The shamanic formation looked like a massive black skull from a bystanderâs perspectiveâthe shamanic ancestorâs skull.
The skull shouldâve been consumed in the sacrificial rites thatâd taken place earlier, but just as Yun Yi and her family set up their plots, so did the shamanic ancestor and his daughter lay their plans.
The skull that the ancestor left behind had remained in the shamanic race during all this time. The race constantly refined it without pause. Given their otherworldly methods, theyâd long since plumbed the depths of the empyrean strength within.
The five shamanic ancestors had disappeared because of this skull. After the ancestor died, they were the ones supporting the race so it wouldnât become outwardly strong and inwardly brittle like the dragons. They went into seclusion only after the shamans found their footing, refocusing their efforts on studying the skull. They sought to simulate the power of an empyrean supreme and use it to derive shamanic formations.
And now, the great formation hidden deep inside the race manifested in fullâit blossomed with the full strength of an empyrean supreme.
Since the shamanic ancestor didnât make it past his empyrean tribulation, he didnât ascend as an empyrean supreme. But the skull had been baptized in the tribulation and possessed the strength of one. If one was to use an Earth term to describe the formation, that would be a âcloneâ.
The shamanic race used the great formation to clone the shamanic ancestorâs skull and place it in this part of the void, enabling it to deploy the strength of an empyrean supreme. Shamanic power exploded in the array and twined around the Disordered Empyrean Supremeâs power, churning toward the three caught inside.
Wei Lie, the heavenly emperor, and the golden bridge couldnât stand up to the combined forces of their enemies!
âJust what did the Disordered Empyrean Supreme collect from the Infinite DeorcâŚâ Wei Lie cried out. While his past self was also an empyrean supreme, heâd been gravely injured back in the day and was near death. Heâd barely hung on to his cultivation realm, and the akasha ghost that was the heavenly emperor couldnât call upon his full strength.
It would only be a matter of time before they died to the Disordered Empyrean Supreme if the situation continued as is.
Lu Yun remained standing behind Wei Lie and the heavenly emperor. He silently watched the Disordered Empyrean Supreme and five shamanic elders, not expressing anything. The elders were just facilitating the formation, they hadnât truly joined the fray. The empyrean supreme was fighting two opponents by herself and completely suppressing the two empyrean level powerhouses!
âDid Yun Yi miscalculate?â Lu Yun shook his head as he continued watching the scene. âNo, she didnât. Although she isnât an empyrean supreme, her incredible intelligence wouldnât result in such a misstep.
Five enormous sword reverberations rang through the air as a sword formation appeared in the void, surrounding the enormous skull of the shamanic ancestor.
âHow dare you ruin my plans, Lord Ingress!â Brandishing her spear, the Disordered Empyrean Supreme swept the heavenly emperor and Wei Lie out of the array. She stood proudly in the void with the spear by her side and howled at the heavens.
âRuin your plans?â Daoist Ingress chortled. âThatâs exactly what Iâm gonna do. What you gonna do about it, huh?â
His current strength eclipsed what itâd been before. After the Qingping Sword broke, heâd rebuilt anew from the shards of destruction. Daoist Ingress had rapidly recovered his cultivation after battling the Disordered Empyrean Supreme.
Although heâd yet to pierce through the final paper-thin barrier and return to empyrean supreme, he wasnât far off. Right now, he rivaled the shamanic ancestor of yore. He didnât need to enter the formation as his Sword Formation of Immortal Condemnation had completely enveloped the shamanic ancestorâs skull. Wind, thunder, fire, and water erupted in all directions as rays of sword qi attacking the shamanic formation.
The five shamanic elders were extraordinarily aged. At their cultivation level, they should be close to undying. But since their bodies and nascent spirit were gravely injured, they couldnât contain their life force and it constantly drained away.
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It hadnât been out of choice that theyâd vanished from the public eye to study the ancestorâs skull. With their potential, they wouldâve dominated the chief worlds, if not become empyrean supremes. They wouldnât have had to hide and change their names, secluding themselves entirely from the world.
The Sword Formation of Immortal Condemnation further injured them upon contact and the elders shriveled some more. Unbidden, they raised their identical bone staves and chanted a long incantation.
The power of the five elements emanated from their bodies, but it was different from the five elements that Lu Yun knew. It was a set of dark elements that opposed the five!
The six orders of the highest degree defined everything there was about existence. Under the order of opposition, all things opposed each other. Even order itself had its opposition. Thus, the five elements naturally had a corresponding counter set.
The five dark elements were a strange power that very few in the chief worlds could capture. It so happened that the shamanic race had a method of cultivating them.
The eldersâ dark elements immediately assembled into a second formation in the void. While it wasnât as formidable as the one centered around the shamanic ancestorâs skull, it was unusually fierce.
It wrapped around the skull and isolated it from Daoist Ingressâ formation.
The skull seemed to come alive as its eyes flared with light to glare viciously at Daoist Ingress.
âWhat does a dead thing want to get up to?â the daoist roared with laughter as a white sword form blossomed in the center of his forehead, turning into the image of a white lotus flower. It slowly turned tangible and bloomed beside him.
Such was sword dao, and the purest form of sword dao beneath the heavensâsword dao manifestation.
It was both a combat art and an ultimate treasure. After breaking his Qingping Sword, Daoist Ingress had formed something similar to the golden bridge of heaven and earth!
The lotus flower instantly reinforced his sword formation and turned the power of wind, thunder, fire, and water into physical manifestations as well. All of them barrelled toward the shamanic ancestorâs skull in a concerted barrage.
The Disordered Empyrean Supreme swept her black spear around again and suppressed Wei Lie and the heavenly emperor. She rushed out of the formation and threw herself at Daoist Ingress.
She was afraid because a strange ripple had appeared in the void. Wisps of black smoke were gathering from the surroundings and forming a layer of ephemeral clouds.
âThe tribulation of an empyrean supreme is coming. Heâs⌠about to break through to empyrean supreme!â murmured the constrained heavenly emperor within the formation. He abruptly turned into a streak of light that broke free of his restraints and arrived next to Lu Yun, taking up a protective stance next to the young man.
âThe tribulation of an empyrean supreme?â Lu Yunâs eyes widened and he subconsciously splayed his hand, ready to deploy Thunder Palmstrike to help Daoist Ingress pass the trial.
âDonât do anything,â the heavenly emperor hastily said. âYuyuâs a very bold individual. He rebuilt anew after he shattered the Qingping Sword, but that isnât enough. His four swords have become his new restraints. He wants to borrow the tribulation to destroy this sword formation and reforge himself again!â