The distance between the four people grew shorter, and judging by the situation, it seemed inevitable that they would eventually be squeezed together, merging into one.
Mo Qi, after a moment of calm, leaped up and retreated to the center point. He clapped his storage bag, and four talismans flew out, merging and disappearing into the "net" from four directions. The net's shrinking speed slowed down further.
Mo Qi clapped his storage bag again, and four formation flags flew out, disappearing into the air from four directions.
Then, cracking sounds came from the four directions, as if something was under immense pressure and about to collapse. However, the "net" had stopped shrinking.
Four giant white pillars appeared from the four directions, flickering in and out of existence like celestial pillars.
"As long as we guard the four directions of east, south, west, and north, we don't have to worry about being crushed," Mo Qi said to the other three. He had already flown up, landing in the eastern corner, and then sat down cross-legged, channeling spiritual energy to reinforce the white pillar.
The other three couldn't think of a way to deal with the heavenly net for the moment. Seeing Mo Qi's endless stratagems, they didn't know if they would work, but at this point, they could only place their hopes on him. Thus, without hesitation, they landed in the south, west, and north directions one after another, guarding the other three directions.
The Frog Daoist and his companions, along with Ji Changshi and Shan Chunrong, were greatly shocked by this. They all made their moves, channeling spiritual energy into the "net" and urging it to shrink with external force. However, it had no effect. The four pillars remained unmoved, and the net, under their push, deformed rapidly, emitting constant scraping sounds, as if on the verge of breaking.
Ji Changshi, seeing this, felt a pang of heartache. He withdrew his divine power and said to the others, "Stop. If you don't stop, my net will break."
Shan Chunrong also immediately withdrew his divine power and looked at the others.
The three ignored him, continuing to urge their magic power as if driven mad.
With hissing sounds, the "heavenly net" clearly showed signs of being unable to bear the strain. The "ropes" of the net became thinner and thinner, and the holes grew larger. The four pillars in the center also began to show signs of bending, as if about to snap.
If this continued, either the pillars would break first, or the net would break first, or both would collapse simultaneously. For the four people trapped in the middle and the three oddities, a conclusion was inevitable. One side sought survival and would not give up until the last moment; the other side hunted and would not rest until bones were seen. But for Ji Changshi, besides obtaining the desired outcome, he also wished for his magic artifact to remain intact. Some people valued their magic artifacts more than their own lives.
A killing intent flickered in Ji Changshi's eyes. He slightly bent his fingers, preparing to form a hand seal to deal with the three oddities. However, Shan Chunrong suddenly grabbed his hand and shook his head, saying, "Calm down. The overall situation is more important."
Ji Changshi abruptly pulled his hand back, snorted coldly, and looked elsewhere, unable to bear to watch.
As the Frog Daoist was fully exerting his magic power to shrink the net, Mo Qi quietly flicked a finger towards the Frog Daoist. The arrow energy was silent and did not show any obvious overflow of spiritual energy. By the time it was close, the Frog Daoist was greatly alarmed and instinctively dodged. However, it was too late. The arrow energy veered slightly, missing the heart but still piercing through his chest, directly knocking the Frog Daoist off the cloud.
The Blazing Daoist was furious. He took a deep breath, opened his mouth, and spat out a fireball that rapidly expanded into a sea of fire in the air. It fiercely struck the giant "net." The giant net, as if substantial, blocked the sea of fire, forming a large hollow fireball that burned in the air. This attack could not harm Mo Qi and the others inside at all. However, the Blazing Daoist continued to exert his magic power, maintaining the burning sea of fire. It seemed the target was not the people inside the net, but the net itself.
Seeing this, Ji Changshi trembled with anger, wanting to erupt, but was ultimately held back by Shan Chunrong.
The Frog Daoist was severely injured, almost unable to fly back onto the cloud. After rolling on the ground for a long time, he slowly sat up, gnashing his teeth in hatred, "Who injured me? Who?"
However, no matter how much he roared, no one paid him any attention. He then thought, who cares who it was? As long as he recovered slightly, he would indiscriminately kill everyone in the net. Since they were all going to die anyway, it no longer mattered who attacked him.
So, he sat cross-legged on the ground and began to heal himself.
Although the fire could not enter the net, the people inside were still in great difficulty. The three people outside had stopped reinforcing the "net" with their spiritual energy, causing the net to lose some of its attacking power against the formation in the middle. Thus, the four "pillars" gradually returned to their upright positions. However, the heat from the surrounding flames was transmitted into the "enclosed space" in the middle without reservation.
The three from the Divine Escape Sect were almost smoking from the scorching heat. Their clothes were soaked, then instantly dried, then soaked again... Their breathing was extremely difficult. The three of them resisted the scorching heat with their spiritual energy, appearing exceptionally strained.
Ji Changshi said to the Blazing Daoist, "How about I retract my heavenly net? It's useless now anyway. If I retract it, your attacks will be more thorough."
Seeing the miserable state of the people in the net, the Skeleton Daoist immediately smiled and waved his hand, "Who says it's useless? I think it's very useful. Let's keep it this way. At least, they can't escape."
His intention was to slowly torture them to death.
Meanwhile, Ji Changshi and Shan Chunrong were like ants on a hot pan, wishing they could leave immediately. After all, this was in broad daylight. If others saw them standing with cultivators from overseas, wouldn't it directly confirm the Divine Turtle Sect's collusion with overseas immortal sects?
The two whispered to each other, and Ji Changshi transmitted the situation to the Sect Master of the Divine Turtle Sect, reporting the situation and asking for instructions on whether to return to the mountain gate first. The Sect Master replied, "Hold your position and wait and see." The two had no choice but to stay put, looking around from time to time, like thieves, afraid of being seen by passersby.
Mo Qi thought that the next phase would be a test of defense. Because when Liu Xun arrived, he had already considered that this place was too close to the Divine Turtle Sect. If the Divine Turtle Sect felt insecure, they would surely resort to desperate measures and dispatch a large number of people to capture them all. Therefore, at that time, he had quietly transmitted the situation here to Wu Fan using a sound transmission spirit stone, hoping for his rescue. Wu Fan had replied that he was on his way.
Therefore, as long as they could hold on until the rescue arrived, they would have won.
He thought of the alchemy method that used the human body as a cauldron. The advantage of this method was to maximize the medicinal efficacy, and it was also a method to "temper the body." If the elixir refined was also one that strengthened the physique, such as the "Indestructible Vajra Pill," then the protective effect would be unimaginable. He could only know by trying. So, he took out the ingredients from his storage bag one by one, processed them quickly, and then swallowed them one by one. At this moment, under the scorching heat of the sea of fire, the external temperature soared infinitely. He happened to use it as the furnace fire for alchemy. Under the effect of the internal medicine, he didn't feel the slightest bit of heat. He realized that this heat was not enough, so he quickly moved to the position of the "net," unleashed his Fiery Flame divine ability, placed his hand on the "net," and slowly absorbed the heat into his body. Thus, the three people from the Divine Escape Sect suddenly felt the scorching force disappear out of nowhere. The three of them felt relaxed and looked at Mo Qi in unison. They understood that Mo Qi had resolved their predicament, but at this moment, Mo Qi's entire body had turned red, emitting heat, like a piece of red-hot iron.
The three of them did not know what divine ability this was, but their intuition told them that it must hurt a lot!
The five people outside the circle also saw the scene and were bewildered.
Seeing that Mo Qi was almost completely burnt through, the Blazing Daoist felt that adding a little more fire might melt him. So, he intensified his efforts, urged his magic power, and spat out another fireball. The fireball transformed into a sea of fire again, spreading over the giant net. The giant net made continuous hissing sounds, and at the same time, the smell of something burning spread through the air.
Mo Qi continued to absorb the heat into his body. When he felt the temperature rise slightly, he unleashed his Ice and Snow divine ability to control the "furnace temperature" within a suitable range.
The Blazing Daoist continuously cast countless fireballs. Every time he felt that the next fireball would melt Mo Qi, he was surprised to find that Mo Qi maintained a reddened state, but no matter what, he showed no signs of melting.
The Blazing Daoist was going mad and prepared to spit out ten fireballs at once, thinking, "I'll burn you to ashes!"
At this moment, the Skeleton Daoist seemed to have figured something out. He immediately stopped him and said, "Something is wrong. I don't know what he's doing, but I think you should stop casting fireball divine abilities. I feel like you're helping him."
The Blazing Daoist finally came to his senses and stopped using his techniques, looking at the Skeleton Daoist as if to say, "Then it's up to you." The Skeleton Daoist didn't even look at him, casually looking at the sea of fire and saying, "Wait. When the net burns out, we'll all charge in together."
Mo Qi absorbed heat while urging his spiritual energy, continuously causing the medicinal ingredients to churn within his body. The formula specifically included drugs to prevent rapid absorption, allowing the various ingredients to interact. Although he couldn't form a pill in the end, the medicinal power absorbed by his body far surpassed that of an elixir.
In the eyes of outsiders, Mo Qi's body was also undergoing obvious changes. Besides being burnt red, his body was faintly covered in a silvery-gray hue, as if he were wearing an indestructible silver armor. He looked incredibly sturdy.
By this time, Ji Changshi's heavenly net was almost completely burnt. Ji Changshi no longer cared about the heartache. Seeing the changes in Mo Qi's body, he felt that he could not delay any longer. At this moment, what he wanted to do most was to quickly eliminate the four people in the formation and then return to the Divine Turtle Sect to get a good night's sleep. The longer he stayed here, the greater the risk of exposure.
The "net" was burnt out, but the formation in the middle remained. The three from the Divine Escape Sect tacitly moved to guard the three pillars. Mo Qi no longer had external heat to borrow and could only rely on his own Fiery Flame divine ability to maintain the "furnace fire." Simultaneously, he used the interaction force with the outside of the furnace during alchemy to reinforce the fourth pillar. Thus, the formation formed a powerful combined force, with faint light and energy flashing, creating a hazy energy wall.
The Frog Daoist had recovered his vitality and immediately returned to mid-air. The five people spread out strangely, forming a circle in the air, surrounding Mo Qi and the others.