The vast Yu Rou Plains were home to eight Grade Nine sects and sixty-four Grade Eight sects. This time, all of them dispatched their elite disciples to establish branch sects in the western reaches of the Zi Kun Mountains, and they even constructed teleportation arrays for rear support.
When the Grade Nine Li Huo Locusts appeared, aside from the Beast Taming Sect, which had already stationed four tribulation loose immortals and a cultivator at the ninth-tier Mahayana realm from the outset, the other seventy-one sects immediately sent for help from their sects far away in the Yu Rou Plains!
Yes, help!
A single Grade Nine Li Huo Locust required the cooperation of at least three ninth-tier cultivators to fend off. Without some trump cards, let alone killing a Grade Nine Locust, survival itself was a testament to formidable skills.
Over 5,000 li north of Stone Rock Mountain, this was the stronghold of the Grade Seven sect, the Sheng Yu Sect.
At this moment, Ye Yudong, his hands and feet cold, gazed at the pitch-black sky outside the protective formation's light barrier. He had never imagined that the Li Huo Locust swarm would be so terrifying.
He turned and scanned the crowd, then quietly approached a woman in purple robes with a golden crown, a figure of grace and nobility, and whispered:
"Martial Uncle Wang, were the Li Huo Locusts you encountered in the Li Huo Desert also this terrifying?"
"Heh heh~ Terrifying?
Are you misunderstanding the meaning of terrifying, or have you not read the sect's collected data? This is only the beginning of the Li Huo Locust outbreak!"
The woman in purple robes and golden crown cast a disdainful glance at Ye Yudong, then turned her gaze back to the formation's light barrier with tension, wary of the most fearsome presence descending.
Just as Ye Yudong was about to ask further, a series of "ying ying" sounds echoed from all directions.
"Everyone cover your ears, fill all formation nodes with spirit stones, and everyone conceal your aura!"
Upon hearing the "ying ying" sounds, the noble and graceful face of the woman in purple robes turned deathly pale. Then, a flush of excited joy appeared, and she shouted commands.
Ye Yudong did not understand the meaning of Martial Uncle Wang's orders, but the sect leader had instructed him to obey Martial Uncle Wang's commands entirely. He naturally dared not ask anything and, along with other Sheng Yu Sect cultivators, began pouring spirit stones into the fixed formation nodes.
A quarter of an hour later, this mountain peak, over a thousand zhang tall and spanning over 200 li in circumference, fell into a deathly silence. However, the azure formation was still operating stably, continuously freezing Li Huo Locusts into ice sculptures.
They then slid down the outer wall of the formation, falling to the sides of the light barrier. A high, icy-blue wall grew taller and thicker.
Until the entire light barrier was encased by the corpses of icy-blue Li Huo Locusts. Passing Li Huo Locusts began to instinctively avoid this mountain.
[Hoping the cultivators behind us can be strong enough. For us seventh-tier shrimp, this is all we can do.]
Wang Caihua, the woman in purple robes and golden crown, watched the Li Huo Locusts no longer approach, a beautiful smile gracing her lips. She silently prayed that the cultivators on the other peaks behind them would fight desperately.
However, she forgot: all cultivators cherished their lives, especially the high-tier ones!
On the peaks of the first ring of defenses in the Zi Kun Mountain Range, apart from Yang Hong's Stone Rock Mountain and the Beast Taming Sect's Ying Hao Mountain, all other peaks adopted the same strategy as the Sheng Yu Sect, placing their hopes on the cultivators behind them.
Then, a terrifying scene unfolded.
At the edge of the endless Li Huo Desert, at the foot of the majestic Zi Kun Mountain Range, a fiery red sea slowly surged. Everywhere it passed, not only spiritual plants and minerals but even rocks and soil were devoured.
Tall mountain peaks, not destroyed by the "Black Despair," were continuously eroded by the red ocean,
forever vanishing from heaven and earth.
Only a few high mountains, enveloped by the red ocean, stood starkly in its midst.
By the time the cultivators of Yu Rou Plains discovered this situation, it was already noon the next day.
"Not good! Issue a full mobilization order for war, send for help from the immortal sects of the Central Divine Continent, send for help from the Buddhist sects!
Quick ~ quick ~ quick!"
The Mahayana ancestor of the Rising Sun Sect, gazing at the Zi Kun Mountain Range, which had already been eroded for over a thousand li, felt his blood run cold.
"A thousand li of mountains devoured! How many Grade Nine Li Huo Locusts must have been cultivated!
Trouble is brewing!"
The Rising Sun Ancestor had traveled in the Li Huo Desert in his early years and had witnessed the power of the Li Huo Locusts. He clearly understood their growth rate and the terror of Grade Nine Li Huo Locusts!
After pondering for a long time, the Rising Sun Ancestor gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and used his divine sense amplified by a formation to transmit a message to the leaders of all Grade Nine and Great Grade sects!
"Old fellows! Activate the Gentle Rain Formation and use heavy snow to block these locusts!"
Unfortunately, his response was a chorus of dissent.
"Old Ghost Zhao Yang, are you mad?
Once the Gentle Rain Formation is activated, the rainfall in Yu Rou Plains will be uncontrollably regulated for a hundred years. Can you bear the responsibility?"
"Old Ghost Zhao Yang, you want our formation control permissions, don't you? Dream on."
"I object!"
"Our sect has already repelled the invading Li Huo Locusts."
"Hmph~ I still have a formation on the summit of Zi Kun Mountain, which will definitely block these little bugs."
The Rising Sun Ancestor gnashed his teeth, but his constant persuasion yielded no response from anyone!
He knew that activating the Gentle Rain Formation involved not only the control permissions of the formation but also its luck.
If the Li Huo Locusts were not eliminated, it would be fine. However, if they were eliminated, the Rising Sun Ancestor would immediately gain immense luck and merit, and ascending to the immortal realm would be a trivial matter.
"Damn fools~ you old fellows are too selfish. I am absolutely not doing this for merit or luck.
Quickly activate the Gentle Rain Formation. I don't want formation control; I can be the last to activate the formation permissions."
Alright, the Rising Sun Ancestor was selfless, but the leaders of the other sects were not necessarily so.
For the sake of formation control permissions and who would activate it first, a group of old men argued for a whole day before a decision was reached.
And in that single day, another 500 li of the Zi Kun Mountain Range was leveled!
This was still because the mountains became taller as one went deeper!
The Gentle Rain Formation was finally activated. Countless water vapors, under the command of hundreds of millions of cultivators and millions of formation nodes, gathered from the vast Yu Rou Plains, spanning hundreds of millions of li.
The water vapor, channeled by the formation, ascended into the high heavens. Under the combined cooling of nature and the formation, it bypassed the peaks of the Zi Kun Mountain Range, transforming into large snowflakes that drifted down towards the western reaches of the Zi Kun Mountains!
The Li Huo Locust swarm, which had advanced another ten or so li, finally halted as the heavy snow began to fall.
Grade One Li Huo Locusts, upon contact with snowflakes, would quickly burrow into the ground to enter hibernation.
Grade Two and Grade Three Locusts were more tenacious; they would first mate and lay eggs before hibernating.
With the absence of the most numerous Grade One to Three Li Huo Locusts, those of Grade Four and above also slowed their advance, gradually segmenting into groups based on their cold resistance.
It seemed the Li Huo Locust swarm had been resolved.
However, the faces of the group of old men on the summit of Zi Kun Mountain remained grim!
The Golden Dragon Ancestor of the Beast Taming Sect, who was in charge of controlling the main power of the grand formation, looked somewhat pale.
"The swarm has not been resolved. The Li Huo Locusts have only entered hibernation, not died. Moreover, I feel no feedback of merit, and there is even some backlash of luck."
"Kill them, otherwise, the Li Huo Locusts that have hibernated and adapted to the severe cold will be even harder to kill."
"Kill!"
At the command of the ancestors, dozens of teams of tens of thousands of cultivators, taking advantage of the heavy snow, charged down the Zi Kun Mountain.