Chapter 1835: Escape

Boom!

Power swept down from the sky, crushing towards Zhang Xuan.

The five Ancient Sages had joined forces, and heaven and earth seemed to boil. The scene before them was no longer just a crack, but an abyssal blackness, like the bottom of a pot. Space shattered into dust, like grains of sand, and anyone touched by it would instantly have their soul scattered and be utterly destroyed.

Seeing this power, Ancient Sage Mo Ling's body trembled with fear, his face turning deathly pale. “Quick, run…”

These five had clearly cultivated some kind of combined attack method; otherwise, they wouldn't possess such might. If this move landed, even those at the peak of the Blood Rebirth realm might not be able to withstand it, let alone him.

He had been thinking that the Soul Oracle Guild finally had a Guild Leader, who would surely resolve the hidden dangers of the Otherworldly Demons, restore their true identities, and allow their descendants to rightfully return to the Master Teacher Continent… He never dreamed this guy would be so unreliable, about to be annihilated so soon after their reunion. What kind of situation was this!

He quickly rushed to Zhang Xuan, his soul body grabbing his hand, intending to pull him away from the attack. But Zhang Xuan shook his head, flicked his arm, and broke free from the grasp.

“Excellent!”

Just as he was wondering why, he saw the young man with a smirk on his face, looking utterly suicidal. His scalp tingled. What terrible karma had the Soul Oracles accumulated to end up with such an unreliable Guild Leader?

Frustrated to the point of exploding, he still gathered his strength and reached out again. Before he could even touch Zhang Xuan's body, the young man raised both hands and shouted, “Absorb!”

Boom!

The black energy landed where Zhang Xuan's palms were. Zhang Xuan, contrary to expectations, did not turn to dust; instead, he stood perfectly still. The combined attack of the five Ancient Sages, less than two centimeters above his head, split into five parts and surged outwards.

“This is… a formation?”

Feeling the immense power protecting the young man, Ancient Sage Mo Ling quickly looked down. He then saw that all the runes throughout the Spirit Emperor's Palace simultaneously lit up, and the entire formation activated at the same instant. Countless spiritual energies formed a pentagonal energy barrier above Zhang Xuan. The opponents' attack was precisely absorbed by this barrier, and then redirected back into the formation.

“This is… forcibly absorbing the power of the enemy's attack?”

His body trembled. Ancient Sage Mo Ling stood frozen, utterly bewildered. He knew exactly how powerful the combined attack of the five Ancient Sages was. Even if three of him joined forces, they wouldn't stand a chance. Yet, the young man before him not only blocked it, but also absorbed the power. And this… was a formation he had set up in just ten breaths? Amidst so many surrounding formations, setting up even a single one was incredibly difficult. Yet, the grand formation he established could integrate all the existing formations, unleashing an even greater power… This was beyond imagining!

“Break!”

Ignoring the Soul Oracle's astonishment, Zhang Xuan clapped his hands skyward. The pentagonal formation above immediately re-converged the power from the opponents' recent attack, transforming it into a colossal cage that flew towards the five individuals.

“This…”

“Oh no…”

The five Ancient Sages clearly hadn't anticipated their combined attack being so easily neutralized, and then turned back against them. Their faces turned pale. They joined forces again, attacking downwards.

Boom!

As their powers clashed, the five Ancient Sages simultaneously spewed blood and stumbled backward in unison. The Spirit Emperor's Palace formation was originally capable of defending against experts at the peak of the Blood Rebirth realm. Now, with Zhang Xuan's formation combined with the amplified attack, the power unleashed instantly exceeded imagination. Even their combined strength couldn't withstand it.

“Ruthless, take the Dragon Bone Divine Spear and come with me…”

Having succeeded with one strike, Zhang Xuan did not press on. Instead, he turned to face Ruthless, who was fighting Emperor Chen Ling, and called out.

At the same moment, the pentagonal formation unleashed another black light that struck down from mid-air. The black light severed the entanglement of the formation. Ruthless shimmered slightly, breaking free from Emperor Chen Ling's suppression. With another grab of his bony hand, the Dragon Bone Divine Spear and the three Ancient Sage corpses on the ground were pulled towards him.

“Let's go!”

After accomplishing all this, Zhang Xuan flicked his palm again. The pentagonal formation in the air pierced through space. Ruthless, Ancient Sage Mo Ling, and he leaped into it, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

“Quick, stop him…”

Seeing them escape, Emperor Chen Ling was furious. He turned again to the five Ancient Sages.

“You'd better first figure out how he managed to control your palace's defensive formation!”

“That formation is incredibly powerful; if we fought head-on, we'd all get injured…”

The five Ancient Sages snorted. Although they dearly wanted to acquire whatever Zhang Xuan possessed, suffering severe injuries for it would definitely not be worth it. Therefore, after being forced back by that single strike, they stopped. It wasn't that they couldn't defeat the opponent, but rather that they had reservations.

Pale with rage, Emperor Chen Ling knew that their relationship was merely an alliance, not one of subordination. It was already good enough that they had helped block the attack. Asking them to risk their lives to stop Zhang Xuan was indeed impossible. The Otherworldly Demons were inherently powerful and long-lived. Under normal circumstances, developing for tens of thousands of years, they could have easily destroyed the Master Teacher Continent. Yet, they had never succeeded, and the main reason was… every one of them was too selfish! They simply couldn't unite! Not only their three Emperors, but even the kings they summoned behaved the same way. If they were all like the Master Teachers, united in purpose and heart, they wouldn't have remained trapped here.

Of course, the most crucial factor was the lack of a supreme, irresistible Emperor who could command everyone's submission, just like Ruthless had been before. Although Emperor Chen Yong was the foremost figure among the Spirit Race in the current age, he wasn't significantly stronger than the others and lacked true deterrent power.

He took out a medicinal pill and consumed it. His complexion recovered slightly. Emperor Chen Ling then looked down at the formation below. The Spirit Emperor's Palace formation had been established by him and his ancestors through countless hours of effort and manpower. It was designed to obey only his command or that of designated individuals. How could it have obeyed that fellow's command and resisted the five Ancient Sages? And unleash even greater power…

A quick glance revealed nothing. With a flick of his finger, a drop of blood floated in the air. The key to controlling this formation lay in one's bloodline. As long as he activated his bloodline, he would surely gain complete control and successfully activate it.

As the blood appeared, the formation below indeed began to shake. Streaks of power flickered, rapidly converging towards the center. Just as he intended to seize control of this power and re-establish a formidable defense, and redeploy the Spirit Emperor's Palace defenses, the ground below shook violently. Then, an enormous sound erupted, as if to shatter his eardrums.

Boom!

A surging power erupted from the very center. The tens of thousands of years old structures of the Spirit Emperor's Palace, in an instant, suffered a massive assault. They all collapsed, turning into ashes. The formation below, beyond his control… self-destructed!