Old An sighed, glanced at the purple mass of energy, and said solemnly, "This thing is a bit different from what I imagined. You find a way to stall it for a while longer, and I'll go call for help."
Seeing Old An about to leave, Li Chonglou quickly called out, "What about me?"
"If you can't hold on, just let it out. It shouldn't dare to stay here for long."
With that, Old An vanished from his spot.
Li Chonglou's previously dazed expression instantly turned grim.
He hadn't been unable to merge his spiritual sense with Old An earlier; he had been afraid!
He had understood spiritual sense thoroughly in that legendary Sea of Consciousness. Although only a few hours had passed in the outside world, he had spent countless years within it!
But just now, when he lent his spiritual sense to Old An for fusion, in that instant, he clearly sensed that a part of the fusion had completely detached from his perception, as if his aura had been consumed.
Even though he trusted Old An inwardly, Li Chonglou instinctively chose to refuse the fusion.
Never gamble on something you don't understand; that's a rule that never fails!
No matter when it is, having a trump card is never a bad thing.
Besides, Old An clearly had other ways to deal with it.
Li Chonglou looked up at the furiously smashing purple energy mass, his eyes suddenly turning cold.
"You dare to be so arrogant on my territory?"
He raised his hand and gently clenched it in the direction of the purple energy mass. A white mist, hundreds of times more potent than before, surged forth!
The purple energy mass within the confinement stiffened.
In the next second, it began to collide even more frantically!
As if it were throwing its life away.
It seemed to sense a fatal crisis.
However, after a few seconds, Li Chonglou dispersed his spiritual sense.
The Sea of Consciousness was the origin of spiritual sense, but here, spiritual sense was a higher-level existence. If it were anyone else, simply using their consciousness to trap the purple energy mass, they likely wouldn't even last five seconds, just as Old An had said.
But for Li Chonglou, who had a perfect understanding of spiritual sense, he could trap this thing here for a lifetime if he wished!
However, since Old An had a backup plan, he wasn't in a hurry to reveal his own trump card.
In the next second, his consciousness returned to reality.
Concurrently, the purple energy mass emerged from the top of Li Chonglou's head.
"Old An!"
"Don't worry, leave it to me."
As the voice responded in his mind, the purple energy mass was about to flee when it was entangled by two suddenly appearing black wisps of energy.
It was Old Lin and Senior Cai Hong.
Perhaps it was because only they two had undergone soul fusion with him that Old An summoned them together. They immediately surrounded the purple energy mass.
"Damn it, what is this thing? How can it electrocute souls?"
Three streams of energy were battling above Li Chonglou's head. Strictly speaking, Old Lin and Cai Hong were restraining the purple energy mass, and the latter, as if having found a new place to be trapped, continued to collide furiously.
Meanwhile, Old Lin's strange cries continued to ring out.
Electricity?
Weren't they told it was just a formation spirit?
Li Chonglou asked Old An, whose voice sounded rather heavy.
"Perhaps this thing is different from the formation spirits recorded in my mind. Normal formation spirits are merely spirits of heaven and earth; they shouldn't possess other attributes."
Well, even Old An wasn't clear about what was happening.
But Li Chonglou's expression froze, and he subconsciously said, "Could it be related to that Divine Thunder Source?"
Old An fell silent.
Above their heads, Old Lin's panicked shouts continued, complaining about being numb and urging the other two to think of a solution.
Clearly, even with their combined efforts, they were only able to contain it.
After a long pause, Old An suddenly spoke, "Little Li, you mean it's also targeting the Divine Thunder Source, hence its lightning attribute?"
"I don't know, just a guess."
Despite his words, after Old An finished speaking, both of them felt that this was likely the correct answer.
"What do we do now?"
Old An said solemnly, "Little Li, add your consciousness to it and refine it."
"Can it be done?"
Old An replied, "It should be fine. Even if it has mutated, it's still a spirit of heaven and earth. As long as it's an unpossessed spirit, one's consciousness can refine it."
Alright.
Although it sounded a bit mystical, there was no other way now. Li Chonglou could only comply.
Projecting one's consciousness outward was something that any cultivator who had broken through to the fifth realm could do, though it was merely a simple projection and generally lacked the capability for attack.
However, refining was strictly not an attack, but assimilation.
It was like adding an external disk to a computer and then implanting one's own information through that external disk. Gradually, that computer would become identical to the external disk, with all its contents originating from the external disk.
And now, the computer was the purple energy mass, and Li Chonglou was the external disk.
The process was slower than anticipated.
Even with the help of Old Lin and Cai Hong, the purple energy mass never strayed more than a few inches from its position, but Li Chonglou's consciousness was repeatedly repelled by it.
He could only try again and again.
Slowly wear down the purple energy mass's energy. Once it lost all offensive capability, Li Chonglou could attempt to refine it.
Originally, the two of them had planned to refine and absorb it within ten minutes at most and then make their escape, but now, it seemed like it would take at least an hour or two to deal with this thing.
Li Chonglou was anxious but had no choice.
Old An comforted him, "Don't worry. You can still control this formation during this process. Even if someone comes, they won't see them, and you can handle it."
Li Chonglou nodded. It seemed like this was the only way.
Being able to multitask was something that any strong cultivator could easily achieve.
Thus, one person, three souls, and a spirit of heaven and earth remained in a stalemate within the formation.
Meanwhile, at the entrance to the forbidden zone, after the thrilling heavenly lightning, Wolverine and his team had successfully captured three core members of the Black Net.
Wolverine's first reaction upon returning was not to interrogate them immediately but to have everyone spread out and maintain a safe distance.
Who wouldn't fear heavenly lightning after witnessing it?
Even though he was a seventh-level expert, he couldn't be sure if he could withstand another strike under the current circumstances, especially since Lei Ci Island had special rules that prevented them from using their normal abilities.
After confirming that the heavenly lightning overhead was no longer gathering, the five captains began their interrogation.
Two of the black-clad men were fanatics. They not only refused to say a word but also chose to commit suicide as soon as they regained a little mobility. They didn't even have time to react.
Fortunately, there was still one normal person who was afraid of death.
After Wolverine learned his lesson and first sealed the man's abilities, a slight interrogation led him to spill everything he knew.