Death... and me

Time began to pass as everyone cultivated. Every now and then, Rean's group would practice some combat between themselves just to stretch a little. After all, cultivating full-time was extremely monotonous and dulled one's senses. Wano also participated in that, and it was clear how much stronger than everyone here he was.

Nevertheless, he was really surprised by the power of Rean's group. When Rean and Roan joined hands, they could totally fight around the Core and Soul Fusion Realm's Initial Stage level. It made his own ability to jump two stages higher to fight look like a joke. Well, he still had a huge advantage since he could display a Peak Core and Soul Fusion Realm cultivator's combat power.

It's just that both Rean, Roan, and Wano thought that the other part's power wasn't all they could do. In Rean and Roan's case, that was true. After all, they already could push themselves to the Initial Stage of the Core and Soul Fusion Realm when they were in the Core Formation Initial Stage, let alone now that they were in the Middle Stage.

During this time, Rean revised the Circuitry Formation job on his mind, trying to move a step forward even though he wasn't directly working with it. Roan did the same thing in his mind with Alchemy.

Roan also made sure to give Calina and Malaka proper training other than just cultivation. That being said, the two girls had been having quite a harsh time.

And just like that, six months went by.

Of course, that was only the case inside the natural formation. Only a little less than eighteen days passed on the outside. It was also at this time that the Sasamil Family's experts arrived at the natural formation.

Kocei, obviously, went ahead to receive them.

"Thanks for coming, my friends. I'm happy you arrived this quickly."

There was a total of ten experts present in the Sasamil Family's group. Three of them were at the Saint Realm, with one at the Late Stage of that realm. As for the others, they were all Soul Forging Realm experts. Other than then, another small group of Formation Masters came to check the natural formation as per the Imperial Family's request.

"Let's not waste time with pleasantries. I'm Ernian Sasamil. The other two Saint Realm experts are Oreve Samikil and Oi Taran from the ten clans. I also brought the experts of the Formation Master Guild Main Branch."

Another man came forward after hearing that.

"I'm Fobi Versavol, a Heaven High-Level Formations Master. The others are my assistants."

Kocei nodded and then turned around.

"The natural formation is right in front of you, as you can see. Please come with me."

Everyone then went to the barrier to check it.

Qia was still there, so she immediately came forward to receive the family's experts too.

"Long time no see, Senior Ernian."

Ernian looked at her and nodded.

"The fifth prince's granddaughter, right? I heard that you married someone from the Dalamu Sect. Anyway, what are you doing here? You should have been left in the sect instead of risking your life here."

Qia shook her head as he said.

"My husband is inside this formation, so I can't leave without knowing what's happening."

"Your husband?"

Ernian pondered for a bit and finally remembered the boy from the reports he received about Qia's marriage.

"Then, I can understand. However, your cultivation is still too low. Stay behind and do what I say."

"Yes, Senior Ernian."

Even though he wasn't a direct descendant, Ernian was one of the family's elders, so he had a higher position than Qia due to his status and cultivation. She had to follow his orders. Nevertheless, Qia had been thinking about a way to enter this formation all this while. Unfortunately, even Droman couldn't do anything to it since the properties of the formation changed. Of course, with Rean trapped inside, he also stayed there, refusing to go back to the sect.

Zuan and everyone else then explained everything they knew about the formation and what had happened so far. After hearing their tales, Ernian gathered all the Saint Realm experts in this group. Following that, he gave the order for them to attack the formation together.

Kocei and the others had tried it already, and it didn't work. However, since Ernian had the highest cultivation between them and he had two more Saint Realm experts with him, they decided to follow his orders.

"Focus on a single point. Attack!"

Explosions of Spiritual Energy and several other elements soon burst around. The place they focused on turned into a forbidden zone for anyone below the Saint Realm. Unfortunately, even after an entire hour of relentless attacks, the formations didn't even do as much as tremble.

"What a sturdy formation. It's not something that Saint Realm experts can overcome at all."

Kocei and the others nodded.

"We tried it in the past as well, but it was useless. We hoped that with more power, something would change, but it seems like it was useless."

Ernian nodded and then went to see Fobi. The Formation Masters were a few kilometers away, working on analyzing the formation. Droman and the other Formation Masters were also helping them with what they could.

Fobi noticed Ernian came closer to them, so he could already imagine what happened.

"It seems like brute force didn't work, right?"

Ernian nodded.

"Indeed. This thing is extremely sturdy. I'm sure that it won't matter how many Saint Realm experts we have. It won't fall."

Fobi agreed with him.

"I just reached the same conclusion a few minutes ago. The core of this Natural Formation is really powerful. I can't help but feel pity that it's being used in this way. If we could acquire it before it ran out of energy, we might have been able to power up the capital's formation for a hundred or more years."

"If you find a way to open the formation, we will obviously try to obtain that core. So, how are things going?"

Fobi shook his head.

"This is still a natural formation, but it has been modified. Whoever did this put a huge effort to keep everyone outside. I'm sorry, but I don't see us breaking through it anytime soon. Just the analysis alone will probably take a lot more than just a month."

Fobi then glanced at the formation before continuing.

"Of course, this natural formation still has a limit. If someone strong enough comes, he might be able to break through it."

Ernian narrowed his eyes.

"Are you talking about an Elemental Transformation Realm expert?"

All the Saint Realm experts present then looked at Ernian.

The Elemental Transformation Realm. That was a realm that most of them dreamed of reaching but had no hope of doing so. It was quite common for Saint Realm experts to die at the Initial or, at most, the Middle Stage. People like Ernian, who reached the Late Stage, were incredibly rare between Saint Realm experts, let alone Peak Stage ones.

As for Elemental Transformation Realm experts, they were the peak existences in the world. A single one at that level could create a country on his own, and no one would stop him. That was precisely what had happened in the past in Jialin. The Purple Colour Talent, Zef Jialin, was one of those Elemental Transformation Realm experts. It's just that he had already passed away a long time ago. Since then, none of his descendants had reached that realm again.

However, Fobi shook his head.

"Elemental Transformation experts are indeed powerful. However, judging by the energy contained in this formation, I think they might not be enough."

This time, everyone really felt shocked, including Ernian. Elemental Transformation was not enough. Those were not light words for sure. Ernian then took a deep breath as he looked at the natural formation. The moment Fobi spoke those words, his awareness regarding this event increased many folds.

"Elemental Transformation is not enough, huh... If that's the case, only a..."

"Elder Ernian!"

In an instant, Ernian closed his mouth before saying the words. Naturally, that piqued everyone's attention—the level above the Elemental Transformation Realm. That was considered taboo in this world. It is said that only those at the Elemental Transformation Realm were allowed to know about it. Of course, a few exceptions existed. Ernian, as an important elder of the Sasamil Imperial Family, knew a little about it as well.

"It's okay. I won't speak any further."

Ernian then looked at Fobi.

"In any case, there's no way we can call for such a monster to come. We will have to do with what we have. First of all, we need to know who's responsible for it. Do any of the cultivators inside have Thoughts Transmission Talismans?"

Kocei immediately nodded.

"Of course. However, this natural formation is completely blocking the passage of information. We can't get in contact with the people in there."

Ernian wasn't surprised by that.

"Fobi, if we keep attacking it, will the energy be consumed faster?"

Fobi nodded.

"It will. However, considering the natural formation's sheer size, the core sustaining it has a frightening amount of energy. The effects of constant attacks will be quite low. As for attacks coming from those below the Saint Realm, it might not make any difference at all."

Ernian didn't mind.

"It's fine. The faster we can take it down, the better. You focus on trying to break the formations through your own methods. The other Saint Realm experts will start attacking it in turns."

Ernian then turned to his Soul Forging Realm subordinates and passed to each of them a token.

"Go to the surrounding countries affected by this formation and pass my order. Tell them that all the Saint Realm experts must attack the formation. The more we have, the better."

"Yes, Elder Ernian."

And with that, the plan to wear out the formation had begun.