The white flute's sound transmission was like a venomous snake hissing, hissing in the ears of every Nascent Soul cultivator.
The bone banner in the black-robed old man's hand suddenly swelled, its surface covered with countless faces of wronged spirits. His sinister gaze swept towards Bai Ying's direction, and he suddenly let out a savage laugh:
"Interesting... Let this old man test this formation!"
The bone banner slammed into the ground, and countless wronged souls crawled into the array's patterns through the cracks in the earth. The blood-red array patterns instantly turned an ominous black, as if stained with ink.
Bai Ying frowned slightly, and her fingertips trembled slightly—this subtle movement did not escape Bai Di's eyes.
"Look! She's just putting on a brave face!"
Bai Di's voice was so sharp it almost cracked, "Her left hand is trembling! The array patterns are circulating at a rate three-tenths slower than three days ago! The killing array has long since disappeared; she's merely simulating it now! Don't be fooled!"
Upon hearing this, the Nascent Soul cultivators immediately began to investigate using hand seals. Sure enough, they discovered that the seemingly menacing array patterns exhibited a sluggish flow of spiritual energy.
A middle-aged cultivator dressed in purple robes suddenly summoned his natal magic weapon—an ancient bronze mirror with runes engraved on its surface.
Where the mirror light shone, the crimson array patterns slowly receded as if melting snow!
"Hahaha!" The old man in black robes laughed loudly, "It was just a bluff! That killing formation is probably useless now! The formation you're using now is just deceiving the masses!"
He suddenly pulled out the bone banner, and the vengeful spirits on the banner transformed into a black torrent that rushed towards Bai Ying. "Youngster, today I'll let you taste the pleasure of soul extraction and spirit refinement!"
Qi Haoyuan stared at the churning blood-red clouds in the sky, his hand gripping the sword, veins bulging, knuckles turning white from the force.
He abruptly turned to look at Bai Ying and quickly transmitted his voice to the Lingyin Sect cultivators present, "I've activated the mountain-protecting formation; they can't break through!"
Qi Haoyuan's gaze swept over the thirty-odd Nascent Soul experts opposite him.
The old man in black robes at the head of the group was surrounded by eerie green flames, and the vengeful spirits on the bone banner were emitting piercing screams; the purple-robed cultivator was stroking the ancient bronze mirror, and the runes flowing in the mirror seemed to be turning into sharp blades at any moment; there were also several cultivators with obscure auras, surrounded by terrifying pressure of about to break through - among these people, there were at least three or four half-step Void Refinement cultivators, whose strength far exceeded that of ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators.
Cold sweat slid down his back and into his Taoist robe.
Although Bai Ying had previously performed the feat of killing powerful beings, it was all done with the help of external forces.
Now that the formation has failed, her true cultivation level is probably only enough to contend with three Nascent Soul stage cultivators. Even with the addition of several Nascent Soul stage elders from the Lingyin Sect, she can only contend with about ten people at most.
These thirty-odd powerful individuals before us are enough to crush the entire sect into dust!
Qi Haoyuan's heart sank heavily.
I never imagined that after finally killing so many cultivators in the Void Refinement stage and the Divine Transformation stage, it still wouldn't be over.
So many Nascent Soul stage cultivators have arrived again!
Is it really fate that the Lingyin Sect is doomed?
The sound of something breaking through the air came from outside the hall. The guests who had been fawning just moments before were now fleeing in panic towards the outside of the formation.
Many people did not leave the area but watched from a distance.
"I knew Bai Ying was just a show-off; without the killing formation, she's nothing! I never imagined she'd set up a fake killing formation to trick those Nascent Soul cultivators into leaving. Now her lie has been exposed, and with so many Nascent Soul cultivators surrounding her, the entire Lingyin Sect is doomed!"
"This is truly terrifying. This is the first time I've ever seen so many Nascent Soul stage cultivators appear together. If they were to attack together, it's unimaginable who could stand against them!"
Qi Haoyuan gritted his teeth, about to activate the mountain-protecting formation, when he suddenly heard Bai Ying's cold voice boom in his mind: "Elder Qi, don't activate the mountain-protecting formation!"
"Bai Ying, now is not the time to be stubborn!"
Qi Haoyuan's voice trembled with anxiety, "You know best, the killing formation has already failed..."
"Elder Qi." Bai Ying's voice suddenly rang in his consciousness, carrying a strange rhythm, "Trust me, I can."
The sound made Qi Haoyuan freeze. Only then did he notice that Bai Ying's left hand, hanging down, was forming a strange hand seal in her sleeve, with a faint golden light flowing from her fingertips.
The earth suddenly trembled like a sieve, and strands of golden light seeped from beneath the bluestone slabs. A chain wrapped with gilded runes burst forth from the ground.
The flowing seal script was exactly the same as the killing formation that had slaughtered the three major sects three days ago, and the lightning that jumped on the surface of the runes even carried the same sulfurous smell.
The chains, like serpents raising their heads, instantly wrapped around the black-robed old man's ankle, and the arrogant grin on his face froze.
"A mere trifle..." The old man's sneer caught in his throat, and the entire sky suddenly transformed into a purple-gold furnace.
Nine bolts of lightning, each as thick as a water bucket, roared and intertwined, forming an inverted cage that completely enveloped him.
The protective aura emitted a crisp sound like shattering glass under the lightning. The old man was horrified to discover that his prized natal bone banner had lost all its function, becoming as lifeless as a dead object.
"No...this is..." The old man's pupils shrank to pinpoints, his palms withered visibly, and the veins under his skin bulged like twisted, withered vines.
The bone banner let out a mournful cry of resentment and snapped in the lightning. In an instant, the powerful cultivator at the Great Perfection of the Nascent Soul stage was drained into a hunched, dried-up corpse, and finally turned into ashes and vanished with the wind in the horrified gazes of the crowd.
The entire mountain gate fell into a deathly silence, with only the lingering power of the thunder leaving scorched grooves on the ground. Those cultivators who had been mocking and sarcastic earlier now looked worse than stray dogs; the guests who were ready to take advantage of the situation, their fingers still pointing at Bai Ying, were frozen in mid-air.
"The killing formation hasn't been broken! Run!" A Nascent Soul cultivator suddenly let out a heart-wrenching roar and turned to flee.
However, it was too late.
Bai Ying slowly raised her left hand and used this killing formation to surround all the cultivators who came for revenge within the formation!
"Didn't you all want to learn from me?" She chuckled, wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth. "Why are you leaving so soon?"
The entire venue fell into a deathly silence.
The monks who were about to flee froze in place, while the guests who had been laughing earlier stared wide-eyed, forgetting even to breathe.
As Qi Haoyuan watched Bai Ying's robes flutter in the wind, he suddenly realized that the spiritual energy fluctuations surrounding her were exactly the same as the oppressive aura he remembered when the killing formation was activated...
What's going on?
Does this mean the killing formation hasn't lost its effectiveness? Is it still usable?
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