After Li Fan was done, his face looked pale, and his breath grew ragged.
“Fellow Daoists, please lure these beasts to the arrays I’ve set up,” Li Fan transmitted his voice.
A Foundation Establishment cultivator named Huan Sui nodded. “Fellow Daoist, you’ve worked hard. Leave the rest to us.”
The path of arrays was widely known to be arduous and obscure, requiring an immense investment of time to master. It was only natural that someone highly skilled in arrays might be relatively weak in direct combat.
Besides, they wasn’t expecting much from this new ally who wasn’t part of the Martial Hall in the first place. The fact that he could set up so many remarkably effective arrays at once was already a pleasant surprise.
Huan Sui pulled out a small drum and slapped it sharply. A roar like that of an ancient ferocious beast thundered from the drum, spreading in all directions.
On Wanlai Island, the headless exotic beasts lying lazily on the ground suddenly rose and turned their attention toward Li Fan and the others.
Then, they began beating their chests, appearing quite excited. Like a surging tide, they rushed forward, each vying to be first.
Huan Sui and his four companions stood in formation, facing the oncoming tide of exotic beasts without a trace of fear.
Five Foundation Establishment Curios manifested simultaneously—five swords of varying shapes.
Sword light intertwined, forming some kind of sword array.
Any exotic beast that entered the array’s range was instantly shredded by the sword light, then turned to ash within the scorching blaze of the Celestial Spirit Fire Dragon Array.
The drumbeat continued unceasingly, drawing the exotic beasts over to their doom like a death knell.
The squad of five from the Celestial Change division acted like a meat grinder, harvesting lives with ruthless efficiency.
Gradually, the mounting deaths stirred unease among the horde, and they began to retaliate.
“Roar!”
The headless exotic beasts beat their chests in unison, opening their massive, bloody maws and releasing a deafening roar.
Invisible sound waves converged above Wanlai Island, forming a nearly tangible fist-shaped silhouette.
The crimson fist-silhouette instantly slammed toward the sword array.
Boom!
Huan Sui and the others coughed up blood simultaneously, and shock and horror filled their faces. The five swords trembled slightly, and the sword array faltered.
Immediately, many red-haired exotic beasts seized the opportunity to break through the blockade and charge right up to the five.
Though they were quickly and easily dispatched, the five cultivators no longer looked as composed as before.
Seeing this, Li Fan knew he couldn’t slack off too conspicuously.
He adopted a grave expression, retrieved several beast bones from his storage ring, and set up another array.
This time, just as the fist-silhouette formed from the collective roars of the red-haired exotic beasts was about to take shape, an abrupt series of discordant, grating metallic screeches disrupted the sound.
It was like muddying pure water with silt, turning it murky and unclear.
Tainted by these strange noises, the roar-formed fist-silhouette blurred and weakened significantly. The sword array formed by the five cultivators easily blocked it.
Huan Sui and the others beamed with delight. “Impressive technique, Fellow Daoist!”
Li Fan responded with a weak wave, as if he had exhausted his strength.
The scales of victory tipped once more in favor of the Celestial Change division.
Hundreds upon thousands of headless exotic beasts were slaughtered in succession. But their numbers were truly overwhelming. The number of red-haired exotic beasts eliminated by the Celestial Change division was but a drop in the ocean compared to the total on the island.
Perhaps if they continued like this, with the spirit gathering array replenishing their spiritual qi, they could slowly complete the task given enough time.
However, after a little more than half a day, when the number of dead companions reached a certain threshold, it seemed to dawn on the red-haired exotic beasts that their fist silhouettes were ineffective.
They ceased their howling. Even their fearless charges came to a halt.
Huan Sui was baffled when he saw this. He repeatedly struck that small drum, trying to regain the attention of the red-haired exotic beasts. But the drumming that had once held such irresistible allure now seemed to have lost its effect.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The beasts stopped attacking and instead began rhythmically beating their chests in unison. The sound grew louder and louder through constant resonance and reverberation.
Li Fan quickly sensed that something was wrong. Though he immediately activated the previously arranged Water-Muddying Array, the chaotic noise could do little to disrupt this grand thumping.
Fortunately, Jiang Zhengji and Du Xingchang, who had been observing the battle, finally decided to stop standing by idly.
Snow began to fall once more like goose feathers. The collective beating sound was dampened by the rustling snowflakes, reducing its intensity significantly.
A strong wind swept through, whipping up thousands of snowdrifts while also scattering the petals of the red plum blossoms that bloomed defiantly in the snow.
The petals danced on the wind like deadly blades. Each time they drifted past an exotic beast, they silently claimed its life.
It was clear that with two mid-stage Golden Core powerhouses joining forces, these red-haired exotic beasts, that possessed only Foundation Establishment strength and acted on instinct alone, had little capacity to resist.
Yet both Jiang Zhengji and Du Xingchang seemed to hold back, limiting themselves to tentative probes. They did not engage in widespread slaughter, only slightly weakening the red-haired exotic beasts' collective resonance rather than cutting it off entirely.
As a result, the resonance was not fully suppressed. Amid the increasingly rapid and thunderous beating, a colossal phantom of a red-haired exotic beast slowly began to take shape.
The pressure emanating faintly from this phantom was only slightly weaker than that of Jiang Zhengji.
"Golden Core realm!"
Li Fan and the five members of the Celestial Change squad grew solemn.
Although it seemed somewhat weaker than a true Golden Core powerhouse, it far surpassed anything in the Foundation Establishment realm.
However, after the giant Golden Core beast manifested, it did not immediately attack Li Fan and the others.
Instead, it grabbed its own kind from the ground, stuffed them into its mouth, and began chewing voraciously.
Upon seeing their kin being devoured, the countless red-haired exotic beasts on Wanlai Island showed no fear. Instead, they emitted strange, excited cries.
The giant Golden Core beast showed no mercy, continuing to consume its weaker brethren.
Gradually, its phantom form began to solidify.
It seemed that as it devoured more of its own kind, it would gradually transform from illusory to real!
Jiang Zhengji and Du Xingchang stood with arms crossed, coldly watching the situation unfold.
Huan Sui grew anxious. "If we wait for that giant beast to fully turn real, its strength will be comparable to a true Golden Core cultivator! Even if we all fight together then, victory is far from guaranteed!"
Another person spoke up: "He's right! We can't wait any longer!"
Li Fan also nodded: "I can set up one final Backs to the River Array to aid you, Fellow Daoists!"
He then retrieved the array materials from his storage ring, and within moments, the Backs to the River Array was fully deployed.
The five members of the Celestial Change division felt their fighting spirits surge dramatically.
"This array can only last for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea," Li Fan said. His face was pale as sheet, and his voice was weak and drained. He seemed to have expended a tremendous amount of mental energy.
Huan Sui and the other four exchanged glances, then nodded in unison.
"If we cannot defeat that colossal beast, we'll no longer qualify for advancement even if we manage to scrape by with our lives."
"Retreat is not an option. We can only fight!"
"Attack!"
With faces set in grim determination, the five moved as one, supporting each other like a single sharpened blade.
They shot forward like a sword, piercing fiercely toward the Golden Core beast.