"The Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation?" Cao Jin smiled faintly. Before coming here, he had fully extended his spiritual sense and had already laid eyes on Danqian Palace's Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation.
That was what he found strange.
This fourth-grade sect, Danqian Palace, was truly peculiar — the quality of its Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation was actually inferior to the formation around some cave dwelling within.
The Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation could at most hold off people at the ninth level of the Saint Realm. For a genius like him at the peak of the ninth level of the Saint Realm, half a step from crossing into the Saint Realm itself, it was of little use.
The formation restrictions around that cave dwelling, on the other hand, though covering a narrower defensive area, were far more complex and clearly boasted much greater defensive power.
Cao Jin felt that breaking through that formation would actually demand more of his attention.
But he was one of the Nine Sun Heavenly Sect's ten True Disciples, laden with countless treasures — and naturally, he possessed artifacts for dismantling formations.
A flick of his hand, and a silver awl materialized.
The awl was barely a foot in length, but once revealed, its radiance blazed across the sky. An eerie silver light erupted in countless cascading streams, turning the mountains and rivers pale and dimming the sun and moon.
This awl was called the Moon-Breaking Awl — a formation-breaking treasure that only True Disciples of the Nine Sun Heavenly Sect were privileged to possess.
Cao Jin held the Moon-Breaking Awl in one hand while the other was tucked behind his back. His blue eyebrows arched slightly as he said with a faint smile, "Three moves. If I can't break through this so-called Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation in three moves, consider me lacking!"
As he spoke, Cao Jin swept one hand forward in a casual, effortless arc — a gesture that carried the bearing of one surveying an empire.
One casual sweep, and silver light blazed like a river of stars, slashing across the heavens.
Boom!
Like an ancient silver dragon, it struck the Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
The Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation, once the silver light raked across it, erupted in a series of violent detonations. Countless dense runes carved into the void shuddered without cease.
Those runes etched upon the void were the formation diagram of the Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation. Together, they formed a single, unified defensive matrix.
Each rune was interlocked with the next, like the links of a chain. If one section was breached, the integrity of the entire formation would be compromised.
Cao Jin's Moon-Breaking Awl was an Earth-grade treasure — something that normally only Royal Realm experts were qualified to wield.
But the Nine Sun Heavenly Sect was fabulously wealthy, and as one of the ten True Disciples, Cao Jin had not yet entered the Royal Realm yet carried not just one Earth-grade treasure on his person.
The Moon-Breaking Awl itself was an Earth-grade treasure, and combined with Cao Jin's Divine Ability, this single strike delivered power absolutely on par with the full-force blow of a first-level Royal Realm expert.
Danqian Palace's Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation was no weakling, but its defensive level was ultimately only commensurate with the Myriad Phenomena Region.
And the Myriad Phenomena Region at this stage — its strongest figure was none other than Patriarch Xiang Wentian of the Great Saint Hall.
Under normal circumstances, this Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation was more than enough to safeguard the sect's gates. Who could have guessed that the enemy who arrived this time would prove so domineering?
A single thrust of the awl, and the Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation's defensive system had been torn open by thirty to forty percent. The entire formation shuddered violently.
"This is bad — the enemy is too powerful! A single strike has damaged the very foundation of the Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation!"
"Hurry — notify the Palace Master at once!"
There was no denying it: Cao Jin's single strike shaking the Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation threw the entirety of Danqian Palace into even deeper terror.
Earlier, this blue-browed freak's single blow had sent Elder Lian Cheng, the Hall Master of the Martial Arts Hall, flying — that alone had been monstrous. Now, a single strike had shaken the Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation to its very roots. That was even more nightmarish.
Danqian Palace had faced powerful enemies before, but one this monstrous — this was truly a first.
In an instant, the entire Danqian Palace seemed on the verge of collapse. The younger generation, in particular, was gripped by alarm and bewilderment, unable to fathom what divine being Danqian Palace had offended to draw such a terrifying harbinger of doom.
Judging by this young man's appearance, he could not be more than thirty.
A young man not yet thirty possessed such terrifying power.
Could it be... could it be that this person hailed from the Upper Eight Regions?
The higher-ups of Danqian Palace were similarly shaken. Even the reclusive old patriarchs who had sealed themselves in death meditation could no longer sit still, emerging one after another.
After all, when the Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation was shaken, it could be felt in every corner of the sect.
Everyone knew that an attack on the Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation meant the sect had reached its most critical hour. If they didn't come out now, the sect could be annihilated in the blink of an eye.
Palace Master Dan Chi had been in the midst of a full-force push to break through to the seventh level of the Saint Realm. Disrupted by the commotion, he had no choice but to abandon his seclusion and lead a large contingent of experts surging into the sky.
Virtually every Earth-Saint-level expert in all of Danqian Palace had gathered in one place.
Even those reclusive old monsters who seldom showed their faces were all present.
"Oh my — isn't that Grand Elder Hu?"
"Look there — that's Ancestor Qi, the previous Palace Master's Junior Martial Brother!"
"And..."
All at once, the Danqian Palace disciples below pointed and murmured, caught between worry over the situation before them and a measure of reassurance that with so many of the sect's hidden masters appearing, things should be fine.
In that moment, every last person in Danqian Palace was consumed by unease.