At this moment, Mu Bosang, standing confidently in the void, spoke. “Half a shichen. If you can withstand this assault for half a shichen, the formation’s energy will be depleted. However, you will despair!”
Hearing this, despair washed over the crowd outside.
Half a shichen, with every strike akin to a Martial Saint’s attack, equated to seven or eight Martial Saints relentlessly besieging the three from all directions. The attackers would suffer no repercussions, while the targets endured overlapping blows. The result was obvious.
“We cannot sit idly and await death. We must break the formation as well.”
The ancient, weathered elder from Tianji Holy Land shouted sternly at that point. Among those in the outer layer of the inner formation, he alone was a near-Saint expert and thus the strongest present.
The others frowned. Though they stood outside the Saint-Slaying Killing Array,
the enemy had even planned for Martial Saints. Did those without Saint cultivation stand any chance of escaping this formation?
Moreover, if the barrier proved unbreakable, would the rebounding fluctuations not affect them?
Those with comparatively weaker strength grew anxious.
If caught in the backlash, they would perish before the rest.
“Boom!”
“Boom!”
“Boom!”
The moment the Tianji near-Saint spoke, the Tianji Holy Land group launched their attacks.
Terrifying forces erupted one after another, slamming into the formation barrier.
Most targeted the outer edge of the Saint-Slaying Killing Array, while some struck the enclosing formation’s outer barrier.
The remainder, including Lin Xiao, shot violently sideways to evade the backlash.
As expected, after their assaults struck, the formation barrier remained utterly unaffected and fully blocked the attacks.
Instead, rolling waves of force surged back towards them.
Chaos erupted among the Tianji Holy Land group. Most were hurled backwards, only to collide with the formation barrier and rebound again, shaken repeatedly by the oscillations.
Those slower to flee or weaker in strength suffered the backlash too, spitting blood one by one. Several even died on the spot.
After all, the attacks included strikes from a near-Saint. Even without full exertion, they were immensely powerful.
“These reckless madmen!”
The people from the Hong and Jiang families thought darkly.
Fortunately, they stood on the opposite side, or they would have been affected as well.
Yet inaction meant awaiting death, and reluctance stirred in their hearts.
Seeing the Tianji Holy Land group’s plight, however, they abandoned thoughts of forcing a breakthrough.
This formation, no matter their efforts, could likely not be breached. Instead, the backlash would kill them first.
Furthermore, with the Martial Saints trapped inside unable to emerge, even if breached, could they escape?
A Martial Saint waited outside. Upon shattering the formation, they would face Ying Yi’s annihilating strikes.
After one wave, the Tianji Holy Land people turned deathly pale, many bearing serious injuries.
“A swarm of ants!”
Mu Bosang glanced at them with disdain.
Noting the unwilling expression of the Tianji near-Saint, a half-step Martial Saint elder from the Jiang family could not help advising. “Cease your attacks. You cannot breach the inner trap holding the Martial Saints. As for the outer, consider first whether you could evade a Martial Saint’s grasp.”
At this, the Tianji near-Saint suddenly realised the truth.
Indeed, the inner formation trapping Martial Saints withstood overlapping Martial Saint forces. How could they break it?
As for the outer, even if breached, could they escape?
Yet were they simply to await death like this?
“We can only hope Elder Yi and the others endure half a shichen. Martial Saints do not fall easily. No matter how powerful the formation, it may not slay them all.”
The Tianji near-Saint elder finally restrained himself and attacked no further.
Time ticked by second by second.
The killing array was mercilessly vicious, never pausing for an instant. It assaulted continuously from the beginning until a full half shichen passed and the materials were exhausted.
The layered aftershocks had compounded to unknown potency. No one knew the three Martial Saints’ condition inside.
Initially, there were signs of movement, but later they could not distinguish whether the commotion stemmed from the formation’s activations or the three’s counterstrikes.
The turmoil was too violent, the qi waves too ferocious, the radiance too blinding.
When the killing array halted, every gaze locked intently on the qi waves within.
Each heart pounded in their throat. The three’s survival directly tied to their own.
Only if the three lived did they stand a chance to depart.
The energy lingered for some time before slowly dissipating.
The scene inside gradually revealed itself to the crowd.
Everyone beheld three blood-soaked figures standing on the ground within the seventy-li radius.
“They survived!”
Eyes widened across the crowd.
The three Martial Saints lived! With the formation’s energy spent, hope lingered.
Yet they were wounded to such extremity. Did they retain any combat strength?
Worry surged anew.
“You actually survived?”
Ying Yi’s eyes widened too, astonishment clear on his face. Under such ferocious assaults, the three had endured.
Ying Yi reflected inwardly that, were it him, he held no confidence of survival.
“Hmph. Mu Bosang, Ying Yi, you ultimately failed to kill us!”
Hong Lie growled deeply, though a trace of weakness laced his voice.
Clearly, Hong Lie was gravely injured.
“Martial Saints of the Central Continent truly defy expectations!”
Mu Bosang wore an inscrutable expression and sighed. “However, even having survived, you must be spent, like lamps out of oil?
This is a one-way formation. Forces cannot penetrate, but people can enter.”
At these words, the three trembled, despair etching their faces.
Witnessing their reaction, despair filled the outer formation’s crowd as well. A one-way formation meant Ying Yi and the Array Saint could enter without dismantling it.
Even if the three had miraculously lived, they surely exhausted their trump cards and were too wounded to fight. Would they not still perish at the pair’s hands?
Even if others could enter the Saint-Slaying Killing Array, against Martial Saints they could achieve nothing.
“Friend Ying, I shall not meddle further in Central Continent affairs. Slaying the three falls to you.”
Mu Bosang turned to Ying Yi outside the formation.
Hearing this, the crowd inwardly cursed. Without his formation, how would the three Martial Saints have reached this state?
And now he claimed detachment?
“Slaying three Martial Saints is a monumental honour. In future, recounting it to descendants would be worthy of pride!”
Ying Yi smiled and stepped into the hundred-li formation barrier.
Terrifying Martial Saint pressure enveloped the three provinces’ people within. They felt as though crushed by it, none daring to strike Ying Yi. They could only watch as he strode boldly towards the inner array.
The three inside the Saint-Slaying Killing Array glared at Ying Yi with furious eyes.
The Tianji near-Saint clenched his fists tightly, a desperate impulse rising, yet ultimately he refrained.
Ying Yi scorned everyone from the three provinces. After a few steps, his figure flashed to the edge of the Saint-Slaying Killing Array.
“Gentlemen, your time has come!”
With that, Ying Yi stepped into the Saint-Slaying Killing Array.
