This time, a total of twenty-three primordial psyche cultivators had come to help Yaoguang provide cover. There were far more than he had expected. This number included Bai Lu, who had only recently broken through.

After gathering them, Yaoguang immediately transmitted the Heavenly Dao Sovereign Array to all twenty-three primordial psyche realm cultivators and helped them study it together.

At first, the twenty-three primordial psyche cultivators had not understood why Yaoguang had summoned them with such urgency. Yet when they saw the array art, each of them became so excited they could hardly contain themselves.

As primordial psyche cultivators, they immediately recognized that it could provide an extraordinary boost to their realm. If the array art had to be ranked, it would be considered at least a level 7 array art, and at least a fourth-generation or perhaps fifth-generation version.

However, since this array art had evolved from a secret technique, it did not demand all participants to be highly skilled with arrays. It only required the one controlling the array to have sufficient command of the secret art Heavenly Dao Formlessness.

For Yaoguang, that was not an issue at all. Through the Psyche King characteristic, he studied alongside the twenty-three primordial psyche cultivators. In just one month, they had fully grasped the array art.

Originally, according to the opinions of Xu Kong and Murong Hui, they should have waited until everyone had become more familiar with the array before testing it. But during that month, the Great Sun Sword Sect had pressed forward once again.

The Divine Wind Institute, the Divine Wood Institute, and the Divine Mountain Institute, three elite battle institutes, had been eyeing them like tigers watching their prey. Meanwhile, the Vajra Sky Patrol Warship had repeatedly intruded into the sea region controlled by the Nine Cauldrons Sect, probing their bottom line.

In addition, the Xuanwu Sky Patrol Warship, originally stationed within the sect, had been redeployed to the East Sea. Although it had not entered the Nine Cauldrons Sect’s waters, it had been cruising just outside their controlled region, seemingly ready to support the Vajra and the three elite battle institutes at any moment, much like when the Infinite Star Palace had once invaded the Nine Heavens Domain and stormed deep into Nine Cauldrons Sect territory.

With tensions escalating, Yaoguang could not afford to delay any longer. In any case, these people were meant to provide cover. They would merely rehearse the Heavenly Dao Sovereign Array, rather than truly confront a Dharma Form cultivator.

***

Once everyone was fully prepared, they followed Yaoguang to the central plaza of Sky Patrol Research Institute No. 3. The institute itself had already been an area with extremely high defenses, and later the Nine Cauldrons Sect had dispatched numerous secondary battle institutes to guard the surroundings. Its defensive capability had surpassed even that of the sect’s headquarters in Crimson City. With Li Hanqiu, the stabilizing pillar of the Nine Cauldrons Sect, personally focusing his attention on the region, safety wasn't a concern.

"Everyone, I will trouble you. In the Heavenly Dao Sovereign Array, I will act as the spearhead and charge into the deeper layers of the Purple Firmament Divine Lightning. You need only remain at the edge of the Purple Firmament Divine Lightning layer and coordinate the array. If anyone senses something amiss, notify me immediately so we can withdraw." Yaoguang offered a fist-and-palm salute toward the primordial psyche cultivators behind him.

"Please don't worry, Deputy Hall Master Yaoguang. We will fully cooperate." 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"If we can master this array, it will be as though we can assemble a Dharma Form cultivator at any time. With the Origin World as additional support, we will not suffer any disadvantage against either the Thousand-Beast Sect or the Immortal Alliance when it comes to battlefield information and control."

"Just give the order, Deputy Hall Master Yaoguang," The primordial psyche cultivators responded enthusiastically.

With a single command from Yaoguang, twenty-three primordial psyche cultivators released their primordial psyches from their physical bodies, and the translucent figures soared into the sky.

Primordial psyches traveled with incredible speed. Before long, they reached the Blazing Solar Lightning layer. Even the sword cultivators escorting them had been slightly slower.

Twenty-four yin-attribute primordial psyches entered the Blazing Solar Lightning layer. As yin and yang clashed, the friction between their primordial psyches and the surrounding energy quickly triggered vast celestial phenomena. Terrifying lightning bolts instantly formed and struck toward Yaoguang and the others.

But this was just Blazing Solar Lightning. Even Bai Lu, who had only recently undergone tempering by the Purple Firmament Divine Lightning, could easily withstand it, let alone Yaoguang.

The twenty-four of them soon rode the lightning upward and arrived at the far more dangerous Purple Firmament Divine Lightning layer. Upon reaching it, Xu Kong, Bai Lu, Cang Hai, and Murong Tianguang halted at the periphery.

Everyone directed the power of their primordial psyches into Yaoguang. In an instant, his primordial psyche swelled rapidly, expanding from just over ten meters to dozens of meters in diameter.

"Deputy Hall Master, be careful!" Bai Lu reminded solemnly.

Yaoguang nodded and soared upward. His massive primordial psyche, dozens of meters across and brimming with yin energy, acted like a magnet for the Purple Firmament Divine Lightning. As he ascended rapidly, bolt after bolt struck his primordial psyche. Sometimes up to four bolts crashed down simultaneously.

Yet Yaoguang’s expression never changed. He continued to press deeper into the Purple Firmament Divine Lightning layer. As he advanced, the lightning grew denser and more numerous.

Eventually, he seemed to be immersed in a vast sea of purple lightning. Each second, he endured seven, eight, or perhaps even nine divine lightning strikes at once. The sight was so awe-inspiring that Bai Lu, Xu Kong, Murong Tianguang, and the others watching from the edge all wore extremely grave expressions.

"Can Deputy Hall Master Yaoguang really withstand this?"

"Is it because of the Heavenly Dao Sovereign Array? At its peak, this array should reach the Dharma Form Realm. It could probably allow a primordial psyche to pierce through the Purple Firmament Divine Lightning layer, transform yin into yang, ascend to the chaotic void, gather the power of Chaotic Divine Lightning, and condense a Void Psychic World..." Murong Tianguang speculated. But as he spoke, even he began to lose confidence in his own words.

"I have endured the tempering of the Purple Firmament Divine Lightning many times, yet I still could not withstand this much! If Deputy Hall Master Yaoguang is really achieving this through the Heavenly Dao Sovereign Array, then it means that this array’s power can absolutely allow us to temporarily contend against a Dharma Form cultivator!" Even Cang Hai could not help but marvel.

Just as he was busy being shocked about it, he, along with all the primordial psyche cultivators, seemed to sense something at the same time. A powerful psychic thought descended from the nine heavens above, sweeping down with overwhelming force and enveloping this region. That vast, boundless pressure...

"A Dharma Form cultivator!"

"That fluctuation of psychic thought... It’s Lin Deng, a Dharma Form cultivator of the Infinite Star Palace!"

"That old bastard! He actually dares to probe openly this deep within our Nine Cauldrons Sect’s territory!"

The emotional fluctuations of the primordial psyche cultivators were filled with anger. Especially when Lin Deng, as a Dharma Form cultivator, sensed that the Nine Cauldrons Sect was indeed rehearsing a powerful primordial psyche array art, he immediately intensified the impact of his psychic thought without hesitation. His ocean-like psychic thought condensed into a sword, slashing directly at the connection between Yaoguang and the other twenty-three primordial psyche cultivators within the array art.

At this moment, Yaoguang was relying entirely on the array’s power to bathe in the Purple Firmament Divine Lightning. If Lin Deng severed his perception link to the array...

"Stop!"

"Lin Deng, are you declaring war on the Nine Cauldrons Sect?"

"Concentrate your psychic thought and block him!"

Reacting with extreme speed, the primordial psyche cultivators simultaneously unleashed their psychic thoughts. Their powerful psychic-thought power pierced the void and fused with Yaoguang's.

Yaoguang seemed to sense the incoming crisis. He pressed down with a phantom hand. Behind him, a phantom projection resembling a Void Psychic World manifested. Yet this Void Psychic World was clearly different from a true one. It exerted a tremendous suppressive and crushing effect on any incoming psychic thought.

"It’s the Origin World!" Xu Kong cried out in delight. "Deputy Hall Master Yaoguang carries the top-tier spirit treasure Origin World. Combined with the array we’ve formed..."

Under the suppression of the Void Psychic World projection and the combined psychic-thought assault of twenty-four primordial psyche realm cultivators, the incoming sword of psychic thought shattered mid-air, dispersing into invisible ripples.

"We blocked it!"

"Excellent!"

"I knew it. The Heavenly Dao Sovereign Array, combined with the Origin World, gives us the strength to contend with a Dharma Form cultivator!"

More than half of the twenty-three primordial psyche cultivators felt their spirits surge. They felt the whole situation was rather exhilarating. However, Yaoguang was still crossing the tribulation. Having been disturbed, his situation instantly became extremely dangerous.

High above in the nine heavens, Lin Deng sensed what had happened and immediately gathered his powerful psychic thought again, preparing to launch another attack. But at that very moment, on the battlefield above the Nine Heavens, a figure within a palace suddenly rose to his feet in fury.

"Lin Deng, you have some nerve! Do you even take me, Li Hanqiu, seriously?" His gaze crossed the void and locked onto the palace where Lin Deng and the others were stationed.

Tearing space, he left his own palace. His true form charged directly toward the region where Lin Deng and the Golden Core cultivators of the Infinite Star Palace were located.

The moment he departed from the palace’s protective array, while simultaneously channeling divine ability and extracting energy from his Golden Core to form a streak of divine sun flame meant to pierce heaven and earth, his Golden Core visibly grew unstable.

The sight caused everyone in the Infinite Star Palace to change expression. "Don’t come any closer!"

"Damn it! You left the suppression of your array? What are you trying to do? Are you starting the final battle early?"

"Li Hanqiu, calm down, calm down! We can talk this out... It’s not to that point yet..."

Amid the shouts, a divine sun flame shot forth like a planet-destroying beam from a starship cannon, piercing 1.5 million kilometers in an instant and blasting toward the palace where Lin Deng was stationed. The Golden Core cultivators of the Infinite Star Palace were forced to intervene and intercept it.

Even so, the violent energy fluctuations stirred waves of destruction across the nine heavens. The scale and magnitude of the power were sufficient to pulverize a planet thousands of kilometers wide into dust.

"Li Hanqiu, have you gone mad?"

"Retreat! Fall back!"

"He’s already in poor condition and has attacked repeatedly. I think he intends to drag a few of us down with him before he dies. Don’t engage him head-on!"

Psychic thoughts and spiritual consciousness echoed across the nine heavens. Lin Deng's palace quickly activated and shifted position, withdrawing far from Li Hanqiu.

As for Yaoguang, who was still crossing the tribulation within the Purple Firmament Divine Lightning layer... Believing they had already uncovered the Nine Cauldrons Sect’s capabilities, they no longer dared probe further.

After Li Hanqiu chased Lin Deng and his group for fifteen million kilometers, the dense lightning within the Purple Firmament Divine Lightning layer gradually subsided.

Yaoguang’s figure reappeared at the edge of the Purple Firmament Divine Lightning layer. Without pausing for even a moment, he led the primordial psyche cultivators back toward the Big Dipper Domain.