"A turtle in a jar, a trapped beast fighting in vain!" Shan Xiu raised his arm to the sky. From the heavens descended a massive spear of ice, three zhang long, its surface glittering with frost and radiating a murderous chill.1

With a sharp command, he shouted, "Go!"0

Inside the formation, Zhou Yuanli’s eyes were glued to the sky, watching the enormous ice spear descend like a judgment. He paced the perimeter of the defensive formation with mounting urgency, his face pale with tension.0

"Hold on… No matter what, we must hold on!" he muttered under his breath, as if sheer will could strengthen the crumbling defense.0

The next moment, the ice spear crashed against the earthen-yellow barrier, producing a piercing screech, like metal grating against bone.0

Crack… Crack… Crack…0

For several breaths, the two forces clashed before the ice spear dissolved into nothing, leaving behind only a lingering chill in the air. The weakened barrier flickered for a moment before stabilizing, as firm as a mountain once more.0

It seemed fragile, but in reality, it was unshakable! 0

Seeing this, Zhou Yuanli let out a long sigh of relief.0

Then he looked down to find the pile of spirit stones beneath his feet had turned into nothing but fine, gray dust.0

Puff! Puff! Puff!0

“Someone! Replenish the spirit stones!” he shouted. Behind him, several cultivators rushed forward, tossing fresh spirit stones onto the array’s supply nodes.0

Outside the formation, Shan Xiu let out a low growl, his breath misting with fury. He glared at the shimmering dome of the Earth Guardian Array, which had now taken on the unbreakable demeanor of a turtle’s shell.0

He turned sharply and stormed toward Gao Tingyuan.0

"You bastards!" he barked. "Am I the only one actually attacking? Are the rest of you just here to watch?"0

Lan Tianyun stepped between them, his expression dark. “Watch your tone. Didn’t Second Brother already send over sixty mid stage Qi-Refining cultivators to support your ...0