The Grand Formation Assault Begins

"Speculating here is useless. Based on that person's cultivation, caught off guard, there should be a seventy to eighty percent chance of success. But we cannot rule out the worst case. He may have failed and been killed or captured, and this is merely a trap." The green-clad woman's lips curled as she spoke coldly.

"Then, what does Honored Master Le suggest…?" Ku Yao asked, a hint of doubt in his voice.

"Regardless of whether it is a trap or not, we are here to break the formation. We will proceed with the original plan. If we lose some personnel in the process of testing its虚实, it will be worth it. What we cannot afford right now is time. According to the latest intelligence, it will take the reinforcements from other Heavenly South powers two to three months to gather and reinforce the Nine Nations Alliance. We must clear all major cultivator formations blocking the path to Tian Tian City within one month to seize the initiative. If the reinforcements join forces with the Nine Nations Alliance cultivators, even if we can still defeat them, we will suffer heavy losses." The woman spoke unhurriedly.

"Then everything will be as Honored Master Le says." The tall, thin Dharma Warrior hesitated for a moment before agreeing.

As for Ku Yao, he cared even less about the fate of low-level Dharma Warriors and had no objections.

Seeing this, the woman nodded. Her red lips moved slightly as she transmitted a message to someone unknown.

Instantly, nearly a hundred Dharma Warriors in identical attire rushed out from the grand army. Led by a Core Formation Dharma Warrior, they slowly advanced towards the summit of Yellow Dragon Peak.

These hundred-plus Dharma Warriors transformed into black dots, gradually stepping into the area where the sea of fog had been. No unusual incidents occurred.

Thus, these individuals, each holding their magic tools, began to boldly fly towards the peak.

The journey was unimpeded. The hundred cultivators easily reached the summit, and still nothing happened. The tall, thin Dharma Warrior breathed a sigh of relief and said to the green-clad woman with a pleased expression, "It seems they really have abandoned this place. Should we let the others go in and search as well? They left in such a hurry, there must be plenty of things they couldn't take with them."

"Not so fast. Let's wait and see." The woman didn't even lift her eyelids, replying coldly.

The tall, thin Dharma Warrior was startled but did not press further.

At that moment, the hundred-plus Dharma Warriors had already begun rummaging through the half-burned pavilions and kiosks, occasionally finding good things like spirit stones and materials. Each Dharma Warrior was all smiles, unceremoniously pocketing these items for themselves.

The Dharma Warrior army was originally composed of various Moulan tribes, large and small. During battle, aside from publicly obtained goods from warehouses and mines, the rest of the spoils were naturally personal gains.

Seeing this, the Dharma Warrior army outside began to stir restlessly again.

Opportunities to gather substantial loot without a life-or-death battle were truly rare, naturally making the others eager and envious.

With such a large area of buildings, who knew how many good things were still hidden.

"Honored Master Le, what about…"

After waiting a bit longer, both the tall, thin Dharma Warrior and Ku Yao became restless. Ku Yao hesitantly opened his mouth.

Since they were the leaders of this contingent, most of these Dharma Warriors naturally came from their two tribes. The Moulan Grasslands had always been scarce in cultivation resources, so they naturally did not want the Dharma Warriors of their own tribes to miss this opportunity.

As for the hundred Dharma Warriors ahead, they belonged to a small, weak tribe. Having already gathered some loot, they should be satisfied.

The green-clad woman's expression remained unchanged, as if she hadn't heard them. But her beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, becoming somewhat hazy and distant.

Ku Yao and the other man exchanged a glance, hesitated for a moment, and then did not continue to press.

After a full quarter of an hour, the hundred-plus Dharma Warriors had only searched about a third of the summit. Finally, the woman spoke:

"Each of you send a hundred of your men to join them. Have them also destroy any residual restrictions inside. I will not allow anyone else into this mountain until I have swept the entire peak with my spiritual sense."

"Yes, everything as Honored Master Le commands." The two were overjoyed and immediately transmitted orders to their trusted disciples within the tribe.

Another two hundred Dharma Warriors surged onto the mountain peak. Naturally, another frenzy of rummaging began.

"It seems that's all of them. I can no longer sustain the spell. Activate the restriction." In a hidden corner of Yellow Dragon Mountain, the voice of the old man named Ma sounded quietly.

"Tsk, what a shame. Not a single Grand Honored Master of the Moulan fell into the trap." The sigh of the bald, sturdy man echoed, carrying a hint of regret.

But shortly after he finished speaking, a rumbling noise, growing from soft to loud, spread across the entire mountain peak. Various parts of the summit began to tremble.

At this, the three hundred Dharma Warriors searching for treasure on the peak all changed expression drastically. Without needing any command, they scattered like birds, fleeing in all directions.

Among them, the three Core Formation Dharma Warriors naturally had the fastest escape lights, shooting out several hundred feet in the blink of an eye.

But no matter how fast their escape lights were, they couldn't outrun the range of the grand formation.

Suddenly, various-colored spiritual lights flickered in the sky above the peak. The surrounding fog that had disappeared surged back, instantly rolling and billowing, turning the vast area centered on Yellow Dragon Mountain back into a sea of fog.

Seeing this, the tall, thin Dharma Warrior and Ku Yao's expressions turned extremely ugly, almost livid.

But the green-clad woman sitting atop the giant beast remained coldly indifferent, not even a flicker crossing her brow.

"It was indeed a trap. What a pity. If Fellow Daoist Gu hadn't made a move, he could have continued to lie low and play a greater role, I imagine." After watching for a while, the woman named Le uttered these merciless words.

"Honored Master Le, the people inside…" Ku Yao clenched his fists, staring at the sea of fog, flames practically shooting from his eyes.

One of the Core Formation cultivators he had sent up earlier was a very important direct descendant of his. To think he had fallen into the enemy's grand formation like this!

In his anxiety, he couldn't help but think of mounting a rescue.

"Don't waste your efforts. With the divine abilities of their Nascent Soul cultivators, dealing with a few Core Formation cultivators within a grand formation is as easy as reaching into their pockets. They have likely already been eliminated." The green-clad woman glanced at Ku Yao, speaking without a trace of emotion.

"If that is the case, then Honored Master Le, let me lead the vanguard in breaking the formation! I will release the Fire Spirit Essence and shatter this formation in one go. Then I'll grind the bones of those cultivators inside to dust!" Ku Yao's face cycled through red and green several times before he spoke with a vicious expression.

"Fire Spirit Essence? Fine. Since you have made up your mind, I will naturally have the Giant Rhinoceros Beast coordinate with you. However, you should save your Fire Spirit Essence for a critical moment. And pay extra attention to that young cultivator who eliminated Heavenly Cry. I suspect he is the same cultivator who destroyed Honored Master Mu's physical body of the Heavenly Wind Tribe. If so, his divine abilities are considerable, and he even uses that strange blue demonic flame. If you are not careful, you might fall into his trap." The woman raised an eyebrow.

"The cultivator who destroyed Honored Master Mu's physical body? I also heard he can perform the legendary Lightning Evasion Technique. Is that true?" The tall, thin Dharma Warrior's expression changed, a hint of fear flashing in his eyes.

"Honored Master Wen, your cultivation method is most vulnerable to a close-combat cultivator like him. Be extra careful. Do not engage him. Leave him to me. The 'Gentle Wind Art' I cultivate is in no way inferior to his Lightning Evasion in terms of speed. Even if his demonic flame and golden arcs are powerful, they are useless if I don't let him get close. As for his other divine abilities, he is merely an early Nascent Soul cultivator. Can he truly contend with me?" A cold light flickered in the woman's eyes as she spoke with a hint of pride.

"That's good. This man can only be dealt with by Honored Master Le. Honored Master Le is a Honored Master who once contended with the 'Tianlan Saintess' of the TuTu people. That man naturally cannot be your match." Hearing this, the tall, thin Dharma Warrior immediately felt relieved. He seemed to have great confidence in this green-clad woman.

"Hmph, the Tianlan Saintess!" The woman, whose face had been as calm as still water, immediately darkened at the mention of the Tianlan Saintess.

Hearing this cold snort, the tall, thin Dharma Warrior was startled.

He only then remembered that this Honored Master Le considered her defeat at the hands of the Tianlan Saintess a great shame. She was always extremely averse to anyone mentioning it.

"This… actually…"

The tall, thin Dharma Warrior mumbled, trying to recant, but the young woman suddenly raised her hand, her face returning to a calm expression:

"Enough. Breaking the formation is the priority. There is no need to say anything else. Deploy the grand formation for the attack!"

"Yes!" The tall, thin Dharma Warrior inwardly relaxed as he and Ku Yao answered in unison.

…

Thud!

In a pitch-black section of the sea of fog, the headless body of a Core Formation Dharma Warrior toppled to the ground.

Nearby, amidst the thick fog, a figure flickered, and Han Li appeared, enveloped in azure light. He glanced at the corpse in the distance, raised his hand, and a streak of azure light, after circling once above the body, shot back to him.

Calmly stepping forward a few paces, Han Li picked up the Dharma Warrior's storage pouch. After a quick inspection, his face showed disappointment.

Inside was merely more junk, nothing related to Spiritual Arts.

Han Li knitted his brows tightly. After a long while, he let out a long sigh.

Just then, the sound of war drums suddenly erupted from outside the sea of fog. Several astonishing waves of spiritual energy surged into the sky from the direction of the drums.

Then, a low, thunder-like beast roar shook the heavens and earth, causing the green fog within the sea of mist to churn violently on its own.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged. He coldly swept his gaze over the strangeness around him, then raised his head to look towards the direction outside the sea of fog, a contemplative look flashing in his eyes.

After a moment, a cold smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. He raised his hand, releasing a crimson fireball that turned the corpse at his feet to ashes. Then he turned and headed towards the center of the sea of fog.

In the blink of an eye, his figure vanished into the thick fog.

At the center of the sea of fog, the entire mountain peak was eerily split in two. The front half remained ruined buildings and scorched walls, while the back half presented a completely different scene, with pavilions and kiosks standing intact. Cultivators could be seen flying out from within, dispersing in all directions across the sea of fog.

The old man named Ma and the bald, sturdy man stood side-by-side dozens of feet in the air above these buildings, gazing in the direction of the Dharma Warrior army, both wearing expressions of extreme gravity.