"There's no need to go all out, lest we scare these guys away, especially that coward Zi."
Han Xuanji stood atop the city wall, his deep blue, Wuliang Eye slowly rotating, taking in every detail of the beast tide outside the city.
Among this beast tide were many ferocious beasts at the Sage level, as well as four Eternal Deity leaders at the Peak Sage, and even several more powerful auras overseeing the battle from behind.
This included Zi, but Han Xuanji could tell that the other party was very wary, and that it wasn't even the real Zi, but just an avatar.
If we were to launch a strong attack now, we could certainly quell the beast tide and slay these Eternal Deity, but Zi, as their commander, would probably be terrified and would definitely not launch another attack.
It's also difficult to draw out the real mastermind behind it all.
"Activate the formation first."
Han Xuanji pondered for a moment, then raised his hand and flicked his sleeve.
The next instant, the entire Thousand Souls City lit up.
Soon, three enormous array light screens slowly rose from the ground, each towering tens of thousands of feet high, radiating a heavy, mountain-like pressure as their light flowed.
This light screen, though seemingly thin, is actually incredibly solid, with countless mysterious runes floating on its surface.
The massive beast at the front, its size resembling a mountain range, rammed into the barrier with a deafening roar. The barrier remained unmoved, while the beast was thrown back several steps, its scales flying off in several places, its enormous body carving two deep furrows in the ground.
"Roar!"
The mountain behemoth shook its head, its enormous eyes filled with confusion.
It thought this small city would be reduced to dust by its charge, but instead it was met with a crushing defeat.
Undeterred, it rammed into the light barrier again. This time, the light barrier didn't even shake, but its own shoulder blade cracked first.
This action, however, triggered a counterattack from the formation, which is known to have more than just defensive capabilities.
Within the most powerful killing formation, countless light swords condensed, hovering above the heads of the beast horde, and with a slight tremor, they poured down.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Lightswords rained down, densely piercing the horde of beasts, each one hitting a vital point with pinpoint accuracy, piercing the giant beast's defenses and pinning it to the ground.
The first mountain behemoth, comparable to Eternal Sage and possessing an extremely powerful physical body, struggled a few times before ceasing to move.
Its collapsed body crushed a group of ferocious beasts around it, and the scattered blood gathered into a river of blood, gurgling in the low-lying area.
Smelling the blood, many of the surrounding ferocious beasts stopped their charge and lowered their heads to lick the giant beast's flesh.
For them, the flesh and blood of their own kind is also a great source of nourishment.
"What kind of formation is this?"
"How could Thousand Souls City possibly have such a powerful array protecting it?"
The four leaders of the Eternal Deity all changed their expressions.
They had not received any such intelligence beforehand; the message sent back by the Youying did not mention that Thousand Souls City had such a robust defense system.
The lightsaber didn't stop; it seemed endless, forcefully knocking down the leading giant beasts before they could even roar a second time. The beasts behind couldn't stop in time, trampling each other in chaos.
The four leaders of the Eternal Deity changed their expressions simultaneously. One of them, a humanoid god covered in Azure Scale, roared and pointed his finger at the center of the formation. A dark green beam of light slammed into the edge of the killing formation, trying to tear a hole in it.
But as soon as the beam of light touched the array patterns, it was deflected by the three layers of array, and in the end, it only splashed out a ripple before dissipating.
How is that possible?
The Azure Scale God's expression turned ugly.
They had repeatedly checked the defenses of Thousand Souls City before they arrived. There was clearly only one old defensive formation. When did so many high-level formations appear?
"I'll do it!"
Another Eternal Deity, entirely crimson and shaped like a giant, also became enraged, and a seven-colored rainbow emanated from its body.
The beam of light struck the barrier, causing it to sway but not break.
Seeing this, even the two Eternal Deity were dumbfounded.
Of the four, the other two were less capable in attack than these two, so their attacks would be futile.
"Never mind, the lord has ordered that this city must fall today!"
The Azure Scale God roared, stopping the commotion that was taking place inside the ferocious beasts:
"We rely on this formation for protection, but the Law Power has its limits. We'll slowly deplete their strength and wear them down!"
"You beasts, charge!"
It didn't care at all about the deaths of these ferocious beasts.
In his eyes, these low-IQ beasts were just cannon fodder; it didn't matter how many died, as long as enough of them charged, they could eventually wear down the enemy.
The Eternal Deity have a natural ability to suppress ferocious beasts. Even if those beasts are extremely unwilling, they are still forced to change direction and charge forward without fear of death.
Upon seeing this, Han Xuanji shook his head and softly exclaimed:
"Town!"
In the blink of an eye, the power of the formation increased several times, and countless sword lights densely covered the entire battlefield, forcibly suppressing the beast tide's offensive.
At the same time, the Taiqian Spirit Formation was fully activated.
Han Xuanji's disciples and all the cultivators in the city who had reached the Eternal True God level simultaneously felt a powerful force surging into their bodies from their feet, filling their limbs and bones with power.
Li Taiqing reacted the fastest, immediately explaining loudly to the surrounding cultivators who looked terrified:
"Don't panic, everyone! This is the Taiqian Spirit Formation. With its protective spiritual light, your defense will be greatly increased, and your power will be amplified countless times!"
The crowd was skeptical, but they soon discovered that Jiang Hao had somehow rushed out of the city and was stuck inside the light barrier, frantically unleashing attacks with immense power—an attack that was completely unlike what a cultivator at the level of Eternal True God could produce.
However, the ferocious beasts' ranged attacks could not penetrate the light barrier's defenses.
With the support of the formation, the ferocious attack of the beast horde was stubbornly resisted.
Having killed Young Venerable ferocious beasts, Han Xuanji saw that the other side remained unmoved. The four Eternal Deity leaders hid in the back, directing cannon fodder, completely unconcerned about the deaths of these ferocious beasts.
This wasn't the kind of scene Han Xuanji wanted to see. After a moment's thought, he decided to put some pressure on the other side.
"Destroy!"
While maintaining the Taiqian Spirit Formation, Han Xuanji simultaneously mobilized the power of the Ten Thousand Swords Diagram to launch a direct long-range attack on the four peak Peak Sage Eternal Deity leaders behind him.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sword light flashed like rain, each sword carrying its own lock.
Under the tracking of the Wuliang Eye, no matter how well the four leaders hid or how quickly they moved, they could not escape the pursuit of the sword light.
The Azure Scale God was the first to suffer. His body was struck by a series of sword lights, his hard Azure Scale shattered inch by inch, and his powerful body rapidly collapsed under the erosion of the Sword Intent.
"No!"
He let out a shrill scream, desperately urging the powerful life force of the Eternal Deity, but the Sword Intent entwined around his wound seemed to have a life of its own, constantly drilling into his core essence.
"Help me!"
He panicked and immediately called for help from his companions, while simultaneously shouting for help towards the rear of the beast horde:
"My lord, save me!"
From a high place behind the beast tide, Zi looked over from afar.
"This..."
The cold smile on his face had long since frozen, his vertical pupils reflecting the dense sword light above Thousand Souls City, and his lips parted slightly.
He originally thought Thousand Souls City was nothing more than a piece of easy prey, easily conquered with a single flick of the wrist as his army pressed in.
But what he saw before him was completely beyond his expectations.
"No, absolutely not!"
Han Xuanji made no attempt to conceal her presence, which aroused suspicion in Zi.
"How is that possible? Didn't he just become Sage? How could he be capable of doing this?"
His mind raced, but he just couldn't figure it out.
He was no stranger to Han Xuanji.
This trip was even prepared for.