The improved female villains regained their memories.

The capital city's array consisted of only five layers, yet it shattered four of them with a single, casual palm strike.

"Ok?"

Qiongqi realized something was wrong; the originally ordinary five-layered protective array had suddenly turned into fifty.

"The formation has changed?" Its expression turned serious. This formation had stood here for so long and had always been very ordinary. It was something it had never expected to change like this.

"Huh? The royal protective formation, how come..." On the other side, Song Panning also sensed the change in the formation of the capital.

Her eyes lit up again.

Having stayed in the capital for so long, she knew every blade of grass and every tree in the city inside and out, including the great formations.

At the time, Song Panning thought it was just an ordinary array, so she didn't pay any attention to it. Little did she know that it would undergo such a change after being impacted by the pressure of a True Immortal.

"Is the person who set up this formation so skilled? This kind of formation, which can change on its own even when its master is not around, must have some kind of condition set up. Was it something that was anticipated, or...?"

Song Panning began to think more deeply, discovering that the capital city was more complex than she had imagined.

As expected, under the constantly shifting pressure of Qiongqi, the entire capital's grand formation was reconstructed: fifty formations, one hundred and fifty formations, five hundred and fifty formations...

Layer upon layer, until—

—Three thousand six hundred and eighty-five.

Chapter 474 The Gluttonous Devouring Array

The changes in the capital city were beyond everyone's expectations.

Whether they were the protagonists or the villains, no one took this formation seriously. But when the fight actually started, they suddenly realized how much trouble it was.

Generally speaking, the key to setting up an exquisite formation is to have a good grasp of the surrounding environment. However, sometimes, if the conditions for setting up your formation happen to be mutually restraining, then it can also be considered exquisite.

For example, a fire-attribute immortal broke into the formation you set up, which was mainly based on water spiritual energy, and activated a device in your formation, causing a continuous flow of water spiritual energy to rush in, directly forcing the fire-attribute immortal to his death.

In this situation, even if your formation is set up very crudely, you can still be called a formation master.

The changes in the capital city's formation not only relieved the royal family but also the villains.

After all, if this grand formation isn't broken, Song Panning and Xu Anlu's arrangements won't be revealed.

"I knew it. Someone who can create a ninth-grade magic weapon wouldn't have a simple formation, would they?" Qiongqi sneered and gestured behind him.

The figures of three ferocious beasts appeared one after another beside it: Taotie, Taotie, and Chaos.

"The formation has been reconstructed, making it even more troublesome," Taotie frowned.

"..." Chaos sighed.

The Taotie sneered, "No matter how it changes, just swallow it all, won't that solve the problem?"

This sentence means that Taotie is about to make a move.

The other three ferocious beasts exchanged glances and retreated, giving the main stage to Taotie.

It grinned maliciously, licked its lips, and transformed itself, revealing its true form.

boom!

Those hiding in the capital only saw a colossal object appear in the sky.

Its head was enormous and deformed, its eyes like burning embers, its nose flat and almost fused with its face, and its most striking feature was its wide mouth—the corners of its mouth extended all the way to its ears, as if it could devour anything that came into view. Layers upon layers of sharp teeth were arranged in its mouth, each one like a stone pillar honed by time, sharp and strong enough to tear apart any prey.

Its limbs are strong and powerful, with its forelimbs being thicker than its hind limbs. Each hand has six fingers with hook-like claws at the tips, enough to easily dig through rocks or tear flesh. On its back, a pair of degenerated wings are tightly attached to its body. Although they can no longer support flight, they still retain their former majesty. Its tail is long and powerful, with a heavy tip like an iron hammer. Every swing of its tail would cause an earthquake if it landed on the ground.

Roar!

The next moment, it opened its blood-red maw and let out a deafening howl.

Then, he took a deep breath, instantly creating a storm.

The demonic aura lingered in its mouth, and a small purple-black sphere formed there.

It only takes the time it takes to breathe.

Bang bang bang!

The great formation continued to shatter, collapsing at a visible speed.

The celestial beings offering sacrifices changed their expressions drastically and continuously channeled spiritual energy into the great formation to replenish it.

"It's the Taotie, it's here too!"

"I just saw it. All four ferocious beasts have arrived. The Guardian Heaven Sect really wants to destroy us."

"Stop it!"

The celestial beings were terrified. The great formation had become their lifeline, and they desperately poured spiritual energy into it.

A distorted light appeared, and Fang Wushun instantly materialized. He loudly transmitted his voice upwards: "Seniors of the Guardian Heaven Sect, let's talk things out. Why the need for such a ruthless approach?"

Taotie was focused on devouring the formation, while Qiongqi beside him sneered, "Your royal family has been fickle for a long time, and now you're asking us why we're so ruthless? Isn't that a bit too late?"

Fang Wu said loudly, "Even if we were wrong first, senior should still consider the bigger picture. The dragon vein is tied to the royal family. If the royal family is gone, the dragon vein will also be in trouble!"

"Shut up, Fang Wu. I'll let you have some nerve to say something. Stop this nonsense and get out of here!"

"senior!"

"Shut up!"

When communication failed, Fang Wu gritted his teeth and had no choice but to join the team guarding the formation.

With Fang Wu's addition, the formation became significantly more robust, at least the rate at which it broke down slowed down.

The royal beauties worked themselves to the bone, practically draining themselves dry on the spot.

When the Taotie Secret Technique ended, only a little over a hundred of the three thousand six hundred and eighty-five techniques remained, but they managed to hold on to them.

"Hmm?" Taotie closed its mouth and muttered in surprise, "It didn't break."

This seemingly ordinary grand formation in the capital is older than some Earth Immortals, and its creators may have already passed away. However, now, this grand formation is truly demonstrating its power.

Whether it was a coincidence or the owner had foreseen it, it no longer matters.

Importantly, this great formation performed its function, effectively keeping the Guardian Heaven Sect's army outside.

It blocked countless attacks from magical artifacts, as well as attacks from the two ferocious beasts.

Not only did it block the attack, but with Fang Wu's spiritual energy, the formation was reconstructed and began to recover.

"What a powerful formation! That lord's methods are indeed mysterious and unpredictable." The royal celestial being breathed a sigh of relief.

As Qingmingzi repaired his internal injuries, he watched the formation recover and couldn't help but sigh, "The person who can create a ninth-grade magic weapon must also have such terrifying mastery of formations. The formation was unremarkable back then, but now it is showing its extraordinary nature. There must be such a perfect person in the world."

"Although this formation is profound, it is nothing more than that. Firstly, it is constructed from a single source of spiritual energy, and secondly, there is no method to control it, resulting in simple patterns and changes. Once the people of the Guardian Heaven Sect figure out the patterns, this formation will be broken." Song Panning watched through the images and silently calculated in her mind.

Taotie failed in its attack and transformed back into human form. The other three ferocious beasts appeared one by one and observed the great formation.

It's not surprising that they weren't defeated, nor did they expect to break through with a single move.

Anyway, the capital city can only rely on this great formation. Once the formation is broken, Fang Wu alone cannot stop so many divine beasts. Those celestial immortals are just children who will be slaughtered indiscriminately.

Moreover, their methods don't stop there; the Heroes Alliance is also stirring.

"That old bastard Zhiyuan is really cunning. He made us come over in a big show, seemingly to oppress the royal family, but in reality, he was taking action against the villains. And just as he said, the villains will not rush over when they see us confronting the royal family, but will observe from the shadows first." Qiongqi looked at the terrified faces of the celestial beings in the formation below and thought to himself without showing any emotion.

Meanwhile, the newly established entrances to the Shadow Empire around the capital were attacked by the Heroes Alliance.

"Stop them!"

"Don't let them in!"

Zhiyuan, along with Lingfeizi, Xuege, and several celestial beings, launched a frenzied attack, forcing Ying to personally appear and join the remaining zodiac animals in resisting them.

Both the Zodiac and the Shadow are strong, but Zhiyuan personally attacked with strange strength and was a True Immortal, which the Shadow could not withstand.

"We can't wait any longer, I have to go and provide support!" Even Xu Anlu couldn't hold back any longer.

For her, it didn't matter how the royal family and the Heavenly Guardian Sect fought, but now that the Shadow Empire was clearly threatened, she, as the Empress of the Shadow Empire, could not sit idly by.

Song Panning was still thinking, and after pondering it repeatedly, she suddenly smiled with satisfaction.

"Fine, let's start fighting then."

She said to Yang Pingsheng, "Let your sister and Xu Anlu go to rescue them. You and I will figure out a way to get into the city."

Yang Pingsheng nodded: "Okay."

After thinking for a moment, he asked again, "Do you need our support?"

"We" here refers to the gang of villains, Luo Benmo said, puffing out his cheeks, clearly unhappy. Song Panning thought for a moment and then shook her head: "No need."

With just one sentence, she gave everyone confidence.

"I have a grand formation in the capital. If the Guardian Heaven Sect wants to play the 'luring the enemy into a trap' game, then let's play along."

-------------

"Your Majesty, we mortals are truly no match for immortals."

"Your Majesty, our dynasty relies on the Heavenly Guardian Sect to establish itself. It would be unwise to fight against them at this time."

"His Majesty......."

The clamor of the courtiers seemed to threaten to lift the roof off the palace. The spiritual energy and divine light above, and the earth-shaking tremors in the capital, undoubtedly made these ministers forget their former etiquette and only hoped to come up with a solution.

Xu Weibang wandered around for a bit and then left. His chattering hadn't yielded any solutions. He walked into the shadows of the corridor with his hands behind his back, looking less like an emperor and more like an ordinary person with something on their mind.

Xu Weibang doesn't like heights; he's even a little afraid of them.

Throughout history, few emperors disliked height; in order to maintain their authority, each emperor had to be high above others.

But Xu Weibang was different. Although he was of royal blood, he was never born into a privileged position.

The overflowing light couldn't penetrate the darkness of the corridor. He stood there, his mind filled with memories of the past.

Chaos in the Imperial Court.

He was born out of wedlock. When the chaos in the imperial court occurred, he was still an infant. It was thanks to his uncle, who was a guard in the palace, that he was able to be rescued amidst the chaos.

From then on, he grew up among the common people, and until he was thirty, everything about him had nothing to do with the royal family.

Da da da.

The sound of footsteps behind him interrupted his thoughts. He looked up and found an unfamiliar palace maid standing in front of him.