The Fierce Tigers had a grudge against the Jade Horde, and the Cloudmetal Consortium had already paid them to seize the mine away. Even the leader was a little unsure of their chances, but it was too late for regrets. He focused on the effect of his talisman and cleared a hundred foot gap in front of their charge. He wasn’t a fool, after hiding their vision the enemy would naturally want to interrupt their charge with obstructions. He let the mist close in on them from the back and sides because it was far more important to know where they were going.

The bald man scoffed when he saw a trench in front of them, he yelled an order and the troops spread out a bit, leaping over the trench and avoiding the worst result. Then, huge boulders appeared in front of them. They were large enough to be walls on their own and the team had to turn and divert their charge around the rocks. They went left and then turned right to avoid another. Clearing another large rock they looked to the left, ready to see the lines of Hoplites in front of a chest high wall. Unfortunately, they saw nothing of the sort.

They burst through the blue mist and all they saw was a clear rocky field. In the distance they could see the Cloudmetal Consortium perimeter. One of the men called out and they looked backwards. The shin height black smoke lingered on the ground and behind that was the huge cloud of blue mist.

“Damn array. We turned too many times and ran around the mine. Turn around, go back in!”

Meanwhile, to those at the mine, in the center of the array, the blue mist and black smoke were only barely visible. Mere wisps of color. The men and women of the Jade Horde just watched the Fierce Tigers charge halfway to them, turn a few times, then slow to a stop. Their formation peeled off and then charged back the way they’d come from. In the meantime, Sage continued working, refining bricks to build the wall taller. They would figure out the array eventually, but the more time it bought the stronger their wall would get. Just a little taller and the majority of the Fierce Tigers would have to leap off their horses to scale it. The Hundred Spike Tigers would just leap right over, but at least it would separate them from the rest of their men.

At that point, Sage found it quite sad the new weapons weren’t finished yet. The third he’d been working on was just for this sort of situation, firing at range. Even so, it probably wasn’t enough. He made a note to add a bunch of javelins or short spears to each Hoplite’s standard equipment. Just when the Fierce Tigers were turning around and charging past it would have been perfect to throw a few hundred spears into their faces.

Oh well, at least we didn’t lose the element of surprise. They still don’t know what’s going on.

The Fierce Tigers rode back out of the array and looked around in confusion. They were back to where they started. Upset, they charged back into the array. When they ran into the giant rocks they started attacking them. The bald man seemed to think the big rocks that made them turn was where the mine was hidden. Sage chuckled and even walked into the hole to modify the arrays a bit. The rocks were purely illusionary and were set to either be impenetrable, or to shatter into dust. He swapped out a few Formation Plates and added in a mirage. They shattered another one of the rocks with a volley of attacks and this time it faded away. When it disappeared, the blue mist a few hundred feet to the left of it faded away and revealed the line of Hoplites and the stone wall behind them.

The Fierce Tigers cheered and released a loud battle cry. Their Tigers and other beast mounts roaring as they thought the array was broken. Sabers slashed, hammers smashed, swords stroked, spears stabbed, whips cracked. They rode right into the Hoplite shield wall like a tide, knocking down the Hoplites in the front and punching through the defensive line like it wasn’t even there. The tentacle faced Hoplites let out terrible gurgling screams when they were struck down and blood flew into the air. Tigers tore off limbs with the swipe of their claws and used their powerful jaws to sever spines. It was an absolute bloodbath.

An illusionary bloodbath. The Fierce Tigers thought they were so overwhelmingly strong their foes couldn’t even put up a fight. Their earlier apprehension had faded completely. What they didn’t yet realize was that it was merely an illusion. Any resistance it offered required a large amount of energy, so the illusionary enemies were complete pushovers. There was only enough physical resistance to make them seem solid and even that was stressing the Formation Machine to its limits.

Even Sage’s own illusionary self was soon killed and the Fierce Tigers started cheering again. They were busy looking for illusionary treasure, looting the ‘dead bodies’ and opening up their Storage Bags. When there were only a few of the illusionary Hoplites left, a stray attack hit the Storage Bag of the last human cultivator left alive. Torn apart, the bag unleashed its contents and treasures spilled onto the ground. The nearby Fierce Tigers finished off the cultivator and then started picking up the treasures. One of them, a jade token, suddenly lit up with a bright light. The light flew into the air and created a projection of an old man. The old man looked at the person who was holding the token and smiled.

“I am Daoist Immortal Ice Mountain. You are lucky to have found the Frozen Earth Palace token. Though I have already passed, you can use this token to bring three people into my Frozen Earth Palace and attain the immortal treasures I left behind.”

The projection of the old man disappeared and the Fierce Tigers around the man with the token immediately forgot all decorum and started to attack each other. Some formed into groups and teamed up on those around them. The bald headed leader was too busy going through the treasures in Ling Sheng’s storage ring to notice. A few of his lieutenants noticed the commotion and ran over. Only a dozen of the Fierce Tigers died before the matter was finally resolved. Three of the Hundred Spike Tiger riders, as the strongest present, teamed up to take ownership of the token.

The bald man finally finished his checking of the Storage Ring and then rounded up the rest of the Hundred Spike Tiger riders. They went over and another argument ensued. Suffice it to say, it took a few hours for the group to even realize that it was all an illusion. The token was finally broken when some of them started fighting over it again. The anger that resulted from being tricked was immense. Sage looked over when their roars were powerful enough to shake the array formation.

The Formation Machine was reaching its limit by that point, but thankfully the stone wall had already reached ten feet high. Unfortunately, the second protective array wasn’t finished. There just wasn’t enough time. Not wanting the Formation Machine to be destroyed, Sage yelled out an order to Whitestaff and then hopped into the hole again. While Whitestaff got the Hoplites into a ready position, he altered the arrays. Pulling out some of the burned out Formation Plates and causing the black smoke and blue mist to disappear.

The Fierce Tigers noticed the change immediately and they lamented the deaths of their brothers to a trick. Roaring with passion and running towards the Hoplites at top speed. Sage continued to remove Formation Plates, giving the Formation Machine a careful examination. The metal disc was nearly ten feet wide and it had dozens of settings for Formation Plates. It took him a moment to give it a good once over. His Spiritual Sense had been extended the whole time, the arrays under his control didn’t impact his own senses.

Just when the line of screaming cavalry was only a dozen feet away from the Hoplite shield wall, the Formation Plates he’d just slotted in kicked on. The ground began to rumble, and the sound of rocks grating on rocks rang out. Along the whole frontline of the Hoplite shield wall, the ground shuddered. There was a crack as a rock shelf lifted upwards. They suddenly ascended, and just as the Fierce Tigers reached them, the front line had lifted a full three feet into the air. They were now all standing on the edge of a small cliff and putting them much closer in height to their mounted foes.

The Hundred Spike Tigers had been planning to smash into the shield wall with deadly force, but the sudden change surprised them. They saw the ground rising like a wall and didn’t know how high it would go. Being so powerful, the beasts could react instantly and they turned sharply, dashing off to the sides. The men behind them on the other hand, weren’t as lucky. Some of the other beasts reacted in time, and a few even leapt into the air. A winged leopard carried its rider into the sky. A Lion Deer took a quick step and leaped high into the air, carrying it over the defensive line. Unfortunately, most of the men were riding Spirit Animal Horses and it was too late for them to change directions. They could only grit their teeth and continue their charge. Smashing into a short cliff with a shield wall on top of it.