Jared halted when he reached a specific point on the shield and gave it a gentle poke. Immediately, the shield started to shake violently.
“Right here. We need to attack the core together for this to work. Hurry, everyone. The illusion array won’t hold them much longer,” Jared urged them with anxiety in his voice. The group nodded in unison. Jared had, at some point, become their leader.
Jared took several steps back, and his body suddenly radiated with a brilliant, golden light. Wielding the Sacred Light Fist, he mercilessly struck the shield repeatedly.
The others also summoned their full strength and followed suit. None of them used their weapons; they were aware that weapon strikes would only bounce off the shield..
At that moment, the horde of cultivators unleashed a barrage of punches upon the shield, all targeting the same spot.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
None of them dared to slacken their relentless assault, giving it their all without pause. This is a matter of life and death. We’ll be able to escape once we manage to break the shield.
Not long after, some of the cultivators started collapsing from sheer exhaustion, a result of the earlier battle combined with the relentless onslaught.
Many of them had foreheads drenched with sweat, and their spiritual energy had been completely depleted as well.
However, Jared remained just the same. He continued to unleash a torrent of punches upon the target without faltering.
“Is the core here, Jared? Why hasn’t it shattered yet?” Sunny asked, panting as he spoke. Jared didn’t respond; instead, he maintained his relentless assault on the target. Talking was a needless expenditure of energy.
Failing to elicit a response, Sunny had no choice but to grit his teeth and continue attacking. All of them were nearing their limits, but they persevered due to their unwavering faith in Jared.
At that moment, Jared’s illusion array was beginning to weaken, and the elderly man was starting to awaken from the mirage.
“What a potent illusion array to have ensnared even me. It seems you’ve absorbed the ice soul fragment I conjured,” the elderly man said, his glare fixed on Jared. He understood that Jared was the mastermind behind the illusion array, and it was because of him that the cultivators had escaped that strange energy.
Cold sweat beaded Jared’s forehead when he noticed that the elderly man had broken free from the illusionary realm. His expression turned grim.
With determination, he intensified the pace of his relentless assault. Each of his strikes sent shockwaves through the earth.
The elderly man frowned as he observed Jared striking the shield, realizing that Jared was targeting its core with precision.
“Looks like I have to kill you first in order to regain my peace.” The elderly man pointed a finger, and a cloud of black mist materialized into a weapon in his hand, which he wielded as he swiftly darted toward Jared.
Jared had his back to the elderly man, seemingly unaware of his presence, engrossed in his frenetic assault on the shield.
“Mr. Chance!” Cloud cried out, ready to step in and block the attack on Jared’s behalf. “Stay where you are. Break the shield!” Jared was not as impulsive as Cloud. In response, Cloud continued raining his fists down on the shield.
As the weapon drew closer to striking Jared’s back, his body suddenly emitted a burst of golden light. Activating Golem Body, he became enveloped in gleaming gold scales.
The dazzling light from Golem Body nearly blinded everyone present. The instant the weapon struck Jared while Golem Body was active, it was immediately sent flying, reverting to a cloud of black mist.
The elderly man hadn’t anticipated that Jared, a mere Fourth Level cultivator of the Body Fusion Realm, had mastered an immortal-level defense technique. This mastery had thwarted his attempt to harm Jared.
“You continue to astonish me, young one. Who would have imagined that a lowly cultivator like you would possess such a magical item? Once you’re gone, all of it will be mine,” the elderly man said with a sinister grin.
“Too bad you won’t be able to witness my death. You’ll never get my things!”
Jared ceased his assault, turned around, and looked at the elderly man with an amused expression.
