"Begin the incantation!" Feng Sanniang bellowed, brandishing the large blue banner in her hand. Instantly, rings of blue ripples spread outward from its surface.
The others heard her command and silently waved their own formation flags in unison. In the blink of an eye, a halo of blue luminance enveloped them all. It flickered a few times, and then the group vanished without a trace, completely concealing their presence.
From a distance, the area now appeared utterly empty—nothing but an expanse of open sea.
A short while later, two streaks of rainbow light arrived at the spot and sped past overhead without pausing, as if they were still fleeing for their lives.
The white mist behind them plunged straight into the area without the slightest suspicion.
But the moment it crossed into the formation's range, blue light erupted from every direction. A massive blue barrier of light materialized out of thin air, trapping it inside.
At that instant, Feng Sanniang, Qu Hun, and the others revealed themselves at various points around the perimeter.
They raised their blue formation flags and pointed them all at the barrier, shooting six pillars of blue light as thick as bowls. These beams poured ceaselessly into the enormous dome, making it blaze ever brighter in a deeper, more dazzling blue.
Meanwhile, the yellow and golden streaks of light that had been ahead did not hesitate for a moment—they wheeled around and immediately positioned themselves directly above the barrier.
When the radiance faded, it revealed Elder Miao and a burly, wild-haired man.
"Excellent, well done! Now you must hold firm against the beast's counterattack and give us time to use the borrowed treasures to bring it down!" Elder Miao said, his face alight with pleasure.
He and Elder Gu exchanged a glance, then simultaneously reached into their robes and each drew out an object. They were a pair of ancient bronze halberds, their surfaces mottled with age, dull and unremarkable in appearance.
The two Six-Hall-Hall cultivators at the Core Formation stage wore solemn expressions as they chanted incantations under their breath. The halberds rose from their hands and hovered in midair, beginning to emit a pale yellow glow that grew steadily brighter.
At the same time, the Infant Carp Beast trapped inside the barrier seemed to recognize its dire situation. After letting out a shrill, wailing cry, the hundred-zhang cloud of white mist contracted violently toward its center, shrinking in an instant to just over ten zhang and condensing into a milky-white dome of fog.
Simultaneously, the rumbling of thunder inside the mist grew and merged together like a stampede of ten thousand horses, so deafening that the cultivators maintaining the formation on every side felt their ears ring and their hearts fill with alarm.
Then the baby's wailing cut off abruptly!
Countless fist-sized orbs of blue light shot from the white mist in a dense barrage, hurtling toward the blue barrier with fearsome momentum. The sheer ferocity of the assault tightened everyone's hearts.
When the orbs were about ten zhang from the barrier, a wide sheet of green radiance blazed into being. Some of the orbs vanished within it in a flash, then reappeared directly above the white mist and smashed downward—this portion of the attack had been reflected back by the formation.
But there were simply too many orbs, and the majority still struck the blue barrier wall.
Immediately, both the blue dome and the white mist erupted with booming, blazing white radiance. The light within the mist flickered and vanished almost instantly, while the entire barrier wall shuddered, blue and white light flickering and intertwining—on the verge of collapse.
"Fellow Daoists, increase your Magical Power output immediately! This is the Water Xuan Divine Thunder, one of the Infant Carp Beast's three great killing moves—it won't last long. Just hold on for a little while and we'll make it through!" Feng Sanniang cried, her face drastically changed. She was the first to chant a short incantation, spat a mouthful of vital blood onto her formation flag, and the blue light flared brilliantly. The pillar of light before her immediately thickened several times over, stabilizing the barrier dome considerably.
The other five had no choice but to do the same, channeling every last drop of Magical Power they possessed to force the grand formation to hold.
Han Li stood behind Qu Hun, somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected that they would resort to desperate measures so quickly after first engaging the Infant Carp Beast.
This demonic creature was truly outrageously powerful.
Above the formation, the bronze halberds before the two Core Formation cultivators began their transformation. Amid solemn and mysterious chanting, the two halberds—glowing with yellow light—grew inch by inch, swelling in size. Their tips slowly angled downward until they pointed directly at the center of the white mist below.
The Infant Carp Beast within the mist seemed to sense the danger from above and suddenly let out a piercing shriek.
The white mist began to rotate slowly, then faster and faster. Within moments it had become a colossal whirlwind, raising monstrous waves. Embedded within the swirling tempest were countless flickers of blue light—the same deadly Water Xuan Divine Thunder.
Qing Suanzi and the others watched the terrifying transformation unfold before them. Their expressions taut with tension, they glanced at Feng Sanniang, but she wore the same look of horror—she clearly had no idea what tremendous technique the Infant Carp Beast was unleashing.
Seeing this, Han Li's expression darkened. He secretly urged Qu Hun to push even harder, to draw on reserves beyond the safe limit and increase the Magical Power output.
He didn't know what ability the Infant Carp Beast was employing, but it was plainly obvious the beast was going all out for a final, desperate strike.