Page 12

In times of adversity, change is the path to success. Having tasted hardship, I had no choice but to exercise my mind and seek alternative strategies. Traps were out of the question; after centuries, countless hunters had taught monsters every conceivable type, and some might even have invented new ones. Considering our strengths and weaknesses, the solution pointed towards Peach Blossom Island's signature technique – formations.

My master was a genius, versed in astronomy, geography, philosophy, music, calligraphy, medicine, divination, and more. Naturally, he aimed to pass on his knowledge to his disciples. However, one cannot be proficient in everything, so my fellow disciples and I, although intelligent, each chose a single field for intensive study while dabbling in others.

Junior Brother Lingfeng was adept at mechanisms and ambushes. Junior Brother Mofeng, born a blacksmith, naturally gravitated towards ironworking. The oddball thief, Senior Sister Zhaowang, had an affinity for dissecting corpses, leading her to specialize in medical practices, using cadavers to refine the Nine Yin White Bone Claw, poisoning herself to cultivate inner strength, and concurrently creating antidotes – all her innovations.

As for Chengfeng, the martial world believed him to be an expert in formations due to his renowned Lake Taihu's Guiyun Manor. In reality, he merely copied designs; his true forte lay in architecture. Meanwhile, I was the genuine inheritor of my master's formation skills.

Back then, my master held himself aloof, disdainful of setting traps in hidden chambers. Instead, he placed them under the layers of protection of Peach Blossom Island's grand formation, believing it to be foolproof. That was where I found an opening. After months of relentless calculation, I cracked the formation, successfully stealing the Nine Yin Manual. Outshining my teacher, that feat was the pinnacle of my pride.

No matter how clever the monsters, they couldn't penetrate my enigmatic formations. Aside from flyers and giants too massive to be encompassed by a formation, once trapped in my labyrinth of boulders and trees, tailored to the landscape, their fate was sealed. Thus, my hunting success skyrocketed, with monthly trophies.

However, constructing these formations each time was laborious. Collaborating with the old Shaman from Blizzard Hut, I hunted and purchased a large number of a specific magical beast, which the Shaman then used, combining witchcraft, divine magic, and formation enchantments, to forge an unprecedented invention – the "Grand Yin Illusion Banner."

From the two large wooden chests I received from the old Shaman, 49 banners were contained within. Each banner, about six feet long, was crafted from black olive wood etched with demonic patterns, topped with an irregular monster skull and adorned with a four-foot-long blood-red veil bearing ancient totemic images. Sharp metal spikes at the bottom allowed them to pierce rock and wood.

The beast used to create the spirit banners was a low-level herbivorous creature called the White Illusion Deer. Though lacking combat prowess, it could bewilder foes with illusions. Often traveling in groups of seven or eight, their continuous barrage of illusions could even deceive mid- to high-level monsters. To hunt these deer-like creatures, I studied the "Setting Sun Heaven Bow," a bow technique from the Nine Yin Manual, and extorted the dark magic bow "Storm Horn" from the old Shaman. With these, I picked them off from a distance of a hundred paces.

The completed Grand Yin Illusion Banners allowed me to set up the Grand Yin Illusion Formation anywhere, with power surpassing my stone-and-tree arrangements by several times. Even without variation, they autonomously generated various illusions, bewildering trapped monsters in ways more mystical than my master's Peach Blossom Myriad Formation. It wasn't that my formations exceeded my master's but rather the difference in tools that produced different outcomes.

Unfolding the box, I unfurled my Illusion Banner and began to set up the array. The intricate work of deciphering the local terrain was already done when I chose this place as my hunting ground. So now, all I needed to do was insert the banner into predetermined spots, infuse a wisp of true energy into the beast bone skulls, and activate the concealed power within – a special setting made by the old Shaman during its creation.

Black smoke rose from the banner in tendrils, coalescing in the air into forty-nine distinct illusory forms, the spirits of the magical beasts trapped within the banner by dark divine arts. Freed from their physical bodies after death and augmented by the dark divine power, these illusions were even more potent than in life. They moved along mysterious trajectories within the array, soon merging together, transforming the surrounding hundred paces into an illusionary space from which there was no escape.

With the array successfully established, I sat cross-legged at its center, organizing the various tools and instruments I had brought. After all, martial prowess wasn't the only consideration in hunting. All that remained was to wait for my pet junior, Icewind, to lure the magical beast.

Initially, I thought Icewind was nothing but a useless toy, but to my surprise, it possessed an ability that was both a blessing and a curse: it could incredibly stimulate the appetite of carnivorous magical beasts. No matter how cunning or intelligent the beast, if Icewind wandered through its territory, it would inevitably charge out, eyes bloodshot, regardless of the danger. This ability was deadly for Icewind traveling alone, but for me, struggling to find magical beasts, it was a tremendous aid. Moreover, Icewind seemed to possess an extremely sensitive intuition, able to gauge the level of danger and the creature's basic attack patterns, always safely leading the beast into my trap without ever attracting an opponent beyond our capabilities.

However, due to my request for a stronger foe, Icewind had to venture far this time. It took two days before I heard Icewind's distinctive howl echo from afar. Rising to my feet, I walked to the edge of the array. In the distance, at the entrance of the canyon, Icewind's white figure dashed towards me like lightning.

The beast Icewind had lured this time seemed extraordinary. Though it appeared unharmed, it was utterly disheveled, suggesting it had employed every trick in the book – swimming, climbing, burrowing – to evade pursuit. As Icewind entered the array and became ensnared in the illusion, circling aimlessly, I approached and lifted it, carrying it out of the array from another side. Turning to face the canyon entrance, I awaited the unknown magical beast, curious to see what creature could have pushed Icewind to this point.