Chapter 297: Charging into Battle

Just as Lu Ye was about to give up, a pleasant surprise suddenly arrived.

The grand formation's foundational elements changed once again. However, this time, the composition of some of these elements gave Lu Ye an extremely familiar feeling.

He understood almost instantly where this feeling came from.

The Talent Tree had many leaves bearing special spiritual patterns. Unlike those for sharpness or defense, these spiritual patterns didn't offer any direct help to Lu Ye in combat or cultivation. Instead, they resembled interlocking methods and techniques.

Lu Ye had benefited greatly from them. The rapid progress he had made in the path of spiritual patterns these past days was inseparable from these methods and techniques.

At this very moment, the elemental composition at the grand formation's node was precisely the pattern borne on one of the Talent Tree's leaves!

Without the slightest hesitation, Lu Ye immediately constructed that pattern. Based on this, more foundational elements then spread outwards in all directions.

The moment all the foundational elements were formed, a soft 'pop' sound emerged, like a bursting bubble.

As the sound resonated, the protective light barrier of the grand formation in front of Lu Ye tore open, revealing a hole about three meters in diameter.

"Go!" Lu Ye barked.

Almost the moment he spoke, Ju Jia charged out boldly. He crossed the large hole in the formation and surged into the Sunstone Mountain stronghold. Close behind him, Lu Ye also darted in.

Not until he had rushed into the formation did the nine body cultivators finally react and hurriedly follow.

The broken hole rapidly mended itself.

The protective grand formation possessed self-repairing capabilities. Unless the damage was too severe, it would quickly repair itself. For such a massive protective formation, Lu Ye's hole, only three meters in diameter, naturally wouldn't affect its foundation.

The expressions of the eighty Sunstone Mountain cultivators ahead turned to panic. They instinctively launched a series of attacks.

Moments ago, when Lu Ye was continuously trying but unable to break through the grand formation, their hearts had fluttered with anxiety, feeling tormented. But when Lu Ye actually opened a hole in the formation and charged in, they realized that the previous torment was practically bliss, because now they had to directly face the charge of ten body cultivators led by Ju Jia.

Their vital energy was boiling, and an crimson glow appeared on the surface of every body cultivator, with Ju Jia's glow being particularly intense. Attacks raining down from the front struck him with a thunderous roar; most were blocked by the vital energy surging around his body, and the few that landed on him had their power greatly diminished.

He lowered his head, holding a large shield spirit artifact in his hand. Like a mad bull, he violently crashed into the ranks of the Sunstone Mountain cultivators.

Lu Ye, close behind him, reached into his storage bag. He flicked out four streams of light, which converged into a ribbon of light, cutting through obstacles and carving a path for Ju Jia ahead.

Since returning from Xian Yuan City, Lu Ye's spiritual power had greatly increased, and his control over his own spiritual energy had reached a new level. The number of artifacts he could wield simultaneously had increased from two to four. This was not his limit, but considering that wielding more artifacts would reduce their individual power, he hadn't refined any more.

The other nine body cultivators also charged forward. With Ju Jia leading them, they formed a sharp formation, protecting Lu Ye in the center, and surged forward fiercely.

"Stop them!" a Sunstone Mountain cultivator roared. However, the effect was minimal.

Even though their numbers were eight times greater than Lu Ye's side, they found it difficult to impede the enemy's swift advance.

Ju Jia's ability to charge into battle was simply too strong. Once he initiated a charge, at the Spirit Creek Realm level, no one could stop him unless they had the ability to kill him.

On the other side, Gu Canyang and Zhou Pei, who had heard the commotion, flew into the air together. They looked towards the Sunstone Mountain stronghold, watching the team of ten body cultivators, like a torrent, violently carve a bloody path through the Sunstone Mountain ranks. Both were utterly captivated by the sight.

"They succeeded!" Gu Canyang murmured, slightly lost in thought. There had been no movement from Lu Ye's side for a long time, and he had thought this operation would end in failure. Who knew they would suddenly charge into the enemy's stronghold? Moreover, this time it wasn't just Lu Ye alone; he had brought ten burly body cultivators with him.

"What a true warrior!" Zhou Pei exclaimed, watching Ju Jia with envy, filled with admiration.

Lingyun Palace had also tried to recruit Ju Jia, but that wretched Si Ma Yang had refused. He couldn't possibly abduct someone and force them to join his sect; what kind of conduct would that be? If he did that, he couldn't guarantee their loyalty, and it might even backfire.

Fortunately, after Si Ma Yang's death, such a powerful warrior had fallen into Lu Ye's hands, which was certainly not a waste of his talent.

Breaking through the formation and charging into the Sunstone Mountain stronghold was merely the beginning; the true test was yet to come.

The breach in the grand formation had already self-repaired. In other words, Lu Ye and his group now had no retreat. Although they could show temporary bravery with Ju Jia leading, they were still at a massive numerical disadvantage. They were eleven in total, while Sunstone Mountain had over a hundred.

Therefore, if they wanted to survive, they had to seize the grand formation's jade token from Sunstone Mountain as quickly as possible, break the formation, and allow the eight hundred cultivators from both sects to charge in.

It was precisely for this reason that the group of eleven continuously charged forward, with no intention of getting entangled with the eighty cultivators.

Even though the Sunstone Mountain cultivators desperately tried to block them, they couldn't withstand the charge of such a team. In no more than ten breaths of time, the eleven, like a sharp dagger, broke through the Sunstone Mountain cultivators' battle lines. They didn't stop, continuing to rush forward.

The scattering Sunstone Mountain cultivators roared in anger, giving chase, launching numerous attacks that struck the body cultivators, making loud thudding sounds.

The defensive treasure armor and spirit artifacts they had put on beforehand provided powerful protection. But even the most excellent treasure armor and spirit artifacts couldn't withstand such continuous attacks. Flashes of light burst from the body cultivators one after another; these were signs of their treasure armor or defensive spirit artifacts being shattered.

The large shield Ju Jia was holding also became tattered. He tossed it aside.

It should be noted that this large shield spirit artifact was given to him by Lu Ye in Xian Yuan City. It was a Nine-Forbidden spirit artifact with excellent defensive capabilities. Yet, in such a short time, this Nine-Forbidden spirit artifact was almost scrapped, showing the ferocity of the enemy's offensive.

He silently took out another large shield spirit artifact from his storage bag...

When he followed Si Ma Yang before, Si Ma Yang never equipped Ju Jia with spirit artifacts to earn enough merit, as each spirit artifact was valuable. But ever since he followed Lu Ye, he could have as many spirit artifacts as he wanted.

Ju Jia typically kept four or five defensive spirit artifacts on hand in his storage bag.

Fortunately, the most dangerous moment had passed. The eleven had already pierced through the defensive line formed by the eighty Sunstone Mountain cultivators.

They continued to rush forward. However, the pursuers behind them did not give up, and it was difficult to shake them off. A few body cultivators at the rear knew that if this continued, none of them would escape. So, they steeled their hearts and turned to face the enemy.

One of them shouted, "You go first!"

A few individuals facing dozens of opponents—such courage was truly astonishing.

However, the numerical disparity was destined to be insurmountable. In just a few breaths of time, these body cultivators at the rear fell into pools of blood. This scene made both Gu Canyang and Zhou Pei, who were watching, grow red-eyed.

It should be known that these selected body cultivators were the strongest in their respective sects. Each was a rare talent; losing even one would be a huge loss. With several falling at once, how could they not feel heartbroken?

Although the enemies were eager to pursue Lu Ye and his group and didn't finish off every single one, no one knew if those body cultivators were still alive.

Using the few breaths of time bought by those body cultivators, Lu Ye and his group had already sprinted about three hundred meters. In the distance, they saw over thirty Sunstone Mountain cultivators with panicked expressions.

One of them was surrounded by the others. His face still held an expression of disbelief, as if he hadn't expected their own protective grand formation to actually be breached.

Lu Ye's gaze fixed on this person, realizing that this individual must be the Sunstone Mountain Guardian. The grand formation's jade token was in his hands.

The objective immediately became clear: seize the jade token from this person, destroy it, and the eight hundred cultivators blocked outside could then charge in.

"Stop them!" the Sunstone Mountain Guardian yelled. He saw several people led by Ju Jia charging directly towards them and knew the stronghold's survival hung by a thread. With a command, streams of light shot out from their side.

Ju Jia roared in anger. He raised his shield high, resisting the incoming attacks. The light on his shield visibly dimmed at a rapid pace, and his forward momentum slowed significantly due to immense resistance.

Their charging momentum was halted. The pursuers behind them were getting closer, and it was clear that they were about to be caught in a pincer attack.

Once the situation developed like this, Lu Ye, Ju Jia, and the others would be close to death.

Fiery red spiritual energy flowed out as wings unfurled behind Lu Ye. He shot skyward, instantly drawing everyone's attention.

The streams of light from the wielded artifacts began to change direction and attacked Lu Ye.

Lu Ye grabbed Amber, who had been crouching on his shoulder. With a flick of his wrist, he flung the foot-long, cat-like Amber forward.

Two streams of light grazed Amber's small body, drawing a spray of blood.

Demonic energy surged and earth-yellow demonic power churned as Amber's body suddenly expanded, transforming into a majestic white tiger.

Aided by the force of Lu Ye's throw, it instantly pounced to within several tens of meters of the thirty-plus Sunstone Mountain cultivators.

Amber's amber-colored tiger eyes reflected numerous figures, seemingly possessing the power to seize souls. Every cultivator who met those tiger eyes couldn't help but feel an indescribable destructive power, causing their hearts to involuntarily tremble.

"Roar!"

Amber opened its mouth, and an ear-splitting tiger roar erupted, sending a visible wave of air surging forward.

Along with the sound of the tiger's roar, it was as if an invisible great hammer had brutally struck the heads of those Sunstone Mountain cultivators, causing their minds to momentarily waver, and even a slight stinging sensation in their heads.

A long time ago, Lu Ye had discovered that Amber's roars seemed to possess some special power. However, at that time, his cultivation was low, and he couldn't discern what that power truly was, sometimes even struggling to confirm its existence.

But now, with the improvement of his cultivation and insight, he roughly understood the effect of Amber's roar.

It was a power targeting the soul.