"This outer formation is weak no need to bother with it. His assistant is likely still on the mountain. Don't give him a chance to come to the rescue!"
Inside the formation, Bihuazi continued transmitting orders through the divine sense. A cold, sinister demonic flame erupted around him as he summoned a war hammer forged from white bone and adorned with a burning, green-flamed human skull. Without hesitation, he charged straight for the peak of Pingyang Mountain.
With a flick of his hand, he unleashed two Tier-2 formation-breaking talismans!
Two rune-covered beams of silver light tinged faintly with blood, shot forward and struck the forest atop the mountain. In an instant, the silver light flared brightly, and the forest blurred and vanished like an illusion.
Revealed in its place were a spirit field and an elegant palace complex atop the summit.
Trailing behind him, the other demonic cultivators caught sight of the spirit field and their eyes immediately lit up with greed!
Lush Jade Cluster fruits as green and translucent as jade beads, vibrant Blood Amber flowers radiating crimson light and taking the shapes of various animals, and rows upon rows of thriving Qingxuan rice plants...
They hadn't even taken down Li Ye yet, and already the spiritual herbs mature and potent enough for pill refinement were worth a small fortune.
Seeing this, Bihuazi's earlier pain at burning through three expensive formation-breaking talismans quickly faded.
If just the spirit field had this much value, who knew how wealthy Li Ye himself might be?
As long as they could take him down, this trip to the Chidi Mountains would be more than worth it!
"Don't get distracted by the spirit field kill Li Ye first, we can sweep the rest up afterward!"
Bihuazi reminded the others, greed surging in his chest as he rushed straight toward the palace.
Ever since he inherited a demonic cultivation technique, he'd pulled off two or three ambushes like this storming someone's base, breaking their formation, and slaying them to seize their fortune.
By his calculations, with the grand array disabled by the talisman, Li Ye a mere early Foundation Establishment cultivator wouldn't dare face them head-on. Most likely, he was hiding, waiting for the talisman's effect to wear off before using the formation to fight back.
Bihuazi had no intention of giving him that chance.
But just then, a mildly amused voice rang out:
"You were careful not to damage the plants in my spirit field… Not bad. I might even let you die with a whole corpse."
Startled, Bihuazi's heart jumped. His green demonic flames exploded outward in a ring of fire that rapidly expanded through the night sky.
Any cultivator or spiritual tool that got too close would be burned, pushed back, or risk having their spiritual light disrupted and equipment tainted.
At the same time, he swiftly shifted position, dodging away in the other direction.
But all his movement did was spook himself he didn't strike anything, nor was there any incoming attack.
Then, in a split second, he realized something was very wrong the scenery around him had completely changed.
The night sky was gone. The familiar peak of Pingyang Mountain was gone. Even the palace he was about to storm had vanished.
In its place was a vast green sky streaked with glowing strands of blue-silver light. Towering trees surrounded him, forming a dense jungle that had somehow swallowed him whole.
When he turned around, he found that the other demonic cultivators who had followed him were nowhere to be seen.
He reached out with his divine sense but no matter how far he extended it, he couldn't determine where he was, or even which direction was which.
"A self-contained space… the power of void…"
Bihuazi murmured, despair beginning to rise only to be quickly replaced by disbelief.
"No! That's impossible! This must be an illusion array messing with my senses!"
He roared, green demonic flames surging wildly around him as he gripped his bone Warhammer, fully alert.
With a flick of his wrist, he summoned a white bone banner wreathed in ghostly energy. Immediately, numerous phantom skulls engulfed in green-blue flames came cackling forth, charging toward the boundless forest of massive trees surrounding him.
Boom! Boom!
The towering trees surged inward, compressing the space. Thick vines and branches as large as serpents lashed out, and an overwhelming wave of wood-element spiritual energy came crashing down like a tidal wave.
The spectral bone skulls barely had time to form before they were crushed into nothingness.
Though Bihuazi prided himself on his cultivation of demonic flames, which had refined many powerful bone-crafted artifacts and were indeed formidable…
Under the suppression of this grand formation, the flames didn't even have time to ignite properly. His attempt to set the forest ablaze was swiftly overwhelmed by the relentless tide of crushing wood energy.
Li Ye stepped casually out from the trees, appearing before him with a slightly regretful expression.
"I was just thinking... since you all delivered yourselves to my door, it would be the perfect chance to test out a few divine techniques I've spent years cultivating."
"But I didn't expect that not one of you could even last a few moments against a formation that's not even fully completed…"
By now, Bihuazi was entirely enveloped by the massive trees and the countless vines and branches that sprouted from them. Under the pressure of the grand formation, the once-roaring demonic flames dimmed almost to extinction.
"You…"
He stared at Li Ye, eyes filled with terror. "How could you possibly have such mastery over formations…?"
"You could've entered the lava palace with ease…"
A flurry of thoughts raced through Bihuazi's mind in that instant, but in the end, only desperate pleas remained.
"Don't kill me! I have a demonic inheritance I can give you… I can help you deal with the other cultivators eyeing your wealth…"
The giant trees pressed in inch by inch, about to crush him into pulp. But Li Ye suddenly slapped his forehead, as if remembering something.
"Oh right! I did say I'd leave you with a whole corpse. This method is a bit too brutal…"
He raised a finger, and a green wooden light formed at his fingertip. With precise control, it shot out like a needle, piercing Bihuazi's skull in an instant.
His eyes went blank. His head slumped to the side. All signs of life vanished.
With a wave of Li Ye's hand, the towering trees receded. A few vines wrapped around the corpse delivered it to Li Ye's feet, then swallowed it whole and dragged it deep underground.
Elsewhere, the other three demonic cultivators had already been reduced to melting flesh and collapsing bones. Swept up by the power of the void, they were drawn down beneath the ground of the Voirealm Tree Domain.
"Though I didn't get to test the effects of my secret techniques in actual combat," Li Ye murmured to himself, "this trial run of several components of the Green Vine Verdant Wood Formation turned out rather well…"
"The Blood-Melting Bone-Drying Array, supported by specific poisons and spiritual energy, is quite effective too. Even without fully activating the formation, its power is a very solid supplement…"
"Now, the only thing left to complete the formation is cultivating enough Qingluo Silvergrass…"
He carefully stored away the items the formation had delivered to him, deep in thought and quite pleased.
The formation's display of spatial manipulation instantly shifting the battlefield and isolating enemies one by one was already showing the qualities of a true Tier-3 formation.
After many days of painstaking refinement and calculations, the results were finally paying off!
"Alliance Leader!"
From outside the formation, Luo Feibai shouted anxiously, visibly worried.
Li Ye chuckled when he heard him, and casually reverted the formation into its harmless-looking woodland state. His voice echoed calmly outward:
"The intruders have been dealt with. Go reassure the others on the mountain."
What? Is it already over? All four demonic cultivators are dead?!
Luo Feibai hadn't even had time to relax before he was struck with overwhelming shock.
The alliance leader's abilities… had truly become unfathomable!
-support me on Patreon for more chapters, 360+ chapters in there
patreon.com/LordoftheReader