Chapter 899: The Jiang Family’s Tripartite Sword Formation

After entering the valley and rounding a bend, Lin Moyu finally spotted the Starfire Beast.

It resembled a lion—or rather, a lion reduced to charcoal.

Its semi-transparent body looked like crystal, while countless glowing specks clung to its surface like embers that refused to die out.

Behind it jutted a piece of Starfire Metal from the ground.

The exposed portion alone weighed more than thirty catties, with no telling how much remained buried beneath.

Jiang Jiyuan hadn't exaggerated. There was more than enough here for all three of them to get a share.

The moment it saw the Jiang siblings, the Starfire Beast became alert.

The embers covering its body flared to life, erupting into blazing flames until it resembled a lion forged entirely from fire.

It let out a thunderous roar and lowered itself into a fighting stance, its hostility unmistakable.

It had clearly fought the siblings before and remembered them well.

Jiang Jiyuan raised the formation place, "Junior Brother Lin, get ready."

The plate activated instantly, expanding into a large formation.

Three empty positions appeared within the formation, precisely enough for the three of them.

Following their plan, each stepped into position.

As soul force poured forth, the formation rumbled to life.

It drew upon the strength of all three participants, then amplified it through principles Lin Moyu couldn't comprehend.

A radiant sword materialized at the center of the formation, its razor-sharp aura rivaling that of a 5th tier Transcendent God.

Two 4th tier Transcendent Gods and a 1st tier Transcendent God were able to unleash the offensive power of a 5th tier Transcendent God by expending only a portion of their soul force.

Formation arts truly were miraculous, capable of turning the impossible into reality.

Jiang Jiyuan pointed at the Starfire Beast a hundred meters away, "First slash!"

The sword shot forward before turning into a beam of sword qi stretching hundreds of meters as it crashed down.

The earth split apart.

The Starfire Beast shrieked in agony as the sword qi engulfed it, its soul-echo reverberating across the starry sky.

Lin Moyu watched as the Starfire Beast was nearly cleaved in two.

Even so, the attack failed to kill it, leaving it grievously wounded instead.

Driven into a frenzy, the Starfire Beast charged toward them through a sea of flames.

At the same time, its horrific wounds began healing at an astonishing speed.

Without hesitation, Jiang Jiyuan shifted hand seals, recalling the sword qi, "Second slash!”

The second beam of sword qi burst forth, even more powerful than the first.

Fear flickered across the Starfire Beast's eyes.

It twisted its body abruptly, throwing itself aside.

The sword qi grazed its body before slamming into the earth, carving open a seemingly bottomless chasm.

Flames erupted from the fissure like a volcanic eruption, revealing the still-molten heart of the planet below.

Though it had narrowly escaped a direct hit, the Starfire Beast didn’t escape unscathed, a grievous wound opening on its freshly healed body.

Yet instead of retreating, it only grew more ferocious.

Roaring loudly, it inhaled deeply.

The flames surging from the fissure poured into its mouth like a blazing river.

Its wounds closed at a visible rate, and its aura swelled beyond its previous peak.

Jiang Jiyuan's expression remained solemn as he formed another seal, "Third slash!"

The third strike descended with overwhelming force.

Its sword qi surpassed the combined might of the previous two attacks, and its speed was even greater.

This time, the Starfire Beast had nowhere to run.

The sword qi engulfed it head-on.

Before Lin Moyu's eyes, the beast was reduced to nothing, its body completely erased.

Three slashes.

From beginning to end, the Starfire Beast never managed to close the mere hundred-meter distance between them.

That short stretch of ground had become an insurmountable gulf.

As the sword returned, Jiang Jiyuan dismissed the formation and let out a long breath.

"Good thing it's over. I don't think I could've managed a fourth slash.”

His aura had become noticeably unstable.

As the formation's controller, those three attacks had consumed an enormous amount of his power.

A fourth strike would likely have forced him to overdraw his power.

Jiang Jiyue was in slightly better condition, though she had also expended considerable power and was no longer at her peak.

Only Lin Moyu appeared completely unaffected, as though nothing had happened.

The formation had indeed drained a tremendous amount of his soul force, but the talent tree had replenished it instantly.

Seeing Lin Moyu standing there as calm as ever, Jiang Jiyuan couldn't hide his surprise.

Lin Moyu smiled faintly, "Not a bad formation.”

Jiang Jiyue snorted, "Of course the Jiang Family's formation is impressive! If this Tripartite Sword Formation didn't strictly require three people to operate, how could someone like—"

"Shut up." Before she could finish, Jiang Jiyuan cut her off with a sharp rebuke.

His tone was far harsher than before.

Earlier, he had merely told her to hold her tongue; now, he bluntly ordered her to shut up.

The difference was only two words, yet the meaning couldn't have been more different.

Jiang Jiyue snorted and turned her head away in annoyance.

Jiang Jiyuan turned to Lin Moyu, "Junior Brother Lin, the Starfire Beast has been dealt with. We can collect the Starfire Metal now."

"As we agreed, my sister and I will each take ten catties. The rest is yours.”

Lin Moyu cast Jiang Jiyue a glance, "Your sister has no objections?"

Jiang Jiyuan answered without hesitation, "I make the decisions."

Lin Moyu nodded with a smile and walked toward the Starfire Metal.

Only after watching his back did Jiang Jiyuan finally relax.

For a fleeting instant, he had sensed an overwhelmingly dangerous aura emanating from Lin Moyu.

That feeling of danger far surpassed anything the Starfire Beast had given him, sending a chill down his spine.

He had the distinct feeling that if Lin Moyu chose to attack, both he and his sister would die here.

Jiang Jiyue opened her mouth to speak again, but Jiang Jiyuan shot her a fierce glare, making it clear that she was to remain absolutely silent.

The three of them soon arrived before the Starfire Metal.

It resembled a piece of red-hot iron, radiating waves of blistering heat.

Rather than reaching for it immediately, Lin Moyu asked, "Senior Brother Jiang, can you tell me what other uses the Starfire Metal has?"

Jiang Jiyuan answered without reservation.

"It has five primary uses. First, it's required for our current mission."

"Second, it's an excellent forging material. Even if you don't need it yourself, you can sell it for points or exchange it for other resources."

"Third, it contains the law of fire, allowing one to comprehend it."

"Fourth, if you don't wish to comprehend the law of fire, you can extract the law and attach it to a fire-element law art, greatly increasing its power."

"And fifth—a use many people don't know about—it can temper the soul world and improve its grade."

Lin Moyu was already familiar with the first three uses.

The fourth was new to him, but he grasped its significance immediately.

Most people could learn numerous law arts spanning different attributes, yet very few could comprehend more than one or two laws.

As a result, many of their law arts received little benefit from the laws they possessed.

For example, someone who had comprehended a physical-type law would gain almost no enhancement when casting fire-element law arts.

By extracting the law of fire from the Starfire Metal and attaching it directly to a fire-element law art, its power could increase dramatically.

The idea opened an entirely new avenue of thought for Lin Moyu.

If Starfire Metal could be used in this way, then countless other materials likely possessed similar applications.

As for the fifth use—tempering the soul world using the Starfire Metal—it sounded plausible, though he couldn't judge its effectiveness without trying it.

"What grade of soul can it temper?" Lin Moyu asked.

Jiang Jiyuan replied, "2nd grade. It can improve the grade of a 2nd grade soul to a certain extent."

A trace of disappointment flashed across Lin Moyu's eyes.

His soul had already reached peak 3rd grade, rendering this particular function of the Starfire Metal completely useless to him.

Even so, considering that Starfire Metal was only a Transcendent God-grade material, the fact that it possessed such an effect at all was already remarkable.