Moving around carelessly would only trigger more restrictions, hastening one's descent into the grave.
Sure enough, Dragon Cave Mountain was riddled with restrictions at every turn. Over eighty Holy King Realm cultivators had entered, and before half an incense stick had burned down, they were utterly annihilated — not a single one survived.
Ning Xiangchen could scarcely believe his eyes!
These were over eighty Holy King Realm martial artists! Even he himself would have had to tread carefully against them, yet Dragon Cave Mountain had not sacrificed a single soldier — one could even say no one had lifted a finger — and they were all buried here.
What were dragon pools and tiger dens compared to this? This little mountain was more terrifying than any of them.
But Ning Xiangchen also realized that formations alone couldn't possibly have eliminated eighty Holy King Realm cultivators so effortlessly. The true horror lay in the mastermind behind them.
The things serving as formation cores were actually artifacts of considerable power! Combined with the formations' might, the power of these artifacts would be greatly amplified, which was why those Holy King Realm cultivators had no power to resist whatsoever.
How many artifacts would it take to set up so many formations? Ning Xiangchen couldn't even imagine.
Meanwhile, in Tianyun City, Qian Tong and Fei Zhitu were equally dumbfounded. They exchanged a glance, both faces full of shock. Though they had known Dragon Cave Mountain would be heavily fortified with restrictions, they had never imagined the power would be this overwhelming.
Eighty Holy King Realm cultivators thrown in, and they hadn't even managed to gauge the true depth of Dragon Cave Mountain's defenses. The Xie Family and Myriad Beast Mountain's Demonic Blood Sect had taken a terrible loss.
"It looks like the people from Tianluo Hall won't need to move after all!" Wei Guchang remarked gleefully from the side.
"Not necessarily." Fei Zhitu shook his head slowly. "All they've lost so far are Holy King Realm cultivators. The Return Void Realm ones haven't made a move yet. Let's keep watching."
Wei Guchang mulled this over and had to agree — after all, the combat power of Return Void Realm cultivators was on an entirely different level from Holy King Realm. Though the Xie Family's alliance appeared to have suffered heavy casualties, they hadn't actually been dealt a crippling blow.
Outside Dragon Cave Mountain, Xie Li, the elderly man surnamed Du from Myriad Beast Mountain, and the middle-aged man from the Demonic Blood Sect all wore dark expressions, their faces grim beyond measure. None of them had expected Dragon Cave Mountain's defenses to be this formidable. Those three old men hadn't even lifted a finger, and dozens of Holy King Realm cultivators had already been killed.
If every restriction inside Dragon Cave Mountain was this powerful, then Holy King Realm cultivators would be essentially useless here — mere cannon fodder.
After a moment's deliberation, Xie Li suddenly spoke up: "Everyone, how about we split up and attack from different directions?"
"Split up?" The elderly man surnamed Du furrowed his brow.
"That's right. The restrictions on the front mountain seem far too numerous to break through head-on. In that case, why not try from other directions? I refuse to believe the entire mountain is fortified like this — there must be weak points somewhere." Xie Li spoke in measured tones.
"Mm, Brother Xie makes a valid point." The elderly man surnamed Du considered briefly, then said: "I'll head that way, then."
He pointed in a direction, then waved his Myriad Beast Mountain disciples forward. His Green-eyed Blood Toad bounded once, and they shot off to one side.
The middle-aged man from the Demonic Blood Sect raised no objections either, immediately leading his own disciples and choosing the opposite direction.
The remaining cultivators from Sea Heart Gate and Flowing Cloud Valley didn't move, choosing instead to align themselves with the Xie Family, following Xie Li's lead.
In an instant, the allied forces split into three groups, probing Dragon Cave Mountain's defenses from three directions.
A flash of ruthlessness crossed Xie Li's eyes. His lips moved as he issued several commands. Then, with a wave of his hand, he took the lead in charging toward Dragon Cave Mountain. Behind him, the other Return Void Realm cultivators scattered as well, each gathering a number of Holy King Realm martial artists and forming several teams — advancing cautiously while keeping their guard up on all sides.
Streams of divine sense swept across every inch of Dragon Cave Mountain. The invaders refused to overlook any detail or suspicious spot, terrified of accidentally triggering some catastrophic restriction and meeting an inescapable doom.
This extreme caution actually proved effective.
They found traces of several formations and carefully avoided them. Even when someone occasionally stumbled into a restriction, they weren't completely powerless as before.
After all, with Return Void Realm powerhouses now present, even if they fell into a formation, they still had the strength to fight back.
What truly delighted them was that the formations on Dragon Cave Mountain's front slope, having performed so spectacularly just moments ago, now seemed to have exhausted their repertoire. Their power had diminished significantly — even when triggered, the Return Void Realm cultivators easily deflected them.
They had pushed forward a full hundred zhang without a single casualty. Morale soared. The invaders glared menacingly at Chang Qi and his two companions not far away, still drinking and enjoying themselves as if nothing were happening, looking as though they wished they could sprout wings and reach them immediately, cutting off their heads to vent their fury.
Shortly after, the crowd of cultivators, led by Xie Li, arrived within ten zhang of Chang Qi and the others. Xie Li raised his hand to halt everyone, his expression cold as he studied the three men. With a chilling smirk, he said:
"Gentlemen, if you have any tricks up your sleeves, now would be the time to use them all at once and give me a proper show. Otherwise, you won't get another chance."