Chapter 42: Serpent Formation Standoff - A Lone Battle

These people had been waiting here for a full three months without leaving. They came here not for anything else but for one person. It was Chu Xiaotian, who had offended the royal family and shattered the holy decree. The lineup now was truly formidable; it was clear that this time the Emperor was thoroughly enraged and was determined to take Chu Xiaotian's life.

Leaving the Demon Wind Forest, he arrived at the outskirts.

"What has happened?"

Chu Xiaotian naturally saw this army; they were too conspicuous, with numerous members and a murderous aura, each person's presence not weak, the weakest having stepped into the Martial Realm.

"Chu Xiaotian!"

As soon as he arrived, a commanding voice emerged from the army. Then, a flash of cold light shot towards Chu Xiaotian. It was a streak of sword light, strong and fast, aiming directly at Chu Xiaotian's vital spot without any mercy.

Facing this sword light, Chu Xiaotian's eyes immediately turned icy cold, with a hint of chill emerging. He stretched out his hand and firmly grasped the sword light, squeezing it forcefully in his palm.

"Crack!"

A crisp sound followed, and the sword light shattered. Chu Xiaotian stood unharmed, his gaze towards the army cold and terrifying, sending shivers down the spine.

"Destroyed the sword light with one hand?!"

"Chu Xiaotian's strength has increased a lot!"

"This battle seems interesting now."

The surrounding crowd, drawn by the commanding voice, had just witnessed Chu Xiaotian's powerful moment and couldn't help but exclaim.

"Royal family?"

Seeing the opponent's move and the vast number of people, only the Northern Yan Kingdom within the whole country could summon so many troops to wait for his appearance. It was obviously not the power of the martial arts academy.

"It seems the royal family's intent to kill me is unyielding!"

Chu Xiaotian thought to himself, with the chill in his eyes growing denser and even emitting a strong murderous and deadly aura. The evil and killing aura he had accumulated over the three months in the Demon Wind Forest was extremely dense, not weaker than those martial artists who had stayed in the Demon Wind Forest for years.

"Blocked it?"

The martial artist in the army who had made the move, at the ninth realm of Ling Yuan, saw Chu Xiaotian block his attack with one hand, his brow furrowed, and his face slightly unpleasant. According to the intelligence, Chu Xiaotian was merely a third-realm Ling Yuan martial artist. Even if he had entered the Demon Wind Forest for three months, he should be at most the fifth realm of Ling Yuan. How could he possibly block his full-strength strike?

"Today, you must die!"

The royal family's intent to eliminate Chu Xiaotian was very strong. After the warrant was issued, many martial artists participated, but many gave up upon knowing that Chu Xiaotian had slashed the holy decree. The reward was rich, but one needed to be alive to spend it. With no one taking the bounty, the royal family had no choice but to send a large army to wait for Chu Xiaotian's emergence from the Demon Wind City and simultaneously sent several teams into the Demon Wind Forest to hunt Chu Xiaotian. However, they had not encountered him.

"Form the battle formation, kill the enemy!"

The ninth-realm martial artist issued the command.

"Yes."

The voice resonated like a bell, shaking the mountains and rivers, the voice of thousands echoing between heaven and earth, unable to dissipate for a long time. Then, the army immediately spread out and encircled Chu Xiaotian, forming a serpent-like formation, completely surrounding him with no avenue of escape.

"Serpent Formation?"

The crowd watching the scene gasped in shock. Everyone couldn't believe that the royal family used the Serpent Formation to deal with Chu Xiaotian. The Serpent Formation was very flexible. To escape from it, one would have to completely repel one side; otherwise, the people from other areas would immediately fill the gaps, and the warriors within the formation would be worn down to death.

"Charge!"

With the command given, thousands of soldiers in the formation roared coldly. Long spears in hand emitted a cold light, seeming to tear the heavens apart, ready for battle.

"Kill!"

The east wind blew, drums of war sounded. The cold wind was bleak, and the battle intent was full. Thousands of people took a step simultaneously, and the terrible pressure all focused on Chu Xiaotian, even he felt a heavy pressure.

This battle formation was extremely formidable.

Now, only he stood alone, battling against the formation; whether he could survive was unknown.

Inside the formation, Chu Xiaotian could clearly feel the killing intent and battle will of these soldiers. That ethereal will seemed to materialize, condensing into a battle spear, hanging high in the sky, ready to unsheathe and kill at any moment.

"Thud!"

Just a single step caused the earth to shake. Countless people changed color at this moment, fear emerging in their eyes.

"Kill!"

This step shattered mountains and rivers; this step extinguished heaven and earth. In an instant, thousands of people attacked Chu Xiaotian simultaneously, with long spears unstoppable. Hundreds behind burst out with vigorous spiritual energy, condensing into spears of light, their terrifying might unknowably stronger than the thousands in front.

And the only real threat to Chu Xiaotian was those hundred or so Ling Yuan realm martial artists. After all, Martial Realm martial artists could not release spiritual energy, posing much less of a threat.

"Hmph."

Watching the Martial Realm warriors with their spears charging and Ling Yuan warriors with spirit spears breaking through the air, Chu Xiaotian in the battle formation faced a certain death situation. At this moment, everyone thought Chu Xiaotian had no chance of survival.

"Open."

Facing the overwhelming spirit spear attacks and the spears at close range, Chu Xiaotian's eyes held a cold chill.

"Buzz~~"

His body resonated intensely, and then, centered around Chu Xiaotian, within tens of meters, sword energy hummed, and sword intent spread between heaven and earth, mighty and vast. Even warriors wearing long swords found their swords uncontrollably flying towards Chu Xiaotian's direction.

...

Almost in the blink of an eye, hundreds of long swords appeared surrounding Chu Xiaotian's body. Sword intent amplified their bodies, erupting with sharp cold light, and the terrifying sword energy made everyone's face involuntarily change.

"Is that Sword Domain?"

Witnessing this scene, the watching crowd gasped in shock, their eyes filled with horror. Domains were something that only Xuan Ling powerhouses could control; how could Chu Xiaotian, a mere Ling Yuan realm warrior, control it?!

"It seems numbers won't make any difference now."

Some warriors had expectant looks in their eyes. They were keen-sighted and could see clearly that Chu Xiaotian's Sword Domain was strong, and his strength was also terrifyingly powerful. They knew that those who possessed a domain didn't care about numbers; the more there were, the more they looked forward to it.

"Kill!"