In an instant, multicolored light flashed as the numerous Open Heaven cultivators unleashed their Artifacts, launching them with thunderous force at the Wind Spirit. The violent fluctuations of power threw everything into chaos, with energy waves surging wildly, leaving everyone struggling to keep their footing.
The Wind Spirit's form was remarkably agile and elusive. Weaving left and dodging right, it caused many of the attacks to miss entirely. Worse still, since everyone was clustered together, quite a few strikes landed on allies by mistake.
However, some attacks did find their mark, and each hit caused the Wind Spirit's body to scatter. Although it quickly reconstituted itself each time, its coloring was visibly growing duller with every blow.
Seeing this, Hua Yong bellowed, "Hold the line! Don't let panic set in! As long as we work together, this Wind Spirit is nothing to fear!"
This wasn't hollow bravado. Though the Wind Spirit born in this place was exceedingly bizarre — so deadly that even a Fourth Rank Open Heaven cultivator had perished in its clutches in an instant — there were nearly a hundred Open Heaven cultivators present, including nine of the Sixth Rank. If they couldn't handle a single Wind Spirit, that would be a pathetic showing indeed.
The might of the Artifacts continued to bloom, and the Wind Spirit's body grew darker and darker, gradually becoming translucent. Just as it seemed on the verge of being destroyed completely, a crack split open across its featureless face — like a gaping mouth. As that mouth yawned wide, a howling wind sound emanated from within.
No one knew what the Wind Spirit was doing, but seeing this, everyone's expressions grew sharp and they braced themselves with heightened vigilance.
Yet the howling wind carried no destructive force or threat whatsoever.
Yang Kai's face changed drastically. "Everyone, be careful! We might be in real trouble!"
"What?" Hua Yong turned to ask. In the next instant, his eyes contracted sharply.
At the same time, within the area shielded by the Mighty Evergreen technique, cracks were being torn open across its surface by invisible forces. Through those rifts, wisps of green smoke surged inward, twisting and morphing into all manner of bizarre shapes.
Some of these entities resembled the earlier Wind Spirit — with heads and limbs but featureless faces, completely smooth and eerily inhuman. Others took on the forms of tigers, wolves, leopards, and rabbits.
These creatures that had suddenly burst in were all Wind Spirits as well, merely varying in shape. And there were more than a dozen of them!
Everyone felt their scalps go numb with terror.
A single Wind Spirit had already had them at their wit's end — nearly a hundred Open Heaven cultivators working together had been unable to destroy it. Just when there had finally been hope of eliminating it, more than a dozen more came rushing in.
The howling wind that earlier Wind Spirit had released was clearly a call to its companions.
Despair surfaced on many faces.
No sooner had the dozen-plus Wind Spirits taken form than they began darting through the air. The crowd cried out in alarm and scrambled to defend themselves, but how could they possibly keep up? In the span of moments, the Wind Spirits slipped into the bodies of over a dozen Open Heaven cultivators and vanished without a trace.
Those dozen-plus individuals stared with bulging eyes, their faces twisted in horror and desperate longing for survival. They desperately churned their power, trying to force the Wind Spirits out of their Small Universes, but it was utterly futile.
Cries for help rang out one after another.
The expressions of all nine Sixth Rank Open Heaven cultivators turned grave beyond measure.
No one had expected that following Yang Kai out of the Shadowless Grotto-Heaven would lead to such peril. Even Yang Kai himself hadn't anticipated it. He had assumed that after leaving the Shadowless Grotto-Heaven, at worst they would arrive at the Origin of the Gale Winds, and that with his Mighty Evergreen technique, protecting everyone should not have been a problem.
Who could have guessed that the Origin of the Gale Winds had given birth to such monstrous existences as the Wind Spirits — beings that even the Mighty Evergreen could not block?
Before everyone's eyes, the auras of those dozen-plus individuals plummeted rapidly. Just like the Fourth Rank Open Heaven cultivator who had died earlier, the foundations of their Small Universes were devoured by the Wind Spirits, their ranks dropped, their inner worlds shuddered — and then collapsed entirely.
Within the span of a dozen breaths, explosive sounds rang out as those dozen-plus people burst into clouds of blood mist one after another, their bodies utterly annihilated!
Among the fallen, one had even been a Fifth Rank Open Heaven cultivator, a sight that made the Cook and the Accountant swallow hard, their faces turning white.
They too were Fifth Rank. If a Wind Spirit had invaded their bodies just now, their fate would likely have been exactly the same.
The dozen-plus Wind Spirits materialized once more, but it was obvious that their coloring was deeper than before — presumably because they had devoured the foundations of those fallen cultivators' Small Universes.
The survivors fell back warily as though facing a mortal enemy.
A single Wind Spirit had already left them exhausted and overwhelmed. Now with over a dozen more, how could they possibly defend against all of them?
Regret filled many hearts. Had they known, they should have entered Yang Kai's Wishful Bag when he offered. Earlier, when Yang Kai had taken out the Wishful Bag and tried to put some people inside, everyone had been rather unwilling — after all, once inside, their lives would no longer be in their own hands. In the end, Hua Yong and the three Shi brothers had stepped in to sort things out. Now, in hindsight, that was clearly where the safe place had been.
Yang Kai's eyes blazed with fury as he swept his gaze across the dozen-plus Wind Spirits, wishing he could draw the Azure Dragon Spear and skewer every last one. However, while situated here in the Origin of the Gale Winds, he had to sustain the Mighty Evergreen technique to shield those around him and simultaneously search for a way out — he simply had no spare attention for anything else.
The Wind Spirits attacked again. This time, with everyone on guard, the situation improved slightly as they managed to hold the spirits at bay for a brief stretch. But the violent power fluctuations from the fighting made maintaining the Mighty Evergreen increasingly difficult for Yang Kai.
Yet a prolonged defense was bound to have breaches. Before long, a Wind Spirit broke through the group's cordon, rushing up to an Open Heaven cultivator. With a single flicker, it dove straight into the person's Small Universe. The victim's face went blank with dead despair.
Having watched the fate of those who had come before — having seen numerous companions die horrific deaths before their very eyes — how could they not foresee what awaited them?