"I didn't want to be this ruthless, but you forced my hand."
Chou Yuanfeng sighed mournfully, his dark pupils clouded with an unyielding gloom.
The Soul Extraction and Spirit Binding Formation was a forbidden array. He wouldn't have resorted to it unless absolutely necessary. Xu Yi had come prepared, and today's confrontation would determine their victor. If he didn't activate the forbidden formation, he would be the one to fail. By using it, however, he still had a chance to fight. The choice was obvious.
"Don't you all feel a sudden chill creeping in?"
"My eyelids are twitching; it feels like something bad is about to happen."
"What does Alliance Leader Chou mean by his words? I have a bad feeling about this."
The formation cultivators standing in the water and those hiding behind the seats inexplicably sensed the coming storm, trembling involuntarily.
"Chou Yuanfeng, what exactly are you talking about!"
"Hurry up and let us leave this place!"
The two deputy alliance leaders were bewildered yet their hearts pounded with fear. They could only use louder voices to mask their inner unease.
Chou Yuanfeng turned his gaze towards them, a twisted and strange smile appearing on his face.
"No one is leaving today!"
Chou Yuanfeng stomped his right foot down heavily. The high platform immediately split into pieces, large stones being flung outwards, while others were pulverized into dust by spiritual energy, revealing the hidden mechanisms within.
It was a massive Bagua formation diagram. However, each line of the diagram resembled a silver-black chain. The central pattern was composed of two intertwined skull heads, one black and one white, emitting a foul aura that sent shivers down one's spine.
"This pattern..."
"Chou Yuanfeng was prepared after all."
Ordinary formation cultivators failed to discern the mysteries of these formations. But among those present were several eighth-level formation masters. After a moment of thought, some of them recognized the origin of this formation, and their cries of shock were immediate.
"The Soul Extraction and Spirit Binding Formation! It's the Soul Extraction and Spirit Binding Formation!"
"What?"
"Chou Yuanfeng! This is a forbidden array!"
Both those who knew and those who didn't understand the array were thrown into a frenzy. Merely hearing the name revealed the array's sinister nature. Moreover, they were trapped within the formation, highly likely to become its sacrifices at any moment. How could they remain calm?
Some had already begun taking out their communication plates, preparing to send for help. However, the plates remained unresponsive in their hands. The already panicked and breathless crowd became even more consumed by despair. Unable to send messages outward and trapped on this desolate island, even their deaths might not be discovered for many years. This made them start to suspect Chou Yuanfeng, who had hosted the Formation Master Exchange Conference. Perhaps the rumors were not baseless; Chou Yuanfeng truly was problematic.
Chou Yuanfeng let out a cold snort, his gaze fixing on Xu Yi, who remained conspicuous even within the crowd.
"From our first meeting, I knew you were no ordinary person. But at the time, I hesitated and lost the initiative. Today, I will not make the same mistake."
Chou Yuanfeng drew a cut across his palm with his spiritual energy. Dark red blood, tinged with a hint of gold, slowly seeped out. Without a word, he pressed the wound onto the black skull head within the formation.
"Stop him!"
This panicked, somewhat sharp voice did not come from Xu Yi but from one of the deputy alliance leaders of the Formation Heaven Alliance. As a formation master with considerable research in the Dao of Formations, he was well aware of the power of the Soul Extraction and Spirit Binding Formation. They had to stop Chou Yuanfeng at all costs; he absolutely could not be allowed to activate the formation.
As the words fell, several figures shot towards Chou Yuanfeng like lightning. Even Tan Long, who had been entangled with Bai Xinlian, changed direction, yanking apart the bead chain in his hand. As the chain broke, the beads scattered in all directions. However, the scattered beads precisely formed an offensive formation, striking towards Chou Yuanfeng.
Chou Yuanfeng had anticipated such a scenario. His body trembled, and a golden bell phantom enveloped him.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Violent spiritual energy fluctuations stirred up waves of energy, pushing the cultivators in the water back and forth. Those on the water's surface also retreated continuously, finally pressing against an invisible barrier to avoid being blown away. But everyone's attention was not on their own condition; instead, they stared intently ahead, not daring to blink.
The attacks from six Tribulation Crossing cultivators landed simultaneously on the golden bell phantom. The phantom shook violently, appearing on the verge of shattering. Inside, Chou Yuanfeng, whose attacks had been weakened by the bell, had a face as pale as golden paper. He spat out a large mouthful of blood with a "wu" sound. That blood landed precisely on the other skull head. The blood was rapidly absorbed by the skull head, and a faint point of light flickered in the empty eye sockets of the skull head.
"Not good, he blocked it."
"The formation is about to be completed!"
"No!"
The six deputy alliance leaders refused to yield, their various treasures smashing upwards, attempting to stop Chou Yuanfeng. However, no one knew what artifact the golden bell phantom outside Chou Yuanfeng's body was. It still managed to hold on under the attacks of the six Tribulation Crossing cultivators. The more Chou Yuanfeng was attacked, the more blood he spat out. The light in the skull heads' eyes grew brighter, and the madness in Chou Yuanfeng's eyes deepened.
You want me dead? I'll send you all away first!
"Activate!"
He roared with a ferocious expression. The two skull heads, as if imbued with life, slowly floated upwards, finally positioning themselves beside Chou Yuanfeng.
"Go!"
The deputy alliance leaders' faces changed drastically. The Soul Extraction and Spirit Binding Formation was now fully activated. It was too late to stop it; their only option was to flee.
Chou Yuanfeng shifted his gaze, finally locking onto Bai Xinlian.
"I'll start with you."
"Go."
With Chou Yuanfeng's command, the skull heads appeared behind Bai Xinlian with an eerie speed, then opened their bone-white teeth and bit down fiercely at her.
Bang!
The skull head did not bite Bai Xinlian. Instead, it found a string of beads in its mouth. It turned its head slowly, its empty eyes looking towards Tan Long's direction. Tan Long dared not look back. His previous attack had been an instinctive reaction, but he had no regrets.
The skull head let out a crackling sound, then flickered again, landing on Tan Long's shoulder, and bit again. This bite did not touch Tan Long's body, but it caused him to freeze in place, his eyes filled with terror.
Crack, crack.
The sound of chewing, accompanied by pain deep within his soul, caused Tan Long to collapse backward in agony and helplessness. The black ink-like eyes were gradually dimming. Bai Xinlian, sensing something, turned back to see Tan Long gazing at her direction with all his might, his lips slightly moving. Before Bai Xinlian could discern what Tan Long was trying to say, the movement of his lips stopped, and his eyes completely lost their luster.
"Brother Long!"
Hundreds of years of companionship were not a pretense. Memories of past warmth surfaced in her mind, drop by drop. Bai Xinlian bit the tip of her tongue fiercely. The intense pain was insufficient to suppress the hatred in her heart. Clutching her horsetail whisk, she charged directly at Chou Yuanfeng without hesitation.