Chapter Two: The Mysterious Formation Array Encircles the Valley

The arrangement of a magic formation can be simple or complex, depending on your needs. For ordinary formations, a few large trees or some stubborn rocks suffice; such setups can only trap common folk, while those with even a bit of skill can easily ignore them. More advanced formations require banners or magic disks. Of course, great mountain-guarding arrays are beyond the imagination of solitary wanderers like Liaochan.

Liaochan only intended to set up a simple formation—after all, this was not his specialty, nor did he have the resources. The formation he chose was the Heaven-Earth Isolation Array. Simple, yet practical. The water from the River of the Dead would suppress the drought demon's yin fire, while the juice of the Other Shore Flower would temporarily sever the valley’s earth qi, evening the playing field by stripping the drought demon of its advantage as master of this land.

Unlike ordinary zombies, drought demons do not fear sunlight; day or night makes no difference to them. Nevertheless, Liaochan decided to enter the valley during the day, mainly to guard against other malevolent spirits that might lurk within.

The moon was bright, the stars sparse, and the night sky was clear as a polished mirror. Liaochan sat atop the mountain, gazing up at the heavens. He had been in this world for nearly a hundred years. In his previous life, he could never have imagined that he would one day embark upon the path of immortality, nor that he would stake his life for a mission of merit. He wondered where Yunhua was now. If he failed to return tomorrow, would the temple of Xuanguang be passed on smoothly? He hadn’t even seen the new temple built by his entrusted friends…

A current of pure purple qi flowed from the east, stirring Liaochan from his meditation. He took up his peachwood sword and strode resolutely towards the valley.

In northern Shaanxi, large stones are rare; all one finds is yellow earth upon yellow earth, nothing else. Especially in that vast valley, where not a single blade of grass grew.

Within the valley, the air was thick with oppressive heat—not the sweltering heat of summer, but a fire that churned in the heart, making one restless and irritable. The deeper he went, the heavier the suffocating air became, until Liaochan felt a clammy dampness upon his skin.

“Heaven and earth are divided, all things are clear; calm the spirit, let no evil arise.” Liaochan pressed a talisman, inscribed with water from the River of the Dead, to his chest. The stifling heat vanished at once, and he continued on. After half an hour, he reached the valley’s center.

Here lay a stretch of flat ground, unnaturally level, as if man-made. In the very center stood a solitary grave, built of blue stone, before which was an unmarked stele, its surface stained red as if soaked in blood.

This was the drought demon’s lair. It was certainly not a place fit for the burial of men. The mountain on the left rose abruptly, steep and unscalable; the one on the right climbed even higher. In front, a dried-up stream ran straight down from the mountain’s base without the slightest curve. Behind, the mountain’s peak was broken, as if decapitated. This was a land where the Azure Dragon had slipped, the White Tiger clutched a corpse, the Vermillion Bird wept, and the Black Tortoise hid its head—the Four Symbols, the Four Dooms. A site foretelling the annihilation of a clan. In such an ominous place, who but a drought demon, feeding on this baleful energy, would dare dwell?

“Come! Soldiers, fight! Array yourselves before me!” Liaochan formed a spell seal, sending eight spirit talismans from his body to the eight directions around the grave. In an instant, they burrowed into the earth and vanished. Moments later, a chilling aura surged up around the tomb, matching the fierce yin fire in intensity.

“Heaven and earth without limits, reveal the demon—open!” With a swing of his sword, Liaochan struck at the stele.

A burst of sinister laughter echoed as the wooden sword neared the stone. Suddenly, the grave split open, a black mist billowed forth, and the drought demon appeared.

As soon as it emerged, the drought demon lunged at Liaochan, both hands outstretched. Its nails were nearly half a foot long, shimmering with a greenish light, hard as metal, and coated with corpse poison—one touch would leave a man crippled or worse.

But Liaochan was prepared. He flung out a handful of talismans and leapt back. Yet the drought demon was formidable indeed; the talismans burst into ash before they could even draw near.

Now, for the first time, Liaochan saw the drought demon with his own eyes. It was nothing like the legends of blue-faced, fang-mouthed fiends. Its face was an ashen green, its eyes glowed red, its hands were withered as dead wood with long, sharp nails. It wore tattered black burial robes, and its gaze was fixed unblinkingly upon Liaochan.

“Fiend, you have harmed the living, and Heaven will not tolerate you. I am here to bring you to justice!” Liaochan steeled his resolve, talisman in his left hand, sword in his right, and charged at the demon. Dust and gravel flew as man and monster clashed.

But as the fight went on, Liaochan grew more alarmed. He had heard of the drought demon’s inhuman strength and imperviousness to blades, but reality was even more frightening. After only a few exchanges, his palms throbbed from the force, and he could barely hold on. Realizing he was outmatched, Liaochan retreated swiftly. The demon, emboldened, howled and pressed forward relentlessly. As Liaochan leapt back, the demon lunged after him—only to find Liaochan flipping backwards and hurling his sword.

“By command of the sword, subdue the demon—rise!” Liaochan shouted. The magic sword shot forward like a streak of light, aiming for the demon’s skull.

The demon was caught off guard and reached out, seizing the sword in its grasp. The blade halted, quivering with a mournful hum as the demon twisted, threatening to snap it in two.

In that moment, Liaochan’s heart clenched. Quickly forming a spell seal, he summoned divine fire and called down the Five Thunders. With a command, a bolt of lightning split the sky, striking the demon directly. Liaochan did not expect to harm the demon, only to force it to release the sword so he could recover his weapon.