The roars of the yao and the deafening rumble of battle rang in Lin Zheyu's ears, yet he remained completely immersed in comprehending the formations. Within his sea of consciousness, the golden Heavenly Eye had been pushed to its absolute limit. Behind his tightly shut eyelids, countless blood vessels had surfaced.
Time passed slowly. More than four hours later, the blood vessels in Lin Zheyu's eyes suddenly burst, leaving two trails of bloody tears. His eyes snapped open, both pupils stained a terrifying crimson.
Lin Zheyu slowly exhaled a long breath of stale air.
So this is my limit... Lin Zheyu murmured inwardly.
His vision remained awash in crimson. The Heavenly Eye had been overused to the point that it could no longer be opened. What a pity. If Wang Zhengtian were not here, Lin Zheyu could have restored himself with Origin Force. Then again, without Wang Zhengtian holding the line, he would never have had the freedom to devote himself entirely to studying the formations in the first place.
With a thought, immense essence, qi, and spirit energy surged out from the three great divine repositories. The tremendous strain and injuries inflicted on his body by the excessive use of the Heavenly Eye rapidly healed as the energy flooded through him.
In little more than a dozen breaths, his aura had already returned to its peak. But that was only on the surface. The golden energy within Lin Zheyu's body was fundamentally different from ordinary essence, qi, and spirit energy. While the nourishment from the three great divine repositories restored his body to perfect condition, the golden energy itself did not recover alongside it.
The golden energy was mysterious and unique. It could only be generated from his essence, qi, and spirit when Lin Zheyu's body was maintained in perfect condition.
I wonder how long this yao invasion will last. If it lasts another day or two, I might be able to do it one more time, Lin Zheyu thought as he examined the golden energy remaining within his sea of consciousness.
The previous effort had consumed far too much. Most notably, the golden energy in his sea of consciousness had been depleted to less than 20%, and that was by far the hardest resource to replenish. Still, given two days, he should be able to restore it to 70% or 80%, enough to unleash the golden Heavenly Eye at full power once more.
During those four hours of using the golden Heavenly Eye to comprehend the surrounding formations and restrictions, Lin Zheyu had gained astonishing insights.
Not far away, Wang Zhengtian laughed wildly without the slightest restraint. "Hahaha! Come on! Die, every last one of you! Hahaha! No matter how many cannon fodder there are, they're still just cannon fodder. Pathetically weak!"
Controlling his sword formation, he relentlessly massacred the invading yao. Under Wang Zhengtian's onslaught, the densely packed tide of yao charging toward this formation node was cut down like stalks of grain before a scythe. With Wang Zhengtian joining the defense, even Zong Linjing, who was guarding the first line alongside him, felt an unprecedented sense of ease.
"No wonder Fellow Ji Haozhong managed to hold out for so long. Senior Wang's strength is truly terrifying!" Zong Linjing exclaimed as she watched Wang Zhengtian's utterly one-sided slaughter of the yao.
Lin Zheyu also glanced at the exhilarated Wang Zhengtian and could only shake his head speechlessly. It seemed this Senior Wang was not only an incorrigible womanizer, but also a born killing machine.
"Looks like there's nothing to worry about," Lin Zheyu muttered.
He began circulating the Golden Ocean Secret Manual, restoring his golden energy while directing it to flow into his sea of consciousness.
***
"What a pity. There won't be another chance. Wang Zhengtian is simply monstrously powerful."
Beyond the formation, a pair of eyes opened within the darkness. Watching the formation node guarded by Lin Zheyu, Shi Tianyun gave a slight shake of his head. Compared to Xiao Yu, who had yet to reach his full potential, Wang Zhengtian's body was a far more suitable vessel for nurturing the Netherfrost Flame.
Unfortunately, the man was simply too powerful. He possessed strength comparable to a peak Nascent Soul realm cultivator and had entered the Dao through martial cultivation before switching to Gu cultivation, a path so rare that even during the golden age of the Immortal Dao, few had walked it. Although Wang Zhengtian's overall strength was inferior to Qin Hu's, his ability to stay alive far surpassed that of the Martial Alliance's alliance leader.
"Time to go. There's still plenty of time. I can wait for another opportunity." Shi Tianyun shook his head slightly before melting back into the darkness and disappearing completely.
***
Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, more than a day had gone by. The roars of the yao and the thunder of battle gradually faded into silence. Wang Zhengtian, still presiding over the formation node, looked as vigorous as ever as he directed his sword formation to exterminate the few remaining yao.
Lin Zheyu slowly opened his eyes. "So it's over!"
A faint trace of red lingered in his eyes, though it was barely noticeable. The yao invasion had ended too quickly. Before he could push himself to his limit, more than half of the golden energy in his sea of consciousness still remained, and the formation had already fallen dormant. Even so, the gains he had made this time were more than enough.
From within the formation node, he had driven the golden Heavenly Eye to its utmost limit, freely studying the fully activated formations and restrictions without restraint. The insights Lin Zheyu had gained were astonishing, far surpassing the understanding he had once obtained from the mysterious formation buried deep beneath the lava in the demon realm.
A glint of excitement flashed through Lin Zheyu's eyes, and he felt deeply satisfied. "This time, not only can the Heaven-Deceiving Art be further refined, but even the fundamental structure of my divine patterns can be improved."
The divine patterns had originally been an accidental byproduct of cultivating demon arts. Under the extraordinary restorative effects of Origin Force, the demonic patterns had broken down into their fundamental rule patterns, which then reacted with the golden energy and ultimately condensed into the divine patterns.
Afterward, through countless rounds of refinement, Lin Zheyu incorporated the profound principles of Immortal Dao formation runes into them, gradually forging the divine patterns he possessed today.
Now that he had comprehended a more perfect method of combining Immortal Dao runes with demonic patterns from these formations, all he needed was a little more time to integrate those insights into his divine patterns.
After cutting down the last yao, Wang Zhengtian threw back his head and laughed. "Haha! That was satisfying!"
Even so, his aura had noticeably weakened. Despite possessing strength comparable to a peak Nascent Soul realm cultivator and drawing upon the power of the formation, maintaining such intense concentration while fighting nonstop for so long had exacted an astonishing toll on Wang Zhengtian's essence, qi, and spirit. A glance at Zong Linjing, who had been guarding another formation node, was enough to make that abundantly clear.
With Wang Zhengtian bearing the brunt of the pressure, Zong Linjing had been spared much of the burden. Even so, she now looked completely drained, her face pale from exhaustion.
"Kid, you've been resting for over a day. Why do you look even more worn out than I do?" Wang Zhengtian looked at Lin Zheyu with a grin. "Why don't you go take a break? I'll guard this formation node for a while."
"Thank you, Senior, but there's no need." Lin Zheyu shook his head. His aura surged at an astonishing rate, returning to its peak within a few breaths.
"Oh? Not bad, not bad." Wang Zhengtian let out a surprised chuckle and nodded with a smile as he said, "Then I'll leave it to you. I'm heading back to get some proper sleep. I can't keep this up any longer."
"Damn it, these yao are complete freaks. None of them care whether they live or die. Killing them is as easy as slaughtering chickens and dogs, but there are just too many of them. I've killed so many I'm starting to go numb. I'm getting old, really getting old..." Wang Zhengtian muttered to himself as he walked out of the formation, leaving Lin Zheyu alone at the formation node.
He had complete confidence in Lin Zheyu. In any case, as long as Lin Zheyu could hold out for a while should another massive wave of yao appear, Wang Zhengtian would be able to rush back and reinforce him in short order.
Ji Haozhong walked in from outside the formation. After giving Lin Zheyu a respectful salute, he headed straight toward Zong Linjing. "Fellow Zong, leave the rest to me. Go back and get some rest."
Since Wang Zhengtian trusted Xiao Yu enough to leave him in charge of this formation node, there was clearly nothing to worry about.
"Then I'll trouble you." Zong Linjing returned the salute, though her complexion remained pale.
She had simply expended too much. The energy stored within her divine repositories had been completely exhausted during the battle. Coupled with the constant erosion of the yao will and demonic qi over this period, she had reached the point where she could barely continue.
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