161: A diversionary tactic!

" The Formation is about to break! "

Xiao Zhuyun desperately unleashed a Pure Yang Dharma Seal, the golden light slamming fiercely against Zhao Lie's long spear, forcing him back several steps. He then shouted sternly, " Everyone, hold them off! Let the black armor mothership close in, and use the ship's cannons to blast this light barrier to pieces! "

" Understood! "

Shen Qingxuan and the others responded in unison, their cultivation base suddenly surging.

They knew that this was a matter of life and death; if they could not break the Formation quickly, they would die an even more miserable death once the enemy's reinforcements arrived.

Pure Yang Qi, ice-attribute Spells, and lightning-attribute attacks intertwined.

For a moment, they actually forced Zhao Lie and Murong Yue to retreat repeatedly, and fine cracks appeared on both of their defensive Magic Treasures.

The six black armor motherships seized the opportunity, their engines roaring deafeningly. Thick spiritual light lit up on the hulls as they charged straight toward the Formation's light barrier.

On the decks of the motherships, the Cultivators quickly formed a Formation, countless Spells converging into a massive beam of light that slammed fiercely into the light barrier with an earth-shattering Aura.

' Crack ' sounds rang out continuously, and the light barrier, which was already covered in cracks, began to shatter over a large area.

" Shen Qingxuan... "

Just at this critical moment, Chen Miaoyin suddenly stopped playing her flute. Her crisp voice pierced through the roar of the battlefield and reached Shen Qingxuan's ears, " Are you not curious about where Junior Brother Lu has gone? "

Shen Qingxuan and Xiao Zhuyun both paused, their brows furrowing in unison.

They had been wary of Lu Tao all along; if he were truly hiding somewhere preparing for a sneak attack, he surely would have acted by now.

But Lu Tao's figure had not appeared...

Clearly, he was not in the vicinity at all!

But before they could ask, four or five communication jade slips shot through the air like meteors, landing steadily in the hands of Shen Qingxuan and Xiao Zhuyun.

As soon as the communication jade slips touched their spiritual energy, a series of urgent voices, trembling with sobs, came through:

" Senior Brother Shen! It's bad! The Magic Iron Mining Area has been raided! The enemy is coming on strong, and the Formation has already been more than half destroyed! "

" And... and there is a Tier 4 Demon Species remnant soul! It emerged from underground with thousands of Tier 3 remnant souls, and wherever it passes, everything is destroyed! "

" It's Qingmo the Lightning Cultivator! He is holding the ten thousand souls banner, and those remnant souls are being controlled by him! "

" Senior Brother Shen, come back to reinforce us quickly! It will be too late if you are any later! "

" Senior Brother Xiao! Senior Brother Liu... he has fallen! The enemy has a Nascent Soul Sword Cultivator, and their attack was a killing blow; Senior Brother Liu didn't even have a chance to resist! "

" Senior Brother Pei is leading us to break through the encirclement, but the enemy is pursuing too closely. We have suffered countless casualties, and now there are less than a thousand people left! "

" It's Lu Tao! The one leading them is Lu Tao! He also brought another Nascent Soul Cultivator. With the two of them working together, we simply cannot hold them off! "

Every word was like a thunderclap, exploding in the minds of Shen Qingxuan and Xiao Zhuyun.

Their faces instantly turned pale, and the communication jade slips in their hands fell to the ground with a ' clatter '.

The Magic Iron Mining Area was their base of operations; not only did it hold a vast amount of resources, but there were also over a thousand Cultivators stationed there. Yet now, Lu Tao had actually led people to cut off their retreat!

Lu Tao!

Qingmo the Lightning Cultivator!

The ten thousand souls banner!

A Tier 4 Demon Species remnant soul!

In normal times, they wouldn't be afraid at all; instead, they would be excited because the enemy had revealed themselves.

But now, every single one of these names was enough to make them tremble with fear.

With two Nascent Soul Cultivators and so many remnant souls, given the strength of the two Nascent Soul Cultivators who had just recently advanced at the Magic Iron Mining Area, along with the thousand Core Formation Cultivators, they were likely already in grave danger!

" This... this is a strategy of luring the tiger away from the mountain! "

Xiao Zhuyun's voice trembled, and his eyes were filled with horror as he looked at Chen Miaoyin, " We've been tricked! "

They had fallen into the enemy's trap from the very beginning. The so-called desperate defense of the Immortal Cave was merely a ruse to keep them pinned down here, allowing Lu Tao to take the opportunity to launch a surprise attack on their base!

Shen Qingxuan's heart tightened, and he subconsciously found a moment to pull up the overall points leaderboard.

A pale blue light screen unfolded in his palm. As soon as his Divine Sense scanned the names at the top of the rankings, his pupils suddenly constricted.

Lu Tao's name was prominently hanging in the upper reaches of the leaderboard, and the number in the points column made his eyes ache: 4.3 million!

In less than half a day, the other party's points had skyrocketed by over 600,000. This was clearly the result of pillaging a resource point!

" Only realizing it now? It's too late! "

Zhao Lie's laughter rang through the sky like a thunderclap, and the attacks from the fiery red long spear in his hand became increasingly violent.

The raging flames wrapped around the spear tip condensed into a fire dragon, and every thrust carried a sharp whistling sound that tore through the air, forcing Xiao Zhuyun to retreat again and again.

Murong Yue's beautiful eyes curved into crescent moons, and her fingertips changed incantations repeatedly.

A water dragon coiled and swirled in the air, spitting out monstrous waves that sealed off the opponent's retreat. At the same time, a Flying Sword shuttled back and forth like a stream of light, occasionally launching sneak attacks on the opponent's Magic Treasures, and occasionally restraining their movements, pushing the art of entanglement to its limit.

Although Qi Yunling and Luo Xuanxiao did not know exactly what had happened, the suddenly pale faces and panicked eyes of Shen Qingxuan and the others had already exposed their decline.

As one side weakened and the other grew stronger, the two of them attacked with increasing ease.

The range of the tornado controlled by Qi Yunling expanded further, and Wind Blades poured down like a rainstorm.

Luo Xuanxiao's purple lightning claw strikes were even more powerful, and every claw strike made Shen Qingxuan's Pure Yang protective shield flicker, looking as if it were about to shatter.

Shen Qingxuan stared at the crumbling Formation light barrier in the center of the battlefield, then glanced at Luo Xuanxiao, who was entangling him until he couldn't catch his breath, his eyes surging with intense unwillingness.

Without the joint bombardment of the six Nascent Soul Cultivators, relying only on the attack power of the six hun yuan motherships, the light barrier could last for at least another half an hour, or even longer.

But his base of operations probably couldn't even last for the time it takes to burn an incense stick!

Even if they tried their best to break the Formation right now, with Chen Miaoyin's illusion arts restraining them, plus the two thousand-plus Bitao Cultivators defending desperately with the Formation facilities of the Yangyuan Cave, it would be impossible for them to take this resource point in less than an hour.

Furthermore, according to the National War rules, after occupying a resource point, one must hold it for a period of time to obtain a large amount of points.

During this time, who could guarantee that there wouldn't be other reinforcements coming for the Bitao Faction?

Once reinforcements arrived, Lu Tao and that group would likely have already returned from the Magic Iron Mining Area.

By then, the five Nascent Soul Cultivators before them, plus Lu Tao, Qingmo the Lightning Cultivator, and that unknown Nascent Soul Cultivator, would make a total of eight people!

Given the current state of the six of them, let alone fighting for resources, whether they could leave alive was a question.

If they were careless, the ten thousand Core Formation Cultivators under his command would likely all be wiped out here!

" Retreat! "

These thoughts flashed through his mind in a split second. Shen Qingxuan gritted his teeth and roared, his Pure Yang Qi suddenly surging, and a golden Dharma Seal slammed toward Luo Xuanxiao with the momentum of crushing everything.

Luo Xuanxiao hastily raised a purple lightning shield, but was forced back repeatedly by the Dharma Seal, and the blood overflowing from the corner of his mouth stained his clothes red.

Shen Qingxuan seized the opportunity to toss out a bronze pagoda. The pagoda swelled to dozens of zhang in height in the air, its body carved with complex runes, and it slammed into the tornado controlled by Qi Yunling.

With a loud ' boom ', the heaven-covering wind pillar was actually forcefully smashed with a gap.

The three Nascent Soul Cultivators who had been swept into it hurriedly urged their spiritual energy to escape the wind pillar, turning into three streams of light that flew straight into their respective hun yuan motherships.

The other two Nascent Soul Cultivators did not dare to linger in battle either; they feinted a move to force back their opponents, then turned and flew toward the motherships.

The six hun yuan motherships instantly deployed thick spiritual light shields, the Formation's roaring sound deafening. The hulls turned, dragging long trails of spiritual light as they sped toward the direction of the Magic Iron Mining Area.