Chapter 1531: A Single Strike Pierces Golden Armor

Li Yan had just used his soul power to probe the area. He understood that attacking this cave entrance would not trigger any rules or restrictive counterattacks; it was merely a passive defense.

As long as you didn’t touch those powers, there would be no problem.

With a flash, the large black broadsword streaked across the sky like a bolt of black silk, fiercely chopping down upon the curtain of light.

“Dong!”

A dull thud resonated directly into Li Yan’s mind.

This time, the black broadsword did not immediately shatter. Instead, dazzling rays of dark light continuously erupted from its sharp edge.

The entire body of the blade also emitted a buzzing sound.

But after holding on for only about three breaths, shocking cracks appeared on the black blade.

Then, amidst a series of cracking sounds, it shattered into countless fragments of black crystalline light that shot back towards Li Yan.

Li Yan quickly raised his arm and, with a sharp flick, swept the fragments of black crystalline light into his sleeve, where they vanished.

‘Very pure water-attribute magical power. The little fellow’s magical power is quite abundant!’

Although Elder Hao did not look back at Li Yan, the moment Li Yan summoned the black broadsword, he had sensed the depth of his magical power.

It was much stronger than that of an ordinary Initial-stage Spirit Transformation cultivator. He knew that Li Yan had only reached the Spirit Transformation realm less than a hundred years ago; to have cultivated so much magical power was already quite impressive.

But in reality, Li Yan had not used his full magical power. He had been constantly circulating the “Tidefall” art.

Although his realm-concealing techniques were useless in front of a Body Integration cultivator…

…since the elder couldn’t use his Divine Sense, as long as Li Yan didn’t unleash his full combat strength, he probably couldn’t see through to his true power at a glance.

Therefore, Li Yan did not conceal his realm, but rather did his best to hide his magical power. He had just used seventy percent of his strength. This test was enough for him to judge the strange powers at the cave entrance.

‘The powers are so mixed, not only containing metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, but also special rule-based powers like ice, electricity, and thunder.’

‘They form an overwhelming blockade, a web of slaughter that covers the sky and earth. And this is just the surface layer of power I detected at the entrance.’

‘Just these surface-level powers alone, with my current physical defense, I probably couldn’t last more than three breaths before being completely annihilated, possibly with both my body and soul wiped out.’

‘If I were to go a single foot deeper, I probably couldn’t even last half a breath. No wonder they say that even Void Refining cultivators who enter here mostly perish…’

Li Yan carefully recalled the sensations from his attack.

After cultivating the Qiongqi Purgatory Art to the seventh layer, his physical defense, which was already capable of fighting Spirit Transformation cultivators, had once again advanced by leaps and bounds.

Moreover, because of his breakthrough, the Undead Nether Phoenix Essence Blood had also become drastically stronger, whether in its recovery ability or in consolidating his physical strength.

With these two combined, Li Yan felt that he should be able to withstand a Void Refining initial-stage cultivator with his physical strength alone.

However, in the Earth-True Domain, he had none of these advantages. Soul cultivators attacked the inside, not the surface. He could only bring his advantages into play at close range.

But when soul cultivators fought, they were most wary of closing the distance with their enemies. For Li Yan to truly fight a Void Refining soul cultivator, this would not be easy to achieve.

Li Yan looked at the mountain cave before him, savoring the feeling after his attack. If those Void Refining cultivators were to use their magical treasures and defensive arts, they might be able to enter a certain distance.

But under those circumstances, the rate at which they consumed magical power would be beyond his imagination. As they went deeper into the cave, the chaotic powers behind would surely become stronger and stronger.

If one was not careful and miscalculated their magical power usage, they could easily die inside.

However, despite knowing this, anyone who knew that this was a possible passage to the outside world would try every means to think of how to get through here.

Next, Li Yan began to explore the surrounding area!

Great Master Lan, on the other hand, had been busy ever since she arrived, only occasionally whispering a few words to Elder Hao.

As for Li Yan, Great Master Lan had not said a single word to him.

From this point, one could see her obsession with the way of formations. Once she was immersed in it, her entire being would instantly be absorbed, as if she was unwilling to stop until she had conquered the challenge.

Elder Hao, seeing Li Yan leave the cave entrance and start to walk around the area, initially kept an eye on him.

He was afraid that despite Li Yan’s verbal agreement, he would ultimately succumb to the temptation of curiosity and do something out of line, which would stir up a hornet’s nest.

But after observing for a few days, he found that Li Yan was indeed following the rules and acting according to his instructions.

With that, ninety percent of his attention was focused on Great Master Lan. He was afraid that while she was studying the mountain cave, she would enter a state of self-forgetfulness.

If she then subconsciously and accidentally stepped into the mountain cave, it would be a major problem.

Great Master Lan’s attainments in formations were a manifestation of her talent. She had an unconstrained way of thinking that even Elder Hao and Elder Tang could not compare to. He had to protect her.

The days passed one by one. Great Master Lan remained tirelessly before the cave entrance, sometimes motionless for days, like an old monk in deep meditation, lost in thought.

At other times, she would come and go, constantly changing her position to investigate, and various strange magical treasures would appear beside her.

Her face also grew more haggard by the day, but her spirits remained high, showing no sign of stopping.

After exploring the surroundings and pondering for a while, Li Yan flew to Elder Hao’s side and whispered a few words. Elder Hao’s face grew grave as he gave another reminder.

After that, Li Yan submerged himself into the sea. And it wasn’t until he reappeared on the island that Elder Hao’s expression finally relaxed.

Subsequently, Li Yan did not enter the sea again, but turned his attention back to the mountain cave.

The mountain cave before him was of the utmost importance. The more he was unable to get information about the inside of the cave, the more he wanted to investigate; otherwise, he would not be at ease.

He came to the front of the mountain cave. This time, the place he chose was somewhat unique.

It was a corner at the edge of the front of the cave. If there were any attacks from within the cave, he only needed to step aside to dodge to the other side of the mountain.

It was like a large mouth; if a glob of saliva were to fly out, he could dodge to the side of its face with a single step.

At this time, Li Yan had also approached to within ten zhang of the cave entrance. He then sat down cross-legged there. Below the cave entrance where he sat, there were large rocks all around.

They obscured more than half of Li Yan’s figure. Without Divine Sense, it was really difficult to see what he was doing without finding a suitable angle.

In addition, the lights of various colors from the cave entrance shone down like a rainbow in the sky. Those lights enveloped Li Yan’s entire figure after shining on him, making his figure appear hazy.

Li Yan only moved here and then stopped moving. From time to time, he would form some hand seals and cast some small arts to test.

Occasionally, he would take out some magical treasures, and after testing them, he would stare at the cave entrance in deep thought.

At first, Elder Hao would occasionally glance over. Later, seeing that Li Yan would not affect Great Master Lan and would not cross the line to enter the mountain cave…

…and the magical treasures Li Yan took out were of various types and rather disorderly—sabers, spears, swords, fans, books, brushes, beads, and so on.

After watching for a few days, Elder Hao felt that those magical treasures were not bad, but for a Body Integration old monster like him, that was all they were.

He soon lost interest and stopped looking at Li Yan, letting him tinker in that corner again and again.

In the time that followed, Li Yan would only stop his research when it was time each month.

He would then go to the other side of the mountain and begin to activate the Power of the Cold Moon. Only after sensing Elder Tang San’s Power of the Cold Moon would he retract his soul power and inform Elder Hao.

Then, he would return to that corner again, his figure once more obscured by the large rock and enveloped in the multi-colored light. He would just peacefully continue studying his own things.

Elder Hao was also very satisfied with this.

This Li Yan was very steady in his work. Even when immersed in his own research, he did not forget his duty here. He was a junior disciple worth cultivating.

But neither he nor Great Master Lan had noticed that as time went on, each time Li Yan’s figure was enveloped by the light from the cave entrance, the speed of his various tests became slower and slower.

Moreover, the expression on Li Yan’s face began to change unpredictably…

One day, six years later, while Li Yan was still sitting cross-legged before the cave entrance, Great Master Lan’s voice suddenly appeared in his ear.

“Li Yan, leave that area and go to the light shield in the sky!”

Upon hearing this, Li Yan immediately awoke from his deep thought.

At this moment, Li Yan’s face wore a somewhat strange expression, but upon hearing the words, it instantly returned to normal.

He then glanced at the mountain cave in front of him before his figure flickered and he left the spot.

When he looked around, he saw that at a spot one zhang directly in front of the mountain cave, both Great Master Lan and Elder Hao were standing there.

Seeing him come out, Great Master Lan pointed to the sky behind her and urged him.

“Go there. We will be activating the grand formation today. Remember not to leave that light shield. It is a defensive light shield summoned by Elder Hao to prevent any accidents from happening to you!”

Li Yan looked in the direction Great Master Lan was pointing. In another direction on the side of the mountain, about a hundred li away in the sky, there was a tiny white dot of light.

It was only because the view of the sky here was unobstructed, and they were cultivators with astonishing eyesight, that they could see it. Otherwise, it would have been really difficult to make out.

“Yes!”

Li Yan said no more. His figure flashed, and he immediately flew towards that point of light.

‘Is it finally starting?’ Li Yan thought to himself. At the same time, an infinite sense of anticipation rose in his heart.

Great Master Lan had spent more than six years just to arrange this formation and confirm its placement. And this was just for setting up a formation that was already formed.

From this, one could see how seriously she took this matter, or rather, how much importance the entire sect placed on it. Such pressure was all on Great Master Lan’s shoulders.

This was not just refining a formation. A formation that could have been laid out with a wave of the hand in the past had taken more than six years, which must have consumed a great deal of Great Master Lan’s mental energy.

Li Yan saw that in Great Master Lan’s once brilliant purple eyes, there was now an endless look of fatigue. Her entire person had aged by at least ten years.

After such a long period of preparation, everything depended on today!

When Li Yan heard Great Master Lan say, “activating the grand formation today,” a shiver ran through his skin. This was also something he had been looking forward to for a long time.

Seeing that Li Yan had quickly flown away, Great Master Lan immediately turned her head and began to whisper with Elder Hao.

A dozen or so breaths later, Elder Hao’s face was extremely solemn.

“Do you want to wait a few days before activating the grand formation?”

“No need. As long as the elder helps me block the shockwave released by the grand formation and then continuously assists the attack with your magical power according to our agreement.”

“After activating the formation, if it succeeds, it succeeds. If it doesn’t, there’s nothing to be done!”

“And this formation I have set up only has one chance. All the refining materials we have will be consumed in this one strike.”

“If it fails, we can only find these materials again, summarize the experience of this failure, and refine it again!”

After hearing this, Great Master Lan shook her head.

Elder Hao fell silent for a moment and finally nodded. He did not ask her what the chances of success were.

That no longer had any meaning. They had come here to try, regardless of the process and result. Even if there was only a ten percent chance, they would try at any cost.

Thus, the two began to face the cave entrance and slowly retreated as they ascended.

At this time, Li Yan had already flown to the other side of the mountain, into the light shield a hundred li away.

He then saw that the two people in front of the cave entrance also began to retreat, but they only retreated about fifty zhang before they began to rise continuously into the high sky.

After ascending to about five hundred zhang, the two of them floated quietly there.

In almost a single breath, a terrifying power that made one’s heart palpitate suddenly erupted from Great Master Lan’s entire body.

Even though Li Yan was inside the light shield, he could feel a powerful pressure sweeping out from Great Master Lan’s body.

Then, Great Master Lan’s hands began to change continuously. Ten breaths later, a purple ball of light condensed in front of her.

The ball of light was about the size of a head. After it appeared, it shone brightly, its surface as if plated with a layer of purple crystal. On the surface of the purple crystal ball of light, Li Yan vaguely saw what seemed to be some kind of spirit beast flying around.

But before he could see clearly, the purple crystal ball of light spun once and, like a bolt of lightning, shot towards the ground at Great Master Lan’s feet.

There, where there had originally been only a pile of rubble, a red triangular pattern suddenly appeared.

Almost at the instant that the red triangular pattern appeared, the purple crystal ball of light from the sky smashed heavily onto it.

In an instant, the purple crystal ball of light was like it had smashed onto an extremely elastic catapult rope. With a “whoosh,” it bounced off the ground.

And the red triangular pattern on the ground also seemed to come alive in an instant. Like a giant starfish in the water, its three limbs suddenly contracted and wrapped around the purple crystal ball of light.

But on the ground, a white triangular formation base was left behind, continuously emitting a dazzling white light, like a pillar of light shooting straight out.

The other end of the white pillar of light was pressed against the purple crystal ball of light.

The direction in which the purple crystal ball of light bounced was precisely the cave entrance ahead. Coupled with the firm support of the white pillar of light from behind, which continuously absorbed the power within the formation and then continuously drove it, the sphere instantly expanded.

“Zheng zheng zheng…”

Amidst a series of sounds like metal piercing through hard objects, the moment the purple crystal ball of light was still in the air, sharp and pointed red long spikes shot out from its surface.

This caused the shape of the purple crystal ball of light to change drastically, becoming a purple and red spiky ball covered in sharp spikes, its appearance ferocious.

And the moment these red long spikes shot out, the entire ball of light also rapidly expanded to a hundred zhang in size. Flashing with red long spikes all over its body, it smashed directly into the center of the cave entrance.

“Boom!”

In an instant, the multi-colored light curtain that blocked the cave entrance, as well as the intertwined chaotic powers, instantly became violent.

It was as if a meteorite from outer space had been heavily smashed into a boiling pot of oil.

In an instant, the lights of various colors, as if startled, turned into sharp arrows. With the cave entrance as the center, they shot out in all directions with sharp “xiu xiu xiu…” piercing screeches.

Elder Hao in the sky had long been prepared. With a wave of his large sleeve, another white light shield appeared, protecting both him and Great Master Lan within.

Almost at the same time, an overwhelming wave of chaotic light, like a dense rain of arrows, struck the light shield.

“Boom boom boom…”

The entire world seemed to have been turned upside down!