Qing immediately narrowed his eyes when he heard those words. ’Passing through the region? But the Nine Lotus Sect exists in a completely different realm from the Azure Heaven Realm.’ For the first time, Qing felt that something about the situation in front of him didn’t make sense, but before he could think about it any further, everyone’s attention suddenly shifted toward the sky.
The moment they turned their gazes upward, they saw a Giant Formation extending outward from a central point in the sky itself. "Except the cultivators here, everyone stay inside the remaining buildings of the sect! This is a Demon Invasion!" The female cultivator holding the hilt of her sword shouted as she turned toward the surviving people outside.
"D-Demon Invasion?! Again?! Run!!" The surviving people who were still outside, already surrounded by the dead bodies of Demons scattered throughout the sect, quickly became alarmed. However, they didn’t waste time running around in panic or questioning the female cultivator’s orders, instead quickly rushing toward the remaining buildings of the sect. Even Shen and Chen, who were not cultivators, immediately followed the others and went inside.
Their reaction was understandable because they had been constantly seeing these Demon Invasions for the past few days, with Demons suddenly appearing out of nowhere from these formations. Only after these powerful cultivators from the Nine Lotus Sect arrived had the survivors finally begun to feel safe, yet even their arrival hadn’t been enough to stop the Demon Invasions. Because of that, the survivors had already developed enough trust in these cultivators to follow their orders without asking a single question.
Qing turned toward the female cultivator the moment she shouted, then shifted his gaze toward the Formation in the sky. ’That seems like an already established Formation, and it seems capable of concealing a massive number of individuals within space itself. That means those Demons were sitting right under our noses...’
Qing quickly analyzed the Formation as his Ultimate Comprehension worked to its fullest. The more he observed its structure, the more information he was able to understand from it, allowing him to quickly grasp its primary function despite never having seen this Formation before.
Qing thought for a moment before something clicked in his mind, and a grin appeared on his face. ’This could give me a reason to get close to them and ask some questions, maybe even better join the sect which would help me meet Master.’
He didn’t wait another second before shifting toward the female cultivator from the Nine Lotus Sect and shouting, "Senior! We can avoid this Invasion! I am a Formation Master. Although my Cultivation Level is not high, I am well versed in Formations. From what I can see in that Giant Formation, there is a way to destroy it before the full army of Demons invades!"
The moment he spoke, the female cultivator immediately turned toward him. Not just her, but the other three cultivators standing behind her and the rest of the surrounding cultivators also shifted their gazes toward Qing. She looked at his features for only a moment before asking, "You claim to be a Formation Master? Then you should explain how that Formation works first before we believe that you have found a way to destroy it."
After saying that, she turned toward the cultivators behind her and pointed toward one of the male figures standing there. "He is also a Formation Master. Although he is still a trainee, he has already found out how that Formation works, but he has yet to find out how to destroy it, If your explanation matches his regarding its key function, then we will believe you."
Qing turned toward the man she had pointed at before nodding. ’Well, it is logical that they have a Formation Master among them. After all, they are just "passing through".’ Qing found the situation somewhat amusing in his thoughts before he quickly began speaking, "That Formation was already there for quite some time, around two or three days. This Formation allows a massive number of individuals to remain concealed within space itself, meaning those Demons were sitting right under our noses this entire time."
The moment Qing described its function, the male cultivator staring at him widened his eyes in surprise. The female cultivator immediately turned toward him and asked, "It perfectly matches your analysis, right, Han?" Han turned toward her and nodded before speaking, "Yes, Senior Sister Yue. He is correct, and his explanation perfectly matches my own analysis. The Formation was already prepared around three days ago, and its main function is to conceal a massive number of individuals within the surrounding space."
Yue turned back toward Qing with widened eyes. She had seen him arriving with those two men earlier, and although his clothes clearly didn’t seem to belong to a member of the Stoneheart Sect, she hadn’t given it much thought because there were many people who had become homeless or sectless because of the Demon Invasions.
But the real shock was the fact that he had deciphered the basic function of such a massive Formation from nothing more than a single glance. ’Is he some heaven-defying genius? Or has he seen and learned about this Formation beforehand?’ Yue couldn’t help but wonder as she turned her gaze toward the Formation above them, which was still expanding and had already covered hundreds of miles across the sky.
’This... If a Demon Invasion of this scale occurs, even the four of us won’t be able to fend them off.’ Her expression became serious as she continued observing the Formation. ’We need to destroy it!’
Without wasting any more time, Yue looked toward Qing and asked, "Alright. Now quickly speak of the method to destroy it, and... I assume the information you are about to give us is not for free. How many Spirit Stones—"
"Senior, I do not need any Spirit Stones or anything else at all." Qing cut her off before she could finish speaking, his expression remaining calm as he continued, "I would rather want to join your sect than receive Spirit Stones, but we can discuss that later. Let’s focus on the matter at hand first, shall we?"
Yue arched an eyebrow at his sudden desire to join their sect. ’Why didn’t I think of that? If he is truly such a genius, we should have someone like him in our sect. Sigh, it seems this constant tension caused by these Invasions has made my thinking stiff.’ She briefly sighed internally before nodding toward Qing, "Alright, so what is the method? Wait before that...what is your name?"
Qing grinned internally when he heard her question, "My name is Qing Lan, Senior Yue."
’Heh... Master’s teachings are handy even in these situations.’