First Battle

With such significant interests involved in the spiritual mine, and the Dao Court unable to mediate, they could only abide by common rules. The Qian family and the demon hunters would start a fierce battle at the unnamed peak's spiritual mine.

Whoever wins will control the spiritual mine.

Currently, the Qian family is on the offensive, while the demon hunters are defending.

The atmosphere among the demon hunters gradually became tense.

Elder Yu ordered that all demon hunters refrain from hunting demons in the Great Black Mountain recently and summoned most of the demon hunters from the Seventh to the Ninth Qi Refining Stages to garrison inside the mine caves of the unnamed peak.

While the demon hunters prepared to repel the Qian family's attacks on one hand, they also intensified their efforts to mine the spiritual ore on the other.

It would be best to hold onto the spiritual mine, but the Qian family is formidable, with numerous cultivators. The demon hunters might not be able to hold out until the end.

Since they didn't know when the spiritual mine might fall, they aimed to mine as much spiritual stone as possible before that happened.

Even those in the later stages of Qi Refining needed to enter the spiritual mine; Mo Shan was at the Ninth Stage of Qi Refining and naturally no exception.

Mo Hua also wanted to enter, but Mo Shan and Elder Yu wouldn't allow it.

During the previous capture of the spiritual mine, Mo Hua was outside where he could hide among rocks and trees. If danger arose, he could flee when necessary.

Now inside the mine caves, there was virtually nowhere to escape.

If attacked by Qian family cultivators and caught in a melee with swords and spiritual powers flying around, no one could guarantee Mo Hua's safety.

Therefore, Elder Yu had originally refused to let Mo Hua, a mere Sixth Stage Qi Refiner, stay inside the spiritual mine.

It wasn't until Mo Hua offered to help with drawing formation arrays.

"I can draw the Golden Armor Formation, which can also be used in the later stages of Qi Refining!"

Once Elder Yu heard this, he couldn't refuse.

In large-scale battles among cultivators, the role of formations became apparent. Moreover, the Golden Armor Formation sounded even more formidable than the "Iron Armor Formation." With the enhancement of the Golden Armor Formation, the chances of holding onto the mine caves increased significantly.

Even if they couldn't ultimately hold it, they could delay for more time and extract more spiritual stone.

This was a spiritual mine after all, even if it was small-scale, it could sustain many wandering cultivators for a long time.

Elder Yu was moved.

Several demon hunters also praised Elder Yu for how effective the Golden Armor Formation was. During Mo Shan's previous demon hunt, the Golden Armor Formation on his vine armor had allowed him to withstand a blow from the Que Wood Wolf without injury.

Mo Shan sighed and reluctantly brought out his vine armor adorned with the Golden Armor Formation.

Elder Yu carefully examined it, tested the armor's defense, and his eyes lit up. He immediately agreed to let Mo Hua stay.

Thus, Mo Hua remained inside the spiritual mine.

Elder Yu instructed the other demon hunters to take good care of Mo Hua and secretly thought to himself:

"If any reckless fool dares to harm Mo Hua, I'll kill him with a single palm strike!"

In the days that followed, Mo Hua began drawing the Golden Armor Formation for the demon hunters.

With Mo Hua's current spiritual awareness intensity, enhanced control from the Heavenly Expansion Technique, and increased spiritual recovery speed from the Meditation Technique, he could draw about ten sets of first-grade Golden Armor Formations in a day.

Mo Hua provided the spiritual ink for these Golden Armor Formations for the time being.

Elder Yu would convert this spiritual ink into spiritual stones and, along with Mo Hua's formation-drawing compensation, give it all to Mo Hua in the end.

Previously, Elder Yu had been tight with spiritual stones, but now that they had seized a small spiritual mine, he wouldn't let Mo Hua suffer any losses.

To ensure Mo Hua could concentrate on drawing formations, Elder Yu even specially opened a small cave that was warm and comfortable, and instructed Mo Hua to let him know if he needed anything.

Mo Hua stayed in the small cave, drawing formations. In three days, he drew about thirty sets of Golden Armor Formations.

After that, the Qian family cultivators began their mountain assault.

Mo Hua lay at the cave entrance, watching the numerous Qian family cultivators below, feeling somewhat worried. He asked Elder Yu, "Can we defeat the Qian family?"

"We can fight, but it won't be easy to win. It's hard to say who will come out on top."

"Have we fought them before?"

Elder Yu nodded, "A few times. The Qian family has been too oppressive, and we fought back. But the fights escalated into chaos, and it was uncontrollable. We suffered more losses that time, and the Qian family won, but they didn't gain much advantage."

Mo Hua was puzzled, "What makes the Qian family stronger than us?"

Elder Yu pondered for a moment and said, "Each side has its advantages in direct combat, but the Qian family has more spiritual stones, better spiritual tools than us, and they can also hire people."

Mo Hua asked, "So with the Golden Armor Formation, can't we gain more advantage?"

Elder Yu nodded, "Yes."

He didn't know exactly how powerful the Golden Armor Formation was, but in such chaotic cultivator battles, even a slight advantage could impact the outcome.

Afterward, the Qian family boldly launched their mountain assault.

The Qian family had always looked down on demon hunters, considering them to be poor and lowly. With their abundant spiritual stones, their cultivators generally cultivated one level higher than demon hunters.

Therefore, in this mountain assault, they didn't choose dawn or midnight, nor did they opt for a surprise attack. Instead, they marched openly in broad daylight into the mountains.

They intended to intimidate the demon hunters with their military prowess.

But as soon as they engaged, they realized something was amiss.

Thirty Qi Refining Ninth Stage demon hunters, majestic and leading the charge, immediately began their assault.

Qian family cultivators' swords and blades struck their vine armors but could only leave scratches.

The Golden Armor Formation was a first-grade Nine Patterns formation method. Ordinary swords and blades, even in the hands of Qi Refining Ninth Stage cultivators, struggled to break through the vine armor reinforced with the Golden Armor Formation.

Empowered by the Golden Armor Formation, the demon hunters feared nothing. They swung their blades freely, drawing blood with each strike. The Qian family cultivators couldn't withstand their attacks and were forced to retreat.

They retreated until there was nowhere left to go.

Seeing they couldn't continue the fight, the Qian family could only retreat in embarrassment, their cultivators dispersing in disarray.

They had come with great momentum but hadn't expected to be defeated so decisively. Ashamed, they soon regrouped and returned.

This time, they were fully prepared, all wearing vine armors. Some of their Qi Refining Ninth Stage cultivators even wore iron armor.

Iron armor was made entirely from refined steel, costly and extremely tough.

The two sides clashed again.

Then the Qian family cultivators discovered that the demon hunters' vine armors seemed a bit different from theirs...

The demon hunters' vine armors were incredibly tough, making it very difficult to cut through.

In contrast, their own vine armors were like paper, easily torn apart after just a few strikes.

Even their iron armor was not much better than the demon hunters' vine armors...

But the iron armor was heavier and less maneuverable, becoming easy targets.

About a dozen Qian family cultivators in iron armor, disregarding their rear, were toyed with by demon hunters in vine armor for several rounds, eventually being defeated.

Their iron armor was also stripped away.

The Qian family almost felt like vomiting blood.

That was a complete set of iron armor! How much refined steel did it take to make one set of iron armor? And yet, it was plundered just like that!

But they couldn't afford to abandon the spiritual mine; those glowing spiritual stones were invaluable!

To deal with the demon hunters' vine armors, the Qian family spared no expense and purchased twenty genuine first-grade blade weapons.

These blades were extremely sharp; they could pierce through ordinary vine armors with just one strike.

Handpicked Qian family experts wielded these first-grade blade weapons and clashed with the demon hunters once more.

These first-grade blade weapons indeed had an effect. One strike could pierce through vine armor, and two or three strikes would nearly split the armor open.

However, the Qian family soon encountered a bigger problem.

The number of demon hunters wearing vine armor seemed to be increasing!

Initially, there were only thirty.

But then more each day, more each day, until now, almost every demon hunter wore that troublesome vine armor.

Everyone had it!

Qian family cultivators were overwhelmed.

They only had a total of twenty blades. Yet they faced over two hundred sets of vine armor!

How could they continue like this?

Predictably, they suffered another defeat...

Consecutive defeats left the Qian family cultivators demoralized, forcing them to temporarily halt their offensive and catch their breath.

Elder Yu, however, was overjoyed.

The effectiveness of the Golden Armor Formation far exceeded his expectations.

He had anticipated a tough battle, with potential heavy casualties even in victory.

But unexpectedly, not only did they win easily, but the demon hunters also suffered few casualties.

This greatly relieved Elder Yu. Then, he became curious and asked Mo Hua:

"Why is the Golden Armor Formation so sturdy?"

It took several strikes from first-grade tools to break through.

They wore ordinary vine armor, not first-grade iron armor made from refined steel.

Mo Hua replied matter-of-factly, "Because the Golden Armor Formation is a first-grade formation method."

"A first-grade formation method..." Elder Yu nodded. "No wonder."

How could a first-grade formation method not be strong?

Suddenly, Elder Yu's heart raced.

"First-grade?!"

(End of the Chapter)