145: The magic array manifests its power

Time slipped away in a tense, calm atmosphere.

The light gate at the entrance of the Secret Realm continued to flicker, and while a sporadic few Cultivators who had entered returned with news about the internal environment, low-level Spirit Medicine, and traps, the true core treasures seemed yet to be discovered.

The Core Formation Ancestors on the periphery remained still, yet their gazes grew sharper as they met, as if they had made some secret arrangements, and the figures of several Core Formation Cultivators quietly disappeared.

Suddenly, a drastic change occurred!

It did not come from within the Secret Realm, but from the surrounding waters!

Those observation points secretly controlled by the Heavenly Demon Cult, where bewitched Loose Cultivators had been planted, simultaneously erupted with shrill screams and intense blood-red light without any warning!

The bodies of hundreds of low-level Cultivators were crushed as if by an invisible force, their Essence Blood and Divine Souls transforming into streams of blood that were absorbed by eerie Formation patterns that had appeared beneath their feet, surging frantically toward the black stone pillars already set up at the bottom of the water!

"Hum—!!!"

A low, evil humming resonated across heaven and earth, and dozens of black stone pillars simultaneously erupted with dark red blood light that soared into the sky; the twisted runes on the pillars came to life, resembling countless intertwined blood vessels!

A massive blood-red light shield covering dozens of miles, enveloping the Secret Realm entrance and the numerous Cultivators in the vicinity, formed instantly—the Blood Refining Demonic Formation, activated!

"What Prodigy dares to set up such an evil Formation here!" The Heavenly Sword Sect Ancestor was the first to react, his angry shout like thunder from the Nine Heavens as a brilliant sword light slashed toward the nearest stone pillar.

However, as the sword light fell into the blood shield, it was weakened and corroded by layers of viscous blood light, its power greatly diminished, leaving only a shallow sword mark on the stone pillar.

"Hehehe... Old Man Sword, your opponents are us." Two blurry figures shrouded in gray Demonic Qi, whose aura also reached the Peak of Core Formation, appeared out of thin air within the blood shield, blocking the Heavenly Sword Sect Ancestor. Their auras were eerie and cold, carrying an inhuman mania—they were the two leaders of the Heavenly Demon Cult leading this operation!

Meanwhile, throughout the blood shield, more than a dozen figures suddenly emerged—five at the Middle Stage of Core Formation, and eleven at the Early Stage of Core Formation. All of them radiated soaring Demonic Qi or sinister evil arts, and, coordinating with the Blood Refining Demonic Formation to continuously extract the Qi, blood, and Divine Souls of the low-level Cultivators within the area to convert them into filthy blood light, they formed a battle array, instantly separating and surrounding the eleven Core Formation Cultivators from the three kingdoms of Wu-Yue and Chu!

The blood light was like a tide, not only possessing strong corrosive and spirit-power-devouring properties but also capable of interfering with Divine Sense and confusing the five senses.

The Core Formation Cultivators of the three kingdoms were caught off guard and immediately fell into a bitter struggle, fighting individually and unable to support each other. Within the Formation range, those middle and low-level Cultivators who could not escape in time or were caught in the aftermath wailed incessantly; their flesh and blood melted away, turning into nutrients for the Formation, making the blood light even more intense!

Everything was exactly as the Heavenly Demon Cult had planned: lying in wait for a long time, and once launched, it was swift and violent, aiming directly at high-end combat power, intending to use the Formation and the surprise attack to wipe out the top forces of the three kingdoms in one fell swoop!

However, just as the Blood Refining Demonic Formation's radiance was at its Peak and the Heavenly Demon Cult's demon Cultivators thought victory was assured—

"Heavenly Demon evils, you dare to wreak havoc here! The Yangzhou Righteous Path Alliance is here; your conspiracy shall not succeed today!"

A clear, cold, and resonant long whistle, like the striking of a jade chime, pierced through the viscous blood light and rolled in from the northwestern horizon!

Along with the whistle, eight brilliant and astonishing escape lights broke through the clouds and sped over! Within the lights, auspicious clouds swirled, and righteous energy was awe-inspiring. The three leading figures had auras as vast as the sea, and they were all indeed great Cultivators at the Late Stage of Core Formation!

The five people behind them were also at the Middle Stage of Core Formation, their Spiritual Pressure solid and their gazes like lightning.

They were the experts from the Yangzhou Righteous Path Alliance!

They had long since detected the unusual movements of the Heavenly Demon Cult on the borders of Yangzhou and had secretly tracked them all the way here. They also happened to see information on the Heavenly Secret Realm—from an unknown source, yet precisely pointing to the Heavenly Demon Cult's Formation location and timing—and immediately decided to play along with the scheme, lying in ambush outside, waiting only for the Demonic Formation to activate and the demon Cultivators to appear, before delivering a thunderous blow!

To be safe, the Heavenly Demon Cult had indeed arranged for a Third-Rank Late Stage Demon King to lead a team in hiding outside the Formation to provide support.

Seeing eight powerful enemies suddenly burst forth, the Demon King was shocked and furious, forced to reveal its form—it was a hideous tiger demon with wings on its back and its entire body covered in black bone armor!

"Roar! Ruining our Sacred Cult's grand plan, you are courting death!" The Black-Armored Flying Tiger Demon King roared, its Demonic Qi soaring to the sky, and it lunged straight at the green-robed Daoist leading the Righteous Path Alliance. Behind it, several figures with gray scales also followed; although they said nothing, they also revealed the aura of the Third Rank.

However, the Righteous Path Alliance was well-prepared for this trip. Among the three Late Stage Core Formation Cultivators, one went to meet the Flying Tiger Demon King, while the other two led the remaining Middle Stage Cultivators, forming a battle array without hesitation to meet them. The brilliant lights of various Magic Treasures bloomed, turning into a torrent that slammed fiercely onto the path of the gray figures behind, directly shattering their Formation and finally landing on the blood-red light shield of the Blood Refining Demonic Formation!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The fierce attacks from the outside in, combined with the desperate counterattacks of the three kingdoms' Core Formation Cultivators within the Formation after sensing external support, formed a pincer attack from inside and out!

The Blood Refining Demonic Formation had been set up to trap and kill the Cultivators within, so its defense against external attacks was relatively weak.

Now, under the attack from both inside and out, especially the all-out bombardment from eight well-prepared Core Formation experts from the outside, the blood-red light shield vibrated violently, its light flickering uncertainly, emitting an overloaded "creaking" sound, and in many places, the Formation patterns began to flicker and crack!

"Not good!" The Heavenly Demon Cult leader saw this and was greatly alarmed.

He never expected that people from the Yangzhou Righteous Path Alliance would actually follow them here, and appear at this critical moment!

The violent turbulence and weakening power of the Formation greatly reduced the pressure on the trapped Core Formation Cultivators of the three kingdoms, boosting their morale, and their counterattack immediately became like a violent storm.

The Heavenly Demon Cult side immediately fell into a passive position.

With opponents trapped like beasts fighting to the death inside, and stronger reinforcements eyeing them covetously outside, their original advantage instantly vanished, and instead, they were at risk of being surrounded and counter-killed from both inside and out!

The Heavenly Demon Cult leader controlling the Formation was tightly entangled by the Heavenly Sword Ancestor and could not spare the distraction to stabilize the grand Formation, his heart filled with anxious rage.

Outside the Formation, that Third-Rank Late Stage Black-Armored Flying Tiger Demon King and the remaining gray figures, although fierce and unparalleled, were soon struggling and covered in wounds under the combined siege of several Righteous Path Cultivators of the same rank; their defeat and death were only a matter of time.

Worse still, a particularly fragile area within the Formation, caused by the overlapping of internal and external attacks, was precisely the responsibility of the Heavenly Demon Cult's newly promoted Early Stage Core Formation Demon King.

It had been there to act as the Formation's battery because it was the weakest, but it ended up taking the full brunt of the damage from the Formation's cracking.

The backlash from the Formation arrived, and coupled with the aftermath of a sharp sword light from the outside sweeping in through the crack, this unlucky Poison Flood Dragon screamed, a deep wound torn into its emerald-green dragon body, spraying toxic blood, and its aura plummeted.

Seeing that the Formation was already broken, powerful enemies surrounding it from the outside, and its companions inside unable to care for themselves, the naturally life-cherishing and cunning Three-Eyed Poison Flood Dragon flashed a fierce light in its eyes, no longer having any Battle Intent.

It suddenly opened its mouth and spewed a sky full of foul-smelling toxic miasma, temporarily blocking sight and Divine Sense, and then, without hesitation, it twisted its dragon body, its emerald light surging, transforming into a mournful green stream of light. Ignoring the Formation and its companions, it charged desperately toward the crack in the Formation wall in the northwestern waters, which had become the most unstable due to the internal and external attacks!

It wanted to take advantage of the chaos to escape this certain-death situation!

With attacks from both inside and out, the situation was reversed.

The radiance of the Blood Refining Demonic Formation dimmed rapidly, and it was on the verge of collapse.

Yet the Three-Eyed Poison Flood Dragon, escaping in the chaos, did not notice that beyond the escape route it had chosen, there seemed to be other gazes, calmly watching all of this.