After hearing this, Yang Lu's expression changed drastically. His gaze swept in all directions, but all he could see was faint black yin-evil energy. His spiritual sense could only cover a radius of roughly ten-odd li, making it impossible to tell whether anyone was truly lying in ambush farther away.
"No need to worry. Wasn't it already anticipated that the powerhouses of this continent would make such a move? This is actually just what I want. Once I sweep them all away and destroy them, no one in the entire Spirit Realm will dare to offend me again," Ma Liang said with a cold sneer on his face.
"Master should still exercise some caution. From what I know, the Helian Merchant Alliance in this Spirit Realm possesses truly formidable power. If they were willing to exhaust all their hidden potential, their trump cards likely wouldn't be few," Yang Lu still cautiously warned.
"Trump cards? What tricks could a mere lower-realm faction possibly have that would pose a threat to me? Even if they also understand how to utilize Chains of Laws, they won't work on me this time," Ma Liang yawned, wearing an indifferent expression.
Seeing Ma Liang so confident, Yang Lu simply nodded in agreement, not daring to say anything more.
By this point, the Rolling Blood River and the glass flying boat ahead of it had already charged one after the other deep into the Howling Evil Land.
Suddenly, the flying boat ahead blurred and vanished into thin air mid-flight.
Standing atop the blood dragon, Ma Liang's pupils contracted. He flicked his sleeve sharply, and the entire blood river came to a thunderous halt, stopping dead in midair.
Seeing this, Yang Lu's expression turned grave. A flash of yellow light rippled across his body, and a thick, solid yellow battle armor immediately materialized upon his frame.
Just then, a thunderclap split the sky. The entire world seemed to blur and flip upside down in a flash. Booming sounds erupted from every direction as waves of pitch-black yin-evil energy surged forth. Banner after banner materialized densely in the void, swelling with the wind until each grew over a hundred zhang tall—like towering ancient trees—encircling the entire blood river within.
At the same moment, a cyan full moon silently materialized in the sky. Upon it, over a dozen figures stood together in hazy outlines, their expressions varied as they gazed toward the blood river below.
These were none other than the Mahayana powerhouses—Ming Zun, Yin Gangzi, and the rest. The Six-Winged Ice Phoenix, who had supposedly vanished, was also among them, her notably pale face betraying her weakened state.
Ma Liang's expression didn't change. He merely glanced at the giant banners before suddenly thrusting a palm toward a certain direction through the void.
A tremendous boom erupted!
The blood river immediately surged and boiled, suddenly coalescing into a blood-red giant palm roughly an acre in size, which slammed down toward the same direction.
With a deafening crash, nearly a hundred giant banners blazed with radiant light, and the radiance converged ahead to form an enormous five-colored light mirror.
The blood-red palm struck the light mirror and, with a flash, sank into it without producing the slightest sound.
At the same time, in some remote corner of the Howling Evil Land, the blood-colored hand suddenly burst forth from the void and struck viciously at the ground beneath a figure hovering in midair.
A muffled boom like an earthquake shook the area. The entire stretch of ground caved in and collapsed, revealing a giant crater several li across out of thin air.
"Hm? Spatial displacement! This formation seems to be..." Ma Liang uttered a soft sound of surprise, slightly taken aback.
But just at that moment, those giant banners began buzzing loudly once more, and more identical five-colored light mirrors condensed into being one after another.
In an instant, the area around the blood river was ablaze with shimmering radiance. Hazy illusory figures of people, beasts, buildings, and all manner of things materialized throughout, and the moment one let their attention slip, they would immediately fall into the illusions.
Seeing this, Ma Liang's face darkened. He formed a one-handed seal, and black-and-white energy surged from behind him before condensing into an ancient mirror of black and white.
The mirror was initially only palm-sized, but after his spiritual art activated it, it whirled and expanded to the size of a washbasin. As soon as a black-and-white Taiji pattern surfaced on its face, a beam of black-and-white light shot out from within.
A wild tearing sound echoed through the void as the five-colored light mirrors near the blood river were instantly pierced and ripped apart by the black-and-white beam, dissolving into scattered motes of spiritual light before vanishing completely.
Upon the cyan moon, the assembled Mahayana cultivators witnessed this scene, and every one of their expressions shifted. The bald, brawny man turned his head and directly asked Ming Zun: "Brother Ming, you praised this Two Polarities Dust Annihilation Formation so highly—is this truly the extent of its power? A single follow-up strike from the opponent and it's already broken through."
"Hmph, a casual strike? If I'm not mistaken, that black-and-white mirror should be a supreme treasure no lesser than a Profound Heaven Artifact. Do you really think an ordinary attack could negate the illusory power of this formation? However, if the opponent truly believes that mere trickery can break this formation, he is sorely mistaken," Ming Zun said, staring down at the blood river below without turning his head.
"Is that really so?" The bald, brawny man seemed not entirely convinced.
The others exchanged glances, looking equally skeptical.
However, as if to prove Ming Zun's words, the very next moment—just as the black-and-white beam had cleared away all the five-colored light mirrors below—white rune characters no larger than grains of rice appeared near the blood river. At first they were sparse, but in the blink of an eye they began raining down from the sky like snow.
At the same time, a force of law descended and enveloped the entire blood river.