Four-sided Battle Flags

Just as the axe blade was about to fall, a figure suddenly appeared beside her.

Jun Mukong swung the sword in his right hand, and the longsword collided with the giant axe in mid-air.

Clang—!

The deafening sound of clashing metal rang out, sending sparks flying in all directions.

The weight of the giant axe, combined with the strength bonus from the berserk state, made the power of this strike far exceed normal levels.

Although Jun Mukong's longsword blocked the axe blade, the massive impact still sent both of them flying backward.

As they flew backward through the air, Jun Mukong reached out his left hand, grabbing Gongsun Qingling's shoulder. In the instant they were sent flying, he violently channeled spatial power to teleport them to the ground.

Even so, they couldn't help but stumble back several steps upon landing before barely stabilizing their bodies, carving two deep trenches into the yellow sand beneath their feet.

The moment they landed, Jun Mukong let go. His movements were crisp and clean, without a moment's hesitation.

Gongsun Qingling steadied herself, let out a deep breath, and turned to look at Jun Mukong, her eyes filled with gratitude.

Thank you, Martial Uncle.

Her gaze lingered on Jun Mukong's face for a moment.

Jun Mukong was extremely handsome, with a striking face, sword-like eyebrows, and starry eyes.

At this moment, he had his head slightly turned, his gaze locked on the distant battlefield, his expression focused and calm.

Gongsun Qingling withdrew her gaze.

Having been in the Holy Land for over a decade, she naturally knew of this Eleventh Ancestor's popularity among the female disciples.

Although he was the Eleventh Ancestor of the Holy Land and held a highly respected seniority, his young age and supreme talent made him the dream lover of many female disciples.

However, Jun Mukong had never shown any special attitude toward any female disciple. It wasn't that he was like Lin Jingyu, who understood romantic feelings early on but deliberately avoided them.

To call him aloof would be inaccurate.

He was just dense.

When it came to romance, he possessed a natural obtuseness.

He couldn't understand the attentive gestures of his junior martial sisters, nor could he feel the romantic affection others directed at him.

In his daily life, his heart and eyes were completely filled with cultivation.

It's nothing.

Jun Mukong's voice was calm, devoid of any unnecessary emotion.

He looked down at his sword-wielding right hand, slightly shaking his wrist to loosen up his numb arm.

Then, without looking back, he charged into the battlefield once more.

Gongsun Qingling stood in place, watching that figure weave, dodge, and strike amidst the flames of war, and the corners of her lips curled up slightly.

She shook her head, tossing those inappropriate stray thoughts out of her mind. Taking a deep breath, she fully extended her spiritual power again, locking onto the remaining three battle generals.

The battle continued.

With the previous lesson in mind, Gongsun Qingling's perception grew more cautious. She no longer locked her spiritual power entirely on the battle generals, but left some leeway to deal with any sudden changes.

After a brief moment of chaos, the disciples also managed to steady their formation.

Another fifteen minutes of fierce fighting ensued.

The axe-wielding general was the first to fall.

The sword-wielding general was the second.

The spear-wielding general was the last to fall.

It was the strongest of the four and lasted the longest.

But a single tree does not make a forest. After all its companions dissipated, it faced the siege of thirty disciples.

No matter how fast it swung its spear, it could not block the attacks coming from all directions.

In the end, it fell to one knee, using its spear planted in the ground to support its body, as its crimson eyes slowly closed.

The phantom dissipated.

Four battle flags stood firmly planted in the ground, swaying gently in the wind.

Cyan, black, crimson, and white. The four large characters for Wind, Mountain, Fire, and Cloud on the four flags sparkled in the sunlight.

Jun Mukong sheathed his sword and walked toward the four flags.

He crouched down and gently touched the surface of the cyan battle flag with his right hand.

The moment his fingertips touched the flag, a stream of information surged from the flag into his mind. The usage, effects, and limitations of the flag were clearly presented in his consciousness.

The four battle flags each had their own use.

The cyan Wind flag — Gale Flag.

When activated, it could conjure a gale spiritual domain within a radius of a hundred zhang, increasing the movement speed of allied cultivators within the domain.

At the same time, the turbulent winds could disrupt enemy ranged attacks. Projectile artifacts such as arrows, flying swords, and hidden weapons would have their trajectories deflected by invisible air currents upon entering the wind domain.

The black Mountain flag — Immovable Flag.

When activated, it could condense a mountain dharma domain within a radius of a hundred zhang, providing rock-like reinforcement to the physical bodies and spiritual shields of allied cultivators within the domain.

The suppressive power of the mountains enveloped the earth, restricting all enemy earth-attribute escape arts, earth spikes, and underground travel methods, preventing them from moving or launching sneak attacks from underground.

The crimson Fire flag — Blazing Flag.

When activated, it could trigger a true fire domain within a radius of a hundred zhang, enhancing the attack power of allied cultivators within the domain.

The might of the raging fire could scorch the enemy's spiritual energy circulation, forcing them to consume extra spiritual energy when casting any divine abilities, thereby accelerating the depletion of the enemy's spiritual energy.

The white Cloud flag — Flowing Cloud Flag.

When activated, it could form a cloud dharma realm within a radius of a hundred zhang, dispelling impure qi, inner demons, and negative status effects from the disciples' bodies.

It enhanced the entire team's divine soul defense, resisted divine soul attacks, and increased the recovery speed of injuries and spiritual energy.

Four flags, four types of buffs.

The only limitation was that each flag required someone to continuously infuse it with spiritual energy to maintain it.

Jun Mukong stood up and pulled the four flags from the ground one by one.

He thought for a moment, then handed the Gale Flag and the Immovable Flag to Gongsun Qingling.

These four flags are all area-of-effect buff artifacts. You will naturally know the specific effects of these two flags after touching them. Since we are still in the mystic realm, put them to use immediately.

They require continuous infusion of spiritual energy to maintain, so you can hand them over to the support and healing disciples in the back row to use.

Gongsun Qingling took the two flags with both hands. The moment her fingertips touched the flags, two streams of information flooded into her mind simultaneously.

A hint of surprise flashed in her eyes. She then nodded solemnly and stored the two flags in her sleeve.

Thank you, Martial Uncle.

Jun Mukong nodded without saying much else.

He handed the Blazing Flag and the Flowing Cloud Flag to two disciples in his own team. The two took the flags.

Similarly, they grasped their usage the moment they touched the flags and carefully put them away.

After the fierce battle that had just lasted for nearly half an hour, everyone had consumed a significant amount of spiritual energy, and their mental states were visibly exhausted.

With a wave of Jun Mukong's right hand, two stone houses appeared out of thin air in the center of the clearing.

The stone houses were not large, each about three zhang square, built entirely of grayish-white stone, with their surfaces carved full of dense array formations.

These were given by his master, Gu Changyuan, who said that if they needed to rest in the mystic realm, they could summon these things.

The stone houses were inscribed with defensive arrays, allowing them to rest inside without worrying about outside threats.

Two stone houses, one for the male disciples and one for the female disciples; the space was sufficient.

Gongsun Qingling also had similar stone houses on her, but after looking at the two in front of her and then at the disciples in her team who were already showing signs of fatigue, she decided not to do anything redundant.

The space in the two stone houses was enough to accommodate everyone, so there was no need to summon a third one.