Chapter 4280 — Breaking It by Combined Force

"Shut your mouth! You utter waste—ignorant yourself, yet you call others ignorant!" Chang Daoping cursed, exasperated by such incompetence, secretly fuming over how he could have taken on such an embarrassing subordinate, one stupid enough to call others fools—a disgrace that shamed him before the whole world.

"Brother Chang, I..." Luo Tuoxiang looked aggrieved, still not understanding where he had gone wrong, yet he dared not talk back and could only stare helplessly.

"Young Brother Ling Yi is truly no ordinary man—never before have I seen anyone with observation skills as sharp as yours," Chang Daoping said with a meaningful nod, then continued, "Correct. Those two are your positions."

"All right." Wei Zhao smiled faintly. After exchanging a glance with Huang Xiaotao, the two of them each walked to the remaining two positions of the Big Dipper and took their places.

At this sight, the crowd finally understood—it turned out Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao were no country bumpkins after all, but could truly see through the marvel of the Moon Shadow Formation. Compared to them, the rest were the real frogs at the bottom of a well!

Although Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao had done nothing at all, everyone felt their cheeks burning, as if slapped across the face in public. No one dared to look down on the two of them any longer; this time they had truly experienced for themselves what it meant that one cannot judge by appearances, and what it meant to be snobs who underestimated others.

As for Luo Tuoxiang and Cao Shishi, the looks they cast at Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao were now tinged with far more resentment—it was all because of these two ignorant country bumpkins that they had lost face before Brother Chang!

After the group had taken their places one after another at the Big Dipper stars, Chang Daoping, formation flags in hand, walked to the Half-Moon Shadow position directly facing the Big Dipper. Only then were all eight of them in position.

At first the group felt nothing, but once Chang Daoping was in place, the scene before them, ordinary as it had been, suddenly changed—beneath their feet, faint shadows roiled, and countless intricate, profound patterns abruptly appeared, combining into a vast formation.

"It really appeared!" The crowd exclaimed in soft, delighted voices. That they could see the Moon Shadow Formation meant their trip had not been in vain—at last they had a chance to enter the ruins, provided of course that they first broke the formation.

Wei Zhao glanced down. At first sight it was not much different from the Lu Feng Path teleportation formation from before, but on closer inspection, the patterns were entirely different, and naturally so were their effects.

"Listen closely, all of you. Only now are we truly entering the Moon Shadow Formation. If nothing unexpected happens, we will see the formation core in a moment. Wait for my command before attacking with all your strength—but pay particular attention to one thing: while attacking the formation core, you must not move your feet. If anyone strays from their position, the formation core will vanish at once, and all our efforts will be wasted. Is that clear?" Chang Daoping said loudly to the group.

"Clear!" Everyone nodded in unison, but then someone could not help asking in puzzlement, "Brother Chang, what does the formation core look like?"

"You will know soon enough." Chang Daoping replied blandly, then said no more.

Wei Zhao, however, was secretly puzzled—not, like the others, curious about what the formation core looked like, but doubtful about Chang Daoping's words. Attack the formation core with all their strength—would that not mean destroying the Moon Shadow Formation?

The Moon Shadow Formation was not merely a protective formation; it was also the gateway in and out of the Odor Cultivation City ruins. Normally, once certain conditions were met, one should be able to enter the ruins smoothly without needing to break the entire Moon Shadow Formation outright—after all, that would be far more time-consuming and laborious.

Moreover, the formation core was the very heart of the formation, difficult to detect even from within. Since the Moon Shadow Formation was so profoundly mysterious, how could it possibly let everyone find the core so easily?

Yet puzzled as he was, Wei Zhao did not voice the question before the crowd. Judging by Chang Daoping's manner, he might not get an answer even if he asked. And though such matters counted as common knowledge, many people did not understand them clearly. Whether Chang Daoping truly understood, or had other plans, only he himself knew.

After the group had waited quietly for a while, someone suddenly cried out in alarm—overhead, at some unknown moment, there had abruptly appeared a blaze of radiant light, and a giant sphere resembling the moon floated quietly in midair, as if the moon in the sky had fallen, startling everyone greatly.

"That is the formation core. Listen to my command—attack with all your strength when the time comes, and do not hold back in the slightest! Although this Moon Shadow Formation is ancient, its power has not diminished much. If you cannot work together as one, or if someone slacks off, it will be impossible to break it. Moreover, it only appears around the hour of Zi. Once that time passes, all our efforts will be wasted!" Chang Daoping called out loudly to the group.

"Understood!" Everyone nodded in unison, each rubbing their palms and chafing at the bit. All of them had come for the Star Ink Milk and knew well what was at stake; no one would be foolish enough to shirk at such a moment—that would only harm others and themselves.

"All right, begin the attack now!" Chang Daoping suddenly shouted, taking the lead in launching an attack. The other seven dared not slack in the slightest, all unleashing the martial arts they were most skilled in against the giant sphere overhead.

After all, they were at least Golden Core-level experts, and their strength was beyond doubt. For a time, all manner of powerful martial techniques poured onto the giant sphere, one after another.

Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao were no exception, but they were not foolish enough to reveal their trump cards in public. The Frenzied Fire Eight Trigrams Combined Palm was certainly out of the question—even if they wanted to use it, they could not, for neither could leave their respective positions. As Chang Daoping had said, once one strayed from the Big Dipper, the giant sphere overhead might well vanish.

So Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao each merely used their own martial techniques, though they did not deliberately hold back. The power they unleashed at that moment might not rival the others, but it was at least far above that of ordinary early Golden Core experts.

The eight of them joined forces to attack the formation core, led by Chang Daoping, a formidable Nascent Soul expert. At first, none of them thought it would be difficult, but when they struck and watched their proudest techniques land on the giant sphere only to vanish like a clay ox into the sea, silent and seemingly utterly ineffective, they finally came to their senses.

The Moon Shadow Formation was a vast formation guarding the entire Odor Cultivation City. It had been set up in its day by eight top-tier experts of the spirit beast clan whose power reached the heavens. Now, even after so many years of neglect, even with the combined strength of eight people, breaking it outright was easier said than done! R1152