Chapter 436: The Fallen Formation

　　Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

　　The citizens of Donglin City lost any semblance of rationality as a collective sense of panic overtook them.

　　They started to rush toward the red wall of light in a hysterical fit. Quite contrary to what they had expected, the red walls of light were intangible—the stampeding citizens just phased through them.

　　Those who came behind stopped dead in their tracks as they watched their predecessors phased through the walls. Their mouths were so wide, their expressions were borderline grotesque.

　　All that was left of those who had rushed through the shroud of light were piles of pinkish skeletons. Their boney frames wobbled a little after crossing through the other side with a soft weak thud, not a single tendon in their body left.

　　The remaining citizens were beyond appalled. Dread pulled their knees down to the ground as they crashed onto the earth, sobbing and wailing helplessly at their fate.

　　The combined cries of desperation rocketed all the way to the sky but no one up there even threw them so much as a single glance. Every pair of eyes on the face of the Immortal cultists were strained onto the man in the golden robe, Ao Zu.

　　The only reason why they had been trying to create some semblance of conversation with Ao Zu was to bid for more time to complete their formation. Now that the Immortal-maiming Seven Stars Array had been completed, Ziyu and the rest no longer wanted to say anything to Ao Zu.

　　Ziyu opened his mouth and shouted, “Immortal-maiming Seven Stars Array—Slaying by the Swords!”

　　The outer layer, composed of the Xian Tian disciples, instantly launched into a flurry of hand signs, shooting beams of light into the light drapes of the Immortal-maiming Seven Stars Array like shooting stars. The red walls of light scintillated brightly.

　　Below the lights, the seven gigantic swords hummed and buzzed before brightening on their own as snake-like runes shimmered out from within the blades.

　　“Rise!”

　　The forty-nine individuals commanded in unison. The word rocked the sky, attracting the attention of even the hopeless, sobbing civilians from below as they raised their heads and watched.

　　Streams of serpentine runes sprouted out of the seven swords in a laser-like beam toward the sky until they formed apparitions of a sharp blade reflecting cold metallic light, its tip pointing at the center of the formation.

　　These apparitions then let loose at the same time, piercing the air with a dagger-like aura as they shot towards Ao Zu like a stampede of horses.

　　Ao Zu smirked. He clasped his hands together and burst into an expansive shower of golden lights. Despite the absence of an actual wind, his golden robe started to swell on its own as his gold aura became a ball of light, shielding him.

　　He barely managed to form his Golden Protective Barrier when densely-packed sword apparitions broke through the air.

　　What followed was a cacophony of metallic collisions!

　　Hundreds of these blade apparitions were deflected from the golden barrier. All of them had managed to carve a shallow cut on the surface of the barrier, never shattering the protective barrier completely. Still, the numbers of the swords quickly became an asset—thousands of the same blade apparitions followed their preceding blows almost instantaneously, jacking up the total damage to such a proportion that only the unwise would neglect it.

　　As countless apparitions of sharp swords, impossible to be recognized distinctly by the naked eyes, gathered together to form deluges rushing towards the barrier from every direction imaginable, sparks and rays of lights shimmered and spat out of the golden barrier encasing Ao Zu.

　　The shallow cuts marked on the surface of the golden barrier multiplied and accumulated, before merging with each other into visible damage and finally, cracks as fine as hair.

　　“More!”

　　Seeing a shred of possibility that the golden barrier was going to crumble, Ziyu quickly shouted hoarsely, his eyes as focused as lightning bolts.

　　The Xian Tian disciples were all pale as they slowly edged towards fatigue due to the consumption of their Real Qi, but hearing the push in Ziyu’s voice compelled them to put more effort into making more hand signs.

　　More rays of light flew into the red walls like shooting stars, and the seven swords below reacted proportionately, outputting even more runes and hence, shooting out even more concentrated sword apparitions hurling toward the Golden Protective Barrier.

　　Crack!

　　Unable to fend off the relentless onslaught any longer, the golden barrier finally cracked under pressure, shattering into pieces.

　　The rest of the apparitions continued, stabbing through the new openings and into Ao Zu. With a flash of light reflected from the blades, Ao Zu’s golden robe were torn open as his body was jabbed by countless swords.

　　The cultists were visibly thrilled that Ao Zu had been hit. Yet before they could even start to celebrate, a few of them suddenly fainted, plopping down on to the golden flying carriages out of fatigue.

　　Meanwhile, unlike these Xian Tian disciples, none of the seven leading Earth-rank powerhouses showed any sign of relaxing. They gripped hard onto the blood-colored token in their hands as they continued to assume a flurry of hand signs in order to maintain the Immortal-maiming Seven Stars Array.

　　A flood of golden light passed as the last of the apparitions faded into the air. Everyone had their eyes on the sky, but as the lights cleared, their hopeful expression slowly turned to dread.

　　Ao Zu was still standing tall in midair, his golden robe battered and a bit shredded, but otherwise depressingly unharmed. He looked at his damaged clothing and frowned a little, then ripped the entire garment off, baring a torso that glowed with golden light.

　　Upon closer inspection, one could see that his body’s golden glow was because of dense rows of golden, fan-like scales covering his skin. However, it didn’t seem like he was wearing a hauberk—the golden scales protruded from his own skin.

　　“You’re telling me that after all that work setting up a big formation, the best a group of pathetic fleas can come up with was… that?” Ao Zu smirked.

　　There was a clasp of thunder right above him as soon as he ended his sentence. He looked up, his eyes meeting the sight of an incoming purple lightning bolt, about a few square-mile large, aiming for his head at terrifying speed.

　　“Immortal-maiming Seven Stars Array: Thrust of Tempest!” Ziyu’s command was nigh inaudible as it was lost in the roar of thunder.

　　At his behest, the tokens in the hands of the seven Earth-rank powerhouses blazed in light, their rays crossing over to another’s.

　　Ao Zu quickly clapped his hands together before parting them away again, swinging them above his head against the incoming attack.

　　His hands flashed as a golden orb formed between his palms. It had none of the bombastic theatrics of the purple lightning—in fact, it appeared to be downright soft and weak in contrast—but it spread to all sides very quickly before expanding into a gargantuan golden net.

　　The pillar of purple lightning plummeted toward Ao Zu, yet once it was caught by this golden web, it stopped and bent like a big fish trying to wriggle out of the net that it just could not escape.

　　Boom!

　　Unable to reach Ao Zu, the pillar of light exploded in the sky. All that was left of it were a few sparks and tiny lightning bolts snaking and zigzagging in the air.

　　Ao Zu’s disheveled golden hair billowed from the force. There were only a few cuts on his body, but he didn’t seem to mind them nor the tiny sparks now swimming around him.

　　“I-i-im-impossible!!” Bai Shi’s mouth was wide, his round face swelling in complete surprise.

　　“Bah, fleas will always be fleas. Insignificantly they struggle… How pathetic,” Ao Zu said.

　　His body once again brightened up in gold, and his towering body suddenly grew by several yards, turning him into a golden giant.

　　Now that he was six yards tall, Ao Zu bent his body and pulled his right fist next to the side of his body as he leered at the wall of lights that was the Immortal-maiming Seven Stars Array. He swung his fist and threw a hill-sized fist at the wall.

　　Boom!

　　The red wall of light was instantly marred by several cracks, exposing pitch-black void inside. Ao Zu’s attack did not phase through the wall nor did his hand turn to bones—he had landed the blow on the space before the wall itself.

　　The wall of red light shuddered violently, emitting a blaring hum that could sting the eardrums. It became a circular ripple not unlike water as they raced through the air to all sides.

　　The Earth-rank powerhouses on the outer layer of the array were the first to suffer. Their bodies vibrated as blood gushed out of their mouths.

　　The Xian Tian disciples standing on the seven golden carriages had it worse, however—every orifice on their faces was bleeding in tandem as their bodies contorted, before they crashed downwards, unconscious.

　　The Immortal-maiming Seven Stars Array was still intact, but as a dozen Xian Tian disciples were out of commission, the light dome had become much dimmer and weaker.

　　After that one hit, Ao Zu’s body size returned to normal.

　　Seeing that he did not manage to destroy the Immortal-maiming Seven Stars Array, Ziyu slowly composed himself from his initial panic. He spoke to his Earth-rank comrades telepathically, “It seemed that this scum possessed the Later Heaven-rank powers, which is why the Immortal-maiming Seven Stars Array trap him but could not kill him. My brothers, let us trap him here, and wait for our master to finish him off.”

　　“Trap me—this thing? Laughable!” Ao Zu smirked. It was as if he could hear Ziyu.

　　Ziyu’s heart throbbed, but he did not say anything.

　　“I’m done warming up. Time for snacks,” Ao Zu declared.

　　With that, the air around Ao Zu was suddenly pulsing powerfully. The golden light around his body wasn’t swelling like before but instead coursed downwards through his body like rivers and streams. As the lights raced through him, Ao Zu’s figure blurred.

　　Ziyu watched as the man’s body elongated while his head started to change—

　　“Roar!”

　　A single bellow, unmistakably draconic, tore through the void, finally rousing Ziyu to reality.

　　The golden-haired man was gone. In his place was a golden Jiao dragon about ten yards long.

　　Ziyu’s face became white as a sheet when he remembered something, but his mouth could only mumble, “A golden Jiao…!”

　　The leviathan’s gargantuan pate scanned its surroundings and coiled its thick tail towards itself before suddenly flicking it away, projecting a tidal wave of golden beams that were almost corporeal, scratching through the air as scattering ripples.

　　Boom boom boom!

　　The booms went for seven times.

　　The dimming red dome of light shook once again, and the remaining Xian Tian disciples on the golden flying carriages were instantly spewing blood out of their mouths, their eyeballs popping out of their sockets. They could not withstand the force at all—they died instantly.

　　Without their spiritual energy, the carriages plummeted from the sky.

　　The golden Jiao dragon couldn’t care less about how the dome of light was shaking. It coiled its body and shot up into the sky, opening its mouth wide and exhaling a stream of golden flames right at it.

　　The dome caught fire instantly, blazing intensely. The blood-colored tokens in the hands of the Earth-rank powerhouses suddenly became hotter and hotter, until—crack! Crack crack!

　　All seven tokens burst into smithereens. The seven walls of red light that had made up the dome in the sky collapsed in segments as the golden inferno reduced them to ashes.