Looking down from above, one would discover that the walls of wind had already formed a yellow barrier that enshrouded the entire desert within it.

Xiao Ming sat down with his legs crossed in the distance, then closed his eyes as he began focusing on controlling the scroll before him.

Within the golden pagoda, the scene being depicted on the light screen had also transitioned into a yellow sandstorm, making it impossible to see anything else.

Mistress Ling Yun's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and she said, "Brother Yu, the treasure Fellow Daoist Xiao Ming is using is the Yellow Wind Scroll of the Blood Bone Sect, right? I've heard that this treasure is ranked quite highly even among the Profound Heavenly Treasures of the Spirit Realm; the fact that it's concealed the view of even this Sky Appraising Mirror is a clear testament to its powers. However, isn't it a little too early to be using this treasure? Isn't Fellow Daoist Xiao Ming being too cautious?"

"Hehe, that is indeed the vastly renowned Yellow Wind Scroll. This scroll is normally worshipped in the heritage hall of the Blood Bone Sect, and only when facing powerful enemies would the grand elders bring out this treasure before entrusting it to one of them to face the enemy. The treasure has actually already been set up in advance; this entire desert was actually manifested by this scroll, and it's only being officially activated now. As for whether Fellow Daoist Xiao is being too cautious, I think it's a good idea that he's activated the treasure so decisively.

"After all, with that man's fearsome power, I think both the Heaven and Earth Extreme Formation and Yellow Wind Scroll are required to truly ensure that we've trapped him. What do you think, Brother Bi? Oh? You don't look so good, Brother Bi; is there something on your mind?" the crimson-robed man asked as he took in the expression on Bi Ying's face.

At this moment, Bi Ying was staring intently at the light screen with an extremely grim expression, and only after hearing the crimson-robed man's words did he withdraw his gaze and force a smile onto his own face.

"I don't know why, but for some reason, I was struck by a bone-chilling sensation after witnessing that man's appearance."

"Oh? This is not something to be ignored; at our level, we're able to sense certain impending perils. Fellow Daoist He, Mistress Ling Yun, are you two getting the same premonition?" the crimson-robed man hurriedly asked as he turned to the other two people present.

"I haven't."

"Me, neither. Could it be that your premonition was incorrect, Brother Bi?" the man in the scholar's robe asked with a faint smile.

"Hmph, regardless of whether my premonition is correct or not, I don't plan to stay here any longer; I'm going to return to the trade guild right away. Regardless of the outcome of the battle, just send a message to our trade guild, Brother Yu." Much to everyone's surprise, Bi Ying was suddenly taking his leave.

"Haha, aren't you allowing yourself to be swayed by groundless fears, Brother Bi? Even if some kind of peril really were about to arise, what could possibly happen with the four of us here? Why don't you wait until the battle concludes before..."

Right at this moment, the crimson-robed man's words were abruptly cut off as the scene on the light screen suddenly began to glow with scintillating light, and countless streaks of golden light pierced through the wind barrier, illuminating the entire light screen into a bright golden color.

"The Sky Appraising Mirror is about to explode!" the crimson-robed man exclaimed as his expression changed drastically.

Immediately thereafter, the light screen shuddered before exploding into a ball of golden light, sending shockwaves surging outward in all directions.

The four Grand Ascension Stage beings immediately adopted defensive measures to nullify the oncoming shockwaves, but all of their expressions had darkened significantly as they cast their gaze toward the spot where the light screen had once been.

Only a shattered mirror remained there now, and Mistress Ling Yun asked, "What happened? Why did the Sky Appraising Mirror suddenly explode? Brother Yu, you refined the treasure, so surely you know what happened."

"The fact that the Sky Appraising Mirror has exploded even when it's so far away from the battle indicates that something really has gone wrong," the crimson-robed man replied, but it wasn't a direct response to the question being raised.

He had obtained this treasure at a very high price, and it could allow him to watch over an area from countless kilometers away, making it a very useful treasure. As such, he was naturally sorely lamenting its sudden destruction.

"Judging from the scenes that unfolded right before the Sky Appraising Mirror's destruction, it seems that a burst of power that was well beyond the Yellow Wind Scroll's tolerance limit had erupted within it to result in this. Could it be that Fellow Daoist Bi Ying's premonition was correct?" the man in the scholar's robes mused with tightly furrowed brows.

"The Yellow Wind Scroll is a Profound Heavenly Treasure, and it's being assisted by the Heaven and Earth Extreme Formations and 12 Grand Ascension Stage beings; what kind of ability could that man have unleashed to overwhelm the scroll like this?" Mistress Ling Yun murmured to herself.

As for Bi Ying, he remained silent, but his expression had darkened even further.

"It's alright, I'll send a message to ask Fellow Daoist Xiao Ming exactly what's happened," the crimson-robed man said as his expression eased slightly.

Thus, he flipped a hand over to produce a pristine white formation plate, which he quickly cast a few incantation seals into, and a panel of silver runes appeared on its surface before vanishing in a flash.

After that, the crimson-robed man stared intently at the formation plate, waiting for a response.

However, a full 15 minutes passed by, and the formation plate still displayed no reaction.

The crimson-robed man's expression had gradually darkened further and further, and he finally withdrew the object as he said, "It looks like something really has gone wrong; Fellow Daoist Xiao Ming is on the edge of the desert, yet even he can't be contacted."

"In that case, we'll have to make some preparations. If all of our fellow daoists have fallen, then there's a very good chance that that man will come after us next. After all, Fellow Daoist Bi Ying was struck by a premonition at the sight of that man," the man in the scholar's robes sighed in a grim manner.

"Are you still planning to leave now, Fellow Daoist Bi Ying?" the crimson-robed man asked as he turned toward Bi Ying.

"No. If this man is destined to be my downfall, then I can't avoid him forever; only by facing this tribulation head-on and transcending it will I have a chance at survival," Bi Ying replied as a decisive look flashed through his eyes.

"Good. Even though we're only four people, there are 100,000 disciples and powerful formations in this city that we can make use of, so we can still put up a fight; I'm sure that man wouldn't have been able to emerge from that battle unscathed," the crimson-robed man said.

Patriarch He and Mistress Ling Yun were also aware that this wasn't the time to flee on their own. If they chose to do so, it was quite possible that their enemy could target them one by one, thereby placing them in even greater peril.

Of course, the main reason behind their decision to stay was still their confidence in their own abilities.

Even though they were also Grand Ascension Stage beings, they were far more powerful than the 12 Grand Ascension Stage beings assembled in the trap.

With their powers combined, they would've also been able to kill those 12 Grand Ascension Stage beings with ease.

Thus, the four of them quickly left the hall and began to issue a series of orders to their disciples.

Meanwhile, the desert had completely transformed into a world of golden flames.

A series of fiery golden mountains that were over 10,000 feet tall had emerged on the ground below, tearing the entire super formation apart and releasing fiery golden clouds up into the sky.

At the foot of the fiery mountains were piles of charred corpses, and the light formation in the sky had been sealed within a layer of blue glacial ice, rendering it completely immobilized.

At the center of the fiery golden mountains stood a golden giant that was over 10,000 feet tall.

The giant had golden spirit patterns all over its body, and it was completely identical in appearance to Ma Liang, except one of its eyes was burning with scorching golden flames, while the other one was emanating blue glacial Qi.

The giant was holding a giant crimson toad in an outstretched hand.

Half of the toad's body had already been torn apart, and its aura was extremely feeble, indicating that it was on the brink of death.

The giant's other hand was pressed over what remained of the toad's head, from within which threads of golden light were flying out incessantly.

It seemed that the golden giant was searching for something in the toad's memories.

Moments later, the golden giant harrumphed coldly to himself, "It's rather impressive that he was able to seal away most of his soul and make it inaccessible to me, but the memories that I've managed to see are already enough. So all of the most powerful beings on the Blood Sky Continent from the Blood Dao sects and the He Lian Trade Guild are gathered together. That makes things very convenient for me; I won't have to go around picking them off one by one in the future."

As soon as its voice trailed off, bolts of purplish-golden lightning erupted around the golden giant amid a rumbling thunderclap, then transformed into countless purplish-golden chains that vanished into the giant's body in a flash.

The golden giant gave a muffled groan, and the crimson toad in its grasp was instantly incinerated into ashes by a burst of golden flames, following which the giant rapidly reverted back to its human form as the black-robed young man.

Ma Liang then threw up a couple of mouthfuls of golden blood, and his face paled even further.

At the same time, the fiery golden mountains down below vanished as if they had been nothing more than mere illusions.

Ma Liang laid a hand onto the top of his own head, and a golden talisman flew out before landing in his grasp in a flash.

"As expected, unleashing my full transformation and spirit domain has been quite taxing on me. Thankfully, I've benefited immensely from the blood sacrifices I performed, and I have this Golden Substitution Immortal Talisman bestowed upon me by Master. Otherwise, I would've been crushed by the power of this realm in the instant I underwent my transformation. This talisman will be able to support my transformation and spirit domain on two more occasions, and that'll definitely be enough for me to wipe out all these ants.

"Hehe, with these fools setting an example, I'm sure no one else in this entire Spirit Realm would dare to oppose me. Having said that, those two ants were quite quick to react; they fled as soon as I underwent my transformation. However, with the true spirit seeds I planted on their bodies, there's no way they can truly get away from me," Ma Liang chuckled coldly.