C19 Breaking the Formation

"I'm the strongest in the city, at least until that traitor Mocci..."

"Understood." Jiang Hao cut him off.

If it wasn't Mocci or Calci, then who could possess such power?

He hadn't even made an appearance yet, and already Jiang Hao had been driven to retreat. This creature was not only immensely strong but also highly intelligent.

Lost in thought, Jiang Hao took a couple of steps without realizing it.

Suddenly, his foot struck a sharp pebble.

"Buzz."

A clear humming sound emerged abruptly.

Jiang Hao swiftly turned to locate the source of the noise and saw ripples emanating from the spot.

There was nothing there but a dry, rusted water pipe.

In his haste, Jiang Hao had stumbled into a deserted courtyard.

"A magic array, here!?" exclaimed the former City Lord.

Jiang Hao narrowed his eyes, surveying the scene.

The courtyard was unremarkable, reminiscent of the quaint, antique houses one might see on television, only larger.

The high courtyard walls were speckled with white lime, and heaps of broken white plaster lay at their base.

Inside, weeds overran the grounds, leaving the place desolate.

In the damp corners, moss spread unchecked, threatening to claim the entire courtyard for itself.

Yet, Jiang Hao's keen eyes detected an anomaly.

The rusty water pipe marked a divide.

To the south of the pipe, horned ants busily harvested dew from the moss, transporting it back to their nests.

On the wall, a Gu bird eyed the former City Lord's bleeding body hungrily.

In stark contrast, the north side of the pipe was eerily still, the air itself seemingly frozen.

The difference was stark.

This was a fortunate discovery that required no effort at all!

"Is there a way to break the formation?" Jiang Hao inquired, his brow furrowed.

"Destroying it is both simple and difficult. If you can enter the formation and destroy its focal point, the formation will naturally collapse."

Jiang Hao patiently listened to Calci's rambling explanation, then asked for the precise location of the formation's focal point before decisively stepping into the formation.

Before doing so, to avoid repeating past mistakes, Jiang Hao posed several more questions to Calci.

After consulting with the system in his heart about Calci's answers, Jiang Hao determined the most likely location of the formation's eye. Feeling reassured, he stepped forward into the magic array.

Inside the array, Jiang Hao was astonished to see a landscape of concrete and steel skyscrapers. Pedestrians bustled by, engrossed in their phones, chatting and streaming videos. Towering nearby was the iconic Pearl Tower, a landmark of the Magic City. The sound of the sea lapping against the stone pillars filled the air with a rhythmic "whoosh."

It all felt so familiar, so deeply missed. Since arriving in this world, Jiang Hao had often longed for the life he knew in the 21st century. Yet, after two decades here, he had formed indelible bonds with the people and this extraordinary place.

Jiang Hao yearned to explore the Magic City once more, but his concerns held him back. With a single glance, he pierced through the illusion before him without a second thought.

Meanwhile, in the aftermath of Jiang Hao and Calci's escape, Mocci was seething with rage. As he was about to summon his forces, he froze, his gaze turning to the city gate in astonishment.

"Curse these humans!"

With a roar, Mocci sped towards the city gate. Reaching an alley nearby, he swung his mighty axe and viciously split open the gate of a courtyard with a resounding "crash."

"Calci, you're a dead man!"

Mocci stormed into the yard, brandishing his axe at Calci, who stood tense before the formation.

The humans were in the midst of locating the formation's eye, and any disturbance was unacceptable. Especially from Mocci, the architect of the array—if he tampered with it, the human could very well be consumed by the magic.

Without wasting any words, Calci launched an attack. The two exchanged blows, the sound of their combat echoing incessantly, shaking the courtyard's buildings until they shed debris.

Calci fought with all his might, managing to hold his ground against Mocci. Neither could gain the upper hand.

Within the magic formation, Jiang Hao strolled through the gusting winds, resolutely making his way toward the eye of the formation. Upon closer inspection, one could see that he was enveloped in a swirling vortex of wind.

It was the gust of wind that ensured Jiang Hao's safety.

Using the wind to counter the wind was sheer brilliance.

The furious winds around him were powerless, forced to watch as he approached a large boulder and gently pressed against it, causing it to explode into fragments.

As the boulder shattered, the relentless wind also vanished, though reluctantly.

Meanwhile, viewers from around the globe watching the live broadcast couldn't help but send a flurry of comments.

[Wrapes: Wind against wind, Jiang Hao must have taken a leaf out of our book. We need Blue Star to provide a reasonable explanation immediately.]

[Umoris: Oh yeah, go Blue Star, take down that big bad dog!]

[Blue Star: Someone write up the strategy for this level, quick!]

[The idea above is good. I'd like to buy a copy of the strategy, please.]

[Count me in, I want one too!]

[Me as well, don't forget me!]

[Wrapes: We'll release a strategy guide too, available at a 20% discount for those interested!]

Suddenly, the public chat became a bustling marketplace for strategy guides.

Blue Star's residents managed to turn a tidy profit from the sales.

All the while, Jiang Hao remained blissfully unaware.

After breaking through four consecutive formations, he finally reached the heart of the formation.

The previous illusions, the wind, water, and fire formations, were mere child's play for Jiang Hao.

It wasn't until he reached the core of the formation that he felt a sense of pressure.

It was as if a force was trying to pull his soul power into the black hole at the formation's center.

Jiang Hao resorted to his old trick, using the wind to scatter the surrounding energy and prevent the force from pulling at his soul power, allowing him to take in his surroundings.

He observed wisps of soul force being sucked into the black hole by an unseen power.

As a strand of soul force brushed past him, Jiang Hao could sense the fear and bewilderment within it.

He intensified the wind around him and cautiously stepped closer to the black hole, peering into it.

But there was nothing around the black hole; it seemed to have appeared from nowhere.

Unable to discern the true nature of the black hole, Jiang Hao had no choice but to abandon his investigation. He then proceeded to use the technique Calci had taught him to dismantle the formation's eye.

Outside the magic circle, Mocci, locked in combat with Calci, caught a glimpse of the circle's edge flickering, signaling it was on the verge of breaking apart.

"No!" Mocci cried out.

With a powerful shove, he sent Calci reeling and swiftly reversed his axe, bringing it down on his own left arm.

"Pfft."

A fist-clenched left arm soared into the air, blood spraying wildly across the courtyard, staining the moss at the base of the wall and soaking the entrance to a unicorn ant's burrow.

The Gu Bird perched on the wall screeched eagerly and swooped down on the discarded limb, ready to indulge in its unexpected feast.