"Demon, do you really think you can act so fearlessly just because you have a seventh-grade grand formation?"
Ouyang Haoze looked at Lu Yang through the formation's light screen with a cold sneer.
"A formation is just an inanimate object in the end. For cultivators like us, cultivation level is what matters most!"
"In the end, it all comes down to a true test of strength."
Alarms blared in Lu Yang's heart, but his face remained impassive.
"Fellow Daoist, if you are so confident, you are welcome to enter the formation and fight. Otherwise, you should obediently retreat."
"You're courting death."
Ouyang Haoze gave a grim smile and actually took a step forward. He then exhaled and let out a sound. A thunderous crackle was heard as a powerful voice suddenly erupted from his throat.
This was a superior divine ability from the Divine Martial Sect called the "Thousand-Mile Space-Shattering Divine Sound." It involved using a secret art to absorb and release the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, empowering it with the Divine Martial Sect's unique third-grade True Qi, the "Divine Martial True Astral Qi," and then roaring it out in one breath.
Wherever the sound wave passed, everything within a thousand miles, friend or foe, would be pulverized into fine dust. In an instant, the intensely fierce divine sound rushed into the formation. One formation pattern after another shattered, revealing skeletal soldiers of various shapes and sizes.
A gaping hole had actually been forcefully blasted into the massive formation! Immediately after, Ouyang Haoze took out a round mirror.
"I request the Supreme Firmament Lord to act."
He formed a hand seal and pointed, sending the round mirror into the air. A magnificent beam of light shot down from it, freezing the void and forcefully holding the opening in the formation steady! In an instant, the market quaked violently!
A large number of cultivators scrambled back, not daring to get any closer to the edge of the formation, their faces filled with panic. Fairy Feixia's face was deathly pale. The next second, she suddenly looked at Lu Yuanchun, whose expression was strange, and said sharply, "Stay here!
You're not allowed to go anywhere!" After her previous experience of being tricked, Fairy Feixia naturally no longer trusted Lu Yuanchun. At this moment, her beautiful face even showed a hint of ferocity.
"If it weren't for Junior Brother Lu, you would already be dead outside the market. If you dare to try and escape in the chaos again, I'll kill you first, no matter the cost!"
"Junior Sister Feixia, you've misunderstood..."
Lu Yuanchun gave an awkward smile. Seeing Fairy Feixia's look as if she wanted to devour someone, he felt a bit intimidated and had to suppress the many sinister and cunning thoughts that had just surfaced. With the two late-stage Qi Refining cultivators remaining calm, the chaos within the market also quickly subsided.
Of course, everyone knew this was only temporary. The outcome of the battle between Lu Yang and Ouyang Haoze was the final straw that would break the camel's back. Therefore, Fairy Feixia could only place her trust in Lu Yang now.
Trust that he could create a miracle.
"Is this... a Spiritual Treasure?"
Lu Yang's expression changed drastically as he looked at the round mirror in the air.
"And it's a pure yang Spiritual Treasure that suppresses Earthly Killing yin qi, specifically meant to counter the Hundred Skeletons Returning to True Grand Formation!?"
Ouyang Haoze threw his head back and laughed, looking extremely pleased with himself.
"The Hundred Skeletons Returning to True Grand Formation has stood on Skull Mountain for many years. Since my Divine Martial Sect dared to plot against it, how could we not prepare a way to break the formation beforehand?"
"With the Supreme Firmament Mirror here, your death today is certain!"
This Spiritual Treasure did not belong to him. It was specially refined by a Foundation Establishment Daoist Master of the Divine Martial Sect to deal with the Hundred Skeletons Returning to True Grand Formation. Its power was naturally self-evident.
Above the market, Lu Yang wore an ugly expression. Without another word, he turned and fled.
"Hmph! Trying to run?"
Without a second thought, Ouyang Haoze leaped up and simultaneously unleashed another divine sound, instantly pulverizing the surrounding skeletal soldiers before chasing after Lu Yang. However, just at that moment, a sudden change occurred! The moment Ouyang Haoze's front foot stepped into the formation, his expression changed.
He subconsciously wanted to retreat, but when he turned his head, all he saw was a stretch of crimson formation patterns.
"I didn't think you'd actually dare to come in."
Lu Yang stopped fleeing and turned to look at Ouyang Haoze. The panicked look from before seemed to have never existed, replaced by a grim smile.
"This is impossible!"
Ouyang Haoze's eye twitched, his face filled with shock and doubt.
"The Hundred Skeletons Returning to True Grand Formation was clearly held in place by my Supreme Firmament Mirror. Why has another formation appeared? There's a second formation in the market? Where did it come from? Why didn't I find any trace of a formation being set up beforehand?"
"Because I don't need to set up a formation at all..."
Lu Yang sneered inwardly. His Bloodwash Heavenly River Sword Formation Diagram was completely dependent on the Blood Sun Sword Pellet, a formation treasure. The formation was created with a single thought, so naturally, there would be no traces!
The next second, a flag banner appeared in Lu Yang's hand, fluttering in the wind. The Innate Primordial Qi Myriad Spirits Banner! The flag banner waved, and in an instant, streams of banner spirits flew out, landing on the various formation eyes of the Bloodwash Heavenly River Sword Formation Diagram, and began to move involuntarily.
When he was designing this formation, Lu Yang had already taken the Innate Primordial Qi Myriad Spirits Banner into consideration. At this moment, the ten thousand souls within the banner arranged themselves, occupying the formation eyes and manifesting the formation's mysteries.
In an instant, heaven and earth turned crimson, and a surging river of blood flowed from south to north, crashing down from the sky toward Ouyang Haoze! Ouyang Haoze immediately let out a muffled groan, his figure staggering. The Heavenly Demon Transforming Blood Divine Light!
Trapped within the formation, Ouyang Haoze had no way to dodge the might of the divine light. He felt his originally immense qi and blood rapidly draining from his body like a flooding river that had broken its dam. The next second, he hurriedly shouted, "Heavenly Radiance Lord, save me!"
Armor glinted like golden scales in the sun. Layers of treasured light enveloped Ouyang Haoze, and for a moment, it actually managed to stop the devouring of the Heavenly Demon Transforming Blood Divine Light. The Spiritual Treasure, Heavenly Radiance Armor!
This treasure was refined from "Demon-Subduing Heavenly Light" and was fundamentally opposed to the Heavenly Demon Transforming Blood Divine Light. The result of their collision was a mutual stalemate. Only then did Ouyang Haoze manage to breathe a sigh of relief.
After all, he never expected that with his cultivation level, two Spiritual Treasures—the Supreme Firmament Mirror and the Heavenly Radiance Armor—and such thorough preparations, he would still almost suffer a disastrous setback.
"At this point, I cannot run."
Ouyang Haoze's eyes were bloodshot. Not only did he not plan to run, he looked toward Lu Yang deep within the formation, a suffocating killing intent appearing in his eyes.
"... The only way is to counter-attack!"
As a True Disciple of a sect, his willpower was by no means weak. He understood the principle of "in a narrow path, the brave one wins." He knew that if he focused only on escaping now, he would be toyed with until he died by Lu Yang.
To break the formation, he had to seek life in death, to find a way to kill Lu Yang. Once Lu Yang was dead, the formation would dissolve on its own!
Rummmble!
The next second, under the protection of the Heavenly Radiance Armor, Ouyang Haoze charged toward Lu Yang, the peerless tip of his spear aimed directly at the Innate Primordial Qi Myriad Spirits Banner in Lu Yang's hand!
"That flag banner seems to be the core of this formation. If I can't kill Lu Yang, destroying it might also offer a path to survival."
"Good of you to come!"
Lu Yang flicked the flag banner, and a figure emerged. It was none other than Liu Xin. His face was filled with confusion, as if he hadn't fully woken up yet.
The next second— "Explode!" With a massive boom! Liu Xin involuntarily opened his mouth and shouted the word 'kill.'
It was a Life-Killing Curse, specifically designed for mutual destruction! In Lu Yang's view, Liu Xin's use of the Innate Primordial Qi Myriad Spirits Banner had been far too shallow. After all, the banner spirits were immortal.
Even if they were destroyed for a short time, as long as their true spirits didn't scatter, he could expend magical power to summon them again. Since that was the case, why bother having them fight conventionally? They should be made to learn killer moves of mutual destruction!
Since they could be revived anyway, having them unleash divine abilities that killed a thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred of their own, self-destructing to kill the enemy—this was the correct way to use them! In an instant, a spiritual tide swept over everything. When the dust settled, Liu Xin was nowhere to be seen.
Ouyang Haoze had been forcefully stopped in mid-air, his expression incomparably grim. So far, he had already used many methods. Divine abilities, Spiritual Treasures, and suppression by cultivation level—dealing with a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator should have been an easy task.
Who would have thought that none of them would succeed? Instead, his own magical power had been greatly depleted.
"If this goes on, I'm afraid I'll really die here..."
As this thought crossed Ouyang Haoze's mind, a ruthless look flashed across his face. He formed a hand seal, and immediately, the Heavenly Radiance Armor on his body let out a sudden, mournful cry.
"This is... Not good!"
Lu Yang's expression changed dramatically at the sight. His figure flickered, and in an instant, he moved behind the Blood Sun Sword Pellet. He then summoned the sword pellet's blood shadow to protect his front.
BOOOOM!!!
The Spiritual Treasure, Heavenly Radiance Armor, had self-destructed! The exploding spiritual light, just like the scene Xiao Shiye had once created, swept in all directions, instantly shattering Lu Yang's sword formation diagram and revealing the clear blue sky. Although Lu Yang reacted extremely quickly and rapidly closed the formation, Ouyang Haoze was even faster.
In the nick of time, he rushed out of the formation diagram's encirclement. Lu Yang only had time to unleash the Heavenly Demon Transforming Blood Divine Light, which stripped another thirty percent of qi and blood from his body, leaving him looking like nothing more than skin and bones.
"You destroyed my magical artifact! I will not be able to quell this hatred until I tear your body into ten thousand pieces!"
Ouyang Haoze stood outside the market, his expression ferocious. He actually channeled his remaining magical power into his other Spiritual Treasure, the Supreme Firmament Mirror, causing it to also let out a mournful cry.
"At worst, this master will sacrifice all my Spiritual Treasures today! Let's see if you can pull out a third grand formation!"
(End of this chapter)