Those green figures were actually human silhouettes—cultivators being teleported over one after another.
"Five Ghosts Shifting Locusts" was an almost-lost teleportation array. It did not require spirit stones for activation, instead borrowing the power of heaven-and-earth laws to form a teleportation passage. Usually, though, its range did not exceed five thousand li.
Yet precisely because it did not use spirit stones for activation, this array was exceptionally well concealed!
However, for that very reason, because it borrowed the power of heaven and earth and had no spirit stones in its array foundation, it was somewhat slower than ordinary teleportation arrays.
This created a phenomenon: the lower the cultivation of the being teleported, the shorter the time required and the faster the transfer.
The higher the cultivation of the person being teleported, the greater the power the teleportation passage needed to draw upon, and the longer it needed to accumulate that power.
All those figures flying out were Golden Core Realm cultivators. By the time Li Yan and Mu Guyue rushed over, twenty people had already emerged.
The instant those twenty appeared, ten of them immediately flew toward the crowns of the five great trees, while the other ten flashed forward and lunged at the vermilion gate.
The five Soul-Subduing Palace cultivators at the vermilion gate had also seen what was happening among the five trees after a momentary daze.
Though astonishment filled their faces, figures suddenly charged at them amid an explosive burst of light.
Even while disoriented, acting on instinct, they did not need Li Yan's orders to know that they could not let the enemy approach this place. They immediately moved to meet them.
Despite being outnumbered two to one, neither side had time for further thought as they swiftly closed in...
Meanwhile, the other ten Golden Core