Chapter 1486: The Astonished Tang Feng

Li Yan did not answer immediately but observed the three people in the formation again, confirming their poisoned state.

“Without the aid of the formation, although we can see them from the outside and attack from a distance, the formation will also weaken the power of our attacks, and we may not necessarily be able to break their defenses. Daoist Friend Li, you are well aware of the power of this formation. How long do you estimate it can trap them? Do we fight or not?”

When Tang Feng saw that Li Yan was still observing, he mistakenly thought that Li Yan was reluctant to part with this formation. A formation that could trap three Spirit Transformation cultivators at once was indeed very precious. But in his current state, he had no confidence in what methods could be used to kill these people. And the effect of Li Yan’s long-range attacks could also be imagined. In this situation, the best course of action was, of course, to take advantage of the fact that the enemy was not yet free, and for the two of them to leave this place quickly and flee towards the sect.

Although Tang Feng did not propose to leave, this time he had already revealed his intention: to take advantage of the time the grand formation was still active to escape quickly.

But the Li Yan who had always been very shrewd in Tang Feng’s eyes, despite his repeated hints today, seemed as if he had not understood his words.

“I estimate it can trap them for a quarter of an hour!”

Upon hearing this, Tang Feng sighed in his heart.

This Li Yan was clearly reluctant to part with this formation and still wanted to try attacking the enemies inside. After a moment of thought, he immediately said, “One to two hundred breaths of time have already passed. We will attack for half a quarter of an hour. If there is no significant effect, we can only leave this place first!”

And this time, Li Yan nodded and immediately expressed his agreement.

“Alright then, the two of us will first target one person, and then attack together…” Tang Feng immediately suggested. At this moment, although he was injured and it would reduce the power of his arts, there was definitely no time for healing. And the effect of Li Yan’s solo attack might not be very good. It was certain that the two of them would have to join forces to seriously injure one person first. Here, of course, he would be the main one.

However, to seriously injure a Late-stage Spirit Transformation master, if he were at his peak, plus a few magical treasures, he would be very confident. At present, well, he could only rely on the cover of this formation to launch a sneak attack. Only by taking them by surprise could he possibly achieve that effect.

Tang Feng also knew that because he had used his arts, he could no longer conceal his aura. Li Yan must have also seen his cultivation, but there was no time to explain now.

Li Yan’s aura rose.

“We can’t delay any longer. Let’s attack now. But it’s not the two of us joining forces, but dozens of us joining forces!”

“Yes, we can’t delay. We have to be quick! We few… dozens… dozens of people? Are there other people here?”

Hearing Li Yan agree with his suggestion, Tang Feng was about to first choose a weaker enemy based on his experience of fighting them. So, as he quickly communicated with Li Yan, he scanned the formation with his eyes, beginning to determine the positions of the three. It was only when he spoke the latter half of his sentence that he realized there was a problem with Li Yan’s words. Instantly, with a look of surprise, he looked at Li Yan…

…

Soon, when Tang Feng saw Li Yan with dozens of Golden Core cultivators and Mu Guyue’s figure, after a sweep of his soul power, his expression first went blank.

He knew that Grandmaster Lan had traded Mu Guyue to Li Yan, but what shocked him was the so-called dozens of people Li Yan had mentioned—their cultivation was too low!

Because he had fled back from the outside, and he and Li Yan had not yet had a chance to communicate, he did not know about Li Yan leading a team on a mission. Earlier, when Li Yan had said there were dozens of people, he had guessed that Li Yan was acting together with the sect’s main army outside. This had made him very happy in his heart. He had thought that Li Yan was acting as a scout, which was why he had happened to be here and had run into him. This meant that in Li Yan’s team, there might be one or two Spirit Transformation cultivators. Even if there were no Spirit Transformation cultivators, there should at least be more than ten Nascent Soul cultivators!

But when Li Yan quickly disappeared into the dense forest and returned soon after, Tang Feng just briefly sensed the people behind Li Yan, and he even began to stutter.

“Li… Daoist Friend Li, these are all… all Golden Core!”

In his subconscious, he had, of course, automatically excluded the Soul Slave.

Tang Feng felt that Li Yan was joking. With more than twenty Golden Core cultivators joining forces, it was still possible to deal with an Initial-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. Even if they were to fight at all costs, it would be somewhat useful to hold back a Mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. But this was against Spirit Transformation cultivators. With twenty-odd Golden Core cultivators, even if they stood there and let you hit them, it would be like an ant trying to shake a tree. If there were more than a hundred Golden Core cultivators joining forces here, perhaps that would be almost effective.

“We’ll start immediately. I’ll be in command. When the time comes, you all just need to attack. Remember, everyone targets one person!”

Li Yan didn’t want to explain anymore. He immediately turned his head and said to the Golden Core cultivators.

And the Golden Core cultivators were still in a fog at this time. When they were still inside the formation just now, Li Yan had not said a word and had directly swept them over. Then, when they arrived here, they saw Tang Feng who had fallen from the sky earlier, as well as the ethereal mist in the forest ahead. Li Yan had told them not to touch the mist under any circumstances.

Now, under Li Yan’s command, these Golden Core cultivators still couldn’t understand what he meant. So they stood there, like a flock of dumb-headed geese, and nodded one after another. Although they didn’t know what Li Yan wanted them to do, they would just follow the order.

Tang Feng also didn’t understand what Li Yan meant, but he was also a smart person. Seeing that Li Yan was about to start the attack and that the matter could no longer be delayed, he simply chose to remain silent and also nodded at Li Yan.

Li Yan no longer looked at them and shifted his gaze to the formation.

“You can start. The first one is that purple-robed woman. Let’s see if this method is suitable first. We’ll make an example of her!”

Li Yan’s gaze was fixed on the ethereal mist in front of him. He suddenly said such a sentence out of the blue.

Tang Feng, who had just been nodding, as well as Mu Guyue not far away and the Golden Core cultivators behind him, all looked at Li Yan in confusion. But they saw that after Li Yan had given the order, he hadn’t looked at any of them. It didn’t seem like he was giving orders to them. So as they looked at each other, they didn’t even know who Li Yan was talking to. Was he telling all of them to start?

But apart from Tang Feng who was standing on the tree, with his high vantage point, the mist in front of them was blocking their view. Where was the purple-robed woman?

And just as they were in doubt, the large tree that Tang Feng was standing on suddenly moved. He was standing on a horizontal branch. To be precise, the entire tree trunk suddenly moved, and at the same time, a voice came out.

“Yes!”

Like Mu Guyue and the Golden Core cultivators who had come later, because they were all standing on the ground, the feeling was not as strong. But Tang Feng was standing on this large tree. This was the large tree that Li Yan had brought him to stand on, so he hadn’t checked it carefully. And in his senses, this tree was no different from the trees next to it. It was just a lush expanse of branches and leaves under a huge canopy.

The sudden speech from the large tree immediately startled Tang Feng.

“What the hell!”

Tang Feng immediately was like a snake whose tail had been stepped on. He shuddered, his legs trembled, and he quickly jumped up. All of this was truly without any warning. He had even quickly summoned his protective light shield and had fled in panic…

…

At this moment, in the depths of the forest, a voice was constantly being transmitted.

“Daoist Friend Wu, Daoist Friend Wu…”

The purple-robed woman found that at this time, she was walking in a vast stone forest, with no one around. Before, she could still hear the voices of the other two, but after she had been searching, she felt as if the three of them were getting further and further apart. Under this search, she could only occasionally hear a sentence or two from Senior Brother Wu. As for the other person, she couldn’t sense him at all. This made her call out repeatedly in an attempt to find the nearby Senior Brother Wu.

“Is this an illusion formation? Or have I mistakenly entered some secret realm’s perilous land?”

The purple-robed woman walked forward cautiously.

She was a Spirit Transformation level expert. Of course, she would not be too afraid of an illusion formation. A formation could still be broken after some exploration. But for some places in the “True Earth Domain,” she was a little scared. Those possible unknown perilous lands, a Spirit Transformation cultivator entering them could really only be considered a small fish or shrimp.

She had already been here for a while, but she had not been attacked at all. This calm situation, however, made the purple-robed woman start to worry even more. Logically, if this place was an illusion formation, since she had already entered it, the other party, under normal circumstances, would not give her any time to breathe and would have to attack immediately. But from the looks of it now, this place did not seem to be an illusion formation. Then there was another possibility, which was that she and the others had mistakenly entered a perilous land. “But this doesn’t seem to be the case either. I clearly remember having been to this area before. This place should be under the joint jurisdiction of two sects. They have also established their sects here for a long time, probably for more than ten thousand years. If there was really a perilous land here, it would have been widely known long ago. But how come I have never heard of any strange things happening here?”

The purple-robed woman thought to herself as she sensed her surroundings. It was just that her sea of consciousness at this time had already been invaded by the poison. It was filled with floating Illusion Poison everywhere. Even her intelligence had become somewhat sluggish in its reaction.

“Could it be that that brat had set up an illusion formation here before? This might be a backup plan he left behind… To be so cunning to this extent, he should have already taken the opportunity to escape!”

The purple-robed woman’s eyes were filled with illusions. Having not been attacked all this time made her think more and more. Although she also realized that she had entered an illusion formation, anyone who understood formations knew that in any formation, before finding the eye or the restriction, it was best not to attack randomly. The result of that kind of attack would not only consume one’s own magical power, but without any result, it would make one’s heart become more and more chaotic, and it might even trigger a chain of attacks from the formation’s restrictions.

Especially this kind of illusion formation, you might even die at any time just by walking or flying around randomly in it. You couldn’t even tell up from down. You might think you were flying upwards, but you could actually be constantly falling towards the bottom of a deep abyss. You might even just be flying in circles close to the ground. You would be exhausted to death and still not be able to fly out.

After making a preliminary judgment, the purple-robed woman began to look for the eye of the formation. But in the eyes of outsiders, she was just circling around a few large trees. But the real situation here was not an illusion formation, so she would naturally never be able to find the so-called eye of the formation. At most, she could only find a place that looked like the eye of the formation. Every time this happened, the purple-robed woman would have to try to break it.

When she was standing at the entrance of a stone cave, which was actually the gap between two trees, the purple-robed woman carefully sensed the situation in the “stone cave.” In her senses, there was a whistling wind in the “stone cave.” So, she quietly retreated two steps, and with a flash of faint light in her hand, a purple talisman appeared. But what she didn’t notice was that just as her attention was focused on the “stone cave,” the ground under her feet, first a fine dust rolled a little, and suddenly, a gray vine broke through the ground and directly wrapped around the purple-robed woman’s two jade legs.

The purple-robed woman, who was about to use the purple talisman, her sense of life and death arose in an instant, and her heart suddenly clenched. She had already sensed the danger, but her sea of consciousness had been eroded by the Illusion Poison. At every moment, she was constantly being influenced by the surrounding environment. Her reaction, which she thought was the fastest, was not as fast as before. In addition, the timing of the attack of the vine that appeared from the ground was extremely cunning. And the cultivation of the main body of the vine was just one step away from breaking through to the Void Refining realm. This was much stronger than the purple-robed woman. By the time the purple-robed woman sensed the danger, it was already too late.

Her pair of jade legs was immediately entangled by the vine. This vine was like a poisonous snake waiting for an opportunity to devour a person, striking with one blow. And the vine itself was poisonous. The moment it entangled the purple-robed woman’s legs, it directly injected its poison into them. This poison was very difficult for cultivators of the same rank to defend against, especially here in the “True Earth Domain.” These were all a group of Soul Cultivators with weak physical bodies. The strength of the purple-robed woman’s body was at most comparable to a Late-stage Nascent Soul Dharma Cultivator from the outside world. So, her beautiful face turned pale, and she was dragged away by the vine…

…

Outside the ethereal mist, everyone except Li Yan was staring blankly at the large tree. After the old voice came from the large tree, the tree just shook and then became still again. This made everyone not know if the other party had already launched an attack, or was waiting to attack.

And Li Yan was just standing at the very front, motionless. Tang Feng, after being startled, walked to Li Yan’s side with a look of horror. Li Yan only said a few words to him simply.

“He is a Soul Slave I subdued before!”

Tang Feng had already sensed the cultivation of this tree through its brief fluctuation of magical power. It was also at the Late-stage Nascent Soul, the same as Li Yan’s cultivation. But the concealment method of this tree was definitely not to be underestimated. However, there were also reasons of timing and location here. This was originally a dense forest. A few dozen more or less trees, it was estimated that no one would care.

This time, Li Yan had still used the “Netherworld Demon Vine.” According to Li Yan’s usual personality, this kind of trump card was for saving his own life and should not be taken out. However, he had already hidden the cultivation methods of the Gui Water Immortal Sect and did not want to expose his Fragmented Poison Body. Then, the only means he had left that could be used to attack a Spirit Transformation realm expert was his body cultivation. He had already told the others that what he had set up was an illusion formation, and it was a damaged illusion formation that could not be assisted by the eye of the formation.

Then, anyone who entered would be affected. Including himself, he would also have the same performance if he entered. Then, Li Yan could not enter the formation to fight in close combat. Otherwise, it would be difficult to justify everything. The biggest problem here was that too many people had seen Tang Feng being chased by three Spirit Transformation cultivators.

Even if Li Yan had left Mu Guyue in place before, and he and the “Netherworld Demon Vine” had set up an ambush outside and had killed all three Spirit Transformation cultivators, so many people had seen him go out alone. How could he have saved Tang Feng in the end?

In terms of his own cultivation, this was against three Spirit Transformation cultivators. This was simply inexplicable and would only have the shadow of trying to cover things up.

Li Yan simply, after communicating quickly with the “Netherworld Demon Vine,” had set the final plan. It was acceptable to expose a trump card, but he still wouldn’t let people know the depth of it.

Li Yan letting the “Netherworld Demon Vine” ambush the people inside was actually what the “Netherworld Demon Vine” was best at. Thinking about how Chongyangzi had been captured by it in one blow without being under the influence of the Illusion Poison. The three Spirit Transformation cultivators here, after being separated, could also be defeated one by one. But Li Yan would not ask the “Netherworld Demon Vine” to do so. This process had to be a bit “tortuous,” that was what he wanted to see.

After more than ten breaths, Tang Feng and the others suddenly saw the still large tree begin to shake violently. The shaking was so strong that the ground shook, and the branches and leaves on the tree flew in all directions. The tree itself seemed as if it could be uprooted by some great force at any moment. Then, amidst the churning mist in front, a graceful figure appeared more than a dozen feet away. It was a woman in a purple dress. She was letting out a delicate shout, and her body was entangled with many vines. She was constantly slashing at those vines.

Those vines had already been cut into pieces and had broken off one after another. But they were still desperately and constantly growing more small vines to try and wrap around the other party again. It was just that those vines were clearly at a great disadvantage and were estimated not to be able to hold on for too long.

“Attack!”

Li Yan let out a low shout and had already quickly used “Soul-Splitting Slash!” The rest of the people, after a moment’s daze, finally came to their senses and immediately attacked one after another.

In an instant, all kinds of arts, like a heaven-and-earth-covering net, pressed down on the entangled purple-robed woman. At a distance of more than a dozen feet, so many attacks rained down like a torrential downpour.

The purple-robed woman’s body had actually already been poisoned, and her mind was in a daze. It was just that the “Netherworld Demon Vine” had deliberately not let her faint. As long as she had not fainted, she would of course continue to attack.

With so many art attacks appearing at once, a great sense of alarm arose in the purple-robed woman’s heart. She could no longer attack the “Netherworld Demon Vine” with all her strength…

…

“Stop!”

Only after more than ten breaths, under Li Yan’s command, did everyone finally stop their attacks. At this time, amidst a messy pile of vines on the ground, the purple-robed woman was already slumped over a few vines. Underneath her was a pile of withered branches and fallen leaves.

The purple-robed woman was motionless, her hands hanging limply at her sides! Her originally charming and enchanting face had long since become ferocious due to pain. Her eyes were rolled back, and her dantian position had been mangled into a large, transparent hole by Mu Guyue’s Crescent Moon Handguard Sabers.

Her defense had been broken by Tang Feng first. The purple-robed woman’s face had already turned a grayish color, which was a symptom of the complete collapse of her soul. This was the result of a Soul Cultivator’s attack. If it were a normal Dharma Cultivator, after their defense was broken, the overwhelming attacks of the Golden Core cultivators might not have been able to stop. She might have been stripped naked by now.

“She’s dead!”

Tang Feng sensed the other party’s soul. After saying this, when he looked at Li Yan again, his eyes were already flashing with a strange light.

In Li Yan’s hands, there was actually such a spirit plant type Soul Slave that was good at concealing its tracks. Although it was only at the Nascent Soul realm, when it cooperated with this illusion formation, it was truly a perfect complement.

This spirit plant had placed its main body outside the illusion formation, but had sent its branches and vines into the illusion formation. In this way, the soul slave’s sea of consciousness would not be affected too much by the illusion formation. But he could still sense everything inside the grand formation through the extended branches and vines. Li Yan had used this point to directly entangle the cultivators inside the formation. Although this spirit plant would also be seriously injured, its main body was outside, so at least it would not die immediately.

In addition, the enemy was still in the formation, but because they couldn’t see them, they could only defend passively and couldn’t break out of the encirclement. And this spirit plant was poisonous. This point, he could tell from the purple-robed woman’s reaction. This gave them the opportunity to break the other party’s defense. And the attacks of those Golden Core cultivators, in this situation, were no longer insignificant, but had also become very important.

Without defense, how long could she last under the overwhelming attack of so many of them?