I defeated the saint with a parry.

Beneath the village, deeper than the grottoes, the old monk Xumi sat cross-legged on a pure black lotus platform.

This lotus platform is completely different from the one the little monk sat on. Its material is a single piece, with a spiritual aura surrounding it in black. It is at least a spiritual treasure, a treasure of a higher level than a spiritual artifact.

The moment the young monk was submerged in the slime, Sumeru sensed it, opened its eyes, and smiled: "Good disciple, don't blame your master. Your destiny and age are most suitable to become the vessel for that being."

"As for those who broke through the formation, they were just minor demon slayers in the Body Tempering Realm, along with their accomplices."

"Now that the ceremony is complete, how can that human-faced tiger compare? You all must die!!"

The ferocious voice of Sumeru echoed in this tiny secret chamber. From his perspective, the chamber was covered with the same talismans as those in the grotto.

Above the secret chamber, close to the grotto, there is an inverted stone lotus, one facing upside down from the one where the little monk is sitting.

When the talismans lit up in the grotto, the secret chamber was filled with extremely dense spiritual energy, and pure blood and energy overflowed from the inverted stone lotus, pouring into the old monk.

His hunched and decrepit body experienced a second spring, with the first change being in his withered body.

Then, the skin, covered with age spots and wrinkles, is stretched open by the flow of blood and qi, gradually becoming smooth.

This fellow has become a child again.

The surrounding spiritual energy flowed into his body, and his aura rapidly strengthened. It only took him two breaths to advance from the Body Tempering Realm to the Meridian Opening Realm, followed by the Spirit Condensation Realm, and he quickly climbed towards the threshold of the third level of the Extraordinary Realm...

In Taoyuan Village, the miasma that had been spreading through the peach blossoms was being drawn back into the ancestral hall at an extremely rapid pace.

Li west and Hou Le had already entered the courtyard and were taking in the whole scene.

"This peach blossom miasma is full of abundant spiritual energy. Although it is inherently poisonous, it is a tonic rather than a poison to the person behind it. Now that the spiritual energy is flowing back, it is likely that the person behind it has succeeded."

Hou Le turned his gaze toward the ancestral hall: "That kid's aura is heading that way too."

Upon hearing this, Li west said, "Based on my understanding of Xu Ling, he must have lured the entire Li family there. This change is most likely caused by the interaction between the two sides."

"Driving away wolves and tigers, a good plan." Hou Le nodded in satisfaction and praised, "If he can really do it, your trip to the Li family will be much easier."

Seeing that Li west remained silent, he reminded him again: "He is both brave and resourceful. After we finish everything, perhaps we can recruit him into our ranks."

"Elder Hou, aren't you going to take a look?"

"You have no cultivation whatsoever, so I'll just keep an eye on you. This place is already sealed off, and if Xu Ling's side fails, I'll have to take you away."

Li west stopped talking after hearing this.

At this moment, the miasma from the peach blossoms had completely dissipated, and under the starlight of Kaguya, the mountain village was a beautiful sight.

Inside the ancestral hall, the villagers, huddled together like melted grease, poured in through the opening beneath the altar. The energy contained within was even more concentrated than the returning peach blossom miasma, and it also contained the purest life force.

Xu Ling, Li Hong, and the others looked at the 'grease' falling from above and almost immediately guessed what it was. Their faces turned pale, and they felt nauseous.

Even Li Hong and his colleagues, who specialized in dirty work, couldn't help but gag for a while.

"Oh my god!!"

"Are the illegitimate branches of our master's family really this brutal?"

"If Brother Xu Ling hadn't intervened in time, the battle would have been even more brutal."

"Using this village as a melting pot to forge everything, their intentions are truly terrifying."

"If we can't break the formation, we'll probably become nourishment for this guy too."

Li Hong spoke in a muffled voice, his eyes never leaving the 'little monk' on the lotus platform, if that thing could still be called a little monk.

During the operation of the great formation, he repeatedly tried to stop the slime from invading the little monk's body by waving his long whip, but all attempts ended in failure.

The dark red viscous liquid was all-pervasive, penetrating the little monk's body and completely disappearing into his flesh within a few breaths. Afterward, each time he was whipped, his flesh would become like lifeless rotting meat, sticking to the long whip and turning the attack into nothingness.

When Li Hong withdrew his whip, the whip-shaped magical weapon was covered in the same sticky substance, and it pounced on Li Hong like a wolf pouncing on its prey.

If he hadn't reacted quickly and used his protective spiritual energy to blast that thing away, he might have suffered a terrible fate.

"Be careful, this thing also reacts to spiritual energy."

Li Hong, after stimulating his men, turned to Xu Ling and asked, "Do you know where the key point of this formation is?"

Xu Ling was unaware of the details, but he still pointed to the lotus platform: "I don't know the specifics, but according to what I've heard, Li west and the others have always valued this lotus platform highly, so it might be here."

Li Hong and the people around him exchanged glances, finding the explanation somewhat credible, since it was Xu Ling who had slashed the lotus platform, causing the little monk to vomit blood.

He nodded slightly, looked around, and pulled over a cultivator with a slightly weaker aura in the group: "Zhang Qian, you are the only one among us who has been exposed to formations. Let's see if what this kid says is right."

"Huh? Me?" Zhang Qian's honest face showed great surprise: "But I'm just a first-rate shield-armored warrior, I only know some defensive talismans and array construction... I don't know how to break arrays."

After he finished speaking, seeing that Lord Li Hong and his teammates were all staring at him, leaving him no room for maneuver, he could only grit his teeth and look at the lotus platform.

At this moment, both the spiritual energy vortex of the "Peach Blossom Miasma" above and the "nutritional paste" from the villagers pouring down all converged on the lotus platform.

Even the monster that the 'illegitimate son' in the coffin had transformed into sat on the lotus platform, never leaving...

All indications suggest that Xu Ling is right.

Zhang Qian nodded and stated his guess: "Ninety percent."

With these words, Li Hong no longer hesitated and directed everyone to unleash their martial arts skills on the base of the lotus platform.

Suddenly, the grotto was filled with a dazzling array of colors, and various martial arts techniques, imbued with spiritual energy, shone with completely different hues, disappearing into the lotus platform's stone base.

"Um?"

"Why isn't there any response?"

Zhang Qian looked puzzled. So much damage would have destroyed even a magical artifact, let alone a lotus platform made of ordinary stone.

This further solidified his belief in Xu Ling's so-called "array core."

"continue!"

After Li Hong gave the order, Xu Ling finally spoke, saying, "Please go first, everyone. I'll stay a little further back."

"Very well." Li Hong glanced at him sideways, not finding anything wrong with it. The fact that a Body Tempering Realm cultivator had managed to hold out until now without running away already proved Xu Ling's loyalty. "This place is in our hands. Your cultivation level is so low, you might as well run. I'll come find you at the village entrance after we're done."

Hey!

You're a really nice person.

Hearing this, Xu Ling was overjoyed, but he didn't show it at all.

"I'd rather obey than be rude," Xu Ling said, clasping his hands in a gesture of respect and jumping up with a grateful expression.

Without the Peach Blossom Miasma blocking their way, he moved with incredible speed, and Li Hong and the others reacted just as quickly, with the second round of even higher power output already ready.

Just as Xu Ling was about to step out of the cave, a loud crash came from behind him. He turned around and saw that the platform submerged underwater, along with the lotus platform where the little monk was sitting, had collapsed, revealing a secret chamber with the same layout underneath.

The backflow of spiritual energy stopped abruptly, but all the water was poured in.

A man roared as he rushed out from the landslide.

"Who is it?! Who has disturbed my altar?!"