ATG: Formation Master c6

“The Eighth Prince is simply too dangerous to be left alive. I tried to do what any Clan Master would do for his clan’s interests.” Fen Yiyue tried to justify… of course, everyone would agree, but in front of the Emperor and his most talented Prince?

That’s suicidal!

“There you have it!” A huge blue hand appeared above Cang Long as he slapped the old Clan Master into a wall. There was a sound of broken bones. The blow was very strong! The gathered people paled seeing a Throne being manhandled like that! “ A worm who thinks he can betray the ones who rule the land he was standing on! Such arrogance won’t go unpunished!”

“Y-Your Highness, please calm your anger!” Villa Master Ling Yuefeng asked worriedly. He was a bit worried! At the same time, he tried to save his face, whatever was left…

“I will, once these little sects understand in whose land they live. My Ancestor, the First Emperor, conquered the lands on which your sects are built!

This is my first and last warning. It seems my Blue Wind Empire was too generous with its handling.

From now on, 50% of all Burning Heaven Clan income will be given to the crown as tribute, as punishment for their behaviour. I have already copied their Arts, the Burning Heaven Arts, and they will be taught in Blue Wind Profound Palace and the Imperial Family. 

And for Fen Yiyue, his potential is sealed because of his aggressions; he won’t be able to cultivate further; he will stay Emperor Profound Three for the rest of his life.” 

Cang Long ranted as he finally took a deep breath. He felt a bit better after releasing his pent-up frustration.

Fen Duanhun looked pale when he heard those punishments!

He wasn’t able to raise his voice, in fear that it could end worse!

“And for Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress, it will be made an example of. I spared the Burning Heaven Clan because they were thinking about their clan as a whole. But Mu Tianbei? He was an asshole and it will cost them their everything.” 

He looked at the three disciples of the Fortress as they paled.

“Your Highness, it's not in Villa’s territory.” Ling Yuefeng grimaced. He was feeling like grasping straws here!

“I expect your Villa to report to the battlefield, Villa Master.” The Prince declared as he walked to his Royal Father.

He looked both terrified, excited and happy, and a bit distressed.

“Royal Father, let’s return to the capital, we have things to do.”

“Indeed.” Cang Wanhe looked at Ling Yuefeng. For a second, before turning around and walking with his son towards the exit.

Some people took a deep breath, and Xiao Sect and the Fairies looked relieved. They walked around this minefield intact.

The same can’t be said about the rest.

The three disciples of Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress looked like they were about to die from fear.

“Esteemed Guests, the Tournament is over. Please return to your sects.”

As he said that, everyone began to leave.

With the sects gone, Ling Yuefeng began to think about how to protect his Heavenly Sword Villa from all the upcoming carnage. His Villa promised to assist when anything happened to the Royals, and indeed, the Prince was attacked. Now they have to respond.

At that moment, he went to the main mountain, where a cave is. Inside this cave, there is an old man cultivating.

“Yuefeng, what is it?” The old man didn’t even open his eyes as he knew it was his son.

“Father—”

He began to explain what had happened today.

“I see… this is indeed a dark day. I am friends with Fen Yiyue. We come from the same generation. But to think he will attack a Prince and a junior like that.

Despicable! Same with Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress.”

“...What should I do?” Ling Yuefeng asked.

“What is our Villa supposed to do! You can’t lose any more face!” Ling Tianni, his father, snapped at him.

“I understand. I sent a large division as a symbol of our responsibility to Blue Wind Empire’s security.”

With that said, he left the cave and went to instruct the elders to begin gathering the disciples.

At the same time, Ling Tianni felt that this was only the beginning of the rise of the Imperial Family. His Heavenly Sword Villa should tread this carefully.

~~~

As the Giant Snow Eagles landed in the Royal Palace, they were greeted by guards.

The guards expected celebrations from now on, but the Emperor’s serious expression, like that of the Prince, told them otherwise.

“Send a message. I want everyone in the throne room at once. The court session starts in ten minutes.”

“A-At once, Your Excellency!” The guards scrambled to send the message as the arriving group began to split up.

The three disciples return to the Profound Palace, while the Prince and the bodyguard follow the Emperor to the Throne Room.

As they were walking to the throne room, a black missile rushed towards Cang Long.

The Prince scrambled to capture this missile.

“Big Brother! You are finally back! You should take Yue’er with you next time!” It was a girl dressed in blue imperial dress, she had black, free-falling hair. She didn’t look older than twelve.

“Little sister, your brother is a bit busy. How about I start training you after I come back?” The Formation Prince patted his little sister’s head. The girl is the only sibling that Cang Long cares about.

The girl attached herself to him very quickly after he treated her like an actual sister and not some stranger, as most imperials do. 

Ever since then, she has been a constant companion around him in the imperial Palace.

“Wah!? You teach me how to summon that thing!? " She made a couple of motions, similar to those of the Dharma Body she saw, it was almost like posing!

“Yes. You will have one.” Cang Long smiled as he hugged her for a second before letting her go.

As the princess was taken away by embarrassed attendants who couldn’t control her, the Emperor looked at him.

“If our little daughter will have one, shouldn’t the Emperor have it too?” Cang Wanhe asked with a frown.

The Prince and the Bodyguard nerviously laughed. It was a bit awkward, as even Dongfang Xiu had it, and he was not Cang!

~~~

The news spread through the Empire and beyond at insane speed. Cang Long’s talent was unquestionable, raising eyebrows throughout the continent.

A Spirit Profound can face a Throne? Not even the Divine Phoenix Empire’s most talented Princes can do that!

At the same time, many Sect returned to their vaults to reread records about formations as they wondered about the Dharma Body; this art was very intriguing.

More spies were sent to infiltrate the Blue Wind Empire and gather information. They wanted to know the details and whether they should focus on eliminating this Formation Prince.

Meanwhile, Armies were gathering around Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress.

Not long after, the Prince arrived to command them!

“My Prince. While they have numbers, they have overall higher cultivation.” Dongfang Xiu, who was with the Prince, reported. He was assigned to protect the Prince when he was away from the Imperial Palace.

“That is true.” He nodded, looking at the Fortress gates in the distance. The place was similar to a small town, with an actual fortress in the middle of it.

The Formation Prince can see people on the town walls. It was clear that they would defend themselves to the last individual.

“In that case, I will prepare several formations.” Cang Long sat down on a comfortable mat in his camp and began to absorb profound energy from outside. He was like a black hole sucking everything in.

If one didn’t know about the Mind Scape, the bodyguard thought that the Prince was some sort of freak. How can one absorb so much and so fast all at once?

Blue aura surrounded the Prince as the Bodyguard realised that Cang Long was preparing a formation of some sort.

“Everyone, give space to His Highness. He is preparing a formation for this assault.” The Bodyguard declared.

All of the commanders and generals who were close took some space.

Among them were some Sect Masters who wanted to butter up to the Imperial Family. They are trying to show that they were loyal. 

In this group, the Villa Master and Xiao Sect were the most noticeable.

‘This is a perfect opportunity to see what he can do.’ 

The two top Sect Masters looked curiously. It had been several weeks since the tournament ended, and the Prince had a breakthrough. They want to see the difference in this small realm breakthrough.

After an hour, his Dharma Body manifested, and it clapped hands in a praying manner before slowly spreading them apart. An orb of energy manifested between the palms. It rose into the air… high above the Fortress, and began to create barrier walls that descended around the area.

“This is a high-grade Box Formation, with proper four corners.” Ji Chen, now a lieutenant for the Prince’s army, said in a surprised tone.

“I am surprised he can do it all at once without physically being in the four corners.”

“That Dharma Body is like a bloodline if it can help that much with formation casting…” the newly promoted Lieutenant finished as he compared this to a bloodline like the ones from the Phoenix Empire.

“This is the same formation that boosts cultivation?” Xiao Juetian asked.

“Yes, Sect Master, however, we could only boost by one stage…” Ji Chen wasn’t sure how much of a difference it would make…

However, the generals and the commanders soon noticed the difference. The profound energy from further away began to rush towards them.

They are starting to rapidly increase their cultivation. While not as good as real cultivation, this pseudo boost will be good enough for upcoming melee.

“Not bad…” The Sect Master looked at his hand. His power was going up, and soon, he would be Sky Profound Eight.

“Indeed…” Villa Master looked at his hand. His power had just reached that of a Throne. He is close to being one, and now this formation has raised his power to that level.

“We shall wait for several more hours for the formation to stabilise. If these fools think that they can get an advantage from their defences, then they are very wrong.

Cang Long walked over and looked at the leaders gathered, who were his followers in this conflict.

“I shall erase those gates, and then we shall attack in waves. Who wishes to lead the vanguard?” The Prince asked.

The one who raised his hand was… Fen Duanhun…

“I shall do it, Your Highness.” The Burning Heaven Clan has suffered severely under this new punishment. They are giving half of their income away, and it's monthly! This is forcing their Clan to shrink its economy. They need to slash this new tax anyway they can!

“Very well, don’t disappoint me, Clan Master.” Cang Long looked at him before looking away. Fen Duanhun was made the new Clan Master after what Fen Yiyue did. It will take years for the old man to recover from his injuries.

If not for his status as Throne and Clan Master, the Clan would have executed him for his actions.

Around two hours later, everyone’s cultivation increased significantly, especially the regular soldiers who were in True Profound. Their power went up all the way to Spirit Profound, while the commanders became Earth Profound experts.

As Cang Long observed the amazed warriors who couldn’t keep their faces straight, he looked at the vanguard in the front. Several hundred disciples of Burning Heaven Clan had Sky Profound experts, who were Early Thrones now.

“I am amazed that they have not surrendered and begged forgiveness.” Villa Master looked perplexed. He hoped that these fools would surrender and beg.

“Most likely their Thunderfire. We at Xiao Sect have similar items.”

“Oh, the decimating orbs?” 

Xiao Juetian nodded as he brought the entire batch of those. In case the prince wants to blow up the Fortress.

As they were discussing the circumstances, the Blue Giant manifested and began to gather flames in his hands.

“Heaven Burning Arts, it would seem he already learned them.” Ling Yuefeng commented as he saw the giant throw balls that looked like suns into the gates…