Aspiring to the Immortal Path

Chapter 786: Mighty Assault

Godhead Mountain.

This proud mountain that loomed over the Gargantua Plain was welcoming the greatest threat it had faced since its creation.

Tens of thousands of cultivators had completely encircled Godhead Mountain, belonging to the Seven Absolutions Sect and to the Basking Moon Sect.

Tang Jie stood high up in the air, and with him were Ji Qingfeng, Wang Juemie, and Hong Shenji.

Ming Yekong stood to the side. He had not remained to protect the Basking Moon Sect, instead leading the members of the Basking Moon Sect's radical faction toward the Seven Absolutions Sect in preparation for this battle.

A golden light radiated from Godhead Mountain, covering the entire mountain like a golden bowl.

"We were still a little too late. Godhead Palace realized something was wrong and activated the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation," Wine Immortal Lu sighed.

The Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation sounded very ordinary, but it was a top-class defensive formation. Godhead Palace had spent two thousand years investing countless resources into this formation, and while it might not be on par with the Seven Absolutions Sect's Universe Reversal Yin Yang Formation, it wasn't too far off. Once the formation was activated, even God Immortals would find it difficult to penetrate. It was a formation that could annihilate Earth Immortals and hold back True Immortals, a formation that even the combined assault of the Seven Absolutions Sect and Basking Moon Sect couldn't bring down.

It had not had a chance to display its might one hundred and thirty years ago when the Seven Absolutions Sect attacked. This was because the Seven Absolutions Sect had chosen a small elite squad, sending in a few Violet Palace experts rather than an army, so Godhead Palace hadn't been able to react in time. Besides that, the Earth Immortal had still been present, so they didn't feel like they were in danger and thus didn't activate the formation.

But everything was different this time.

The invasion of the two sects and the tough battle their sect master was locked in had given Godhead Palace advance warning. Without their own Earth Immortal standing guard, they could only rely on the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation.

Underneath this formation, the entire world was painted gold.

Gazing at the golden turtle shell in the distance, Tang Jie smiled. "So what if we were too late? Weren't we ready for this?"

Hong Shenji stroked his beard and laughed. "Indeed, indeed, we're prepared. Formations are rigid while people are alive. While the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation is powerful and can block external attacks, it can't stop internal destruction."

He flicked his fingers, sending out a blast of air.

Ming Yekong did the same.

Explosions rumbled across Godhead Mountain, and plumes of smoke began to rise. So many explosions had happened all at once that the golden dome over the mountain trembled, its color fading.

This string of explosions seemed simple, but each location was actually meticulously calculated, each one targeting a node of the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation.

After two thousand years of construction, this formation had 34,892 nodes in all, with 3,600 being critical. According to Godhead Palace's designs, if the formation came under attack, no matter where it was attacked, it would affect that specific area and not others. Something like a collapse in one part leading to the collapse of the entire line was impossible.

But this meant that each node of the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation was its own independent cell that couldn't sustain as much damage as the overall formation. If these nodes were specifically targeted and broken, the formation would weaken.

Thus, before the Seven Absolutions Sect's raid back then, Tang Jie and Hong Shenji had spent a great deal of time researching the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation.

In that raid a hundred and thirty years ago, Hong Shenji had disguised himself and personally entered Godhead Palace. Everyone thought that the Seven Absolutions Sect had attacked to loot Godhead Palace; only the Seven Absolutions Sect and Tang Jie knew that the real goal of the raid was to prepare for today's battle.

Hong Shenji had used that raid to personally seek out some of the critical nodes of the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation, after which he ordered the spies they had planted to make some preparations. When the moment finally came, everything was put into motion.

That the entire mountain was awash with flames was a sign that their preparations had succeeded at wreaking havoc from within, and it was apparent that Godhead Palace was in chaos.

A Seven Absolutions Sect cultivator holding a detector compass shouted, "The Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation has suffered heavy damage! Its power has fallen by at least fifty percent!"

Both sects were delighted to hear this.

Ji Qingfeng laughed. "It's all thanks to Brother Tang's plan from back then. Brother Tang, you truly are farsighted, always planning things out before making a move and opening our eyes to all the possibilities."

"Indeed, indeed," the powerhouses of the Seven Absolutions Sect all praised.

But Tang Jie frowned. "Only fifty percent?"

This plan had been in the works for nearly two hundred years and had taken immense manpower and resources, but it had only deprived the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation of half its power. To be honest, Tang Jie wasn't satisfied.

It had to be understood that the Basking Moon Sect and the Seven Absolutions Sect had basically exposed all their spies in Godhead Palace for this campaign. If they couldn't take Godhead Palace, their spies would be wiped out, and the two sects would lose any intelligence on Godhead Palace for the next few centuries, making any further plans against it more difficult.

Moreover, while the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation had lost half its power, this was because it had lost critical nodes, and was not a permanent loss. Godhead Palace's formation masters were completely capable of restoring this lost capability.

Hong Shenji clearly understood this, saying, "Our current priority is to end this battle quickly! Brother Tang, it's up to you."

Tang Jie nodded, and the Celestial Eye on the center of his forehead opened, the Great Dao Realm forming around him. The divine light of the Celestial Eye engulfed Godhead Mountain.

After a few scans, Tang Jie pointed at a location and said, "There's a weak spot over there, so an attack from there will be effective."

Ji Qingfeng shouted, "Disciples of the Seven Absolutions Sect, hear me! Attack!"

As he spoke, thousands of disciples charged at that weak point.

Tens of thousands of spell arts burst out in a glorious display, coming down in a great storm.

The Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation responded.

A golden glow radiated outward, and a thousand golden dragons appeared. A majestic pressure radiated from the formation, pressuring everything in the area.

But the moment this pressure appeared, Ji Qingfeng and the other four True Lords pushed back against it.

Not only that, those thousands of disciples also assumed a formation, and their vast killing intent was merged together into a giant dragon.

This frenzied dragon clashed against the golden sunset glow in an explosion of rainbow light that broke through the clouds, so brilliant that it seemed like all the light of the world was gathered here.

The ten-thousand-man formation clashed with the guardian formation with such intensity that it even outshone the battle of the ten Violet Palace cultivators and two Earth Immortals in the distance.

A moment later, numerous Seven Absolutions Sect cultivators were sent tumbling by the eruption of sunset light. Some of the weaker ones were instantly burned to ashes once they left the protection of their combat formation.

But even more cultivators gathered, combining their powers and turning quantity into quality. Together with Ji Qingfeng and the True Lords, they furiously battled against the formation.

But the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation was truly not to be underestimated. Even with its internal structure in disarray and its weak point under attack by more than ten thousand cultivators, it still seemed to have endless power, not only holding off the attack but even firing off rays of golden light.

With every ray of golden light, a cultivator was bound to fall. Even Heart Demon and Soul Transformation cultivators couldn't block them.

But the cultivators of the Seven Absolutions Sect fearlessly pressed the attack. The grudge between these sects had persisted for a thousand years, and nothing except death could make them back down.

Countless spell arts and energy blasts pounded the formation. Within the formation, one could vaguely make out countless disciples running about, with the occasional explosion. There was a battle going on within, the spies of the two sects defending themselves now that their mission was done. They just needed to buy time until the army outside broke through to win, but most of them would not live to see that moment.

Meanwhile, Tang Jie and Hong Shenji were still seeking out the weak points of the formation.

Ordinary methods would never break a formation like the Jade-Cleansing Golden Sunset Formation. One had to constantly find its flaws and then exploit them in order to weaken it.

Tang Jie pushed his Celestial Eye to its limit, and through its divine light, he was able to find weak point after weak point, even future weak points.

Hong Shenji was responsible for targeting these weak points, but rather than attacking them, he used his own methods to unravel them.

The two of them were a perfect match.

Tang Jie pointed at a node below and said, "Xun position 233!"

In order to make things easier to point out, Tang Jie had used a surveillance formation to draw out a model of Godhead Mountain, giving each position a code name and a number. Hong Shenji quickly found the right location, but the only thing on that level piece of ground was a large gray stone.

Although he didn't have Tang Jie's eyes, he had rich experience with formations, so he quickly identified this stone as a diversion. The real node was one foot under the stone. Laughing, he flicked a blast of energy at the node.

A wave of golden light moved to block the blast.

This reaction meant that this truly was an important area.

Master Zhu took out a talisman.

The talisman turned into a streak of flame that unexpectedly blocked that powerful golden light, leaving Tang Jie rather taken aback. But Master Zhu winced, for this talisman was capable of fending off the blow of a Violet Palace cultivator.

Hong Shenji's blast of energy landed at the target location and erupted in a cloud of black smoke that engulfed the node. Bang! The node was destroyed.

Tang Jie sighed in admiration. "The profundity of Master Shenji's methods leave Tang Jie full of admiration."

Every node was heavily protected and was not easy to destroy. Behind that casual blast from Hong Shenji was the experience and might of a grand formation master, which was why it had so easily succeeded. And if it hadn't succeeded, the node would enhance its defenses to counter it, making it even more difficult to destroy.

Hong Shenji replied, "I am also full of admiration for the Freedom Celestial Sovereign's peerless vision."

"Stop flattering each other and destroy this formation already. Then we can charge in and kill to our heart's content."

Tang Jie pointed out another location.

Wine Immortal Lu spat out a large mouthful of wine.

The golden sunset moved to block again, but this time, Tie Lian waved a hand, and thirteen black short swords flew out and intercepted the golden light. However, in doing so, the thirteen sword became slightly bent, which made this smithing grandmaster slightly scowl.

This was enough for the wine to splash down, and then Master Zhu's flame talisman followed, setting off a blaze that destroyed the node.

Wine Immortal Lu sighed, "That was some good wine, you know?"

He had gathered countless spirit herbs to brew this wine, and its value was comparable to one of Master Zhu's talismans. After spitting it out, he had gone a little pale.

A massive battle had begun over Godhead Mountain.

Cultivators were dropping like flies, and node after node was being destroyed.

Blood rained from the heavens!