"In that case, there's no need to send any more people to that formation core; it must be guarded by powerful beings that are too much for us to handle," a devilish being enshrouded within green Qi said with furrowed brows.
"Indeed. Even though we're unable to destroy the last formation core, the destruction of two formation cores will have severely debilitated the formation, so many of our high-grade brethren should be able to survive. As long as we can preserve our elite forces, it's not much of an issue even if we lose all of our low-grade subordinates. With our power, it would be easy to replenish them, and we're only acting as a decoy for Master Tun Tian anyway. As long as Master Tun Tian succeeds, our holy race will be able to claim a territory for itself in the Spirit Realm," the young man agreed with a nod.
"But the powerful beings guarding the second formation core can't just be ignored. As a safety precaution, let's set up the Dazzling Devilish Flame Formation here. With that super formation to protect us, we'll be able to contend with even a Grand Ascension Stage being. We can also order our elite forces to gather in the formation to preserve their numbers as much as possible. If we can hold out until Master Tun Tian succeeds, then we'll have completed our objective," a dark-skinned devilish man said.
"That's a good idea. Following the destruction of the formation core, this place has become the weakest part of this formation, so it would be an ideal place to set up our super formation. Leave it to me; I've brought along sufficient formation materials with me," the devilish being within the green Qi said.
The young man was ecstatic to hear this, and he decided, "With your expertise on hand, I'm sure we'll have no issues setting up the formation. As for the rest of us, let's split up and urge our brethren to gather here."
The other devilish beings had no objections to this, and thus, all of them sprang into action.
Meanwhile, the devilish warriors down below began to set up the super formation under the instructions of the devilish being within the green Qi.
After no more than half a day had passed, a massive formation with an area of over 100 kilometers was already beginning to take shape.
During this time, groups of elite devilish beings had flocked to the site from all directions, and it didn't take long for their numbers to exceed 1,000,000.
Right at this moment, the Wood Realm 36 Extremes Formation had finally accumulated sufficient energy, and a rumbling boom rang out as a second wave of restriction attacks swept through the entire formation.
All of the devilish beings situated elsewhere suffered severe casualties in the face of the attacks, but those gathered in the new super formation at the original site of the first formation core were largely spared, and this instilled the devilish army with a lot of confidence.
Of course, in the face of the restriction attacks, the devilish beings didn't dare to initiate any attacks; all they could do was stabilize their own super formation with all their might.
Thus, roughly once every two days, the wood realm formation would gather sufficient energy for a new wave of attacks, and as the number of devilish beings within the formation was quickly reduced, the power of the restrictions began to converge toward the original site of the first formation core.
Following several rounds of attacks, even the devilish beings within the super formation began to suffer severe casualties.
Around half a month later, the original devilish army in the super formation that had numbered in excess of 1,000,000 had been reduced to only 80,000.
However, those who had managed to survive were all high-grade devilish beings, and even the weakest ones among them were at the Deity Transformation Stage.
The high-grade devilish beings gathered there also comprised the majority of the surviving devilish beings within the entire wood realm formation.
On a giant mountain within the wood realm formation, Elder Han of the Wood Tribe was standing on a tall platform, appraising a light screen with an anxious expression.
There were countless specks of light all over the light screen, and they were constantly changing positions while the screen itself also flashed erratically.
Around the formation beneath the light screen sat eight elderly Wood Tribe men, all of whom appeared to be extremely frail, and their eyes were closed as they rapidly made a series of different hand seals.
These were none other than the Eight Wood Spirit Disciples.
All of a sudden, the light screen shattered amid a dull thump, and the eight elderly men let loose muffled groans in unison.
Immediately thereafter, they threw up several mouthfuls of blood, following which black blood began to gush out of all of their orifices, and they fell dead onto the ground.
The Eight Wood Spirit Disciples had suffered backlash from their divination, and their life forces had instantly run out.
Elder Han's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and a hint of grief flashed through his eyes as he immediately waved a hand.
Around a dozen Wood Tribe guards quickly strode onto the platform before carefully carrying the bodies of the Eight Wood Spirit Disciples away.
Almost at the exact same moment, eight more Wood Tribe men who appeared to be in their fifties or sixties replaced the Eight Wood Spirit Disciples and sat down at the exact spots where they had just perished.
"The eight seniors have already given their lives for the sake of our race, so the burden of divination will fall upon you now. Please put in your best effort," Elder Han said as he cupped his fist in a solemn salute.
"Rest assured, Elder Han; our divination abilities may be inferior to those of our seniors, but we'll be sure to do our best," one of the eight Wood Tribe men replied.
Elder Han nodded in response before gesturing for them to begin.
Thus, the eight new Wood Tribe men also began to make a series of hand seals, and spiritual light flashed within the formation, following which the light screen reappeared.
However, the divination had only progressed for around 15 minutes when a high-grade Wood Tribe being suddenly rushed onto the platform, then delivered a jade slip to Elder Han in a panicked manner.
"Elder Han, we've received urgent news from Cottonwood City, stating that high-grade devilish beings have infiltrated the city and our holy land."
Elder Han was already in an extremely foul mood in the wake of the Eight Wood Spirit Disciples' passing, and this piece of bad news immediately made him flare up with rage. "What?! How is that possible? Aren't all of the three Sacred Ancestors currently preoccupied? How did something like this happen? What are the guards of Cottonwood City doing?"
He reached out like lightning to grab onto the jade slip, then adhered it to his own forehead with a furious expression.
The other Wood Tribe elders were also astonished by this news, and they all turned to stare intently at Elder Han.
After the span of just a few breaths, the fury on Elder Han's face vanished, only to be replaced with complete despair, and it was as if all of his energy had seeped out of his body.
"Let me see!" One of the Wood Tribe elders couldn't wait any longer and rushed over to Elder Han before taking the jade slip from him, then also injected his spiritual sense into it.
Moments later, this Wood Tribe elder's face also completely paled, and he murmured to himself in a trance-like state, "The holy tree has been destroyed! The recuperating grand elder has also been killed… It's over! It's completely over for our Wood Tribe…"
The other elders' expressions changed drastically upon hearing this, and they passed the jade slip around to inspect its contents for themselves.
Even though they were already mentally prepared, seeing the news in the jade slip still dealt all of the elders a heavy blow, and two of them almost fainted on the spot.
"Alright, the tragedy has already taken place, so panicking now won't do us any good; let's think about what we need to do next. Our Wood Tribe will no longer be able to maintain independence in the Spirit Realm, but we have tens of billions of brethren that we must find homes for," Elder Han said through gritted teeth as he suddenly rose to his feet.
Even though his complexion was still deathly pale, he had managed to recover some of his former composure.
The other elders exchanged a few glances before mustering up the energy to chime in in agreement. "Indeed, we still have several backup holy trees. As long as we can ensure the continuation of our race, a Grand Ascension Stage being could emerge among us in the future, and we'll have a chance to regain our independence."
"What we have to do now is keep this a secret, then devise a plan to protect all of our brethren…"
Thus, the elders began to hatch a plan with grim looks on their faces.
……
Three days later.
In the air above a dense forest, a group of people, including Han Li, was quickly flying through the air.
The group was currently situated millions of kilometers away from the wood realm formation, and only half a day ago was he and Fei Xiaoxi informed by Cao Ji of the fact that the Wood Tribe's holy tree had been destroyed, and that their grand elder had been killed.
At this point, most of the Wood Tribe army had already retreated out of the formation, and the panel of Wood Tribe elders had decided to detonate the entire formation using the power of the second formation core to kill as many devilish beings as possible.
Thankfully, the panel of elders had notified the high-grade beings among their allied races in advance. Otherwise, they would've been caught up in the explosion as well.
Now that the holy tree and grand elder of the Wood Tribe were both gone, there was no point in continuing this battle.
Thus, Han Li departed from the second formation core with some human cultivators who had assisted the Wood Tribe in guarding the formation, and set course to return to Cottonwood City.
Presumably, the armies of all of the other races would also immediately retreat upon hearing this news.
