Chapter 37: Breaking through the formation
If they had fled before making contact with the sand monsters, it might have been forgivable. But if they ran away just before the battle, people's scornful words could drown them. At that time, not only the Wang family, even their employer, the Taiyi Sect, might find it difficult to establish themselves in the Cultivation World.
Meng Zhang understood this, and so did Wang Shitou, who had been mingling in the Cultivation World for many years. Despite their nervousness and fear, the father and son bravely stood beside the formation.
Meng Zhang didn't expect the father and son to contribute significantly in combat; he just hoped they wouldn't flee and cause chaos.
Seeing the enemy already prepared and the approaching sand monsters adjusting their positions, the sand monsters' combat instincts, especially their fighting instincts, were quite astonishing in the eyes of the Cultivators.
The charging sand monsters slowed down, but the sandstorm surrounding their formation became more intense, blocking the view of their formation with thick layers of sand, making it almost impenetrable.
Although their speed had decreased, the sand monster formation quickly entered the attack range.
Upon Lao Bulu's command, the Cultivators released one talisman after another.
Talismans were valuable, requiring no true qi consumption or spellcasting yet unleashing powerful effects. Especially for Refining Qi stage Cultivators with limited true qi and slow spellcasting speed, talismans were essential.
Attacks like flames, ice arrows, and earth dragons surged forward, bombarding the sand monster formation.
The sandstorm outside the sand monster formation played a significant role at this moment. Most attacks were blocked by the sandstorm, and only a few managed to inflict limited damage to the sand monster formation.
Even after Lao Bulu's order, the talisman attacks from the Cultivators didn't stop.
Various types and attributes of spells continued to bombard the sand monster formation. This made Meng Zhang feel uneasy. So many talismans were consumed in an instant, wasting countless spirit stones. Such extravagant behavior might be typical of these wealthy merchants, but smaller sects like Taiyi Sect would be on the verge of bankruptcy after a single battle.
Meng Zhang didn't have many attacking talismans and didn't participate in this assault. Instead, he activated his Deception Breaking Eye to discern the enemy's formation.
On the other hand, Wang and his son mustered their courage and displayed their wooden arrow technique, shooting arrows towards the front, even though their attacks were weak and contributed little to the battle.
Although Meng Zhang didn't expect Wang and his son to perform exceptionally well in combat, at least their presence added to the spectacle. Even if they were just putting on a show, it still made a difference.
Lao Bulu, while commanding, kept an eye on Meng Zhang, who appeared calm despite being a guest in this situation. He couldn't help but mutter to himself, "This young man seems decent, but in times like this, has he been frightened by the sand monsters?"
Lao Bulu's impression of Meng Zhang declined a little.
Though the sand monster formation was covered by the yellow sand, blocking enemy observations, Meng Zhang's Deception Breaking Eye still saw through the enemy, identifying their weaknesses.
Meng Zhang finally found an opportunity to strike.
Due to the talisman attacks from the Cultivators, the sand monsters' speed slowed down, and the surrounding sand became sparser, revealing some openings.
Meng Zhang knew much about the sand monsters since the information about them, including their weaknesses, had been widely circulated among Cultivators in the Endless Sea of Sand, including through various pamphlets distributed by dominant sects on how to deal with sand monsters.
After years of passing down these pamphlets through word of mouth, almost everyone knew their contents. When Meng Zhang took action, he targeted the weakness of the sand monster formation.
He gathered a long-saved Lesser Yang True Fire, forming a flaming ball that shot out like lightning, easily piercing through the yellow sand and hitting one of the particularly large sand monsters in the formation. This soldier-ranked sand monster was one of the leaders of the group, and its position was at a critical node in the sand monster formation.
The violent fireball hit the soldier-ranked sand monster, blasting its body into scattered sand.
After releasing this powerful attack, Meng Zhang felt his inner true qi nearly depleted, as he was still just a mid-Refining Qi Cultivator, and his true qi had limitations, no matter how strong he was.
Without waiting to recover, he struck again, this time not relying on his own power but tossing out a damaged short sword he bought from a stall. After being blood-refined by the Blood Refining Martyr Art, this first-class upper-grade short sword exploded with power similar to a Refining Qi stage Cultivator's full-strength strike.
With the explosion, two adjacent soldier-ranked sand monsters were blown away, and critical nodes were destroyed.
With two important nodes destroyed, the sand monster formation immediately became somewhat stagnant, and the sandstorm surrounding the guard formation began to subside.
Lao Bulu felt ashamed of underestimating this young man. As an experienced commander, he didn't miss the opportunity Meng Zhang created and ordered his subordinates to go all out.
Lao Bulu released his most powerful magic tool first, a first-class upper-grade earth-attributed flying sword. The flying sword transformed into an earth dragon and flew directly into the sand monster formation, slaughtering those soldier-ranked sand monsters and continuing to disrupt the enemy's formation nodes.
The Cultivators no longer used talismans to attack haphazardly; instead, they brought out their ultimate skills.
For a moment, various magic tools and spells were launched into the sand monster formation.
After releasing the short sword, Meng Zhang quickly recovered his true qi at the fastest speed.
Seeing their attacks overwhelming the sand monsters and knowing the sand monsters' defeat was inevitable, Meng Zhang didn't want to waste any more time. He threw out his first-class lower-grade trash flying sword, merely for show, to appear involved in the battle.
With the sand monster formation broken, their strength significantly decreased. The few soldier-ranked sand monsters were no match for the Cultivators on the other side. The small sand monsters were not too numerous, not yet reaching a critical number to bring about a qualitative change. Even the small sand monsters, which ordinary people could kill, were reduced to dust when faced with the Cultivators' spells.
Sand monsters, being monstrous creatures, lacked the normal instinct to cherish their lives and avoid danger. When facing the Cultivators, it became a battle of life and death with no room for retreat.
Not a single sand monster fled in battle; they were all annihilated by the Cultivators. The caravan guards were mostly injured, and a couple of unfortunate individuals suffered severe injuries. Fortunately, the caravan's prompt medical attention prevented any casualties.
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