Chapter 853: 500 Years of Foundations Pt.2

“Who?!”

While listening to their conversation, Shang Xia had been making his way closer with his Five Element Movement Art.

No one knew if it was because he was getting overconfident because everything went smoothly in the past, or because he was too close to the core region, but the acute senses of their Formation Grandmaster managed to catch a whiff of him.

Shang Xia’s heart sank and he grumbled silently. “Oh shit!”

Of course, as things stood, there was no way for him to leave. He could only barge in forcefully and raise countless alarms as he entered deep into the core region. He finally arrived on a triple platform that was filled with runes.

The first platform was completely filled with runes and the second contained several cultivators who seemed like Formation Masters who were busy with something. They seemed to be arranging and modifying the formation in the city in real time.

On the highest platform, 2 experts were present and they were the Martial Sages in charge of activating the formation.

One of them emitted a dense aura of corrosion as though he was some rotting piece of meat someone dug up from the ground somewhere. Right opposite him was an expert who looked to be in his thirties with wrinkles covering his forehead.

Shang Xia overheard their conversation earlier and the expert who looked to be in his thirties was the one who discovered Shang Xia.

Shang Xia’s arrival on the platform shocked both of them. With the entire Yanlin Clan resisting the outsiders with all their might using their grand formation, the Martial Sages had no idea how someone managed to appear right before them!

The wrinkled cultivator seemed to have thought of something and he pointed at Shang Xia in shock. “It’s you! You were the one who destroyed the city walls!”

The experts of the Yanlin Clan had always been extremely confused by the fact that a portion of their wall collapsed. If it hadn’t crumbled so suddenly, they might have reacted in time and prepared their defenses against the outsiders who were charging their way.

Now, everything has come to light. For someone to arrive on the platform after passing through layers of formation and the core region itself, destroying a part of the city walls should be a piece of cake.

The wrinkled expert wanted to make his move, but the cultivator who emitted a rotting aura grabbed him and yelled, “Leave!”

“He’s someone who just broke into the Martial Sage Realm...” Before the wrinkled Martial Sage could complete his sentence, he was met with another roar. A frightening aura emerged from the rotting cultivator and his Martial Souls seemed to fuse into 1 above him. He seemed to return to his peak state from whatever he was earlier.

“Twelfth Uncle...” The wrinkled cultivator knew that since the elder was awakened, he wouldn’t have much time left in the world.

However, for a grand third soul Martial Sage to sacrifice himself for a mere newbie...

Is Twelfth Uncle really unable to hold on any longer?

The thought flashed in the wrinkled cultivator's mind and turned his gaze to the newcomer. Even if the newbie Martial Sage could defy all odds and block an all-out attack from a third soul Martial Sage, he was still there! The outsider would die for sure!

As such, he was in no rush to escape. Instead, he continued to operate the formation to buy more time for those evacuating the city!

Planting his feet firmly onto the ground, he turned to stare at the outcome of the exchange between his Twelfth Uncle and the newbie.

𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

At that moment, the rotting elder also realized that the wrinkled cultivator wasn’t following his instructions. However, he couldn’t be bothered any longer. He stared at the outsider before him and understood that even though the outsider seemed like he just stepped into the Martial Sage Realm, things wouldn’t be so simple.

A chill ran down his spine the next moment as he understood that the Yanlin Clan didn’t meet its demise due to the dumb luck of those outsiders. They actually had the ability to do it!

Unfortunately, he was no longer capable of giving a reminder to the expert behind him. That was because he had to release everything in his final attack!

He only hoped that the feeling he had earlier about how the outsider possessed some sort of unfathomable strength was wrong. As long as the outsider was killed by his final strike that he had stored for the past tens of years, it would be alright! At the very least, he wanted to at least heavily injure the other party!

When his Martial Souls were forcefully fused into one, a brilliant light emerged from them as it turned into a stream of flame that passed through the void and flew at Shang Xia.

That was an attack he staked everything on!

Shang Xia knew that he couldn’t retreat easily. Otherwise, he would be suppressed by the other side. After all, their grand formation was still active and they had another expert standing by at the side! His life might even be under threat! After all, he was deep in enemy territory alone and there was no way he could receive help from the rest!

Facing the ultimate strike from a third soul Martial Sage, Shang Xia pushed his Five Element Origin to the limit. Five Element Dipper Qi that seemed partially solid rushed out from his body and with the enhancement from his Five Element Ring, they transformed into a five colored light that spun around him before rushing up to meet the stream of fire.

Watching the 2 different dipper qi clashing in the void before him, an unprecedented look of seriousness appeared on Shang Xia’s face.

He was absolutely certain that even if a single spot of flame touched him, it would burn through his body completely and deal him severe injuries.

With Shang Xia resisting it with all his might, the clash became a battle of who had more dipper qi!

Clearly, the rotting expert knew that he had lost now that things had progressed up to that point. After all, he couldn’t do anything in a battle of attrition.

“Go to hell!” The wrinkled Martial Sage determined that Shang Xia no longer had the ability to resist at the moment as he leaped at his enemy with a sinister and excited smile on his face.

The rotting expert closed his eyes in pain as he couldn’t move a muscle.

Idiot! Why didn’t you run?!

The final bit of vitality left his body as the only thing left in it was a trace of his divine will.

Shang Xia, who just obtained the upper hand, frowned lightly and tapped the Five Element Ring before him lightly.

Buzz...

Amidst a brilliant burst of light, the illusory Reversal Five Element Ring emerged from the weapon. It stopped the sneak attack before wrapping around the Martial Sage, trapping him on the platform!

“No... Twelfth Uncle, save me!” The wrinkled cultivator didn’t expect himself to be so useless against his opponent and he was suppressed in a single move. He couldn’t help but scream for help.

Unfortunately, all he heard was a sigh that contained nothing but despair.

Under his gaze, his Twelfth Uncle who was comparable to a real expert among the outsiders who invaded them, turned into a pile of ash. He dissipated into the wind along with the phenomenon of his energy returning to the world.

“Twelfth Uncle...” He stared at the ash flying in the wind and forgot to struggle for a single second.

Shang Xia sighed softly as a show of respect for the man who gave himself up for the sake of his clan.

As for the wrinkled cultivator, Shang Xia merely shot him a glance before realizing that he wouldn’t be able to break free. He then turned his gaze towards the second platform.

With his powerful divine will arriving, anyone not in the Fourth Order of the Primary Realm couldn’t put up the slightest resistance as they were pressed firmly into the ground. Those Formation Grandmasters who reached the Fourth Order might be able to resist, but they didn’t dare to make any rash moves.

A good portion of them were Formation Grandmasters the Yanlin Clan nurtured, and Shang Xia didn’t want to carry out a wanton massacre. After all, after they took control of the Yanlin Holy Land, they would need to remain in the city for some time. When that happened, those Formation Grandmasters might come into play.

To prevent any accidents from happening, Shang Xia sealed the dantians of those Martial Ancestors before sending those weaker into a comatose state.

The second Shang Xia attacked the core region, the grand formation around the city started to weaken and the experts of the Yanlin Clan fell into disarray.

Those in the Azure Ascension World who joined the all-out battle in the city were mostly Martial Dipper Realm experts, and they were greatly restrained by many factors. They weren’t willing to go all out and kill anyone they saw and were merely pushing the experts of the Yanlin Clan back the best they could. Because of their restraint, they only managed to occupy a third of the city.

Now that the grand formation was no longer active, the first to react weren’t the experts of the Yanlin Clan. Instead, it was the experts of the Azure Ascension World.

One of them released their divine will in an unrestrained manner and no one under the Martial Ancestor Realm would be able to resist its power. Even Martial Ancestors would find it hard to fight back and any cultivator who had half a brain from the Yanlin Clan started to make their escape.

The main goal of the experts of the Azure Ascension World was only focused on preserving the grand formation at that point and they really didn’t care about those escaping.

It was then that Yanlin Zongheng decided to run after no longer receiving the buff from the grand formation.

In order to occupy the city, the experts of the Azure Ascension World might be willing to let Yanlin Zongheng leave. However, that was if he tried to run at the very start. With victory in their hands, Kou Chongxue and the others wouldn’t let a peak-tier existence at that level leave easily.