Chapter 333: The Giant Head

"We can't wait any longer. Set up the Purple Sun Formation quickly!" Lu Yue, seeing the situation, made an immediate decision and shouted loudly.

At his command, the four Golden Immortal cultivators who had been powering the thunder formation immediately flickered and took positions around Hu Yan and the others, each producing a purple talisman inscribed with golden patterns and tossing it onto the ground before them.

A soft "puff" sound was heard.

The four talismans simultaneously ignited upon landing, turning into four lines of fire that extended and connected to form a square ring of fire.

Immediately after, the four of them opened their mouths and began chanting incantations.

The ring of fire on the ground suddenly blazed with light, transforming into four purple light curtains that shot up into the sky, enclosing Hu Yan Daoist and the others in the center.

Although no flames could be seen rising from the purple light curtains, the temperature emanating from them was terrifyingly intense, even stronger than Hu Yan Daoist's own Red Luan flames.

As the four chanted in unison, the four light curtains simultaneously contracted, pressing inward toward the center.

"Follow me!"

Upon seeing this, Daoist Huyan, without another word, took Yun Ni's jade hand in his. Flames suddenly flared up around him, and he was about to soar into the sky.

However, Lu Yue and the others were already prepared. A thick silver pillar of lightning and a giant golden sword light simultaneously descended with lightning speed, chopping down and forcing Huyan and his companion back into the Purple Sun Formation.

By this time, the purple light curtain around them had shrunk considerably. Daoist Huyan and Yun Ni could only stay close together to avoid being burned by the light curtain.

Then, Daoist Huyan suddenly turned his wrist and produced a crystalline snow-white robe. He shook it open and draped it over Yun Ni. Then, he flipped his hand again and took out a small emerald bell, tossing it above his head.

Instantly, the phantom of a large emerald bell emerged, enveloping them and holding back the surrounding purple light curtain.

At this moment, the tremors and rumbling from the earth grew even more intense; the green bell shadow, burning with clusters of purple flames, shook violently as if it might collapse at any moment.

"Hurry!" Lu Yue shouted loudly.

Upon hearing this, the four who were arranging the formation immediately bit their tongues and sprayed a mouthful of blood onto the purple light screen.

The Purple Sun Killing Formation suddenly blazed with light, rapidly contracting, and even compressed the green bell shadow, causing it to shrink quickly.

The others also continuously launched attacks from above, striking at the two.

Daoist Huyan's ten fingers moved rapidly as he frantically channeled his immortal spiritual power into the black pagoda, yet he still could not stop the pressure of the purple light curtain, and beads of sweat began to seep from his forehead.

Just as the black pagoda was on the verge of collapse, a sudden change occurred!

"Moo—"

A tremendous roar suddenly came from beneath the ground!

This sound was no longer like the tolling of a bell, but rather like the roar of some primordial beast, filled with violence and wildness.

The entire earth shook with a bang, dust and smoke rose around White Jade Peak, and the whole mountain sank as it collapsed and crumbled with a rumbling noise.

Countless giant rocks shattered and fell from the mountain, their sound like thunder, their force like a flood, as if the end of the world had come.

All those still on the square, caught off guard, fell dozens of zhang along with the crumbling mountain before barely stabilizing themselves, their bodies glowing brightly as they flew back up.

Daoist Huyan and Yun Ni, however, did not flee upward but instead plunged straight down under the cover of the漫天 rocks and dust, landing at the base of White Jade Peak, their figures completely buried by the smoke and rubble.

"We cannot let Daoist Huyan escape!" Lu Yue shouted loudly to the crowd.

As he spoke, he gripped his sword with one hand while forming a sword seal with the other, his figure sweeping backward and downward. A brilliant golden light blazed from his body, coalescing into a colossal golden sword over a hundred zhang long, which shot straight toward the base of White Jade Peak, where the dust had not yet settled.

The other cultivators of the Immortal Palace followed without a second word, diving down immediately after him.

Ouyang Kuishan hesitated for a moment but did not follow. Instead, he flickered and came to a distant halt, hovering high in the sky.

Just then, over a dozen peaks near White Jade Peak began to tremble violently, collapsing one after another with a thunderous roar. For thousands of li around, the scene was one of mountains splitting and earth cracking, with dust and debris flying everywhere.

The moment Lu Yue and the others plunged into the dust cloud, they felt a scorching wave of heat rushing up from below, accompanied by a suffocating and terrifying pressure.

"Something's wrong! Fall back!" Lu Yue shouted to the others, halting his flying sword abruptly.

Dong Jie and the others stopped immediately upon hearing this, then flew backward, distancing themselves from the already collapsed White Jade Peak.

"Rumble…"

A low, rolling thunderclap sounded, and suddenly a red light flashed within the dust below.

Then came a loud "boom." A torrent of crimson magma, over a hundred zhang thick, burst forth from the ground like a fiery dragon, shooting straight up into the sky for a thousand zhang. When its force was spent, it scattered into a rain of blazing flames, falling across the heavens.

Upon seeing this, Cangliu Palace Master Luo Qinghai raised his hand and waved, and the giant blue flower beneath him carried all the disciples of Cangliu Palace as they flew swiftly northward.

In the high sky thousands of miles west of White Jade Peak, more than ten deputy sect masters, including Xiong Shan, gathered with grim expressions. Earlier, under orders from Ouyang Kuishan, they had relocated some of the lower-level disciples to safe areas and also led away the outsiders who had come to attend the meeting.

No matter how one looked at it, this incident was hardly a matter of glory, and they did not wish to be watched by these people all the way, only for it to be widely spread later.

After settling everything, to avoid unnecessary trouble, they remained there and did not return to White Jade Peak.

Now, feeling the violent tremors of the earth for ten thousand miles around, they furrowed their brows and looked toward White Jade Peak.

…

Meanwhile, at the summit of Wangyuan Peak, ten thousand miles east of White Jade Peak.

Han Li and several dozen True Immortal realm elders gathered there, with Qi Liang also among them. All eyes were turned toward White Jade Peak.

"How has it stirred up such a commotion? I wonder how Sect Master Baili is faring..." said a broad-foreheaded elder with graying hair and beard, his face filled with worry as he couldn't help but sigh.

"Whether Sect Master Baili survives this calamity or not, the Candle Dragon Sect will no longer be the Candle Dragon Sect of old," another elder couldn't help but remark.

"Hmph, the North Cold Immortal Palace usually puts on a righteous front, but today's actions are worse than those of bandits. Rather than this, it would be better to..." said a rotund elder, indignantly.

Before he could finish, another elder beside him interrupted: "Elder Zhu, do not speak nonsense..."

Upon hearing this, the man fell silent for a long time, and could only let out a long sigh, saying no more.

Han Li had originally planned to leave quietly after arriving, but after flying here, he did not immediately depart. Instead, he stood silently at the edge of the peak's plaza, his eyes flashing with blue light as he gazed toward White Jade Peak.

There, the sky was dyed a fiery red, and as the molten lava scattered into the nearby forests, it instantly ignited raging flames.

The fire, driven by the wind, spread rapidly. Within hundreds of miles, thick smoke billowed up, nearly blotting out the entire sky, and the ground quickly turned into a sea of fire.

It seemed as if only black and red remained between heaven and earth, a scene that looked almost like the end of the world.

Just as everyone was in shock and uncertainty, a huge black shadow suddenly rose from within the sea of fire and smoke that encompassed White Jade Peak.

"What is that..." Qi Liang couldn't help but exclaim upon seeing it.

The others followed his gaze and were all startled.

In the sea of fire, a massive black arch bridge rose up, spanning several mountain peaks, burning with rolling black flames that looked extremely eerie.

Han Li's eyes glowed even brighter with blue light, and his pupils contracted slightly.

He could clearly see that the "arch bridge" burning with black flames was densely covered with huge diamond-shaped scales, just like those of snakes or pythons.

Before he could think further, a loud boom rang out!

Everyone felt the Wangyuan Peak beneath them shake violently, as if it were about to collapse. Many even activated their遁光 and rose into the air.

Fortunately, after the great tremor, Wangyuan Peak returned to its original state. However, the already collapsed Baiyu Peak exploded again, sending countless rocks and trees shooting out in all directions.

More underground magma erupted from the explosion center, turning into dozens of winding, twisting crimson rivers that flowed along the mountain terrain, scorching everything in their path into charred earth.

Under these circumstances, Lu Yue and the other Immortal Palace cultivators could no longer bother with Hu Yan and Yun Ni. They all flew out of the area for hundreds of miles, erecting light barriers to block the falling debris and magma from the sky.

Soon, the area within dozens of miles of Baiyu Peak was filled with red-hot magma, forming a huge magma lake where giant red bubbles occasionally surged.

"This magma is strange. Hu Yan and the others are hiding below. Don't approach rashly; let's force them out first," Lu Yue said after sweeping his divine sense, suddenly shouting loudly.

"Let me!"

Dong Jie said, flicking his wrist. A sparkling black stone appeared in his palm, and he tossed it toward the magma lake.

As he chanted incantations, the black stone emitted a buzzing sound and rapidly grew larger, soon becoming a thousand-zhang giant peak that crashed down toward the center of the lake with a howling wind.

A thunderous boom!

The thousand-zhang peak plunged into the crimson magma, sinking halfway in an instant, stirring up hundreds-of-zhang-high waves of fire. The scarlet magma churned violently, splashing countless hot droplets in all directions.

But soon, the magma lake calmed down, leaving only the black peak slowly sinking into the lake.

"Roar..."

Just then, a狂暴 beast roar came from within the magma lake, shaking the lake surface into ripples.

The next moment, the black mountain suddenly shot out of the magma lake, thrown high into the air, where it shattered with a flash of black light.

Following that, a black head, even larger than the mountain, emerged violently from the magma lake.