Li Yan was also impressed by the attack power of the Pure Land Sect's monks. It was truly terrifying. With his newly advanced realm, if he were to fight one-on-one against a Perfected Qi Condensation monk, his chances of winning were probably four to six, with him being the four and the monk being the six. If his realm reached the late-stage of the eighth level of Qi Condensation, he estimated he would have a seventy percent chance of defeating a Perfected Qi Condensation cultivator using the power of his Fragmented Poison Body. Even if there was more than one opponent, he would have a fighting chance against three of them. As his True Scripture of Gui Water advanced, he now realized that the further he cultivated it, the more its power began to reveal its magnificent edge. Its power was not a simple one-plus-one equation. He began to understand the root of the arrogance in Dong Fuyi's expression when he spoke of the five immortal sects. It was a powerful confidence that came from the five immortal sects, from the True Scripture of Gui Water.
Especially since he had come to this Secret Realm, his True Scripture of Gui Water had started to feel somewhat unfamiliar to him. This unfamiliarity was related to this world, but he was sure it had nothing to do with the density of spiritual energy. Even if the spiritual energy density on Little Bamboo Peak could reach this level, he believed he wouldn't have this feeling here. This made him speculate about the origin of this Secret Realm.
Li Yan wondered if the Secret Realm was connected to the five immortal sects of the upper realm. Otherwise, why would the world here make him feel like a fish in the sea? If Dong Fuyi were here, he would probably be able to see the mystery at a glance. Thinking of the tall old man, Li Yan sighed inwardly, wondering how his only Sect Master and master was doing now.
As Li Yan was pondering, he suddenly heard a "zi zi" sound from above his head, followed by a "hong long long" sound from within the sphere. At this, both sides completely stopped their attacks. They first defensively put up their guards, then some looked up, some looked around. Even Zhizhong and Gong Chenying in the distance stopped fighting.
After looking for the source of the sound, their faces changed drastically. The "zi zi" sound from above was because the outer layer of the sphere was now covered in a layer of black stuff, which was constantly spreading and expanding, making the light of the originally translucent sphere begin to dim. The "zi zi" sound was like the sizzling of something being corroded.
At the same time, amidst the "hong long long" sound, a two-chi high earthen platform rose from the ground at the two sphere walls where both sides had entered. Seeing this change, everyone was stunned for a moment, then instantly understood the reason.
The giant black shadow in the sky had arrived, and it was pressing down from both paths. It had now covered the sphere. The sphere should have some resistance, but from the sound, it seemed to be constantly weakening. When the sphere broke, it would be the time of death for everyone here.
Chan Monk Zhizhong and Gong Chenying looked at each other, then at the earthen platforms at the locations where their respective parties had entered. Then, both sides quickly separated and flew towards the two earthen platforms. In the astonished eyes of the crowd, the two of them had already mounted the platforms and raised the Blue Rhomboid Crystals they had taken out during their flight. Spiritual energy was frantically poured in. The moment the spiritual energy was injected into the Blue Rhomboid Crystals, the two highly raised crystals burst forth with two beams of blue light. The light beams shot up into the sky, directly hitting the sphere above their heads.
As Li Yan and the others watched, the "zi zi" sound from above their heads seemed to be blocked by a soundproof barrier, and the sound instantly became much quieter. Gong Chenying and Chan Monk Zhizhong looked at each other, their tense moods also relaxing a little. Just now, when the two of them saw the two rising earthen platforms, they had both made their quickest judgments. Now, although the "zi zi" sound from above was much quieter, and they didn't know if it had really succeeded in stopping or delaying the attack of the giant black shadow in the sky, at least with the sound reduced, they felt much safer psychologically.
Just as everyone had gained some psychological comfort, a wind blade suddenly "wu-ed" out from the Malevolent Spirit Sect's side, directly slashing at the neck of a monk from the Pure Land Sect. Everyone was stunned. Without looking for who had attacked, both sides seemed to have a tacit understanding and once again attacked with all their might. The area was filled with a brilliant display of five-colored lights, and the sound of explosions was endless.
The one who had attacked was Li Yan. He had seen the focused expressions of Gong Chenying and the other, and a sense of anxiety had risen in his heart again. He knew that even if the two of them could delay the attack of the giant black shadow, they clearly couldn't maintain this state for long. From their grave expressions, it was clear that this required a huge amount of spiritual energy support. So, without waiting for Gong Chenying to speak, he saw a monk closest to him and slashed a wind blade at him.
Li Yan's understanding of the Wheel of Life and Death now was two words: "speed." Only speed could buy them time to survive. Just like these monks before them, they had been much slower on the other path. After the two paths intersected, they had no rest time to recover their consumed spiritual energy and were forced to fight. The reason was that they were too slow.
Gong Chenying couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. The moment she injected her spiritual energy, the Blue Rhomboid Crystal was like a bottomless pit, draining all the spiritual energy she had just poured in in a single breath. This made her feel a sense of discomfort. She quickly circulated her spiritual energy to maintain stability, but the newly channeled spiritual energy disappeared in an instant, which horrified her. She knew she couldn't last long like this. With her peak mid-stage Foundation Establishment strength and about sixty percent of her spiritual energy left, she couldn't hold on for more than a hundred breaths. For a moment, she had no way to divert her attention to order everyone to attack quickly. Just as she was about to force out a sliver of her divine sense to give the order, she saw that a wind blade from her side had already flown towards the opponent. She knew someone had noticed her predicament. Looking at the ordinary-looking dark-skinned boy who had attacked, a smile appeared on the corners of her mouth. 'Little Junior Brother, his few reminders and attacks since we got here have all been timely. I didn't expect my own squad would benefit from him.' Thinking of this, she looked up at the other earthen platform. After seeing Chan Monk Zhizhong's situation, she temporarily put her mind at ease. The gaunt Chan Monk opposite her was clearly not in a much better state, also wearing an expression of giving it his all. In that case, the outcome would depend on the battle between the Qi Condensation disciples of both sides. She hoped they would kill those eighteen monks as quickly as possible before she fell.
After Li Yan's attack, he transmitted to the five people on his side with his divine sense, "You guys take care of your own defense. The team leader can't hold on for much longer. I plan to attack with all my strength." After speaking, he glanced at the five people. Among them were Wu Shixi and Yu Yiyong from Spirit Insect Peak, and the other three should be disciples from Never-Parting Peak. These few were also smart people and had already seen that Gong Chenying was heavily burdened. They had to end this battle quickly.
"Alright, let's split up and attack with all our might. No matter what, we have to end this battle as soon as possible," Wu Shixi's scar twitched. His figure flashed out from behind Li Yan's rain screen. With a wave of his hand, several colorful centipedes flew out. He himself also patted his waist, and several black lights shot out like lightning, their shapes somewhat similar to the Mirror Shadow Scorpions.
"Regardless of whether the other five teams have the same idea, I will send a voice transmission to them and then follow immediately," Yu Yiyong said faintly, swinging the brush in his hand. Then, he took a step back, his mouth opening and closing silently.
"Alright!" The three disciples from Never-Parting Peak looked at each other. They showed no dissatisfaction with Li Yan's unilateral decision. With a sharp shout, they had already charged out from behind Li Yan's rain screen from three different directions.
Li Yan shrank his rain screen to only protect himself and also leaped forward after the wind blade he had just sent out.
From his attack to his voice transmission, and then to their decision, it sounds like a long time, but the divine sense transmission took only about half a breath. Everyone had already scattered and charged out.
About a breath after Li Yan's group charged out, the other five teams also broke their formation. At this moment, the attack power was several times greater than before. The formations of the six small teams of the Malevolent Spirit Sect were originally just temporary drills. They were fine for defense, but when it came to attacking together as a formation, they were somewhat lacking. After all, the cooperation between the six people was still for a short time. Now that they were separated, everyone displayed their strongest attack methods. For a time, the ground was filled with demonic beasts, the sky with spirit insects, and purple mist and green clouds surged.
Li Yan rushed forward. When his wind blade was two chi above the monk's head, the monk did not move, as if he hadn't seen it. His eyes were lowered, but his feet moved with the other seventeen people. By the time Li Yan's figure approached, the monk had already moved from his original position. As the Eighteen Arhats Formation rotated, a blurry lotus flower appeared above their heads. The lotus spun rapidly, emitting beams of golden light, which deflected the attacks from Li Yan's wind blade and the other cultivators' arts, causing them to dissipate.
As the monks moved, Li Yan's figure had just landed near that monk. The next moment, he had to forcefully use his spiritual energy to twist his body and disappear from his original position. When Li Yan landed, he should have been facing one monk, but as the eighteen-person formation moved rapidly, three monks were now facing Li Yan at his original position. The three monks each bent a finger and flicked it at Li Yan. Without looking at the result, they continued to move.
Li Yan felt three streams of powerful energy coming at him from behind like shadows. He dodged a few times, and in a hair's breadth, three green lights had brushed past him. One green light passed under his armpit, piercing a finger-sized hole in his dark green robe. This sect robe was a low-grade spirit artifact, and ordinary attacks couldn't harm it at all, yet it was easily pierced by a finger of powerful energy.
'The Bhadra Finger,' a unique skill of the Buddhist Arhat Hall, was indeed extremely sharp. This made Li Yan's heart turn cold.
The eighteen people appeared and disappeared like a whirlwind. Multiple people could appear at any position at any time, so that an attacker who was facing one person one moment would have to face attacks from multiple angles the next, catching them off guard.
The Buddhist arts themselves had the effect of suppressing yin and evil and resisting a certain amount of poisonous gas. Coupled with the Eighteen Arhats Formation, the swarms of Gu-insects and symbiotic spirit beasts in the sky were unable to get close for a time. But many of the poisonous mists and miasmas had taken effect. It was clear that many of the eighteen monks in the formation had already been poisoned. The formation was gradually slowing down, but relying on the suppressing effect of their Buddhist arts, they were undefeated for a short period of time.
As for the Malevolent Spirit Sect's disregard for defense, several spirit beasts were directly hit by powerful Buddhist arts. One had died, and two were injured. The sky was densely covered with insect clouds, but they couldn't attack for a time, unable to get close. On the other side, in just a dozen or so breaths, Gong Chenying and Chan Monk Zhizhong were already drenched in sweat.
If this situation continued, although the Pure Land Sect was bound to be defeated, it would take a long time. Hearing the "zi zi" sound from above getting louder and louder, both sides were anxious.
'We must break this Eighteen Arhats Formation,' Li Yan thought after two unsuccessful attacks. The biggest obstacle now was this Arhat Formation. It blocked most of the attacks, like a tortoise shell. Although there were already poisoned people among the monks inside, and their spiritual energy was about to bottom out, they could still hold on for a moment. By then, they would have dragged his own side down with them under that black shadow. Time was getting more and more pressing.