Five Immortal Sects

Li Yan and Gong Chenying flew toward the center. Strangely, they didn't encounter anyone else on their way.

"It looks like everyone else has already rushed to the center. I wonder where Mei Caichu and the others are?"

At this moment, Gong Chenying was standing at the front of the small white jade boat, and she had sent Li Yan to the back.

She was annoyed by Li Yan's gaze, and the strange smile that occasionally appeared on his face had already put her in a terrible mood. Originally, Li Yan's mysterious actions had made her secretly happy.

She felt that Li Yan might be able to help her in the future, but with the wicked smile on his face, that good impression had long since vanished.

If it weren't for the concern for a fellow disciple, especially the damned male-dominated clan rules of the Tianli Tribe, she would have kicked Li Yan off the boat long ago.

So, when her spiritual power recovered to about sixty percent, she simply stood up, pulled Li Yan to the back of the boat, and took his place.

Li Yan was also frustrated. He couldn't help but touch his nose and thought to himself.

"This Sixth Senior Sister is truly unreasonable. I've already explained the situation, and she's still so angry."

Hearing Gong Chenying's cold voice from the front, Li Yan could only shake his head. He also didn't know the whereabouts of Mei Caichu and the others. Besides, they had been looking for them along the way. Besides the endless mountains and forests, there was no sign of anyone. However, what was currently confirmed was that Mei Caichu and the others were still alive, but he didn't know where.

On their way here, Li Yan had already confirmed the existence of sixteen light points through the core of Gong Chenying's blue crystal. Excluding the two of them, it meant that Mei Caichu's group of six and the eight people in the spiritual storage bag were still alive, which was good news.

For a time, there was nothing to say between them, and they continued to fly toward the central region in silence.

In the center of the region, the metal sphere on the huge mountain peak was sparkling and slowly rotating. A giant platform extended from one side of the metal sphere.

At this moment, three teams were engaged in a fierce battle on the platform. One of the teams was human cultivators, while the other two were demon cultivators. More specifically, the two demon teams were jointly attacking the human cultivators.

However, these two demon teams were not of the same race. They were also separated by some distance, as if they were wary of each other.

One team was the Qingjing Centipede race. The leader was the man-beast-headed Wu Wuan. His head was a mottled mix of black, green, and red. His large mouth opened wide to his ears, and his ugly face was split into two pieces, leaving only a dark, gaping throat in his head. His appearance was extremely ferocious.

He was leading his team in a frantic attack. The demon beasts continuously spewed out a gloomy black mist. For a time, dark wind and dense mist billowed across the platform.

The other team was the Golden Flame Sacred Lion race. The leader was a man-lion-faced giant who was over a zhang tall. He was mighty and upright, and his golden robe flew wildly with his attacks. He was the second-rank demon beast named Jinchui Yan.

Every movement he made created a monstrous wave of fire. The Flame Lions behind him were like a sea of crimson-gold flames. Their momentum was even more formidable, and the entire platform was filled with a rising heat wave. Even the Qingjing Centipede race next to them had to constantly avoid it.

This made the Qingjing Centipede race, which loved cold and dampness, all look ashen.

The target of their attack was Bai Liyuan and Gan Shi's group of over thirty disciples. The two sides were locked in a fierce battle, and behind Bai Liyuan's group, on the platform extending from the metal sphere, there was a half-arched gate that was constantly flashing with yellow light.

After Bai Liyuan and Gan Shi met Mei Caichu's group, they searched for Gong Chenying for a while but found nothing. After some discussion, they concluded that Gong Chenying had either hidden and moved forward or had an accident.

They didn't say it out loud, but in their hearts, they leaned toward the latter conclusion. They had already searched a thousand li and, aside from some traces of fighting at the beginning, had found nothing afterward.

So, the two of them had to each cast their flying treasures and lead their group to the center. This action made Mei Caichu and Cheng Jingnian's group quite resentful, but they didn't dare to say anything.

When they arrived at the central region, they discovered a huge platform extending from the metal sphere. At the connection between the platform and the sphere, there was a half-arched gate flashing with yellow light.

On the platform, two demon cultivator teams were shouting and fighting fiercely. But the moment Bai Liyuan and his group arrived, the two teams immediately stopped fighting and all looked at Bai Liyuan and his group.

Bai Liyuan and Gan Shi looked at each other. With their intelligence, they only needed one look at the scene to understand everything. The half-arched gate on the platform was the only way to enter the metal sphere.

Their team, due to the delay, had been beaten to the location by these two demon cultivator teams. The two demon teams clearly both wanted to enter first to get a higher rank among the top three, so they had started fighting.

The demon cultivators were truly hot-tempered. In the brief moment that Bai Liyuan's group arrived, three or four more demon beasts had already died, and the platform was covered in blood.

The two demon teams were the Golden Flame Sacred Lion race and the Qingjing Centipede race. A layer of golden fire and a rolling heat wave surrounded Jinchui Yan. He glared fiercely at Bai Liyuan's group. On the other side, Wu Wuan's body was shrouded in flickering black light. After he stopped, he also looked at the newcomers with a sinister expression.

None of the three sides spoke, but in just a few breaths, Jinchui Yan and Wu Wuan communicated with each other and then spread out, subtly forming a circle to surround Bai Liyuan's group. Bai Liyuan and Gan Shi looked at each other. The demon cultivators clearly wanted to deal with their common enemy first.

Bai Liyuan's eyes flickered a few times. He moved his lips slightly toward Gan Shi and then was the first to charge into the encirclement. Gan Shi and his group followed closely behind.

This action by the human cultivators stunned the two demon teams. Originally, they saw Bai Liyuan's group standing in mid-air at the edge of the platform, and they were worried that they would run away before they could surround them.

But now, it seemed the other party was so arrogant that they didn't even seem to care about their two teams and unexpectedly charged directly at them.

The demon cultivators were enraged, and in an instant, the two sides began to fight.

After the three sides clashed, the two demon teams felt a little frustrated. The Qingjing Centipedes loved cold and dampness, and their cultivation technique was an extremely cold and gentle one. The Golden Flame Sacred Lion race, on the other hand, followed a path of extreme strength and masculinity, and their cultivation technique was wide and powerful. For a time, their cooperation became a problem.

When the two sides worked together, more than half of their attacks would cancel each other out. If they staggered their attacks, the power would be greatly reduced. This gave the Wraith Sect a huge advantage. The battle became a stalemate and lasted for half an incense stick's worth of time.

As time passed, the two demon teams gradually realized that something was wrong. This team of human cultivators had two Foundation Establishment cultivators and was also composed of two teams. They had already noticed this, but now they found that after entering the semi-encirclement, small formations were constantly appearing behind and around them.

At first, they didn't pay attention. This was a common tactic used by human cultivators in large-scale battles, serving as auxiliary attacks and defenses to hold a certain line. This was a classic tactic for winning when outnumbered.

But as they fought, they saw more and more small formations being released by the other party. These small formations eventually connected to form a line, seemingly intending to seal off the half-arched gate behind them and create a buffer zone in front of it.

Jinchui Yan and Wu Wuan finally knew they had been tricked. They also understood why the other party had charged directly into the encirclement at the very beginning. They intended to rush to the half-arched gate in one go, use formations to seal the passage, and prevent them from entering.

The two demons were furious. The human cultivators were too cunning. In a battle to win a rank with strength, they were still thinking about using cunning and deceit at all times.

But they realized it too late. A nearly-complete formation had already been formed about a dozen zhang in front of the half-arched gate. There was only a gap of less than three zhang on one side that hadn't been completely sealed yet.

The two demons would not let them seal this gap under any circumstances, so they rushed toward it madly.

Bai Liyuan's group, on the other hand, used the large formations and various poisonous mists to block them. At this time, Gan Shi had recovered to fifty or sixty percent of his cultivation. With the help of formations and various poisons, he was not at a disadvantage when fighting Wu Wuan one-on-one.

The demon cultivators, in their desperation, suffered significant casualties, but they finally got close to the entrance of the gap. However, they were unable to advance further into the passage.

Bai Liyuan's group, attacking from within the formation, was in a stalemate with the two demon teams.

Bai Liyuan finally let out a long sigh of relief. This was his strategy. He wasn't sure if other teams had already entered before these two demon teams, but judging from the way the two teams were fighting, at least the top three spots were not yet full. No matter what, they had to get a spot.

To bring the greatest benefit to their sect, otherwise, if they had lost so many people and gained nothing, it would have been a huge loss.

So, after a simple discussion with Gan Shi, he took a risk and led the team directly into the encirclement. Although they were trapped, they were only a little more than thirty zhang away from the entrance.

Then, during the fierce battle, they quietly approached little by little by constantly eating away at the distance. At the same time, they secretly began to set up the most troublesome combination of poisonous mists and formations of the Wraith Sect.

But even so, under the combined attack of the two demon teams, three people died and six were seriously injured in the initial battle.

This was still because the cultivation techniques of the two demon teams were in direct conflict. Otherwise, the casualties would have been even greater. But even so, for the benefit of the sect, Bai Liyuan and Gan Shi still chose this extremely risky approach.

At the gap, after the three teams fought for a few dozen more breaths, Jinchui Yan and Wu Wuan were frustrated that the other party's formations were getting denser and denser. Finally, a small winding barrier was formed inside the gap, completely blocking them outside.

And at this point, the attacks coming from within the formation became less and less frequent. This made the two demons realize that something was wrong. They unleashed all their divine abilities, treasures, and innate demon beast abilities. After bombarding the formations for nearly seven breaths, the formations finally exploded with a series of bangs.

When the smoke cleared, there was no sign of any human cultivators in front of the half-arched gate. They had already left, leaving the formations empty. This made Jinchui Yan and Wu Wuan furious.

It was clear that the human cultivators had used the formations to buy time and had already entered the metal sphere. The two of them had arrived so much earlier and had wasted so much time fighting outside, suffering so many casualties among their fellow clan members, only to have the human cultivators take advantage of them in the end.

The two demons looked at each other and simultaneously stepped toward the half-arched gate without hesitation. When they entered the metal sphere, their faces turned ashen.

The space inside the metal sphere was only about a hundred zhang wide. In the middle of this hundred zhang space, there were three round platforms arranged in a stepped manner, from high to low, and they were slowly rotating. However, the top two platforms had no light on them.

Only the bottom platform was still slowly rotating. There was no sign of anyone. It was clear that the top two platforms had already been used. From the layout of the platforms, it was obvious that the bottom platform was for the third place.

"Damn it, damn it!"

With a loud bang, flames erupted from Jinchui Yan's body. The heat wave pushed the several demon beasts next to him directly away. They flew for a dozen zhang before falling heavily to the ground with a series of "thuds," and wails of pain filled the air.

And Wu Wuan's body was also shrouded in rolling black qi, as if he was about to cause a great upheaval. The several demon beasts closer to him were also encased in thick frost with a "cracking" sound, frozen solid with expressions of terror on their faces.

Wu Wuan didn't even look at the demon beasts around him. Instead, he stared coldly at the furiously enraged Jinchui Yan. The meaning was clear: there was only one platform left. How would they decide who got it?

At the same time, Jinchui Yan also turned his head sharply to look at Wu Wuan.

...