That Beast Region had survived all this time despite being surrounded on all sides by the Heavenly Court, Underworld, and Immortal Region. This was largely thanks to the fact that their territory contained an ancient spiritual formation.
Back when the Three Realms were first formed, the former heads of the four Sacred Beast Clans gave everything they had to place this formation. Their goal was to protect the futures of the countless clans of the Beast Region.
So long as they activated this formation, the four Sacred Beast Clans could use it to baffle and bewilder invaders, leaving them no choice but to return home in utter defeat. Alternatively, they could lead invaders into killing formations and execute each and every one of them.
It was fair to say that the existence of this spiritual formation was one of their trump cards, a key part of their plans to resist the demons.
“Just who did it?!”
Lei Hu, who’d always had an explosive temper, was so furious the very air around him sparked with electricity.
The spiritual formation was truly far too important to them. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be this agitated.
The group’s gazes fell on Xia Hua, but by now, he was completely frozen in place, his attention fixated on Xia Yingqiu, his brother, and Xia Keke.
His heart ached.
He knew that these six were to become the eyes of the Four Beast Formation.
The Dragon Clan was on the decline. Throughout their entire clan, only these six currently possessed a pure golden dragon bloodline. He himself didn’t have one, otherwise, there was absolutely no way he’d let his beloved granddaughter get mixed up in all this.
And the other clansmen too… His heart ached!
“Xia Hua!” roared Lei Hu. Everyone was waiting for Xia Hua’s response, but the old man hadn’t said anything all this time.
Lei Hu’s roar attracted the old man’s attention. “Hm? What is it?”
When Lei Hu heard this response, he glowered at Xia Hua as if trying to bore a hole right through him. “I’m asking you what happened. You just said our spiritual formation is broken? Which formation is broken, exactly?”
“All of them,” said Xia Hua.
“All…. all of them?” said Tu Biyu, so surprised he started stuttering.
Zhuge Hong knit her brows. “How is that possible? Xia Hua, you mustn’t speak carelessly. Are you saying even our reserve formations were destroyed from the inside? How is that possible? I placed the outer thirty-seven killing formations myself. When it comes to formations, no one in the Beast Region can compete with me.”
“They managed to break even the Sacred Ancestors’ formations, of course they could break yours. Furthermore, they shattered them from the inside. Couldn’t anyone with even a superficial understanding of the formations break them easily?” asked Lei Hu darkly.
Then he narrowed his eyes at Xia Hua and said, “Now, all I want to know is, who the h.e.l.l did it?”
“It was probably the flying serpents,” sighed Xia Hua. “It seems they’re the ones who broke it. After the formation broke, I used my spiritual awareness to scan the entire Beast Region. The flying serpent clan is no longer in their territory. They…. They might still be allied with the demons.”
“What do you mean, ‘probably? It was definitely that bunch of poisonous snakes!” said Lei Hu, eyes wide. Real lighting glinted in his eyes and crackled through his white hair. The muscles in his face trembled uncontrollably.
“Back then, I wanted to shock him to death. I knew those poisonous old snakes were no good right from the start!”
“It’s quite possible that he really did it, "" frowned Zhuge Hong. “Their clan knows the ancient art of divination. It’s quite possible that they could break through my killing formations. Furthermore, back when the Sacred Ancestors first laid their grand formation, the Flying Serpent Clan learned to operate it as well.”
Bang.
Lei Hu stomped his feet hard, cracking the floor.
Lightning surged out of his body, through his feet and into the ground. Fists clenched, teeth gnashed, he said, He gnashed his teeth and clenched his fists and said “I told you ten thousand years ago: we shouldn’t spare the flying serpent clan. But you all stopped me!”
“At the time, it was just your private grudge. Furthermore, the Flying Serpents are also one of the Eight Divine Beast Clans. How could we just stand aside and let you eliminate the entire clan?”
“How about now? They’re working with the demons, alright? When they left, they even destroyed our grand formation,” snorted Lei Hu, eyes practically popping out of his head. “You people keep going on and on about our former relations.h.i.+p as divine beasts, but do they feel the same way?”
“That has nothing to do with it!” roared Xia Hua.
Zhuge Hong got up and stood between Lei Hu and Xia Hu, separating them. “Stop arguing and sit back down.”
“Stop arguing? It’s not that I want to argue, but it’s a fact that we White Tigers fought the Flying Serpents and, just as I was about to end them, that geezer Xia Hua stopped me. He spouted a whole bunch of nonsense about believing in the Flying Serpent Clan and the friends.h.i.+p between the Eight Divine Beast Clans. Drop the bulls.h.i.+t already. Back then, do you why I attacked those poisonous snakes? It was because they were colluding with demons even then!”
“Enough,” said Zhuge Hong, giving him a look. “We’ve already come this far. There’s no use making a fuss. Will eliminating the entire Flying Serpent Clan fix our grand formation?”
Lei Hu’s lips quivered. In the end, he had no response.
“What we need to do now is get a grip on our current situation,” said Zhuge Hong, frowning at the two men. Both were still breathing heavily.
“Xia Hua,” she said, “what is the grand formation’s current status?”
“There’s likely no way to fix it. You ought to understand the Sacred Ancestors might. As for the formations we placed, the hundred-and-eight killing formations, mirage formations, entrapment formations, and bewildering formations, they’re in pieces as well. However, their damage is less severe. Given sufficient time, we should be able to fix them.”
“But that’s exactly what I’m afraid of! Do you really think they’ll give us the time?” snorted Lei Hu. “Those poisonous b.a.s.t.a.r.ds already left. They’re definitely on their way to report to the demons and say, ‘our Beast Region is out of firepower, hurry up and attack our borders!’”
“Lei Hu, would saying just a little less kill you?” Zhuge Hong frowned.
“But Lei Hu’s right,” sighed Tu Biyu. “If the Flying Serpent Clan hadn’t left it’d be one thing, given that they’d already fled, they’re undoubtedly on their way to report to the demons. So long as the enemy isn’t stupid, they’ll undoubtedly take this opportunity to attack. When the time comes, our gate will be wide open, so to speak. They can invade our innermost territory without any reservations whatsoever.”
“Hmph.” Lei Hu couldn’t help but snort coldly.
“Enough, quit snorting. Last time, I was truly in the wrong,” said Xia Hua, rolling his eyes at Lei Hu. “If you have time to sulk, you’d be better off thinking of a solution.”
“How else can we handle this? We fight!” said Lei Hu, eyes bulging. “We’ve lost or grand formation, we’ve lost our spiritual formations. All we can do is go to battle! You can’t be planning to just have us wait here until they arrive at our door, completely unharmed, then fight a defensive battle? If we seize the initiative we’ll be halfway to victory already. We’d best act now, while they’ve yet to invade! Let’s get everyone together and attack right away!”
“Senior Dragon G.o.d, what do you think…..” Xia Hua glanced at the ancient G.o.d, who smiled back at him.
“We could fight, of course, but that isn’t the best solution,” said the Dragon G.o.d.
“Then what you propose we do?”
“Wait!”