After the conditions were settled, True Monarch Tian Hua, along with True Monarch Jiu Jian and others, stepped into the illusion array. As soon as they entered, the ice and snow world they saw before vanished, replaced by a vast and desolate desert.
The desert stretched endlessly, with an exceptionally high temperature. Even though everyone present was a cultivator at the Golden Core stage, they still felt an unbearable heat, as if they were in a furnace.
"Hiss!"
A purple fox leaped out from beneath the desert ground, emitting a sharp cry that caused dizziness.
The purple fox was incredibly fast. It shot towards a third-grade Golden Core cultivator, and before he could react, it bit his arm.
"It's a Purple Spirit Fox!"
The third-grade Golden Core cultivator was instantly alarmed. Purple Spirit Foxes were highly venomous. A bite from one, even for a Golden Core cultivator, was unbearable once the poison erupted.
Thinking of this, his consciousness began to blur. The wound on his arm rapidly worsened. The poison made him gradually lose his sanity, and he quickly drew a long saber, severing his own arm.
The other Golden Core cultivators were startled by this scene. In their eyes, the third-grade Golden Core cultivator had suddenly gone mad without any warning and had abruptly drawn his saber to chop off his own arm.
"Idiot!"
Dao Zun cursed inwardly upon seeing this. Such willpower was precisely why he could only cultivate a third-grade Golden Core.
"Fellow Daoists, do not panic. Everything you see and feel here is an illusion," True Monarch Tian Hua reminded them.
"If that's the case, then is the blood flowing from my severed arm also fake? It felt so real, I could feel my blood constantly draining." the cultivator who had severed his arm said excitedly.
"Yours is real!"
True Monarch Tian Hua said calmly.
...
"Three zhang ahead, there is a formation disk."
"One zhang to the left, there is a formation disk."
"Five zhang to the right, there is a formation disk."
True Monarch Tian Hua continued to direct, and people stood in their positions according to his commands.
"There are a total of seventy-two formation disks in this array. To save time, I will arrange seventy-two Daoists to stand at the seventy-two formation disk locations and simultaneously uproot this illusion array's formation disks."
True Monarch Tian Hua arranged them one by one. It took a full three days to identify the locations of all seventy-two formation disks. During these three days, four third-grade Golden Core cultivators had already died in the illusion array.
Two third-grade Golden Core cultivators had died fighting each other due to hallucinations, and the other two had died from excessive fright, killing themselves.
The crowd present was not surprised by this. After all, this was a high-grade Earth-tier illusion array. Before True Monarch Tian Hua led the way, even more people had died.
"Act!"
After True Monarch Tian Hua made his arrangements, he gave the order. Seventy-two Golden Core cultivators simultaneously unleashed their powerful spells, bombarding the formation disk locations.
With seventy-two formation disks attacked at the same time, the entire Di Sha Illusion Fox Great Array began to shake precariously. The once desolate desert world started to collapse piece by piece...
Boom!
A deep, resonant explosion, like the world shattering, followed by a wave of chilling coldness, made the many Golden Core cultivators feel the icy chill and become incredibly excited.
"It's broken!"
"True Monarch Tian Hua is indeed True Monarch Tian Hua, I am impressed!"
"Haha, once the illusion array is broken, what else can stop us?"
As joy filled their hearts, the crowd also felt a sense of relief. Being trapped in an illusion array was truly unbearable. Most of their clothes were soaked with sweat. Now, to inhale the cold, snowy air was truly invigorating.
"It's finally broken!"
Xue Jing, who was inside the formation, clearly felt that the outer illusion array had been breached. Now, only this Tian Gang Snow Ape Array remained to guard it.
The Tian Gang Snow Ape Array was a grand offensive formation created by Zhang Fan using thirty-six formation disks, absorbing ice and snow energy to condense thirty-six colossal snow apes.
Although this array was powerful, Xue Jing believed that no one below the Golden Core stage could break it.
However, there were now over a hundred Golden Core cultivators gathered outside the formation. If they united, the power of their attack would far surpass that of the Golden Core stage, potentially reaching the level of a two-tribulation Nascent Soul cultivator. Breaking this array would be much simpler than breaking the previous illusion array.
"Crack..."
Suddenly, a highly unusual sound reached Xue Jing's ears. He couldn't help but turn his head and look at Lin Yun. He saw a dense black light enveloping Lin Yun, and a powerful magical force emanated from Lin Yun's body. Xue Jing even felt a sense of pressure.
"Shattering the Core to form the Nascent Soul?"
Xue Jing stared at the scene blankly, disbelief mixed with surprise and joy. He never expected that this old man, whose lifespan was nearing its end, would actually break through to the Nascent Soul stage.
Infinite spiritual energy of heaven and earth formed a vortex, constantly surging into the formation, leaving the Golden Core cultivators outside the formation somewhat astonished.
The spiritual energy on Earth was too sparse, and the magical power required to break through to the Nascent Soul stage was immensely vast. Although Lin Yun was absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, his primary method was to consume a large number of spirit pills to saturate his magical power.
"This array is an offensive formation. With your strength, there is no need to fear. You simply need to charge into the array!"
True Monarch Tian Hua could see the true nature of the Tian Gang Snow Ape Array at a glance. The thirty-six snow apes were powerful, but they were merely at the peak of the third-grade Golden Core cultivator level. Even with a continuous supply of ice and snow energy, the cultivators present could easily overwhelm them.
True Monarch Tian Hua spoke, and the others no longer hesitated. They transformed into streams of light, entering the formation from all sides and charging directly into it.
As soon as they entered the formation, they saw the immortal mansion slowly emerging from the ground. As time passed, the speed at which the immortal mansion emerged increased. Now, nearly ten zhang had been exposed to the air.
"Kill!"
Upon seeing the immortal mansion, the cultivators present went into a frenzy. Even before the formation was broken, some cultivators were already slaughtering each other.
"What's going on?"
True Monarch Tian Hua and True Monarch Jiu Jian clearly felt that something was amiss. The moment they stepped into the formation, they sensed the number of cultivators on the field rapidly decreasing.
Logically, this offensive formation should pose no threat to them.
"They are just some useless trash. If they die, they die. The primary mission is still to break the formation and find that Master Zhang."
Dao Zun was indifferent to the deaths of those third-grade Golden Core cultivators. Besides the immortal mansion, his main focus was on Zhang Fan.
Having suffered greatly at Zhang Fan's hands twice in a row, this time he intended to get back everything he had lost, with interest.
...