Several days later, Fan Yun Island.

Outside the island, in the sky, Yuan Ming and Hou Chou were using the clouds for concealment, stealthily sizing up the situation on the island.

According to intelligence collected by the East Sea Alliance, Fan Yun Island was originally just a third-level small island within the Red Leaf Sea Domain, not very large in area, but the Wu Yue Sect had deployed a considerable military force there and constantly had two Nascent Soul cultivators stationed for defense.

Moreover, numerous formations and prohibitions were deployed inside and outside the island, along with the envelopment of the Red Blood Sand Formation, making it easy to defend and hard to attack.

At this moment, the Wu Yue Sect disciples on the island had not noticed the approach of Yuan Ming and his companion, always keeping the island's Protective Array active without daring the slightest negligence.

"Shall Divine Envoy Yuan take the lead?" Hou Chou suddenly turned his head and asked.

Through Emotion Manipulation, Yuan Ming felt the surging War Intent in Hou Chou's heart and gave him a somewhat surprised look.

He hadn't expected this Hou Clan Chief, who was obsessed with power, to also have such a belligerent side; he wondered if it was a natural trait of the Water Ape Clan.

"If Clan Leader Hou is willing, feel free to make your move, I will support you from the sidelines," Yuan Ming considered and was happy to conserve his strength.

"Haha, then Divine Envoy Yuan, be careful. If I steal all the limelight, it won't look good for you when we return," Hou Chou laughed loudly, his hands forming a spell, and in a flash, a streak of light flew out from his body, which was the Tiger Talisman that Hou Shang had once asked Yuan Ming to pass on.

However, the Tiger Talisman was now complete on both sides, emitting bursts of fierce aura that made even Yuan Ming take notice.

As soon as the Tiger Talisman appeared, the great sea beneath their feet trembled, the surging waves paused abruptly, and then, as if under command, they furiously clustered under Hou Chou's feet, forcibly raising a hundred zhang high water column reaching up to the sky.

Immediately after, a streak of cyan spirit light shot out from the Tiger Talisman and entered into the water column, followed by a "boom", the water column slowly parted to both sides, forming a great water gate reaching up to the heavens.

The next instant, ten stone pillar-like fingers probed out from the water gate, each one nearly ten zhang thick, and forcefully grasped the two sides of the water gate, with the owner of the fingers following with a thrust forward, and a face that resembled the Thunder God's monkey visage emerged from the gate.

After the monkey head protruded through the water gate, its nostrils flared slightly. Without needing Hou Chou's command, its pair of blood-red eyes fell upon the nearby Fan Yun Island.

"Roar!"

The next moment, a heaven-shaking roar echoed through the skies, with invisible Sound Waves howling forth, causing tremendous waves to rise and the sea and sky to seem to turn upside down.

The Wu Yue Sect disciples on Fan Yun Island had already been startled by the strange phenomenon of the waves forming pillars, and now, seeing a fierce Exotic Beast push its head through the water gate with a roar that shook the heavens and earth, they were scared out of their wits.

"Enemies attacking!"

In the midst of rallying cries, two streaks of light flew out from the center of the island, stopping mid-air.

They were the Nascent Soul cultivators arranged by the Wu Yue Sect to watch over this place, one dressed in a red fire robe, named Jiang Lu, from Karma Fire Island, and the other with heterochromatic snake pupils, called Qing Xu, from Thousand Snake Island.

Logically, such a core location should not be entrusted to these surrendering East Sea cultivators, but unfortunately, the Nascent Souls that Wu Yue Sect had dispatched to the East Sea were few and all were important forces under White Bone Venerable. With Array Eyes scattered across eight locations, it was not realistic for each to have their own personnel in place.

Besides, this location was close to the front line—there was no reason to make their own people take the brunt in a battle. Plus, with the support of the Red Blood Sand Formation, the East Sea Alliance couldn't breach it anyway, and having them stationed here was just a precaution; there were no expectations for them to fight to the death with the East Sea Alliance.

Therefore, when these two saw an Exotic Beast attacking, they were also bewildered.

"Is that the Ancestor Ape from Water Ape Island? Has the East Sea Alliance come to attack? What are those islands on the front line doing, not even sending back a message?" Jiang Lu muttered, confused.

Qing Xu, who possessed Pupil Technique, scanned around and soon discovered Yuan Ming and his companion floating in the sky outside the island.

"No, there are only two Nascent Souls; they must have bypassed the defense line and snuck in without bringing others!" Qing Xu exclaimed in surprise.

"Ah? Has Hou Chou gone mad? Does he really think that just by having the Ancestor Ape, he is invincible?" Jiang Lu was even more puzzled.

"Who cares? If he wants to court death, let him be. That Ancestor Ape has the strength of a late-stage Nascent Soul; you and I are no match for it. We should just activate the Great Array," Qing Xu promptly suggested.

Jiang Lu naturally had no objection, and the two of them soon flew back to the island. At the same time, the Ancestor Ape summoned by Hou Chou fully appeared above the sea surface.

Its body, visible above the water, was a hundred zhang tall, its limbs as thick as mountains, covered with a layer of steel needle-like black hair. Towering over, even Fan Yun Island seemed somewhat insignificant.

Upon its appearance, it didn't need Hou Chou to control it. Its red eyes fixed dead on the Wu Yue Sect cultivators scurrying about on Fan Yun Island like ants. Its right arm violently reached into the sea and forcibly condensed the raging waters into a long spear. With a raise of its hand, it hurled the spear towards Fan Yun Island.

This throw, casual as a breeze, but understand, the water spear alone was half the length of the Ancestor Ape's body. With the fierce beast's incredible strength, the moment it was released, Qi Force filled the air, and the winds howled shockingly. When it struck Fan Yun Island's Great Array, it was like a tsunami striking, shaking the Array's Spiritual Light chaotically, as if it was about to shatter in the next moment.

The Wu Yue Sect cultivators on the island were scared out of their wits. They were known as Wu Yue Sect cultivators, but in reality, they were just surrendered cultivators from the East Sea Islands. They had long heard legends about the Ancestor Ape of Water Ape Island, thinking the Water Ape Clan exaggerated. Now facing it directly, they realized the legends had not even depicted the Ancestor Ape's true combat power. Those water monkeys had actually been modest!

For the Ancestor Ape, that water spear was just the beginning. After throwing it, it didn't stop at all, charging directly towards Fan Yun Island. The resistance of the sea seemed nonexistent, its speed not reduced in the slightest; if anything, the waves even pushed it forward.

As it charged, the Ancestor Ape kept hurling water spears. The terrifying long spears rained down on the protective shield like raindrops, frightening the group of cultivators on the island who desperately powered the Array, fearing the slightest flaw would let the Ancestor Ape break through.

However, under the bombardment of water spears, the island's Array was already on the brink of collapse. When the Ancestor Ape reached the shore, the Spiritual Power protective shield enveloping the island was already in shambles. The Ancestor Ape didn't use any technique, just a simple punch but with a momentum like a mountainous wave, striking the light shield and shattering it in an instant.

"Haha, the Array is broken. Divine Envoy Yuan, join me in the attack!" said Hou Chou, as a pair of double halberds suddenly appeared in his hands. He didn't wait for Yuan Ming's response and flew towards the island.

Yuan Ming, however, slightly frowned. The defense at the location of the Array Eye was extremely weak; not to mention how easily the defensive Array shattered, there were far too few cultivators stationed on the island. There were hardly any at the Core Formation stage; it wasn't just him—Hou Chou alone could probably break through with ease.

And as he was thinking this, the sky suddenly changed.

It began with a howling gale from nowhere, sweeping over the sea and the coast, grinding the corpses into fine Red Sand, scattering in the wind, barely noticeable and adding only a slight haziness.

But what followed was that the fine Red Sand, as if absorbing the strength of the wind, grew rapidly at an alarming rate. In just the blink of an eye, a breath, or perhaps even less time, the sky filled with Red Sand blocked all visibility, rendering everything in front indiscernible.

Hou Chou, who had not yet reached the island, instantly became alert, swiftly channeling Spiritual Power to form a Protective Spiritual Light. The Ancestor Ape, lacking much reason, had no protection on its colossal form. Countless sands turned into blood and surged into its body, intensifying the Blood Light in its eyes and its ferocity. Yet at the same time, it caused the blood vessels inside it to swell and burst, quickly turning it into a Blood Ape.

"Something's wrong. Divine Envoy Yuan, the power of the Array here has more than doubled than before!" shouted Hou Chou, turning his head.

Yuan Ming was also fully exerting his protective light shield to withstand the erosion of the red sand. Hearing Hou Chou's words, his expression slightly tightened, and his mood became somewhat heavy.

The Red Blood Sand Formation covered ten thousand li of the sea domain. No matter how they infiltrated and launched a surprise attack, as soon as something was amiss, the cultivator guarding the array eye would immediately activate the great array. They had anticipated this and were prepared to attack the array eye under the pressure of the formation.

However, all their plans were based on the power the Red Blood Sand Formation had shown in the past. But who could have expected that near the array eye, the power of this formation would actually increase? Even Xi Ying, who had calculated the position of the array eye, hadn't been able to predict this.

To prevent the red sand from invading their bodies, they had to maintain their protective spiritual light at all times. As the formation's power increased several-fold, their spiritual power consumption naturally increased as well, making it difficult to spare any for fighting the enemy.

And for the enemies, dealing with them was easy. They just needed to find a way to break through the protective spiritual light. They didn't even need to actually injure them—they could let the all-encompassing red sand torture them to death.

Fortunately, at this moment, the strength of the Wu Yue Sect on the island was weak. Though unaffected by the Red Blood Sand Formation and even with unobscured vision, they had no intention of moving forward to take advantage of the situation. Instead, they silently kept their distance, waiting for Yuan Ming and his group to either die in the red sand or depart of their own volition.

"We can't go on, Divine Envoy Yuan. The surprise attack has failed. We must retreat immediately. If we continue to hold on and the Wu Yue Sect at the front lines reacts and encircles us, it will be too late!" Hou Chou shouted. Note#:* C-h%e#c$k * for any c@o*rrect&ions..

However, Yuan Ming's mind raced, and he felt there was still a chance of victory. If they gave up now, it would indeed be a waste of all their efforts. He immediately shook his head.

His divine sense surged out from the Stealing Heaven Tripod and quickly located the exact position of the array eye on the island. Braving the red sand, he flew toward the array eye.

Hou Chou's eyes widened as he glanced at the intensifying red sand around him. After hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth and followed Yuan Ming.

Moments later, the two of them arrived at a plaza. The red sand here was even denser than outside; Hou Chou's cultivation was such that he had to use all his mana for protection and could not spare any to control his magic treasure to fend off enemies. Yuan Ming was naturally in the same situation.

Below their feet on the plaza, visible through the red sand, a scarlet formation was rotating rapidly. Dozens of cultivators sat cross-legged within it, all chanting with closed eyes, seemingly unaffected by the red sand.

In the very center of the crowd, Jiang Lu and Qing Xu were making hand gestures, apparently overseeing the operation of the formation. Sensing Yuan Ming and his partner's arrival, they too were surprised.

"Not good, they're here for the array eye!" Jiang Lu immediately realized.