ATG: Formation Master c29

Divine Phoenix Empire watched closely what was happening in the Solid Earth territory.

Sadly, because of Feng Hengkong’s actions, their spies were burned alive in the city fires.

This led them to watch the city from a distance. But even that was not the best, as city-wide formations came online and long-range observation was no longer possible.

When scouts reported this news to Feng Tianwei, the previous Emperor furiously ranted as he wanted to beat up Feng Hengkong again.

“These formations are something I haven’t seen before.” Feng Tianwei’s brother commented as he looked at the drawings. The city has a visible Profound Energy bubble with symbols floating in it.

“Profound energy is being drawn in; most likely, it has profound energy gathering formation qualities.” The scout explained after recovering from the rant he had to endure from Feng Tianwei.

“Most definitely.” The Monarch nodded before looking at his older brother.

“Tianwei, we can’t allow this to continue. These are fortifications; if they continue, we won’t be able to break through even with our father’s help,” Feng Tianyu said in a heavy tone.

“I know, and I doubt we can win. This is a properly organised invasion, meticulously crafted.” The previous Emperor looked at the map. He can see direct supply lines from Blue Wind Imperial City draw on it.

This army kept on growing. Regular soldiers are meaningless to them, but they are worried about flood dragons inside formations.

Those things are hard to kill as it is. Hard scales, flames with poison, long and serpentine bodies that move quickly…

“This prince prepared for this invasion and is confident in his formations.”

As the Monarchs pondered their next move, they were informed that the army had split into three smaller armies and was moving towards three major cities.

“Do they have flood dragons?”

“Reporting to the Emperor, yes, each army has one Sky Profound and one Earth Profound Flood Dragon.”

“And are they in battle formation?”

The scout nodded as she showed a drawing of the formation.

“I thought. This is classic empowerment formation. But how can this work on a flood dragon?” Feng Tianwei is certain that once activated, that dragon could challenge him. If these dragons can wield Profound Arts, then they are considered Monarch worthy just from the sheer amount of pure Profound energy they have.

“Brother, this is our only chance.”

“...I know… we need to kill these formation masters, only then we can kill the Flood Dragons.” The previous Emperor seriously nodded. 

“Very well.”

The trio spread out to take on three armies at once.

They were followed by Peak Tyrant Profound as support to assist them.

~~~

“Hmm?” 

Cang Long looked at the four people before him. They were waiting in the middle of the road, stopping their advancement.

Leading the front was an individual radiating a considerable amount of power. In truth, this was the first time he sensed anything of this level.

“Prince of Blue Wind Empire, your war ends today," The leading middle-aged man with several strands of white hair said in an authoritative voice.

“Hah, so you must be Hengkong’s father. I assume if I beat you, then YOUR father will return from retirement.

It was clearly obvious that I was too much for the current generation of Phoenix Emperors.” Cang Long chuckled. He was laughing because he had just experienced the true cliche of the Cultivation World: the never-ending ancestors!

“Hengkong lacked insights; I am here to fix that," He said with a frown, not liking the tone of this prince.

“Return to your lands, and this will be forgotten. My Phoenix Empire won’t interfere with your Empire’s business," The man said as he was surrounded by an orange flame. An overwhelming aura surged from him. 

Cang Long smiled as he leapt from his dragon, and his blue aura surged, casting a barrier for his troops.

“...Tyrant Profound Two, at your age! Impressive, you are almost as talented as my granddaughter!” 

It was supposed to be a compliment, but the prince frowned as he landed on the ground. His eyes began to glow, and anger began to rise.

“...Almost as talented? Your clan, which found the remnant soul of a god, mined like a resource, used its power to elevate your clan to its current position.

Don’t you dare understand what true talent is! I was thinking to be merciful… but now… I shall crush you with absolute power!” Cang Long pointed his finger.

The Previous Emperor rushed to block, but the Tyrant Profound elders who followed him ended up screaming and began to inflate… their bodies became balloons.

Exploding into clouds of red mist.

Feng Tianwei stopped for a second and looked at this with surprise and horror.

“I placed symbols directly into their souls and forced their phoenix blood to implode. Sadly for you… You won’t get such nice treatment.” 

“Die!” The previous Emperor didn’t care to chat anymore as he rushed at Cang Long. Releasing a massive amount of flames.

The Formation Prince snorted as he casually motioned, and a glass wall appeared before the incoming flame.

The attack was absorbed, but Feng Tianwei didn’t waste time; he used more flames. The reflected attack collided with the new attack, creating a huge explosion. 

Cang Long swiftly motioned for his men to go back and make some distance. He would take this personally.

“I have studied your formations, you won’t easily win against me.” The Phoenix Emperor said he had confidence in his voice.

“That is ridiculous. I understand if I had limited options like you do. All you ever have is given to you by your Phoenix spirit.

Your arts, your power, even your flames are not yours. What can you do when those fail? You're going to run back to the mine and beg your phoenix god to come back to life so that it could help you against a seventeen-year-old Prince?” 

Feng Tianwei frowned. One thing is for sure: this prince has a sharp tongue.

“I have something for you, Prince, and that is Phoenix Domain.” Flames erupted around the area, with the Phoenix Emperor and Cang Long in the middle.

“This again? You people should learn… new TRICKS!!!” The Formation Prince lifted his hand and showed his palm. A symbol appeared, started to glow, and all of the flames rushed into it.

‘He took over it like that!?’ Feng Tianwei looked surprised.

At that moment, a blue cloud manifested above him, and blue glass pillars dropped to the ground, creating a box formation.

Cang Long then moved his hand up, pointing at the formation ceiling. He released all that fire into it… causing it to get stronger!

“Haven’t you people realised it yet? I have studied your fire, I captured countless members of your sect, I studied their profound energy, creating perfect counters for you all.” The prince shook his head before showing a sinister smile.

“I will make sure you despair, when your bloodline becomes useless before your very eyes!” 

He snapped his fingers, and suppressing elements of the formation activated.

Feng Tianwei immediately sensed something like weight being added to his very being!

‘H-He is suppressing my cultivation realm!’

“This is something I studied in Heavenly Sword Villa, a formation set by the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region.” 

The Phoenix Emperor grimaced as he attacked, not holding back anymore.

“World Ode of The Phoenix! Fourth Stage! Phoenix Flames Sears the Heaven!”

Flames of Monarch rushed towards Cang Long, who simply looked at them. 

Feng Tianwei frowned. He was certain that even with all of those formations, the sheer scale of the cultivation difference would make the prince at least try to dodge, but nothing!

Instead, the flames slammed into an invisible wall, which shimmered into existence, becoming a blue giant. The fire slammed into the giant’s palm.

“This is that thing…” The Phoenix Emperor finally saw the Dharma Body of the Blue Wind Imperial Family.

“Blue Wind Dharma Body Arts: Absolute Defence.” Cang Long replied, telling the name of his move. Copying the previous Emperor.

“This is true talent, Feng Tianwei. That is your name, right? This is Dharma Body, the manifestation of my dreams, fantasies, and desires. I created this art when I was ten, and ever since, I have improved, making it stronger. The reason why your Monarch strength is inconsequential is that I have two sources of Profound Energy, making my power have two layers. One of these layers… is very flexible.”

As he said that, Dharma Body’s hands became thicker as a fist rushed into the dumbfounded previous Emperor.

Phoenix roared as flames shaped like the bird smashed into an incoming fist.

“Like I said, inconsequential.” The flames shattered as a fist slammed into Feng Tianwei, sending him flying into the formation wall.

A loud crackling sound spread through the area, as the fist was strong enough to almost break the formation wall.

‘Ugh, I should hold back, I need to make him feel despair, not hope.’

Cang Long was thinking the Emperor was sliding down the wall. He slowly got up and looked back at the crack in the wall.

“So that’s how it is.”

At that moment, his palm struck the formation wall, and more cracks appeared. He attacked several more times before he created a hole through which he flew out and away.

Tsk

“I guess he learned about that little weakness.”  The formation is strong against fire and can absorb it, but regular kinetic damage still works.

The Formation Prince commented as he recalled the formation pillars and undid the suppressing formation.

His formations have weaknesses, and that is pure raw strength. The Phoenix Empire abuses its flames everywhere, so even after several months of war, they still haven’t figured out how to crack some of them.

Now Feng Tianwei learned, but it might be too late for them.

He turned around and looked at his men. What he saw were cheers and a lot of flag-waving.

“Hmph, let’s return to our conquest.” The Crown Prince began to float as he flew back to his mount.

~~~

Feng Tianwei returned to the Imperial Capital. He furiously slammed his fist into a stone column that disintegrated upon impact.

His whole body trembled; never in his life had he been humiliated like this!

His pride is in shambles!

Not long after him, his brothers returned in bloodied shapes, and Feng Tianqing was even missing an arm!

“What happened?” He asked in disbelief.

“They were ready for us, but our flames didn’t work, and after disabling our flames, they systematically attacked us.

We were not even able to get close to flood dragons.” Feng Tianyu explained as he looked away in shame. He was a five-hundred-year-old man with the power to stand at the top of any Empire. Yet, here he was beaten by Thrones and Sky Profound experts…

Feng Tianwei looked at them with trembling eyes.

This was bad! 

“We must report to the Royal Father! We are in a very bad position!” With that said, they went to see Feng Zukui, their Ancestor.

When they went there, they saw him talking with a girl who didn’t look any older than fifteen.

“Royal Father…” Feng Tianwei caught the attention of his Father.

“...It would seem I was right. They defeated you three.” Feng Zukui took a deep breath. With the Monarchs defeated, he doubts he would make a difference. The invading prince already has countermeasures against Phoenix Legacy, making them basically weaponless.

“...Yes…” Feng Tianwei had no guts to look at his father.

“Explaining how it played out.”

He nodded at the request before explaining how effortlessly Cang Long killed Tyrants, how his flames had no power and how he could wield double the amount of Profound Energy.

“...I see… I thought as much. He provoked us, knowing that he could win.”

“But… to such a degree.” Feng Tianwei looked away at the ground while replying in disbelief. How could one understand the power of a Monarch without even meeting one?

Feng Zukui showed a strained smile before looking at the silent girl.

“Xue’er, what do you think?” the Ancestor asked his Great-Granddaughter.

“Xue’er will do as Grandfather asks. For peace in our lands, Xue’er shall meet the Crown Prince.” Feng Xue’er replied in a very serious tone, her blue eyes gleaming with determination.

“In that case, we shall arrange a meeting.” Feng Zukui looked at his sons.

“Feng Tianwei, go and arrange a meeting while you two clean up and get checked by Empire’s medical saints.”

“Yes, Royal Father.”