I'll make you the furnace and the cauldron, so you can refine Yin and Yang and prove the Great

The attacks from the two Dao-merging forces landed simultaneously.

The light screen of the "Thousand Mountains Locking Formation" began to vibrate violently, emitting a hum that could not bear the strain, and the earth within a radius of a thousand miles was shaken and hummed.

Inside the great formation, Elder Gong's expression changed.

"I underestimated..." He stared intently at the two ever-expanding cracks on the light screen, cold sweat beading on his forehead. "I still underestimated the power of the Dao Integration Realm."

"What I never expected was that these two Dao-Merging experts would arrive at the same time!"

"They're insane... these demonic sect members are all insane!" A Void Refinement cultivator beside him trembled in his voice. "Aren't they afraid our army will turn around and attack? There's not a single Dao Integration cultivator left in their sect!"

The people around nodded in agreement.

That's true. No matter how strong the protective formations of the Hehuan Sect and Yinquan Sect are, without a Dao Integration Realm expert in charge, even if three Dao Integration Realm experts from the Immortal Alliance led tens of thousands of cultivators to attack, they wouldn't last long. This kind of desperate gamble is simply risking the very foundation of their sects!

"They're not crazy," Elder Gong slowly shook his head, his voice hoarse. "They calculated it correctly."

"The three lords are going to intercept the leader of the Joyful Union Sect and won't be back for a while—this window of opportunity is the Demonic Sect's only chance. The Immortal Alliance dared to send out their entire force because they have my array and the complete set of array artifacts unearthed from the ancient ruins... but the Demonic Sect doesn't have these."

"No, they dare to gamble anyway," Elder Gong gritted his teeth, "because they can't afford to lose."

"All troops, heed my command!" He whirled around, his voice booming, "Everyone, immediately take your positions and channel spiritual energy into the array's base—if this array breaks, the entire army will be annihilated!"

Dozens of Void Refinement cultivators leaped into the air and landed on the array bases in all four directions of the plain.

Each cultivator who entered the Void Refinement stage pressed their hands into the cold array patterns, pouring their spiritual energy into it like a river bursting its banks. Some turned pale when they reached the third stage, while others bled from the corners of their mouths when they reached the fifth stage, but no one stopped.

Immediately afterwards, everyone—from Nascent Soul to Golden Core—moved into action, rushing towards the array bases in all directions and pouring their spiritual power into them.

The reason for not using spirit stones is that the quality of spiritual energy in spirit stones is too low, and they can only be used as a basic energy supplement. When facing an attack from a Dao Integration level cultivator, spirit stones cannot last long, and the cultivator can only rely on their spiritual power.

Although cultivators below the Void Refinement level have low-quality spiritual power, they have the advantage of large numbers. When they cooperate with Void Refinement cultivators, the energy of the great formation can be replenished quickly.

The pale blue light screen received the infusion of spiritual power, and the cracks slowly healed.

Outside the great formation, two Dao Integration Realm experts stood suspended in mid-air.

"He held on?" The Yinquan Sect Master raised an eyebrow.

"A mere grand formation dares to block the path to Dao Integration?" He sneered, and with a sudden flick of his sleeve, more than ten black shadows shot out from his sleeve and landed in front of the light screen.

There were more than ten corpses.

Each one exuded a terrifying aura of continuous power, its entire body pitch black, its eyes burning with eerie ghostly flames, like twelve demon gods crawling out of hell.

Several of them were at the peak of the Void Refinement stage.

These corpses were not all his; some belonged to other Void Refinement Elders of the Yinquan Sect. He brought them all with him this time.

The difficulty in dealing with the Yinquan Sect is largely due to these people.

"Smash it for me!"

The twelve corpses roared to the sky in unison, then lunged at the light barrier, raining down punches and kicks. With each strike, the light barrier shook violently.

Inside the great formation, Elder Gong's face was deathly pale: "Hold on! Hold on for me—"

Outside the light barrier, the twelve corpse monsters relentlessly delivered blow after blow. They were inanimate objects, incapable of pain or fear, each strike precisely hitting the weakest point of the array pattern in the light barrier—the Yinquan Sect Master stood behind the corpse monsters, sneering, occasionally adding a follow-up palm strike.

In another direction, the Grand Elder was even more ruthless. He didn't bother searching for any nodes; he simply swung his fists, repeatedly and solidly striking the same spot. He wanted to grind through the formation with brute force.

One is clever, the other is clumsy.

One yin, one yang.

The two, though of different styles, cooperated with an unspoken understanding—like two old rivals who had fought for hundreds of years, standing on the same side for the first time.

"Click."

On the light screen, the first real crack appeared.

"Hidden Moon!"

Elder Gong whirled around and roared at Yin Yue, "Notify Lady Yinling! Quickly!"

Yin Yue gritted her teeth, took out a silver conch from her bosom, and frantically poured her spiritual power into it.

-

The Myriad Spirits Secret Realm, outside the Yao Guang Ruins.

Yinling stood in the void, bombarding the pale golden halo alongside Su Qingyun and Jiang Daoxuan. Suddenly, the sea soul conch in her sleeve trembled violently.

She took out a conch shell and placed it behind her ear.

A moment later, her expression changed.

"The army has been attacked." She put down the conch shell, her voice strained. "The Yinquan Sect Master and the Hehuan Sect Grand Elder, two Dao-Merging experts, have arrived together and are launching a fierce attack on the Thousand Mountains Locking Formation. Elder Gong said... the formation is struggling to hold on."

"What else did Elder Gong say?" Su Qingyun asked.

Yinling pursed her lips: "He said—if no reinforcements arrive within a month, please, gentlemen, be prepared to collect the corpses of tens of thousands."

Outside the ruins, there was a deathly silence. Even Jiang Daoxuan's fist, which was pounding the halo, stopped.

"What?!" Jiang Daoxuan roared in fury. "Those two old bastards dare to touch my army?!"

"Fellow Daoist Jiang, please calm down." Su Qingyun narrowed her eyes. "Elder Gong's defensive formation isn't so easily broken. With its Thousand Mountains Locking the Peaks, drawing upon the power of a thousand miles of earth veins, and a complete set of array artifacts—two Dao Integration Realm experts—it can't be broken in the short term."

"It can't be broken in the short term, but what about in the long term?" Yinling asked rhetorically.

Su Qingyun fell silent.

In the long run, the spirit stones and pills carried by the army will eventually run out, while the Demonic Sect's Dao Integration is backed by the entire Central Continent's sect resources. If supplies are depleted by resources, it's obvious who will outlast whom without even calculating.

"So," Silver Bell said softly, "we probably don't have as much time as we think."

She was silent for a few moments, then suddenly said, "Perhaps... that's the only one I can use."

"Which one?" Su Qingyun asked.

Yinling raised her eyes.

Something extremely complex was churning in those sea-blue eyes.

"My sea race, in the infinitely distant past, once produced Mahayana cultivators," her voice soft and slow. "Before our ancestors perished, they left behind a supreme treasure, sealed in the deep sea—the sea race's last trump card, used only once, and its use dwindles with each use. Our ancestors forbade it not to be used lightly unless the race is in annihilation."

"However—" she paused, "if the Demonic Sect truly intends to fight to the death, I believe we can't afford to care about anything else."

Su Qingyun remained silent for a moment, then slowly shook her head.

"Wait a little longer."

"That thing should be used wisely—wait until the part inside is almost finished before using it."

He raised his head, gazing at the pale golden halo, his eyes cold and menacing.

"Now, continue."

"We absolutely cannot let her succeed."