"Haha, Brother Miao, I haven't seen you for just a few days, and yet Qiankun Mountain has transformed!"
The laughter arrived before the person even arrived.
The first to speak was naturally Mo Zhonglong, the head of the Mo family. With a wave of his hand, he manipulated his magic weapon and in a flash, he arrived at the spacious reception platform.
With a wave of his hand, he sheathed the magic weapon, and several formation masters on it moved and landed steadily on the ground.
"Welcome, Lord Palace Master."
Ming Qi was extremely polite. After all, he was asking someone to do him a favor. If he wasn't polite, these old guys might tamper with the formation setup, which would be troublesome.
"You're so polite. You'll be the leader of a region too. There's no distinction between superior and inferior between us."
Mo Zhonglong's expression was dignified yet kind, and he looked like a gentleman.
After some pleasantries, the group arrived at the reception hall, where tea was served.
Ming Qi then asked, "I wonder what this formation the Lord of the Mansion has gifted me looks like?"
As soon as he asked about the formation, Mo Zhonglong immediately smiled and said, "Brother Miao, to be honest, we in the Mo family can't boast about anything else, but this one, it's absolutely the pinnacle. Today, I'll gift you with a Tianmen Illusionary Combination Formation, ensuring you'll be safe even against a peak Martial King!"
"Okay!"
Ming Qi was moved by this. It seemed Mo Zhonglong wasn't boasting. While the Mo family wasn't proficient in other areas, they possessed a unique understanding of formations.
After speaking, Mo Zhonglong gestured to a short, stout old man nearby. The man stood up, approached Ming Qi, and spread a scroll on the table.
"I'm Master Yihun, our Mohist sect's top formation master. Let him briefly explain the Heavenly Gate Illusion to you."
Mo Zhonglong sipped his tea from his bowl while Master Yihun explained the scroll to Ming Qi.
"The Heavenly Gate Illusion is a combination of formations, encompassing the Little Emperor's Mysterious Formation, the Eight Gates Conferring Gods Formation, the Six Harmonies Soul-Gathering Formation, and the Phantom Invisible Sword Formation. These four formations, combined together, combine both offensive and defensive illusions in one, a truly flawless feat."
Master Yihun gestured back and forth over the scroll, unsure if Ming Qi had seen it clearly, before putting it away.
"Once the formation is set up, I'll give you the jade slip containing the activation and control instructions. You can then refer to it to activate and control the entire formation."
"Then I'll have to trouble Master Yihun and the others."
Ming Qi didn't quite understand what he was saying, but it sounded incredibly impressive. He simply ignored the rest of the information for now. He'd gotten it for free from Mo Zhonglong anyway, so he'd just finish setting it up first. Later, he'd take the time to study the formation himself, and that would give him some clues.
Next, it was the turn of the dozen or so formation masters to set up the formation. Because it took so long, Mo Zhonglong didn't stay in the Liuli Holy Land, but returned after a brief stay.
For the next few days, Ming Qi simply watched these formation masters busily bustling up and down Qiankun Mountain, with occasional personnel bringing in materials and equipment from the Jiufang Palace for the formation.
Ming Qi's men were quite attentive. Every time the Mohist formation masters finished setting up a formation, they would go and take a look, regardless of whether they could understand it or not, but at least they had to take a look.
Over ten days passed quickly, and when the grand formation was ready, Master Yihun led the other formation masters to gather their tools and materials, then handed a cyan jade slip to Ming Qi.
"This contains detailed methods and routines for controlling the formation, as well as some precautions. Now that we've completed our formation, we'll take our leave."
Master Yihun was a quick and efficient man. After explaining everything, he led his men away.
"How is it? Do you understand it?"
After seeing Master Yihun off, Ming Qi called the others over to question them.
"What the hell is this? I can't understand it at all."
Su Yuan was the first to complain. Like the others, she hadn't stopped working from beginning to end, but she knew nothing about formations and clearly couldn't make out anything.
"Haha, it's not your fault. Not only do you not understand, I don't understand either."
Ming Qi was speaking the truth; the others also couldn't make sense of it.
Ming Qi clapped his hands and said, "Since no one understands, let's test the power of this formation."
And so they did. Ming Qi, one of the group, operated the formation according to the instructions on the jade slip. He had the Di Kui Demon Fox lead Da Bai to the foot of Qiankun Mountain and wait for Ming Qi to activate the formation before returning to the mountain.
Ming Qi, assuming that the Di Kui Demon Fox and Da Bai had already descended, activated the formation.
Suddenly, Qiankun Mountain was enveloped in a thick white fog. It was impossible to discern a person within ten meters of the fog. Ming Qi then arrived at a large pool in the center of the hall and clearly saw the Di Kui Demon Fox and Da Bai circling back and forth below Qiankun Mountain. Although they were moving rapidly, they were not on the path to ascend.
It was clear that the Dikui Fox Demon and Dabai were already trapped in an illusion.
Ming Qi reached out and lightly tapped the water's surface, and the scene immediately changed. The illusion surrounding the Dikui Fox Demon and Dabai was now completely different. They could be seen heading up the mountain.
"One real, one illusion. Great!"
Ming Qi was delighted. According to the description on the jade slip, the only element that could be activated at the moment was the Little Human Emperor's Maze Formation. As for the other Eight Gates Conferred God Formation and the Phantom Invisible Sword Formation, they required sufficient spiritual energy from the Six Harmonies Soul-Absorbing Formation to function. The Eight Gates Conferred God Formation had eight formation cores. If they were replenished with spirit souls one by one, if there was sufficient spiritual energy, it would be enough to kill the Martial King.
The Six Harmonies Soul-Absorbing Formation was activated as soon as the formation was set up, drawing in spiritual energy from all directions. This not only provided the formation with basic operating energy, but also stored energy for the other two offensive formations.
"Go and bring them back."
After verifying the formation, Ming Qi was quite satisfied. She told Su Yuan how to escape the illusion, and asked her to bring back Di Kui Fox and Da Bai.
The Little Human Emperor's Maze Array remained open to prevent anyone from trying to break in.
It wasn't long before Di Kui Fox and Da Bai also knew how to break the illusion. Returning to the mountain, they were stunned. They hadn't imagined that such a powerful illusion could emerge from such a powerful arrangement on the mountaintop.
"Alright, the formation is complete. You all should focus on your cultivation. Once I thoroughly study the dragon skeleton I brought back, it will benefit everyone."
Hidden away was a hidden danger. Ming Qi had to refine it as quickly as possible. Otherwise, once the pursuers learned of his whereabouts, they would surely not relent.
The girls dispersed, and soon, Ming Qi arrived at a secret underground chamber behind the central hall.
According to the original design, Ming Qi requested a large underground space be constructed here, making it a perfect place for retreat and cultivation.
Arriving at the secret chamber and sealing the entrance, Ming Qi activated his divine diagram. With a wave of his hand, a hundred-meter-long dragon skeleton crashed to the ground. The shimmering skeleton emanated bursts of light, illuminating the entire chamber like daylight.