With the Spirit Eagle's precise positioning, Qian Duoduo calmly commanded his Spirit Beasts to spread out in the forest, concealing their Qi and setting up an ambush.
As long as Jing Jintang wanted to move forward and pass the first obstacle, he would surely fall into their ambush.
At fifty zhang, Qian Duoduo, holding his Soul Blade, could already clearly see Jing Jintang's appearance.
This was a middle-aged man in a long robe, with a serious expression.
On that long robe, Formations were layered one upon another, like a monk's robe with countless patches.
Among the Formations on the long robe, Qian Duoduo only recognized twenty or thirty.
Jing Jintang's long robe was strange, but his method of movement was even stranger.
He held nine circles, each three chi in diameter, and every ten zhang, he would toss one out; each time he landed, he would land steadily inside the circle in front of him.
After he stood firm, Jing Jintang would then retrieve the circles behind him, repeating this cycle.
Drawing a Formation on the ground, advancing step by step—this was too cautious!
Qian Duoduo secretly chuckled to himself, "When you fall into my ambush in a moment, how will you run?"
With a flick of his right hand, Jing Jintang threw out a circle.
The landing spot of this circle was less than thirty zhang from Qian Duoduo, already within the ambush.
Qian Duoduo suppressed the excitement in his heart, waiting for Jing Jintang to throw out another circle and stand firm within it, before gently stroking the Four Not Alike's head, signaling it to attack.
An invisible fluctuation spread out, and over a hundred Spirit Beasts suddenly appeared, trapping Jing Jintang in their midst; no matter which direction he tried to escape, several Spirit Beasts would block him.
Qian Duoduo raised his Soul Blade, "Surrender quickly, and I will spare your life."
Jing Jintang, seeing himself surrounded, was not nervous.
After he clearly saw Qian Duoduo and the Four Not Alike, his long robe puffed up like a balloon, and he put the circles in his hand over his head, with the circles falling one by one from his head to his feet.
"Not good, he's trying to escape!"
Qian Duoduo knew it was bad, and he fully unleashed his Soul Blade, the Azure Dragon on the blade transforming into a streak of azure light shooting towards Jing Jintang.
However, a flash of light within the circles, and Jing Jintang, man and circles, vanished, having escaped from the heavy encirclement.
In Qian Duoduo's Spiritual Awareness, he sensed Jing Jintang retreating like lightning, continuously moving back from his previous landing spots, one after another, until he completely disappeared.
"Is this the Formation Master's great life-saving technique?" Qian Duoduo's horizons were greatly broadened.
If this step-by-step Formation could be seized and given to his Senior Brother Wang Dahei and the others, it would undoubtedly greatly increase their chances of survival.
However, he analyzed that the Formation's escape also had limitations; the Formation Master could only escape to locations where Formations had been laid out.
Indeed, through the Spirit Eagle, Qian Duoduo re-located Jing Jintang's whereabouts.
Jing Jintang returned to the original starting point of the checkpoint, rested for a moment, then moved horizontally a full thousand zhang, chose a new route, and still advanced step by step, truly leaping forward.
"You want to run? I insist on catching you."
Intent on seizing Jing Jintang's Formation, how could Qian Duoduo let him escape so easily?
If Jing Jintang were allowed to enter the next stage, it would inevitably cause more trouble for their side.
Qian Duoduo commanded fifty Spirit Beasts to flank Jing Jintang's rear, while he himself, with the other Spirit Beasts, also moved horizontally a thousand zhang, going to meet Jing Jintang.
Along the way, dozens more Spirit Beasts, after having their black Qi purified, surrendered to the Four Not Alike.
As the team grew larger, Qian Duoduo's confidence soared; he was eager to quickly deal with Jing Jintang, and then eliminate another one of Zhao Yanran's guards.
Jing Jintang was completely unaware of Qian Duoduo's ambition; although he was surprised that Qian Duoduo could cooperate with Spirit Beasts to surround him, he did not want to get entangled with Qian Duoduo, as per Zhao Yanran's arrangement, his mission was to safely enter the second stage and ensure Zhao Yanran's victory in the second stage.