The four disciples held their ground, relying on the Fire Crow Array to buy precious seconds.
Suddenly, the water surface exploded with a deafening boom. Two figures shot out from the spray—Tang Pei and Li Lifang. Like Zhu Ming and Lin Mi before them, they paused momentarily, stunned by the chaotic battlefield that greeted them.
But as experienced veterans of the Enforcement Team, their hesitation lasted only a heartbeat. They exchanged a knowing glance and surged forward, moving with the grace of swimming dragons. Their sword Qi poured out in an unceasing torrent as they charged straight toward the defensive barrier.
"Junior Brother Xiao, Junior Sister Ling! Are you alright?" Tang Pei bellowed over the roar of the water.
"Junior Sister Ling, are you hurt?" Li Lifang added urgently.
Inside the barrier, Ling Sisi remained silent, too exhausted to speak. But Zhu Ming, seeing salvation arrive, pumped his fist in the air. "Captain! We’re here!"
Xiao Yifeng didn't waste breath on words. He channeled his spiritual power to its limit, manipulating the formation to send a flock of Fire Crows surging out to cover their approach.
However, the Heavenly Luo Crocodile had learned from its previous failures. It wasn't a mindless beast. It positioned itself directly between the two groups, smashing down massive columns of water to create an impenetrable wall, preventing the reinforcements from merging with the squad.
Tang Pei, a seasoned tactician, realized instantly that a direct rendezvous was impossible. After several failed attempts to break through, he stopped wasting energy.
Keeping his focus locked on the massive crocodile, he shouted across the battlefield, "Are all four of you inside?"
"Captain, Vice-Captain! We’re all here!" Zhu Ming responded immediately.
"Good! Since this beast won't let us join up, we’ll switch tactics," Tang Pei commanded, his voice cutting through the noise. "You’ve all studied the Standard Sect Formations, correct?"
The disciples inside the barrier exchanged glances and nodded.
"We have!" Lin Mi shouted back.
Tang Pei breathed a sigh of relief. He signaled Li Lifang and then issued his orders. "Listen closely! On my command, you will drop your defensive array. We will immediately link up to deploy the Six-Point Hexagram Trap Formation to cage this beast. Li Lifang and I will serve as the primary anchors and attackers. The four of you will assist as auxiliary nodes. Understood?"
"Understood!" came the unified reply.
Inside the barrier, Xiao Yifeng turned to Lin Mi. "Senior Sister, withdraw your spiritual energy now. When the time comes, the three of you rush out first. I’ll collapse the array flags and follow."
The others nodded, trusting him.
Xiao Yifeng slowly dampened the spiritual flow within the array. He glanced at Lin Mi, who took the cue and shouted, "Captain, we are ready!"
Outside, Tang Pei and Li Lifang were under immense pressure, dodging the crocodile’s hydro-blasts. "Prepare to link formation!" Tang Pei roared.
The three disciples inside leaped out, dashing to their designated positions around the demon beast.
Xiao Yifeng recalled the formation disk. The sudden shift in pressure instantly snapped several of the array flags, destroying them. There was no time to mourn the loss of wealth. He flashed to the final vacant position in the circle.
"Form Array!" Tang Pei screamed the moment everyone was in place.
Six long swords stabbed into the earth simultaneously.
Twelve hands pressed down, pouring spiritual power into the blades. The energy didn't disperse; instead, it flowed deep underground along specific ley lines, seeking out and merging with the spiritual energy of the nearest ally.
Beams of brilliant light erupted from the hilts of the six swords, connecting to form a massive, glowing hexagram. A translucent barrier shot skyward, encasing the Heavenly Luo Crocodile in a prison of light. Profound runes flowed across the surface of the dome, shimmering with ancient power.
The Heavenly Luo Crocodile sensed the immediate threat. It roared and leaped, slamming its massive bulk against the barrier.
Bang!
The barrier shuddered but held. The beast was trapped. It thrashed wildly, crashing against the walls of light in a frenzy.
This was one of the signature techniques of the Wentian Sect.
The sect boasted a versatile arsenal of formations: Two Forms, Three Talents, Four Symbols, Five Elements, Six Harmonies, Seven Stars, Eight Trigrams, Nine Palaces, and Ten Domains. Each possessed its own profound mysteries and tactical applications.
Every novice disciple was required to memorize them, allowing them to form spontaneous battle arrays depending on the number of allies present.
The Enforcement Team, standardized to six-man squads, specialized in this specific Six Harmonies variation. It possessed two modes: Positive for external defense, and Negative for internal entrapment. They had deployed the latter.
With the crocodile isolated, its commanding roar was cut off. The surrounding low-level aquatic beasts, no longer under the alpha's mental domination, scattered in confusion.
The pressure on the team vanished instantly. Now, it was just them and the trapped monster.
"Lock it down!"
The formation was stable. The disciples no longer needed to channel spiritual power manually through their swords. They drew their weapons, letting the formation automatically draw on their reserves, and began the slaughter.
Sword Qi crisscrossed the interior of the barrier, slicing into the crocodile’s hide. Elemental attacks—yellow sand, searing flames, water blades, and thorny vines—erupted within the cage. The beast, already battered, was soon covered in fresh wounds, its scales cracked and bleeding.
The disciples stood safely outside, piloting their magical artifacts to dive-bomb the trapped leviathan. The terrifying predator had been reduced to a living target.
Its imposing aura shattered, the crocodile roared impotently. Occasionally, it would spit a water column at the barrier, but the attack merely rippled across the surface, unable to shake the disciples’ footing.
Realizing the futility of struggling, the beast adopted a "rogue" tactic. It curled into a tight ball, protecting its soft underbelly, and simply lay there, enduring the bombardment without moving.
"Junior Sister Ling, are you hurt? And... what happened to your clothes?"
Li Lifang, while controlling his flying sword, found time to ogle Ling Sisi. He immediately noticed she was wearing a man's robe—one that was distinctly too large for her.
Ling Sisi forced a smile that was uglier than a grimace. "I’m fine. My robes were torn during the battle. Thank you for your concern, Vice-Captain."
"It’s good that you’re safe," Li Lifang said, his voice dripping with disdain as he shot a look at Xiao Yifeng. "Though it’s pathetic that some people—supposedly 'True Disciples'—can't even protect a woman. Truly useless."
He didn't bother lowering his voice. He was practically calling Xiao Yifeng out by name.
A cold glint flashed in Xiao Yifeng’s eyes, but he remained silent, his expression indifferent.
Ling Sisi hurriedly interjected, "It’s not Senior Brother Xiao’s fault! I was a burden. If Senior Brother hadn't protected me, I would have died..."
"Hmph. Stop making excuses for him," Li Lifang scoffed. "And as for this beast daring to harm you... watch how I skin it alive!"
He cast a provocative sneer at Xiao Yifeng, then moved.
With a flicker of movement, Li Lifang passed through the barrier and entered the cage. He launched a ferocious assault on the curled-up crocodile, his sword specifically targeting its eyes and throat, forcing the beast to uncurl and fight back.
Ling Sisi looked at Xiao Yifeng with worry. Seeing he remained calm, she offered him an apologetic smile.
Tang Pei shook his head at his partner's showboating but addressed the group. "Everyone, provide cover fire! We’re going in to finish it."
The Captain flew into the formation to join Li Lifang.
Both men were at the Grand Perfection of Qi Condensation. Their techniques were seasoned, their attacks lethal. Combined with the suppression of the formation and the crocodile’s disadvantage on land, the battle became one-sided.
Moments later, the Heavenly Luo Crocodile could barely stand. Blood drenched its body. It knelt on broken limbs, letting out mournful, gurgling cries, only able to sweep its giant tail in desperate, sluggish defense.
Seeing the once-majestic beast reduced to a whimpering mess, Ling Sisi felt a pang of pity. But remembering the slaughter of the innocent fish and the danger they had been in, she hardened her heart.
Suddenly, the crocodile stopped moving. It raised its head and let out a long, resonant roar.
It burned a massive amount of its remaining life force. Groundwater surged up from beneath the earth, but instead of draining away, it was contained by the formation’s barrier, rapidly turning the inside of the cage into a rising pool.
Xiao Yifeng’s instincts screamed.
"Retreat! Drain the water, now!" he shouted.
The disciples moved to modify the formation to drain the flood, but they were too late.
The Heavenly Luo Crocodile roared again, its eyes burning with hateful malice.
Water Tornado!
It wasn't as titanic as the one in the deep lake, but within the confined space of the barrier, it was devastating. Several vortexes of violently spinning water erupted from the pool, expanding instantly to fill the cage.
Tang Pei and Li Lifang were at point-blank range.
Before they could react, the tornadoes swallowed them whole. The violent rotation severed their connection to the formation.
Without the primary anchors, the array collapsed instantly.
BOOM!
Millions of gallons of pressurized water, no longer held back by the barrier, exploded outward in a catastrophic tsunami.
Xiao Yifeng reacted with the speed of thought.
Earth Wall!
A thick slab of rock erupted from the ground to blunt the impact. Simultaneously, he flashed to Ling Sisi’s side, grabbed her wrist, and pulled.
"Go!"
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