The Saint Force within that First Heavenly Layer Saint King leaked out rapidly and floated out into the moonlight barrier. It was refined into Moonlight Force very quickly, which strengthened the barrier.
“This can’t continue. The more Saint Force you radiate, the stronger the barrier becomes. You need to leave here as soon as possible,” called out a great elder of a protector clan.
“If all of your Saint Force gets devoured, you won’t be able to leave even if you are a Saint King. You better leave quickly while you still have some remaining energy,” someone within the crowd tried to persuade him. If the Saint Force continued to be refined into Moonlight Force, it would be extremely detrimental to everyone.
The Saint King’s complexion had already become the color of moonlight—extremely pale. Under everyone’s insistence, he hesitated slightly before he stood up in a trembling fashion. He made his way toward the barrier with a face filled with unwillingness and regret, as he poured all his energy into suppressing the Moonlight Force within him, in an attempt to reduce the speed at that his Saint Force got devoured.
He made his way to the barrier very quickly, but just when he wanted to leave, the barrier obstructed him.
“Dah!” The Saint King immediately roared out, as he struck the barrier as hard as he could with the curved blade in his hand. However, the barrier did not even end up trembling.
The Moonlight Force in the sky began to condense once more into densely-packed sword Qi. It radiated with a great pressure that flooded the divine hall. At the same time, the odd killing intent that invaded their bodies appeared again, and it actually merged into the sword Qi strand by strand. It powered up the sword Qi.
“The Second Heavenly Layer. The attacks this time are as powerful as a Second Heavenly Layer Saint King,” a Saint King warned the crowd.
As soon as he finished his words, the sword Qi began to fall and blanketed down on everyone.
Jian Chen stood straight where he was, unmoving like a mountain. He allowed the sword Qi to strike his body, which had turned his clothes to shreds long ago. His body became littered with white marks that were all due to the sword Qi.
Another few miserable shrieks rang out. The sword Qi was just too tightly-packed, so it injured a few more weaker Saint Kings. Weird Moonlight Force was deposited into their bodies, as it began to devour their Saint Force.
From afar, a group of Saint Rulers and Heaven Saint Masters stared at this in surprise. In their eyes, Saint Kings were supreme existences, people who stood at the apex. They held illustrious statuses and received the admiration of everyone. Many of them found it quite difficult to believe now that so many Saint Kings had fallen into such horrible shapes.
After all, it was the first time for many of the Heaven Saint Masters and a few of the Saint Rulers who had entered the divine hall to see a Saint King.
“The sword Qi is constantly becoming stronger. If this continues, it’ll become strong to the point where we can’t resist it very soon. We can’t just sit and wait for that to happen. We need to break through the barrier as soon as possible,” called out a Saint King.
Immediately, around a dozen Saint Kings drew their Saint Weapons. Tremendous Saint Force surged wildly within the barrier, before striking the barrier at the same time.
Boom! Terrifying energy ripples pushed the Heaven Saint Masters and Saint Rulers backward, while the fragile Class 6 Radiant Saint Masters suffered quite some heavy damage. However, You Yue and Kara Liwei did not sustain any damage, as they had the protection of the saint artifact.
After taking on the combined attack from more than ten Saint Kings, the barrier immediately began to shake violently. However, it did not shatter.
“What a powerful barrier,” a Saint King could not help but exclaim. He became much sterner.
The Saint Rulers and people below Saint Ruler backed off some more, as they almost stuck to the barrier. All the injured Heaven Saint Masters sat with their legs crossed, as they healed their wounds. Meanwhile, a milky-white light surrounded the Class 6 Radiant Saint Masters. They were using Radiant Saint Force to heal their wounds.
The Moonlight Force within the barrier immediately began to churn after the barrier resisted the combined attack from the Saint Kings. It condensed into densely-packed sword Qi in the sky once more, though there were much fewer than before. However, its power had drastically increased.
Swish! Swish! Swish…
With a series of ear-piercing sounds, the sword Qi rained upon them with unbelievable speed. Although the number had lessened, it was still like a blanket. No one could dodge it, so they were only able to forcefully resist it.
After the wave of attacks, the sword Qi struck three more Saint Kings. Although their wounds were not life-threatening, the Moonlight Force was extremely weird. The residue in their bodies began to devour their Saint Force. Regardless of how hard they tried, they could not purge it, which forced them to devote all their power into resisting it and slowing down the dissipation of their Saint Force.
“This wave of sword Qi has already reached the Third Heavenly Layer. If it continues like this, the next wave should be at the Fourth Heavenly Layer, and then the Fifth, the Sixth and so on. It’ll go on forever, until all of us die here.”
“If we let that happen, we will all die. No one will be able to survive. Everyone, do not hold back. Strike the barrier with all your strength.”
The speakers were two ancestors from ancient clans. This time, everyone decided to contribute. They gathered all their power to strike at the same time, and they sent an earth-shaking attack at the barrier.
Jian Chen had also drawn his Emperor Armament and struck the barrier as soon as he could. Resisting this wave of attacks was already the limits of his Chaotic Body. If he did not break through the barrier, the next wave would be able to pierce his body. Although he had no idea if the Moonlight Force could devour his Chaotic Force, it was not something he wanted to risk.
Boom! The combined attacks of all the Saint Kings finally broke through the extremely tough barrier, reducing it into dense strands of Moonlight Force that floated around the divine hall.
Everyone would not help but smile slightly in relief now that they had destroyed the barrier. However, before long, a cold voice boomed out in the empty space.
“Those who have not heeded the warning, take responsibility for your actions!”
With that, streaks of bright and pure moonlight suddenly appeared. It shone blindingly like sunlight as nine balls of light floated above the sculpture of fairy Hao Yue in the center of the area. Each ball of light shone with bright moonlight. From afar, it seemed like nine, small moons.
Rumble…
The divine hall began to shake violently. One of the moons that floated above the sculpture suddenly began to enlarge and shine with dazzling light. Everyone could not help but close their eyes.
When they opened their eyes once more, the scene before them had already completely changed. The familiar divine hall had disappeared and a desolate land now replaced it. There was nothing as far as the eye could see except for dry earth.
All the Saint Kings changed in expression when they saw this. They had all realized that they had fallen into another formation. Everyone had fallen into it, including the First Heavenly Layer Saint King who was injured at the very start.
It could be said that all the Saint Kings that had entered the divine hall had gathered in this formation once more.
“Is this landscape the moon?” The great elder from the Changyang clan looked around in interest, as he said with surprise and suspicion.
“It doesn’t matter if this landscape is the moon or not. We need to break out as soon as possible, as it definitely can’t be safe. And that sudden voice back then—was that fairy Hao Yue’s voice?” A great elder from the Yiyuan sect said with a sunken face. Uneasiness filled his eyes.
Many people could not but change in expression when they heard that, but someone rebuked very quickly, “Fairy Hao Yue passed away in meditation several tens of thousand years ago, so it’s impossible for her to still be alive. She must have left behind that voice back then.”
At this moment, a mysterious suction silently appeared. It gathered around the people and slowly pulled out their Saint Force.
Everyone immediately changed in expression. They all sat down quickly and poured all their strength into resisting the suction. However, they failed to stop the expansion of their Saint Force no matter how hard they tried.
Jian Chen also felt the weird, mysterious force gathering around him, as if it was drawing the Chaotic Force within him outward. His Chaotic Force also began to show signs of movement, as if it had broken free of his control and was drifting outward. However, Chaotic Force could not be compared to Saint Force in the end. Under Jian Chen’s control, the Chaotic Force immediately calmed down and did not expand outward like the Saint Force of the Saint Kings.
“What a weird formation and force. I actually can’t prevent the energy within me from expanding. Hmph, if that’s the case, let me break through this formation. I’d like to see if it can resist a strike from me.” Hei Yu raised his head and his gaze sharpened. A slivery-white machete appeared in his right hand, radiating with a chilling pressure.
It was a weapon with origin energy. Just with that weapon, Hei Yu could deal attacks as strong as Saint Emperors and fight hand-in-hand with them.
At the very top of the divine hall, there was an extremely pretty and illusory woman that currently sat on a pure-white piece of jade within a completely sealed room. Her eyes were closed but suddenly, she became surprised. Her eyes snapped open, and she cried out involuntarily, “Origin energy! This is origin energy! How is this possible? How can origin energy exist in this world? Wasn’t all the origin energy sealed up in the distant void of space? How can this energy exist here?”
The illusory woman stood up from the piece of jade, and her emotions began to churn. She was not calm in any way, and even excitement seemed to have appeared on her illusory face.