Standing within the formation, everyone's expression was tense. They knew this energy field was the culmination of the magic power from ten thousand Archmages; even the slightest fluctuation could shred anyone inside to pieces.
The crucial core figure presiding over this grand formation was none other than Xia Ya. At this moment, Xia Ya was akin to the core chip of a computer, meticulously controlling the surge and flow of the energy field!
He began chanting a long, resonant incantation, and the slowly flowing magical energy field gradually started to rotate, resembling a massive, iridescent vortex. Astonishing magical fluctuations surged rapidly toward the center. The colossal Octagonal Grand Formation flickered in and out of existence like dazzling neon lights!
Afterward, the dense magical fluctuations finally stabilized, forming a shield-like, seven-hued wall of light!
"Success!" Just by observing the formation, I knew the magical convergence had succeeded. Han Yunzhen, positioned within the formation, also let out a long sigh of relief.
A Thunder Grand Formation comprising ten thousand people was no joke!
Perhaps this could absolutely be considered the mightiest giant magical formation ever erected by humankind.
"The Thunder Grand Formation's magical energy field has stabilized," Xia Ya announced. "The rest is up to you all."
Gazing upon the ten-thousand-person Thunder Grand Formation before them, the slowly surging, rainbow-colored streams of light, and feeling the suffocatingly terrifying energy field—a blend of chaos—Xingye and Xingzhan were visibly excited and thrilled.
I, too, was considerably astonished; I hadn't expected this integration training to go so smoothly.
"Such terrifying power," Xingye murmured. "I truly wonder how much destructive force will be unleashed once this power is fully deployed."
"We'll know once we test it," Xingzhan replied, rubbing his fists together, eager to start!
"Be careful," Han Yunzhen said gravely. "Although you are all Demon Devourers, this magical intensity is genuinely potent. Just a minuscule fluctuation could crush you."
"En." I nodded slightly, then turned to Xingye and Xingzhan. "For safety's sake, let me go first." I was certainly no stranger to the Thunder Grand Formation. The first time I encountered the Yellow Spring Sect Master in the Yellow Spring World thirty years ago, the adventures in the Illusionary World, and the battles against Blood Tiger Luo Jiang—the Thunder Grand Formation played a vital role in all of them, and those battles succeeded largely due to my involvement.
It could be said that those battles completely reshaped my life. Even Feng Qingtian and Han Yunzhen couldn't help but remark that the Thunder Grand Formation seemed almost tailor-made for me!
Of course, partly because of my existence, the Thunder Grand Formation had also become the most feared magical killing array on the continent. Even the Fire Dragon Grand Formation, capable of unleashing the Fire Dragon's Flame by the Demon Sealing Empire, was far inferior to the Thunder Grand Formation!
Thirty years later, I was finally seeing this miraculous formation again, and soon I would rely on it to face an even stronger opponent, the Demon Dragon Sect Master.
Thinking of this filled me with a surge of hot-blooded impulse.
"Finally, we get to witness just how powerful this ten-thousand-person Thunder Grand Formation truly is," Feng Qingtian exclaimed excitedly.
"The current intensity is balanced to maintain around ten percent," Xia Ya informed us. "Feel it out first, familiarize yourselves with the magical fluctuations."
Regarding my Demon Devourer Body, Han Yunzhen and the others weren't overly concerned. In fact, the real issue lay with the ten thousand Mages within the formation responsible for outputting the energy. This experiment was a test of how much of their capacity they could actually utilize in real combat.
"Let's begin," I stated in a deep voice.
"Magical intensity at ten percent, commence output," Han Yunzhen commanded loudly.
The previously stable Thunder energy field quickly became restless and fierce. This was the normal reaction triggered by the increase in magical output intensity.
I dared not delay. Carefully controlling the Thunder Dou Qi within my body, I merged it into the unified Thunder energy field! At this moment, I was situated in the Qian Palace within the Thunder Grand Formation, which was the point of strongest attack output after the magical convergence of the Thunder Grand Formation!
The Thunder Grand Formation was divided into Eight Directions and Nine Palaces: Qian, Dui, Li, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Gen, Kun, corresponding to the eight cardinal directions, plus the central palace, totaling nine positions!
The most critical of these was the central position, responsible for the mutual conversion of the entire energy field. Occupying the Center Palace were Xia Ya and Xia Na; they controlled and distributed the energy intensity of the entire formation!
The remaining positions were the eight directions. The Qian Position was the offensive locus of the formation; from this position, one could mobilize the maximum energy of the entire Thunder Grand Formation, with energy from all other directions converging directly here. The main attackers occupying this position were Xingye, Xingzhan, and myself!
Slightly behind and to the right of the Qian Position was the Dui Position. In the entire Thunder Grand Formation, the Dui Position was responsible for auxiliary attack and defense roles. This position was manned by Youquan Fengxiao, Xiangtian Aofei, and thirty other elite warriors from the Snow Domain Continent.
To the right of the Qian Position was the Xun Position, responsible for defensive support, manned by Moluo Yinfeng, Jidu Mohui, Matcha, and others—sixty elite warriors from the Mafa Continent!
The remaining five palace positions were populated exclusively by Mages; they were the very source of the formation's power. The magical energy that Xingye, Xingzhan, and I were about to harness was provided entirely by them.
The Nine Palaces worked in concert, dividing responsibilities to form this composite Thunder Grand Formation, integrated for both offense and defense!
"Formation activated," Xia Ya roared. Ten thousand Mages simultaneously urged their magic power. The dazzling, rainbow-colored light wall shone even more brilliantly, and the potent magical vortex began to spin rapidly, accelerating until it converged upon the Qian Palace position where Xingye, Xingzhan, and I were situated!
Feeling the rapidly condensing, increasingly intense magical fluctuations gave me a wondrous sensation, as if the entire world was under my command. My Dragon Shadow Sword, due to the astonishingly condensed magic, shone with an eerie, seven-hued light, as if partially alive, trembling violently and even emitting strange, subtle humming sounds.
In the past, the weapon I used within the Thunder Grand Formation was the Blood Drinker!
However, today I would use not the Blood Drinker, but my most familiar weapon, the Dragon Shadow Sword. This was because the Dragon Shadow Sword was forged from Mithril Essence, which possessed extremely strong magical aggregation capabilities, making its magical compatibility far surpass that of the Blood Drinker. Because of this, I opted to use the Dragon Shadow Sword for the attack!
The Flame Ring, unused for a long time, was also worn on my right middle finger!
This ring was given to me by Yan Luo back when I was in Bichi, specifically for disguising myself as a Mage. On the Mafa Continent, while rare, the Flame Ring was not an unobtainable treasure.
There were six Flame Rings passed down from ancient times, all collected by the Moon Sect. For this operational plan, the other five Flame Rings had also been brought to the Snow Domain Continent.
Xingye and Xingzhan each wore one as well!
Perhaps they never imagined that they, who were supposedly disconnected from magic, would one day have the opportunity to cast Mage skills.
After the Yellow Spring War, the Thunder Grand Formation became renowned throughout the world for slaying the Yellow Spring Sect Master, almost becoming synonymous with the pinnacle of magical arts. Xingye and Xingzhan had naturally heard countless legends about the Thunder Grand Formation, and now that they finally had a chance to participate, their excitement and anticipation were indescribable!
As for me, I felt a touch of melancholy!
It was this unremarkable Flame Ring that altered the trajectory of my life. Without it, perhaps Long Xin and I would have perished in the Yellow Spring World long ago; perhaps even Feng Qingtian and the others wouldn't have escaped alive.
It had to be said that fate seemed governed by some unseen, grand hand.
Perhaps Yan Luo never foresaw that his momentary whim, making me dress up as a Mage, would unexpectedly create the continent's strongest Mage—even if all he could use was the single spell, Fireball!
The powerful magical fluctuation instantly slammed into me, pulling my thoughts back to reality.
Now was not the time to be distracted! I quickly rallied my spirits, intently sensing the surrounding conditions!
Astonishing magical elements surged rapidly toward the Dragon Shadow Sword in my hand. However, at that moment, I noticed a peculiar phenomenon!
The nine small dragon shadows on the sword flickered in and out of existence, seeming ready to leap out at any moment. I could even feel these nine small dragons recklessly devouring the magic power condensing onto the blade!
Ah! How could this be? For a moment, I was stunned by this strange scene.
The Dragon Shadow Sword had never undergone such an unusual transformation. What exactly was happening!
My intuition told me that the Dragon Shadow was undergoing an astonishing change right now, but I didn't have time to figure it out before Xia Ya's urgent voice cut through, "Attack."
"Fireball!" I dared not delay, hastily activating the miniature magic array on the Flame Ring.
With a loud bang! A dazzling, rainbow-colored ball of light shot out like lightning from the Dragon Shadow Sword I swung. Boom! Crash! Accompanied by an earth-shattering tremor! A blinding white light, like an exploding nuclear bomb, instantly pulverized a massive rockery four hundred meters away. Not only that, the terrifying magical explosion tore a bottomless pit in the ground, and rolling dense smoke still drifted about eerily.
The sight before us left everyone dumbfounded!
My heavens, the destructive power of this single strike probably equaled the terrifying blow the Demon Dragon Sect Master once used to crack the earth!
"No way," Xingye muttered to himself. "Is this really a Fireball?"
"That's too exaggerated," Xingzhan gasped, sucking in a sharp breath. "It's better than a Forbidden Spell."
"Heh heh, this is only at one-tenth power," I feigned calmness. "If we went all out, this entire Throne City might be leveled."
"Success!" Xia Ya exclaimed joyfully.
"Hahaha! Ten Thousand People Thunder! This power is indeed extraordinary," Feng Qingtian cheered.
"Of course," Han Yunzhen added. "The combination of the Demon Devourer Body and the Thunder Grand Formation is simply a perfect match."
The others, initially stunned, eventually recovered from their shock, their faces beaming with excitement. "Is this the power of the Thunder Grand Formation and the Demon Devourer Body?"
"It's practically a Forbidden Spell Fireball."
"He can withstand such powerful magical element fluctuations completely without backlash."
"That's the Demon Devourer Body."
"We always heard the Demon Devourer Body was incredibly mighty, but we never expected it to be this perverse."
"We are going to win."
"Thunder will prevail!"
Roaring cheers echoed across the sky. At this moment, everyone couldn't help but rejoice wildly. Although it was just one fireball, its astonishing destructive power was enough to make everyone understand one fact: the terrifying power of the Thunder Grand Formation could truly be deployed in actual combat.
In other words, humanity finally possessed the strongest trump card against the Demon Dragon Sect Master!
"That's amazing," Xingye said impatiently. "No, I have to try too."
"I'll go first," Xingzhan protested immediately.
"Haha!" Xia Ya laughed. "Everyone will have a chance. That was just ten percent power; the real test starts now!"