A three-foot emerald blade swept outward from afar. The Spirit Realm fourth-level spiritual energy qi surged upward like a rising tempest, sword qi brilliant as a rainbow, slicing through the air toward those Golden-Winged Sword Birds like a violent storm.
The aura of the Earth Spirit Realm was extraordinarily powerful. Once unleashed at full force, the field it generated was terrifying.
Before the rainbow-like sword qi even reached its target, the overwhelming aura had already rocketed to the heavens, forming an invisible vortex of wind and clouds that crashed upward.
Zhou Yi had seen the Golden-Winged Sword Birds at the border before. He knew that to deal with them, one had to use one's powerful Earth Spirit Realm aura to suppress them.
But times had changed.
Back then, Spirit Realm experts could suppress the sword bird armies because there was a fundamental divide between mortals and spirits. The sword bird armies of that era were all Mortal Grade.
Even the strongest Golden-Winged Sword Bird had still been nothing more than a Mortal Grade spirit bird.
It was like the True Qi Realm going up against the Spirit Realm—an egg against a rock, with only a crushing defeat awaiting.
But these twenty-four Golden-Winged Sword Birds were battle-hardened elites, the very first to break through to Spirit Grade. Among all Golden-Winged Sword Birds, they were the cream of the crop.
What's more, after advancing to Spirit Grade, they had formed their qi seas and already had familiarity with spiritual energy fields. Naturally, they wouldn't be like when they were Mortal Grade—helplessly crushed without a fight.
Furthermore, with their battle formation now linked, their auras resonated with one another, their power mutually reinforced, creating a harmony of aura and mental force.
This resonance granted them extraordinary coordination.
Zhou Yi's powerful aura surged upward, only to find that the crushing dominance he'd imagined never materialized.
A spiritual energy aura even more powerful than his own directly crushed his vortex of force. The sheer momentum was like a palm slapping out a candle flame—effortlessly!
The sight sent a chill down Zhou Yi's spine.
He'd watched from a distance earlier and knew this flock of spirit birds was formidable, but he'd still harbored some confidence. With sixteen Enforcement disciples working from inside and outside, the chances were great.
But...
Zhou Yi realized with bitter despair that once again, he'd underestimated the situation.
His carefully calculated attack had been deflected with ease.
That wasn't even the worst of it. The truly terrifying part was that in the opening and closing of these spirit birds' formation, Zhou Yi himself had been dragged into the battle array.
What had been an observer on the sidelines suddenly became a player caught in the thick of it.
And at this moment, inside the Jiang residence, under Gouyu and Tian Shao's leadership, the Golden-Winged Sword Bird army surged forth in a flood, completely surrounding the airspace above the estate.
The thousand-strong Golden-Winged Sword Bird force deployed in the Eight Desolations Spirit-Gathering Formation, distributed across eight sectors, sealing off the entire void.
Jiang Chen's eight personal guards each commanded one sector. Through their extended training, they had now comprehended over ninety percent of the Eight Desolations Spirit-Gathering Formation.
With their level of cultivation, even facing ordinary Spirit Realm experts, they could hold their own.
Leading this thousand-strong Golden-Winged Sword Bird army in a large-scale Eight Desolations Spirit-Gathering Formation, their combat power had reached a terrifying level.
"Aah!"
Within the Spirit Grade Golden-Winged Sword Birds' battle formation, one Enforcement disciple let his guard slip for just an instant, and a razor-sharp claw slashed through the air and struck him, sending him plummeting to the ground.
That scream immediately affected his companions. These Enforcement disciples had never experienced this kind of combat. No matter how they tried to break out and fight their way through, they couldn't make a dent.
Terror and despair had already been spreading through their hearts, and now seeing their companion struck down only made them more panicked.
Screams rang out one after another.
Enforcement disciple after Enforcement disciple tumbled from the sky.
Zhou Yi swung his Wind-Cloud Sword furiously, dashing about to stem the tide, trying to save the situation and help these Enforcement disciples hold off the attacks, to ease the pressure.
But they had been completely thrown into disarray, like people caught in a rushing current, unable to coordinate with one another at all. Zhou Yi could save one, but not another.
Like a ramshackle house in a torrential downpour—water leaked through everywhere. You plugged one hole, and another started leaking.
Zhou Yi darted about desperately, but he simply couldn't stop the Enforcement disciples from being knocked down one by one.
"Aah!"
Zhou Yi roared in fury, eyes blazing red. His Wind-Cloud Sword whirled, stirring wind and churning clouds, sword qi blazing like a rainbow, scattering like petals from a celestial maiden.
The rain of sword qi falling into the Eight Desolations Spirit-Gathering Formation was like a stone dropped into the ocean, utterly failing to wound these Golden-Winged Sword Birds in the slightest.
A prodigious talent of the Earth Spirit Realm, Zhou Yi now felt a helpless wave of despair rising within him.
"This time I've fallen—truly fallen!" Zhou Yi's heart burned with regret. Why had he waded into these murky waters? Why had he provoked this Jiang Chen?
Even their master Tie Can had been powerless against him—how had he been so blind as to go and provoke him?
They had been unwilling to accept it, believing Jiang Chen only had the upper hand because Ye Chonglou's protection had forced their master Tie Can into a disadvantage.
But now, Zhou Yi finally understood. It was precisely because of Ye Chonglou's protection that everyone had severely misjudged Jiang Chen's personal strength and underestimated him!
"No—I have to break through this formation. Otherwise, even I will eventually run out of steam. Once my strength is exhausted, these feathered vermin will tear me apart until not even bones remain!"
Zhou Yi's heart clenched with terror as he realized his own life might not even be secure, let alone having any mind to spare for the Enforcement disciples.