Chapter 363: Are you out of your mind
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Shock appeared on the faces of the soldiers when they felt the surrounding pressure.
In reality, this theory was extremely simple. Because, when a "huge nail" that fell from the sky appeared within an army that was arranged extremely neatly, it would instinctively cause people to dodge to one side.
In an instant, this also caused a huge empty space to appear in the area around the black spear. This empty space naturally created a force outwards.
A truly perfect formation not only required trained and quality soldiers, it also required commanders who embodied great leadership abilities.
Of course, the formation that Nangong Hao set up was perfect.
Hence, after seeing this happen, a commander instantly waved his flag furiously as he barked out firm orders.
This caused the initially somewhat chaotic troops to return to their ordered state
However, there wasn't much use in this.
Because…
Very quickly, ten black spears descended from the skies, carrying with it a powerful gust of wind and impaling a "huge nail" in the corner of the formation.
As the black nail dug into the ground, feathered arrows that filled the sky fell once again.
Another circle appeared, and compared to the previous circle, it was at least two times larger. It looked like a bush filled with thorns.
Another commander stood out and waved the flag in his hands, and started giving orders.
However, before he even had the time to wave his flag, a third "huge nail" fell from the sky once again. And, that wasn't all. The fourth, fifth, sixth…
One by one, areas filled with black spears and white feathered arrows formed at various areas within the formation. The initially ordered formation turned into a large face filled with holes.
The commanders were soaked with sweat as they furiously waved their flags and attempted to give orders.
Even though Fang Zhengzhi's actions caused them some headache, they remained confident that the Eight Diagrams Formation that Nangong Hao had set up will never be truly defeated by a few "huge nails".
Hence, they continued to direct the troops as they shot a spiteful smile towards Fang Zhengzhi who was giving the orders to shoot.
If casually throwing a few spears and shooting a few arrows could defeat a formation.
Then, wasn't this formation a little too worthless?
However, the spite on their face didn't last for long before it froze. Because, at this moment, they felt that something wasn't quite right.
The Eight Diagrams contained eight doors, while the eight doors had to continuously undergo variations and changes in order to maintain its power. However, when they directed the eight doors to undergo changes, they realised...
No matter what route they varied, they weren't able to avoid the "huge nails" on the ground.
This was equivalent to somebody setting up a trap in your path. Either you remove this trap, or you take the longer route.
However, could the Eight Diagram Formation change its route within a variation?
Of course it could.
However, they couldn't. Because, Nangong Hao had never taught them that. Hence, they had no way of directing further changes to the formation.
This way, it naturally caused the Eight Diagrams Formation to be unable to vary, and hence, causing it to lose its liveliness. This also meant that unlike before, the formation couldn't be used to suppress the scholars within the formation anymore.
Putting it simply, when the Eight Diagrams was able to move and vary, I could have fifty soldiers fighting against Wu Feng. After a round of fighting, I could go to one side and take a break, then attack Chen Feiyu afterwards. After fighting, I'll rest again…
But now?
This meant that these fifty soldiers had to constantly fight Wu Feng and it was impossible for their other friends to help them.
Could fifty soldiers hold back Wu Feng?
Yes, however, they couldn't do so for long!
"Why are things like this?!"
Each of the flag carrying commanders exchanged glances with one another and saw the doubt in each other's eyes. It was a form of doubt that stemmed from disbelief.
Because, in order to achieve such an outcome.
There could only be one possibility.
That was that Fang Zhengzhi had already seen through Nangong Hao's Eight Diagrams Formation and after which, very skillfully inserted "huge nails" one by one in the middle of the variation paths of the Eight Diagrams Formation.
The commanders behind Fang Zhengzhi were just as flabbergasted.
When they saw that Fang Zhengzhi ordered for the shooting of spears and arrows, even though they carried out the orders according to Fang Zhengzhi's instructions, in their hearts, they believed that it was just a distraction method.
However, when they saw that the Eight Diagrams Formation in front of them had actually begun to slow down in its rate of change, and, even seeming as if it was almost about to stop moving completely, they were finally filled with shock.
"There is something weird about the positions he shot at!"
"It is the variation paths of the formation! The areas Fang Zhengzhi instructed us to shoot were the variation paths!"
"That's right, in order for their movements to remain fluid, they have to first pluck out those arrows and spears. However, they simply don't have the time to pluck them."
"Even if they plucked, that doesn't pose a problem to us. Because, they can never pluck faster than we shoot!"
"How did he achieve this?"
As the commanders discussed, their gazes focused on Fang Zhengzhi. They were truly shocked.
Because, Fang Zhengzhi wasn't shooting randomly!
He wasn't!
He had a plan, he shot with an aim. Every spot he shot would definitely hinder the movement of the formation!
"Shoot!"
Fang Zhengzhi didn't pay the slightest bit of attention to the discussion among the commanders behind him. Instead, he continued to give out orders from the front. And, his gaze had already slowly begun to expand towards the Big Dipper Formation behind.
The Eight Diagrams Formation emphasized defence.
Breaking that defence was the first step. The second step was an attack that destroyed the offensive power of this formation.
Without offensive power, one could say that this formation was already a harmless formation that posed no threat. Hence, there would be no problem in entering it.
As Fang Zhengzhi gave his order.
Black spears and white feathered arrows rapidly shot towards the sky, and then, nailed down upon the vital points of the formation like countless huge nails.
As for the people that felt the effects of this most deeply.
That was doubtlessly Wu Feng, Chen Feiyu and the scholars.
There was a time when they believed that they could hold back groups of soldiers, and even once believed that they could remain fearless even when faced with hundreds and even thousands of soldiers.
But today…
In front of Nangong Hao's formation, they seemed to have turned into useless soft plums, allowing Nangong Hao to rub them, pinch them, squeeze them…
Furthermore, most importantly, they were bullied and shamed in front of Fang Zhengzhi.
Unhappiness, misery.
These emotions flowed through their minds over and over again. However, they couldn't do anything about it. The surrounding soldiers were too agile. When your blade slashed down upon the two people in front of you, the results were that either you discover that there was actually nobody in front of you, or that ten people suddenly appeared.
Formations were strange and mysterious.
They knew this very well.
However, even though they were within the formation, they had no way of defeating it. Because, the path they entered from was the gate of death that directly faced the Eight Diagrams Formation.
How could they live when faced with death!
Yet, at this moment, the feeling was different.
That was a feeling of joy and freedom that came about from leading a perfect life. The faces of the surrounding soldiers stopped changing as they each stood with a dazed expression in front of all of them.
The initial agility and fluidity had disappeared. All that was left was petrification, just like a log.
It was extremely difficult to deal with an agile rabbit. However, it was definitely an extremely easy task to deal with a sheep that could only lower its head to chew on grass.
Hence, they began. They raised their hand. The blade fell, the hand raises, the blade fell…
"Ah ah ah!"
"Ah!"
"Crack!"
Bloodcurdling cries and the snapping of weapons quickly started to sound out. Furthermore, as time passed, these sounds became more and more frequent.
At the very end, huge empty spaces began to appear.
Those spaces were the areas surrounding the scholars.
The soldiers who were initially surrounding them tightly quickly backed off one by one. Because, it was definitely an extremely horrifying experience to face with a group of scholars of the Heavenly Reflection Peak State.
The retreat of the soldiers didn't seem to cause these scholars to have any intention of stopping.
Because, they had to unleash the anger that had built up for so long. And, it had to be a harsh and unforgiving form of unleash, even if they understood in some way or another that this opportunity was given to them by Fang Zhengzhi.
But, so what if it was?
After being suppressed and attacked by others for so long, now that they were finally able to stand back up, was it possible for them to not return a few fists?
Arrogance was the fundamental nature of these scholars.
Hence, they had to be on the very top. And, they could only be on the very top.
Even though it was not an extent to which they would deliver fatal blows, but, casually causing a few broken bones here and there, or even accidentally causing people to fall to the ground with heavy injuries, were still frequent.
Chen Feiyu was the one who had held back the longest in this period of time.
After crossing the barrier to the Supernatural State with great difficulty, he had initially thought that it would be a time filled with honour and glory. Yet, he just happened to meet a certain Fang Zhengzhi. Not even mentioning that he was eliminated, now, he was trapped within Nangong Hao's Eight Diagrams Formation.
This was a form of shame that only blood would wash away!
A seven-inch sword swam around the bodies of countless bodies like a moving dragon. Within the faint blue glow, there were a few flashes of jade-green light as fresh blood spilled.
Yet, right at this moment.
The whistling of an arrow suddenly rang out.
Before this arrow whistling sound rang out, Chen Feiyu had heard too many arrow whistling sounds already. However, his attention was still captured by this sound. Because, this whistling sound was too loud.
Raising his head.
A glow flashed in Chen Feiyu's eyes.
Because, that was a jade green arrow glow, leaving a black crack that ripped space apart in its wake and flying towards his chest with lightning speed.
"The Million Sword Illustration~"
Chen Feiyu definitely knew that this was the ultimate technique of the Divine Constabulary.
He knew even clearer who was the one who had shot this arrow. Because, during the horseback hunting competition, he had witnessed very clearly Fang Zhengzhi using this archery technique to badly injure the Number Seven and Number Eight of the Rising Dragon Roll, Xiang Tianying and Tang Zhongming.
He didn't know why Fang Zhengzhi would shoot him.
However, he wanted to block this shot!
Because…
He wanted to prove to everybody that he, Chen Feiyu's, strength had already long surpassed that of Xiang Tianying and Tang Zhongming, and even exceeded that of Fang Zhengzhi and Wu Feng.
His sword shot out. Rain fell.
With Chen Feiyu's sword at its heart, a snow white flower suddenly blossomed. After which, a torrential storm began to brew in the air as multiple jade-green coloured vines began to dance.
"Open!" Chen Feiyu bellowed.
With one movement of the sword, the torrential storm congregated at the tip of his sword, as the snow white flowers blossomed in all directions, turning into pieces of flower petals that spun at rapid speeds. With the sword in the center, it carried with it the power like that of the Torrential Pear Blossom and clashed towards that jade-green light arrow.
"Boom!" A loud echo resounded. Streaks of thin jade-green rapidly exploded outwards. However, at the same time those streaks of light intersected, the curtain of rain formed by the torrential rain spun towards those thin streaks of light like a tornado.
The Torrential Pear Blossom Sword Technique!
The secret technique of the Sun Constabulary of the Thirteen Constabularies, a sword technique that encompassed both defence and offence.
When the surrounding scholars saw this scene, the expressions of their faces instantly froze completely. They knew very clearly what that jade-green arrow was.
Because…
As long as they had participated in the horseback hunting competition of the East suburb hunting ground, there wasn't a single scholar who wouldn't know that this arrow was shot by Fang Zhengzhi. And, there wasn't a single scholar who knew the power that this arrow represented.
In the Great Xia Dynasty, even the number seventh of the Rising Dragon Roll, Xiang Tianying, the Xiang Tianying who was renowned for his Purple Crystal Territory, had no way of directly blocking these arrows.
However, a moment ago, Chen Feiyu had just…
Blocked it?!
And, it was a direct block.
"Don't tell me…"
"Could it be that Chen Feiyu had reached a new state?"
"That's impossible!"
"Without reaching a new state, how could he block this arrow with this abilities?"
"Is it possible that Fang Zhengzhi didn't put in all his power to avoid harming him?"
As the scholars attempted to guess, they quickly understood one thing. It should be because Fang Zhengzhi had shown mercy.
Because, using reaching a new state to explain this problem.
Was a little too exaggerating.
Furthermore, at this moment, Fang Zhengzhi and Chen Feiyu indeed belonged on the same time. The explanation that Fang Zhengzhi had shown mercy was clearly more reasonable to compared to Chen Feiyu's enlightenment.
Hence, after the scholars understood this, they all turned their gazes towards Fang Zhengzhi who was standing not too far away. Because, they all understood Fang Zhengzhi's intentions.
"Put down your weapon and surrender!" A scholar quickly began to shout out.
"If you don't surrender, I don't mind crippling a few more!" Another scholar also began to cry out.
However, these cries, in the ears of Chen Feiyu, didn't sound very pleasing. Shouldn't everybody be cheering for the sword technique he had just displayed?
What is this!
I had blocked Fang Zhengzhi's Million Sword Illustration!
Wait a minute, don't tell me that these people would believe that Fang Zhengzhi was showing mercy on purpose? Or, could it be that blocking the Million Sword Illustration wasn't sufficient to show that he had already attained the Supernatural State?
Chen Feiyu really wished to shout out loudly. Open your blind eyes wide and look clearly! I, Chen Feiyu, had already attained the Supernatural State, I am stronger than Fang Zhengzhi!
However, when the words reached his mouth, it turned into another sentence.
"Fang Zhengzhi, shoot another arrow if you dare to!" This was because Chen Feiyu thought that praising himself was definitely much less amazing compared to being praised by others.
Hence, he prepared to catch another arrow from Fang Zhengzhi to boost his prestige.
Yet…
Fang Zhengzhi, who was standing not too far away, only shot a middle finger at him, and after which revealed a spiteful and condescending expression on his face, huffing lightly towards him.
"Are you out of your mind?"