"Those two guys are probably still alive..."
Li Buwei muttered to himself, his expression complex.
On the distant small hill, two Golden Branches Jade Leaves skeletons were absorbing blood. Before long, strands of flesh and blood condensed and attached themselves to the pure white bones.
"The spirit herbs are withering!"
Ji Yuan's eyes narrowed, and he said in a deep voice.
At this moment, the spirit herbs growing all over the ground were rapidly withering. All the spiritual matter and vitality fused together, turning into countless streams of spiritual light that danced across the sky, surging towards the distant hill.
Seeing this, some cultivators tried to intercept them. However, whether they used magical power to form barriers or used magical artifacts to collect them, none of it had any effect.
The heavenly streams of light seemed non-existent, easily passing through the magical power barriers. Even when collected by magical artifacts, they could still penetrate and continue to flow slowly towards the small hill in the distance.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan's mind stirred. He activated the Xuan Tian Shi Ling Pagoda in his dantian and silently devoured a few points of light.
However, even with the pagoda's spirit-devouring power, it couldn't retain these points of light. In just a few breaths, they penetrated and flew towards the distant hill with the other points of light.
"Immeasurable and Lifeless..."
A voice like a great bell resounded, and the spiritual energy in the heavens and earth suddenly became violent.
Under the rosy glow and blood light, two figures stood up simultaneously. Without any apparent movement, the points of light drifting near the hill swarmed towards them, engulfing them completely.
"Could it be they want to be resurrected?"
Seeing this, a cultivator exclaimed in surprise.
People around wanted to retort, but they opened their mouths and were speechless, because the situation before them was obvious enough.
"Hmph, since they've been dead for thousands of years, they should rest in peace. Why all this fuss?"
An old man shouted loudly, then took a step forward, traversing over twenty zhang in two or three breaths.
He arrived below the small hill, facing the dense array patterns. Then, he raised his fists and punched out as if carrying immense power!
Boom!!!
A huge roaring sound immediately echoed, reverberating within a space of about one hundred and sixty zhang!
As surging vital energy and gang qi surged, everyone felt the ground beneath their feet shake, and even the soft soil showed many cracks.
Under this punch, one layer of array patterns immediately cracked, and the entire light screen swayed precariously, seemingly about to collapse.
Seeing this, the old man raised his arms and punched out fiercely, one punch after another. Vital energy covered his body, and with every punch, powerful gang qi erupted.
In just four or five punches, one layer of array patterns shattered with a bang, and the surging fluctuations swept outwards in all directions, stirring up countless soil and stones.
With the collapse of one layer of array patterns, several cultivators of the third realm had their eyes flash, and they immediately surged forward one after another.
The eight cultivators of the third realm, who had been fighting each other fiercely moments before, now joined forces and attacked the layers of array formations that enveloped the small hill, intending to prevent their resurrection before the two Golden Branches Jade Leaves skeletons fully revived.
Under the combined attack of the eight cultivators of the third realm and one martial artist of the third realm, in just over twenty breaths, half of the array formations had collapsed, shattered by the powerful force!
Three other grand formation masters stepped forward, each displaying mysterious methods to gather the power of the collapsing formations, turning it into their own formation power.
"What do we do?"
Li Buwei subconsciously asked.
The current situation had far exceeded his expectations, and he had never encountered anything like it in his past experiences.
Hearing this, Ji Yuan couldn't help but reveal a bitter smile. Although he had encountered people who should have died thousands of years ago, appearing before him alive and well, it didn't mean he knew how to deal with the current situation.
"Be ready at any moment. If things go wrong, we'll leave here!"
After a moment of thought, he said in a low voice.
Although the area was covered by formations, Ji Yuan had observed earlier that the previously opened gap, although now closed, did not have particularly strong formation power flowing through it.
If he used all his strength, he was confident that he could use the White Jade Flying Sword to briefly open a gap there.
The reason he didn't act now was twofold: first, the situation was unclear and it was not wise to act rashly; second, any move at this moment would inevitably attract the attention of other cultivators.
Ji Yuan firmly believed that among the dozens of cultivators of the second realm, there were definitely many cultivators of the third realm lurking. He didn't want to draw too much attention and attract the gaze of these impostors.
Rumble!!!
As the two were talking, another layer of array formation was shattered. The powerful formation power came into contact with the violent magical power, immediately triggering a massive explosion!
Amidst the rolling smoke and dust, streams of spiritual light shot up into the sky, and the inadvertently stirred wind instantly dispersed the surrounding soil and stones.
Under the gaze of many cultivators, two figures slowly emerged from the dispersing smoke and dust. Countless blood vessels had grown on their bones, which were as white as jade, and a vigorous life force was contained within them.
Two seven-colored Golden Cores fell from mid-air and returned to the chests of the two Golden Branches Jade Leaves skeletons, emitting colorful rays of light.
"Immeasurable Heavenly Venerable, offer your lives, and this poor Daoist can send you to the supreme celestial realm."
A fluctuation swept across heaven and earth, turning into a voice like a demonic chant, echoing in the hearts of many cultivators.
Ji Yuan's expression immediately changed. He could feel that under this demonic chant, his state of mind was tossed by waves and almost couldn't hold on.
Fortunately, his soul light was powerful, and he had cultivated the Miao Yuan Yan Shen True Method. With just a thought, he smoothed the waves in his state of mind.
Beside him, Li Buwei, who also cultivated the Soul Refining Secret Method, although he didn't look entirely relaxed, was also unharmed and could resist the demonic chant.
However, not all cultivators could resist the invasion of the demonic chant like them.
Three cultivators in the early stage of the second realm with fragile states of mind, as soon as the demonic chant entered their ears, their eyes became glazed over. Then, they raised their hands and struck their own heart meridians!
As their bodies slowly fell backward, the blood-red patterns floating in mid-air suddenly bloomed with brilliant light.
Then, under everyone's gaze, the three corpses began to decompose strangely. Their flesh and blood turned into red light spots, drifting towards the blood-red patterns that had been floating in mid-air.
By the time the bodies of the three cultivators landed, only a pair of dull white bones remained. Their flesh and blood, magical power, and so on, had all been devoured by the blood-red patterns floating in mid-air.
"Fifty-eight Point Spirit Realm, fifteen Enlightenment Realm. Although it's not enough for us to fully revive, it can barely condense a physical body."
Another fluctuation came out, as if one of the Golden Branches Jade Leaves skeletons was whispering.
As the sound echoed in his mind, Ji Yuan's face immediately showed wariness. Fortunately, the sound had no special power.
"This is a bit tricky now."
Li Buwei sighed, a look of helplessness in his eyes.
Who could have imagined that two Golden Core Grand Cultivators, who should have died thousands of years ago, would now be revived and intend to kill all the cultivators present to facilitate their own resurrection?
"Fellow Daoists, let's join forces!"
A middle-aged man stepped out from among the cultivators. The aura of the second realm on his body suddenly surged. In just two or three breaths, it had reached the peak of the early third realm.
After his words fell, several more people stepped forward, their auras all returning to the third realm.
It was clear that these were the cultivators of the third realm who had been lurking among the cultivators. Now they had no choice but to reveal themselves.
After all, their existence had been completely seen through by the other party, so there was no possibility of hiding any longer.
Since the other party intended to use the power of living beings to complete their resurrection, they would definitely not let go of any existence of the third realm present.
The vitality contained in a cultivator of the third realm was far from comparable to that of a dozen cultivators of the second realm.
"Just a few ants, just accept your death. How dare you show anger towards me?"
The Golden Branches Jade Leaves skeleton on the right stepped forward, its voice echoing like a demonic chant.
It took a step out from the top of the small hill, walked through several layers of light screens, and stood in mid-air. Its empty eye sockets gazed down at the ground.
In an instant, the spiritual pressure that enveloped the earth suddenly increased by several tens of percent. Some cultivators with weaker cultivation bases even knelt on the ground, unable to bear the pressure, and could not maintain their standing posture.
Even with Ji Yuan's cultivation, he almost lost control of his body. If his magical power hadn't circulated in his body in time, he would have also been unable to withstand such powerful spiritual pressure like the others.
But even so, he still felt as if a small mountain was pressing down on his back.
"Under this condition, it's good if ten percent of our cultivation can be exerted!"
Li Buwei muttered with a grim expression, a layer of fine sweat already appearing on his forehead.
To withstand such pressure without being affected, perhaps even the most brutish martial artist couldn't do it, right?
"Putting on a show!"
An old man roared to the sky, his vital energy surging like a torrent, seemingly unaffected by the spiritual pressure.
He stomped heavily on the ground, and the earth beneath his feet immediately cracked. In a cloud of dust, his figure suddenly charged towards the Golden Branches Jade Leaves skeleton in mid-air.
Boom!!!
Instantly, incredibly violent gusts of wind roared in all directions, and a bloody sun appeared in the sky.
The old man's vital energy surged, and his fists, wrapped in thick gang qi, fiercely landed on the Golden Branches Jade Leaves skeleton in front of him.
The next moment, an unbelievable scene occurred. The white skeleton, which radiated immeasurable divine might and whose spiritual pressure alone was enough to suppress weaker cultivators of the second realm, was now being punched back into the formation, punch after punch!
The figure fell like a meteor, and then slammed heavily onto the top of the small hill. Even the spiritual pressure in heaven and earth seemed to have lessened a bit at this moment.
"Possessing the aura of a Golden Core Grand Cultivator, but actually only has the strength of the late third realm?"
Ji Yuan's eyes flashed, and he muttered, "No! It has the strength of the middle third realm at most!"
Although he was unfamiliar with the Enlightenment Realm, he could still judge to some extent that if the opponent had the strength of the late third realm, they would never have been knocked to the ground by an elder of the early stage with just one or two punches.
Ji Yuan was not the only one who sensed something unusual. Almost all the cultivators present saw that the two recovering Golden Core Grand Cultivators had not recovered much of their former strength.
In other words, they possessed the aura of the Golden Core realm but not the corresponding power!
For a moment, many people's gazes became fervent. Their previously desperate hearts became more active.
If the opponent only had the strength of the third realm, even if they were Golden Core Grand Cultivators in their lives, they were not unbeatable for everyone!
"Join forces!"
A middle-aged man shouted, first forcefully vibrating the magical power within his body, temporarily gaining the ability to fly.
As his voice fell, sounds flew into the sky. The fourteen cultivators of the third realm, although most of them had never met each other, and even fought fiercely before, now appeared quite coordinated.
When the third-realm martial artist from the Shanhe Gang landed, the fourteen cultivators of the third realm advanced together, and without any further ado, they each unleashed their spells. Brilliant spiritual light connected into a stream, directly engulfing the small hill below.
Crack crack crack!!
A series of strange noises sounded, accompanied by surging formation power. In just a few breaths, the remaining few layers of formations shattered one after another.
"Fellow Daoists! Work together to kill the enemy! The opportunities will be decided by each man's own ability later!"
Someone shouted, and was the first to take out his magical artifact.
The other thirteen people, some shouted in agreement, others took out their magical artifacts in silence. Almost at the same time, they activated them and struck towards the top of the small hill below.
Wrapped in surging magical power, fourteen high-quality magical artifacts descended, dragging long trails of flames.