Chapter 1047: Not Knowing One's Place

Han Li beckoned with one hand, drawing the sword to his side, while with the other hand he formed a sword seal and slashed forward fiercely.

Crackle...

A flash of lightning, and streams of golden thunderbolts burst from the sword, coalescing into a golden lightning blade that swept horizontally.

The golden light in the void split apart like a knife cutting through tofu, with golden waves churning on both sides, dispersing upward and downward, revealing a rare clear stretch of void in the middle.

The golden eagle, seemingly wary of the fierce momentum of the golden lightning blade, flapped its wings sharply and soared upward, veering away.

Han Li looked through the gap torn by the sword light, and his expression couldn't help but change slightly.

Within an extremely vast range along the way, no fewer than a hundred golden stone pillars stood, each inscribed with runes, and on each lay a metal beast of varying forms.

As the golden light passed, the eyes of these metal beasts opened one after another, silently leaping down from the pillars, crouching low like stalking tigers and leopards, advancing step by step.

The sword light of the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords gradually dissipated, and the surrounding golden light spread again, gradually obscuring his figure.

"What's happening?" Yu Kuohai and the others, sensing something amiss ahead, shouted loudly.

Silence reigned within the golden light; no one answered.

Except for the few he had ordered to search for the formation hub, everyone else felt a strange sensation and involuntarily gathered together.

"There seems to be something inside this golden light," Yang Zhanglao said hesitantly, watching the surging golden glow ahead.

Hearing this, the others grew even more uneasy, their expressions tense to the extreme.

Just then, a rapid sound of footsteps came from ahead, and everyone gripped their weapons tightly, on high alert.

With a whoosh, the golden light surged wildly, and a figure rushed out abruptly.

Yu Kuohai had already grasped a golden-straight-bladed sword, its surface rippling with golden light patterns, and was about to strike when the person shouted, "Hey, it's me, it's me, don't attack..."

"Fellow Daoist Shi..." Yu Kuohai stopped the others and asked.

"Fellow Daoist Yu, there are metal beasts here, many, many metal beasts..." Han Li's figure emerged from the light, speaking nervously.

"I thought it was something serious; it's just metal beasts..." Yu Kuohai relaxed slightly upon hearing Han Li's incoherent words.

As his words fell, several sounds of tearing air came from around them, and several mangled corpses were thrown from different directions, landing at their feet.

Han Li looked closely and recognized them as the ones sent earlier to find the formation hub.

Before the shock could subside, more sounds of tearing air came from all sides.

"They're here..." Han Li muttered softly.

As he spoke, Han Li's gaze fell on the Lan siblings.

Those two had clearly noticed the anomaly long ago; instead of gathering with the others, they had distanced themselves slightly, standing back-to-back, their faces showing no trace of fear.

"Just the right chance to probe your true strength..." Han Li thought to himself, a fleeting smile on his lips.

With a whoosh, a gale arose.

Blades of golden wind swept toward the group, forming a huge golden tornado that surrounded them.

The dazzling golden light around them dissipated somewhat, and their vision became clearer.

However, to their horror, over a hundred massive golden figures had appeared around them, including tigers, leopards, wolves, jackals, snakes, eagles, rats, and pigs—all kinds, too numerous to list.

Each of these metal beasts exuded an incredibly powerful aura.

Seeing this, Yu Kuohai wished he could take back his earlier words, "It's just metal beasts."

Having roamed the Gold Origin Mountain Range for so many years and visited the Gold Force Field several times, when had he ever seen such metal beasts? When had he ever faced such a formation?

"Forget Worry Pavilion disciples, form formation quickly!" Vice Pavilion Master Zhao reacted first, shouting loudly.

"Yes!"

The Forget Worry Pavilion members responded first, gathering around Vice Pavilion Master Zhao.

They twisted their wrists, and golden wheels appeared in their hands, which they tossed upward, producing a loud whistling sound.

As their incantations rang out, dozens of golden wheels trembled slowly, forming a golden wheel formation above their heads, with rings of golden light rippling outward like blooming golden flowers.

"Better form a joint formation," Yu Kuohai called out.

His Lingxiao Sect and Lieguang City had fewer people than Forget Worry Pavilion; if they formed separate formations, their power would certainly be inferior.

"Fellow Daoist Yu, our cultivation methods differ, and formations are hard to merge. Your sect should form its own formation," Vice Pavilion Master Zhao said with a sly glint in his eyes.

Yu Kuohai glared at him hatefully, then exchanged a word with Yang Zhanglao, and the two factions joined forces to set up a formation together.

Calling it a joint formation was merely each side setting up a layer of formation and interlocking them; without a formation expert to guide and pre-drill, a fused formation was out of the question.

"Fellow Daoist Shi, what are you staring at over there? Get over here and form the formation!" Yu Kuohai saw Han Li still standing there, looking toward the Lan siblings, and shouted.

Han Li glanced back, saw the red and blue light screens above the two factions, and a flicker of pity crossed his eyes. Too lazy to keep up the act, he said:

"I specifically came back to warn you, meaning you should prepare to flee. Why are none of you getting it? What can such a formation possibly defend against?"

"You bastard, what nonsense are you spouting?" Yu Kuohai said angrily, a hint of confusion in his eyes.

"Forget it, life and death are fated. You're on your own." Han Li smiled indifferently and stopped looking their way.

As his words fell, among the metal beasts surrounding them, a golden giant wolf launched the first attack.

The giant wolf metal beast raised a front paw, its claws like golden blades tearing through the void, striking directly at the golden wheel formation above the Forget Worry Pavilion members.

"Full power to the formation!" Vice Pavilion Master Zhao roared.

All the Forget Worry Pavilion cultivators roared in response, channeling their immortal spiritual power with all their might.

The golden wheel formation above blazed like the sun, its brilliance even surpassing the Gold Force Field itself.

As the wolf claw made contact with the formation, a piercing, grating sound rang out.

Then, three huge tears appeared in the seemingly indestructible golden wheel formation, and golden blades shot through the gaps, followed by a series of shattering sounds.

The formation set up by many Golden Immortals was not weak, but under the metal beast's attack, it crumbled like clay, offering no resistance.

The golden wheels in the hands of the Forget Worry Pavilion cultivators shattered one after another, exploding into countless golden fragments with continuous booming sounds.

In an instant, flesh and blood flew within the formation, screams rang out incessantly, and most of the Forget Worry Pavilion cultivators were dead or wounded.

Seeing this, Yu Kuohai's expression finally turned to terror.

If even the Forget Worry Pavilion's formation couldn't hold, what use was their hastily assembled one?

"Break out in all directions, find a chance to escape!" Yu Kuohai shouted.

The Lingxiao Sect and Lieguang City cultivators were already on edge; upon hearing this, they immediately activated their strongest life-saving measures and scattered in all directions.

Various colored lights lit up within the space, but all were suppressed by the Gold Force Field, their effectiveness greatly reduced.

Their movement seemed to instantly provoke the metal beasts.

Almost simultaneously, all the metal beasts sprang into action, attacking and tearing at the daring intruders. The entire space fell into chaos, with screams rising one after another.

Yu Kuohai's robe shimmered with cyan light, and a layer of golden scales had appeared on its surface, gleaming with flowing light, looking quite extraordinary.

With this layer of light, he seemed like a golden fish, weaving freely through the chaotic crowd, seemingly unaffected by the Gold Force Field, moving at no small speed.

If not for the metal beasts surrounding him, he would have already fled over ten li.

Yang Zhanglao of Lieguang City had also changed into a crimson fire robe, transforming into a ten-foot-long crimson fire flood dragon, also weaving through the crowd.

Wherever he passed, flames scorched, injuring many fellow disciples, but he had no time to care, only dodging the metal beasts' attacks, trying to find a glimmer of hope to escape.

Just then, a clear cry seemed to sound from above, and a golden eagle swooped down with wings spread, its two golden steel claws grabbing at the fire flood dragon.

Sensing the terrifying metallic power within, Yang Zhanglao lunged forward with all his might, barely dodging the eagle's pursuit, but collided head-on with Han Li.

"Get out of my way!" Yang Zhanglao, now furious, roared at Han Li.

Han Li frowned slightly, glanced at him, and raised his hand to slap him.

Yang Zhanglao, even angrier, opened his mouth and spewed a torrent of blazing flames, engulfing Han Li entirely.

"Courting death..." Yang Zhanglao sneered.

Then, from the still-burning flames, a broad hand suddenly emerged, traced an arc in the air, and struck heavily on his head.

With a slap.

Yang Zhanglao felt an overwhelming force pressing down, then his divine soul shook, his consciousness scattered, and he felt as if his soul had left his body.

When his consciousness returned to normal, his entire body was already firmly gripped by the golden eagle's steel claws.

"No..."

A desperate roar escaped his mouth, then abruptly ceased.

His body was torn into three pieces by the golden eagle, and as they fell, three metal beasts each swallowed a piece.

After delivering the slap, Han Li didn't spare another glance at Yang Zhanglao. This scene happened to catch the eye of the fleeing Yu Kuohai, whose heart felt as if struck by lightning, his mind going blank.

When he came to his senses, bitterness welled up in his heart. Cursing Han Li for his deliberate pretense, he prayed that Han Li wouldn't settle scores with him afterward.

Han Li paid them no mind at all; if Yang Zhanglao hadn't sought his own death, he wouldn't have bothered with him.

At this moment, his gaze was fixed on the "Lan siblings" a little farther away.