"Impossible!"
Upon hearing that he had to return the money, Gongyang Hao immediately jumped up and refused.
He and Yuan Dahai were both as greedy as misers. Asking him to disgorge the prize that was already in his mouth was like cutting flesh from his body.
"Then let's fight."
Xu Yi had no intention of letting him off the hook anyway, and his refusal was exactly what she wanted.
"Fine, fine, you want to fight, don't you? You're forcing my hand."
Gongyang Hao glared at Xu Yi hatefully, took a talisman from his waist, ignited it with the fire in his palm, and a blue ball of light shot into the sky, illuminating half the horizon.
At the same time, he took out a formation disk and threw it at his feet. In the blink of an eye, he was enveloped by the spiritual energy shield emanating from the formation disk.
"It's a communication talisman," Lu Zaiye said in a deep voice. "He's called for reinforcements."
Meanwhile, Gongyang Hao's triumphant voice came from within the spiritual energy shield, "You're all dead!"
Xu Yi was almost amused to death by Gongyang Hao. Was this person a mudfish, so slippery and evasive?
She stepped forward and tapped the spiritual energy shield a few times with her regulation ruler.
Seeing that the place she had tapped on the spiritual energy shield had dented and then quickly bounced back, Xu Yi knew that this magic formation could not be broken in a short while, so she stopped probing.
Gongyang Hao laughed wildly from within the spiritual energy shield.
Yuan Dahai, seeing that the situation was escalating, frowned in distress.
If he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have come up with this method to make money.
As Yuan Dahai sighed, three streaks of light sped from the direction of Mengcheng and landed in front of them a few breaths later.
"Gongyang Hao, you summoned us."
The leader of the three, dressed in luxurious clothes, tilted his chin slightly, his face filled with arrogance.
Upon seeing the newcomers, Gongyang Hao quickly emerged from the formation, a fawning smile on his face as he rushed to the man's side. "Master Qiu, it's me. You must uphold justice for me."
He raised his hand and pointed at Xu Yi, his expression indignant. "This woman dared to alter my formation without a formation cultivator's plaque and threatened to beat me. She simply has no regard for our Formation Heaven Alliance."
"Hmm?"
Master Qiu snorted and finally turned his gaze to Xu Yi, asking indifferently, "Is what he just said true?"
Lu Zaiye's expression remained unchanged, but his aura suddenly shifted, exuding an intense pressure.
Xu Yi, who was closest to him, sensed the change in him, turned her head slightly, her eyes filled with admiration.
No wonder Elder Qingfeng had chosen Lu Zaiye to train with her. Look at this presence; it was so reassuring.
Xu Yi was distracted and did not answer Master Qiu's question immediately. This made the usually haughty Master Qiu feel offended, and his face showed displeasure.
The two people standing behind him stepped forward and reprimanded loudly, "How dare you! Didn't you hear Master Qiu's question?"
"Master Qiu is the youngest Level Four Formation Master in the Formation Heaven Alliance! How dare you be disrespectful!"
These two were only at the Golden Core stage, but they dared to point fingers at Xu Yi, who was at the Nascent Soul stage. It was clear they were acting like bullies, relying on the influence of others.
Moreover, judging by their demeanor and actions, it was evident that this was not the first time such a thing had happened.
Xu Yi had originally intended to explain politely, but now she had completely lost that inclination. Instead, she emulated Master Qiu's earlier posture, tilting her chin. "Is it, and so what? Is it not, and so what?"
Master Qiu was stunned, then he sneered, "Since you've admitted it, you'll have to come with us to the Formation Heaven Alliance and confess to impersonating a formation cultivator..."
"I'm not going."
Xu Yi glimpsed the schadenfreude on Gongyang Hao's face and realized that if she really went to the Formation Heaven Alliance with these people, she would likely be stripped bare, if not killed.
Before Master Qiu appeared, she was quite curious about the Formation Heaven Alliance, even thinking that she might join if she had the chance to see what it was like.
But now, seeing the overbearing Master Qiu and the reputation-seeking Gongyang Hao, it was better not to join the Formation Heaven Alliance at all.
"You say you won't go, so you won't go? That's not up to you."
After being repeatedly snubbed by Xu Yi, Master Qiu finally dropped his pretense and revealed his hidden malice.
He strode forward, lowered his voice, and said, "Formation, activate."
As he spoke, he rapidly tapped the air with his fingers, and intricate runes appeared, forming a complex formation in the air and striking towards Xu Yi.
Xu Yi pushed aside Lu Zaiye, who was blocking her path, channeled her spiritual power into the regulation ruler in her hand, and pointed forward.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
With each tap from Xu Yi, there was a dull thudding sound.
She watched as the formation drew closer, a startling light flashing in her eyes, and she softly uttered, "Explode!"
Boom!
The formation exploded in response, and violent spiritual energy fluctuations surged outwards.
Xu Yi stood unmoving. When the spiritual energy fluctuations reached her, she held her regulation ruler and slashed forward.
A powerful gust of wind split the spiritual energy fluctuations, creating a passage that precisely shielded Xu Yi and Lu Zaiye.
However, Master Qiu and the others were not as fortunate.
The sudden surge of spiritual energy, combined with Xu Yi's slash, resulted in two waves of spiritual energy converging and striking the unprepared individuals, sending them flying ten miles away.
Yuan Dahai, wisely, had retreated with the young man when the two began to fight. Although he was affected, he was not injured.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
As the dust settled, apart from Master Qiu and Gongyang Hao who were still standing, the other two had fallen to the ground, covered in dust and disheveled.
Master Qiu swallowed the blood surging in his throat and looked at Xu Yi in horror. "You, you are a formation cultivator!"
If she were not a formation cultivator, it would be impossible for her to break his formation so easily.
However, Xu Yi flatly denied it, "I am not."
She was merely interested in formations and had learned some of the Way of Formations from an elder, but she wasn't truly a formation cultivator.
Not?
Master Qiu's expression grew even more unpleasant.
He and Xu Yi were both in the late Nascent Soul stage, yet they couldn't even withstand a single move.
This indicated that Xu Yi's attainments in the Way of Formations far surpassed his, yet she adamantly denied it.
He felt that Xu Yi was humiliating him.
"What is your name?"
Master Qiu asked through gritted teeth.
This person's formation cultivation level must be higher than his. The Formation Heaven Alliance would surely have records of such a young formation cultivator.
As long as he knew her name and confirmed her identity, he would get revenge for today's humiliation the next time they met.
He stared intently at Xu Yi, waiting for her answer.
"Then listen carefully, my name is Su Meier!" Xu Yi said without hesitation.
Lu Zaiye: ...
If he remembered correctly, this name seemed to be the name of the female protagonist in the storybook that their junior ancestor had inquired about at the bookstore.
Su Meier, Su Meier!
Master Qiu clenched his fists, pushed aside Gongyang Hao, who was trying to explain, and left with his two followers without looking back.
Gongyang Hao glanced fearfully at Xu Yi, gritted his teeth, and also planned to leave.
He had not expected that even Master Qiu would be defeated by Xu Yi, and from the looks of it, Master Qiu had also held a grudge against him. He had to hurry and apologize.
"Wait a moment."
Three light words nailed Gongyang Hao's feet to the ground.
He turned around and yelled at Xu Yi with a fierce but weak expression, "Su Meier! What else do you want!"
Xu Yi choked on the fake name she had conjured and pretended to be calm. "You haven't fulfilled the conditions I stated earlier."
Gongyang Hao's face instantly turned green.