Chapter 2275: Chapter 2277: Golden Ray (First Update Celebrating Lord Chi Xin)
Thanks to the explanation of Huo Liu, the majority of people retreated a bit further.
Thus, Feng Jun and his group retreated fifty-six thousand miles, while others continued retreating.
Although they didn’t want to admit it, everyone was well aware that the defensive abilities of those five were unmatched.
So in Feng Jun’s direction, they were at the forefront, like the tip of an arrow.
Several tens of thousands of miles behind them, there were various Cultivators scattered around, arranged in a V-shape like wild geese. Those at the front were the ones who believed they were stronger, while those at the back were weaker. There was nothing much to say about that.
As for why it was a V-shape and not arranged up and down, it’s because they needed the arrowhead to withstand the strongest impact, just like the formation of wild geese. There’s always a reason.
Why not in a "1" shape? That’s too normal; a "1" shape would obstruct the view of those behind. In such a significant event, who wouldn’t want to witness it firsthand?
The Cultivators have their own opinions, as long as they can bear the corresponding consequences themselves.
Feng Jun wouldn’t worry for them and waited quietly until two days later, when suddenly a burst of sparks erupted ahead.
Although it was ahead, it was actually very far, over sixty thousand miles away. Feng Jun knew that the breakthrough action had started.
But due to the great distance, all everyone saw was a tiny spark.
In fact, the breakthrough action had already fully unfolded, with chaotic celestial phenomena. Tiny sparks flickered here and there, some large, some small, sticking firmly to the protective macromembrane of the barrier.
Then, the tiny sparks gradually expanded. Initially, the rate of expansion was not very rapid, spreading bit by bit. However, as time went by, their expansion speed gradually increased.
About half a day later, most of the spark areas were already dozens of feet in diameter, burning fiercely, and advancing towards the surroundings at a speed visible to the naked eye. Meanwhile, the color of the flames changed from red to yellow, with a faint trend towards blue.
After a day and a night, the flames had covered the entire macromembrane, the color turning pale blue, with some key areas nearly becoming colorless.
The macromembrane began to shake, as if a heart removed from the body, constantly expanding and contracting.
However, its tremor was far from the regularity of a heartbeat. Its tremor was even unbalanced, with adjacent areas often moving in opposite directions—one expanding while the other contracted.
This imbalanced development looked extremely uncomfortable, but clusters of Cultivators appeared over ten thousand miles away from the macromembrane, eyes filled with joy, "Is it... about to start?"
In front of the massive celestial phenomena, the appearing Cultivators looked pitifully few, but those like Feng Jun at the rear gasped in shock, "So many people? Surely, it’s a grand operation."
The appearing Cultivators formed a total of thirty-six teams, each with nearly a thousand people, at least ten Nascent Soul members, and the rest all Golden Core, forming various force formations.
These thirty-six teams alone required three to four hundred Nascent Souls and over thirty thousand Golden Cores.
Outside these teams, there were nine smaller units, each with only eighteen members, all Nascent Souls. These were tactical support units, responsible for pulling people out or replenishing manpower if a team fell into danger.
That’s another hundred or so Nascent Souls.
Outside them, there was a small group, with over a hundred Nascent Souls and three hundred Golden Cores—serving as command and rescue centers.
Feng Jun was a bit surprised to see this, "Xuanhuang and Yuangang... have they brought out all their assets?"
"It’s not what you think," True Immortal Cang Jing shook his head, "Among those thirty-six teams, the Nascent Souls should mainly be from the two sects, as the coordination of formations must use their own people. The rescue teams and backup support can use more hired experts."
The Nascent Soul experts Xuanhuang and Yuangang hired from outside were generally trustworthy. Trust was not an issue; the problem was significant coordination issues would arise if they entered the thirty-six main teams.
As they chatted away, the tremor of the macromembrane gradually formed a pattern—not pulsing like a heart, but surging like tides, with one wave after another. Gradually, it even seemed like a sea surface.
Another half a day later, the phenomenon became increasingly obvious. However, the waves on this macromembrane sea surface became larger and larger. Even though Feng Jun and others were fifty thousand miles away, they could feel the terrifying energy pulsating in those surges!
They didn’t know how much longer it was—maybe ten minutes or maybe an hour, or perhaps five hours—when suddenly, Feng Jun and Yi Jue simultaneously shouted, "Get ready, it’s about to explode!"
The same words spread among the Cultivators ahead, with the thirty-six teams at the forefront already starting to cast various Techniques. Multicolored lights emerged from them, looking spectacular.
However, in front of the colossal, burning giant membrane, these thirty-six squads seemed as insignificant as specks of dust.
Even Feng Jun couldn’t help but glance sideways at Yi Jue, "Can such few people withstand the mighty force between heaven and earth?"
Yi Jue’s eyebrows furrowed slightly, and her eyes showed a hint of doubt; ultimately, she hadn’t lived long enough and lacked experience.
But Elder Qing Ji spoke up, "The Thirty-Six Heavenly Lock Formation is the most extensive defensive formation. A team of a thousand is at the All-Heaven Gold Lock level, capable of temporarily holding off external invasions, it shouldn’t be much of a problem."
Although she ascended from the lower realm, she wasn’t too knowledgeable about Tianqin’s secrets, but she had indeed lived long enough.
Cang Jing was no younger than her, and upon hearing this, nodded slightly, "I believe their blockade can strategically retreat. The main goal is to block the energy released by the membrane, and that alone counts as a win."
The strategy of Xuanhuang and Yuangang this time was actually quite simple, mainly utilizing the energy from half a small world that had exploded. First, using flames to incinerate it, while simultaneously corroding the membrane barrier, making the energy increasingly violent.
The small world is pressed within the barrier, essentially sealed off, and once heated, this sealed state only causes its energy to transform more thoroughly, with its ferocity index increasing geometrically. Breaking through the membrane barrier is just a matter of time.
The openings corroded into the membrane were mostly on the Tianqin side. Technically, Tianqin should suffer severe effects, while the Insect World should remain relatively unaffected, but that’s not the case, as the small world has exits on the Insect World side, whereas Tianqin does not.
So even if the membrane gets corroded with openings, as long as the cultivators on this side fight bravely to resist, the problem isn’t significant. They can even gradually retreat to lessen the direct impact of the massive energy.
Elder Duan Liang also nodded upon hearing this, "That’s right, the Lock Heaven Formation is quite strong in resisting impacts. As long as it holds, time is on our side. I’m rather curious how they managed to corrode the membrane barrier."
He studies cultivation techniques, but regardless of his field, one must understand quite a bit about other matters, learning from various ideas to achieve the goal of "using another’s advantages to improve one’s own."
However, it’s evident Feng Jun couldn’t possibly disclose the plans of Xuanhuang and Yuangang to him. Although they didn’t demand confidentiality from Feng Jun, this is the basic conduct of a strategist.
Just as they were chatting, a part of the membrane finally exploded with a loud bang, and a gold beam as thick as a barrel shot straight outward, its momentum overwhelming, with speed incredibly rapid.
The kinetic energy was so formidable it defied description, requiring no analysis; anyone could see, even a Nascent Soul True Sage blocking the gold beam would undoubtedly perish.
However, the thirty-six squads in front had anticipated this rupture — there were not just one or two strategists in the command center; they were tensely operating, having calculated the imminent rupture spots.
Three squads were stationed not far from this opening.
The gold beam first collided with the first defensive barrier — this barrier was transparent but had exceptionally strong blocking ability.
The defensive barrier lasted less than a tenth of a moment before being pierced, causing a slight ripple in space, surprisingly making the transparent barrier visible to the naked eye.
In half a moment, the gold beam penetrated the second defensive barrier, and someone shouted loudly, "Deploy, deploy defenses!"
The defensive barrier had only three layers; given the strength of the gold beam, the third barrier could only hold it for one or two moments. Obstructions must be deployed to hinder its kinetic energy.
Each battle squad had its own roles, and upon hearing the command, over a hundred magical treasures were thrown between the second and third defensive barriers, not seeking any defensive role, only to hinder it momentarily to buy time for strengthening the third barrier.
In reality, the effect of deploying these items... was almost negligible. The gold beam hardly decelerated and collided heavily with the third defensive barrier.
At this point, a squad had shifted to the breakthrough point of the gold beam, outside the third defensive barrier, gathering their entire team’s strength to launch a powerful strike directly at the gold beam’s direction, then instantly moving away within less than a tenth of a moment.
In the subsequent half-moment, the second squad moved over as well, similarly launching a powerful strike at the gold beam’s possible breakthrough point, the same position chosen by the first squad.
They too quickly moved away. There was no choice; the gold beam was too strong, making it impossible to resist fully — that would be akin to suicide. A single strike and quick withdrawal was the proper tactic.
The force of these two strikes effectively hindered the gold beam’s potential further breakthrough, and a moment later, the third squad shifted over, launching another strike, remarkably forcing the gold beam to be contained within the third defensive barrier.
Another moment passed, and the first squad returned with renewed vigor, launching their all-out second strike.
This was their second all-out strike, but the interval between the two strikes was so brief that preparations were a bit rushed, and the power didn’t reach even eighty percent of the first strike.
(First update, congratulating the alliance leader Chi Xin Fei Yang, seeking double monthly votes.)
