146: Chapter 145 Demonic Cultivators as Vast as the Sea

Tu Gang and Granny Bone looked up at the same time, gazing toward the south.

A dense mass of figures could be seen flying in from the horizon at extreme speed, blotting out the sky and the sun.

Leading them was a middle-aged man with a sinister countenance, dressed in black robes.

Behind him followed a large group of demonic cultivators: over a dozen in the Golden Core Stage, hundreds in the Foundation Establishment Stage, and countless others in the Qi Refining Stage.

A slight smile curled at the corner of Tu Gang's mouth. "They're here."

The man landed beside Tu Gang, his expression gloomy. "You still haven't taken the Qingxuan Sect?"

Tu Gang shook his head. "There's a strange Formation that we can't break for now."

The man narrowed his eyes and looked at the Sect shrouded in starlight, letting out a cold snort. "The Danding Sect has already been destroyed by me. What kind of waves can a mere Qingxuan Sect possibly make?" He paused, a look of resentment flashing in his eyes. "Once we take this place, I will refine that old thing's Nascent Soul into a Medicinal Pill to restore my cultivation."

Granny Bone said indifferently, "There is something strange about the array. A Formation set up by an Early Golden Core Stage cultivator, yet even Tu Gang and I working together couldn't break it."

The man frowned, carefully examined the Formation, and fell silent for a moment. "Wait for the others behind us to arrive, then we will strike together."

Behind the three of them, more and more demonic cultivators gathered.

At the peak of the Main Summit, the Old Ancestor stood beside Yun Ming, looking up at the thickening black clouds in the distance with a calm expression.

"They've arrived," he murmured.

Yun Ming saw it too.

The overwhelming swarm of demonic cultivators, the three auras of the Late Nascent Soul Stage, and even more who were on their way.

He grit his teeth and squeezed the last trace of spiritual energy from his Dantian, injecting it into the array. His five Golden Cores let out an overburdened creaking sound, and a few more cracks appeared.

The Old Ancestor reached out and pressed a hand on his shoulder. "That's enough."

Yun Ming looked up at him.

The Old Ancestor said nothing more, simply taking over the Formation Eye from his hands.

The map of mountains and rivers shook slightly, starlight flowing as it connected with the faint spiritual energy within the Old Ancestor's body.

The Old Ancestor's injuries were far from healed, and his spiritual energy was almost depleted, but he was a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator after all.

His Divine Sense and his understanding of the Laws of heaven and earth were far superior to Yun Ming's. With the Formation in his hands, the starlight shone a bit brighter than before.

"Go and rest," the Old Ancestor said. "Leave this to me."

Yun Ming opened his mouth to say something, but in the end, he just nodded.

He stood up, his legs feeling weak, and stumbled before being supported by a nearby Disciple. As the Disciple helped him toward the back, he glanced back—the Old Ancestor stood at the Formation Eye, his robes tattered and his body covered in wounds, yet his back was ramrod straight. Starlight fell upon him, illuminating his aged face with exceptional clarity.

Yun Ming was helped onto a bluestone at the back to sit. He leaned there, gasping for breath, with no part of his body not in pain. His spiritual energy was exhausted, his Divine Sense overdrawn, his five Golden Cores were covered in fine cracks, and his Dantian was completely empty.

In the distance, the demonic cultivators' offensive began again.

This time, it wasn't just Tu Gang and Granny Bone; all three Late Nascent Soul Stage cultivators struck together. Although the one-armed middle-aged man had not yet recovered from his heavy injuries, he was still in the Nascent Soul Stage after all; his attack immediately filled the sky with a bloody mist that reeked of gore. The three forces converged, turning into a black torrent that roared as it crashed against the Mountain Guardian Array.

Boom—!

The entire array trembled violently, the starlight on the barrier flickering erratically as the formation patterns dimmed one by one. The Old Ancestor let out a muffled groan, a trace of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth, yet he stood there steadily, injecting every last bit of spiritual energy in his body into the Formation Eye.

The barrier did not shatter.

The expressions of the three Late Nascent Soul Stage cultivators turned somewhat ugly. Their combined strike actually failed to break this array?

Tu Gang grit his teeth. "Again!"

The second strike, the third, the fourth—each one made the barrier tremble, and each one caused another trace of blood to appear at the corner of the Old Ancestor's mouth, but the barrier remained unbroken.

At the peak of the Main Summit, the Old Ancestor's figure remained upright, but his aura was withering at a visible rate. His spiritual energy was nearly gone, his essence blood was being overdrawn, and his face was as pale as paper.

The three Late Nascent Soul Stage cultivators were frantically attacking the array.

Tu Gang's black hammer smashed down like a mountain time and again, Granny Bone's ghost fire turned into a blue torrent that washed over it continuously, and the middle-aged man's blood mist spread out, eroding every inch of the barrier. Each impact caused the entire array to tremble violently, the starlight flickering and the formation patterns dimming one by one. The Old Ancestor stood at the Formation Eye, his robes tattered and his body covered in blood, yet he stood there steadily, injecting every bit of spiritual energy in his body into the map of mountains and rivers. Starlight swirled around him, connecting with the stars in the sky, barely maintaining the array's integrity.

But what truly pressured the Disciples of the Qingxuan Sect was not those three Nascent Souls.

It was those demonic cultivators. Thousands upon thousands of them.

Golden Core Stage, Foundation Establishment Stage, Qi Refining Stage—dense and overwhelming, they covered the sky.

They swarmed forward like locusts, surrounding the Qingxuan Sect from all directions.

While the three Nascent Souls attacked head-on, the Golden Core and Foundation Establishment demonic cultivators dispersed, striking the array from every direction. They didn't dare get close, as the starlight falling on them felt like knife cuts. However, they didn't need to get close; they only needed to cast Spells from the periphery, using Spells, Magic Treasures, and spiritual talismans to attack the array from afar. Hundreds of attacks fell simultaneously; although no single one was enough to shake the array, their convergence exacerbated the situation for the already precarious barrier.

Relying on the array, the Disciples of the Qingxuan Sect fought back desperately.

They stood inside the array, shrouded in starlight, which empowered their Spells, Flying Swords, and arrows to be even stronger than usual.

A Foundation Establishment Disciple activated his Flying Sword, the sword light passing through the barrier and slashing toward a demonic cultivator of the same rank outside.

Under the empowerment of the starlight, the Flying Sword's power surged; the demonic cultivator couldn't block it and fell with a scream.

Another youth in the Qi Refining Stage drew his bowstring to the full and loosed an arrow; carrying a silver-white tail of flame, the arrow pierced straight through a demonic cultivator who was in the middle of casting a Spell.

But there were too many demonic cultivators.

Their attacks poured down like a rainstorm, causing the barrier to flicker incessantly.

The Disciples of the Qingxuan Sect split into several teams, rushing back and forth inside the array to wherever the pressure was greatest.

As soon as someone fell, someone else immediately took their place. When someone's spiritual energy was exhausted, they would retreat to the back to swallow a few Medicinal Pills before grit their teeth and charging back.

In the sky, the three Nascent Souls continued their assault.

The Old Ancestor's face grew paler and his aura weaker, and the light from the map of mountains and rivers also began to flicker. His spiritual energy was nearly gone, but he could not retreat. If he did, the array would shatter.

Yun Ming leaned against the bluestone at the back, watching everything.

His spiritual energy was completely spent, his five Golden Cores were covered in cracks, and his Dantian was empty. He didn't even have the strength to stand, so he could only lean there, watching the Disciples risk their lives inside the array.

At that moment, Jiang Yueling appeared and stood beside him. Looking at the fighting Disciples of the Qingxuan Sect, she grit her teeth and asked, "How can I help?"

Yun Ming sat cross-legged to regulate his breathing, not even glancing at her. His voice was weak: "Go ask the Old Ancestor. I need to rest."

Jiang Yueling did not move.

She stood there, looking at the three Nascent Soul demonic cultivators in the distance who were frantically attacking the array, at the dense swarms of demonic cultivators, at the blood-covered Old Ancestor standing at the Formation Eye, and at the Disciples of the Qingxuan Sect who were resisting to the death.

She bit her lip and turned to walk toward the Old Ancestor.