Nameless Territory Chapter Ninety-Nine: The Formation Fortress

After the cultivators from the Shangguan family arrived, fewer Golden Core cultivators followed, signaling that the next to appear would be forces even stronger than the Shangguan family. In the Nameless Region, there was only one such power—the Moon Extremity Corpse Sect.

Zhou Xuanhong mingled within the crowd, using his keen insight into formation arrays to sense traces of a newly laid formation beneath the plain before the Moon Extremity Corpse Sect’s gate. Judging by the freshness of the array patterns, the selection trial was evidently to take place in this area.

Taking advantage of the waiting period, he casually set up a third-grade perception isolation formation, then began arranging one set of offensive and defensive formations after another inside it, mostly of high third-grade quality, including one lower fourth-grade defensive formation and one lower fourth-grade offensive formation.

As Zhou Xuanhong busied himself with the formations, cultivators from the Moon Extremity Corpse Sect emerged from the mountains, heading straight for the plain. They made no show of grandeur; many had already come out earlier to reunite and form alliances with old friends, among them Jing Yuanxun.

By now, Jing Yuanxun had reached the fifth layer of the Golden Core stage. Though relatively low among this group of Golden Core cultivators, his status as a disciple of the Moon Extremity Corpse Sect commanded respect. Moreover, they weren’t here to participate in the selection.

The Moon Extremity Corpse Sect held guaranteed quotas—they did not need to compete for them. In fact, all five hundred spots were theirs to allocate, revealing their confident attitude toward this trial.

“Our sect’s disciples will temporarily retreat back to the sect. We will reemerge once the selection is over!” A captivating voice sounded in everyone’s ears. Suddenly, a stunningly beautiful woman appeared outside the sect’s protective formation. Her cultivation reached the zenith of the Nascent Soul stage, and she unleashed her power fully, silencing the over a thousand Golden Core cultivators present, drawing all eyes to her.

After all Moon Extremity Corpse Sect disciples returned to the sect, the woman continued, “Young friends, welcome from afar. On behalf of the Moon Extremity Corpse Sect, I warmly greet your arrival. Without further ado, I will explain the rules of this selection!”

This enchanting woman was Yan Xueying, sect leader of the Moon Extremity Corpse Sect, a renowned figure in the Nameless Region. Her fame came not from raw power but from her cunning and mastery of manipulation. Coupled with her innate charm techniques and naturally alluring physique, she had elevated her sect’s control over the Nameless Region to unprecedented heights in recent years.

Some less discerning male cultivators couldn’t take their eyes off Yan Xueying’s exquisite form. Despite her lofty status as sect leader, her attire was daring, revealing large areas of bare skin. If they were Foundation Establishment cultivators, they would undoubtedly be utterly bewitched.

Among the onlookers, the male cultivators from the Shangguan family maintained the best composure, suppressing their base thoughts and appearing attentive to Yan Xueying’s speech.

Yet none were as sincere as Zhou Xuanhong. Having finished setting up his formations, with a mere thought he could transform the surrounding space into a fortress of formations, capable of defense and offense alike, maneuvering at will.

His gaze toward Yan Xueying was clear and free from any infatuation, with no trace of romantic desire. His mind was occupied solely with strategizing how to approach Zhu Xiaona.

Though Xiaona was absent among the Moon Extremity Corpse Sect disciples, Zhou Xuanhong was certain she would participate in this great world’s trial. She had been stuck at the peak of the Golden Core stage for a long time, and this trial provided a precious opportunity to break through into the Nascent Soul stage.

“Last time’s selection was a tournament, which was time-consuming and somewhat unfair, resulting in the overall strength of Nameless Region participants being subpar.

Therefore, this time, five hundred quotas will be chosen all at once, testing not only strength and fortune but, more importantly, survival ability.”

Yan Xueying raised her palm, revealing a glowing formation source. As it rotated slowly, formation patterns lit up beneath the plain, followed by a beam of light enveloping the entire area, trapping everyone inside.

“Do not panic,” Yan Xueying soothed. “This is the Inverted Five Elements Trap, arranged by our sect’s fifth-grade formation masters. It allows exit but not entry, and serves as the arena for this selection.

The rules are simple: once the formation activates, everyone’s positions will be shuffled, and the selection begins. The final five hundred cultivators remaining within the formation will earn quotas.

Before the selection starts, we will provide each of you with a teleportation jade token. Breaking this token will transport you out but also signify your failure.”

Had these been scattered cultivators, the Moon Extremity Corpse Sect would never have supplied such tokens—after all, producing them was costly. But as these were Golden Core cultivators from major forces, heavy casualties would be hard to explain, even as overlords of the Nameless Region.

With a flick of her delicate hand, over a thousand jade tokens appeared before each cultivator. Once everyone held theirs and pledged allegiance with a blood oath, the formation source accelerated its rotation, emitting distorted beams of light.

Inside the trap, everyone felt their bodies enveloped by spatial energy, then vanished from sight.

When they reappeared, they were scattered across different locations—some transported a great distance to the opposite side of the plain, others only a dozen meters away. Everyone’s positions were thoroughly scrambled, making early alliances impossible even for large forces like the Shangguan family. A fierce battle was about to erupt.

This was a selection with rules, yet without constraints. The Moon Extremity Corpse Sect had merely set a framework; all else was left to the cultivators’ own abilities. As long as five hundred emerged victorious, the rest would be eliminated.

Zhou Xuanhong was transported to a distant area—somewhat unlucky. Surrounding him were five late-stage Golden Core cultivators and two at the zenith of Golden Core. Any other would have immediately broken their jade token and fled.

But Zhou Xuanhong smiled faintly at his token, then stored it in his spatial ring.

Naturally, the seven powerful Golden Core cultivators refrained from fighting among themselves first, instead focusing on Zhou Xuanhong. This selection clearly aimed to cull the weak, leaving only the strong. They all chose to attack Zhou first—after all, he was only a first-layer Golden Core; if not him, then who?

This was a game of survival of the fittest. Though strong, they were puzzled as to why Zhou Xuanhong could still smile in such a situation.

A young cultivator among them charged at Zhou Xuanhong with a sword. Against a first-layer Golden Core, seven attackers were overkill, but what happened next stunned them.

Zhou Xuanhong slowly raised both hands, summoning two formation sources, then four, then eight, finally sixteen!

Sixteen formation sources appeared, layers of formation walls rising, densely patterned, forming one formation after another around him, arming him with a fortress of formations.

The young attacker’s strike faltered, then he silently withdrew, twitching at the corner of his mouth, and left without looking back.

The other six gave up in frustration, turning away without hesitation. Engaging with a fourth-grade formation master was tantamount to courting death.

No wonder Zhou Xuanhong dared to compete with only a first-layer Golden Core cultivation. Any who reached Golden Core surely had considerable skill—no fool would venture into the great world seeking death.

Thus, over a thousand Golden Core cultivators inside the trap were swiftly eliminated. The plain was not very spacious, and the weaker cultivators met grim ends, either breaking their jade tokens to escape or being mercilessly killed outright, their century-long cultivation lost forever.

At the center of the trap, Shangguan Yixin wielded a great sword, fighting two opponents simultaneously—a man and a woman of slightly lower cultivation. Yet the battle was strenuous, especially against the man. Though only at the sixth layer of Golden Core, his spellcraft was exquisite, his body formidable, enabling him to hold his own against Shangguan Yixin. More importantly, he practiced soul secret techniques and frequently attacked her spiritual sea.

By Shangguan Yixin’s nature, she would never bully the weak, but these two were her greatest enemies: Ye Haoxuan and Su Ruoyu. The former was a core disciple of the Left Hand District’s Senluo Ghost Gate, the latter a true disciple of the Nameless Region’s Kungu Sect. They were the ones who had once bullied Shangguan Yixin to tears.

Thus, at the onset of the selection, Shangguan Yixin activated the Furious Thunder Formation to shield her soul, and used Zhou Xuanhong’s self-created Five Elements Trap to imprison the duo.

“You crazy woman! Release the formation at once, or don’t think I won’t kill you!” Ye Haoxuan said helplessly. He had regretted provoking her—she was relentless.

Even he felt powerless against these two fourth-grade formations, seemingly tailor-made for Shangguan Yixin, enabling an explosive surge in her power. If he reached the seventh layer of Golden Core, he might defeat her without resorting to his trump cards.

“Hmph! If you have any trump cards, use them. Don’t hold back. If I die, I won’t blame you!” Shangguan Yixin retorted fiercely.

Elsewhere, Shangguan Liming’s battle was easier. Though only recently reaching the sixth layer of Golden Core, and weaker than Ye Haoxuan, he had many trump cards and the status of young family head, so few dared to challenge him.

Everyone was embroiled in battle, while Zhou Xuanhong leisurely sat cross-legged inside his formation fortress, engrossed in watching the chaotic fights around him. He even ate spiritual fruits obtained from Shangguan Ba, appearing like an outsider. His ease surpassed even Yan Xueying’s as she watched from the sky.

He tossed the teleportation jade token lightly in his hand, unafraid of breaking it.

Sensing Yan Xueying’s gaze, Zhou Xuanhong turned and smiled slightly, revealing pearly white teeth. Then, without hesitation, he crushed the jade token in his hand.