At this moment, Shan Chunrong patted his storage bag, and his flying sword surged out, gleaming in the air. Ji Changshi also summoned a flying sword, pointed his hand, and with a clang, the sword flew out, instantly aligning with Shan Chunrong's. Then, the two merged into one, and the flying sword instantly doubled in size, its radiance growing infinitely.
Seeing this, the three monsters also unleashed their flying swords one after another, and then flew out in succession, merging with the sword in the center. Thus, in an instant, a sword spanning heaven and earth appeared in mid-air, its tip pointing downwards, emanating a dazzling glow. The sword tip alone was like an inverted mountain peak, seemingly ready to fall at any moment, capable of destroying everything under the heavens, instilling a sense of dread.
Before the sword even moved, the three from the Divine Escape Sect and Mo Qi felt an endless, destructive force enveloping them from above. The aura of death quietly permeated the surroundings.
The three from the Divine Escape Sect had pushed their protective divine abilities to the extreme. Simultaneously, they were poised to unleash their greatest powers, preparing to resist with their lives. Their pupils dilated infinitely, and their fear amplified without bounds.
Mo Qi also sensed that his current level of defense might not be enough to withstand the fatal blow. To achieve an impenetrable state, he needed to transform the silver-gray aura battle armor around him into golden. This goal seemed to be nearing realization, but his opponents appeared unwilling to give him more time.
Mo Qi successively flicked an emergency pill to the three from the Divine Escape Sect, hoping they could hold on a little longer.
The three caught the pills one after another, all glancing at Mo Qi in unison. However, Mo Qi squinted his eyes, as if he hadn't seen them. The three exchanged a glance, then made up their minds, and swallowed the pills.
The five outside the formation simultaneously pointed their hands, and the inverted mountain peak descended with a roar, carrying an aura of endless destruction. It bulldozed through everything in its path, igniting the air along the way.
The three from the Divine Escape Sect each formed hand seals. As ripples flashed, they condensed shield-shaped spiritual energy bodies above the formation wall. Fueled by the emergency pills, their spiritual power surged instantly. The shields expanded infinitely, suddenly obscuring the sky and sun, radiating immense light. The sword finally struck the formation wall with brute force, like two mountain peaks colliding. With a thunderous roar, akin to the collapse of heaven and earth, energy fragments erupted, shattering into the surrounding air like glass shards. The mountain peak below rapidly collapsed downwards, one foot, two feet, three feet… the formation wall contorted drastically.
However, as the giant sword descended, its speed gradually slowed, emitting a creaking sound, like a mouse gnawing on bones. Finally, after pushing the formation wall inward by twenty feet, the giant sword stopped its descent. Protected by the formation flags, its radiance intensified, and the indentation forcefully pushed the giant sword back. Deprived of its spiritual energy protection in the air, it instantly split into five flying swords, returning to their respective owners.
They had returned without success?
Everyone was stunned! The four below were all at the Core Formation stage, while the four Nascent Soul stage cultivators above the formation, along with one late-stage Core Formation cultivator (Frog Daoist), should have easily shattered the opposing formation with their combined assault, even with the formation's protection. Yet, they had retreated in defeat, and the formation remained completely unharmed. Even a small breach would have offered some psychological solace.
Seeing his efforts wasted, Frog Daoist retracted his flying sword, contemplating other methods. Suddenly, he noticed the other four re-condensing their flying swords into one, glaring at him furiously. He hastily summoned his flying sword again, merging it with the other four into a single giant sword.
Frog Daoist felt wronged. How was he to know they would continue?
At this moment, without any warning, an arrow of energy struck, piercing his chest once more. Frog Daoist cried out in pain and fell from the clouds again. His sword also split apart.
Rolling on the ground, Frog Daoist yelled, "Damn it, why is it always me they target?"
Ji Changshi and Shan Chunrong couldn't help but show disdain. Weren't they arrogant just moments ago? Was this all they had? How dare they be so boastful with such meager skill? Skull Daoist and Blaze Daoist frowned slightly, their old faces flushing. This embarrassment shouldn't have been brought out.
Skull Daoist roared in anger, pointed his hand, and injected his lifelong cultivation and spiritual power into the giant sword. His eyes turned red, revealing an extremely ferocious expression. Seeing this, the others also exuded immense killing intent, pouring all their spiritual power into the giant sword. The sword blazed with light, humming like a dragon's roar.
The three members of the Divine Escape Sect once again formed a shield, merging with the formation wall. They had initially thought it was merely a symbolic resistance, expecting to be utterly crushed and destroyed by the enemy's world-devouring attack. However, they hadn't expected to successfully block the enemy's assault. They knew that this outcome was not only due to the formation but, more importantly, the power of the pills.
The pills refined by this alchemy genius were truly formidable, the three from the Divine Escape Sect marveled inwardly. At the same time, they felt fortunate that their former enemy had now become their ally. They didn't know what Mo Qi was preparing, but they had a subconscious feeling that he was devising a plan for a desperate counter-kill. Whatever the plan, it was worth their full effort to help him achieve it, for they were in the same boat now, with no room to retreat.
The giant sword descended once more with a roar. This time, it still caused the formation wall to collapse by about ten feet before automatically rebounding. But just as the four flying swords were about to separate, the four cultivators simultaneously formed hand seals, re-condensing the sword into a giant sword. Without any hesitation, it whistled downwards and struck the formation wall with a roar.
This time, the three within the formation were not fully prepared. The previous impact of the giant sword had scattered their shield. When they saw the giant sword rebound, their hearts relaxed, and their spiritual power dispersed. Upon realizing that the enemy had re-condensed their flying swords into one and immediately struck downwards without hesitation, all three gasped. They hastily activated their spiritual energy, forming a shield above their heads. However, before it could merge with the formation wall, the giant sword had already broken through like a bamboo stalk. With a deafening roar, the formation wall above shattered, and countless fragments of light and shadow scattered, instantly dissipating into the air.
The four formation flags were uprooted and swept away like kites, drifting off to an unknown destination.
Amidst flying sand and swirling winds, the giant sword struck the shield-shaped spiritual energy body again. With a world-shattering roar, the shield was dispersed, and the giant sword continued its descent. Before it even reached them, the immense pressure and destructive force surged. The three from the Divine Escape Sect, with nowhere to escape, could only watch as a blinding light engulfed them, along with their fear. They could already foresee their bodies turning to ashes in the next moment.
At this moment, a golden figure appeared out of nowhere, suddenly blocking the giant sword. Pushed by the giant sword, it rapidly descended. With a thunderous roar, sand and stones flew from the ground, instantly filling the air with dust and kicking up a sandstorm.
The ground rapidly subsided, and a deep pit expanded rapidly in both width and depth. The giant sword plunged into the pit, and only then did it slowly halt, its hilt disappearing into the abyss.
Thick dust billowed from the pit below, lingering for a long time.
Ji Changshi and the other three landed at the edge of the pit. They peered down, unable to see anything. They assumed that the four had been pulverized into meat paste and had no chance of survival. Suddenly, an arrow of energy flew silently. Shan Chunrong, caught completely off guard, was struck in the center of his forehead. Without a sound, he died on the spot and tumbled into the pit.
The other three were greatly alarmed. As they scanned the pit below with their divine senses, they saw a golden figure beneath the giant sword, holding it up with one hand, like an ant supporting an elephant, yet managing to lift it. Around him lay four people. One was Shan Chunrong, who had just fallen, completely dead. The other three were severely injured, either still lying on the ground or struggling to stand.
Indeed, the one holding the giant sword was Mo Qi. At the last moment of the giant sword's descent, he had transformed his battle armor from silver-gray to golden and had forcibly withstood the giant sword's attack.
At this point, the giant sword, having lost its spiritual energy enhancement, split into four flying swords, returning to their original size and falling into the pit.
Frog Daoist was in the distance. First, he saw Shan Chunrong fall, then he saw the terrified and enraged expressions of the others, knowing that it was not over. Gritting his teeth, he roared, "Get out of the way."
With that, he spat a cloud of greenish-yellow poisonous gas into the air. The gas, in the form of fine particles, grew against the wind, instantly transforming into fist-sized, glistening green frogs. Croaking, they hopped forward. The three quickly jumped aside. The frogs then hopped into the pit one by one, continuously.
While still in mid-air, Mo Qi, along with Ba Dun and Pei Ruxue, who had already stood up, unleashed their divine abilities to shatter the frogs. However, after they were shattered, a rain of green poison fell from the sky. Alarmed, they knew they couldn't let the green liquid touch them. Pei Ruxue hastily summoned her Asura Umbrella, unfurling it in mid-air, narrowly avoiding the poisonous rain.
The greenish-yellow poisonous liquid flowed down the edge of the umbrella into the pit. The three dodged and weaved, avoiding the poisonous liquid, but they forgot about Qi Zhi Mei, who was still lying on the ground. By the time Ba Dun noticed, Qi Zhi Mei had already turned into blood in a piercing scream, a glistening green blood. The blood flowed on the ground, leaving the three with no place to stand, forcing them to float in the air.
At this moment, the Asura Umbrella, floating in the air, began to emit smoke, gradually being corroded. Pei Ruxue quickly formed a hand seal, shrinking it instantly, and then let it fall into the pit. She dared not keep it, whether it was intact or not.
The three had no time to grieve, as continuous frogs jumped from the edge of the pit. Pei Ruxue and Ba Dun dared not attack them, having already suffered greatly. But how should they respond? They found themselves in a predicament.
At this moment, Mo Qi summoned the Five-Colored Pagoda. He pointed his hand, and the beast layer below began to rotate, emitting red light that surged outwards, instantly striking the entrance of the pit and forming a red passage. The frogs were then drawn into the beast layer of the pagoda along the passage. As many as jumped down were absorbed. Frog Daoist, sitting on the ground, could only see the frogs jumping in one after another, unaware of what was happening below, and continued to command them. However, Skull Daoist and Blaze Daoist, who had flown back into the air, saw clearly and immediately shouted, "Stop! Don't release any more, they've all been collected!"
Frog Daoist was unconvinced and continued to release poisonous frogs relentlessly. Skull Daoist was furious. "Die!" he roared, summoning a staff-shaped magical artifact. At the top of the artifact was a skull. The skull's eye sockets glowed with a greenish-yellow light. With a suction, Frog Daoist, caught completely off guard, was pulled into the right socket. A series of crunching teeth, bone-cracking sounds, and screams intertwined, lingering for a long time, sending chills down one's spine and making one's eyelids twitch.
This was not the end. Skull Daoist placed a hand on the skull's head, closed his eyes slightly, and chanted. A ball of black energy twisted from the skull and entered his palm. Skull Daoist's body convulsed violently, then he exhaled deeply and slowly opened his eyes. His eyes shot out brilliant light, and his spiritual power instantly increased.
Blaze Daoist glanced at him, then nonchalantly looked away.
"Indeed, a wicked path," Ji Changshi thought contemptuously. "They are so ruthless even to their own."
At this moment, Pei Ruxue and Ba Dun, suspended in the pit, began to sway as if about to fall to the bottom.
Although the blood from the shattered frogs had flowed to the bottom and had not touched them, poisonous gas had silently spread through the air. Both of them had been poisoned. Mo Qi, having consumed too many pills over the years, had long been immune to such poisons.
Seeing their bodies rapidly falling, Mo Qi, in a moment of inspiration, pointed his hand. The Five-Colored Pagoda in the air rotated, and the human layer emitted red light, enveloping Pei Ruxue and Ba Dun. Then, as the light beam contracted, their bodies were drawn into the human layer of the Five-Colored Pagoda.