The Danfu Formation first showed its power
"Miss Ling! Open the door! Open the door quickly! Something terrible has happened! Help!!!"
Finn Liverner's heart-wrenching, wailing screams, accompanied by the frantic pounding on the door that nearly shattered it, shattered the tranquility around the "Eastern Secret Medicine" shop like an alarm. Several passersby were startled and stopped to watch, pointing and whispering.
Inside the shop, Ling Yao's slender fingers, which were about to channel a wisp of lightning power into the ore, paused slightly. She looked up at the precarious wooden door, which seemed ready to be retired at any moment, and her brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
Trouble. And big trouble.
She could tell that although Finn was usually loud and boisterous, for him to panic to this extent, even to the point of near-collapse and despair, meant he had definitely done something terribly wrong.
She put down the ore and slowly walked over. Just as she pulled the latch, the door was suddenly slammed open from the outside!
Finn rolled in like a tattered sack of potatoes, crashing heavily to the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust. He looked utterly pathetic: his school uniform was so tattered it barely covered his body, stained with dark red blood, black mud, and some strange, icy blue slime; his face and hands were covered in crisscrossing scratches, his hair was soaked with sweat and stuck to his forehead; he was panting heavily, his chest heaving, his eyes unfocused, and his lips cracked, as if he had just crawled out of hell.
“Miss Ling…” Finn saw Ling Yao as if she were his savior. He struggled to get up, but collapsed from exhaustion. He could only stretch out a trembling hand and scream incoherently, “The Black Forest… the trial… it’s over… all over! Monsters! Mutated ones! And ghosts! Curse! It can’t be dispelled! The professor is trapped! The students… the students are dying! Help! Only you can save them! Please! Go quickly!!”
He was so agitated and terrified that his words were incoherent, but the key information was still clearly conveyed—the trial team had encountered a terrorist attack far exceeding expectations, and a bizarre curse had appeared that even the academy professors could not solve, resulting in heavy casualties and an urgent need for rescue.
Ling Yao's gaze swept over the remaining icy blue slime on Finn's body, which emitted a faint but unsettling energy fluctuation, and the dark red lines faintly emerging at the edges of several abrasions. Her expression became slightly more serious.
A malevolent curse? And mixed with some kind of low-level putrid poison? How could such a thing appear in the forest of this small world?
"Location," Ling Yao asked succinctly, turning around to take out a small bag from behind the counter that looked like it was sewn from some kind of animal hide.
“West…west! Deep into a forest clearing about…about half a day’s journey away!” Finn hurriedly gestured as he spoke, “There are many twisted, dead trees and a rocky slope!”
Ling Yao nodded, tied the small bag around her waist, and then said to Finn, "Lead the way."
“Huh? Me?” Finn was stunned, then his face turned bitter. “Miss Ling… I… I really can’t run anymore…” He felt like his legs no longer belonged to him.
Ling Yao didn't speak, but took out a plain-looking white pill from her bag that emitted a faint fragrance, flicked her finger, and accurately shot it into Finn's mouth.
The pill melted instantly upon entering his mouth, and a gentle yet powerful warm current surged through his limbs and bones! Finn felt his almost depleted physical and mental strength rapidly recovering as if a long-awaited rain had fallen on a parched land! The small wounds on his body began to itch and heal, and even the chilling feeling brought by the lingering curses was largely dispelled!
"This...this is..." Finn moved his hands and feet in surprise and delight, feeling that he was in even better condition than before the trial!
"Let's go." Ling Yao had already reached the door.
"Yes!" Finn's confidence soared, and he jumped up, ignoring his disheveled appearance, and rushed out to lead the way for Ling Yao.
The two walked quickly through the streets of the academy city, heading towards the west gate. Ling Yao's pace seemed slow, yet she always managed to keep up with Finn, who was exerting all his strength. Her figure was graceful, as if her feet didn't touch the ground.
Their strange combination—a ragged, frantically running boy and a composed, expressionless girl—drew the attention of passersby, who began to whisper among themselves. The news spread like wildfire.
Soon, the two rushed out of the west gate and plunged back into the now perilous Black Forest.
With Finn, the "living map" who had just escaped, as their guide, and Ling Yao's powerful divine sense to avoid danger, their progress was extremely fast. The deeper they went, the more pronounced the cold, gloomy, and malevolent energy fluctuations in the air became.
Finally, at the edge of a forest clearing filled with chaos, the thick stench of blood, and dark energy, they saw the hellish scene.
In the center of the open space, the surviving students and two professors huddled together in a small circle, back to back, desperately trying to hold on. Surrounding them were layers upon layers of mutated wolves, howling and attacking in a frenzy, and twisted ghosts that darted about, constantly draining life force from their victims! A dozen corpses lay on the ground, and many more wounded groaned in pain, their bodies bearing horrifying dark curses and icy blue marks!
The two professors were covered in wounds, their magic power was clearly nearly exhausted, the protective barrier they had created was teetering on the brink of collapse, their faces were as pale as paper, and their eyes were filled with despair.
“Miss Ling! It’s over there!” Finn pointed in that direction, his voice trembling with sobs and fear.
Ling Yao scanned the entire scene, her gaze lingering for a moment on the eerie curse energy and the ghostly body, and she already knew what was going on.
She didn't rush into the battlefield immediately, but instead, she flashed around like a ghost to a slightly higher earthen slope on one side of the open space.
Amid the questioning gazes of Finn and everyone else below who remained conscious, Ling Yao calmly pulled three items from the animal skin bag: a small stack of pre-cut yellow talisman paper, an ordinary-looking cinnabar pen, and several palm-sized bronze flags engraved with mysterious patterns.
Then, she did something that left everyone speechless—she began…drawing talismans on the spot? Setting up an array?
Her wrist hovered in the air, the vermilion brush moving with incredible speed, leaving afterimages as talismans of varying energy rapidly took shape! Some shimmered with golden light, some were enveloped in gentle breezes, and some were as heavy as mountains…
At the same time, she stepped on the Heavenly Gang and flicked her fingers, causing the bronze flags to transform into streams of light and precisely disappear into several locations around the open space.
"What...what is she doing?"
"What kind of time is this! Still doing this ridiculous stuff!"
"Finn! Are the reinforcements you brought even reliable?!" one of the surviving students below cried out in despair.
Even the two professors showed doubt and a hint of disappointment in their eyes. They had thought Finn had brought in some powerful reinforcements, but it turned out he was just acting like a charlatan.
However, the next second, their doubts were replaced by unprecedented shock!
After Ling Yao finished drawing the last talisman, she flicked her finger!
"Diamond Talisman, protect!"
Several talismans radiating dazzling golden light shot into the crumbling protective barrier below like meteors! The moment the talismans merged with the barrier, the previously dim barrier suddenly erupted with blinding golden light, instantly becoming incredibly solid! Several demonic wolves that pounced on it crashed into the golden light, as if hitting an impenetrable wall, howling in agony as they were bounced back, their claws and teeth shattered! Several ghosts attempting to penetrate the barrier were also scorched by the pure and fierce golden light, letting out shrill screams, their forms becoming somewhat thinner!
"What?!"
"The barrier... has been reinforced?!"
"Such powerful protective force! This is not magic at all!" The two professors exclaimed in disbelief, feeling the powerful protective force contained in the barrier, which was completely different from anything they knew.
Before they could recover from their shock, Ling Yao launched her second attack.
She formed a hand seal and pointed towards the direction where the small flag had disappeared!
"Small Eight Trigrams Trapping Formation, activate!"
Buzz—!
A deep hum resounded across the open space! Using the spot where the bronze flags had disappeared as a base, an invisible, massive array covering almost half of the open space was instantly activated!
Within the formation, the previously frenzied attacks of the demonic wolves and ghosts suddenly became sluggish! They seemed to be stuck in an invisible quagmire, running became difficult, pouncing became slow, and even their howls seemed to be lengthened and distorted! They anxiously circled in place, but it seemed that they could never get close to the golden protective circle in the center!
"Trapped...trapped?!"
"Is it a formation? Is it an ancient magic circle?"
"No! There's no magical fluctuation! What kind of power is this?" The students stared in disbelief, almost forgetting their injuries.
However, what shocked them the most was yet to come.
Ling Yao took out several small jade bottles from the bag again, and without even looking at them, threw them directly to the area where the wounded were gathered below!
"Qingyun Pill, dispels curses. Can be applied externally or taken internally."
The cool voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears.
The jade bottle landed precisely next to several of the most severely injured survivors. The survivors instinctively picked up the bottle and poured out large, emerald-green pills, each the size of a longan and emitting a rich, life-giving fragrance.
Desperate, some people took the pills internally, while others crushed them and applied them to the terrifying curse mark on the wound.
A miracle has happened!
The moment the pill enters the mouth or comes into contact with the wound, the dark curse and icy blue mark, which even professor-level dispelling spells had little effect on, melted and faded away rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye, making a soft "hissing" sound, like ice and snow meeting the blazing sun!
The powerful life essence, along with the dissolving of the elixir, nourished the wounded soldiers' depleted vitality. Their complexions regained their rosy hue at an astonishing speed, and their painful groans turned into sighs of relief!
"By the goddess above! The curse... the curse is disappearing!"
"My wound doesn't hurt anymore! That cold, damp feeling is gone!"
"What kind of miracle drug is this?! The effects are amazing!"
Exclamations of ecstasy rose and fell! The light of hope was rekindled in the eyes of the survivors!
The two professors stared at this miraculous scene, their mouths agape, completely petrified. The deadly curse they couldn't break despite their utmost magical power had been neutralized by a few small pills casually tossed out by the other party?
This is completely beyond their comprehension!
Finn stood behind Ling Yao, watching the scene below where the desperate situation had been reversed and his companions had been saved. Looking at Ling Yao's still calm and composed profile, he was so excited that tears welled up in his eyes, and he proudly straightened his chest!
Look at this! This is a true master! You can tell just by looking at him! He uses his skills in alchemy, talismans, and formations simultaneously to control the situation and save lives! Are you impressed?
Ling Yao stood on the earthen slope, her clothes fluttering, looking down indifferently at the battlefield below where the chaos had been quelled and the crisis temporarily averted, as if she had only done a trivial thing.
However, her gaze was directed deeper into the forest, towards the direction from which the most intense dark energy emanated.
The things there are the true source.
This little spectacle is just an appetizer.
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