Fang Hao stood at the entrance of a valley named Soul Severing Gorge, gazing at the perilous canyon before him.

On both sides were bare, knife-cut cliffs, leaving a narrow path in the middle that could only accommodate a single carriage, with only a sliver of sky visible overhead.

The wind whistled through the gorge, making a wailing sound like ghosts crying.

This place was practically a natural ambush point.

’Gong Mingyuan... the debt for that sword strike at Heavenly Wolf Pass must be repaid,’ Fang Hao muttered to himself, his eyes cold enough to freeze someone.

This time, he decided not to use the golden puppet.

Relying on external objects forever was not a long-term solution.

He wanted to test if he could chew through this tough bone—Gong Mingyuan, a Middle Golden Core Stage Cultivator who was experienced and skilled in assassination—relying solely on his own Late Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation and his mastery of Formations.

Risk? Of course, it was high!

A Middle Golden Core Stage Cultivator was not to be trifled with; if he faced him head-on, he estimated he wouldn’t last a few rounds.

But Fang Hao had a pent-up energy in his heart; the frustration of being ambushed at Heavenly Wolf Pass and the anger from being hunted all the way here had to be unleashed in this battle!

He wanted to prove that, relying solely on his own abilities, he could turn the tables!

He got straight to work.

Fang Hao took a deep breath and began to busy himself in the gorge.

Like a busy worker ant, he stealthily buried Formation Flags and Formation Plates engraved with runes at both ends of the gorge, above the cliffs, and even in inconspicuous cracks in the ground.

This time, he had gone all out, taking out all the good Materials he had scavenged from Golden Core Middle Stage and Gong Mingli, as well as those he had kept in reserve.

He wasn’t setting up a single Formation, but a series of linked Formations!

The outermost layer was the Mist Illusion Formation; this thing didn’t have much lethality, but it could disrupt Divine Sense, making anyone who entered feel like they were in a maze, unable to tell north from south.

Inside that was the Small Five Elements Inversion Formation, which could disrupt the opponent’s operation of Spiritual Qi, making them feel like a drunkard when casting spells, unable to unleash even seventy percent of their full power.

In the core area, he set up his trump card, the Nine Palaces Spirit Locking Formation.

This was the real killing move; once activated, it could greatly suppress the trapped person’s cultivation and condense Spiritual Qi to form chains for binding.

Finally, he also buried Formation Plates for the Explosive Flame Formation and Geng Metal Sword Formation at several key nodes as a killing move to be detonated.

Setting up a Formation was delicate work; one had to calculate the flow of Spiritual Qi and hide the Formation so it blended into the surrounding environment, so it couldn’t be spotted at a glance.

Fang Hao worked for the better part of the day, sweat appearing on his forehead, before he finally finished preparing this ’feast.’

He stood at a high point in the gorge, looking at the seemingly normal scene below, feeling a little more at ease.

Whether it would succeed depended on whether Gong Mingyuan took the bait and how effective this set of Formations was.

After making the arrangements, Fang Hao flickered and dove straight into the Chaos Grotto-Heaven.

In this independent Small World, he could clearly perceive the situation in the gorge outside, and those outside, even if a Nascent Soul Ancestor came, would never be able to discover him.

This was his greatest source of confidence—if I can’t beat you, can’t I just hide?

He sat cross-legged in the Grotto-Heaven, regulating his breath to restore his state to its peak while patiently waiting for the fish to take the bait.

This wait lasted for over a day.

It wasn’t until the afternoon of the next day that Fang Hao, who was in a near-meditative state, felt his mind stir as he sensed several not-so-weak auras coming from the entrance of the gorge.

He immediately focused his spirit to ’look.’

Sure enough, Gong Mingyuan had arrived!

He was wearing an inconspicuous gray martial outfit, his face gloomy, his eyes scanning the entrance of the gorge like a hawk, appearing very vigilant.

He was followed by four guards, all of whom were experts at the Late Foundation Establishment Stage or Great Perfection.

Each of them had tense expressions, their hands resting on their Magical Artifacts, clearly aware that things had not been peaceful lately.

’Elder, this Soul Severing Gorge is treacherous; should we send two people in to scout the path first?’ a man who appeared to be the leader of the guards suggested in a low voice.

Gong Mingyuan narrowed his eyes and examined the gorge for a good while, his Divine Sense sweeping back and forth several times.

Fang Hao’s method of setting up the Formation was indeed brilliant, and combined with the Chaos Grotto-Heaven isolating Fang Hao’s own aura, Gong Mingyuan did not detect any obvious Formation fluctuations.

’Caution is the parent of safety,’ Gong Mingyuan pondered for a moment before nodding.

’You two, go in and take a look first. If anything seems wrong, signal immediately!’

The two guards at the Late Foundation Establishment Stage accepted the order, cautiously activating their defensive Magical Artifacts, and walked into the gorge one after the other.

Fang Hao saw this clearly from within the Grotto-Heaven and sneered in his heart, ’Quite cautious.’

’Unfortunately, this Formation of mine cannot be broken just by having more people.’

With a thought, he silently activated only the outermost layer, the Mist Illusion Formation.

As soon as the two guards entered the middle section of the gorge, faint, grayish-white mist suddenly surged all around them.

This mist was extremely sinister; not only was their vision obstructed, but even the Divine Sense they released felt like it had fallen into a quagmire, becoming blurry and indistinct, and the figures of their companions in front and behind began to flicker in and out of sight.

’Not good! It’s an ambush!’ The two guards’ expressions changed drastically.

They immediately stood back-to-back in defense, while simultaneously preparing to activate their communication talismans.

But before they could even take out the Talismans, a strange suction force suddenly came from the ground beneath their feet, and the circulation of Spiritual Power in their bodies instantly became sluggish!

It was the Small Five Elements Inversion Formation taking effect!

At the same time, several clawing and fangs-baring ghost shadows suddenly materialized in the surrounding mist, letting out shrill wails as they pounced on them!

Although they were illusions, under the dual influence of the mist and the chaotic Spiritual Power, it was enough to throw anyone into a panic!

’Ah!’ ’What is that!’

The two guards were so terrified that their Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, and they instinctively unleashed their Magical Artifacts, attacking wildly.

Suddenly, light flashed chaotically within the gorge, and the sound of rumbling was constant.

Gong Mingyuan, at the entrance of the gorge, heard the commotion inside, and his face instantly turned livid.

’There really is a trap! Form up, follow me in to save them!’

Although he was suspicious, he couldn’t just watch his subordinates perish inside, otherwise, morale would collapse.

The remaining two guards immediately formed a small battle Formation with Gong Mingyuan.

Gong Mingyuan took the center to coordinate, and the four of them, protected by their protective Spiritual light, charged into the mist like a single entity.

’I’ve been waiting for you to come in!’ Fang Hao’s eyes sharpened in the Grotto-Heaven.

This was exactly what he was waiting for—Gong Mingyuan entering the Formation himself!

Just as all four of them, including Gong Mingyuan, stepped into the core area of the gorge, Fang Hao pinched a seal with both hands and whispered in his heart, ’Nine Palaces Spirit Locking, rise!’

Hum—!

The entire gorge shook violently!

A huge Nine Palaces grid pattern, condensed from Spiritual Qi, instantly lit up on the ground of the gorge!

A powerful suppressive force descended with a bang!

Gong Mingyuan only felt a weight on his body, as if he had been fitted with invisible shackles, and his Middle Golden Core Stage cultivation was actually forcibly suppressed to the edge of the Early Golden Core Stage!

The four guards beside him were even worse off; their cultivation dropped directly to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage level, and each of them turned pale, terrified to the extreme.