"Senior Feng, what should we do on the very off chance that the demons are really imprisoned within that star?" Li Caiwei asked as she followed him.

"Oh, then I guess we'll either run or kneel in submission if that's the case," Feng Qingyu said.

"Come on, is that what the strongest man on the continent should say?"

"I lost that title that day at Tianming City." By now, Feng Qingyu had reached the formation of elites from Hexapath. They were like a sharp sword pointed at Taiji Peak Lake. The other sects had all made their preparations too, and were looking toward Di Zang, who had his hand raised with a firm gaze. This was the calm before the storm.

"Attack!" he ordered the combined army. The grand battle had begun. Countless abilities were launched at the Ninefold Formation, sending deafening explosions all over.

Only Biritual had held off their attack, all of them looking at Li Caiwei, who was a little confused. She grit her teeth and looked at the five-colored star with her fists tightly clenched as she pondered her dilemma. "Neither option seems appealing at all.... Which choice should I make?"

Looking ahead, she saw Taiji Peak Lake, which the Biritual Demon Sect had lost. It used to be their home, and was something their forebears had wanted desperately to reclaim. But looking above, she felt an immense fear of the unknown.

......

Atop the Heaven Cauldron at Heaven Sacred Mountain stood two men side by side, namely Ouyang Jianwang and Yi Xingyin. Behind them was a five-colored pillar of light that shot skyward and illuminated the entire sect. In front of them were many colorful formation spirit threads spreading throughout the sect, which the many folk of Archaion and their lifebound beasts protected. They looked at the enemies outside the formation without the slightest hint of fear.

"Brother, do you know why they still came to fight this suicidal battle even though you crippled them at Tianming City? Is Nonahall so proud that they've lost their mind?" Ouyang Jianwang said as he put down the sword in his hand.

"Impossible." Yi Xingyin seemed to be in deep thought. "Ouyang, the fact that we managed to deal huge blows to our enemies doesn't mean that they're fools. We just made the best use of the opportunities available to us and took them by surprise. For them to launch an assault on the Ninefold Formation despite being at a disadvantage means that they must have some kind of trump card that we aren’t aware of."

"The problem is that we're in a passive position. We can only defend and we have no idea what trick they might have," Ouyang Jianwang said.

"That's right."

"I wonder how that brat is doing after going to that five-colored star. If he discovers some secret from the black hole stars, he might be able to improve our chances."

"Oh well... I'm crippled now, and you can't exactly leave either. All we can do is wait and see." Yi Xingyin weakly shook his head.

"If you were fine like before, you'd be controlling the Ninefold Formation from Tribulation Tower right now, right?"

"Yeah. Such is life. We gain some, we lose some. That's all there is!"

"Don't be so pessimistic, Brother. You gave your all for Archaion, and that's already enough!" He patted Yi Xingyin on the shoulder and urged, "Come, drink!"

Yi Xingyin held the wine cup and took a deep breath as he looked at the army coming down on them from above. "Ninefold Formation, please hold strong...."

If the formation collapsed, Taiji Peak Lake would be defenseless, leaving the civilians helpless against the terrifying samsaran enemies. No swarm tactic would work against elites like them. Even if it did, they'd suffer huge casualties.

"Given the current situation, the sect will be done for once the formation goes down. But don't worry. Jian Wuyi is standing guard at Tribulation Tower now. I heard he made a breakthrough last night and reached the eleventh-level death phase. Now, he's on par with the other two sect masters, so he should be able to take care of anyone that comes. Not to mention, Fang Taiqing is coordinating the formation core there, too. It's safer than it’s ever been," Ouyang Jianwang said.

"I'm just worried that Fang Taiqing will do something drastic."

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"No way. The people from Biritual are itching to take his life, and they're outside knocking. Betraying us at this point does the Sterling House of Fang absolutely no favors. Not to mention, Nonahall must be itching to get rid of him too. They won't accept his surrender anyway. There's no way they'd turn against Biritual for the sake of the Sterling House of Fang."

"Let's hope that's the case. I already split the formation core and handed control to Xuanyuan Yu and Xuanyuan Xiao. Those two control four layers of the formation, while Jian Wuyi controls the other five."

"It can't get any better than this. Apart from Xuanyuan Dao, who's guarding Her Eminence, everyone from the Archaic House of Xuanyuan is guarding Tribulation Tower. Things should all be in place."

Yi Xingyin pondered a little more and reluctantly agreed. "Ouyang, part of the Yinyang Demon Sect's aim is to take the Heaven Cauldron, right? Will you be alright defending it alone?"

"Don't worry, I'm already attuned to the cauldron. Unless Di Zang and Po Suo come themselves, I’ll be able to take out any number of people that dare approach. Even though I'm no genius, I'm basically invulnerable as long as I'm near the cauldron," he said with a confident chuckle. "I've been protecting this old piece of junk for more than a century and fed it so much fine wine. It’ll definitely return the favor when the time comes."

Ouyang Jianwang squatted down and stroked the patterns of the cauldron with a warm smile.

"The founding ancestor's divine body is inside the cauldron. You must defend it well."

"That's right. The key's in my saint palace, so as long as it doesn't rupture, the key won't appear. As long as I'm alive, nobody can touch the divine body. Not to mention, one key alone won't work. The Nine Dragon Formation where Xuanyuan Dao's at is much stronger than any layer of the Ninefold Formation."

"Alright, I guess the rest is up to the heavens!" Yi Xingyin looked up at the sky as the war cries rang out. "The battle's finally starting."

Those simple words marked the worst storm the whole continent had yet seen. Almost all of the continent’s samsarans were now gathered here.

"Brother!" Ouyang Jianwang put his arm around Yi Xingyin's shoulder without the slightest hint of fear as he watched the various abilities explode against the formation and forced Yi Xingyin to chug some wine before drinking some himself and tossing the wine jar off the cauldron.

It broke with a crisp sound when it landed at the same time as he drew his sword. Then he valiantly pointed it at the clouds and recited, "The sole luxury, left for lowly ones like me, is a toast before the slaughter."