186: Change of plans

Unexpectedly, Cang Lanzi, who was outside, suddenly changed his expression and said, "Kid, stop for a moment, those ghostly things are here."

His voice, like a majestic thunderclap, jolted Li Xiangyun awake. Before he could react, he saw the jade cocoon suddenly vanish.

Subsequently, Li Xiangyun plummeted to the ground.

However, Li Xiangyun reacted quickly, immediately got up, cupped his hands to Cang Lanzi, and asked, "Senior, what's wrong?"

Cang Lanzi said with a somewhat solemn expression, "I originally intended for you to directly Breakthrough to Nascent Soul with the help of this Spirit Marrow Jade Root Tree's fluid."

"But now that those ghostly things are here, it seems your Breakthrough is destined to happen with the Netherworld Darkfire."

"But that's fine too; a loss may turn out to be a gain. Perhaps this way your Dao foundation can be even more solid."

"Senior, are you talking about the people from the abyss!?" Based on Cang Lanzi's words, Li Xiangyun immediately guessed what had happened, and his expression involuntarily became solemn.

"Yes." Cang Lanzi nodded, then waved his sleeve and said, "Alright, we'll discuss the details on the way."

Then, the two of them broke through the black mist, transforming into a streak of light, and headed towards the Netherworld Darkfire.

In the dense forest, both the Blood-Eyed Vine Emperor and the Spirit Marrow Jade Root Tree let out a low growl simultaneously. The vines and jade threads, no longer guided by the sword net, retracted.

However, at the moment of retraction, they all turned towards the direction where the black mist surged. The Blood-Eyed Vine Emperor's vertical pupils swelled with bloodshot veins, and the Spirit Marrow Jade Root Tree's jade leaves glowed with spiritual patterns, both uncharacteristically displaying the same vigilance.

On the way, Cang Lanzi said in a deep voice, "Kid, listen carefully, this old man will only say it once."

"Please speak, Senior!" Li Xiangyun said, cupping his hands.

"Among those Star Domain Cultivators, there are a few interesting fellows. I need you to defeat them; this will be your final trial before your Breakthrough to Nascent Soul, and it will benefit you."

"As for those ghostly things, I will temporarily hold them off for you."

"How about it, do you have confidence?" As he spoke, Cang Lanzi looked up at Li Xiangyun, his eyes filled with scrutiny and authority.

Facing Cang Lanzi's oppressive gaze, Li Xiangyun solemnly bowed and said, "Senior, rest assured, Junior will not disappoint you."

"That's for the best!" Cang Lanzi nodded in satisfaction, then withdrew his gaze and suddenly said, "We're here!"

Li Xiangyun looked up and saw the scene of the various Star Domains confronting the Netherworld Darkfire with a fifth-grade Formation.

At this moment, the originally black rocks had already appeared, churning with dark red magma. The viscous molten rock was like a boiling blood pool, each surge splashing up ten-foot-high flames that scorched the surrounding rock walls into a glazed state.

And in the very center of the volcano, the cluster of purplish-black Netherworld Darkfire had expanded to a thousand feet in size, with countless twisted dark shadows entwining its outer layer.

At times, they transformed into hideous Ghost Face (ghostly faces); at other times, they solidified into skeletal chains. The emanating chilling Qi actually formed a bizarre balance with the intense heat of the magma, causing the air to constantly tremble in the cold and hot interweaving.

On the outermost layer, Lin Ye, along with six other people, stood in a peculiar arrangement. Seven pillars of starlight shot up from seven directions, interweaving in mid-air to form a Big Dipper-shaped star map.

Along the edge of the star map, chains forged from starlight flowed. With each rotation, thousands of star blades slashed towards the dark shadows on the outer layer of the Netherworld Darkfire, only to be extinguished into nothingness by the black mist evaporated by the eerie green flames.

The Four-Symbol Demon Suppressing Formation on the inner side, however, displayed an entirely different kind of dominance.

The ethereal images of the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise circulated on the light barrier. The Eastern Azure Dragon spewed water mist to form an ice wall, the Western White Tiger roared out Geng Metal Qi to form a forest of blades, the Southern Vermilion Bird flapped its wings, scattering Southern Brightness Leaving Fire, and the Northern Black Tortoise retracted into a tortoise shell shield.

The power of the Four Symbols cycled back and forth, firmly suppressing the expansion of the Netherworld Darkfire within a thousand feet. Every time a rune on the light barrier flickered, the earth trembled in response.

Further inward was the Heavenly Dipper Battle Formation, composed of thirty-six Golden Armored Cultivators. When they formed the Formation, their bodies merged into a colossal Golden Armored War God, who wielded a giant axe to cleave through the oncoming Netherworld Darkfire.

The Protective Aura flowing on the axe blade collided with the flames, erupting in continuous energy shockwaves, causing even the protagonist standing at the edge of Li Xiangyun to feel a tightness in his chest.

Besides this, people from other Star Domains were also helping.

However, their condition was not good at this time; their faces were pale and their bodies trembled, clearly indicating that they could not hold on for much longer.

After all, although a fifth-grade Formation is powerful, the spiritual power it consumes is immense. If it weren't for the spiritual power already stored in those Magic Treasures beforehand,

They would probably have been drained into dried corpses long ago.

As Li Xiangyun observed this scene, Tang Fu and Deng Qi below also noticed him.

"Boss!"

"Brother Li!"

Tang Fu and Deng Qi exclaimed simultaneously, their faces showing surprise.

Hearing Tang Fu and the other's exclamations, Lin Ye and the others, who were fully concentrating on controlling the Formation, also noticed this.

So, they all looked up and indeed saw Li Xiangyun and Cang Lanzi in mid-air.

This filled Lin Ye's heart with joy, but at the same time, an ominous premonition involuntarily arose.

As for Zhao Tian, he gritted his teeth and thought, "Damn it, how is he not dead!?"

The reason for this was that Zhao Tian sensed that Li Xiangyun was much stronger now than when they first met, even making him feel a sense of danger.

This gave him an unusual sense of humiliation, as Li Xiangyun was still only at the Golden Core Peak... Besides this, others were more curious about the identity of the old man next to Li Xiangyun.

After all, Li Xiangyun was not holding the nether soul guiding lamp at this moment; it was entirely due to the glow emitted by the old man that the black mist and the aura of the Netherworld Darkfire were kept at bay.

Undoubtedly, this was definitely a highly accomplished Daoist master, and Li Xiangyun's survival was likely related to him.

And at this moment, Cang Lanzi appearing here with Li Xiangyun made everyone who intended to seize the Netherworld Darkfire feel a jolt, a bad premonition.

Just then, Cang Lanzi spoke.

He still maintained a casual demeanor, his tone light and dismissive, as if he didn't put everything before him in his eyes.

"This old man has a few words to say!"

His voice was not loud, yet it was like a thunderclap that split through the deafening roar of the volcano. His casual tone carried an undeniable authority.

Before he finished speaking, the churning magma around them suddenly froze in mid-air, and the splashing flames solidified into crimson sculptures.

The star blades of the Big Dipper star map hung before the black mist, the claws and fangs of the Four-Symbol spiritual images paused at the moment of their pounce, and the giant axe of the Golden Armored War God froze in its downward trajectory.

Even the twisted dark shadows on the outer layer of the Netherworld Darkfire maintained their ferocious postures, as if pressed into an amber of time by an invisible hand.

At this moment, the entire space seemed to have fallen into a deathly silence.

Only the flames at the core of the Netherworld Darkfire were still slowly flickering, but it could no longer emit even a trace of chilling Qi.