Array Anomaly

The roars of the evil spirits gradually subsided, and the deathly energy on the battlefield slowly dissipated as the last few Foundation Establishment evil spirits crumbled. After a fierce battle, the combined forces of eight Foundation Establishment cultivators and a group of Qi Refining cultivators had finally broken through the defenses of the evil spirits one by one.

As the final Foundation Establishment evil spirit's body disintegrated, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. The surrounding spiritual energy began to stabilize, and the oppressive deathly aura dispersed, leaving a faint sense of calm in the air. The scattered cultivators and the Yunlan Mountain disciples exchanged glances, a flicker of relief in their eyes.

"It's finally over…"

Lei Feng muttered softly, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. The intense battle had put everyone under tremendous pressure, and if they hadn't united, they wouldn't have lasted this long.

Fengming Daoren swung his sword, shaking off the lingering deathly energy. His eyes scanned the battlefield, littered with the remains of the evil spirits, and he said sternly, "Be careful, everyone. Collect the fragments of the evil spirits' bodies before they can escape."

Wang Quan also exhaled in relief. Although his spiritual energy was almost depleted, victory seemed within reach. He stepped forward to gather the fragments of the evil spirits' bodies. These fragments contained potent soul power, making them valuable cultivation resources.

However, as he approached the fragments, he sensed something was wrong.

"Something's off…"

Wang Quan frowned, reaching out to pick up one of the spirit fragments. But the moment his hand touched it, all of the fragments suddenly emitted a dark light. As if pulled by an unseen force, they rapidly shot toward the core of the formation!

"What's happening?"

Everyone froze in place, staring in shock as the fragments of the evil spirits were drawn into the center of the array. They had believed the evil spirits had been completely destroyed, but the array was still active, and it seemed that the fragments were being attracted by some powerful force, converging toward the array's core.

Fengming Daoren's expression hardened, instantly realizing the gravity of the situation. He swiftly dashed toward the core of the array, his spiritual sense fully extended, trying to figure out what was happening.

"There's a problem with the array core!"

He said coldly, his voice filled with alarm.

Wang Quan quickly released his spiritual sense as well, carefully scanning the array's core. He soon discovered that death energy was rapidly gathering at the array's center, forming a vortex that was drawing all the spirit fragments into it. The force was overwhelming, even distorting the surrounding spiritual energy, as if some terrifying entity was awakening.

"Everyone, fall back! Something much stronger is in the array core!"

Wang Quan shouted urgently, leaping back as a sense of impending doom surged within him.

At that moment, a piercing roar erupted from the array core. The ground shook violently, and a torrent of black death energy burst forth from the center, instantly engulfing the entire area. This death energy was far stronger than any they had faced before, as if the darkness of the heavens and earth were converging at this very spot.

"That's… a peak Foundation Establishment evil spirit!"

Fengming Daoren's face paled as he shouted in shock. He immediately understood that the fragments of the evil spirits weren't just scattered remains but were being absorbed into the core to nourish some immensely powerful being.

As everyone looked on in horror, the death energy at the array core coalesced, slowly forming a massive figure. It was an evil spirit made entirely of black mist, with glowing red eyes. Its body was more solid than any of the previous spirits they had encountered. Its spiritual energy had reached the peak of Foundation Establishment, and it was rapidly absorbing the fragments' power, seemingly on the verge of breaking through to the Golden Core stage!

"It's about to break through!"

Wang Quan instantly realized what was happening, a cold chill running through him. This evil spirit was using the array and the fragments to fuel its breakthrough. If it succeeded, they would be facing a Golden Core-level evil spirit, an existence far beyond their ability to defeat!

Fengming Daoren's expression was grim as he shouted, "We can't let it break through! If it does, we're all dead!"

The leader of the Yunlan Mountain disciples, also recognizing the dire situation, paled and yelled to the group, "Everyone, attack with everything you have! We have to stop its breakthrough!"

The cultivators instantly reacted, unleashing their full power. Wang Quan rapidly circulated his Five Elements spiritual energy, igniting his sword with a fierce blaze of fire and metal energy. He knew he had to give it everything he had to prevent the evil spirit from completing its breakthrough.

"Blazing Heaven Strike!"

Wang Quan swung his sword with a fierce shout, sending a fiery sword energy roaring through the air toward the evil spirit's body. The intense heat of the flames pushed back the surrounding death energy, and the sword energy, with tremendous piercing power, struck the spirit's chest.

Fengming Daoren and the Yunlan Mountain disciples also launched their attacks, their spiritual energy and sword lights intertwining with lightning and wind energy as they assaulted the evil spirit's body, trying to interrupt its breakthrough. However, the spirit's body was incredibly resilient, and with each fragment it absorbed, its power grew stronger, the fluctuations of its spiritual energy becoming more intense.

"Hiss—!"

The evil spirit let out an ear-splitting screech, and black mist exploded from its body, sweeping across the area like a tidal wave. Golden light began to appear on its body, clearly indicating it was at the critical moment of its breakthrough to the Golden Core stage.

Wang Quan gritted his teeth, channeling more spiritual energy. His water and earth energies surged within him, forming a powerful barrier in an attempt to block the spirit's path to breakthrough.

But just then, the evil spirit's body suddenly erupted with a blinding light, as waves of energy radiated from its form. It was clear that it was on the cusp of stepping into the Golden Core stage.

"Quick! Stop it!"

Fengming Daoren shouted urgently, knowing that this moment was critical for their survival.