Chapter 2429: Sacrifice
All of a sudden, two streaks of translucent light shot out of the miniature figure's eyes, and the fingers of the giant golden hand around it were instantly severed, following which it sped away as a streak of golden light.
"Who would've thought that a Gold Devouring Immortal of this caliber could be found in a lower realm? If I could tame it and take it back to the True Immortal Realm, it would be an extremely powerful ally!"
An elated look appeared on Ma Liang's face as he pointed a finger at the fleeing streak of golden light, and several more giant golden hands were conjured up before grabbing toward the streak of light while releasing bursts of powers of laws.
A sharp screeching sound suddenly rang out within the streak of golden light, following which countless streaks of invisible sword Qi erupted forth in all directions.
A violent explosion rang out as the massive golden hands were destroyed by the sword Qi, but more giant hands appeared in the nearby area to take their place.
At the same time, the power of laws had impacted Jin Tong, causing it to become extremely slow and sluggish.
Simultaneously, thunderous rumbling rang out from the golden volcanoes down below, and they transformed into several tens of giant golden armored warriors that sped directly toward Jin Tong.
Under these circumstances, there was virtually no chance for Jin Tong to escape.
A faint smile appeared on Ma Liang's face upon seeing this. However, his aura was severely diminished, clearly indicating that he had expended a vast amount of immortal spiritual power during the prior battle.
......
"It should be about time," Han Li suddenly murmured to himself as he appraised an azure mirror in front of him at the foot of the formation core countless kilometers away.
The surface of the mirror was displaying an image that depicted Jin Tong, which had transformed into a massive golden beetle, and it was clashing with several tens of opposing golden-armored warriors.
Jin Tong had been sent by Han Li to spy on Ma Liang so that he could constantly monitor the situation and ensure that nothing unexpected took place.
......
"I have to do it. I didn't think that I would have to use this final trump card. The Tian Yuan Continent will be severely negatively impacted after this battle, but I had no choice but to do this for the sake of the entire Spirit Realm," another figure murmured to himself as he sat on a giant formation within an empty and dim hall.
He then flipped a hand over to produce a glowing silver formation plate, and countless silver runes surged out of the formation plate before flowing into a formation in a frenzy.
Under the illumination of the silver light, it was revealed that the man holding the formation plate was none other than a second Ming Zun.
......
Yun Dan and Yue Shu were seated at the other formation core with their eyes closed when the nearby world's origin Qi suddenly stirred, and the eight pillars, as well as the altar, began to release fearsome law fluctuations in unison.
The two of them immediately opened their eyes upon sensing this, and horrified looks also appeared on the face of all of the trade guild guards nearby.
"Why has the world's origin Qi here suddenly become so violent?" Yun Dan exclaimed as he rose to his feet.
"Could it be that something's gone wrong with the Bipolar Annihilation Formation?" Yue Dan speculated.
Yun Dan looked up into the sky, and his expression immediately changed drastically. "Hold on, why has the power of laws gathered above us? It seems like it's specifically targeting us! We have to get out of here!"
Yue Shu had always had full trust in Yun Dan, and she hurriedly swept a sleeve through the air upon hearing this, releasing a ball of black light that transformed into a black flying carriage with three pairs of silver wings on its sides.
However, before the two of them got onto the carriage, the altar and the eight pillars shuddered before each releasing a pillar of five-colored light up into the heavens.
Law fluctuations converged in the sky, and a light formation with a diameter of close to 10 kilometers took shape.
A burst of buzzing rang out from the light formation, and a five-colored vortex immediately appeared at its center, then released a burst of crimson light that descended directly upon the formation core.
A semi-spherical crimson light barrier immediately took shape, trapping Yun Dan and Yue Shu, as well as the trade guild guard beneath it like a giant bowl.
At the same time, a burst of power of laws filled the entire area within the light barrier, and the magic power within Yun Dan and Yue Shu's bodies immediately became extremely sluggish.
"Let's get out from underground!" Yun Dan yelled as he grabbed onto Yue Shu's arm and instantly appeared on the flying carriage.
Yue Shu hurriedly made a hand seal, and the carriage immediately transformed into a ball of black light that plunged down toward the ground, only to be repelled back by a layer of azure light that abruptly appeared over the earth.
Yun Dan let loose an enraged roar as he summoned a long golden halberd that was around 10 feet in length before swinging it down with vicious might.
A resounding boom rang out as a scintillating golden sun exploded upon the ground, sending shockwaves proliferating outward in all directions and knocking over many of the nearby trade guild guards.
However, once the golden light faded, the azure light barrier on the ground was revealed to be completely unscathed.
"How could this be? Your Spirit Light Halberd has never failed to destroy its target before!" Yue Shu exclaimed.
"Do you still not understand? We all fell into Ming Zun's trap! This is not a formation core; it's a trap designed specifically to target the two of us!" Yun Dan said as he stared intently at the azure light on the ground with a dark expression.
Yue Shu faltered slightly upon hearing this before gritting her teeth as she asked, "Why would he do this? How does he benefit from trapping us here? Besides, is this restriction really powerful enough to trap us here?"
"There's only one way to find out whether this restriction is powerful enough to truly trap us. As for why he did this..." A cold light flashed through Yun Dan's eyes as he hurled his golden halberd toward the altar.
An earth-shattering boom rang out as the altar exploded as a ball of golden light, sending countless rocks flying in all directions, only a giant crater in the ground remained in its place.
"Ming Zun never left a Profound Heavenly Treasure here! He wants us to act as substitutes for the Profound Heavenly Treasure!" Yun Dan said in a cold voice.
"How dare he! We have to get out of here right away," Yue Shu said with a panicked expression.
"There's no need to fear. I didn't know about this trap, but I prepared many trump cards in anticipation for this battle against the true immortal."
As soon as his voice trailed off, Yun Dan opened his mouth to release an inky-black bead.
He caught the bead before hurling it viciously toward the crimson light barrier nearby, and almost at the exact same moment, the light barrier released a burst of crimson light that swept through the nearby area.
All of the trade guild guards who came into contact with the crimson light immediately exploded into clouds of blood mist.
The black bead was also swept up by the crimson light before it had even reached the light barrier, and it was instantly reduced to a plume of black smoke.
"That's impossible!" Yun Dan's face turned deathly pale upon seeing this, and he was unable to maintain his composure any longer.
Yun Shu was also greatly alarmed as she frantically swept her sleeves through the air, releasing a flurry of treasures, but all of them also exploded in the face of the oncoming crimson light.
At this point, all of the trade guild guards had been reduced to blood mist, and the crimson light was converging toward them from all directions.
The two of them exchanged a glance, and both of them could see their own despair mirrored in one another's eyes.
If their powers hadn't been severely debilitated by the law fluctuations, perhaps they would've been able to pose some resistance, but as things were now, they were completely powerless.
As a final desperate act, they released all of their treasures at once while injecting what little remained of their magic power into the protective spiritual light around their bodies.
In the next instant, the crimson light inundated both of them, and within mere moments, they had also been reduced to blood mist that was drawn into the vortex in the sky.
......
In the other formation core, Han Li was situated in a small area encompassed under a yellow light barrier, looking up at the buzzing giant light formations in the sky with a grim expression.
All of the trade guild guards here had also been reduced to blood mist that was drawn into the light formation, and all of a sudden, the formation vanished into thin air.
......
Jin Tong was being held down by several golden-armored guards at once, and a series of purplish-golden threads of light had appeared before binding toward its body.
"Haha, there's no way you can escape from my spirit domain; let's see what you're going to do now!" Ma Liang chortled with glee as he drifted toward Jin Tong.
Right at this moment, energy fluctuations erupted down below, and colossal light formation that encompassed virtually the entirety of Baleful Cry Point appeared on the ground with Ma Liang situated at its exact center.
Ma Liang's heart jolted slightly upon seeing this, and his expression changed drastically as he swept his spiritual sense toward the light formation down below.
Almost at the exact same moment, a translucent thread of light shot out of the center of the light formation, piercing through the entire heaven and earth in a flash.
Ma Liang's pupils contracted drastically at the sight of the translucent thread, as if he were witnessing something extremely terrifying, and he immediately shot back as a ball of golden light.