Chapter 154: The First Battle
Given the immense profits tied to the spiritual mine, the Dao Court Division's mediation failed, and the matter could only be settled by the customary rule of force: a direct confrontation. The Qian family and the Monster Hunters would clash at the spiritual mine beneath Nameless Peak.
Whoever won would claim the mine.
The Qian family would be the attackers; the Monster Hunters, the defenders.
Tension gradually settled over the Monster Hunters.
Elder Yu issued an order forbidding any Monster Hunter from entering the Black Mountain for hunts. He gathered most cultivators between the seventh and ninth layers of Qi-Refining to garrison inside the mine's tunnels.
While preparing for the Qian family's assault, the Monster Hunters also redoubled their efforts to extract as many spirit stones as possible.
Keeping the mine would be ideal, but the Qian family's power and numbers made victory uncertain. Since no one knew when the mine might fall, the priority was to harvest as much ore as possible before that happened.
All late-stage Qi-Refining cultivators were required to enter the mine. Mo Shan, being at the ninth layer, was no exception.
Mo Hua wished to go as well, but Mo Shan refused, and Elder Yu was even more adamant.
During the earlier assault on the mine, Mo Hua had remained outside, with rocks and trees to hide behind. If danger came, he could run. But now, inside the tunnels, there was nowhere to retreat.
If the Qian family's cultivators broke through, it would descend into chaos, blades and spiritual power flying everywhere, and no one could guarantee Mo Hua's safety.
Elder Yu therefore initially refused to allow a mere sixth-layer Qi-Refining cultivator to remain within the mine.
Until Mo Hua said he could help by drawing formation arrays.
"I can draw the Golden Armor Array. Even late-stage cultivators can use it!"
Upon hearing that, Elder Yu could not refuse any longer.
In a large-scale battle, the value of formations became immediately apparent.
Moreover, even from the name, Golden Armor Array sounded far superior to the Iron Armor Array. With such reinforcement, the odds of holding the mine increased dramatically.
Even if the defense eventually failed, it would still buy valuable time to extract more spirit stones.
After all, this was a spiritual mine. Even a small one could sustain many rogue cultivators for years.
Elder Yu was tempted.
Several Monster Hunters added fuel to the fire, praising the Golden Armor Array's strength. They recalled how, during a hunt, Mo Shan's vine armor—inscribed with the array—had protected him from a claw strike from a Kui Wood Wolf without injury.
Mo Shan sighed and reluctantly brought out that same piece of vine armor.
Elder Yu inspected it carefully, tested its defense, and his eyes lit up. He immediately decided to let Mo Hua stay.
Thus, Mo Hua was allowed to remain inside the spiritual mine.
Elder Yu personally instructed the others to look after him and even muttered to himself, "If any fool dares to harm a single hair on Mo Hua's head, I'll kill him with one strike."
Over the following days, Mo Hua began drawing Golden Armor Arrays for the Monster Hunters.
Given his current Divine-Sense strength—enhanced by the Celestial Evolution Art—and the recovery speed granted by his Meditation Technique, he could draw ten first-grade Golden Armor Arrays per day.
For now, Mo Hua even supplied the spiritual ink himself.
Elder Yu promised to convert the cost of the ink and the array fees into spirit stones, to be given to Mo Hua later.
Previously, Elder Yu had been stingy due to lack of funds. But now, with a spiritual mine under his watch, he would not let Mo Hua suffer a loss.
To ensure Mo Hua could work in peace, Elder Yu prepared a small, comfortable side cavern for him and told him to ask for anything he needed.
Mo Hua stayed there and drew steadily, completing around thirty Golden Armor Arrays in three days.
Then the Qian family cultivators launched their assault.
Mo Hua peered out from the tunnel entrance, looking at the overwhelming number of Qian cultivators below. He asked worriedly, "Can we beat them?"
Elder Yu replied, "We can fight, but it won't be easy. Victory is uncertain."
"Have we fought them before?"
Elder Yu nodded. "A few times. The Qian family often bullies others. We fought back, and things escalated into chaos. That time we took heavier losses, though the Qian family didn't gain much either."
Mo Hua asked, "Where are they stronger than us?"
Elder Yu thought for a moment. "In a head-on fight, it's even. But the Qian family is rich, they have better spiritual weapons and can hire mercenaries."
Mo Hua said, "Then with the Golden Armor Arrays, we should have a bit more advantage, right?"
Elder Yu nodded. "Yes."
He was unsure how powerful the array truly was, but even a small advantage could change the tide in a melee.
The Qian family soon began their open assault.
They had always looked down on Monster Hunters, regarding them as poor nobodies.
Arrogant as ever, and confident in their superior cultivation, they launched their attack in broad daylight rather than choosing dawn or midnight for a sneak strike.
They wanted to make a show of power.
Yet the moment the battle began, things went wrong.
Thirty ninth-layer Qi-Refining Monster Hunters charged forward like an iron tide. The Qian family's blades and swords struck their vine armor, leaving only shallow marks.
The Golden Armor Array was a first-grade nine-rune formation. Ordinary weapons, even in the hands of ninth-layer cultivators, could hardly pierce armor inscribed with it.
With the Golden Armor's protection, the Monster Hunters charged fearlessly. Each swing of their blades drew blood. The Qian cultivators were forced back step by step.
Retreating, then routing.
Unable to hold their ground, the Qian family broke and fled in panic.
To be beaten so thoroughly after marching in with such arrogance filled them with humiliation. Before long, they returned for a second assault, this time fully equipped.
Every one of them wore armor, some even donning heavy iron plate forged from refined steel.
Both sides clashed again.
Soon, the Qian cultivators realized something was wrong.
The Monster Hunters' vine armor was unbelievably tough, almost unbreakable, while their own vine armor shredded like paper after a few strikes.
Even their iron armor—expensive and heavy—was no better than the Monster Hunters' vine armor. Worse still, it slowed them down, turning them into easy targets.
Ten iron-armored Qian cultivators were swiftly overwhelmed, toppled, and stripped of their armor by laughing Monster Hunters.
The Qian family nearly spat blood in fury.
Those suits of iron armor had cost enormous amounts of refined metal, and now they were gone.
Yet they could not abandon the spiritual mine. Those spirit stones gleamed too brightly to ignore.
Determined, the Qian family spent a fortune to purchase twenty genuine first-grade blade artifacts, razor-sharp and deadly.
Armed with these superior weapons, their elite cultivators struck again.
This time, the results improved slightly. The blades could slice through vine armor in one or two swings.
But soon, they faced an even greater problem.
There were simply too many Monster Hunters wearing vine armor.
At first, there had been only thirty. Then more and more each day, until now, nearly every Monster Hunter wore the same impossible-to-cut armor.
Everyone had it.
The Qian cultivators felt their scalps crawl.
They had only twenty first-grade blades against over two hundred sets of enchanted armor.
How were they supposed to fight?
Predictably, they were defeated once again.
After repeated routs, the Qian family's morale collapsed, forcing them to halt their attacks and regroup.
Elder Yu, meanwhile, was overjoyed.
The Golden Armor Array had proven far more effective than he had imagined.
He had expected a brutal struggle, perhaps even a costly victory, but instead, they had won easily, with minimal losses.
Relieved yet astonished, Elder Yu turned to Mo Hua and asked, "Why is this Golden Armor Array so tough? Even first-grade blades take several strikes to break it."
Mo Hua replied matter-of-factly, "Because the Golden Armor Array is a first-grade formation."
"A first-grade formation…" Elder Yu nodded thoughtfully. "No wonder."
Of course a first-grade formation would be that strong.
Then, all at once, realization struck him. His heart pounded wildly.
"Wait—first-grade?!"
(End of Chapter)