Wen Lin gritted his teeth as his water vortex lost its shape. “We need to break free of this barrier, or we’re done for!”
Mo Jie, his wind blades faltering, glared at Loshaar with hatred. “That old demon’s clever. He knew exactly how to trap us.”
Loshaar chuckled, his eyes gleaming with triumph. “What’s the matter, Zeesham? Having trouble keeping up?” He glanced at Shen Ji and Kou Lau, nodding approvingly. “Well done, both of you. Keep up the pressure.”
Shen Ji and Kou Lau redoubled their efforts. Shen Ji summoned a storm of ice shards, each one razor-sharp and deadly, while Kou Lau called forth a tidal wave of earth, the ground itself rising to crush their enemies.
Zeesham, Wen Lin, and Mo Jie were forced to go on the defensive, their offensive Spirit spells faltering as they struggled to maintain their defenses against the relentless assault. The barrier’s debuff continued to take its toll, making it increasingly difficult for them to cast their spells smoothly.
Loshaar’s laughter echoed through the battlefield, a chilling sound that sent shivers down the spines of his enemies. “Hahaha. This is the power of the demonic faction! Prepare yourselves for defeat!”
The six Foundation Building Experts from the righteous sects found themselves trapped and outmatched, their every effort to break free thwarted by the relentless assault from Loshaar, Shen Ji, and Kou Lau.
Seeing that the edge of their offensive spells had been halved, Wen Lin, Mo Jie, and Zeesham adopted a defensive approach. This was so that they could locate the weakness in the battle formation.
Zeesham was particularly skilled in the art of Array Formations. He put his expertise as an array formation master to good use.
“We need to find the weakness in that barrier! Buy me some time!” Zeesham instructed, his voice cutting through the din.
Without hesitation, Wen Lin and Mo Jie nodded in agreement. They quickly reached into their storage rings and pulled out their reserve talismans.
Wen Lin activated his talisman, causing a protective water shield to expand around him. Mo Jie, with a sharp flick, set off a series of potent gusts that rolled in the air like a spectral avalanche. These strong wind-element Spirit spells deflected incoming attacks, creating a brief but critical window of opportunity.
Zeesham took advantage of the distraction and shot toward the spectral barrier surrounding the six Foundation Building Experts. The barrier shimmered with intricate Essence Equations.
‘This… this formation was reported to be the specialty of Kalingoot. So those two beside Loshaar must be from that accursed organization.’
Zeesham’s eyes narrowed in concentration as he approached. As an active elder of the Purple River Sect, he knew a lot about the inside news related to the mainland as well as all across the Dadangar Archipelago. He quickly realized the backgrounds of Shen Ji and Kau Lau based on the intel that was provided to him.
Zeesham didn’t understand what Kalingoot tried to achieve by challenging the might of the Big Five Sects on neutral grounds. However, he didn’t care about the reasons that motivated the three enemy Foundation Building Experts.
He reached into his storage ring and pulled out a precious elixir, its contents glowing with a faint, iridescent light. Without a second thought, he swallowed the elixir, feeling an immediate surge in cognitive clarity and problem-solving abilities.
This was a special elixir named Epiphany Essence Elixir that the array formation masters often used to solve the differentiation and integration complexities involved in the Essence Equations. Even with his current abilities, Zeesham only had three vials of this precious elixir. Each vial had cost him loads of Spirit Stones which no ordinary Foundation Building Expert could afford.
Usually, Zeesham would not make the mistake of using this solution casually. That too during a battle. After all, the elixir could be best utilized when one was meditating while studying the concepts of the array formations.
However, Zeesham gritted his teeth and decided to sacrifice one vial of the elixir to get rid of the barrier. He knew that with the barrier holding them down, their chance of success and survival would drop tremendously with the passage of time.
Although the elixir was rare and precious, its effects were potent and had no side effects. Plus, the effects it produced were also instantaneous.
The world seemed to slow down as Zeesham scrutinized the Essence Equation runes flickering over the barrier. The complexity of the runes was daunting, but Zeesham’s trained mind quickly began to decipher their patterns in a trance-like state.
Ten seconds later, Zeesham had pinpointed the crucial weak points in the barrier’s formation. It was a short span of time, but in a life-or-death situation, it felt like an eternity.
“Hahaha. Expert Wen and Expert Mo– I thank my fellow cultivators.”
He knew he wouldn’t have had the luxury of studying the runes so intently if Wen Lin and Mo Jie hadn’t bought him the precious moments he needed.
As the effects of the talismans cast by Wen and Mo wore off, Zeesham flew back to his allies, his face set in a determined expression. He pulled out three pills from his storage rings and handed one to each of his companions.
“This Blood Boost Pill will temporarily boost our cultivation level by one within the Foundation Building realm,” he said, his voice serious.
“But it comes at a cost. It will burn away some of our life force, and we’ll be bedridden for at least a month when the backlash hits. There’s also a chance that it would affect the speed of your cultivation for months on end.
However, with this boost, we can be unstoppable for a short period. If you want to help me end this once and for all, you need to take these pills.”
Wen Lin and Mo Jie exchanged glances. They understood the gravity of the situation and the implications of the pill’s side effects. But the opportunity to turn the tide against Loshaar, Shen Ji, and Kou Lau was too tempting to ignore.
With the resources of the Big Five Sects, they could recover from the backlash eventually.
Determined, they both accepted the pills and swallowed them.