Chapter 566: The Suspended Formation

“This…” Bai Huan truly could not explain it away. He was nothing more than a low-ranking disciple, and everything he knew was secondhand gossip. He was merely using it to fool Zhang Xiaohua and show off his supposed breadth of knowledge. How could he possibly know the answer to such a profound question?

His eyes rolled, and he smiled. “Pacification, pacification. Junior Brother Ren wouldn’t know about that, would he?”

“Pacification? I don’t understand. Please enlighten me, Senior Brother Bai,” said Zhang Xiaohua, wishing he would say more and naturally going along with it.

Bai Huan stroked the few whiskers beneath his chin that he could barely grasp, wearing an expression as though everything were already under control. “Although the Piaomiao Sect isn’t worth a coin in our Incense-Spreading Sect, it was still a super sect that dominated one region of the jianghu. Think about it. They were easily destroyed by us, then brought all the way here from thousands of li away, never again enjoying their former glory. Do you think they can accept that? Oh, and I’ve heard that many of them were severely injured. Their bones were crushed by the old Consecrated Elders, leaving them bedridden and unable to move freely. There were also many first-rate experts of the jianghu whose cultivation was crippled by a single finger from our Sect Leader, leaving them powerless. How could they not harbor resentment?”

Then he glanced around and said mysteriously, “You may not know this, but several halls within our Incense-Spreading Sect are on bad terms with this Piaomiao Hall. The disciples of Piaomiao Hall aren’t particularly skilled in martial arts, but they’re united, and they’ve gotten into plenty of fights with disciples from the Outer Sect. To restrict them, our Tuodan Hall disciples are forbidden from having contact with Piaomiao Hall disciples, for fear that medicinal pills might find their way into Piaomiao Hall.”

Then he continued, “Aiya, I’ve gone off topic. Back to pacification. Our Sect Leader is a man of extraordinary vision and strategy. He anticipated the resentment of the Piaomiao Hall disciples long ago, so he used both kindness and authority. He assigned the best peak, Shixin Peak, to them, allowing them to live there comfortably. I’ve heard that many Inner Sect disciples guard the area around Shixin Peak, preventing people from entering or leaving freely.”

“Oh? If people can’t freely enter or leave Shixin Peak, then how do conflicts with Piaomiao Hall members occur?”

“Ai, you don’t understand, Junior Brother Ren. Although Shixin Peak has the richest resources and the finest medicinal herbs—and the greatest quantity of them—they can’t simply ‘close themselves off from the world,’, can they? Many things still need to be exchanged with the other halls. For example, if they don’t provide their medicinal herbs to our Tuodan Hall, are they going to refine pills themselves? Oh, I’ve heard Piaomiao Hall does have a few people who can refine pills, but compared to our Tuodan Hall, they’re far inferior.”

Zhang Xiaohua smiled and said, “I understand now. The disciples of the sect are probably just looking down on Piaomiao Hall because they’re newcomers and deliberately bullying them, just like what happened to me on my first night at Tianmu Peak.”

“This…” Bai Huan looked somewhat embarrassed. Back then, he had openly and secretly tried to get tribute from Zhang Xiaohua. Now that he had seen Zhang Xiaohua defeat even one of the Ten Vajras, how could he dare bring up those events again? Hearing Zhang Xiaohua mention it now, although Zhang Xiaohua had not directly referred to Bai Huan’s attitude toward him, Bai Huan still felt extremely awkward.

“Ahem, ahem.” Bai Huan coughed and said, “How can Piaomiao Hall be compared to Junior Brother Ren? Junior Brother Ren is a direct disciple of our Incense-Spreading Sect, having entered openly and honorably through Spring Rebirth Valley. They, on the other hand, joined halfway through. No one can guarantee they won’t rebel against the Incense-Spreading Sect tomorrow. Who would give them a pleasant face? Besides, Junior Brother Ren is a heaven-sent genius. Though young, your martial arts are superb. Even the Great Vajra has to give you some respect. Piaomiao Hall is nothing more than a hall of the wounded and crippled. Who would care whether they lived or died?”

“Oh!” Zhang Xiaohua’s brows could not help but knit together, and a trace of sharpness flashed through his eyes. Since even a disciple like Bai Huan spoke this way, the circumstances of the Piaomiao Sect within the Incense-Spreading Sect could easily be imagined.

“By the way, Senior Brother Bai, I’ve only been in the Incense-Spreading Sect for a short time. I first went to Baiyue Peak and then came straight to Tianmu Peak. I don’t know where Shixin Peak is located.”

Bai Huan suspected nothing and casually pointed eastward, toward a tiny black speck that was barely visible beneath the sunlight. “There, isn’t it right over there?”

Zhang Xiaohua looked in that direction, but he could not see it clearly at all. Surprised, he asked, “Why is it so far away? I remember that traveling from Baiyue Peak to Tianmu Peak only takes half a day or at most a day.”

“You don’t know this…” Bai Huan once again assumed the posture of a teacher, pointing toward a dozen or so black specks within the sea of clouds, some distinct and some indistinct. “I’ve heard that the nineteen peaks of our Incense-Spreading Sect form some kind of formation, with Yixiang Peak at the center and the other eighteen peaks arranged around it in an orderly pattern. But that pattern isn’t circular. It’s supposedly somewhat like the Big Dipper. Tianmu Peak and Baiyue Peak happen to be the farthest from Shixin Peak, nearly three or four days’ journey away.”

“So far away?” Zhang Xiaohua felt somewhat disappointed. This Bai Huan was surely sent by Chen Fengxiao to keep an eye on him. If it were only half a day’s journey like Baiyue Peak, he might be able to make a round trip in a day and find some excuse to go. But Shixin Peak was actually three or four days away. Wouldn’t a round trip take seven or eight days? No excuse would be easy to explain.

“Sigh, I’d better stay on Tianmu Peak for now. I’ll wait until I’ve become more familiar here and Chen Fengxiao no longer harbors any suspicions toward me.” Zhang Xiaohua could only comfort himself in this way. He directly ignored the Inner Sect disciples guarding the way to Shixin Peak.

When Zhang Xiaohua had first entered the Incense-Spreading Sect, he had been extremely worried about his second brother’s safety. His sole thought had been to find Piaomiao Hall as quickly as possible, for only by seeing his second brother with his own eyes could he be at ease. But after what he had seen and heard over the past few days within the Incense-Spreading Sect, he discovered that the disciples’ martial arts were no great shakes, and they had very little contact with the outside world. Looking at the disciples of Tuodan Hall, they all seemed quite ordinary, far inferior to the disciples of the Piaomiao Sect he had encountered before. Some of them might not even be able to compare to Little Fish Nie. As a result, he was no longer overly worried about his second brother’s safety.

If his second brother had safely arrived at the Incense-Spreading Sect, then he was certainly living well on Shixin Peak now. But if something unfortunate had truly happened to him, then even if Zhang Xiaohua forced his way onto Shixin Peak at this moment, he still might not be able to see his second brother alive. Since that was the case, he could only wait for a suitable opportunity to act.

At this moment, Bai Huan lowered his voice mysteriously and said: “Junior Brother Ren, actually, there is an old legend concerning these nineteen great mountains. I wonder if you’ve ever heard it?”

“A legend?” Zhang Xiaohua was immediately taken aback and said with a smile, “Of course, I haven’t. Ever since entering the Incense-Spreading Sect, I’ve only been to Baiyue Peak and Tianmu Peak. The first disciple I truly got to know was Senior Brother Bai. No one else has spoken to me so frankly and told me so much. How could I possibly know?”

Bai Huan was quite pleased by this so-called flattery and said with a smile: “Our Incense-Spreading Sect has many legends. For example, regarding these nineteen mountain peaks, it is said that originally only Yixiang Peak stood on the ground, while the other eighteen peaks floated in the air!”

“Ah!!!” Zhang Xiaohua’s mouth fell open as he stared in disbelief at the islands within the sea of clouds. “How is that possible?”

Then he looked at Tianmu Peak beneath his feet, stamped the ground, and asked, “Tianmu Peak floated in the air too?”

“Of course! Exactly so. Baiyue Peak, Shixin Peak, and the others were all suspended in the air!” Bai Huan declared with absolute certainty.

Hearing this, Zhang Xiaohua became somewhat hesitant. If the Incense-Spreading Sect truly were a great immortal cultivation sect, it would not be strange for it to possess astonishing things. Zhang Xiaohua himself was a Qi Refining cultivator and should have been able to accept such matters. Yet the thought of towering mountains tens of thousands of feet high floating in the heavens and forming a complete formation to protect Yixiang Peak was far beyond his understanding. There seemed to be no such description in the jade slips he had seen.

However, a flash of inspiration suddenly crossed his mind. Leaving aside other formations, weren’t the rabbit talisman and rooster talisman within his Niwan Palace, together with the golden sphere they formed, also arranged in a three-dimensional structure rather than on a single plane? If a person of great magical power refined such talismans one by one, it might indeed be possible to form a complete formation. Or perhaps if each mountain peak were refined into a talisman, then these peaks really could form a suspended formation. Only, what level of power would be required to accomplish such a feat? Perhaps only the legendary Foundation Establishment cultivators could do it.

Alas, poor Zhang Xiaohua. With no one to guide him and having heard only of Foundation Establishment, he practically regarded it as the ultimate endpoint of cultivation. Perhaps only after reaching that stage would he discover that beyond the heavens there were still greater heavens.

Seeing Zhang Xiaohua’s dumbfounded expression and utter disbelief, Bai Huan felt immensely satisfied and continued with a smile, “Of course, this is merely an old legend and can’t really be taken seriously. In any case, I still don’t believe it. Just think about it. If they were all floating in the air, what would happen if one of our sect’s seniors accidentally slipped and fell off a mountain? Wouldn’t they be smashed into a meat paste? And if they wanted to visit another peak, how would they do it? Surely they couldn’t climb down to the ground on ropes first, then climb up another rope to reach a different peak?”

After hearing that, Zhang Xiaohua broke out in a cold sweat. This… it really was a case of not fearing ignorance, only fearing baseless speculation. Bai Huan truly had quite an imagination. If immortal cultivators had no means of securing the things on a mountain, then once a mountain floated into the sky, wouldn’t all the rocks, plants, and trees upon it immediately tumble down? As for being smashed to death in a fall—he really dared to think such things. If the Immortal Dao had not declined into obscurity, immortal cultivators would certainly possess techniques for flying through the air. How could they so easily fall?

After proudly presenting his own views and thoroughly astonishing Zhang Xiaohua, Bai Huan continued, “Oh, right, Junior Brother Ren, why did you come down here? Come on, I’ll help carry your bedding and other belongings up. We should tidy up the hut first. You have no idea how lazy those people are. Even if they don’t stay there every night, they should at least clean up the fruit peels and scraps of paper. The place is piled up like a mountain. If I’d known it was this bad, I should have made them clean it up before leaving.”

Zhang Xiaohua asked curiously, “Senior Brother Bai, can you carry both your bedding and mine?”

“Of course I can’t. But can’t I ask a few other senior brothers to help?”

“Then why not have them help clean up as well?”

“Ahem, ahem. With Hall Master Chen not around, how would I dare order them about? As for carrying the bedding, I’m doing it under Junior Brother Ren’s banner!”

Zhang Xiaohua was speechless.