Chapter 169: Deep in the Mountains (2)

Forcefully breaking down the Origin Formations greatly increased the students’ efficiency in advancing up the mountain.

Jiang Hanfeng would discover where the Origin Formations were, and Ling Yan would determine their strength. As long as it was of fifth-tier strength or below, they would rely on Feng Yigu’s powerful defense to forcefully activate the Origin Formations.

If they ran into stronger Origin Formations, they would activate it at a distance if possible; otherwise, they would take an alternate route. They would rather take a long detour than face them head-on.

However, a new situation quickly appeared.

After blasting their way through a number of Origin Formations, Feng Yigu arrived at another Origin Formation.

However, the Origin Formation didn’t activate this time.

Feng Yigu, who had already made his preparations to deal with the oncoming blast, just stood there and waited; however, nothing happened.

He looked back a little sheepishly and yelled, “Why isn’t it exploding? What should I do?”

Jiang Hanfeng and the others also looked at each other.

He Yuandong asked, “You’re sure that there’s an Origin Formation there?”

Jiang Hanfeng nodded. “Yes. It’s of 5th-tier strength and should be a wind-attribute formation. If it activates, it will unleash a large quantity of wind blades.”

“But now nothing is happening.”

“So things get more difficult now,” Ling Yan gulped and replied.

Yes, more difficult.

The main issue was that the Origin Formation wouldn’t activate if Feng Yigu was the one standing next to it. However, if Jiang Hanfeng and the others were to approach it, the Origin Formation would very likely activate.

Given the strength of Jiang Hanfeng and the others, it was already hard enough for them to survive Origin Formations of 4th-tier strength even with barriers applied.

Wang Doushan squinted. “Are you sure that a central control mechanism is controlling the Origin Formations and not a sly old ancient Arcana Master?”

“No one can live for tens of thousands of years,” Ma Xuan replied.

“Then this control system has definitely gained some kind of consciousness,” Wang Doushan said.

Yes, if the control mechanism could adapt to these situations, the only possible conclusion was that it had gained some kind of consciousness.

“I don’t care if it’s gained consciousness or not. The question is, what do we do now?” Feng Yigu said unhappily, standing next to the Origin Formation.

Su Chen suddenly said, “Let me try.”

“You?” Feng Yigu said with shock.

“Yes, let me do it!” Su Chen replied decisively. “Feng Yigu, you back off. Jiang Hanfeng, Ling Yan, and Ma Xuan, you guys get close and watch me take apart the Origin Formation. Tell me how to do it, and I’ll neutralize it.”

“You’ve never approached it before. It might activate,” Jiang Hanfeng replied.

“Then that’s even less of an issue,” Su Chen replied.

As he spoke, he activated his Adamantine Battle Body, then applied a Meg’s Guardian to himself.

In terms of defensive ability, he wasn’t as good as Feng Yigu, but he was stronger than Jiang Hanfeng and the others. A fifth-tier Origin Formation might injure him, but it wouldn’t kill him.

Su Chen advanced towards the Origin Formation and said, “Okay, tell me what I should do.”

Jiang Hanfeng and the others glanced at each other before saying, “Release your Origin Energy slowly and sense the movements to find the trigger point...... yes, that gap is the trigger point, which tells you that the wind blades will fly out from that direction. If you move it over there, those wind blades won’t fly into your face at the very least. Then, search for the Origin Energy loop...... yes, start cutting in from there...... no......”

Bang!

A rock suddenly exploded right in front of Su Chen, a razor-sharp wind blade shooting forth from the gap. It sliced past Su Chen, leaving behind a deep incision in the ground as it cut through seven or eight trees in a row before disappearing.

Thankfully, everyone was prepared for this, and they dodged very quickly. Only Su Chen was sent flying by the wind blade. Meg’s Guardian shattered, and some of the force from the blow was transferred onto Su Chen himself.

“Senior Brother Su!” everyone yelled.

Su Chen spat out a mouthful of blood before lifting his hand, gesturing at them to stay where they were. “Don’t come here. I’ll be okay. Just then, I didn’t control my energy well enough. Let’s continue. Where’s the next Origin Formation?”

Jiang Hanfeng stared blankly for a moment before pointing in front of him. “That pale-green tree over there is a wood-attribute Origin Formation. You should make poison-resistance preparations.”

Su Chen walked over to the Formation and began to neutralize it under the direction of Jiang Hanfeng and the others.

This time, he didn’t make a mistake.

Very quickly, the Origin Formation was successfully neutralized.

Su Chen advanced, neutralizing the next Origin Formation.

Su Chen discovered that neutralizing Origin Formations was actually quite similar to picking up girls.

First, you would have to find a way to develop a rapport with the target and begin to understand it. Then, you would need to cautiously move around until you find the target’s “sweet spot.” Once you found the sweet spot, as long as you weren’t too rough and made a mess of things, there was always a chance. Then, you would search for the right time to strike and permanently get rid of any of the defenses.

The thought process was similar; the only difference was the target.

Fire-type, Thunder-type, Wind-type, Wood-type, Earth-type, and other Origin Formations were just like girls with different personalities. You had to take the time to get to know them first before you were able to take the appropriate steps.

Thus, very quickly, Su Chen was able to taste success.

His speed at neutralizing the formations also continued to increase. Sometimes, he didn’t even need Jiang Hanfeng and the others to direct him; just a few simple pointers were enough for him to figure out what to do.

Jiang Hanfeng and the others were extremely satisfied with his performance. “Third Senior Brother really is a genius. If you are willing to spend some time studying the path of Origin Formations, you will definitely become a talented Origin Formation Master.”

“Neutralizing them is always easier than making them. I am already very happy if I am able to neutralize them effectively,” Su Chen laughed.

As he spoke, he had successfully neutralized another Origin Formation.

A day flew by very quickly. Upon seeing that it was nearing sundown, everyone found a place to set up camp, rest, and cook food.

As nightfall came, everyone went to rest. Although there were people standing guard, however, the rest of the students couldn’t fall asleep.

The night passed uneventfully.

The following morning, everyone continued to advance deeper into the mountain. The research station seemed simultaneously close enough to touch and as far away as the horizon.

This void was truly quite mysterious. For it to have remained intact for nearly 36000 years, everyone was extremely excited by what might be in the research lab.

They proceeded in this manner for three days. With Ji Ruoyu’s help, they finally arrived close to the research lab.

During that time, they had been ambushed by Vicious Beasts a number of times. However, their teamwork was quite good, and they had made it to this point without a single casualty.

As they glanced up the mountain, they found that the peak was just above them.

The massive research lab was clearly in view.

Even though they called it a research lab, it was more like a massive castle constructed at the top of a mountain. Dense Origin Energy enveloped the ancient castle, and it gave off an extremely imposing, awe-inspiring aura.

Upon reaching this point, the mountain’s restrictions could no longer stop their advance. Everyone anticipated their imminent victory.

“We’re finally there,” Wang Doushan sighed in relief. “I want to see what good things are within the research lab.”

“Everyone, be careful,” Ji Ruoyu said. “I can feel that the research lab is surrounded by a powerful void compression force. We might not be able to get in just like that.”

“What will happen if we do go right in?” He Yuandong asked.

“It’ll activate!” Ji Ruoyu replied.

Activate?

The students glanced at each other.

“What will it activate?”

“If we pretend that this mountain is like a piece of paper, right now, it’s crumpled up into a ball. However, if you break the void compression force’s balance, the metaphorical piece of paper will flatten out. What happens then?” Ji Ruoyu replied.

Qi Weiyan replied, “It will become much larger.”

“That’s right.” Ji Ruoyu nodded.

“So what?” The others couldn’t understand. If it grew larger, then it grew larger. Why did Ji Ruoyu seem so serious about it?

Su Chen said, “This disturbance wouldn’t be small, would it?”

Ji Ruoyu laughed, “If a mountain suddenly collapses, could the disturbance possibly be small?”

“Of course not,” Su Chen sighed. “Most importantly, the ruins might not be able to withstand a disturbance of this magnitude.”

Everyone was stunned by this. They finally understood what Ji Ruoyu was saying.

The space within the ruins was constantly destabilizing. If the large mountain were to suddenly collapse, the void space would be affected, greatly decreasing the amount of time they had left in the ruins.

“It looks like we can’t attack it head-on,” He Yuandong said. “Ruoyu, you go with Wei Yang, Hanfeng, and the others. Try to think of a way to break through this void compression layer.”

“Yes!” Ji Ruoyu nodded.

“Wait a second. You few will be enough. Wei Yang has something else he needs to take care of,” Su Chen suddenly said.

He nodded at Wei Yang, who understood and turned around to leave.

Everyone was caught off-guard. They didn’t know what Su Chen was trying to do by giving Wei Yang directions at this point.

He Yuandong glanced at Su Chen. “You do know that we should be focusing our attention on breaking through this void compression layer right now, right?”

Su Chen laughed, “I know, but I won’t need him for too long. I’m just taking some preventative measures is all.”

He Yuandong stared at him but said nothing in the end.

He had trusted Su Chen in the past, and he chose to continue trusting Su Chen at this moment.

Half a day later, Wei Yang returned, nodded at Su Chen, and then joined their efforts in bypassing the void compression formation.

The void compression formation was complex and not easy to neutralize. If it weren’t for Ji Ruoyu’s assistance, the four of them would have had some serious trouble neutralizing it. Even so, they had to be careful at every step.

“At most, we only need another half a day until we can break this open!” Jiang Hanfeng, whose personality was very lighthearted, couldn’t help but proclaim in excitement over their imminent success.

At that moment.

Boom!

A massive explosion sounded out.

Below them, a swathe of flames had engulfed a section of the forest, sending a wild burst of energy surging everywhere.

An unknown number of trees caught fire under the onslaught of these flames.

“What’s going on?” Everyone was completely stunned.

“Nothing too serious. The Inferno Origin Formation I set up earlier has been triggered,” Wei Yang replied as he turned around to glance behind him.

Inferno Origin Formation?

Was that what Wei Yang had been up to?

“Su Chen told you to set it up?” He Yuandong asked.

“Yes!” Wei Yang nodded. “Three days earlier, Su Chen told me to gather all the ingredients and prepare to set up this formation. I thought that Senior Brother Su was overthinking things, but it seems like he was absolutely correct.”

“Who activated it?” someone asked in a daze.

“Do you even need to ask?” Wang Doushan coldly laughed. “Of course it’s the Ferocious Race.”

As if in response to what he had said, a multitude of Ferocious Race youths appeared in the forests below them.

The Ferocious Race youths, who should have been bumbling around in the void labyrinth way below them, had suddenly appeared here. They stared upwards with ferocious expressions, the inscriptions on their bodies glowing as they passed through the flames. They let out enraged howls, their desire to kill soaring.