Cultivating with Bragging System-Chapter 552 - 266: Heading to the Yellow Springs to Call the Old Troops, A Hundred Thousand Banners Cut Down Yama!_3

Chapter 552: Chapter 266: Heading to the Yellow Springs to Call the Old Troops, A Hundred Thousand Banners Cut Down Yama!_3

Many sought to emulate them.

All the Earth Immortals had gone mad, their eyes bloodshot. None of them intended to return alive. The terrifying aura they exuded shattered the heavens.

Before long, another two Earth Immortals fell, having burned away their own life force. In exchange, they forcibly took down one Demon Emperor. The scene was unspeakably brutal.

"They’re insane! This whole group of humans has gone insane!" the Demon Emperors cursed, thrown into complete disarray. What should have been an overwhelming advantage had turned into them being chased and beaten by a group of humans burning their own lifespans.

The demons lacked the resolve to die. Their only desire was to stall, hoping to drain the power the humans had gained at the cost of their lifespans. This delay, however, inadvertently bought Zhuo Canglang a considerable amount of time.

"It’s not enough! Still not enough!"

Zhuo Canglang’s eyes were crimson, his body surging with immortal light. His full head of black hair had already turned a ghastly white, a sign of the terrifying toll. Even at this stage, the formation was only two-thirds complete. The situation was dire to the extreme.

"Southeast. Formation Seven, Row Thirty-Six. The Kan position changes hands!"

Just then, a consciousness suddenly descended, the voice reaching their ears.

Fire Ancestor and the others were all taken aback.

Luo Binglan recognized the voice and said in surprise, "Apprentice?"

Zhuo Canglang also blurted out, "Saint Heir!"

Wang Xiu continued to transmit his thoughts via his Divine Soul. "There’s no time! Do as I say. The formation can be made simpler, faster, and stronger!"

The group snapped back to reality, their gazes fixed on the position Wang Xiu had indicated, their hearts trembling.

Wang Xiu... He’s actually advising us, improving the formation!

Fire Ancestor hesitated. "Can this really work?"

This formation was their last resort. If anything went wrong, they would be utterly doomed.

Zhuo Canglang took a deep breath. A moment that felt like both an instant and an eternity passed. After an unimaginable internal struggle, he slowly exhaled. "I believe in him!"

"There’s no time left! Hurry!" Snow Ancestor exclaimed.

...

「The Nine Nether God Summoning Formation!」

That was the name of the grand formation Zhuo Canglang and the others were currently laying. This formation was incredibly ancient, likely passed down from a primordial era. Its power was world-shaking, capable of summoning long-departed Heroic Spirits from a region’s river of history back to the present. The deeper the bond between the casters and the Heroic Spirits, the higher the success rate of the summoning.

Records of this formation existed in the Scripture Pavilion of the Sanqing Immortal Sect, but only as incomplete fragments. However, Wang Xiu knew that the formation had, in fact, been fully reconstructed. Though it couldn’t compare to the original Ancient Formation, its effectiveness was likely not far behind.

Countless peerless experts from the Sanqing Immortal Sect had fallen near Demon Sea Island over the ages. If they could be summoned back, the Demon Race’s calamity could be resolved with a mere snap of the fingers.

But the newly completed formation had its flaws. Many parts were redundant and inefficient. This was partly due to the grand formation’s inherent complexity, but regardless of the reason, it was a fatal flaw on a battlefield like this.

Another crucial point was the immense price required to lay the formation. The casters were destined to sacrifice all their remaining lifespan—trading life for life—just for a chance at success. Therefore, it couldn’t be prepared in advance. It could only be attempted as a final gamble when all other options were exhausted.

However, this was not the only such grand formation in existence. The *Ming Emperor’s Hell-Controlling Scripture* recorded a technique called the [Ming Emperor Soul Summoning Talisman], which had similar effects but was even more powerful and came at a smaller cost. The Nine Nether God Summoning Formation could, at most, bring back four or five Heroic Spirits in a life-for-a-life exchange. But this technique, if executed properly, could produce astonishing results.

The problem was that the technique’s Cultivation Level requirement was staggering. It was far beyond what Wang Xiu could achieve in his current Realm. But if converted into a formation, it might become possible to cast.

...

Techniques and formations seemed worlds apart. In reality, all the myriad Daos eventually led to the same destination. It was merely a matter of understanding and applying the runes of the Great Dao. Not to mention, Wang Xiu’s understanding of the *Ming Emperor’s Hell-Controlling Scripture* had already reached a sublime level of mastery, and his proficiency in formations was equally rare in the modern world. For others, such a task was as difficult as ascending to the heavens. For him, it was a different matter.

SWOOSH!

A vast amount of seawater transformed into runes, shifting and evolving before Wang Xiu as he performed his deductions. His powerful Divine Soul operated at immense speed. He was simultaneously converting the technique into a formation and transmitting every step of the transformation to Demon Sea Island.

"Formation Nine, position southeast, the Kan position shifts north!"

...

"Formation Forty-One, Qian position! Deploy the Life Symbol, arrange the Star-Stele Seal!"

...

As Wang Xiu’s Divine Soul transmissions echoed out, the formation in the void assembled at several times its previous speed. It emitted an even more terrifying aura as an unimaginable light transformed into a sea of stars, enveloping Zhuo Canglang and the others. The formation coalesced into a huge, ancient stone platform, floating in the void.

Only one step remained.

Someone merely needed to step onto that stone platform and offer themselves as a sacrifice to complete the summoning of the Heroic Spirits.

BOOM!

Just then, a figure descended with terrifying and violent force. A fearsome void tempest swept out. Zhuo Canglang and the others, already weakened to their limits from arranging the formation, were all sent flying.

Ye Huang’s greatcloak fluttered gently, his dark eyes revealing a cruel smile. "What a pity... You were so close!"

Zhuo Canglang and the others exchanged glances, their eyes filled with ferocity. They unleashed their final vestiges of strength and charged toward the God Summoning Platform.

A playful smirk appeared on Ye Huang’s lips. Like a cat toying with a mouse, he began toying with them. Although his own condition was poor, he was in far better shape than they were. He could have finished them cleanly and swiftly. But these despicable humans had made his victory so difficult. How could he kill them so easily? Wouldn’t that be letting them off too lightly?

He repeatedly gave them opportunities to approach the God Summoning Platform, only to blast them away at the critical moment. Watching their frantic desperation, Ye Huang felt a wave of cathartic pleasure.

"Come on!"

"Why have you stopped trying?"

"You exhausted your lifespans to create this formation, and now you can’t even activate it. It must be so painful, mustn’t it? Hahahaha..."

"A rotten persimmon will always be a rotten persimmon! A lowly race will always be lowly. To think you could resist the invasion of my Demon Race army is simply a pipe dream!"

Ye Huang was ecstatic, letting his arrogant words fly. "Even if the Great Emperor himself came today, he could not change your fate!"

[DING!]

[Detected nearby boasting. Congratulations, Host, for gaining Mana +10,000!]

Zhuo Canglang, Snow Ancestor, and the others looked at each other, the same despair and indignation reflected in their eyes. The Human Race’s Earth Immortals fighting to the death in the distance also wore faces filled with hopelessness.

It’s come to this... but we still can’t succeed? Is there... no hope left for the Human Race?

However, at that very moment, a scene that stunned everyone unfolded.

...

"I survey the eighteen hells and assist the ten Yama Kings. Good and evil tread separate paths; Yin and Yang govern life and death. From egg, womb, moisture, or metamorphosis, all beings are subject to the officials of the netherworld..."

The sound of a swift, powerful incantation suddenly echoed from behind Ye Huang.

Ye Huang’s entire body trembled as he spun around.

He saw a young human figure who had appeared out of nowhere on the God Summoning Platform. His hands were forming seals, his expression solemn and dignified, and his entire body radiated a terrifying presence.

"It’s you?"

Ye Huang’s pupils constricted. The newcomer was Wang Xiu?

Didn’t he leave? When did he get behind me? No, when did he get on the God Summoning Platform?

He was so profoundly shocked that he was momentarily frozen.

Wang Xiu’s black hair danced wildly. The God Summoning Platform was inundated with divine light as boundless power surged. His lifespan was decaying at an astonishing rate; his dark hair turned white before their very eyes, yet his gaze remained resolute as his hand seals continued to change.

He uttered the true words: "To the Yellow Springs I go to summon my old legions! With one hundred thousand banners, we shall slay Yama! In the name of the Ming Emperor, I beseech you—Patriarchs of Sanqing, Sages of the Human Race—manifest in this world!

"Slay the demons!

"Purge the invaders!"

As his words fell, in that very instant, a towering and boundless phantom of the Ming Emperor materialized behind Wang Xiu, like a deity who held dominion over life and death. The presence it emanated was so astonishing that even Ye Huang trembled, not daring to approach.

At the same time, across the sky above Demon Sea Island, lightning flashed and thunder rolled. Strands of Chaotic Qi descended. Endless sparks of light rose from the sea, fell from the clouds, and materialized from the moonlight, a vast and majestic spectacle. It was like a silhouette of spacetime unfolding, with battle cries that shook the heavens.

The battlefield from a thousand years ago was resurrecting in this very moment.

One by one, figures of extreme power reappeared from the river of time.

"Souls, return—"

"Souls, return—"

The whisper, like the murmuring of Ancient Gods, echoed in the ears of countless people. Everyone stared, dumbfounded, utterly shaken by the scene before them.

"Souls, return—"

The figures grew more numerous and distinct. They were like a mighty army of thousands, their murderous aura palpable. Each one possessed a power so overwhelming it inspired terror.