some probing, Wang An had roughly ascertained the opponent's true strength.
He didn't believe Li Lan possessed the strength to single-handedly kill a Human Emperor Hall Deacon.
Instead, he was convinced that the opponent had most likely stumbled upon an Opportunity by chance, thus obtaining this treasure.
That's why his use of this treasure was so superficial.
Li Lan's mind stirred, but he didn't rush to retract Judge Cui's Pen.
Instead, he urged the Spirit Bean Soldiers to quicken their pace.
Wang An flicked a finger,
and a line of fire spread out at an extremely fast speed.
The moment this object was unleashed,
Li Lan felt an unusually terrifying Magical Power fluctuation spread out.
This was clearly not a Spell, but a Magical Artifact of no low grade.
His eyebrows twitched, and he quickly formed a hand seal.
Judge Cui's Pen cast down streaks of rainbow light.
Although the fire line was fast, it couldn't escape the illumination of the light.
But unfortunately,
this only slightly slowed its speed;
it didn't completely fix it in place.
Li Lan's face showed no change, but a peculiar look flashed in his eyes.
The scroll was one thing;
it wasn't strictly a Magical Artifact,
so it was normal for it to be outside the control of Judge Cui's Pen.
But this fire line was clearly a Magical Artifact, yet Judge Cui's Pen failed to take effect, which surprised Li Lan greatly.
Wang An gave a slight smile.
Perhaps due to needing to concentrate on controlling it, he didn't utter any more sarcastic remarks.
The line of fire instantly passed through the bodies of all the Spirit Bean Soldiers.
With a loud boom,
the wooden bodies of the Spirit Bean Soldiers immediately turned into large fireballs,
burning fiercely.
The Qinghao Fenxiao Talisman hidden in the mouths of the Spirit Bean Soldiers,
triggered by the Magical Power fluctuations, suddenly activated.
The Spiritual Qi within ten feet was instantly absorbed completely,
and the line of fire, being within it, immediately dimmed considerably.
Only then did Li Lan see clearly:
it was a silver-white needle-shaped Magical Artifact.
Even though the Magical Power on it had been completely drained by the Qinghao Fenxiao Talisman,
this needle still retained its spiritual essence, and he didn't know its specific grade.
Suddenly,
the Qinghao Fenxiao Talisman once again unleashed its destructive power.
The Spirit Bean Soldiers and low-grade Magical Artifacts within ten feet were all annihilated.
Wang An evidently hadn't expected
these inconspicuous Puppets to cause such terrifying commotion.
His face finally changed, no longer as calm as before,
and a hint of anxiety even appeared in his eyes.
In his haste, he quickly used his Divine Sense to contact the needle-shaped Magical Artifact.
This item was extraordinary and could not be lost.