"It seems I can only rely on the Mountain River Seal," Zhang Fan's spiritual sense quietly communicated with the artifact spirit of the Mountain River Seal, which was nurtured in his spiritual sea.
As of now, the Mountain River Seal was the strongest trump card in his hand. Zhang Fan was well aware of the might of a high-grade spiritual treasure, but with his current strength, it was exceedingly difficult to utilize the Mountain River Seal on his own.
It was known that in the myriad domains of the starry sky, high-grade spiritual treasures were generally held by Nascent Soul Heavenly Immortals. Only geniuses like Half-Moon Immortal, who had condensed a first-class Golden Core, were qualified to possess their own high-grade spiritual treasure in the Golden Core stage.
Although Zhang Fan had successfully refined the Mountain River Seal with the cooperation of its artifact spirit, it was still too arduous for him to unleash the full power of the Mountain River Seal by himself.
"Little kitty, wake up quickly! If I fall into their hands, you'll only be able to stay on this desolate planet forever, never to leave." Zhang Fan roared in his spiritual sea, waking the artifact spirit of the Mountain River Seal.
A cute little cat, pure white like jade, its tiny spiritual body slowly stretched. Its small face showed displeasure, as if it was very unhappy about being awakened by Zhang Fan.
Sensing the several presences in the main hall, the little cat felt that its current master was too weak. Not a single cultivator had condensed a Golden Core, yet they were forcing it to use the Mountain River Seal.
It recalled that when it followed Half-Moon Immortal, the Mountain River Seal had only to appear, and Golden Core cultivators would be instantly suppressed. What a domineering presence that was!
However, the little cat dared not voice its thoughts. Although its current master was weak, he was resourceful. If it angered him and his consciousness was wiped out, it would truly be finished.
And if its master died here, falling into the hands of these natives, it might be confined to this spirit-energy-depleted planet forever, which was something it was even more unwilling to accept.
Therefore, upon hearing Zhang Fan's summons, despite its dissatisfaction, it quickly responded.
"Suppress them for me!"
Zhang Fan felt the artifact spirit awaken and quickly summoned the Mountain River Seal, tossing it into the air.
The Mountain River Seal, originally the size of a fist, instantly grew immense as Zhang Fan threw it, hovering above everyone's heads like Mount Tai bearing down.
"What is that?"
The white-robed Pope and the other arbiters stared at the scene with surprise. The jade seal suspended above their heads made them feel immense pressure.
"Suppress!"
Zhang Fan formed a peculiar golden hand seal. He cast the seal, striking the Mountain River Seal suspended in the air.
*Boom!*
The Mountain River Seal exuded an incredibly heavy pressure. Those beneath it erupted with powerful light energy, resisting the seal's might with all their might, yet they still felt unable to move an inch.
"I need to be quick!"
Having temporarily suppressed them, Zhang Fan's gaze shifted to the central mural above the cathedral's main hall. A point of white light was flickering there. Whether it was the 'Sacred Light Flower' previously cast by the Pope or the light barrier conjured by the white-robed elder now, its source was there.
According to them, it was the power of their Holy See's guardian treasure, the 'Heart of Sacred Light.' Therefore, Zhang Fan's plan was to use the Mountain River Seal to suppress them. As long as the Heart of Sacred Light was taken, the light barrier would naturally disappear.
Zhang Fan flickered and appeared before the 'Heart of Sacred Light' that was emitting silver-white light. The Heart of Sacred Light was a pure white particle the size of a date pit, its entire body like refined glaze, emitting extremely powerful fluctuations of light element.
Even with Zhang Fan's extensive knowledge, he could not immediately discern what this item, called the Heart of Sacred Light by the Holy See, truly was.
However, capable of emitting such a powerful energy barrier and even manifesting means like the Sacred Light Flower, it was surely no ordinary artifact. If he could seize it, it would surely cause the Holy See's Pope and the arbiters much heartache.
Zhang Fan grabbed the Heart of Sacred Light with one hand. To his surprise, he managed to grasp it with ease.
But when he withdrew his hand, he froze.
"I can't pull it off?"
The Heart of Sacred Light hovered less than a foot from the wall, with no visible object embedding it. Yet, despite Zhang Fan's full effort to pull it, it didn't budge even slightly.
Considering Zhang Fan's current divine body strength, he could easily pull a train of carriages.
Seeing this, the arbiters and the Holy See's Pope, who were suppressed by the Mountain River Seal, revealed mocking smiles. The white-robed Pope sneered, "This item is our Holy See's sacred artifact, how could it not have some protective measures? Master Zhang's actions are truly laughable."
"The Heart of Sacred Light is the core that suppresses numerous protective formations of our Holy See. Unless you can break the formations laid down by generations of our ancestors, you will never be able to move it even a tiny bit."
"Formations?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Fan's eyes lit up.
Perhaps it was because he hadn't seen anyone set up formations on this planet for a long time that Zhang Fan had almost thought he was the only one in this world who knew how to do so.
Although the Pill God Pavilion in the past had displayed their mountain-guarding formation, Zhang Fan had found it too crude. He could break it with a casual swipe, so he hadn't paid it much mind.
The light barrier that enveloped him within the Holy See, though powered by the Heart of Sacred Light, was actually a type of formation. As long as it was broken, this Heart of Sacred Light would be his for the taking.
"I must break it within a minute, or the suppression won't hold." Zhang Fan could sense that although the suppression power of the Mountain River Seal was immense, it was still unrealistic to suppress all five Golden Core realm cultivators.
Although Zhang Fan's current strength was not formidable, he was extremely confident in his formation skills. The formations set up by cultivators on Earth were simply beneath his notice.
To scout the range of the entire formation, Zhang Fan simultaneously unleashed his Thunderfire Divine Eye domain and his Disintegration domain, effectively blocking the probing senses of the white-robed Pope and the arbiters.
"This brat is only at the Divine Realm, yet he already possesses his own domain, and it's even more powerful than mine!"
The leading arbiter, whose realm was only a step away from the late Golden Core stage, could almost crush all early Golden Core cultivators with his domain.
However, the power of Zhang Fan's domain could directly dissipate his Light Domain. The superiority or inferiority was clear at a glance.
Without the obstruction of domains, Zhang Fan's spiritual sense could freely probe every corner of the Holy See. In almost the blink of an eye, he had discovered the formation hidden within the Holy See.
"This tiny Holy See actually knows how to set up a dual formation, quite surprising," Zhang Fan mused with a smile.
In Zhang Fan's investigation, besides the already activated light barrier, there was another killing formation hidden within, filled with a fierce aura.
Setting up a single formation was the simplest. However, to overlay two, or even multiple formations, the difficulty would increase exponentially.
With Zhang Fan's current strength, he could at most set up three formations, which showed how difficult it was to lay down multi-layered formations.
"This killing formation is not activated. It seems they were afraid of accidentally killing me, rendering their efforts in vain," Zhang Fan thought to himself.
From the beginning to the end, the white-robed Pope had never used the killing formation when fighting Zhang Fan. His primary method was restraint, aiming to capture Zhang Fan alive.
"Seven formation eyes, quite reminiscent of the Seven Stars Trapping Formation. Breaking it shouldn't be too difficult," Zhang Fan's mind raced, contemplating how to break this dual formation in the fastest manner possible.
...