REINCARNATION OF THE STRONGEST WAR HERO-Chapter 292: FORMATIONS

A small, crescent-shaped air blade shot toward Lifeng.

Its speed was so great — and the distance so close — that Lifeng didn’t even have time to react, let alone defend himself.

Schlk!

A short, sharp slicing sound.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then Lifeng’s head slid cleanly off his neck and rolled across the ground. The strike had been so precise that the blood didn’t even spurt out immediately.

When it finally did, it instantly froze due to Logan’s ice magic.

He then calmly stepped forward, stripping off Lifeng’s clothes and putting them on himself.

He wouldn’t have killed Lifeng this way if the three from the evil spirit families hadn’t hurt Rowan and tried to use him as leverage. Even while he had been in the middle of his breakthrough, he’d heard every word they said. Despite the distance, their voices had reached him clearly.

The clothes were a bit loose on him, but he didn’t care. After all, he couldn’t just stay naked until he reached home.

’What a pain,’ he thought, letting out a quiet sigh. ’This is the third time I’ve been in this situation. I really need some indestructible clothes.’

With that, Logan walked back to Rowan, gently placing him beside a tree where he would be safe for now. Then he turned and started walking toward the remaining four.

Throughout this entire time, his gravity magic remained active — pressing down on the four, keeping them on their knees as they struggled desperately not to collapse.

When the four saw him approaching, the two from the Evil Spirit Families began to speak.

"We’re from the Sheilo..."

But alas, they never finished their sentence. Two more crescent-shaped air blades shot forward, slicing through the air and cutting them down in an instant — just like Lifeng.

The young man and the girl froze, their eyes wide in horror.

"What the..." the girl whispered, trembling.

Logan stopped a meter away from them. "Who are you two? Are you with them?" he asked, his tone calm but cold.

"N–No!" the young man stammered. "They’re from the Evil Spirit Families! They came here to recruit you to their side! We’re not with them!"

He spoke quickly, desperate to stay alive. Though he himself was a Martial Saint, in front of Logan — someone who could wield magic on top of cultivation — he felt utterly powerless.

"Evil Spirit Families, huh?" Logan muttered, raising an eyebrow. "That’s new. And who exactly are you two? I didn’t expect anyone with your cultivation realm to be wandering around here."

In truth, Logan was just as surprised as they were terrified. Other than the girl, the young man beside her, and all three from the evil spirit families were Martial Saints, and the girl herself was a Martial King. Given the current scarcity of spiritual energy in the world and the fact that cultivation had been considered nothing more than a myth until recently, seeing cultivators of such high levels was astonishing.

Even he wouldn’t have reached the Martial Saint Realm without the Dragon Core, the Spirit Nectus, and that mysterious orb from Nolan. He had thought himself to be at least at the very peak of this world’s cultivation if not magic. Yet this encounter had just rewritten that assumption.

"We’re from the Five Spirit Families," the girl said, her voice trembling. "We came here to recruit you as well."

Though she was three or four years older than Derek, fear had reduced her tone to a whisper. The sheer power Logan had just displayed was overwhelming — far beyond anything she had imagined.

"What’s with this ’Spirit Families’ and ’Evil Spirit Families’ nonsense?" Logan asked, his eyes narrowing.

"There are actually eight families living within Spirit Mountain," the young man explained quickly. "When the dungeons began appearing thousands of years ago, our ancestors sealed themselves inside the mountain. While the people outside slowly abandoned cultivation and turned to magic, the eight families preserved the old ways and continued cultivating."

He paused, swallowing nervously before continuing. "At first, all eight families were the same. But as spiritual energy in the world grew scarcer with each passing century, three of the families began resorting to... other methods to enhance their cultivation — dark, forbidden methods. Because of that, the remaining five started calling them the Evil Spirit Families."

’Does that mean everyone hadn’t abandoned cultivation?!’ Logan thought. ’That at least explains how they have attained the level of martial saint realm.’

"Then why didn’t you people ever try to help the outside world?" Logan asked, his voice calm but heavy. "Over the centuries, countless people have died in the dungeons. Are the families of Spirit Mountain really that cowardly?"

The young man shook his head frantically. "No, it wasn’t out of cowardice! We cut ourselves off from the outside world using massive barrier formations — they keep the external atmosphere from affecting the environment inside. That’s why there’s still spiritual energy within the mountain even now. However, leaving or re-entering the mountain would disrupt the formations completely or require an enormous amount of spiritual energy to maintain them. Recreating those barriers isn’t simple either — it takes generations of effort."

He spoke without hesitation, eager to give Logan every answer he wanted. After all, the reason they had come here was to recruit the one who had awakened the ability to inherit the Golden Dragon’s legacy — and now, both he and the girl were absolutely sure that person was none other than Logan.

’Formations, huh... so they even have array masters.’ Logan thought. ’But why are they here suddenly? And they are even looking for me.’

"And why are you here?" he asked aloud. "What was that about recruiting me?"

"We came to find the person who awakened the ability to inherit the Golden Dragon’s Legacy," the girl said carefully, trying to steady her trembling voice. "And... we recently discovered that person is you."

"Sorry, what?!" Logan’s expression shifted instantly — pure disbelief flashing across his face. Of all the explanations he had imagined, this was the last thing he expected to hear.