Chapter 1735: Collaterals Caught in the Crossfire

Zhao Hao knew this was no small matter. Once banished to an unknown void, even with his cultivation, he would merely be waiting for death. Thus, he attacked without reservation.

He transformed into a gigantic golden-armored divine general. The Buddha conjured earlier by Master Jianhuang had been enormous, but compared to this golden-armored divine general, it was like an infant.

Such a massive sight could not be concealed even by the mountain-protecting formation. Upon seeing it, the civil and military officials on the mountainside became visibly agitated, all kneeling and shouting, "Long live His Majesty!"

Officials loyal to the Qi King, witnessing such a divine spectacle, turned pale one by one.

Although the Qi King had not revealed the full plan, intelligent individuals could vaguely guess its nature. With the Emperor demonstrating such formidable power, wasn't the Qi King's cause destined for failure?

If officials on the mountainside, from such a distance, involuntarily knelt and trembled, imagine the state of those on the Golden Summit.

Fortunately, the Grand Sacrificer's great formation provided a barrier, allowing Yun Jianyue and the other women to barely maintain their composure. Still, an involuntary spiritual tremor ran through them; they felt so infinitesimally small, having previously entertained the notion of challenging such power.

Zu'an, too, felt a profound sense of megalophobia, sensing his Dao heart becoming somewhat unstable.

He quickly glanced down at his waist, and only then did he gradually calm himself.

The power of Zhao Hao's full-force strike was astounding; as his fist swept past, a faint black rift appeared in the azure sky—a tear in space caused by the sheer force of his punch!

His full-power punch was incredibly swift, almost instantaneously slamming into the surrounding great formation.

The originally transparent great formation instantly blazed with blue light, followed by sounds like shattering glass. A hole appeared precisely where the formation met his fist.

The Grand Sacrificer's expression shifted; his entire body transformed into a white illusory figure, rushing directly forward to block Zhao Hao, who was on the verge of breaking through the formation, forcing him back.

He then used his body to block the breach, employing all his abilities to repair the great formation.

While Zhao Hao was widely recognized as the world's foremost master, when it came to sheer breadth of knowledge and skill, the Grand Sacrificer was unrivaled.

This was evident from his numerous direct disciples, each specializing in vastly different fields. Some even lamented that if the Grand Sacrificer had not divided his focus across so many disciplines and instead concentrated solely on cultivation, his achievements might have even surpassed Zhao Hao's.

Therefore, he now applied all his lifelong learning, forcefully maintaining the great formation.

Almost simultaneously, bright formation patterns began to emerge on the ground at the center of the great formation, followed by the appearance of a vortex.

Initially, the vortex was small, but it rapidly expanded.

Subsequently, the entire space within the great formation began to collapse; all structures, trees, sand, and stones within it—everything—began to fall into the vortex.

"Get out of the way!" Zhao Hao roared repeatedly, attempting to escape through the breach he had just created.

With his level of cultivation, such a vortex should ordinarily have been unable to affect him. However, the Grand Sacrificer had planned this for years, and this time, the formidable great formation was powered by the earth veins of countless peaks across the entire Purple Mountain, designed to transport the entire space into the void.

Even he couldn't help but panic. At this moment, he was unable to unleash another full-force strike like before, so his only hope was to escape through the breach he had just created.

Unfortunately, the Grand Sacrificer remained steadfastly guarding the spot, having also activated a spell-breaking skill that prevented Zhao Hao from traversing space through that opening.

He attempted to repel the Grand Sacrificer, but while the latter's cultivation was indeed weaker, it wasn't significantly so, making it impossible to determine a victor in a short confrontation.

The great formation also activated rapidly. From the moment the vortex appeared, only a few breaths passed before the entire space began to collapse like a sphere, accelerating rapidly until even Zhao Hao could not resist being pulled inward.

"Stabilize!" At this moment, Zhao Hao no longer focused on battling the Grand Sacrificer. Instead, he channeled all his cultivation, his entire body glowing with brilliant golden light. Illusory figures of various strange and rare beasts appeared around him, clearly conjured manifestations of his diverse cultivation techniques and skills.

This was still insufficient. He then summoned the Human Emperor Seal, placing it above his head. The Seal radiated waves of divine artifact light, enveloping him and finally stabilizing his form.

Zhao Hao let out a hearty laugh, declaring, "This great formation is nothing special!"

He felt greatly reassured, believing that if he could just hold on for a while, the vortex would naturally dissipate, and then he could deal with his opponent at his leisure.

On the other side, Zu'an, who had been feeling the terror of the vortex and preparing to lead the women away to avoid its direct impact, had an idea upon witnessing this scene. At this moment, if he could just strike down the Human Emperor Seal, Zhao Hao, relying solely on his own power, would be unable to resist the vortex.

Just as he was about to draw the Tai'a Sword, the Grand Sacrificer raised his hand. From his wide sleeve, a scroll unfurled, slowly revealing the faint outline of a supremely beautiful woman's back.

Zu'an's heart stirred. This appeared to be the painting from the Grand Sacrificer's bedroom, which he had previously dismissed as unremarkable, thinking it was merely a memento of a past lover. Could it possibly be a divine artifact?

The scroll unfurled and quickly wrapped itself around the Human Emperor Seal, encasing it. In that very instant, the divine aura of the Human Emperor Seal briefly disappeared.

However, in that same instant, the scroll burst into flames, turning to dust almost in the blink of an eye.

Clearly, it was not a divine-tier artifact and could not withstand the power of a true divine weapon.

A trace of sorrow and grief appeared on the Grand Sacrificer's face as he gazed at the scattered dust, momentarily lost in thought.

Yet, even isolating the Human Emperor Seal for just an instant was enough. Without the Seal's protection, Zhao Hao could no longer resist the collapsing space; he lost his balance and fell directly into the vortex.

The vortex's terrifying suction, if not for the magical formation restraining it, would likely have been strong enough to draw in the entire Purple Mountain. Within its grasp, Zhao Hao lost his balance, and it became impossible for him to regain his footing.

Just as he was about to be completely consumed by the vortex, Zhao Hao suddenly extended his arm to an incredible length, directly grabbing the Grand Sacrificer's shoulder.

Zhao Hao's expression was distorted and desperate, like a drowning man clutching a straw, refusing to let go.

However, the Grand Sacrificer's stability far surpassed that of a mere straw; with his cultivation, maintaining his balance was no issue. He merely needed to hold on a little longer until the vortex naturally dissipated.

To his surprise, the Grand Sacrificer sighed softly at that moment and said, "Does Your Majesty truly believe that at this juncture, I would still cling to my life?"

With that, he tapped his toe, ceased resisting, and instead plunged himself into the great formation.

"No!" Zhao Hao exclaimed. Struck by the Grand Sacrificer, he could no longer hold on and almost instantly tumbled into the vortex alongside him.

He clearly struggled a few times within, a testament to his profound cultivation that allowed him to still flail even within the vortex.

Ultimately, however, he could not resist and finally vanished completely into the vortex.

Concurrently, without the Grand Sacrificer's protection, a powerful suction force emanated from the breach in the great formation.

Guan Chouhai, Xuan Bajing, Li Changsheng, and others, along with some remaining corpses on the scene, were instantly sucked in.

Zu'an's expression changed. He quickly took the women and flew outward, shouting, "Quick, let's go!"

Everything happened too quickly. One moment he was considering striking down the Human Emperor Seal to seal Zhao Hao's fate, and the next, this critical situation had unfolded.

The other women, also recognizing the grave danger, swiftly employed their fastest movement techniques to flee.

Unfortunately, if even Zhao Hao couldn't resist the suction of the collapsing space, how could they possibly hope to?

Xie Daoyun, possessing the lowest cultivation, was the first to falter, crying out as she stumbled backward, drawn towards the vortex by the powerful suction.

Zu'an's heart sank at the sight. Without a moment's hesitation, he used his Great Wind Teleportation to appear beside her, just as he was about to pull her back. However, another cry of alarm rang out; it was Qiu Honglei, who had also lost her balance and was rapidly being pulled backward.

Yun Jianyue's expression drastically changed; she tried to grab hold of Qiu Honglei but only clutched at empty air.

Seeing Qiu Honglei on the verge of being pulled into the vortex, Zu'an swiftly pushed Xie Daoyun in his arms outward with a palm. Simultaneously, he used the recoil force to rapidly reach the vortex's edge and seize Qiu Honglei's hand.