“Hmph, at least he knows his place.”
After Chu Feng spoke, the foreign geniuses smirked with a hint of disdain.
To them, Chu Feng’s voluntary withdrawal showed self-awareness, as they genuinely believed he was nothing but a waste.
But just as their smirks emerged, Chu Feng spoke again.
“If none of them can break the formation, it won’t be too late for me to step in then,” he said.
“What’s this guy saying? Has he lost his mind?”
His words instantly sparked fury in the geniuses’ eyes.
If not for the Clan Leader standing beside Chu Feng, they’d have hurled insults at him on the spot.
They couldn’t stomach such brazen words from someone they looked down on.
In contrast, the Liangqiu sisters and Wuma Shengjie remained relatively calm.
After all, unlike the others, they knew a bit about Chu Feng.
“Brother Chu, this young friend you brought has quite a sense of humour,” the Wuma Supreme Elder said with a chuckle to the Chu Clan Leader.
There was no mockery in his tone, but the word “humour” betrayed his disbelief in Chu Feng’s claim.
“Brother Wuma, I can’t vouch for the rest of my clan’s juniors, but him… his mastery of spirit formation arts is the best among them, so when he says this, it’s not arrogance—he has the foundation to back it up,” the Clan Leader replied.
“Oh?” The Clan Leader’s earnest tone surprised the Wuma Supreme Elder, it didn’t sound like a jest.
He seemed genuinely convinced that this Chu Clan junior beside him outshone all the others present in spirit formation skills.
“Brother Chu, you might not know, when Lord Liangqiu Chengfeng came here, he brought his two junior sisters along.”
“Let me introduce them, these are Master Liangqiu’s seventeenth and eighteenth disciples, Miss Liangqiu Lanyue and Miss Liangqiu Hongyue,” the Wuma Supreme Elder said, pointing to the sisters nearby, then waving a hand, “Ladies, let me present our honoured guest, the Chu Heavenly Clan Leader.”
After the introduction, Liangqiu Hongyue, Liangqiu Lanyue, Wuma Shengjie, and the other juniors stepped forward, offering a respectful bow to the Chu Clan Leader.
Though they carried themselves with pride and distinction, the Chu Clan Leader’s rank and status demanded courtesy, especially with their own elders watching from the array’s core.
“No need for such formalities, young ones,” the Chu Clan Leader said with a smile, then turned to Liangqiu Lanyue and Hongyue, “Ladies, we’ve met before, do you recall?”
“Senior, we remember,” they replied.
At this, not only did the juniors’ expressions shift, but even the Wuma Supreme Elder’s eyes flickered.
So the Chu Clan Leader had already seen the Liangqiu sisters?
Yet, despite that, he still said what he did—either this Chu Clan junior was truly exceptional, or he was clueless about the sisters’ prowess.
It had to be ignorance, surely that was it.
With that thought, the Wuma Supreme Elder said, “These two ladies, true disciples of Master Liangqiu, have reached Insect Mark Honoured-cloak Spirit Formationist level at such a young age.”
“Indeed, gifted beyond measure, no wonder Master Liangqiu treasures them so,” the Chu Clan Leader nodded, his reaction unsurprised, as if he’d expected as much.
This only deepened the Wuma Supreme Elder’s confusion.
“Senior, we should start breaking the formation,” an outer clan junior interjected.
Truth be told, he was irked by the Chu Clan Leader’s attitude, feeling it was like playing a lute to a cow, and had no interest in further chatter.
“Go ahead, go ahead,” the Chu Clan Leader waved with a smile.
The juniors then moved to a specific spot.
It was right before the ancient ruin’s protective barrier.
The Liangqiu sisters took charge, instructing the others on how to assist in setting up the formation.
Turns out, this formation could only be controlled by one person, the rest merely lending their spirit power to fuel it.
And the one chosen to lead was already set—Liangqiu Lanyue.
“Senior Brother, we’re ready,” Liangqiu Lanyue called out loudly.
Buzz—
As she spoke, the massive formation above roared to life, a dazzling light bursting forth, illuminating all directions and enveloping the ancient ruin.
Under the formation’s glow, the ruin’s protective barrier shimmered into view, and a twisting, wriggling crack, like flowing water, became clearly visible on its surface.
“Set the formation!”
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
With Liangqiu Lanyue’s shout, the juniors leapt into action, diving into the crack in the barrier to begin their setup.
“So that’s it.”
At nearly the same moment, the Chu Clan Leader and the Wuma Supreme Elder let out soft sighs of realisation.
They now understood why these juniors were needed.
Evidently, Liangqiu Chengfeng and the others hadn’t wasted their time—the crack in the barrier must have been carved out by their breaking formation.
But this crack seemed to be the limit of what their formation could achieve; further progress was near impossible.
The only way forward was to enter the crack, set up another breaking formation inside, and dismantle the barrier from within to fully breach it.
Yet the crack had some restriction—Liangqiu Chengfeng and the seniors couldn’t enter, only juniors under a hundred years old could.
That explained why, despite having a Saint-cloak Spirit Formationist like Liangqiu Chengfeng, they still needed these young ones to assist.
At that moment, Liangqiu Chengfeng and the other experts were pouring their all into powering the breaking formation.
Meanwhile, Liangqiu Lanyue and her group had constructed a smaller breaking formation inside the crack.
In that instant, blinding light flooded the area, potent spirit power swept the heavens and earth, the ground and sky quaking fiercely.
The ancient ruin’s protective barrier trembled violently, as if buckling under unbearable strain.
This went on for a full half-hour, until the light began to fade, and Liangqiu Chengfeng’s team withdrew their formation’s power.
Soon after, Liangqiu Lanyue and the juniors ceased their efforts too.
But at that moment, disappointment clouded everyone’s faces.
Despite the grand display, the crack had only widened slightly.
Clearly, this attempt to break the formation had failed.
