"What... what is happening?"
Gong Yuantai , who was also closely watching the grand formation from outside, couldn't help but let out a low cry. Even though he had been fighting the demons for half a month, he was completely baffled by the current situation.
In the many battles, large and small, that Gong Yuantai had experienced, the Demonic Cultivators' attacks had always been as swift as fire, as sudden as thunder. Even if they couldn't break through after a long siege, every attack was a brutal and fierce battle. Why had it suddenly started with a tiger's head but ended with a snake's tail today? (TN: A Chinese idiom for something that starts strong but ends weakly.)
The retreating Demonic Cultivator squads were actually unaware of the reason themselves. At this moment, the short and stocky Demonic Cultivator was whispering to another Demonic Cultivator as they flew.
"The attack just began. Why did the superiors order a retreat? And they only ordered us to retreat to a three-hundred-li range and await orders. What is the meaning of this?"
The other Demonic Cultivator had been frowning in thought. After flying back for a distance, he still shook his head.
"I don't have a clue either. The superiors' orders are too strange this time."
Like these two demons, the other Demonic Soldier leaders in the retreating army were also completely confused, not to mention the South Sea cultivators.
However, some Demonic Soldiers noticed a strange phenomenon. Apart from "Mutual Destruction Ridge," the Demonic Cultivator squads attacking the other defensive points on the rear flanks were still engaged in fierce attacks.
A distance of three hundred li was nothing for a group of Foundation Establishment cultivators. In less than twenty breaths, the two hundred-plus Demonic Cultivators who had been attacking "Mutual Destruction Ridge" had retreated to the designated area.
Just as this group of Demonic Cultivators came to a halt, a series of muffled rumbles suddenly sounded from the horizon to the southwest. The sound was very faint at first, barely audible.
But in less than a breath, it was like a series of sky-shaking spring thunders, or like ten thousand horses galloping on the horizon, rolling in.
The sound was so loud that the earth began to tremble. A heart-palpitating pressure descended from all directions, instilling a kind of fear from the depths of the souls of all the cultivators here.
The commotion was so great that even the Demonic Cultivators hundreds of li away at other defensive points stopped their attacks. Many of them looked stunned at first, but then a fanatical and crazed look appeared in their eyes.
The short and stocky Demonic Cultivator and all the other Demonic Cultivators nearby reacted the same way. After a moment of being stunned, their faces lit up one by one.
The short and stocky Demonic Cultivator's mouth fell open, and he finally managed to force out a sentence from his throat, "Is... is that the Heaven-Shaking Thunder? No wonder they had us retreat. The superiors are finally starting to use the Heaven-Shaking Thunder. Is this the final battle?"
The Demonic Cultivator beside him paced back and forth excitedly, stomping his feet on the ground.
"What 'Mutual Destruction Ridge'? In the face of the Heaven-Shaking Thunder, it's just a pile of rubble and barren earth! I never thought they would use the Heaven-Shaking Thunder."
In just one breath, long, deep-blue lines had appeared above "Mutual Destruction Ridge," streaking across the sky like meteors from beyond the heavens.
The rubble on the ground bounced up, emitting a mournful whine, like countless splashes in a heavy downpour. The vast clouds in the sky turned into specks of white fluff, like startled birds scattering amidst the rumbling roar.
Li Yan's figure, suspended in mid-air, bobbed up and down. With his cultivation, he was actually unable to control himself. Li Yan was greatly alarmed, feeling all the hairs on his body stand on end. The sense of death that the Blue Demon Flood Dragon had brought him in the Sea of the Northern Abyss instantly enveloped his entire body.
His Divine Sense instantly swept towards the source of the terrifying pressure that made his heart tremble. The next moment, Li Yan's face changed drastically. The "Phoenix Soars to the Heavens" movement skill was activated to its fullest, and he lunged towards the core of the "Yin-Yang Realm River Formation."
At the same time, a voice transmission from Li Yan echoed in the minds of all the cultivators on "Mutual Destruction Ridge."
"A high-powered magical treasure from the Demon Clan is attacking! Fully activate the grand formation's defenses!"
At this moment, he couldn't be bothered to hide his powerful Divine Sense . In an instant, his Divine Sense transmitted to a hundred people at once, but he figured no one would be thinking about that at this time.
As Li Yan was transmitting his voice, many cultivators also sensed the deathly threat from the southwest with their Divine Senses . Even through the defensive grand formation, the chilling cold penetrated their bodies. As their protective light shields lit up one by one, various defensive talismans flew out from their Storage Pouches , lighting up one after another outside their shields as if they were free.
The second breath. "BOOM..."
A massive explosion rang out outside the grand formation. A blinding blue light erupted on the southern side of the formation. Accompanying the light cluster, which was three hundred zhang in size, was the violent shaking of "Mutual Destruction Ridge." If before it was a sea with gentle waves, now it was a raging ocean with towering waves, on the verge of capsizing a boat.
The entire grand formation emitted a creaking sound as if it were about to shatter at any moment.
When the massive explosion sounded, although most of the cultivators inside the formation had already activated their Spirit Power shields and were covered in defensive talismans, the next moment many of them were clutching their heads and screaming in agony.
Blood shot out from their seven orifices, and large and small cracks appeared on their skin.
Those with weaker Spirit Power were already rolling on the ground in pain, letting out inhuman wails.
Even cultivators with profound Spirit Power like Wuye turned deathly pale. Blood flowed from their ears, their minds buzzed, and they repeatedly tapped points on their bodies, frantically circulating their Spirit Power without a care.
Gong Yuantai , Wang Ning , and the others, their spiritual lights flickering, also took out medicinal pills with trembling hands and swallowed them by the handful.
Bu Luo , after a scream, sat down on the ground with a plop. An arm like smoke immediately extended from the bamboo basket on his back, and in one smooth motion, it wrapped around him, covering his head and ears.
Although Li Yan's actions were swift and his movement skill was pushed to the extreme, he was still half a beat too late when he plunged into the formation's core. The entire "Mutual Destruction Ridge" shook violently. Li Yan madly surged his Spirit Power to stabilize his body, but his mind still buzzed, and his chest felt extremely tight and unbearably uncomfortable.
At this moment, the tyrannical nature of the "True Scripture of Gui Water" was laid bare. With a surge of Li Yan's profound Spirit Power , it instantly dissolved the stifling feeling.
But then he saw that the nine cultivators sitting cross-legged around the blinding white light pillar were not so lucky. As "Mutual Destruction Ridge" shook violently, a purple light flared up inside the cave.
After a few screams and muffled groans, four cultivators were sent flying backward. A series of thuds echoed as they slammed into the cave walls. The four cultivators then slumped to the ground, their life or death unknown.
The remaining four were spraying blood from their mouths and noses, their expressions utterly exhausted, but they barely managed to maintain their cross-legged posture.
Amidst the buzzing in his head, Li Yan heard the trembling and terrified cry of the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant, "Mas... ter, this is a Nascent Soul level attack!"
How could Li Yan have time to check on the injuries of the five people or heed the terrified voice of the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant? He saw at a glance that cracks had appeared on the central white light pillar.
He was greatly alarmed. 'It hasn't even been half an incense stick's time since we took over 'Mutual Destruction Ridge.' Is this place going to be lost in my hands?'
Li Yan had no idea that the enemy had timed this attack precisely for when someone new had taken over "Mutual Destruction Ridge." Any other team would have suffered the same fate.
He was just the unluckiest one. He had achieved nothing and might very well die here.
Seeing that the white light pillar was still shooting up dazzlingly, Li Yan felt a slight sense of relief. If he hadn't placed the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" here in advance, it was hard to say if the core of this grand formation would have collapsed.
His original intention in setting up the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" was only to prevent any disloyal cultivators from causing trouble. He didn't expect it to be an unintentional act that bore fruit, protecting the formation's core and, by extension, those nine people.
Li Yan didn't know the situation outside, but when the grand formation was attacked, the place that bore the greatest force was undoubtedly the core mechanism. There was no question about that.
Li Yan tossed the compass in his hand, and the ancient bronze compass plunged into the dazzling white light.
The aura on Li Yan's body surged violently, incomparable to that of the five cultivators. In the shocked gazes of the remaining five, as Li Yan's Spirit Power erupted, his aura suddenly changed.
The black Water Spirit Power that had been coiled around his body instantly transformed into a white radiance. An extremely abundant and pure Gold Spirit Power aura filled the entire cave. There was not the slightest lag in the transformation of the two attribute Spirit Powers.
The conversion between the two Spirit Powers made the five of them feel as if their Divine Senses had produced an illusion during the previous attack. It was as if Li Yan had been cultivating Gold-attribute Spirit Power all along, and the purity of his Gold-attribute Spirit Power was something they had never seen before.
At this moment, how could Li Yan care about what others thought? His right hand formed a claw, and five streams of extremely powerful Spirit Power shot into the rotating compass within the white light pillar.
From the control manual of the "Yin-Yang Realm River Formation," Li Yan already knew that this grand formation was a Gold-attribute formation. Its defense was no less than that of an Earth-attribute formation, and it could also launch small-scale sword formation attacks.
This was something only a formation grandmaster who had deeply penetrated the sturdiness and sharpness of the Gold attribute could achieve. From this, it was clear that the "Yin-Yang Realm River Formation" was not just as strong as it appeared on the surface; it was very strong.
At this time, although Li Yan didn't know what high-powered magical treasure the Demonic Cultivators had used, he knew that if the white light pillar fell, this "Yin-Yang Realm River Formation" would be directly broken.
He alone was unable to control the white light pillar at the formation's core, but he could forcibly control its operation through the formation compass.
The moment Li Yan's Gold-attribute Spirit Power entered the rotating compass in the middle of the white light pillar, the white light pillar emitted a "weng" sound. The rotation speed, which had started to slow down because the nine people were no longer inputting their manuals, once again picked up.
The cracks on it actually showed signs of wanting to squirm and seal up. But before Li Yan could shout for the five somewhat stunned people to attack the white light pillar, the entire mountain peak once again let out a massive "rumble."
This time, the shaking of the mountain peak was more than twice as strong as before. The walls inside the cave had already started to crack, and a lot of rubble and dirt fell, filling the entire cave with dust and smoke for a time.
Li Yan, who was channeling Spirit Power , felt the clothes on his body go "peng!" The sleeves on his outstretched arms had already exploded, revealing dark, sinewy arms, with blue veins coiling like green snakes.
Li Yan let out a muffled groan. He only felt his vision go dark, almost fainting from the force of the backlash.
If his current body wasn't so much stronger than it had been a month ago, the meridians in his arms might have already burst, and he would have likely fainted.
At the same time, a sky-piercing dragon's roar and elephant's cry from the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant echoed in Li Yan's mind. This sound only echoed in his mind, but it was also the first time he had heard such a heaven-shaking cry of fury from the Little Purple Elephant.
The purple light in the entire cave had turned a deep black. In contrast with the dazzling white light from the center, the place looked incredibly eerie and strange. But the five people didn't know what the purple light was. They just thought it was the counterattack produced by the formation's core restriction when it was attacked from the outside.
This time, with the violent shaking of the mountain peak, the cracks on the white light pillar had multiplied, and many of the cracks had widened.
The power of this attack was too terrifying. Even with Li Yan's physical body, he still seemed so weak.
If he wasn't just controlling the formation's core and not directly facing this kind of attack, Li Yan estimated that he would have been blasted into a pulp of blood by this perverted attack in one hit.