385: leave

"Boom—!"

The moment Xie Wangsheng's palm pressed heavily against the bloody Formation eye, an indescribable, terrifying energy fluctuation, like an ancient behemoth awakening, surged into the sky from the Formation!

The entire Lake-Center Pavilion trembled violently.

Monstrous waves churned in the lake outside the pavilion, and those two Nascent Soul Yao Beasts let out wails from the depths of their Souls.

"Junior, you are courting death!"

The gentle mask on the face of the old man who claimed to be the "Earth Deity" was torn to shreds, replaced by fury and killing intent like an erupting volcano.

His aged face twisted instantly, and beneath his skin, countless black insects seemed to be squirming. His turbid eyes turned scarlet, emitting a cold, sinister aura that did not belong to a human.

With a flicker of his body, he transformed into a grey afterimage, carrying an aura that decayed all things, and lunged straight for the Lake-Center Pavilion!

"Formation, rise!"

Fang Yuan roared, standing at the very forefront of the Formation. Lightning crackled across his entire body as he pushed the power of the Zhou Tian Xing Yuan Great Array to its limit.

The brilliant starlight barrier instantly solidified, like an inverted star, firmly protecting the entire Lake-Center Pavilion within.

"Stop him!"

"Buy time for Xie Wangsheng!"

Every Kunlun Student had only one thought in their mind.

"Boom!"

The old man's figure smashed violently against the starlight barrier.

There was no earth-shattering roar, only a teeth-grinding "hissing" sound.

That grey, decaying power, like the most terrifying concentrated acid, frantically eroded the starlight barrier, causing the entire Formation to begin shaking violently.

"Just by relying on you bunch of green-behind-the-ears brats?" The old man's cold voice rang in everyone's mind.

He curled his five fingers into claws, and grey death aura condensed as he swiped at the barrier once more!

"Want to pass?"

"Ask my fist first!"

Chen Pingan let out an angry roar, and the blood-energy patterns on his bronze skin shone blindingly bright.

He exchanged a glance with Lu Miaomiao beside him, and both took a step forward simultaneously, pouring their entire blood-energy strength into the Formation without reservation.

"Mountain-Shaking!"

"True Martial!"

Two forces of extreme hardness and extreme yang merged into the starlight barrier, condensing into a massive fist shadow and a blurry image of the Black Tortoise on the inner wall of the barrier, smashing head-on against the old man's ghostly claws!

A dull, thunderous sound rang out.

Chen Pingan and Lu Miaomiao spat out a mouthful of blood simultaneously, their faces turning deathly pale, but their eyes remained fierce as they held firm against this blow.

The old man's figure was forced back half a step, a flash of surprise appearing in his eyes.

He had not expected that these Foundation Establishment and Golden Core Stage students could withstand his blow after forming the Formation.

"A bit interesting."

"Then let me show you what true despair is!"

The old man let out a sharp laugh like a night owl and slammed his hands onto the lake surface.

"Roar!"

The two dying Nascent Soul Yao Beasts in the lake seemed to receive a supreme decree, their eyes instantly turning blood-red. Ignoring their severe injuries, their massive bodies transformed into two underwater black shadows, smashing violently into the Foundation of the Lake-Center Pavilion.

At the same time, countless hair-raising roars emerged from the dense fog of the withered peach forest behind them.

Hundreds upon thousands of faceless monsters, like a black tide, swarmed in from all directions, throwing themselves at the starlight barrier without fear of death.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

The dense sound of impacts merged into one.

The light of the starlight barrier began to dim at a rate visible to the naked eye; every flicker meant the consumption of a massive amount of spiritual energy.

The students maintaining the Formation all turned pale, cold sweat seeping from their foreheads as the spiritual energy within their bodies was being frantically drained.

"Hold on!"

"We are students of the Kunlun Academy!"

"Damn it, let's fight this old monster to the death!"

Han Li roared with red eyes, throwing stacks upon stacks of talisman paper into the Formation nodes to replenish the energy.

"Hmph, trying to stop a chariot with a mantis's arm!"

The old man hovered in mid-air, looking at the struggling group, his eyes filled with the cruelty of a cat playing with a mouse.

A flash of red light shone in his eyes.

An invisible, cold Divine Soul attack instantly enveloped the entire Lake-Center Pavilion.

"Watch out! It's a Divine Soul attack!" Fang Yuan shouted a warning.

But it was already too late.

Some students with weaker cultivation felt a stabbing pain in their brains instantly, various illusions appearing before their eyes. Their concentration wavered, and the operation of the Formation immediately stuttered.

The smugness in the old man's eyes grew, and he was about to take advantage of the opening.

Just at this moment. A clear, resonant sword chime rang out through the heavens and earth.

Lin Xiao, who knows when, had already closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, only the purest, sharpest Sword Intent remained in those pitch-black eyes.

"Cut!"

He did not unsheathe his sword; he simply pointed his fingers like a sword and made a light slash against the Void Realm.

That invisible Divine Soul attack was actually forcefully severed in two by this pure Sword Intent!

All the students immediately felt their minds clear, breaking free from the illusions.

"Hmm?" The smile on the old man's face froze for the first time.

He stared fixedly at Lin Xiao, his eyes filled with disbelief.

And Lin Xiao, after severing the Divine Soul attack, did not pause in his actions at all.

The Sword Intent at his fingertips condensed again, transforming into a pitch-black sword beam that was fast to the extreme, silently piercing through the air and heading straight for the old man's face!

It was too fast!

So fast that the old man only had time to tilt his head slightly.

"Swish!"

A strand of grey-white hair drifted down.

The sword beam grazed his cheek and disappeared into the distant horizon.

The entire scene fell into dead silence.

The old man slowly reached out and touched his cheek where his hair had been cut.

The expression on his face went from astonishment to suspicion, and finally turned into endless humiliation and fury.

"Good! Very good!"

"A junior who isn't even at the Nascent Soul stage dares to injure me!"

"You... all must die!"

The old man went completely insane.

He no longer held back; the grey aura all over his body surged wildly, condensing into a beam of destructive death light, emitting a terrifying fluctuation that caused even space to distort.

"It's over!"

Feeling that power capable of obliterating everything, the hearts of all the students sank to the bottom.

Before this power, the starlight barrier appeared so fragile, teetering on the brink of collapse.

Just at this critical juncture, in the center of the pavilion, Xie Wangsheng, who had been closing his eyes to decipher the Formation, suddenly opened his eyes!

"It's done!"

He shouted loudly, his hands bursting with brilliant light as he slammed it into the teleportation Formation beneath his feet!

"Boom!"

The teleportation Formation was completely activated, and a pillar of white light connecting heaven and earth surged into the sky from the Lake-Center Pavilion!

Almost at the same time, the old man's destructive grey death beam had also arrived!

"Crack—!"

The seemingly indestructible Zhou Tian Xing Yuan Great Array, under the grey light, was like a fragile eggshell; it instantly filled with cracks and then shattered with a roar!

"Pfft!"

All the Kunlun Students, as if struck by a heavy blow, simultaneously spat out a large mouthful of blood, their auras instantly wilting.

Watching as the grey death beam was about to completely swallow them.

The sky-reaching white pillar of light, however, took the lead, shrouding everyone within it.

Space twisted.

One second before being completely erased by death, everyone's figures disappeared into the white light.

...

The world spun.

When everyone regained consciousness, they had already fallen heavily to the ground.

Beneath their feet was the familiar dark red sand.

Above them was the eerie orange sky.

All around was a dead, silent desert.

"Cough, cough... we survived?" Han Li coughed up blood, lying on the ground in a sorry state, but couldn't help laughing.

"Damn it... we almost kicked the bucket back there."

The relief of surviving a disaster spread among the crowd.

Although everyone was injured and in a sorry state, they had ultimately escaped.

"Chief Xie, what exactly was that old man?" someone asked, panting heavily.

Xie Wangsheng adjusted his slightly crooked glasses, which already had a crack on the lens.

He looked at the crowd and spoke calmly.

"There is a major logical loophole in the story he told."

"If he was truly the Earth Deity entrusted by the Queen Mother of the West to guard the Seal, why would those two Nascent Soul Yao Beasts and those thousands of monsters obey his orders?"

Everyone was stunned, then reacted, and a chill surged into their hearts once again.

"The only explanation is..."

Xie Wangsheng pushed up his glasses, a flash of coldness in his eyes.

"This old man is not some Earth Deity at all."

"They are just guard dogs raised by that old monster."

"He is the most terrifying thing in this Secret Realm."

After listening to Xie Wangsheng's analysis, everyone fell silent, feeling a chill down their spines.

They had actually just escaped from right under the nose of such a terrifying existence.

Just then, Lin Xiao, who was responsible for keeping watch, suddenly frowned.

He walked silently to a spot not far away; that was exactly where they had previously set up the "Eight Directions Dragon-Locking Formation."

The spiritual energy barrier of the Formation was still there, though its light had dimmed significantly.

However, inside the Formation, it was completely empty.

That terrifying Dried Corpse that they had tightly trapped and which possessed an immortal body.

Was gone.