43: Trapped in a deadly trap, the human heart is a den of demons.
A cold shout swept through the entire Burial Dragon Valley like a cold wave, carrying unquestionable majesty and murderous intent.
Liu Qingtian's tree soul instantly tightened to the extreme! The enemy had not only arrived quickly, but their lineup was also luxurious! One Initial Stage Golden Body Realm, one Wutian Realm Perfection, plus five Kaishan Realm auras lurking on the periphery, rapidly setting up a Formation!
This was by no means a spur-of-the-moment encirclement, but a long-premeditated kill zone!
"Oh no! It's the Imperial Ancestor of the Wood Spirit Dynasty and Great Commander Black Vine!" Sela's face turned as pale as paper, and she was so frightened that she could barely stand. She was all too familiar with these two auras; they were the culprits who destroyed her tribe!
Although Zhao Tiezhu could not sense the specific Realm, the overwhelming pressure and murderous intent made his legs tremble. He shivered and hid behind Liu Qingtian's largest tree root: "Oh my god! Boss! This… this is too big of a setup, right?! Have we poked a hornet's nest?"
Liu Qingtian did not respond. Thousands of willow branches danced wildly, and his Wither and Flourish Domain instantly expanded to its maximum. Although he had only recovered forty percent of his strength, the circulation of the Qi of Life and Death still emitted heart-palpitating fluctuations. His massive tree body protected Sela and Zhao Tiezhu behind him, and starlight permeated the air as he tried to find a direction to break through.
However, at this very moment— Hum! Hum! Hum! Hum! Hum!
Around the valley entrance, five pillars of light of different colors shot into the sky, instantly weaving into a giant net of light that completely sealed off the exit of the entire Burial Dragon Valley! Runes circulated on the light net, emitting a powerful binding force, and even drew upon the earth's veins, forming a heavy pressure that slammed down onto Liu Qingtian's Domain!
A Formation! And a kill-trap Formation set up by at least five Kaishan Realm Cultivators working together!
Liu Qingtian's Wither and Flourish Domain trembled violently, its light dimming rapidly. His unrecovered strength was stretched thin under the combined suppression of this Formation and the pressure from the two great experts, and the cracks on his tree body showed faint signs of widening again.
"Futile resistance!" That cold voice sounded again, filled with mockery.
Immediately after, the light of the trapping Formation flared brightly. Countless sharp light blades, corrosive vine phantoms, and heavy boulder illusions derived from the light net poured down like a rainstorm toward Liu Qingtian inside the Formation!
A Formation attack!
Liu Qingtian's tree soul roared, fully urging the Wither and Flourish Domain to resist. The Qi of Life and Death turned into a vortex, constantly grinding away and dissolving the Formation's attacks, but every collision caused his tree body to shake violently, and his energy was consumed rapidly. The new willow branches were constantly cut off by the light blades, only to be barely repaired by the power of life.
He was like a giant beast trapped in a quagmire; despite having strength, he was bound layer by layer and forced to take a beating!
What was even more fatal was that the Imperial Ancestor and the Golden Body Realm Great Commander had not yet personally attacked. They were merely watching coldly from outside the Formation, exerting pressure, clearly intending to use the Formation to exhaust his strength first!
"Boss! Hold on!" Zhao Tiezhu looked at the terrifying attacks falling from the sky, screaming in terror, and held onto Liu Qingtian's tree root for dear life.
Sela also bit her lip, condensing a weak natural Spell in her hands, attempting to help Liu Qingtian block some of the sporadic attacks that leaked through, but her strength in a confrontation of this level was like a drop in the bucket.
Liu Qingtian's condition deteriorated rapidly. His old wounds had not yet healed, and new ones were added. Forcibly supporting the Domain to resist the Formation consumed far more energy than his recovery rate. Soon, the cracks on his tree body became more numerous, flowing with pale golden tree sap, and his aura withered at a visible rate.
If it went on like this, within half an incense stick of time, he would be completely drained by this trapping Formation, and then he would be fish on the chopping block, ready to be slaughtered!
"No… I cannot sit and wait for death!" A hint of ruthlessness flashed through Liu Qingtian's tree soul. He had to gamble!
He suddenly contracted his Domain, concentrating all his strength. One willow branch became crystal clear, containing extremely condensed Wither and Flourish Death Qi and that faint trace of the "Return to Void" true meaning, shooting toward a point on the Formation's light curtain like an arrow off a bowstring!
He wanted to break the surface with a single point and forcibly tear open an opening!
However— just at the moment when the willow branch was about to hit the light curtain, the Formation runes suddenly changed, and the light at that point suddenly became incomparably bright and thick!
Boom! Liu Qingtian's full-force strike was ingeniously dispersed and guided by the Formation across the entire light curtain, only causing the light curtain to shake violently without breaking! Instead, because his full-force strike was broken, he suffered significant backlash!
Pfft! Liu Qingtian's tree body shook violently, and a mouthful of pale golden Origin tree sap sprayed out. His aura instantly plummeted to the bottom, his Domain was barely maintainable, his canopy drooped, and his light was dimmed to the extreme; he was already in a near-death state!
"Boss!" Zhao Tiezhu exclaimed, his voice filled with a crying tone.
"Tree Venerable!" Sela was also extremely anxious, hurriedly trying to use her own natural energy to help heal Liu Qingtian, but that bit of energy was like a stone sinking into the ocean.
The Imperial Ancestor and the Great Commander outside the Formation saw this, and a look of satisfaction flashed in their eyes at the same time.
"It's about time, it's time to close the net." The Imperial Ancestor's deep voice sounded, carrying a hint of greed, "The essence of this otherworldly demon tree is quite abundant; it's perfect as a resource for my Breakthrough! That starlight treasure should rightfully belong to me!"
"Your Majesty is wise!" Great Commander Black Vine flattered, his eyes also flashing with longing for that "starlight treasure."
The two slowly raised their hands, preparing to strike personally to deliver the final blow to Liu Qingtian and collect the spoils of war.
And just when Liu Qingtian's aura was withered, when he was on the verge of death, and when all his attention was focused on the two powerful enemies outside the Formation— behind him, Zhao Tiezhu and Sela, who were barely protected by his massive tree body, had an extremely subtle, strange glint flash in their eyes, almost at the same time!
That light was not worry or fear, but something extremely complex, mixed with indifference, calculation, and a trace of… anticipation?
On Zhao Tiezhu's face, which had been pale with fear, his muscles twitched slightly. Deep in his eyes, there was no longer any of the previous panic or chatter, only cold scrutiny and judgment. The hand he kept hidden in his sleeve seemed to be gripping something.
In Sela's pale green eyes, sorrow and anxiety still existed, but in the deepest part, a flash of decisiveness and a dark glint, completely inconsistent with her pure temperament, swept past. Her knuckles were slightly white from holding the void-meditation stone.
They were judging. Judging whether Liu Qingtian had truly reached the end of his rope and had no more trump cards left. They were waiting. Waiting for the best opportunity.
They were not trying to help Liu Qingtian, but were on guard! On guard against Liu Qingtian's final counterattack before death! Or rather, they were waiting for Liu Qingtian to completely lose his value, or for confirmation that he absolutely could not turn the tables, before they would take their next step—perhaps to snatch the "treasure" that might drop, or perhaps… something else.
As long as there was even a sliver of possibility that Liu Qingtian could survive, or even the ability to drag someone down with him, they would not act lightly to avoid becoming the target of a dying counterattack. This was the treacherous nature of human hearts. In the face of absolute benefits and life-and-death crises, short-term alliances and gratitude seemed so fragile.
However, at this moment, Liu Qingtian, whose consciousness was already somewhat blurred and who had dedicated all his focus to locking onto the powerful enemies outside the Formation while preparing for a final life-or-death struggle, did not notice the subtle change in the two gazes behind him. He only felt that the two people behind him seemed to have unstable auras due to fear.
He even struggled to divert a sliver of strength to form a more stable energy shield, protecting them better so they would not be affected by the upcoming final collision.
This unconscious action caused the strange light in Zhao Tiezhu and Sela's eyes to pause slightly, seemingly flashing with a hint of extremely subtle complexity, but it was quickly replaced by deeper calculation.
Outside the Formation, the attacks of the Imperial Ancestor and the Great Commander had already been brewed. A golden giant palm condensed with Imperial Dragon Qi and a hideous giant claw entwined with countless vengeful spirit black vines, carrying the power to destroy heaven and earth, slowly reached into the Formation, crushing down toward the near-death Liu Qingtian!
Death was closer than ever before!
A trace of unwillingness and madness flashed through Liu Qingtian's tree soul. He communicated with the silent burying netherworld, preparing to pay a huge price to make one final deal!
Just at this critical moment— an unexpected change occurred! It did not come from Liu Qingtian, nor from Zhao Tiezhu or Sela. It came from— that Dragon skeleton that had been silent all along! And the ancient altar beneath the skeleton!
The empty groove in the center of the altar, without any warning, erupted with unprecedented, brilliant starlight! A thick pillar of light, composed entirely of pure Power of the Stars, burst forth from the groove, instantly breaking through the light curtain of the trapping Formation and shooting straight into the firmament!
The entire Burial Dragon Valley began to shake violently!