Former Interstellar Mercenary In Urban Cultivation World
Chapter 1019: The Skyward Escape

Outside the formation, the Body Integration stage wandering spirits, frustrated by their minions’ prolonged failure to break through, waved their subordinates away.

With the wandering spirits retreating, the attacks on the formation ceased, and the trembling subsided. Though relieved, the cultivators felt their nerves tighten.

The real challenge was about to begin.

"How much longer do we have to hold out?" Dongjian Zhao asked irritably.

"One hundred and ninety breaths," Amalia replied calmly.

"Still that long?" Dongjian Zhao felt as if an eternity had already passed, yet nearly a third of the time remained.

"Can we make it? If those Body Integration stage spirits attack all at once, I fear we won’t last even a single breath," Wonji Hong said worriedly.

"Do exactly as I said," Amalia replied firmly. "If anyone has hidden trump cards, now is the time to use them. We have no other choice. Retreat is impossible. Either we hold the line, or none of us will survive. You’ve all seen what happened to the devil earlier—trying to flee to the plaza or the heavenly hall is futile. The only way to leave safely from this place is to hold out until the closing of the Path of All Immortals."

She deliberately brought up the devil’s fate again to deter any thoughts of desertion. A single act of cowardice could doom them all.

After speaking, she glanced at Kenny Lin and gave him a subtle nod.

Amalia had once made a hypothesis: if the Heavenfall Annihilation Formation was based on the Nine Star Formation Array, modeled after the celestial forces of the universe, then perhaps the nine-star alignment of the Heavenfall Annihilation Formation could mimic the behavior of gravitational systems. Could the stars in the array rotate on their own axes while simultaneously orbiting a central force?

This was a theory Amalia had thought of herself, but she never had the chance to test it. The time was too short, and there were too many unknown factors. Now, there was no longer any opportunity for experimentation.

The simplified version of the Heavenfall Annihilation Formation lacked the strength of the original. It couldn’t possibly withstand the combined attack of more than ten Body Integration stage wandering spirits. Hoping to hold them off for three minutes was nothing more than a fool’s dream.

If it had been just one or two Body Integration stage wandering spirits, there might have been a slim chance. But this wasn’t the case.

Thus, they had to devise another method of survival.

The devil leader’s reckless, suicidal maneuver earlier had sparked an idea in Amalia’s mind. The Heavenly Hall was indeed the only place that could guarantee their survival, but they needed a way to move toward it.

Under Amalia’s direction, Kenny Lin passed the orders to everyone.

When Amalia’s plan was explained, though many doubted its feasibility, there was no turning back now.

"We can try," Jirandai Tang said decisively through a voice transmission.

"Alright, then we fight. If we don’t fight, we’re just waiting to die."

"We’ve all worked so hard to get to this point. Nobody wants to fail at the final hurdle, right?" Seongwoo Jin’s chuckle followed, his tone defiant.

His words ignited the strongest survival instinct within everyone present.

Yes, no one wanted to fail at the last moment. Even members of the Eternal One Sect, usually at odds with the Green Lotus Sect, set aside their grievances and focused entirely on the task at hand.

"I’ll count to three, and we all strike at once," Amalia instructed. Without hesitation, she moved to reinforce the weaker position occupied by the disciples of Beast Tamer Valley.

Outside the formation, the Body Integration stage wandering spirits had regrouped and were eyeing the cultivators inside with mocking disdain.

"Like a mantis trying to stop a chariot."

"A bunch of children. Do they really think this array can stop us? Hand over your treasures, and I might spare a life or two. Otherwise—die!"

Some wandering spirits began trying to sow discord.

"Why bother negotiating? Just break their array. They won’t escape us."

"Foolish humans. They think this array will save them, not realizing they’ve trapped themselves in a cage."

At this moment, one of the Body Integration stage wandering spirits spoke coolly, "Enough chatter. Time’s almost up. If we keep talking, these human cultivators might actually escape."

"Then let’s act. Break the array first and talk later." The Body Integration stage wandering spirits quickly reached a consensus.

Just as the spirits prepared to strike, the cultivators within the array suddenly launched into the air as a group, moving at incredible speed toward the Heavenly Hall.

"They’re escaping!" The wandering spirits’ expressions darkened.

They had never heard of an array capable of such movement, and for a moment, they were caught off guard.

It wasn’t just them—aside from Amalia and Kenny Lin, no one else had known that even the simplified Heavenfall Annihilation Formation could perform such a feat.

The disciples of the Green Lotus Sect exchanged stunned looks, their shock mirrored in each other’s eyes.

Unlike other sects, they didn’t claim to understand the Heavenfall Annihilation Formation completely, but they did know one thing— even the genuine Heavenfall Annihilation Formation couldn’t fly.

"The Martial Uncle and Martial Aunt are truly incredible. Now I finally understand why Elder Bomen entrusted the Heavenfall Annihilation Formation to them," Jinhwa Hou remarked, swallowing hard.

"I bet even Elder Bomen never imagined the Heavenfall Annihilation Formation could move freely like this," someone added.

"It’s not just about killing tens of thousands of devils anymore. If this array were directly deployed over a Level 3 devil city, the entire city might be annihilated," another commented with awe.

"You’re overthinking it," Eunbyeol Ling interjected. "The genuine Heavenfall Annihilation Formation requires an enormous amount of energy to operate. The larger the area it covers, the greater the energy required."