FWOOSH-!
As the sea of flames continued burning away the protective barrier around the demonic formation, the different experts from all over the Sky Empire below the Soul Ascension Realm had already started showing up to watch the spectacle in person. Hoping that they would be able to gain some insight and improve their own cultivation from watching the mystical techniques of a Soul Ascension Realm Expert.
Not focusing his attention on the sea of flames like the rest of the cultivators present, Xuan Hao instead focused all his attention on the demonic formation. Wanting to figure out if all the demonic formation could do was create a defensive barrier to resist a Soul Ascension Realm Expert for a short duration.
Hm? The demonic formation seems to be changing…
Because of this, Xuan Hao was the first to notice that the demonic formation been hidden away below the sea of flames had rearranged itself during the short time since the sea of flames had descended from above to destroy it.
"This… "
Observing the demonic looking formation symbols below the barrier rearranging themselves, Xuan Hao barely managed to get a glimpse of a faint connection established between the demonic formation and four other locations around the noble district.
The demonic formation below the estate of the Hollow Thunder Family is only a part of an even larger formation!? I have to get away from here!
Swish-!
Realizing that the demonic formation with power enough to resist a Soul Ascension Realm Expert was part of an even larger formation that seemed to cover the entire noble district, Xuan Hao felt a shiver run down his spine before deciding to leave the noble district without any hesitation-
RUMBLE-!
However, before he could leave the noble district, the four other demonic formations linked together with the demonic formation about to get destroyed by the sea of flames.
WHOOSH-!
As the five large demonic formations linked together into a single massive demonic formation, the sea of flames that had descended was easily repelled by the now far more powerful barrier that protected the demonic formation.
Whoosh~
Following the sea of flames being repelled, a figure made of flames manifested in the air above the demonic formation before turning into a burly man standing more than three meters tall.
"A Soul Sacrifice Formation? You actually want to sacrifice me to increase your own cultivation? From the looks of it, you are quite desperate to actually do something like this in the capital."
Frowning visibly after seeing the large formation that had already isolated the entire noble district from the rest of the capital city, the more than three meter tall man smiled disdainfully towards the centre of the massive formation where an normal looking old man had appeared at some point in time after the noble district had been isolated by the Soul Sacrifice Formation.
"Hehe, can you blame me? My lifespan is about to run out and you people won't ever leave the capital for more than a few hours at most… So… I can only come here personally…"
"Hmph! You think you can kill me before this Soul Sacrifice is broken!? Haha! How laughable! Even if your strength is above mine, there is no way for you to kill me in such a short period of time!"
Laughing disdainfully as he said this in response to the old man who had appeared out of thin air at the centre of the massive demonic formation, the actions of the Soul Ascension Realm Expert that had been caught inside the Soul Sacrifice Formation spoke a different story as he covered himself in a divine armour and crushed several different talismans to form all kinds of protective barriers around himself.
No matter how confident the Soul Ascension Realm Expert was, it was obvious that he did not dare be the slightest bit careless against the old man.
After all, other than the fact that the old man should be stronger than him, the other party was also close to death due to his lifespan running out.
Out of all the opponents one could end up facing, someone who's lifespan was about to run out, was by far one of the worst!
…
"This is… A Soul Sacrifice Formation!? Just what demonic cultivator is bold enough to set up such a formation in the middle of the capital!?"
"I have no idea… But given the strength of this formation, its impossible for us to escape…"
"You don't say… But from what those two said, the old man should be even stronger than the Cardinal…"
As the old man and Soul Ascension Realm Expert were both talking with each other, the people watching this scene from afar all began fearfully talking to each other as they realized just how dangerous their current situation was.
"…"
Listening to the different conversation taking place between the different Domain Lord Realm Experts that had showed up, Xuan Hao managed to learn that the more than three-meter-tall man floating in the air above the hole in the ground that had once been an estate of the Hollow Thunder Family was none other than the current cardinal from the religious order following the god of fire also know as the Follower of the Fire God.
Not only that, but he also managed to learn about the Soul Sacrifice Formation that he was currently caught inside of.
According to what little information he could gather from the more knowledgeable Domain Lords present, the Soul Sacrifice Formation was a terrifying demonic formation that was used by some demonic cultivators in the True Demon Realm to increase their strength.
Using it, the Soul Sacrifice Formation could increase the strength of a True Demon Realm Expert by absorbing the souls of powerful cultivators and refining them into a pure form of soul energy that could then be used by the True Demon Realm Expert to increase his or her strength.
The demonic cultivator who had appeared in the capital and set up the Soul Sacrifice Formation had very clearly done so to refine the Cardinal and use the massive soul energy from this to break through to a higher realm and increase his lifespan!
"Hm?"
Just at this moment, the demonic symbols all over the dome shaped barrier formed by the Soul Sacrifice Formation began shinning with a demonic red light-
BOOOOOOOOM-!
Not even a second later, a terrifying explosion that sent a shiver down the spine of Xuan Hao could be heard from outside the dome shaped barrier covering the noble district as the strong looking barrier looked like it was about to break apart at any moment.
"Wha-!? What is happening!?"
"What kind of power is this…?"
"Look! The Soul Sacrifice Formation! It's getting attacked from the outside!"
"Haha! It looks like the capital's guardian formation has already been activated! Even if this barrier formed by the Soul Sacrifice Formation is powerful, there is no way it will be able to resist the attack of the capital's guardian formation for more than a few minutes!"
Feeling first-hand the terrifying might of the guardian formation protecting the capital of the Sky Empire, Xuan Hao understood that he would have no way to resist it with his current strength!
"Ha… The guardian formation laid down by the ancestor of the Sky Empire truly lives up to its fame. Even this Soul Sacrifice Formation I spent over a hundred years secretly laying down will at most last a few minutes… Looks like I won't be able to chat with you anymore little fire boy. Hehe~"
The moment the Soul Sacrifice Formation got attacked, the old man standing at the centre of the massive demonic formation let out a sigh as he said this with a look of awe on his face when mentioning the guardian formation.
Crack~
As a loud cracking sound echoed out across the entire noble district, the old man standing at the centre of the Soul Sacrifice Formation changed from a normal looking old man to a demon.
In the end, when he finished his transformation, a demon standing more than 20 meters tall had replaced the old man who had been standing at the centre of the Soul Sacrifice Formation just a second earlier.
From the massive pair of bat like wings that had sprouted from his back, to the large pair of demonic horns that had emerged from his head. The old man had become a true demon without any human features remaining!
ROOOOAR-!
Swish-!
Letting out a loud roar filled with killing intent after his transformation had ended, the terrifying demon took out a giant axe from its interspatial ring before charging towards the cardinal floating in the air close to the centre of the noble district.
BOOOOM-!
Not even a second later, the massive demon and the cardinal clashed with each other.
"Ahh-!"
"H-how can we survive this…?"
"E-escape! Everyone, run to the edge of the noble district!"
As the demon and cardinal began fighting, the people of the noble district all began panicking before escaping towards the edge of the noble district to avoid getting caught up in the fight between these two powerful experts.