Is That A Wisp?

In front of everyone, were some old ruins that had already been invaded by the vegetation. Once the line group saw it, they immediately retracted that Formation and gathered together once more. 

"We don't have time to explore it slowly, so keep your Divine Senses spread and let's search this place."

Suddenly, a cultivator shouted.

"Hey, I can fly higher in this place."

Everyone looked at him, surprised. Sure enough, a few others tried, and they, too, were able to surpass the previous limit. Still, there was a limit. They couldn't fly more than 50 meters in the air.

"Alright, let's take flight and keep looking."

Of course, the enemy's attacks didn't stop. By now, the groups attacking them already had at least one Soul Forging Realm Demon Beast or Cultivator. 

The ruin's size was quite big, so even after searching for 30 minutes, they still haven't found anything out of the ordinary. But one thing was sure, the core of the Formation was definitely in this place. Suddenly, Krune and the others heard a Divine Sense message from someone else.

"Hey, look! Over there!"

Everyone looked at the direction that the guy was pointing at, and they could see some kind of underground entrance with a seal in front of it. They didn't waste time and moved close to check.

Near the entrance, Krune and the others could feel a big flow of Spiritual Energy. 

"The core of the formation is probably down there."

They touched the Seal blocking the entrance, and a stream of information flowed inside their minds.

"Resist time: 7:46 minutes.

Requirement: 12:00 hours."

One didn't need to be a genius to understand what those numbers meant.

"Well, at least we know that the formation spawning those enemies will probably stop working when 12 hours is up. Still, it's gonna be quite complicated to hold all the way to the end."

That's true, with just a little less than 8 hours, they were already being attacked by groups with Soul Forging Realm in the middle. Their number will definitely increase as time passes. The question is if they can hold until the time is over.

Some of the cultivators and demon beast tried to use earth movement techniques to bypass the Seal. Of course, even they didn't think that it would work.

Sure enough, the entire underground place was sealed just like that mountain in the previous Bubble Realm.

But then, Krune had an idea and used a Divine Sense message to ask.

"Feifei, does the formation use something like Divine Sense to feel the others' presence?"

Feifei then answered.

"It depends on the Formations Master himself. Some use vision, others use vibrations. Of course, just like you said, some use an artificial Divine Sense. There are also other things like the fluctuations of Space or the consumption of Spiritual Energy in the environment. Still, I don't think that Space Fluctuation is one of them since it would be unnecessary for a group with Soul Forging Realm as the highest cultivation."

Krune then asked.

"What if I cover everyone with my Tribulation Layer? Would it work the same way against Formations?"

Feifei pondered a bit and then nodded.

"It should work if the Formation is using an artificial Divine Sense. But I can't tell if it is the case since the level of this Formation it too high. Our cultivations are too low to feel that level of Divine Sense, even if it isn't a real one."

Krune nodded and then explained.

"Alright, I first want to test one thing. I believe that the number of Demon Beasts and Cultivators attacking us is based on the number of participants we have on our side. Think like this: If there was only a single Cultivator or Demon Beast in this Realm, the number of enemies that are attacking us at the moment would definitely have finished him or her already."

"In that case, it would make no sense to have a test like this. So what if a few of us disappear? Would the number of attacking enemies decrease? Would the Formation think that we died and, thus, reduce the attack level?"

Feifei had to admit that it made sense. This place was not build to kill them but to test instead. If that is really the case, there is a chance that the income number of enemies will decrease once a few of the participants disappear.'

"At the very least, it might slow down the increase in numbers of fake Cultivators and Demon Beasts."

Krune agreed with her.

"Alright, let's try it out."

Krune then messaged his group so that they knew what was going to happen and spread his Tribulation Lightning layer. It quickly expanded and covered his and Joiu's group.

Of course, the others soon noticed that sphere of purple lightning increasing in size.

"Hey, what is Darten doing?"

"How can I know? Perhaps he has a plan?"

"Hey, I can't feel anything with my Divine Sense, it is as if they disappeared. But Darten's group is right in front of me, how is that possible?"

Before the discussion could grow any further, everyone heard a Divine Sense Message from Krune, or better, Darten. He then explained what he was trying to do and asked for a few more of the Soul Forging Realm cultivators and Demon Beasts to enter his Tribulation Lightning Layer.

There was a reason why Krune asked for the strongest cultivators and demon beasts to come. That is because if his conjecture is right, the Formation spawning those fake Demon Beasts and Cultivators would try to adjust to the new level of cultivations.

The best thing is that even though those guys are floating inside Krune's Tribulation Lightning Sphere in the sky, Krune can still allow them to use their Divine Sense to see what is happening around. By using their Divine Sense, they can send long-ranged attacks and help the weaker cultivators and demon beasts.

The attacks continued at the same level for another 4 to 5 waves. But at some point, the number and strength of those attacks started to decline severely. When all the groups noticed that, their eyes lit up!

"Darten's anti-Divine Sense technique is really working. The batch of enemies usually had around 20 attackers with two or three Soul Forging Realm in the middle. But this last one there was only 12 with a single Soul Forging Realm in the there."

"Yes, not to mention that the guys inside his lightning sphere are still helping the others outside. If we keep things like this, we should be able to hold the 12 hours without too many issues."

"In that case, wouldn't it be better to simply send everyone inside and just leave a few Core Formation and Divine Soul Realm outside?"

A Formations Master who heard that immediately shook his head.

"That would be foolish. It would be one thing if just a few of our numbers disappeared at once. But if the majority disappears, we might trigger a different reaction due to the number remaining. Who knows? The Realm itself might simply explode because the required number wasn't here anymore."

Krune, who was looking at everything with his Divine Sense, nodded his head. That guy just spoke exactly what was in his mind. He, too, thought for a second in sending the biggest majority inside, but Feifei stopped him from doing so for the same reason.

Although the number of Cultivators and Demon Beasts inside isn't even 1/5 of the total, Krune made sure to bring in the ones with the highest cultivations. Those guys are now providing support to the weaker ones outside, which made it very easy to hold them off.

Sure enough, there were no surprises until the very end of the 12 hours time. No one could blame the Formations Master who built this Formation, though. After all, Krune's Purple Tribulation Lightning Layer isn't something that anyone would expect. 

Even if someone had some treasure that helped them to avoid Divine Sense, it would only be a few of them at most. Not to mention that there is a limit to how good those treasures are. Considering the level of the Formation itself, it was hard to think that there is anyone here who could really avoid the Formation's detection with that method. Maybe only geniuses with a big background like Joiu might have such a treasure.

When the 12 hours time was up, the mobs attacking them already had around 30 enemies. But the highest cultivation between them was only the 2nd Stage of the Soul Forging Realm. With the ones at the 5th Stage helping them out in the Purple Tribulation Lightning Sphere, it was quite easy to deal with those mobs.

Suddenly, the Seal blocking the underground passage disappeared. As for the fake Demon Beasts and Cultivators that were in the middle of an attack, they vanished in thin air as if they had never been there.

 Krune then retracted his Tribulation Lightning layer and landed close to the entrance with the others.

Joiu couldn't help but comment.

"So far, we got no treasures or anything else. If there is anything, it is probably inside."

Krune nodded.

"Yes, but don't forget that we didn't get anything from that village in the valley. Not to mention that a gift was left behind, and a very bright one at that. So make sure to not rush things."

Krune wasn't using Divine Sense to talk with Joiu, so everyone heard what he said. They then remembered that house explosion and felt a chill on their back. If this place explodes just like that house, they will definitely be done for.

Krune looked at Rarol, and he nodded.

"There is danger inside, I can feel this much. But it isn't like that house where we had to run immediately. So it should still be this Realm's test."

Krune nodded, and started to look around.