Only after seeing it with their own eyes and experiencing it firsthand did these cultivators truly understand the gap between them and a Nascent Soul . It was the comparison between a toddling child and an ancient ferocious beast. The power they had always been proud of seemed so worthless in front of the other party.
After another moment, when the stone rain in the sky gradually became sparse, a cold, emotionless voice echoed in the minds of the Demonic Cultivators and South Sea cultivators who had retreated three hundred li away.
"Kill all the remaining cultivators on 'Mutual Destruction Ridge'!"
A cruel light appeared in the eyes of the Demonic Soldiers . However, compared to the South Sea cultivators, they had received more information and orders. The Demon Lord supervising the battle from three thousand li behind them would also be arriving shortly.
Today, they were to take Windy Cool Mountain in one fell swoop. Therefore, they were ordered to no longer be stingy or hold back with this batch of South Sea cultivators. They could fully activate the restrictions on them, letting them completely lose their minds and become puppets that only knew how to kill.
After receiving these orders, the eyes of the Demonic Soldiers glinted with ferocity and bloodlust. Orderly commands were issued, and the South Sea cultivators once again resumed their wooden and indifferent expressions. Then, they rose into the air in rows and howled away, to be met with death and endless pain.
Just as the Demonic Cultivators were once again rushing towards "Mutual Destruction Ridge," the battle at the defensive points on the two rear flanks of "Mutual Destruction Ridge" erupted again after a brief pause. It was clear the Demonic Cultivators would not give them any opportunity to reinforce "Mutual Destruction Ridge."
...
At the shattered and collapsed "Yin-Yang Realm River Formation," the area of nearly a hundred li that was "Mutual Destruction Ridge" had long since become a pile of rubble and earth. The towering peak that once reached the clouds was gone.
A large cloud of dust filled the space between heaven and earth. A few breaths after the mountain collapsed, streaks of various colored lights, flickering on and off, flashed from the gaps in the rubble piles in many places.
Then, the rubble piles that had just settled down once again emitted a series of "rumbling" sounds. Amidst the smoke and dust, piles of large and small stones shook again, then shot towards the sides or into the sky.
One after another, human figures shakily shot up into the sky.
Li Yan felt the qi and blood in his body churning violently. He was buried in a pile of rubble. The moment the mountain collapsed, he was deep inside the cave and couldn't get out in time.
He was directly pressed down to the deepest part of the mountain. The "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" around him also collapsed with a roar after being hit by the white light for two breaths.
Li Yan's heart remained relatively calm. He was originally going to use his physical body to withstand the aftershock of the white light pillar. But it was also the first time he had encountered an attack of such great power, so he was actually not sure if he could achieve "Nirvana Rebirth" again like last time, or if he would perish directly.
However, the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant, perhaps due to the resurgence of memories of fighting Demonic Cultivators etched into its bones, actually reacted a fraction faster than him, instantly moving the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" from the entire cave onto him alone.
At this moment, a silver light flowed over Li Yan's skin. Compared to a month ago, the silver light was already a little brighter. After the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" took the initial brunt of the formation core's collapse, Li Yan had also defended against the subsequent white light with his physical body.
Li Yan scanned himself with his Divine Sense . His Spirit Power shield had shattered, but apart from the discomfort of his churning qi and blood, his Spirit Power circulated smoothly. The final attack had not caused him any fatal injuries.
With a beckoning of his hand, a small purple flag shot out from a pile of rubble and landed in Li Yan's hand like a streak of light. He quickly immersed his Divine Sense into it. Inside the flag, the soul shadow of the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant had turned semi-transparent. The consumption was so great that it was the first time Li Yan had seen such a situation.
Li Yan felt a pang in his heart. Although the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant was not in a coma or deep sleep at this moment, its cultivation had dropped to the level of a first-rank demonic beast. This was the biggest drawback of not having a physical body to support it.
After sensing the familiar Divine Sense , the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant weakly lifted its eyelids. Li Yan didn't care about anything else. With a thought from his Divine Sense , a large number of Fire-attribute Vicious Souls appeared before it. Then, without another word, Li Yan's Divine Sense left.
Deep at the bottom of the mountain, after putting away the small purple flag, Li Yan used an "Earth Evasion Art" to escape to the surface. The first thing he saw was a sky full of dust and a mountain of rubble and earth.
And in the distance, the sound of things breaking through the air could be heard continuously. With just one glance, Li Yan saw many members of the Green Sixteen Squad .
Only then did he feel a little relieved. This was more or less what he had judged. The final frantic maintenance of the white light pillar by him and the five cultivators had ultimately allowed the "Yin-Yang Realm River Formation" to play a crucial role.
It not only withstood the second wave of attacks but also weakened the power of the third wave to its minimum, at least to the point where some Foundation Establishment cultivators could defend against the infiltrated power.
"What a pity!" Li Yan thought of the result of his Divine Sense search for the five cultivators underground just now. None of the five had survived. What was supposed to be the safest place in "Mutual Destruction Ridge" had become the most dangerous. While the formation core withstood the enemy's attack, it also bore the vast majority of the attack's force.
Apart from some severed limbs and minced flesh, Li Yan only sensed the Essence Souls of two of them rapidly dissipating with unwillingness and terror.
Li Yan was not skilled in protecting souls. It was said that besides requiring profound cultivation manuals and Spirit Power , it also required corresponding magical treasures to protect the soul. Therefore, Li Yan could only watch as the Essence Souls of the two disappeared.
Soon, three cultivators flew over to Li Yan's side. They should have sensed Li Yan's aura nearby, so they came over to take a look.
These three were in a much more miserable state than Li Yan. One person's right side was a bloody mess, his robe in tatters. Several ribs were clearly visible, and even his slightly beating internal organs could be seen.
A talisman glowing with green light was currently stuck on it. Li Yan could even see that with the flickering of the green light, the person's flesh was slowly wriggling, and new flesh was slowly growing.
The other two also had disheveled hair and torn robes. One person's leg was still bleeding profusely from a wound about half a foot long, stretching from his thigh to his calf, like a long, gaping mouth, silently mocking Li Yan.
This person was a Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivator. After seeing that it was Li Yan, he barely nodded at him, his eyes filled with more bewilderment. It was clear he hadn't recovered from the attack just now.
The other cultivator seemed to be in a slightly better condition, but his back was caved in. This situation was actually similar to the first person's injury. It was possible his internal organs had already been injured. It was just that he had the least blood on him, so he looked better than the other two.
"Fellow Daoist Li, just now, this..."
The last person took a deep breath. He had just swallowed a large number of medicinal pills and urgently needed to find a place to heal. But under such circumstances, how could he dare to sit down and meditate? Seeing that it was Li Yan, he hurriedly wanted to ask for the reason.
"I don't know the specific situation either. The grand formation was running at full power just now, but it still collapsed. The most urgent matter now is to see what the situation is here, and I don't know if the other side will launch a similar attack again."
As Li Yan said this, his figure had already risen into the air. The three were not satisfied with Li Yan's answer, but just as Li Yan had said, they had to figure out the situation here first.
And after hearing what Li Yan said next, their expressions tensed up again. They had also considered this matter just now, but several breaths had passed, and no successive attacks had come.
The main thing was that they didn't know the grand formation had completely collapsed just now. They thought it was just severely damaged. Now, hearing Li Yan say that the grand formation had collapsed, they actually had the intention of flying away from here immediately.
Li Yan had no time to attend to these matters. His Divine Sense instantly spread out. With a sweep, he felt a little relieved. There were no Demonic Cultivators nearby for now.
In the surrounding dust, more and more figures were breaking out of the earth. Their defensive shields were covered in dust. Amidst the shadowy figures, Li Yan looked at the three people beside him and suddenly shouted.
"I am here!"
The grand formation was broken. How to defend the non-existent "Mutual Destruction Ridge" needed to be discussed. But the first thing to do was to find out how many cultivators were still alive.
Following Li Yan's shout, the sound of things breaking through the air around him became more frequent. The first thing he saw was Gong Yuantai leading eight people, then the figures of Wuye , Tantai Dongyue , and Wang Ning one by one.
Among them, Bu Luo was also still alive, but his appearance was even more miserable than those around him.
'These people all have their own life-saving trump cards. Many people weaker than them are still alive. It's not surprising that these few are unharmed,' Li Yan thought.
Soon, one hundred and forty-one people had gathered by his side. Li Yan's heart tightened. This result was even worse than he had expected. The casualties were so great. In that one wave of attacks, almost half of them were gone.
Although the "Yin-Yang Realm River Formation" had astonishing defenses, and the white light pillar at the formation's core had absorbed most of the attack's force, even the dispersed power had killed nearly sixty cultivators in a moment.
This killing efficiency was too astonishing. Dozens of cultivators who could ascend to the heavens and burrow into the earth were gone in an instant. And among the survivors, many were already heavily injured. After being brought over, they immediately swallowed medicinal pills on the spot and began to recuperate, unable to attend to external affairs.
The dead cultivators were basically below the mid-stage Foundation Establishment . Of course, there were other reasons, such as high-level cultivators who had died accidentally, like the nine cultivators at the formation's core, five of whom had extremely strong cultivation.
After defending against the first two waves of attacks, none of them survived in the end. Although the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" had secretly assisted in the first two waves, at the same time, the force borne by the formation's core was also the greatest.
Li Yan swept his gaze over the surrounding cultivators. They had various expressions: some were terrified, some had wandering eyes, some were gritting their teeth, and a few had dull expressions, even being carried by their companions, as if their souls had left their bodies.
The enemy's attack was too sudden, and the destruction of "Mutual Destruction Ridge" was like a child's game. In almost an instant, everything had changed.
"Fellow Daoist Wuye, arrange for ten people to investigate under the rubble mountain to see if there are any other fellow daoists alive. Bring them out as soon as possible."
Wuye had no objection to Li Yan's arrangement. He immediately discussed it in a low voice with some people.
After a while, ten people sat down cross-legged on the spot. They were all cultivators who were not seriously injured and did not need to heal. They only needed to release their Divine Senses .
Li Yan continued, "The grand formation here has now completely collapsed. We no longer have any external defenses..."
Just as Li Yan said this, the air around them seemed to freeze. Because at this time, the aura of the "Yin-Yang Realm River Formation" still existed in the sky. Originally, most of these people thought the grand formation was just severely damaged and should be self-repairing.
Gong Yuantai , Wuye , Wang Ning , and the others all looked at Li Yan with grave or extremely astonished expressions. Even the ten cultivators who were scanning the depths of the earth with their Divine Senses immediately stopped their investigation and looked at Li Yan with angry expressions.
This Li Yan had actually waited until he gathered everyone together to explain such important news. Was he trying to get everyone killed?