Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Everyone looked exhausted, their eyes bloodshot, staring intently at the outside of the city.

Outside the city lies a boundless sea of ​​monstrous beasts.

Although not as many as the million last time, the hundreds of thousands of demonic beasts spreading out in a dark mass still sent chills down one's spine.

What's even more chilling are those fifty-odd figures—all of them are second-tier demonic beasts!

Instead of rushing to attack the city, they took turns unleashing spells to bombard the pale golden array shield that enveloped the entire city.

"Thump! Boom—!"

Various attacks landed on the light shield, stirring up violent ripples that caused the entire city wall to tremble slightly.

The array masters in charge of the core array had blood trickling from the corners of their mouths, but they gritted their teeth and filled the array base with spirit stones as if they were free.

This "Golden Sand Array" is the foundation of the Golden Sand Market. It condenses ten powerful golden magical artifacts in the sky above the market—the Golden Sand Sword, the Golden Sand Seal, and so on.

At this moment, under the command of Fairy Baizhi of the Hundred Herbs Sect, these illusory figures, though not as powerful as when Zhu Yi personally commanded them, firmly held the line.

The sword light can force back Foundation Establishment level demonic beasts, while the seal can suppress and eliminate large-scale magical attacks.

However, the array she controlled only covered the area within the market town and could not protect the outer fortresses.

Moreover, maintaining such a large formation consumes a massive amount of spirit stones.

In the heat of battle, a sudden panic spread from somewhere in the middle of the city wall.

"Onikubuchi! The people from Onikubuchi are here!"

"They're in the west! Many cultivators have undergone countless kalpas!"

"It's over... There are demonic beasts in front and raiding cultivators behind, the market can't be defended!"

"I've heard that the Demon Cry Pavilion is going to massacre the entire city!"

Panic spread like wildfire. Many cultivators subconsciously slowed their attacks, and even several Foundation Establishment cultivators were shaken.

Taking advantage of the situation, the monster intensified its attack, and a node in the array flashed with spiritual light, almost being breached.

"quiet!"

A clear, cold shout, like the sound of a jade chime, drowned out all the noise.

The figure of Fairy Baizhi appeared on the observation platform at the highest point of the city wall. Her moon-white white dress was spotless, and she exuded a majestic aura of a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Her gaze was sharp as she swept across the panicked crowd.

"Ghost Cry Market? A bunch of cowardly cultivators hiding their heads!" Her voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears, carrying an undeniable tone. "This Cloud Mist Mountain Range is ruled by our three major sects! When did it become the place for Ghost Cry Market to decide its fate?"

Seeing the bewildered expressions on everyone's faces, she softened her tone slightly, but her resolve only grew stronger: "I have received a message from my sect that reinforcements from the Hundred Herbs Sect are on their way and will arrive by this time tomorrow at the latest! You all only need to hold on for one more day!"

"Fairy Baizhi, is this true?!" a Foundation Establishment cultivator asked urgently.

Bai Zhi raised her head slightly, her brows carrying a hint of the arrogance of a sect cultivator: "My master, True Person Qinglin, has already issued his decree. What doubts do you still have?"

"Master Qinglin!" Everyone's spirits lifted.

That's a Core Formation cultivator! With a decree from a True Person, the matter of reinforcements is certainly true.

Morale is visibly recovering.

The cultivators refocused on the battle, and the array's protective barrier stabilized once more.

Bai Zhi was not as relaxed as she appeared.

What she said was true; the Hundred Herbs Sect had indeed sent reinforcements, but their target was not Jinsha Market—they were instead doing their utmost to intercept the Thousand Glory Sect's forces.

After Cai Kuo was seriously injured and fled back to Qianhuang Sect, he used his status as a Core Formation descendant to make a lot of noise and finally persuaded the higher-ups to gather fifty Foundation Establishment cultivators, intending to take over Jinsha Market while Jinsha was weak.

The Thousand Glory Sect is the head of the three major sects; otherwise, how could it easily command the Ghost Cry Market?

Although Bai Zhi's master, Master Qing Lin, was unhappy that Bai Zhi stayed in the market, he ultimately cared for his disciple.

She still gave the order, mobilizing the sect's Foundation Establishment forces to keep the Thousand Glory Sect's team a thousand miles away.

The Thousand Glory Sect was not a monolithic entity. Seeing the Hundred Herbs Sect's tough stance, the calls for "taking over" weakened.

But the real crisis has not been resolved.

Just as the people in the city were beginning to calm down, the western sky suddenly darkened.

It was the silhouette of a palace—entirely black, with white bone wind chimes hanging from the eaves, and the palace body shrouded in a gray-black aura of vengeful spirits.

In a short time, it had approached to within ten miles of Jinshafang City and hovered in the air.

Tier 3 Magic Treasure - [Ghost Cry Palace]

The entire Ghost Cry Market was swarming out.

More than thirty Foundation Establishment cultivators and over three thousand Qi Refining bandits, riding this infamous magic weapon, pressed down on the city like a dark cloud of death.

"You little brats from Jinsha Market, listen up!" A hoarse voice echoed from the Ghost Cry Palace, reverberating throughout the heavens and earth. "Today is the day of your destruction! If you know what's good for you, activate the formation, kneel down and beg for mercy, and perhaps you'll be spared!"

The morale that had just been lifted in the city plummeted to rock bottom in an instant.

Faced with hundreds of thousands of demonic beasts, they could still rely on the great formation to maneuver around them.

But facing a third-tier magic weapon, the sense of despair is almost suffocating.

Even many Foundation Establishment cultivators looked grim.

The horde of demonic beasts was also startled by this terrifying pressure, and their offensive slowed down. Many low-level demonic beasts even began to retreat.

Bai Zhi's face turned pale, but she did not retreat an inch.

She changed her hand seals and fully activated the Golden Sand Array. The ten golden magical artifacts became even more solid, all pointing towards the Ghost Crying Palace in the west.

"Ghost Cry Market, you've crossed the line," Bai Zhi said coldly. "You won't be allowed to run wild here!"

"The Hundred Herbs Sect? Hahahaha!" A wild laugh echoed from the Ghost Cry Hall. "Once I break through your turtle shell, seize all the resources here, and flee ten thousand miles away, what can the Hundred Herbs Sect do to me? Attack!"

Before the words were even finished, the Ghost Cry Palace trembled violently! All the cultivators poured their magical power into their magical treasures.

The dark gray aura surrounding the temple surged wildly, and countless vengeful ghosts and phantoms shrieked as they merged into it.

The next moment, a huge skull phantom, more than a mile in diameter and made entirely of Yin Sha death energy, rose from the top of the palace!

The skull's eye sockets burned with a ghastly green ghost fire. It opened its enormous maw, which seemed capable of swallowing the heavens and the earth, and let out a shriek as it bit down hard at the pale golden light shield of Jinsha Market!

"Buzz—!!!"

An indescribable sound of collision.

The pale golden light shield of the formation dented and twisted violently, its surface rippling with turbulent energy! Countless formation patterns on the city wall flickered, and more than ten formation bases simultaneously shattered with a "crack" sound! Several formation masters who were in charge of the formation's core coughed up blood and collapsed to the ground.

Bai Zhi urged the illusory image of the Golden Sand Sword and slashed fiercely at the skull! The sword light entered the skull, only making it slightly dimmer.

She could only forcefully gather her spiritual power, drawing upon the spiritual energy from the spiritual veins and the Golden Sand River to inject into the formation. The formation's pale golden light suddenly intensified, forcefully resisting the giant skull phantom. Now, she could only rely on the depletion of her spiritual power.

------

Further away, aboard the second-tier top-grade spirit boat, the Blood Slaughter,

Chung Chen-yue stood on the bow deck, hands behind his back, his expression calm.

Beside him, a young Foundation Establishment cultivator excitedly said, "Patriarch, we..."

"No rush." ​​Zhong Zhenyue looked up, his gaze still fixed on the crumbling Jinsha Market formation. "The Jinsha Grand Formation of the market is the result of a hundred years of accumulation; it's not so easy to break."

Let the Ghost Cry Palace drag on a bit longer, and let the people of Jinsha Market... experience the taste of despair a little more. Offering help in times of need requires waiting for the snow to fall heavily enough.

He said calmly, "Besides, we only have fifteen people, while they have more than thirty Foundation Establishment cultivators and three thousand Qi Refining Tribulation cultivators. If pushed too far, these desperate people are really willing to fight to the death. Our task is just to hold them off; there's no need to put ourselves in their shoes."