Chapter 1826: 异符

Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan stood on the Azure Lotus Throne, and the landscape below them quickly blurred.

"This isn't good, stop quickly! There might be an ambush ahead."

Wang Ruyan suddenly warned him. The Soul-Devouring Golden Cicada had given her a warning. It had also warned her when they encountered the Myriad Bone Demon. It seemed there was something similar to the Myriad Bone Demon ahead.

Before they could react, their surroundings changed. Shangguan Tianhong and the others suddenly appeared in a hazy, gray space. Chilling winds howled, the ground shook violently, and thousands of black trees burst out of the earth.

"A formation!"

Shangguan Tianhong frowned. It was not surprising for a demon stronghold to have a formation. This particular formation probably wasn't very powerful; otherwise, it would have been activated earlier to fight them. It was most likely a containment formation.

The demon race might have some hidden trump cards, but they would require a certain amount of casting time.

"Attack and break the formation! We need a quick resolution. The longer we delay, the more dangerous it becomes for us."

Shangguan Tianhong said with a stern face. True Lord Thousand Gourd had fought the demons before, but even he couldn't claim to know all of their combat methods.

Tens of thousands of black trees were uprooted, flying into the sky and coalescing into a black giant with rugged features. This giant was made of thousands of black trees, holding a black longsword covered in sharp thorns in each hand, exuding a terrifying oppressive aura.

Compared to Wang Changsheng and the others, the black giant was like an elephant to an ant; the power gap was immense.

An astonishing sword intent soared from Liu Ruyi. A blue sword ray, over a hundred zhang long, appeared above Liu Ruyi's head, emanating a world-destroying aura. As soon as the blue sword ray appeared, it illuminated the entire area, as if a ray of sunlight had emerged from the darkness.

The blue sword ray transformed into a long rainbow, piercing through the air like a vast azure sea, and struck the black giant.

Before the sword ray even reached its target, the void vibrated and warped, strong winds swept through, and the ground tore open. It seemed as if this entire realm would be shattered by the blue sword ray.

The black giant swung the black longswords in its hands, crossing them to slash at the blue sword ray.

*Boom!*

The blue sword ray struck the black longswords, leaving only a shallow cut mark.

A deafening roar echoed from high above. A massive crimson fire cloud appeared without warning, turning the entire space red, like a giant fireball suspended in the sky, radiating terrifying heat.

After a series of tremendous explosions, crimson fireballs the size of water vats rained down. They struck the ground, instantly blasting craters hundreds of zhang wide, with flames soaring skyward.

The area for hundreds of miles turned into a sea of crimson fire, with raging flames engulfing the black giant.

Shangguan Tianhong and the others unleashed their attacks. Dazzling spiritual lights flashed one after another, and various assaults surged towards the black giant. Explosions continued, and multicolored spiritual light illuminated the entire realm.

After enduring the concentrated attacks, the black giant remained completely unharmed. Shangguan Tianhong and the others were dumbfounded; even a fifth-rank demonic beast would not emerge unscathed from attacks of such intensity.

Using her Dark Phoenix Divine Eye, Wang Ruyan discovered the truth.

There were mysterious talismans at every joint of the black giant. She couldn't identify their origin.

Whenever an attack landed on the black giant, the talismans at its joints would glow brightly.

Shangguan Tianhong also detected the black giant's anomaly with the help of the Jinwu Orb. He said in a deep voice, "Attack its joints. That's its weakness."

True Lord Thousand Gourd flicked his sleeve, and a glowing green branch shot out, landing on the ground.

The branch took root and rapidly grew into a towering tree. Countless thick roots burst from the ground and entangled the black giant.

The black giant struggled violently, but to no avail. It swung its twin swords, stabbing them into the towering tree's trunk. With a powerful tug, the tree was torn in half, reverting into broken branches scattered across the ground.

Countless blue seawater surged forth from the void, forming a vast azure sea that enveloped the black giant. Trapped within the sea, the black giant, despite its immense strength, could not exert its power and naturally couldn't escape.

A blue light flashed, and a blue glow suddenly lit up in the void above, revealing a small, exquisite blue bell that emitted frightening spiritual energy fluctuations.

It was the Heaven-Piercing Spirit Treasure, the Sea-Calming Bell, the sea race's treasured artifact.

*Clang! Clang! Clang!*

A series of heavy chimes resonated, and the Sea-Calming Bell's size suddenly expanded, descending to cover its target.

With a deafening roar, the Sea-Calming Bell enveloped the black giant. Continuous heavy chimes echoed, the ground shook violently, cracks appeared, and the entire space seemed on the verge of collapse.

Jiao Lin's expression turned cold. He activated a spell, and countless blue runes lit up on the surface of the Sea-Calming Bell. Mist rose, the void vibrated and warped, and vast amounts of seawater surged forth, transforming this realm into an endless ocean.

Outside the formation, Situ Mei and five others each held a black formation disc, injecting hand seals into them.

Despite their small numbers, this was their stronghold, and they had no fear of fighting Shangguan Tianhong and the others. They had only planned to use the formation to deplete Shangguan Tianhong and his companions' spiritual power, considering the formidable strength of the Azure Lotus Immortals.

"Fairy Situ, here's a Blood-Burning Talisman for you. Use it if your spiritual power runs low; it can quickly restore it. This formation is a trapping formation designed to deplete the enemy's spiritual power. Let's slowly wear down their spiritual power. By then, they'll be like fish on a chopping board."

Ouyang Yu said, handing a talisman to Situ Mei, who thanked her and accepted it.

Among the six Nascent Soul stage demons, only Zhao Qianfeng, Zhao Shengkai, and Ouyang Yu were pure demons. The other three had advanced to demonhood by having True Demonic Qi infused into their bodies, and each of them received a blood-colored talisman.

Situ Mei said nothing aloud, but she felt uneasy. She sensed something was wrong but couldn't pinpoint what it was.

Inside the formation, Jiao Lin activated a spell, and the Sea-Calming Bell flew up. The black giant's body was covered in wounds, seemingly on the verge of disintegrating into countless wood chips.

Just then, a dazzling black light radiated from its joints, and its wounds healed at a visible rate, as if they had never existed.

The black giant struck the Sea-Calming Bell with a punch, emitting a dull thud, and the bell flew backward.

"This is impossible! Even a fifth-rank demonic beast would have its internal organs shattered by that. Even if it's formed by a formation, it shouldn't recover instantly!"

Jiao Lin frowned deeply, his face filled with disbelief.

"There are some talismans at its joints. Those talismans must be the cause. Only by destroying them can we destroy this thing."

Shangguan Tianhong explained, his gaze grim.

Not even a Heaven-Piercing Spirit Treasure could destroy the black giant, meaning the talismans at its joints were clearly not ordinary ones. It was unknown if they could be used on cultivators.

A golden light suddenly flared above the black giant's head, transforming into a golden brick that emitted terrifying spiritual energy fluctuations. It was clearly a spirit treasure.

The golden brick's size suddenly expanded, overshadowing the sky and descending from above to strike the black giant.

The black giant swung its hands, and countless black tree roots shot out, weaving together to form a colossal black hand, hundreds of zhang in size, which caught the descending golden brick.

A piercing sound of air being torn echoed as a dazzling golden axe blade cut through the air, like a massive golden moon, illuminating a large area. Wherever it passed, a sharp tearing sound emanated from the void.

With a dull thud, the colossal black hand was severed by the golden axe blade, and the enormous golden brick slammed onto the black giant's body.