"Boom, boom..." Waves of Vast Righteous Qi descended from the high sky, while layers of strange cloud-glows surged into the heavens from one corner of the mountains and forest. Another Confucian cultivator's defensive formation had come into view.
Xiao Hua flew closer and saw that, within an area several miles wide, ancient trees stood in an orderly yet scattered arrangement. Mist wafted from both their branches and leaves and their trunks, while inscriptions shining with azure light flowed among the leaves. He immediately understood that this was a defensive formation composed of countless ancient trees. If nothing unexpected had happened, it should have been of the Wood attribute.
Without a moment's hesitation, Xiao Hua slapped his hand. The Nascent Soul hand appeared again, transforming into a giant hand over a hundred zhang in size and grabbing down from above. "Crack, crack, crack..." Like thunderbolts exploding, the giant hand uprooted every ancient tree within a hundred zhang, making the entire ground tremble. Clusters of inscriptions gathered Vast Righteous Qi into spears over a zhang long and stabbed toward the giant hand, but before they could pierce its palm, they were shattered by the force of restraint.
"Roar..." The giant palm overturned the defensive formation, revealing what lay within. A hundred-zhang giant beast roared as it charged out of the formation! Beneath it wafted a thick stench of blood. Among the jagged rocks lay bones everywhere—some dried and withered, others still dripping with blood and flesh, a horrifying sight.
The giant beast resembled an ox. A single horn several zhang long stood straight from its forehead, its tip still glinting coldly. Long fur covered the beast's body, shimmering with azure radiance, while its lone enormous hoof trod upon azure clouds and long winds. Carrying an indescribable air of violence, it lunged at