Even if Li Yan and his group were to counterattack, they would have to wait until the Demonic Cultivator squads on the flanks had engaged with the defensive points to their rear.
Of course, the enemy couldn't just throw everyone at Li Yan's position in one go. If they did, the cultivators on Li Yan's rear flanks would immediately rush out and form another encirclement around the Demonic Cultivators' perimeter.
In that scenario, it would be uncertain who was slaughtering whom.
Evidently, the Demonic Cultivators had been fighting the cultivators of Windy Cool Mountain for a long time and understood that to attack "Mutual Destruction Ridge," they had to simultaneously strike the defensive points on the two rear flanks. This, at least, reduced the pressure on Li Yan and his team.
This was another difference between cultivator and mortal armies. For two defensive points in a mortal army to support each other was exceedingly difficult. Even a mountain path of a single li had to be covered on foot, step by step.
That required a great deal of time, during which anything could happen. For example, if one side anticipated the other's intentions, they could set up an ambush for the support team, feint an attack to draw out forces from one defensive point, and then have an ambush force take advantage of the opening.
These were all consequences of time delays. But cultivators were different. For them, two defensive points separated by tens of li, or even a hundred li, was a distance that could be covered in a mere moment.
One could say they arrived with a howl and departed like the wind.
Li Yan immediately gave his orders. "Senior Sister Tantai, withdraw the patrol squad and lead twenty cultivators to defend the northern side. Leave the rest for Senior Brother Gong to support as needed! Fellow Daoist Wang Ning, divide your forces into two groups. Station a dozen or so people each on the eastern and western flanks! Fellow Daoist Wuye, defend the south and prepare to meet the enemy head-on. Everyone, when the formation's one-way restriction is opened, await my command to attack!"
Li Yan quickly assigned the personnel. In truth, he was extremely uneasy in his heart, greatly resenting his master for making him command the Green Sixteen Squad . He would much rather be a team member, responsible only for himself.
He didn't know if his current method of deployment was correct; he was just biting the bullet. He based his decisions on the introduction given earlier by the cultivator surnamed Fang.
The Demonic Cultivators were coming from the south, making it the main direction to defend. The east and west were shared with other defensive points. The north, although connected to Windy Cool Mountain , was the most vulnerable to a sneak attack.
The so-called three squads he now had on hand each consisted of about thirty-odd cultivators. After removing the nine maintaining the formation, each squad had roughly thirty members.
Li Yan had Tantai Dongyue leave some men for Gong Yuantai simply to preserve a mobile reserve force that could be flexibly deployed to any direction. He believed Gong Yuantai would be very familiar with this.
As for Li Yan himself, he was even freer. Wherever a problem arose, he would fly over directly at the first opportunity. Furthermore, he needed to constantly control the entire grand formation with his Divine Sense to judge the right time to attack or defend.
Wei Zhongran had also considered it carefully before putting Li Yan in charge. How many wars of this scale had the Desolate Moon Continent seen since ancient times?
Compared to the highly disciplined Demon Clan army, the composition of the Desolate Moon Continent's cultivators could only be described as a mob, swarming forward without coordination. Their teamwork was worse than that of mortal armies.
Therefore, in battles against the Demon Clan army, the outcome depended more on individual bravery to influence the broader situation. After much consideration, Wei Zhongran had decided to hand the Green Sixteen Squad over to Li Yan.
Wei Zhongran had discovered that Li Yan's approach to matters was very similar to that of Li Wuyi . He was the type of person who became calmer, almost cold-blooded, the more dangerous the situation became. This was evident from Li Yan's previous missions.
When facing Demonic Cultivators several levels stronger than him, Li Yan could calmly plan every subsequent, coherent step.
And in a crisis, he wouldn't hesitate to use himself as bait. This was precisely the kind of person their cultivator teams lacked most.
Of course, there were many fierce generals among the cultivators on the Desolate Moon Continent , but a formidable individual like Li Yan, who could crush peers of the same rank while also being skilled in strategy, was as rare as a phoenix feather or a qilin horn.
Just as Tantai Dongyue and the other two leaders took flight with their teams, about to split up, a series of earth-shaking explosions, "Boom! Boom! Boom!", erupted from the grand formation in the sky.
This caused many of the cultivators who had just flown off the platform to sway, looks of terror appearing in their eyes. The fear of the unknown was almost human nature, especially since they had all inquired about the Demonic Cultivators' combat strength before coming.
The veteran team members would not downplay their opponents. Fearing that their new comrades would be a liability on the battlefield due to underestimation, they had already described the Demonic Cultivators' actual combat prowess in detail, even exaggerating it slightly.
Among the newly conscripted cultivators, there was no lack of brave warriors and those who had experienced bloody and cruel battles. They appeared calm, even faintly excited. The rest had already fully activated their Spirit Power shields.
In contrast, the original members of the Green Sixteen Squad , apart from their exceptionally grave expressions, stabilized themselves and looked towards their three leaders.
Tantai Dongyue was herself an old member of the Green Sixteen Squad . Her face was calm, and without pausing, she took the lead and howled off towards the north.
Wuye's expression remained unchanged as well. Ignoring the thunderous roars above, he flew towards the southern edge of the formation with a burning gaze.
Wang Ning's situation was slightly different. Her pretty face was a little pale, but after a brief pause, she immediately sent a voice transmission to another Pseudo-Core cultivator, and the two of them led their teams towards the east and west flanks respectively.
Seeing that everyone was still following his orders, Li Yan breathed a small sigh of relief. At least as a whole, they still looked organized and capable of putting up a fight.
Looking at Gong Yuantai and his eight subordinates left on the platform, Li Yan sent him a voice transmission. A trace of surprise appeared for the first time on Gong Yuantai's worried face.
He hurriedly transmitted back, "Oh? Does this formation truly have the function Junior Brother Li speaks of? That would make it quite a bit stronger than the formation at 'Bone-Grinding Mountain' ."
Gong Yuantai's face clearly showed a look of disbelief, but Li Yan nodded slightly. At last, some of the tension eased from Gong Yuantai's face.
Meanwhile, Li Yan's Divine Sense swept everywhere, not daring to relax in the slightest. In just that brief moment, Tantai Dongyue and the others had led their teams to their designated positions at top speed.
Outside the "Mutual Destruction Ridge" grand formation, the cultivators who were rushing over, though not yet close, had already unleashed various high-powered arts from afar. Among these cultivators were many figures from the South Sea .
Tantai Dongyue and the other two were completely unfamiliar with the "Yin-Yang Realm River Formation." After arriving at their designated positions, for a moment they didn't know whether to go out to meet the enemy or to defend their ground.
If the "Yin-Yang Realm River Formation" did not have its one-way restriction open, they wouldn't even be able to get their attacks out. They might even end up helping the enemy break through the grand formation from the inside.
A single thought arose in all three of their minds: 'Li Yan is still nervous on the inside.' They figured that Li Yan must have forgotten to give instructions in his haste. How could he forget to explain something so important? How were they supposed to defend now?
Just as the three of them were about to send voice transmissions to Li Yan, his voice echoed in their minds.
"Aside from defense, the 'Yin-Yang Realm River Formation' also contains a set of interlocking child formations that can trap enemies within. This is why the Heavy Peak Battalion's Second Squad was able to hold on for so long with just a few dozen people. In a moment, I will control the formation to open the Gates of Death in four directions and let a portion of them in. However, it can only separate them into four areas; it cannot isolate every single enemy individually. Within these individual areas, the formation's restrictions contain small-scale sword formation attacks, equivalent to the power of ten initial-stage Foundation Establishment Sword Cultivators . Therefore, to truly kill the enemy experts, we still need people to enter those areas and slay them."
When Tantai Dongyue , Wang Ning , and Wuye heard the first half of Li Yan's message, they were pleasantly surprised, but as his tone shifted, they felt a little disappointed.
'So this formation's ability to trap and kill is still somewhat limited. If an area trapped two to five cultivators below the late-stage Foundation Establishment , a volley of sword rain would likely annihilate them. But if it trapped more than five cultivators, even if they were all mid-stage Foundation Establishment , the result would not be as desired. In the end, it still comes down to a face-to-face confrontation between cultivators.'
But on second thought, they also felt that if it were that easy, the Heavy Peak Battalion's Second Squad wouldn't have suffered such heavy casualties.
For a formation of such a vast mountain range to be capable of both offense and defense was already impressive, especially since it was being controlled by Foundation Establishment stage cultivators.
To be able to control such a massive formation to trap and kill enemies while also having defensive capabilities was already comparable to the Sect-Protecting Grand Formation of a second-rate sect. Without a cultivation base of Golden Core or higher, it would be impossible to unleash the true power of this formation.
Furthermore, the higher-ups of the Four Great Sects had decided to use their own cultivators as bait, not hesitating to sacrifice low-level cultivators to wear down the enemy here. Of course, they wouldn't bring out an even better formation.
Otherwise, if the enemy saw how powerful the grand formation was, they wouldn't be foolish enough to send batch after batch of Demonic Soldiers and cultivators to their deaths.
As Li Yan's voice transmission ended, he had already taken out the compass given to him by the cultivator surnamed Fang. He was not yet too familiar with the control manual, but it was similar to most formation controls, with only a few special aspects.
With Li Yan's understanding of formations, operating it was still a bit clumsy. Fortunately, he had the compass to assist him, so it wasn't too difficult.
As ancient runes flashed from the compass in Li Yan's hand, the cultivators within the formation felt as if the sky above them had instantly changed.
In a flash, a fierce wind howled, sending sand and stones flying, even drowning out the thunderous roars from outside the grand formation. The cloudless sky turned dark, and a chilling cold rose from the earth beneath their feet.
The ground under their feet was no longer part of the mountain but had transformed into dark passages, making them feel as if they were standing in a labyrinth.
Meanwhile, in the cave at the formation's core, a pillar of white light shot up into the sky, piercing the heavens. Nine cultivators sat around the white light pillar, their faces illuminated a stark white by the glow.
After Li Yan's voice echoed in their minds, they immediately sat cross-legged according to the positions of the Nine Palaces. Several Storage Pouches were placed beside each of them. As the white light in the center of the cave brightened, the nine cultivators simultaneously waved their sleeves. A Storage Pouch by each of their sides opened wide, and a radiant glow burst forth. Countless Spirit Stones , filled with pure Spiritual Energy , flew out from the pouches in great swathes.
The radiant lights merged into one, flying towards the central white light like moths to a flame. The white light in the center began to condense rapidly, soon forming a circular base in the middle of the cave.
Near the base, four pairs of yin-yang fish appeared—four yin and four yang. The yang was like the scorching sun, the yin like a clear spring. They gradually became distinct. As the yin and yang intertwined, they began to rotate like a wheel, and four strange powers rose from the base.
After rising into the air, the four powers looked like four swimming dragons trying to break through the void. They coiled around each other as they ascended, raising their heads and vying to be the first to soar. Finally, a thick white pillar of light shot up into the sky.
Besides continuously feeding in a large number of Spirit Stones , the nine cultivators each extended a finger to touch the yin-yang fish on the white light pillar, their Spirit Power surging into it like a tide.
However, this pillar of light was completely invisible outside the cave, let alone its terrifying might that seemed to pierce the heavens. Outside, there was only the howling wind and dense dark clouds within the grand formation.
Outside the grand formation, hundreds of multicolored beams of light struck the formation, creating ripples that deflected most of the attacks. For a moment, "Mutual Destruction Ridge" was lit up by clusters of fireballs and vast patches of ice mist, the sound shaking the heavens.