“I thought we were all going to die, but we’ve actually been rescued.”

“Me too.”

“Thank you so much, my friend.”

All the cultivators looked toward Gu Qingshan with gratitude in their eyes.

Gu Qingshan clasped his hands together sincerely and replied, “My cultivation level is extremely low, and the only thing I can do is help set up formations. I will still need to count on everyone for the battle later.”

He could tell that all these people were at Foundation Building level of cultivation.

Since he had to fight this immense number of demons with a group of cultivators that were much more powerful than he was, Gu Qingshan had to tread carefully.

He knew very well how evil some people could be.

Gu Qingshan had spoken very earnestly, so these Foundation Building level cultivators started to like him.

One of them said, “No problem. We’re all with General Gongsun, and as long as we manage to hold out, the General will come and save us.”

Another one added on in frustration, “We weren’t careful enough and were discovered by the demons that suddenly appeared, and that’s how we ended up in this state.”

Gu Qingshan quietly sighed but didn’t say anything.

The few of them started chatting with Gu Qingshan. Gu Qingshan had his own way of dealing with people, so he generally got along well with them.

Under normal circumstances, Foundation Building cultivators wouldn’t even bother to look at a Qi Refining cultivator.

Gu Qingshan was able to get along with these Foundation Building cultivators only because he had saved everyone from such a dire situation, but also because they thought that he was a powerful Formation Master.

Formation Masters were rare and extremely welcome on the battlefield.

So the cultivators weren’t going to use Gu Qingshan as a cover and dump him right in the front of the team to be a living shield for them.

If it had been some other time or some other circumstance, these Foundation Building cultivators might not have batted an eyelid at allowing him to die.

While everyone was resting, the commander cultivator asked, “This formation is not bad, but how long can it last?”

The moment he spoke up, the rest fell silent.

Gu Qingshan finally had the chance to look at this man properly.

This man was in his twenties. His eyes were cold and distant, but energetic. He had pale, blue armor on and held a long fan in his hands. His body was extremely clean and didn’t even have a single drop of demon blood on it, despite having fought them for so long.

Cultivators with the Spirit Power of Fire and Spirit Power of Wind liked using fans as weapons, but it was rare to see a cultivator with the Spirit Power of Water use a fan.

This light blue, full-body armor glowed with the cold light of frost, and there was a faint icy mist around it.

This was excellent frost armor. This armor alone would cost more than 100,000 low-grade spirit stones.

This person was probably a favored disciple of some famous sect.

Gu Qingshan increased his mental rating of this man and replied to him, “This formation can last for another 30 minutes.”

Everyone was relieved.

30 minutes was enough to recover part of their Spirit Power, and they would be able to rid themselves of their fatigue.

The commander relaxed a little and instructed, “Everyone, take a rest first and regain your Spirit Power. We’ll make our move after 30 minutes.

He took out several pills that were filled with Spirit Power from his storage bag and gave them out to everyone. When he reached Gu Qingshan, he offered him one without hesitation.

Gu Qingshan took the pill and was surprised after he put it near his nose and sniffed.

“This is a very valuable pill, and it’s a waste on someone at Qi Refining stage,” he said.

“No worries. We’re in a very dangerous position right now, so this is good for restoring Spirit Power,” the commander replied.

“That’s true. Thanks for this, then.” Gu Qingshan nodded slightly and accepted the pill.

This was a high-grade, Red Crane Qi Replenishment Pill worth 10,000 pieces of gold!

This was a very rare sort of pill. It could continue to regenerate Spirit Power at a high speed for a long time and didn’t have any side effects on the body. It was highly regarded among cultivators.

One such pill was enough to keep someone alive in a normal fight.

Since he was willing to give out such a pill to everyone, this man was of good character and was definitely from a noble background of sorts.

He was slightly older than Gu Qingshan, and he spoke and acted decisively. However, his eyes seemed cold and unfeeling, and there was something faintly distant about the way he looked at others.

This man noticed that Gu Qingshan was looking at him. After thinking for a while, he clasped his hands together and said, “My name is Leng Tianxing, disciple of the Alkaid Faction. I would like to thank you for saving us earlier.”

The Alkaid Faction?

It was as Gu Qingshan had expected.

The Alkaid Faction was a powerful group with a history of more than 100,000 years, and it was well known among all cultivators.

But in his previous life, such an outstanding character had never made a name for himself. So he probably had fallen to the demons here.

Never mind this man—Gu Qingshan couldn’t even guarantee that he himself would survive this destroyed world.

Gu Qingshan sighed in his heart. He clasped his hands and replied, “My name is Gu Qingshan.”

Leng Tianxing shook his hands and said, “Pleased to meet you.”

Neither of them were men who said much, so after this greeting, they went their separate ways and took a rest.

Very soon, everyone had their eyes closed as they started meditating.

Gu Qingshan found the Military Qi Refining Instruction booklet in his storage bag and flipped to the last page.

He glanced at his Soul Power total on the War God Operating Interface.

“Comprehension of Level 7, Shen Tang, requires 6 points of Soul Power.”

“I choose to comprehend this level.”

“Comprehension complete. Current Soul Power: 21/7.”

After he finished doing this, Gu Qingshan put that very precious Red Crane Qi Replenishment Pill into his mouth, then took out the Demonic Python blood and drank three large mouthfuls of it.

If he didn’t find a chance to break through now, he might end up dying right here. So he thought he ought to at least try.

Gu Qingshan had decided to use the regenerating power of the Red Crane Qi Replenishment Pill, as well as how the Demonic Python blood was able to increase his Spirit Power’s sensitivity, to attempt breaking through to Level 7 of Qi Refining.

Time passed by quickly.

Within the formation, a faint wave of Spirit Power slowly dissipated into the air like a small pebble forming ripples as it hit the surface of the water.

By using Soul Power to break through to the next level, his Spirit Power would regenerate to its new maximum in an instant.

This slight change in him had also affected his surroundings a little.

There was a change in the universe around them, so everyone opened their eyes in surprise.

Leng Tianxing’s expression twitched slightly as he said, “Congratulations, Gu Qingshan. You have made it to the next level.”

Gu Qingshan laughed bitterly and shook his head as he said, “I’ve only just reached Qi Refining Level 7, and this is also thanks to the pill you gave me.”

“You’re too kind. You saved us after all.”

“Oh, no, don’t say that.”

Everyone took turns congratulating him.

Their fighting spirit had increased, and the cultivators could see the joy in each other’s eyes.

Every time a cultivator broke through to the next level, the elements in the universe would wash through their bodies and replenish any consumed Spirit Power until the Spirit Power within the dantian was full again.

Using pills was too slow. How could it be compared to the replenishment of the universe?

Gu Qingshan had broken through in a matter of minutes, and the Spirit Power he had used to setup the formation had already been restored.

And because he had reached Qi Refining Level 7, his total amount of Spirit Power had increased by 30%.

What did it mean for a Formation Master to fully restore his body condition?

It meant that Gu Qingshan was able to again set up the formation he had just before—or perhaps even two more times, now that his total amount of Spirit Power had increased.

All the cultivators knew how useful this formation was.

This formation had made them disappear before thousands of demons, so it was a life-saving formation.

And because of such a formation, everyone now had a higher chance of surviving.

But they didn’t know that Gu Qingshan didn’t know how to set up formations at all.

“Since this is the case,” Leng Tianxing stood up, “let’s pull ourselves together and head toward the northwest. There’s a cave there, and it’s a hiding place that General Gongsun prepared for us.

There’s a stable Shielding Formation around it, so we can rest properly once we reach the cave.”

“Got it!”

“Assistant General Leng knows best. I have no opinions.”

“Yes sir!”

Everyone responded in agreement.

Gu Qingshan secretly peeked at the map that Gongsun Zhi gave him and was relieved to find that it was the same place that Gongsun Zhi had marked out for him.

About 70% of the demons had left, and only a few indignant ones were still fighting each other outside the formation.

Leng Tianxing started to assign the men with him. “Wu Jin, Ma Liu, both of you will be in front to attack. Wang Cheng, Luo Xiao, both of you will be in charge of the side.”

He looked at Gu Qingshan and said, “You’re a Formation Master, so you just concentrate on remaining in the middle and taking care of yourself. Any problems?”

Gu Qingshan replied without hesitation, “No problem.”

Since there were so many demons around them, there was danger in every direction. But if he remained in the middle of the team, then he would be much safer.

Gu Qingshan’s formation was powerful enough for all the demons to be unable to find them, so this was something that could save them in an emergency situation.

The sword cultivator named Wang Cheng suddenly asked, “Assistant General Leng, what about you?”

Leng Tianxing replied without any expression, “I’ll be behind all of you. I’ll cover you guys.”

Covering the back was the most dangerous, but Leng Tianxing had saved this position for himself.

Everyone respected him greatly for this.

After Leng Tianxing had finished giving these instructions, he clasped his hands and said, “If we get out of this place in one piece, I’ll bring all of you back to be disciples of the Alkaid Faction and become Visiting Apprentices of the Faction.”