Breakout Battle (Mid)

Half an hour later, the earth-yellow protective shield covering Golden Cloud Mountain was reduced to a thin layer, like paper.

Seeing this, the Sand Bandits, who had been attacking the formation for several hours, had their morale greatly boosted. They intensified their assault once more, even pushing forward and releasing their artifacts to join the attack.

It was at this moment that the three Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Chen family atop Golden Cloud Mountain suddenly stood up. Each of them hurled three formation flags embroidered with yellow earth dragons and planted them on nine crucial formation bases on the mountain.

Rumble!

As soon as the nine formation flags were planted on the formation bases, they instantly grew to over ten zhang high in the wind. Then, the remaining spirit energy of the entire Golden Cloud Mountain's spirit veins surged into the formation flags.

The massive drain of spirit energy directly destabilized the mountain's veins, causing it to shake violently like an earthquake. In some areas, the ground directly collapsed, revealing bottomless black chasms.

"What's going on? Is the mountain collapsing?"

"What are the Chen family members doing? Are they trying to destroy the spirit脉? This is a Third-tier High-grade spirit脉 they spent countless Spirit Stones to cultivate!"

"This is bad, the shield is about to break, everyone run!"

The sudden change stunned the cultivators in the market town who had no idea what was happening. However, for the allied cultivators of the Chen family, such as those from the Zhou Family who had been notified in advance, their eyes were filled with anticipation as they looked at the nine giant formation flags.

The Chen family's Foundation Establishment cultivators had said they would activate the formation's ultimate move to help them break through. They all wanted to know just how powerful this ultimate move, which absorbed the residual spirit energy of the entire Golden Cloud Mountain's spirit veins, would be.

They did not disappoint. As the nine formation flags absorbed a large amount of spirit energy and Mana, the yellow earth dragons embroidered on them suddenly came to life, raising their heads and letting out earth-shattering dragon roars.

Roar—

Amidst the earth-shattering dragon roars, the yellow earth dragons on the nine formation flags suddenly flew out from the flagpoles and drilled directly into the mountain body below.

A few breaths later, the mountain body of Golden Cloud Mountain suddenly cracked open with a "rumble," forming nine fissures tens of feet wide. From these fissures, nine yellow earth dragons, each over thirty zhang long, flew out.

"Heavens! What kind of spell is this? Why do I feel that each of these earth dragons emits an aura more terrifying than a Third-tier demonic beast!"

"So the Chen family had this kind of ultimate move up their sleeve. No wonder they dared to defend the market town to the death. We're saved, we're saved!"

"Go, go, quickly kill all those damned Sand Bandits!"

With nine dragons traversing the sky, the cultivators in the market town instantly erupted in excitement. Many of them showed expressions of joy, as if they had survived a great calamity, believing they were saved.

Indeed, judging by their auras, each of these nine yellow earth dragons emitted an aura more powerful than a Third-tier Low-grade demonic beast like the [Poison Fire Scorpion King].

If these nine yellow earth dragons could persist, the Sand Bandits' advantage in Foundation Establishment stage combat power would disappear. Then, it would be anyone's guess who would emerge victorious.

However, Zhou Yang and others who understood the situation knew that these nine seemingly imposing yellow earth dragons possessed only a single strike's power.

To summon these nine yellow earth dragons, the Third-tier High-grade spirit veins within Golden Cloud Mountain had directly degraded to Third-tier Low-grade. Moreover, after this single strike, the formation flags and bases of the [Chaos Earth Dragon Formation] would be completely destroyed.

"Go!"

The Chen family's Foundation Establishment cultivators on the mountaintop naturally would not explain these matters to those who were unaware of the full picture. After unleashing this mutually destructive move, "Earth Dragon Ascends to Heaven," they immediately waved their hands, controlling the nine yellow earth dragons to charge towards the Sand Bandits, who were stunned by the series of events.

"Now's the time, let's go!"

At the location of the Zhou Family cultivators, Zhou Xuanyu, upon seeing the nine yellow earth dragons fly out to engage the enemy, immediately gave the order and took the lead, charging out of Golden Cloud Mountain behind a yellow earth dragon.

Simultaneously, other family cultivators who had been notified in advance, including the Chen family's Qi Refining stage cultivators, also chose a yellow earth dragon near them and followed suit to break out.

"Damn it, stop them all! Not a single one is allowed to escape!"

The Sand Bandit leader, who had finally recovered from his shock, realized what had happened. While releasing an artifact to strike at the nearest yellow earth dragon, he angrily roared orders at the other Sand Bandits to stop those breaking out.

After painstakingly attacking the formation for half a day, if they still allowed people to escape, it would truly be a joke.

This put the Qi Refining stage Sand Bandits in a difficult position. After attacking the formation for half a day, even with continuous refinement of Spirit Stones to replenish their Mana, they were left with less than half of their peak strength.

In contrast, Zhou Yang and the others who were breaking out still retained at least seventy percent of their Mana. Furthermore, as Family Cultivators, their artifacts and talismans were all exceptional. At this moment, to survive, they were unleashing their full trump cards without reservation.

Zhou Yang followed behind Zhou Xuanyu and saw his godmother transform into a veritable output machine. Various Second-tier Talismans were thrown out like cabbage. The Qi Refining stage Sand Bandits blocking her path were obliterated into nothingness by various spells before they could even figure out what was happening.

This fierce display immediately intimidated the other Sand Bandits who wanted to intercept, allowing their team's breakthrough progress to surge to the forefront.

However, the consequence of this was that a Foundation Establishment stage Sand Bandit, who was locked in a fierce battle with a yellow earth dragon, saw this situation and immediately threw out a spare Second-tier High-grade flying sword, aiming it at their team.

Although it was only a Second-tier High-grade flying sword, under the powerful Mana and "Sword Control Technique" of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, it still possessed the terrifying power to instantly kill an ordinary Qi Refining Layer Nine cultivator.

Seeing this, Zhou Xuanyu's expression changed drastically. She shouted sternly, "You all go quickly, I'll block him!"

Before her shout even finished, she raised her jade hand and unleashed a Third-tier Talisman that she had been clutching.

This Third-tier Talisman sealed a Third-tier defensive spell, "Golden Armor Spell." After Zhou Xuanyu used it, a golden armor composed of golden light instantly appeared on her body's surface.

The flying sword released by the Foundation Establishment stage Sand Bandit struck it, but only caused some golden light fragments to fall from the golden armor. For a short period, it was unable to harm Zhou Xuanyu within.

Seeing this, Zhou Yang felt a slight sense of relief. He also knew that the situation was urgent and that staying behind would not only be unhelpful but would also become a burden to his godmother, Zhou Xuanyu.

Therefore, after saying, "Godmother, take care," he gritted his teeth, took Zhou Xuanyu's place, and led the way forward in the breakout.

The further out they went, the fewer Sand Bandits there were. Zhou Yang, imitating his godmother Zhou Xuanyu, used talismans to kill two Sand Bandits who foolishly tried to block their path. After that, there were no more Sand Bandits blocking their way.

At this point, he looked back. Over a thousand meters behind him, his godmother Zhou Xuanyu was battling the flying sword with her protective golden armor, showing no intention of catching up.

"Godmother!"

Zhou Yang's eyes turned red. He immediately understood Zhou Xuanyu's intentions. She was afraid that if she moved, she would draw the attention of that Foundation Establishment stage cultivator towards them. She was sacrificing herself to fulfill their escape!

"Little Jiu, don't be rash. Your mother still has a Third-tier [Flying Talisman] bestowed by the Old Clan Leader. What we need to do now is escape immediately. Only when we escape from the sight of that Foundation Establishment Sand Bandit will she be able to break out with peace of mind!"

Seeing Zhou Yang stop and look back, Zhou Xuanyu's husband, Wu Tao, immediately reached out and grabbed him, fearing he would impulsively return.

As the cultivator with the highest cultivation among the Zhou Family's in-laws, Wu Tao held a considerable position in the Zhou Family. Coupled with the fact that he was Zhou Xuanyu's husband, Zhou Yang felt slightly relieved upon hearing his words.

"Let's go, we'll split up according to the plan. Everyone remember, if you manage to survive, you must wait for the Old Clan Leader to return before making contact."

He waved his hand with a heavy expression, stating the arrangements they had already discussed.

Then, he looked back at the figure of his godmother, Zhou Xuanyu, behind him. Gritting his teeth, he randomly picked a direction and fled desperately.

Although Qi Refining Stage cultivators couldn't fly using their swords, after being enhanced by spells like the "Divine Speed Technique" and "Light Body Technique," their land speed was much faster than a galloping horse. Running one or two hundred li in an hour was no problem.

However, humans are not creatures adapted for running. Running like this for a short time was fine, but if they continued for a long time, their legs would be ruined.

Therefore, after escaping Golden Rainbow Mountain, Zhou Yang only ran for a little over half an hour before stopping in an uninhabited, desolate mountain. He then circled the mountain, leaving behind many traces of his presence, and used a First-tier formation he carried, the "Illusionary Form Array," to set up a false hiding place.

After doing all this, he used the "Earth Evasion Technique" to burrow into the mountain. He used his flying sword to dig out a shelter several tens of meters deep within the mountain, gripping a Spirit Stone in each hand, and using the precious time to recover his Mana.

He knew that the traces he left behind during his escape would definitely not be missed by the Sand Bandits who were skilled at tracking.

Now, he could only gamble. He gambled that the pursuing Sand Bandits wouldn't be able to find him hidden tens of meters underground, and he gambled that the pursuing Sand Bandits' strength wouldn't exceed the Qi Refining Stage.

If the pursuing Sand Bandits were not beyond the Qi Refining Stage, even if there were many of them, he would have a good chance of winning with his many trump cards. If a Foundation Establishment Stage Sand Bandit pursued him, then it could only be said that fate was against him!

Waiting was agonizing, especially when it concerned one's own life and death.

Zhou Yang waited for an hour or two. When his Mana had fully recovered and no one had pursued him, his anxiety grew. Several times he wanted to go out and continue fleeing.

But his reason told him that the risk of escaping on the ground at this time was definitely many times higher than the risk of waiting underground.

After the Foundation Establishment Stage Sand Bandits broke through the market town, they would certainly not be satisfied with the spoils within the town. At that time, as long as these people flew into the sky and used the "Heavenly Eye Technique" to observe, the Mana spiritual light emitted by cultivators fleeing on the ground within a radius of tens of li would be as dazzling as fireflies in the night, completely unable to escape their discerning eyes.

On the other hand, from a psychological perspective, the most dangerous place is often the safest place.

After the Foundation Establishment Stage Sand Bandits looted the market town, they would pursue the fleeing cultivators. They would certainly fly to places far from the market town to search. According to common sense, cultivators with greater strength and more wealth would definitely have stronger escape speed and ability than others.

Finally, after this agonizing wait lasted for over three hours, Zhou Yang, hidden underground, finally heard the commotion caused by the triggering of the traps he had set on the surface.

Thanks to the reader Villager Self-Grown Vegetables for Sale Point for the reward of 100 Origin Coins. The second update is here. Please vote with recommendation tickets.