"Was this how you killed the Three-Headed Hellhound before?"
"Interesting!"
Before Xikela could finish speaking, a somewhat low voice echoed.
*Paka!*
*Boom! Hualala!~*
As the low voice faded, a somewhat blurry black figure appeared next to a divine pattern stone within the Spirit Suppressing Formation. The figure extended two withered fingers, touching the crackling divine pattern stone and giving it a gentle squeeze. The stone instantly exploded.
Upon the shattering of the divine pattern stone, the rune iron chains binding Xikela in the Spirit Suppressing Formation immediately loosened. Some even dissipated entirely.
*Xiu!~ Hu!~*
*Paka! Paka~*
*Boom! Hualala!~*
As the black figure flickered, the other three divine pattern stones in the Spirit Suppressing Formation instantly cracked. Xikela, covered in wounds and panting, was about to rise and escape when suddenly, Wu Ye Lan roared.
"Yan Jin Huo Yu!"
Before Wu Ye Lan finished speaking, the area around Xikela and the black figure was filled with a murky mist, resembling smoke and ash.
"Ah!~ Ah!"
At this moment, Xikela's shrill screams erupted. Enveloped by the gray mist, his skin began to burn. Though there was no flame, only a red glow like embers fanned by the wind, this red glow exuded immense pressure.
The black figure at the edge of the Spirit Suppressing Formation was also enveloped in red light, but it made no sound.
"Uh ah! Ah~!"
*Xiu~ Hu!*
Amidst Xikela's agonizing screams, the space around the black figure distorted, and the figure instantly vanished. In the blink of an eye, it reappeared in the sky. Wu Ye Lan had also ascended, and holding his three-pointed, double-edged blade, he sliced open his palm, using his blood to form a series of hand seals identical to the ones from before.
*Pipa! Chila!*
Instantly, two shimmering divine pattern stones appeared in the void, quickly forming another Spirit Suppressing Formation. This one was significantly larger than the one on the ground.
"What the... Did they place divine pattern stones on those two peaks?"
Ye Feng, standing on the ground, looked towards the two peaks outside the walls of the Adventurers' Guild, peaks he had attempted to ascend before, with a look of surprise.
When he had seen the divine pattern stones of the ground formation earlier, he had been puzzled because those four stones were not the ones he had given to Wu Ye Ling. Now, the stones activated by Wu Ye Lan were the ones he had indeed given away.
Four divine pattern stones. Two were somehow placed in the air by Wu Ye Lan, and the other two were on the summits of the two peaks at the entrance of the Adventurers' Guild, forming a massive Spirit Suppressing Formation in the void.
Xikela, who had been struggling to break free on the ground, was directly forced into the earth by the powerful pressure emanating from the second Spirit Suppressing Formation. His three mouths simultaneously spat out large mouthfuls of blood.
The colossal Spirit Suppressing Formation in the sky also had rune iron chains flashing with lightning, but its target was not Xikela on the ground, but the black figure in the sky, Iliyas.
*Hu!*
*Chila!*
Suddenly, as Iliyas was suppressed by the Spirit Suppressing Formation that had appeared in the sky, the space around him twisted. He vanished instantly, and in the next moment, a spray of blood erupted from the back of Wu Ye Lan's neck.
"Half-step Epic. As a human, you can be proud!"
Iliyas's low voice sounded from behind Wu Ye Lan.
"A body of a half-step Epic... is mine. I will soon become a half-step Epic expert!"
As soon as Iliyas finished speaking, a voice Ye Feng was not unfamiliar with echoed from Wu Ye Lan's body. It was Lu Yi.
"What?"
Hearing Lu Yi's voice, Ye Feng was astonished. He had just assumed that Lu Yi, like Huang Zhikun and Zeng Ji, had been atomized by the spark bombs.
"Hahaha!~ Wu Ye Lan, your body is mine!"
Following Lu Yi's jubilant cry, black mist-like substances appeared at multiple wounds on Wu Ye Lan's body, and they were surging towards the wound near his heart.
Wu Ye Lan remained silent. He abruptly turned his head to look at Iliyas, and despite the blood constantly seeping from his lips, his face showed a hint of relief.
Almost simultaneously, Wu Ye Lan grabbed Iliyas. A flash of fire erupted from his body, and a vast expanse of rune chains, interweaving lightning and fire, ensnared the black figure.
"Urgh! Haa!"
Wu Ye Lan's face was filled with determination. He let out a powerful roar, and an incredibly potent pressure radiated from his body. The air around him even rippled with visible waves of force.
"Such immense pressure! Is this Wu Ye Lan's true strength?!"
Ye Feng frowned. The pressure emanating from Wu Ye Lan at this moment was almost tangible, as if a heavy weight had suddenly been placed upon him.
"Ye Feng, the sky!"
At this moment, Qiao Ying's slightly anxious voice rang out.
"That... that's a tribulation cloud?"
Ye Feng was slightly taken aback, as he noticed a large, round, roiling mass of tribulation clouds had appeared above Wu Ye Lan.
"Old man, you're not thinking of using the power of heavenly tribulation... Let go of me! Let go of me!"
At this moment, Lu Yi's panicked voice echoed. The black mist that had been entwining Wu Ye Lan began to dissipate outwards, but Wu Ye Lan ignored it, gritting his teeth and fixing his gaze on Iliyas, whom he had captured.
"Ye Feng, Wu Ye Lan could likely have attempted to advance to Epic before, but he suppressed it... all for this moment!"
Qiao Ying watched Wu Ye Lan in the distant sky, her brow furrowed slightly.
"Mm!"
Ye Feng nodded. "Wu Ye Lan possesses both fire and lightning attribute arcane energies. He consumed a large amount of ice attribute arcane energy previously, likely to suppress his internal fire attribute arcane energy and to cope with the tribulation flames!"
*Keng~ Keng!*
Suddenly, a crisp metallic clanging sound rang out. Ye Feng looked down at the ground and was instantly surprised because it was the sound of his Tang Dao falling to the ground.
"What the hell? Why did the Tang Dao summon itself from the spatial warehouse!?"
Ye Feng was perplexed, as this was not the first time. He had encountered something similar on their way to the City of Despair.
*Xiu!*
Ye Feng quickly crouched down, re-stowed the slightly trembling Tang Dao back into his spatial warehouse, and then rapidly surveyed his surroundings. He found that apart from Qiao Ying's surprised look, neither Iliyas, Xikela, nor Wu Ye Lan had noticed him.
"Old man, you damned bastard, hurry up and release me..."
"Damn it all, if you're looking for death, don't drag me with you..."
"Help me, Lord Iliyas!"
...
Wu Ye Lan and Iliyas ignored Lu Yi's curses and pleas, their gazes locked onto each other.
"Using the power of heavenly tribulation, is this your ultimate trump card... I truly underestimated you... Unfortunately..."
Iliyas's contemptuous voice sounded, and the surrounding space began to twist slightly. But the next second, his expression drastically changed, as he couldn't teleport away as he had intended.
...