As soon as they heard the words, Old Man Hei Zhu and the others immediately followed instinctively, distancing themselves from the main body of the Undying Tree in an instant.

"Eh! Wulu has disappeared!" Long Chong noticed something was amiss during the escape.

"Never mind him, just stick close to me and don't fall behind!" Hua Zhi called out without looking back.

At this moment, the Undying Tree Demon was trapped by the Black Magic Mirror, suppressed into slumber, but there were numerous Tree-man Puppets in the cave, many of which had their own consciousness. With the enemy pressing in, they would not sit idly by and let Hua Zhi and the others escape.

"Kill them!"

With the roaring fury of the Undying Tree Demon, most of the black cocoons hanging from the canopy began to shake, splitting open from the middle. A swarm of Tree-man Puppets emerged, rushing toward the group under Qi Ye's command.

Wan Tianren, Gu Xuanyang, Jia Sifang, Golden Transformation Master, and many other cultivators were among them, including White Scale Master, who had voluntarily been transformed.

Yuan Wuji had also come to his senses by now, turning to flee as well, but he didn't get away as easily as Hua Zhi and the others and was quickly entangled by the nearby Tree-man Puppets.

By this time, Hua Zhi had already led Old Man Hei Zhu and the others away from the Undying Tree Demon and had not been surrounded by the countless Tree-man Puppets.

However, they hadn't gone far before they quickly found a semicircular recess close to the cave's walls and stopped.

As Hua Zhi and the others flew in, a series of golden Array Flags appeared out of nowhere, landing around the recess and immediately sinking into the ground, turning the nearby area of several dozen feet into a golden expanse where the ground seemed to transform instantly into an extremely sturdy form of gold and stone.

"Pointing Ground as Steel? Could it be this Formation?" Shi Yanshi stared at the surrounding Golden Light, eyes widened, murmuring to himself.

Upon hearing him, Old Man Hei Zhu and the others all turned to look at him, and he immediately began to explain.

"This formation can temporarily turn the ground into solid golden iron, but whether it is setting up the array or the transformation, it requires time. To complete the formation in the blink of an eye, the talents in the Dao of Array Formation of the one who arranged it are extraordinary. If I could learn from him, that would be so..." Shi Yanshi exclaimed in amazement.

Seeing that he still contemplated learning about the formation amidst such a situation, both Old Man Hei Zhu and the other were speechless, but it was Hua Zhi who spoke up to interrupt him:

"We can discuss these matters later. Don't forget our current situation. This Formation can help us defend against enemies from below and behind, but for those charging from the front, we need to deal with them on our own."

Upon hearing this, Old Man Hei Zhu and the others agreed and took out their respective Magic Treasures.

Many Tree-man Puppets noticed their action and lunged over to kill them, and the group began to confront the onslaught of the massive Tree-man Puppets.

Naturally, the Pointing Ground as Steel Formation was Xi Ying's handiwork. The space within the Soluble Cave wasn't large, and had they been surrounded by the Tree-man Puppets from all sides, Hua Zhi and the others certainly couldn't have withstood the attack. Therefore, Yuan Ming had used his Divine Sense to scout ahead for this recess, and with Xi Ying's hand in setting up the Formation, they were able to temporarily alleviate the trouble of being attacked from both front and rear.

Hua Zhi and the others managed to escape in time, avoiding the danger of being attacked from both sides, but Yuan Wuji and the others, who were slightly slower, were caught up by the Tree-man Puppets.

In the air, the Green-clothed man surged ahead, his robe billowing. He didn't use his Transformation Divine Ability; instead, with a continuous motion of his hands, Green Light Hooks appeared out of nowhere, shredding all incoming Spirit Light Techniques.

Just as he was about to break through the encirclement, a snake-like black Qi twisted around the attacks from the Green Light Hooks and struck him in the back.

The Green-clothed man reached back to grab it, capturing the black Qi with a green claw shadow, preparing to crush it.

The black Qi suddenly shrank rapidly, turning into a slender black snake as thick as a finger, and with a swift motion, it shot into the center of the green claw shadow.

The Green-clothed man's expression shifted slightly, and he inwardly cursed his bad luck.

As expected, the next moment he frowned and grunted, feeling a chill and strange Qi entering his body, spreading through his limbs and body, forcing him to circulate his demonic power to forcibly suppress the spread of this peculiar Qi.

"Demonic Qi!" Hua Zhi, from a distance, turned his gaze toward the Green-clothed man, showing a look of surprise on his face.

Meanwhile, Qi Ye appeared not far from the Green-clothed man's side, his indifferent gaze landing on the man. With his right hand forming a sword finger, he pointed, and several streaks of black light coalesced into serpents, biting towards the Green-clothed man once again.

Seeing that there was a Returning to Void Stage Tree-man Puppet blocking him and with Demonic Qi churning within, the Green-clothed man knew that he couldn't escape, so he turned around and spread his arms, unleashing two green hurricanes, enveloping his body and lunging at Qi Ye.

The two tangled in battle, both beings of the Returning to Void existence, with every move they made filled with a terrifying force. The sounds of ravenous winds and bird cries reverberated through the cave, and as limitless black light spilled from the hurricanes, any Tree-man Puppet that came too close and got splattered with a thread swelled up and exploded in moments with a "bang".

Not long after, the area surrounding the clash of the two Returning to Void Stage warriors was cleared out. Whether friend or foe, no one dared to approach. Before the Undead Tree Demon made its move, although the green-clothed strong man could not break out from the encirclement, he was no longer troubled by attacks from all sides.

As for Yinkong, being a spatial demon beast, he had left the green-clothed man's side right at the beginning. He darted among the Tree-man Puppets, moving like a silver Illusion, frequently flickering in and out of sight.

This beast's Innate Divine Ability seemed to be short-distance instant teleportation. Just as a Nascent Soul Tree-man Puppet caught a glimpse of it, before it could strike, Yinkong had disappeared, only to reappear not far away, accompanied by a flash of silver light.

In contrast, the situation for the Tide-rider Alliance members was much worse.

More than a dozen Nascent Soul Tree-man Puppets blocked their path, with the leader being none other than the Fusang Island Master Wan Tianren.

Wan Tianren was seen holding a green Palm Fan. As wind patterns flowed on the fan leaves, which resembled banana leaves, he would raise his hand to wave the fan, and a terrifying gale would strike the faces of the Tide-rider Alliance members. It was so forceful that it stung their entire bodies as if someone was trying to tear their flesh apart.

At the same time, the remaining Nascent Soul Tree-man Puppets took advantage of the situation and attacked from within the fierce wind.

Jia Sifang was among them, his eyes dull.

The Tide Rising Misty Sea Ring was fitted around his arm, and his entire being turned into a semi-illusory blue shadow. With a wave of his hand, he hurled hundreds of blue water orbs, which contained blinding arcs of blue lightning, towards the four members of the Tide-rider Alliance.

"Third Brother, it's us!" Bing Li dodged the water orbs, shouting out.

"Fifth Brother, the third has been controlled by the Undead Tree Demon, you can't wake him. Strike with all your might!" Yuan Wuji roared, gripping a blood-red long blade in his hand and slicing forward. A flood of Blood Light burst forth in an instant, dispersing the fierce winds from Wan Tianren like a stubborn rock in water.

The Blood Light continued forward, cleaving the dozen Nascent Soul cultivators in two.

Seeing their opportunity, the Blood Realm Venerable and the others also swiftly employed their techniques, engaging in battle with the Nascent Soul Tree-man Puppets. Meanwhile, Yuan Wuji took large strides forward, his Blood Blade emitting dozens of blade lights, tearing through the fierce winds, trying to force Wan Tianren into a direct confrontation.

However, Wan Tianren had no intention of engaging. He retreated while maintaining distance from Yuan Wuji, continuously waving his palm fan to send one fierce gale after another, forcing the Tide-rider Alliance members to constantly divide their attention to defend.

Besides Wan Tianren, among these dozen individuals was another Late-stage Nascent Soul Great Cultivator, bare-chested with a Thunder Dragon tattoo on his chest.

This person seemed to cultivate a Thunder and Lightning Technique, with lightning coiling around him. His speed was incredibly fast, and his attacking power was terrifyingly strong. Each strike was like thunder falling from the sky, making the void tremble incessantly, bringing the Tide-rider Alliance members great distress.

On another front, Hua Zhi and others who had escaped the encirclement earlier also encountered the chasing army of Tree-man Puppets.

But they were prepared. Despite facing an enemy force several times their size, they managed better without appearing too flustered.

Old Man Hei Zhu and his two companions, with one before and one behind, had an emerald rune suspended above their heads. The rune was interwoven with faint green spirit light, forming a large Formation that enveloped them all.

At the forefront, Old Man Hei Zhu and Shi Yanshi frequently activated their Magic Treasures, one vigorously waving a fishing rod, and the other lifting a brush swiftly scribbling. The black fishing line sliced through the Tree-man Puppets' bodies like a Spiritual Snake. Whenever it made a cut, the inky characters that Shi Yanshi wrote would fly into the wound, burrow into the Tree-man Puppets, and explode with magic.

The two coordinated silently with each other. However, the continuous use of Magic Treasures was rapidly depleting their Mana, and they likely wouldn't last long.

But whenever their Mana was half depleted, a streak of faint green spirit light would flow down from the rune above their heads, penetrating their bodies and swiftly replenishing the Mana deficit.

Behind Old Man Hei Zhu and Shi Yanshi, Aunt Wan Hua manipulated her Magic Treasure, the flower basket, with one hand, producing pollen to meet the enemy, while her other hand clutched a Spirit Stone, continuously drawing Mana from it.

A stream of faint green spirit light connected her to the overhead rune on her body as well. Unlike the others, however, this spirit light wasn't replenishing her Mana but rather extracting it.

Furthermore, any Tree-man Puppet that entered the Formation was also drained of a portion of its Mana, which was then integrated into the rune above the heads of the three, refilling their deficit.

Their Formation, known as the "Yimu Formation," could automatically absorb nearby Spiritual Energy and the Mana of those within the array, converting them into Yimu Spiritual Energy for storage. When needed, it would automatically channel into those with Mana deficiencies. In this way, not only could it replenish their consumption, but it could also accelerate healing, making the Formation virtually self-sustaining during battle, free from the troubles of Mana exhaustion.

However, since Old Man Hei Zhu and his companions were only at the Nascent Soul Early Stage, facing the Tree-man Puppet army, if all three exerted their full strength, even the Yimu Formation wouldn't be able to compensate for the depletion. Therefore, they had no choice but to have Aunt Wan Hua stay behind, drawing Mana from the Spirit Stone for them.

Yet such a reluctant move naturally left a fatal vulnerability in the Formation.

Aunt Wan Hua had just depleted a Spirit Stone and was about to retrieve the next when she suddenly felt a shock. Raising her head, she saw a cloud of white mist quickly bypassing Old Man Hei Zhu and Shi Yanshi, transforming into a blue-skinned woman wielding a long halberd, her Cultivation reaching the Late-stage Nascent Soul. With a raise of her hand, she thrust the weapon forward.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.