Whether observed with the naked eye or probed with divine sense, these golden phantoms seemed indistinguishable from real cultivators. Truth and illusion were impossible to tell apart.
And so, in mere moments, the entire sky of the Spirit Wood Realm was swarming with the silhouettes of these gold-armored cultivators.
Yet their mission did not appear to be a straightforward assault; rather, they seemed tasked with gathering detailed intelligence on the Spirit Wood Realm for the main force behind them.
"What do you make of this golden armor?" Li Fan asked Fang Zaiji indifferently.
Fang Zaiji squinted and examined them closely for a moment before replying with considerable arrogance, "Nothing more than a somewhat sophisticated trick to hoodwink the eyes. And here I thought the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals had actually developed armor capable of infinite self-replication!"
"Give me a few probes, and I can unravel the deception and locate the real body!" Fang Zaiji declared with supreme confidence.
"It seems that with the technological boost from the Tianji Realm, the Spirit Wood Realm has surpassed the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals in the art of artifact crafting." Having received a satisfying answer, Li Fan waved a hand, signaling that Fang Zaiji had no need to probe.
Between heaven and earth in the Spirit Wood Realm, a colossal curved orb of light suddenly manifested, enveloping the entire world.
Densely packed metallic patterns shifted and realigned ceaselessly across the surface of the orb.
At Li Fan's command, they snapped into countless pitch-black cannon muzzles in an instant.
*Boom!*
The muzzles locked onto the gold-armored cultivators fluttering across the sky.
Then, countless pillars of black light erupted violently from the barrels!
Before this black light radiating the aura of annihilation, the gold-armored cultivators could not put up the slightest resistance. In an instant, they were torn to shreds, vanishing completely into thin air.
With just a single volley, more than half of those countless golden phantoms were obliterated.
This terrifying sight caused the remaining gold-armored cultivators to freeze for half a heartbeat.
And in that brief moment of stunned hesitation, another barrage descended in the blink of an eye.
Before the black ray of death, the golden armors were as frail as papier-mâché, utterly fragile.
Every single golden phantom between the heavens and earth of the Spirit Wood Realm was wiped out completely.
"The Tianji Fortress combined with the Sky-Splitting Cannons replicated from the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals. There's no need to care about whatever flashy illusions you conjure; no matter how many there are, blasting them all to dust is enough.
"This is what they call sheer strength overcoming all tricks," Li Fan thought to himself.
He took the opportunity to inspect the energy stored within the Tianji Fortress.
The Tianji Fortress had merged into one with the Spirit Wood Realm. The countless living corpses on the plaza ceaselessly running the Common People Lingyuan Technique, along with the vast numbers of cultivators across the various pocket worlds, supplied it with Source Power day and night. Accumulated over this time, the reserves had already reached an astounding figure.
Li Fan estimated that a full-salvo bombardment like the one just now could be sustained continuously for seven days and seven nights without depleting the reserves.
"Whatever tricks you have left, bring them on," Li Fan thought, looking with cold indifference at the pulsing entrance fissure.
Having lost two vanguard units in succession, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals appeared to have grown far more cautious.
After a brief deliberation, they finally deployed their true elite force.
Before their forms even appeared, a surging wave of murderous, chilling intent washed over from afar.
The fissure was suddenly wrenched open much wider. Li Fan's heart gave a jolt, and he immediately engaged the Tianji Fortress's defensive functions.
Instantly, the curved light barrier shook violently as rippling patterns flowed ceaselessly across it. It took a long while before the bizarre impact was finally diffused.
When Li Fan checked the status, his eyelids twitched uncontrollably.
The energy reserves of the Tianji Fortress, which he had just considered abundant, had been drained by a full sixth in that single brief clash!
And the Alliance forces launching the attack had not even shown themselves!
"What is that!?" Li Fan narrowed his eyes.
His subordinates in the Spirit Wood Realm sensed something as well, their expressions growing nervous and uneasy.
"Envoy, be careful. I fear the enemy has already arrived," Liu Ruchen warned in a low voice.
Before the words had completely faded, the light barrier of the Tianji Fortress shook violently once more.
This tremor was even more ferocious than the last, causing the barrier to dim noticeably. Evidently, it had blocked another assault from this unknown enemy on the realm's behalf.
Li Fan knew that without the Tianji Fortress, the Spirit Wood Realm would likely be riddled with holes by now.
Yet despite two consecutive strikes from the foe, no one on the Spirit Wood Realm's side had even deduced what kind of entity they were dealing with.
"As expected of the colossal organization ruling half the Xuanhuang Realm. They truly possess trump cards that have eluded me across many reincarnations." Facing such a formidable enemy, Li Fan felt delight rather than alarm.
One could say that with this discovery alone, even if the Spirit Wood Realm were completely destroyed right now, it would still barely be worth the price.
However, the Spirit Wood Realm now gathered the remnants of many ancient cultivation worlds. It would not fall quite so easily.
While everyone was baffled and unable to make sense of the situation, Daoist Baihua made a discovery after careful observation.
"This method of attack... I seem to recall a friend mentioning something like it.
"A ferocious beast lurking in the void, feeding on the continents of cultivation worlds. Ordinary people cannot discern its form, yet every swipe of its claws carries the power to annihilate a world...
"If I am not mistaken, it should be the void behemoth known as 'Yan.'
"In truth, it is not an actual living organism, but rather the spontaneous operation of a manifested rule within the sea of stars," Daoist Baihua explained swiftly to the crowd.
"When the great catastrophe descended and my friend's world drifted through the void, it suffered an attack from this terrifying entity.
"The method to counter it is quite simple: Yan is only interested in cultivation worlds that harbor life. Desolate lands devoid of life never even register in its perception.
"I simply never expected that the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals could control a ferocious beast that acts solely on cosmic rules and turn it against their enemies."
Having briefly underestimated the Alliance after their two swift failures, Daoist Baihua's gaze now turned exceedingly grave.
Hearing this, the crowd's eyes lit up.
Then, they all turned their eyes to Li Fan.
Concealing the life aura of an entire world was hardly an impossible task for Li Fan.
After a moment's contemplation—as the repeated strikes of the Yan beast reduced the Tianji Fortress's energy reserves to just one-third—the light barrier began emitting wisps of soft silver luminescence.
Under the combined power of the Tianji Fortress and the Spirit Wood Realm's grand formation, they finally masked the entire world's life aura before the defenses were completely shattered.
Everyone held their breath and waited.
After all, a monster like Yan—possessing no visible normal form yet boasting ferocious might—was exceptionally difficult to deal with.
Fortunately, Daoist Baihua's deduction proved correct.
Having lost the sense of life aura, the terrifying behemoth seemed to lose its target.
And with that, the assault ceased.
In this third clash, the Spirit Wood Realm won a pyrrhic victory.
Chapter 1115