Li Yan was currently like a person holding one end of a rope on a pulley. The force pulling down hard on the other end was not striking him directly.
The vast majority of the force was converted and dissipated by the formation's restrictions; he was only bearing a very small fraction of it.
"What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and cast your arts! If this thing is destroyed, everyone will die!"
After desperately suppressing the backlash, Li Yan roared at the five dazed individuals. Only then did they snap out of it as if waking from a dream. They had no time to worry about the life or death of the other four. Their Spirit Power flared up again, and they frantically channeled Spirit Stones from their sides into the white light pillar.
At this moment, the white light pillar was like a piece of cracked porcelain, looking as if it could shatter into a million pieces at any moment.
If Li Yan hadn't recklessly stabilized the "Yin-Yang Realm River Formation" by controlling the crimson copper compass at the first moment, the five of them dared not imagine the consequences of the second attack.
They might have already been turned into dust along with this mountain, with not even their souls surviving.
The five of them had been dazed for a moment just now. Firstly, they hadn't recovered from the shock of the attack and were still dizzy, unable to react to Li Yan's sudden appearance.
Secondly, they had personally witnessed the rapid conversion of two types of Spirit Power on Li Yan's body. The burst of pure Gold-attribute Spirit Power had startled them.
How could a person cultivate an auxiliary Spirit Power to be as pure as their main one? This was truly a rare sight, especially since Li Yan had always displayed Water-attribute Spirit Power .
Their already muddled minds went blank for a moment. But that brief moment of sluggishness nearly caused the entire "Mutual Destruction Ridge" to be reduced to nothingness.
Outside the cave, "Mutual Destruction Ridge" was now a complete wreck.
Large sections of the mountain had collapsed. Sixty percent of the mountain's outer perimeter had been sheared off, leaving it looking like it had been "slimmed down" by a huge margin, with only a solitary "straight rod" remaining.
Only the main cave where Li Yan was and three other caves still existed. The rest had either vanished without a trace or were mangled beyond recognition.
The fierce winds and dark sky that Li Yan had conjured had long since disappeared as he had stopped controlling the formation. The sky had returned to its original clarity, but beneath it, "Mutual Destruction Ridge" was a scene of soaring dust and rumbling aftershocks.
Beneath some of the rocks, the bodies of many cultivators were already buried. Under normal circumstances, this would be nothing even for a Qi Condensation cultivator; a simple "Earth Evasion Art" would allow them to escape.
But now, those cultivators might have fainted during the attack, having long since lost control of their Spirit Power . Those with weaker cultivations, even if they survived the first wave of attacks, might have been directly shaken to death in the second wave.
The cultivators exposed beneath the rockslides, their Spirit Power shields and defensive talismans shattered, no longer looked like immortals. They were no different from mortals in a great disaster.
Many were mangled into a bloody mess by the giant rocks, or broken into several pieces, or reduced to a pile of pulp. Their deaths were extremely tragic. Large patches of bloodstains surrounded the severed limbs and torsos, and their internal organs had been splattered out from the immense pressure.
Unlike cultivators at the Golden Core stage and above, they couldn't have their Golden Cores or Nascent Souls escape. If their souls were not collected in time, they would quickly dissipate and enter the Way of Reincarnation .
As for the common saying that even Qi Condensation cultivators could perform Body Seizure , that was only when the cultivator was prepared, with various methods such as setting up auxiliary formations and, more importantly, using a treasure to protect their soul from dissipating before casting the art.
Just now, after their protections were shattered by the powerful attack, these cultivators had their physical bodies destroyed and their souls scattered in the next instant. How could they have been prepared? At most, their souls could linger in the world a little longer than a mortal's before entering the cycle of the Heavenly Dao in a state of terror.
Bu Luo was currently hiding on a relatively gentle slope. Compared to other places, his section of the terrain was quite stable, but even here, the ground beneath his feet had split open with large, crisscrossing fissures, like giant mouths opened to the sky, staring menacingly at Bu Luo and the seven cultivators beside him.
All eight of them looked shaken, and the light from the various defensive talismans around them was dazzling. Although the aftershocks had stabilized, they were even more nervous, their Divine Senses constantly scanning their surroundings.
They belonged to Wang Ning's squad and were deployed at the eastern defensive point of "Mutual Destruction Ridge" after being dispersed, with Bu Luo in charge. The ten of them had just arrived on the eastern side when they received Li Yan's voice transmission, thinking that the Demonic Cultivators outside would soon be let in.
Bu Luo was even grinning mischievously, constantly adjusting the straps on his shoulders. The other nine were also ready to strike at any moment. But how could they have reacted to such an abrupt turn of events?
The attack came suddenly, and its power was beyond their imagination. The first wave knocked all ten of them out of the sky, and someone fainted on the spot.
Fortunately, their side was a gentle slope, so they were spared the impact of collapsing rocks. But before they could treat their fainted comrade, the second wave arrived in an instant.
As the force hit, the surrounding air felt like waves of invisible, raging torrents. Two cultivators were instantly crushed into a pulp on the spot.
For the remaining eight, including Bu Luo , the various defensive lights around them also exploded layer by layer at a terrifying speed, dissipating into specks of spiritual light.
Looks of despair appeared in the eyes of all eight. They had no idea what was happening, but they were about to perish so inexplicably.
Amidst Bu Luo's furious roar, seven or eight magical treasures flew out from the basket on his back, constantly striking the immense crushing force around him. But to Bu Luo's despair, his strength was like a mayfly trying to shake a tree against this power.
Of the other seven, besides the two Pseudo-Core cultivators who were in a slightly better condition, the three who were unconscious, with Bu Luo and the others too preoccupied to protect themselves and having already withdrawn their Spirit Power for self-preservation, had exploded into three clouds of blood mist, without even a trace of pain or terror.
The last two slightly stronger cultivators had their talismans collapsing one by one, and their Spirit Power shields were covered with dense cracks. Their faces were contorted, like two fish being squeezed of their water, and they were on the verge of fainting.
The furious roars of Bu Luo and the others rang out, only to be drowned out by the greater sounds of the mountain collapsing and various other noises. At this moment, at the center of the grand formation, on the peak where Li Yan was, the mountain suddenly erupted with dazzling white light.
With the eruption of the white light, a gentle force spread out. Wherever the white light passed, the terrifying destructive force that had seeped into the grand formation melted away like ice and snow.
At this time, the grand formation's restriction, which had been invisible above "Mutual Destruction Ridge," finally appeared. It was a giant, ring-shaped sphere of pale gold, firmly enveloping the dozens of li of "Mutual Destruction Ridge."
At this moment, the golden sphere was covered with cracks, and wisps of power were seeping in from the outside. It was this tiny amount of infiltrated power that had caused the devastation within "Mutual Destruction Ridge," a scene like a worldly cataclysm.
One could imagine that if this force had hit in its entirety, Li Yan and his group wouldn't have even had a chance to react. The entire "Mutual Destruction Ridge" would have been instantly erased from the Desolate Moon Continent , including all living beings within it.
Although the dazzling white light from Li Yan's peak was rapidly eliminating the terrifying destructive force within the grand formation and simultaneously repairing the cracks on the surrounding golden sphere, the speed of repair was obviously abnormally slow. If one didn't look closely, one wouldn't even see a trace of repair.
Sensing the terrifying crushing force around them rapidly receding, Bu Luo and his group had no time to sense anything else besides their own situation.
"Hurry up and take your pills! Take out whatever life-saving items you have, or we're all going to be finished!"
Bu Luo yelled, his face filled with terror. He had never seen a magical treasure with such power. He was certain in his heart that this kind of attack might come again at any moment. He didn't want to be beaten to death while still having unused magical treasures in his possession.
Based on his experience from his frequent contact with Zuo Qiudan , the attack just now, which could challenge such a large defensive formation, was already close to the level of a Nascent Soul cultivator's strike.
At this moment, a straw hat had already extended from the basket on his back, which he firmly placed on his head. A pair of smoke-like arms wrapped around the back of his head and covered his ears, creating a comical image.
A bamboo branch shot out from the basket, and a large, umbrella-like bamboo leaf at its tip instantly spread out, shielding the remaining four people beneath it like a large umbrella.
The other few people couldn't be bothered with others' appearances at this moment. Hearing what Bu Luo said, they immediately took out all the defensive magical treasures and talismans from their Storage Pouches , regardless of their power, and cast grateful glances at Bu Luo .
The large bamboo leaf Bu Luo extended was clearly an extraordinary item. For him to still consider them at a time like this made them forget all their previous dissatisfaction with Bu Luo's arrogance and nagging.
Even the two cultivators whose minds were still in a state of chaos forced themselves to endure the discomfort in their chests and took out all the defensive items from their Storage Pouches , casting them into the surrounding space.
For a time, this small area was filled with ten thousand rays of light and a thousand streams of auspicious energy.
This scene was happening in every corner of "Mutual Destruction Ridge"...
Meanwhile, in a valley a thousand li southwest of "Mutual Destruction Ridge," there was a tall altar in the center of the valley floor. At this moment, a tall, slender figure was sitting cross-legged on the altar.
She slowly retracted her long arms, then slowly lowered them to her knees, murmuring to herself.
"Three Heaven-Shaking Thunders were enough to destroy that mountain's grand formation. It's a pity this isn't the Demon Realm . Otherwise, the Demon Crystals and Heaven-Shaking Thunders I have could support a large-scale battle. Why would we need to attack with such difficulty?"
After a moment, she gently shook her head and let out a light breath. "No one knew the South Sea passage was so fragile. The resources we brought are limited. It's not the final moment yet, so it's impossible to use a large number of 'Heaven-Shaking Thunders.' But today, we must pull out this 'fang in the body' that is Mutual Destruction Ridge, so we had to use the Heaven-Shaking Thunders ahead of schedule. This grand formation must have been refined by a Nascent Soul cultivator. Otherwise, with just one strike, a radius of several hundred li would have been turned into a bottomless abyss. What a pity. Such a superior formation, even I cannot refine one myself. It's just that the person controlling it today is too weak and inexperienced. Not to mention fully utilizing the formation's power, even activating and operating it was extremely clumsy."
This person was the female Demonic Cultivator surnamed Mu who had appeared a few days ago, a true Nascent Soul stage Demonic General . Three days ago, she had received a portion of the Demon Crystals and "Heaven-Shaking Thunders" and had set up a spell-casting altar here.
Then she had been sitting cross-legged on it, quietly waiting for news from Tie Dong . Just now, she had finally received Tie Dong's voice transmission, but it only ordered her to destroy the foremost "Mutual Destruction Ridge," not to enter the final, decisive battle directly.
This order made the female Demonic Cultivator surnamed Mu feel a little regretful. After this, she would continue to await the next order.