## AST 879 – Falling Into Hell And Then Soaring To Heaven, Fire Bird’s Metamorphosis

When the weakest supporting positions of the saber formation were destroyed, Qing Shui and Mu Qing immediately killed off a few of their opponents in a few seconds. Meanwhile, with well-coordinated movements, the remaining opponents crowded around the young-looking man.

Without their saber formation, the average strength of their opponents was about one to three stars. Only a few had strength above three stars. The only exception was that young man. What Qing Shui was uncertain about was that young man’s capabilities. That man gave off a dangerous aura, just like a poisonous snake. Most importantly, that man was a core member of the Sky Prison Sect.

Since things had escalated to this point, Qing Shui couldn’t spare anyone, thus he simply rushed forward.

Petal Rain Under the Skies!

Fearing that the situation might turn sour if he didn’t end things quickly, Qing Shui decisively used his strongest Hidden Weapon Technique. He was confident in this technique and did not forget to additionally imbue the attack with poison. These opponents were not inferior to strong demonic beasts, especially because they were backed by Sky Prison Sect.

After they had casually killed off four of their opponents, there were still 18 people left. As these people were clumped together, Qing Shui’s Petal Rain Under the Skies managed to efficiently kill off 12 more enemies. In the blink of an eye the tables were turned and there were only 6 opponents left.

Qing Shui’s flash-like massacre stunned his remaining opponents. Before they could react, Qing Shui swiftly summoned his Thunderous Beast. A thunderbolt mercilessly struck one of his opponents, killing him instantly. Following this, Qing Shui’s Thunderous Beast unleashed a Violet Lightning Strike at the young-looking man, who had finally started to react.

Unfortunately for him, the Violet Lightning Strike had a 100% chance of paralyzing the target, the man did not even have the time to dodge.

In that instant, Qing Shui rushed in front of the man. As the man stood paralyzed by the effect of the Violet Lightning Strike, Qing Shui unhesitantly slashed open his throat. Even though the remaining men managed to land their attacks on Qing Shui, he was unfazed as he had his Seven Star Armored Vest.

The remaining four men still hadn’t come to terms with their situation. With the death of that young man, they were startled again. With Qing Shui impeccable coordination with his Thunderous Beast, the four men were quickly eliminated.

The whole battle ended very quickly. Apart from the time Qing Shui used to disrupt the formation, it only took a few minutes to totally clean up the remaining trash.

Mu Qing fell into a daze as if she had not recovered from the shock of how the situation had unfolded. When she came back to her senses, her surroundings were already quiet.

Qing Shui looked behind and said to Mu Qing, “We should leave, it isn’t safe to stay here.”

They left the corpses on the ground. Wild demonic beasts would quickly solve that problem for them, it could even be considered a sky burial!

Qing Shui had always wondered what he should do if was unable to see through a particular formation.

What should he do if he didn’t understand the Five Elements Orientation or Eight Trigrams Orientation? If he was not able to break this formation, what method would he have used to deal with it?

Would he still be able to overcome it?

Formations were like mysteries wrapped within mysteries. He wondered if his Nine Continent Boots could help him escape a formation since there was a rumor that the Star Chasing Moon Stepping Boots could actually do that…

Today, he had finally witnessed the formidable potential of formations. Qing Shui decided that he needed to learn more about formations in the future. Even if he could not set up a formation, it would be good enough if he knew how to deal with enemies who used formations.

“Are there many people who know how to use formations?” Qing Shui asked Mu Qing.

“Not many. But there is a community of them. Just like Talismans Masters, Demon Refiners, Alchemists, and Beast Tamers, they belong to a specialized branch of techniques. Their numbers are small but they are very powerful,” Mu Qing replied cheerfully.

She was overjoyed. Despite everything, this outcome came as a great surprise to her. She had already prepared herself for the worst case scenario but she had never expected that her fortune would turn for the better.

Falling into Hell and then soaring to Heaven!

After they returned to the cave, they quickly checked their surroundings to ensure that nobody was following them. After all, it would take some time for the people from Sky Prison Sect to begin to look for them. Once they return to the capital city, nobody could prove anything, especially if they insisted that they did not kill those people. In a place like Sky Penetrating Mountains, where even a powerful clan like the Cheng Clan could be wiped out, what more could be said for that group of people? Even though the power of formations could be very impressive, there was still a limit to their effectiveness. For example, formations could be limited by the maximum number of people it could employ, the strength of the individual members in each position, the level of synergy that could be achieved and the maximum strength that it possessed. Facing an opponent whose strength far exceeds their combined strength would only result in their formation being destroyed with a single blow.

When one faced absolute power, everything else became illusory.

However, legends told of formations like Thousand Kills Formation, Big Dipper Formation, Nine Palace Death Formation, Tiangang Formation, Seven Stars Eight Trigrams Formation, and Five Elements Great Formation. These legendary formations could have up to ten thousand positions or even more.

Qing Shui felt slightly uneasy when he compared the saber formation to those heaven-defying formations. There were really many extraordinary talents in the World of the Nine Continent. Qing Shui wondered how many experts a powerful formation master could defeat…

There were countless paths to reach the Heavenly Dao, and the path of formations was indeed a viable path to the top.

After they returned to the cave, both of them had a mutual understanding to remain silent. They both knew the seriousness of this matter so they did not want to risk it by letting anyone else know. Besides, no one would even suspect that Mu Qing had the ability to eliminate that ‘Flower Crusher’ and his gang.

This was quite a good cover since it was very common for people to go missing or die when they venture into Sky Penetrating Mountains. In the end, the disappearance of that group of people would be blamed on demonic beasts.

Originally, Qing Shui only wanted to survey the area himself, he had not expected that such a thing would happen. Those people had been followed Qing Shui and Mu Qing for a long time, waiting for both of them to walk deep into the Sky Penetrating Mountains before they took action. However, that group hadn’t foreseen that they would be ones to die in the mountains.

If they were quick, they would reach 100 thousand li into Sky Penetrating Mountains after slightly more than one month, but Qing Shui wanted to leave the group as he wanted to travel even more quickly to look for the Sky Penetrating Grass.

When they returned, night had not fallen but they spent the afternoon in the cave. Mu Qing continuously checked for movements outside and her Lightning Bees stayed outside to monitor the situation. She had to make sure that no one knew that they were here because if anyone spotted the corpses of those Sky Prison Sect members and found them here, they would definitely be suspicious since one of the dead was that ‘Flower Crusher’.

Once Qing Shui returned to his tent, he delved into his sea of consciousness. When he was trying to break the formation, he had felt a mysterious change within his sea of consciousness. It was as if there was something there. Previously, he couldn’t find a chance to investigate but now that he had the time, he wanted to see what had happened.

Within his sea of consciousness, there was a new image but it was gray and the description was also blurred. He could only see two words: Formation Destroyer!

Qing Shui was stunned, was this the result of his enlightenment about formations? Why couldn’t he use it?

Qing Shui quickly figured out the issue. The techniques he had gotten through his enlightenment could only be used when their images were lit up. Since this image was still unlit, it meant that he had not met the requirements to learn that skill. It should have appeared at a later time but it was triggered much earlier, so he could not use it….

Qing Shui stared blankly at the gray image and thought, “This Formation Destroyer could most likely only be used when I breakthrough the 7th Heavenly Layer but isn’t there any way to learn it before that?”

Since Qing Shui had discovered the power of formations, he grew very interested in it. Somehow, he found out that it was possible that he would learn a relevant technique in the future.

The techniques that appeared in his sea of consciousness were all powerful, this was definitely not an exception. However, Qing Shui was sure that it would not be easy, but learning one or two of these formations would definitely be a pretty good killer move.

Besides, learning about formations would help him see through other formations more easily if he was stuck in the same situation. Perhaps he would even be capable of destroying them immediately.

Unfortunately, this was not the right time. He could foresee that he should be able to pick it up quite quickly since he understood the principles of Eight Trigrams and the like. It would definitely become a great asset to him in the near future.

At night, Qing Shui returned to his tent and entered the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal after dinner. He even looked forward to it.

Once he entered the realm, he took out his Berserk Dragon King Origin Essence Soul Pearl and sensed the essence of the violent nature inside of it. Initially, he had wanted to feed it to his Diamond Gigantic Elephant but then he realized that the Five Elements of his Diamond Gigantic Elephant was not really suitable for this pearl. Thus, he called the Fire Bird over, as the pearl should be most effective on it.

Even though a particular medicine or enhancer might not be suitable, it didn’t mean that it could not be consumed, it only meant that the effects would be greatly reduced. But that didn’t pose a problem to Qing Shui since the Fire Bird was the right demonic beast which could consume that pearl.

He threw the pearl directly at the Fire Bird’s head. It swallowed the pearl and let out a clarion bird call. Qing Shui could sense the Fire Bird’s clear joy.

Thereafter, the Fire Bird circled the sky continuously. Flashes of fiery glow appeared on its back and its call grew louder and louder.

Suddenly, the Fire Bird paused in the middle of its flight, as if it was frozen in place. Its large wings spread open as its body maintained its 60o incline. Its head faced the sky.

A magnificent fiery glow enveloped its body, while a bright call rang out in the air. Its call vaguely resembled the call of a phoenix.

“It’s a breakthrough! What a powerful aura!” At this point, Qing Shui felt very emotional.

The strength of his flying mount was very important to him. Not only was the Fire Bird his mount and a demonic beast that he used in battle, it was also his closest companion and his most loyal battling companion.

The fiery glow continued. Midway, there were even flashes of golden light. Its strength continued to surge upwards. Since the Berserk Dragon King’s Five Elements matched the Fire Bird, the effects were even more profound.

“Kawwwww!”

The Fire Bird continued its birdsong and its calls became increasingly melodious. This time, it did not cry out in pain as it evolved. The strength it had gained this round was immense.

This continued for fifteen minutes before the Fire Bird gradually calmed down. However, Qing Shui was shocked! Its usual fiery red feathers had become a slightly duller shade, as if it had been covered by a layer of black ash. This gave Qing Shui a rather strange feeling.

Was this something to do with the Berserk Dragon King Origin Essence Soul Pearl?

But it did not seem that way to Qing Shui. Regardless, Qing Shui now felt that this color gave his Firebird a more tyrannical presence compared to the bright red. Since he did not find this color unsuitable, he was relieved.

Qing Shui measured the Fire Bird’s strength and found that its base strength had already reached one and a half star. This was a huge increase!

Under the effects of its Phoenix Dance, which was a zero energy consumption passive skill, its strength would increase by one fold. With its Phoenix Dance of the Nine Heavens mode and the support of the Spirit Gathering Lamp, the strength of the Fire Bird could reach a terrifying 12 stars.

12 stars! Qing Shui was startled for a moment. He was extremely satisfied with this. The Fire Bird’s increased strength also led to a massive breakthrough in its speed!