Chapter 1281: Formation to Destroy the Enemy

Some cultivators, wary of venturing deep into the Sea of Ten Thousand Ghosts, deliberately waited on its periphery to ambush those emerging from its depths. Had Ye Haitang not detected their presence in advance, she might have already perished.

The red-robed man held a shimmering red banner. With a gentle flick, a large expanse of crimson flames materialized, transforming into dozens of fist-sized fireballs.

"Go!"

He pointed the tip of his red banner at Ye Haitang, and dozens of crimson fireballs shot directly towards her. The black seawater churned violently, and hundreds of black water arrows flew out, poised to riddle Ye Haitang with holes. Two continuously shimmering blue flying knives approached from both sides, cutting off Ye Haitang's retreat. The three of them coordinated skillfully, clearly not their first time engaging in such acts.

Ye Haitang reacted swiftly. A surge of dark energy erupted from her body, enveloping her entirely and transforming her into a dark cloud, which then flew back the way it came. The dense black water arrows plunged into the dark cloud, producing muffled clanging sounds as if striking an impenetrable barrier. The dark cloud moved with extreme speed; the crimson fireballs missed their target, striking the black seawater and erupting into dozens of waves over ten zhang high. Ye Haitang had already fled far away before the two blue flying knives could even reach her.

"Chase her! Don't let her escape!"

The red-robed man released a crimson giant eagle about a zhang in size, jumped onto it, and the other two followed. The crimson giant eagle let out a sharp cry, spread its wings, and gave chase.

Ye Haitang's escape speed was very fast; the crimson giant eagle, being only a low-grade third-tier beast, could not catch up to her at all.

Two days later, they appeared above a desolate island over a thousand li in size. The island was barren, devoid of vegetation, featuring dozens of low hills. Its terrain was higher in the south and lower in the north, with a large black lake at its center.

Ye Haitang suddenly stopped. The sound of wailing ghosts grew loud, and chilly winds swept through.

"Damn it, an ambush! Retreat quickly!"

The red-robed man's expression changed slightly as he inwardly cursed their bad luck.

"Still trying to leave now? It's too late. All of you will stay!" Ye Haitang said coldly as a gust of dark wind blew, disheveling her hair. Dressed in a black gown, with her beautiful hair dancing in the wind, Ye Haitang's indifferent expression gave her the aura of an ice queen.

This place was only a hundred li from the Zhenhai Sect ruins, and she had set up formations on multiple islands, primarily to prevent cultivators from discovering the ruins. Since achieving the Core Formation stage, her combat experience was relatively limited. She had trained for a period in the Illusionary Demon Pagoda, but demonic beasts were essentially mindless creatures, incomparable to cultivators. Capitalizing on her strengths while avoiding weaknesses, her forte was setting up and breaking formations.

The crimson giant eagle flapped its wings violently, circled once, and flew back the way it came at an even faster speed. Dark winds rose from all directions, accompanied by the eerie wailing of ghosts. More than half of the island was enveloped by a black light barrier as skeletal corpses emerged from underground and from the lake. Each had a cluster of green flames in its eye sockets and a black lotus mark on its brow; all were skeletal corpses subjugated by Ye Haitang.

The skeletal corpses subjugated by Ye Haitang were at least at the Foundation Establishment stage, forming the backbone of an army she organized. Low-level ghostly creatures lacked sentience, knowing only to obey the commands of higher-level ghostly creatures. A single Foundation Establishment stage skeletal corpse could command hundreds of Qi Refining stage skeletal corpses.

The chilling winds blew constantly, accompanied by incessant, mournful wailing in their ears, causing the three cultivators, including the red-robed man, to feel agitated. They couldn't help but realize they were trapped by a formation. He couldn't understand: the opponent had been fleeing all this time, so when had she set up the formation? Could it be that she had been living here all along? He quickly dismissed this guess. With so many ghostly creatures deep within the Sea of Ten Thousand Ghosts, who would live here? Even a ghost cultivator wouldn't reside here! Unable to figure it out, he stopped pondering. The immediate priority was to leave this place quickly.

Hissing sounds of tearing air resounded as dense grey wind blades shot from all directions, and black stones were swept up by the strong winds, hurtling towards them. They quickly summoned their magic treasures to defend. For a moment, explosions reverberated continuously, sparks flew, and dust filled the air.

The dark winds intensified as skeletal corpses pieced themselves together, forming a giant skeleton over ten zhang tall, holding two bone swords, each two zhang long, in its hands, charging towards the red-robed man and his two companions.

In a hidden corner, Ye Haitang was concealed by a cloud of black mist. Even if the three Core Formation cultivators used their divine sense to investigate, they would not discover her presence. The Core Formation cultivators were trapped by her formation. If they could still escape, Ye Haitang would write her name backwards.

Ye Haitang summoned two metal spheres, which transformed into a three-zhang crimson giant eagle and a giant golden ape over ten zhang tall. These were two low-grade third-tier puppet beasts. The crimson giant eagle flapped its wings fiercely, pouncing towards the red-robed man and his two companions. The giant golden ape pounded its chest and charged forward.

The three cultivators, including the red-robed man, were drenched in sweat. They discovered in terror that they had seemingly kicked an iron plate. They were already struggling to deal with the formation's attacks, and with the harassment from the two third-tier puppet beasts, they became flustered.

"Fellow Daoist Shen, quickly think of a solution!" a graceful young woman in a green skirt urged, her expression panicked. "If we don't, we might all be trapped here."

The red-robed man took a deep breath. With a flip of his hand, a red light flashed, and a red wooden box about a foot long appeared. He opened it and took out a golden talisman of similar length. Golden arcs of lightning emerged from its surface, emitting a wild aura.

This was a fourth-tier Golden Thunder Demon Extermination Talisman, which the red-robed man treasured as his life. He had possessed it for over thirty years, always reluctant to use it. Now that they were trapped by the formation and unable to break free, they could only use this fourth-tier talisman to tear open an escape route.

Before the red-robed man could activate the talisman, a ripple flashed in the void above him, and a black ghostly claw, over ten zhang in size, materialized out of thin air, slamming down towards his crown. With a muffled thud, the black ghostly claw was blocked by the red-robed man's protective spiritual light. He rapidly plummeted towards the ground. Before he could land, loud ghostly wails erupted, and a bone whip surrounded by black light flew in, quickly coiling around his body. The end of the bone whip transformed into a massive skull, which opened its gaping maw, exhaling a stream of black ghostly fire that struck his protective spiritual light while simultaneously biting towards him.

A scream pierced the air, and the red-robed man ceased to react. His head was bitten off by the massive skull, blood gushing several feet high—a gruesome scene. The Golden Thunder Demon Extermination Talisman fluttered down as the dark winds surged, carrying the talisman towards Ye Haitang.

Witnessing this scene, the other two Core Formation cultivators were scared out of their wits, fleeing in different directions. Before they could fly far, a mighty roar of thunder echoed from high above, and a black thundercloud spanning a hundred li materialized in the sky. Dozens of thick silver lightning bolts shot from within the black thundercloud, striking down at the two cultivators.

This was the Thousand Thunder Demon Extermination Formation. Ye Haitang had forged a set of lightning-attribute formations using thunder apricot spiritual wood, possessing immense power. Naturally, she wasn't skilled in artifact refining, so she had asked Wang Qingqing for help.

As thick silver lightning bolts struck down one after another, the two Core Formation cultivators also failed to escape. In less than ten breaths, their bodies were pierced through by the dense silver lightning.

Ye Haitang summoning the third-tier puppet beasts was merely to interfere with their movements; her true killing move was the formation.

After eliminating the three Core Formation cultivators, Ye Haitang dismantled the formation, collected the valuables from their bodies, burned their corpses, and transformed into a black cloud, flying away.

A gust of dark wind blew, scattering Ye Haitang's hair. Her gaze was incredibly firm; this was her first time using a formation to kill other cultivators. This battle today held significant meaning for her.