The only person who knew Situ Shanhai's true identity and the location of this island was Yulia.
In fact, that woman had exceptional talent. She was abducted at a young age and raised on the island, prepared to be a cultivation cauldron for Situ Shanhai.
However, this woman was extremely intelligent, and Situ Shanhai needed someone like her to help control the unorthodox factions. Therefore, Situ Shanhai meticulously nurtured her, making her the sole liaison with the outside world.
The advantage of this arrangement was security. No matter what heinous crimes the unorthodox factions and the Heavenly Demon Sect committed, as long as Yulia remained safe, this place would not be exposed.
Situ Shanhai had also used a secret technique to imprison Yulia's soul. Even if Yulia were captured and subjected to severe torture, if she attempted to reveal any information related to the island or Situ Shanhai, the restriction would be triggered, instantly annihilating Yulia's soul and spirit!
However, what the mastermind behind it all, Situ Shanhai, hadn't anticipated was that Yulia would fall into Ling Tian's hands. Nor had he expected Ling Tian to be so decisive, foregoing any interrogation and instead directly stripping Yulia's soul using the Soul Refining Furnace.
The restriction Situ Shanhai had placed on Yulia's soul also became energy for the Soul Refining Furnace.
It was then that Ling Tian understood why, despite mobilizing the Misty Rain Pavilion and even the entire intelligence network of the Righteous Path Alliance over the years, he had been unable to find the mastermind behind the tragedy of the Ling family.
In fact, the reason Situ Shanhai had targeted the Ling family back then was because his objective was the Spirit Realm Key in Ling Tian's possession.
Ling Tian could imagine that if that item fell into Situ Shanhai's hands, it would spell catastrophe for the entire world!
However, as the saying goes, the wheel of karma turns, and heaven spares no one.
No matter how deeply evil is hidden, there will come a day when it is exposed to the light of day!
An albatross flew to within a few kilometers of the island. The next moment, Ling Tian and Ali stood on the back of the killer whale, Hu Tou.
Through his Heavenly Eye, Ling Tian could clearly see the entire artificial island before him, along with its formations and barriers.
"Ling Tian, what's the plan? Should we lure them out to fight, or what?"
"Ali, have you forgotten what I taught you these past few days?"
Ali nodded. "You mean that super cloud-burst bomb?"
Ling Tian smiled. Back in Han Tan Village, to deal with the monster lamprey beneath the ground, Ling Tian had obtained two single-soldier cloud-burst bombs. He had used one underground and secretly kept the other.
Ling Tian hadn't been idle either. He had instructed Jing Lingqiao and the others in the Spirit Mirror Space to dismantle the single-soldier cloud-burst bomb and, based on its principles, create an enhanced version.
This enhanced single-soldier cloud-burst bomb had a diameter exceeding 30 centimeters, and its warhead volume was twice that of a normal cloud-burst bomb.
Instead of high explosives, it was filled with the explosive material from a demon core bomb.
Furthermore, the high-energy fuel used for ignition inside the cloud-burst bomb had also been replaced with a specially formulated, enhanced version.
The original single-soldier cloud-burst bomb had a coverage radius of one kilometer, whereas this enhanced version could inflict damage on targets within a five-kilometer radius!
However, Ling Tian had not intended to use this thing before. It was like a nuclear weapon – a deterrent. He didn't need to use it, but he had to possess it.
Today, Ling Tian had come for revenge. Upon seeing the island's formations, a sudden idea struck him!
The island-protecting grand formation theoretically formed a massive, sealed space. Within such a confined space, the destructive power of a cloud-burst bomb could even be doubled!
Therefore, Ling Tian decided not to hold back!
"Ali, I'll go forward and use the formations to break through his island-protecting grand formation. I won't be able to completely destroy the barrier in a short time, but I can find a way to create a hole in it. Then, you use this thing to give them a good blast inside!"
"Meow, exciting! Ali likes it!"
The two acted immediately. Hu Tou, the killer whale, swam rapidly to the edge of the island and stopped about a kilometer away.
Ling Tian stepped onto the water's surface and approached the barrier next to the island.
He retrieved a circular jade pendant, over a meter in diameter and more than thirty centimeters thick, from the Spirit Mirror Space.
This was a piece of pure jade, inscribed with numerous formations, and had accumulated spiritual energy from heaven and earth for thousands of years.
The raw stone of this jade alone would cost at least a billion yuan on the market, primarily because such large and pure jade deposits were now virtually impossible to find.
Ling Tian placed his hands on the jade pendant and injected his true essence into it. The next moment, the energy balance of the jade pendant was disrupted, and various formations lit up, emitting dazzling white light outwards.
"Now!"
Ling Tian gritted his teeth and hurled the jade pendant. It directly struck the barrier tens of meters away.
The island-protecting formation was triggered, and a large amount of lightning flowed across the surface of the barrier, concentrating at the point where the jade pendant had struck!
"Crack crack crack..."
The white light emitted by the jade pendant intertwined with the lightning on the formation. The entire jade pendant began to shatter at a visible rate, then was crushed into powder by the terrifying lightning.
However, although the jade pendant was destroyed, it had created a large hole, over three square meters in diameter, in the barrier of the island-protecting grand formation!
"Now!"
Ling Tian immediately sent a message to Ali. Ali shouldered the massive launcher and pulled the trigger.
"Chii!"
The compressed gas, with its terrifying impact force, propelled a cylinder about three meters long and over 30 centimeters in diameter. After flying twenty to thirty meters, several tail fins popped out from the rear, and a scorching flame erupted from the rear nozzle.
"Screech!"
This cylindrical object flew directly towards the circular hole in the barrier.
At this moment, the area of the circular hole was gradually shrinking, and the damaged barrier was being rapidly repaired by the formation.
The attack on the island-protecting grand formation also alerted the people on the island. They immediately emerged from their rooms and cultivation spots, rushing towards the location.
Ling Tian could even see many of them stepping on flying swords, or even soaring through the air!
The number of these individuals was nearly a hundred, and it was clear that the vast majority of them were cultivators!
Ling Tian's heart trembled. If such a large number of powerful cultivators were to wreak havoc outside, even the combined might of all the experts in the Righteous Path Alliance might not be enough to defeat them!
In fact, Ling Tian's guess was correct. Situ Shanhai was planning to do just that. He was currently in seclusion for a breakthrough, and when he emerged, it would be the time for the Situ family, under the guise of the Heavenly Demon Sect, to unify the martial world!
These cultivators never expected that this place, undiscovered for millennia, would be attacked at this very moment!