Chapter 25 – Grassland
The next afternoon, Leyvi and the group arrived at the former location of the Mystical Array Valley. People call it the Slash Valley now since a single slash of an expert formed it.
When Leyvi saw this, he still couldn't believe that a person's strength could do this. Rivers flow again through the valley, but not a single plant managed to grow in the surroundings even after two years.
When he inspected the river, there was not a single life in it. He could feel a terrifying sword aura still linger in the valley. This should be the reason why no life managed to appear here. He wonders how long would it take for the sword aura to dissipate completely.
The party decided to get a quick rest here.
Suddenly Leyvi noticed a young man in brown approaching them. He was in the early-stage Foundation Building realm, the same as him.
"Greetings everyone, my name is Bellion. May I ask what are you doing here?" Bellion politely asked.
"Mr. Bellion, we are just passersby. We are on our way to the Bara Volcano and since the former site of Mystical Array Valley was nearby, we decided to take a look." Leyvi stated the truth.
"Are you here to take a look too?" Leyvi asked this time.
"Ah no. Actually, I am the disciple of the Mystical Array Valley. I was not around when the tragedy happened so I survived." Bellion showed a face of sorrow when he recalled the past. There were many of his friends and acquaintances who perished, even the woman he was interested in.
Leyvi quickly offered his condolences. He didn't expect to meet a survivor of the Mystical Array Valley.
"How many survived?" He was curious. Maybe a lot of them were not in the valley at that time.
"As far as I know, there were only around 20 people. Disciples of the Mystical Array Valley usually only stayed in the sect and rarely came out. They would research new formations and array spells all the time. Sometimes, they would even forget to cultivate. I was one of the few who went outside to find a material for my formation." Bellion sighed a few times as he told Leyvi.
"Only 20 people....I don't see anyone else here. They are not with you?" Leyvi probed.
"Haaaaa...nobody dared to come here again. They were afraid the perpetrator would come back and kill them too. So they left. Some joined other sects, some joined other organizations. I am the only one here." Bellion let out a long sigh before he answered Leyvi.
Leyvi didn't think that there was anything wrong with the actions of the other disciples. If it was him, he might not come back too. After all, your life is more important. He was somewhat impressed that Bellion dared to stay here.
"What about you? Aren't you afraid the perpetrator might come back? Why are you still here anyway?" Leyvi unleashed a barrage of questions.
"I'm still here because I can't let the legacy of the Mystical Array Valley be lost forever. Even though I'm just an insignificant disciple of the sect and only learned a little of the sect's array formation knowledge, I still wanted to revive it again someday." What Bellion said was the truth. He indeed wanted to revive the sect again someday, but he omitted the reason why he still stays here.
"It is a blessing for the Mystical Array Valley to still have a disciple like Mr. Bellion. May your wish come true someday!" Leyvi didn't continue to ask further as it would be rude, so he wished him the best for the future.
After exchanging a few more words, Bellion turned around and left. Leyvi fixed his gaze on the departing figure of Bellion and made his decision. Since he took the mysterious peaches from the Mystical Array Valley, he would help Bellion in his endeavor.
"I want my toy.." He can only utter these cursed words with a very small voice this time because people were around.
"Toy spirit, give Formation talent to Bellion..." Leyvi instructed quietly. He then looked at the menu.
[Talent Bead |Level 5| EXP 743/10000]
[Talent list: Sturdy, Gardening, Sword, Dig, Taming,]
[Recipient: Anda | Alchemy and Fragrant | 99/100]
[Recipient: Stripey | Steal and Stealth | 80/100]
[Recipient: Tal | Chess | 70/100]
[Recipient: Tasya | Cooking | 70/100]
[Recipient: Bellion | Formation | 40/100]
[Host benefit: Fire Affinity, Tree Climbing Expert, Dual Mind, Universal Language, Formation Dismantler]
40 feeling points. Leyvi guessed that this amount of feeling points must be at the neutral level. They were both strangers after all. Below 40 should indicate that the person started to dislike him. He chuckled as he recalled that Stripey's feeling points were at 0 points in the beginning. He must hate the human who suddenly caught him at that time.
"Formation Dismantler....." Leyvi muttered to himself. The name itself is self-explaining, but could he dismantle a super-large formation like the Great Barrier? That would be too overpowered right?
There's no way he could just go to a sect and easily dismantle their protective formation. He would be treated as a demon-like danger level by everyone. Leyvi shook his head. He doesn't want to be chased like that.
What's the fun in being chased anywhere and everywhere and hearing 'courting death' until you become the strongest? From the novels that he read, these novel protagonists can't even decide where they want to go freely but they think they control their destiny. Laughable.
He'll just let his panda wife become the strongest and let her beat them up for him if he ever got chased. In any case, he has to be careful or he might accidentally dismantle someone's formation.
...
Meanwhile,
Bellion was walking back to his place where he hid it in an invisible formation. The reason why he stayed here was because he was harvesting the remnant sword aura left by the destroyer of his sect.
There are multiple advantages to him doing this. Firstly, he could remove all the sword aura from this place so it could bear life again. Secondly, the sword aura can help him complete his killing array. Thirdly, this is the only clue left by the perpetrator. One day, he would use this aura to track the culprit and get his revenge!
Suddenly a mysterious voice sounded in his mind.
'Myriad Formation Manual'
A lot of information flowed into his brain. He was surprised by this sudden phenomenon so he hastened his pace. When he entered his hideout, he immediately passed out from being overloaded by an astronomical amount of information.
...
"Alright! Let's move!" Leyvi said to the party in a loud voice.
Leyvi and the party continue traveling northwest. A day later, after going down a gentle-sloped hill, they entered a wide plain region. They can see the flat area covered in grass as far as their eyes can see. A grassland to be exact.
"Based on the map, if we just walked all the way to the Bara Volcano from here, it would take us a whole month. It's going to be a boring journey from here on. There's nothing to see." Leyvi expressed his opinion.
"It would be best if we could find a big animal to carry us." Anda agreed. Even though she wanted to enjoy the travel slowly, there's really nothing here to experience much.
Since Anda expected this to happen when she planned to go to the Bara Volcano, she had prepared a modified carriage that could fit a dozen people in it. It was equipped with formations that would dissipate all shakings and vibrations, and a protective formation that could negate attacks below the Core Formation realm. This would allow them to travel comfortably.
With her current wealth, buying something like this from the Treasure Hall was not much. Using her ability, she would put a demonic beast into an illusion and let it carry them to the Bara Volcano.
After walking for half a day, they still couldn't find a suitable demonic beast to carry the carriage. Most of the animals they encountered were just small demonic beasts. Small demonic beasts are usually agile instead of strong. What they need is a strong demonic beast with a huge endurance.
Suddenly, Leyvi noticed a big demonic beast lying under a lone tree. It was a demonic bison! It has brown furs throughout its body up to the neck and golden furs around its head. Leyvi's eyes lit up and he informed Anda. Anda said it was probably the most suitable demonic beast they could find here to pull the carriage. However, why was it alone? Bison usually travel in herds.
Soon, she noticed that the bison was injured. One of its horns was broken and blood could be seen on its furs. It was not a problem for her. She could easily heal the injuries and put the Bison under her illusion.
When she was about to go and put the demonic bison under her illusion, Leyvi stopped her.
"Let me talk to the bison and negotiate with it," Leyvi smiled. He planned to use Universal Language to tame the bison with words!