Ten thousand miles away.
Even here, they could still feel waves of heat gently a.s.sail their senses. The grand dermon army, once a hundred thousand strong, had been reduced to around ten thousand soldiers.
As for the slow-moving blood zombies, practically all of them had perished.
Only Hanba, Houqing, and Jiangchen were able to escape the flames.
“Vermillion Bird, you’ve given us quite the present.”
Black Dragon had already retracted the spurs jutting from his body. Even so, facing his sky-supreme-level might, no one dared so much as breathe heavily.
Especially Gu Li. He didn’t know if that expert could return to the lower realms or not.
Besides, his relations.h.i.+p with Black Dragon wasn’t as harmonious as you might imagine. Amongst those present, his situation could be considered the most precarious.
From time to time, his gaze flicked towards Su Yiyun. Even now, Gu Li was actually rather curious.
What exactly could Su Yiyun do to defeat Black Dragon at the height of his power?
“That vermillion bird’s nirvana really did dramatically reduce our strength, but she and that Xuanwu Tortoise are good for good.”
Si Yiyun sat atop a wicker chair and smiled calmly. Although he faced Black Dragon, a sky supreme, he was as calm and cheerful as ever.
“Right now,” he said, “what we need to worry about is actually over there……”
As he spoke, Su Yiyun pointed at the blood-red light glowing over Dragon City.
They followed his gaze but were too far away. They couldn’t see particularly clearly. They could only dimly discern people kneeling in the sky.
Black Dragon arched his brows at Su Yiyun and asked in mild confusion, “Brother Su, that’s……”
“A Four Beasts Formation.”
As a formations grandmaster, Su Yiyun was naturally well-versed in countless formations, including, of course, the Four Beasts Formation.
“It sounds like a spiritual formation, but what sort of effect does it have?”
Black Dragon actually had a cursory understanding of spiritual formations. Although his abilities paled before Su Yiyun’s, he’d read about the effects of formations big and small in various ancient texts.
However, he had no impression of the Four Beasts Formation whatsoever.
Su Yiyun pointed at the blood-red light and chuckled, “it’s actually only reasonable that you wouldn’t have heard of it. The Four Beasts Formation is pa.s.sed down amongst the Four Sacred Beast clans. It has only ever been used once, during the Great War of G.o.ds and Demons. The Sacred Beast Clan’s Four Sacred Ancestors joined forces to create it. It has the effect of transforming the radius enclosed by the formation into an absolutely invincible s.p.a.ce.”
Black Dragon knit his brows.
An absolutely invincible s.p.a.ce?
Reaching this point had already cost the demons a great deal. If they failed to take the Beast Region, their losses would be far too serious.
“Brother Su, when you said ‘absolutely invincible……’”
“I meant absolutely invincible,” Su Yiyun interrupted him calmly. “Once this spiritual formation is activated, even if the G.o.d Emperor himself descended to the Lower Realm, not even he could break its protective barrier.”
“Then there’s absolutely no way we can let them place the formation!”
Black Dragon, overcome with impatience, knit his sharp brows. “If they succeed, doesn’t that mean we won’t be able to do anything to them at all? We’ve sacrificed too much to make it this far. I can’t bear to just allow them to turtle up right in front of me. They’re a thorn in my side; I have to pull them out!”
Flatten the Three Realms.
Even if the demon race flattened the three Sacred Lands, so long as Dragon City remained, they still wouldn’t have truly united the Three Realms.
They would become a permanent thorn in his side; their presence would make the demons worry constantly about attacks from within the barrier. More importantly, the enemy could take the initiative to attack them, but the demons couldn’t do anything against them at all.
"I……"
“What, do you want to go there now and shatter their formation?” Su Yiyun sneered, “a vermillion bird’s nirvanic stand flames in our way, refining both the land and skies. Then there’s that Xuanwu Tortoise: he transformed himself into a wall, enveloping Dragon City within. Why did they do that? They did it to ensure they had enough time to place the Four Beasts Formation. If you could endure that vermillion bird’s nirvanic flames, you wouldn’t have retreated here in the first place, right? You can"t break their formation.”
“Then am I supposed to just stand and watch them finish it?”
“What are you freaking out for?” Su Yiyun smirked, then snorted, “the vermillion bird’s nirvana really did buy them some time but it’s nowhere near enough to place a Four Beast’s Formation. It’s been pa.s.sed down for tens of thousands of generations. Even if the Sacred Beast Clans chose the clansmen with the purest bloodlines available, their bloodline purity is still less than one ten-thousandth of their Sacred Ancestors. It won’t be so easy to place that Four Beasts Formation.”
“Scree……”
“Roar……..”
“Roar……..”
“Awooo……”
The illusory Sacred Ancestors called out. The clansmen providing blood essence from the outer circle of the formation were pallid and wan, their expressions incomparably hideous.
However, the four in the inner circle weren’t any better. A non-stop stream of energy flooded into their bodies……
The energy filled their bodies. They felt as if they were on the verge of exploding.
Within Dragon City.
Fortunately, Dragon Territory was large enough that, even if everyone in the Beast Region a.s.sembled there, it wouldn’t be too crowded.
The wounded were sent for treatment. Those with light wounds or who hadn’t been injured at all were fixated on the blood-red light glowing above their heads.
Creak.
Ye Zichen gently pushed open a wooden door. Inside, a naturally elegant woman knelt before a statue of the Xuanwu Tortoises’ Sacred Ancestor, her lips moving rapidly as she prayed piously.
The instant the door opened, the kneeling woman turned in surprise…...
“You are……”
Her gaze carried a hint of confusion. A youth had entered her room but she had no recollection of ever seeing him before.
“I’m Ye Zichen,” said the youth.
“So you’re Emperor Ye!” exclaimed the woman.
Ye Zichen stood in the doorway and said solemnly, “you’re Tu Biyu’s wife, aren’t you?”
The woman nodded her head, then watched as Ye Zichen pulled a jade pendant out of his pocket and solemnly placed it into her hand.
“Brother Tu asked me to give this to you. He also wanted me to tell you….. That he loves you.”
“Why couldn’t Little Yu’er give it to me himself?” the woman clenched the jade pendant, her eyes filled with hope as she looked at Ye Zichen.
Facing her expectant gaze, Ye Zichen almost didn’t dare look her in the eyes.
“Brother Tu, Brother Tu, he…… He fell in battle.”
Thud.
The jade pendant fell onto the prayer mat. The elegant woman seemed as if she’d lost her soul, her eyes like empty holes as she stared blankly ahead.
Fwoosh.
In the blink of an eye, her lush black hair turned ash-grey.
“My condolences.”
Ye Zichen bowed deeply to her, then left the room. The instant he closed the door, he heard a heart-rending wail from within.
Crack.
Ye Zichen tightly clenched his fists. He wanted to pull out a cigarette and ease the pain, but before he could, the blood-colored glow above his head attracted his attention.
He looked up at the sky.
“Is this the Four Beasts formation they were talking about?”
As he examined the Four Beasts formation, he was shocked to see Xia Keke standing right in the middle of it.
“Keke!”
Ye ZIchen didn’t hesitate. With a roar, he rushed toward the Four Beasts Formation.