When the huge, golden bell appeared, the silent crowd suddenly exploded once more.

“My God, isn’t that the Great Eternal Bell?”

“That’s right, that’s Zhou Hongyong’s most famous treasure. I heard that the Great Eternal Bell’s main material came from a Blue Mysterious Spike Tortoise.”

“It’s over for Zhao Jiuge. The advantage he worked so hard to obtain is gone.”

“What do you know? If Zhou Hongyong had gone all-out from the start, how would Zhao Jiuge have gotten the upper hand? He is lucky that he became a disciple of the Head Teacher, but he stands no chance against Zhou Hongyong at all. I didn’t expect him to just be a mere decoration and not be useful at all. I thought there was something special about him.”

“Hmph, I don’t think so. Don't be so certain. If there is nothing special about him, why didn’t the Head Teacher accept you instead of Zhao Jiuge?”

A burst of laughter suddenly echoed. The crowd was a mess of noise while people argued with each other. It was even more lively than the battle itself.

Fang Qiwen folded his arms and excitedly looked at Zhou Hongyong. He felt disdain toward the discussion from the crowd and thought, 

“The important thing isn’t the defensive treasure, but what comes after it. Don’t forget, Zhou Hongyong’s real ace is his spirit formations!”

Originally, Fang Qiwen planned to leave the sect to experience the world, but six month ago, after Zhou Hongyong was humiliated, he came to find Fang Qiwen. He had asked Fang Qiwen to help him deal with Zhao Jiuge in private, but they didn’t see Zhao Jiuge for half a year. When Zhao Jiuge finally appeared, Fu Hongling was still there, so Zhou Hongyong didn’t dare to make a move. However, he came up with a way to publicly deal with Zhao Jiuge.

If Zhao Jiuge hadn’t accepted this gamble, Zhou Hongyong would have asked Fang Qiwen to deal with Zhao Jiuge on the way back. Then Fang Qiwen would immediately leave the sect to go out and experience the world. Even if Fu Hongling wanted to get revenge for Zhao Jiuge, she would not be able to find him. He would be gone for a few years, and who knows what would happen in a few years.

When Zhao Jiuge accepted Zhou Hongyong’s battle, it saved Fang Qiwen some trouble.

After seeing Zhou Hongyong hiding inside the shadow of the Great Eternal Bell with his eyes closed and moving his hands in a strange way, some of the people watching became interested.

“What is that Zhou Hongyong doing? Being a turtle?”

“What do you know? Zhou Hongyong’s talent is in spirit formations. I believe he is setting up a spirit formation. Zhao Jiuge is done for. Unfortunately for Zhao Jiuge, he is going to suffer such a blow right after he entered the sect. I’m afraid he will enter a slump.”

Among the countless inner sect disciples, their strength varied greatly. Some didn’t have any experience, while those that had returned from the outside knew a lot more. The older disciples just watched with cold gazes. They had been through many ups and downs and knew that nothing was over until the end. There were simply too many variables.

The people that had more insight knew that something was wrong. Zhao Jiuge must have something special up his sleeve, because he didn’t reveal any expression when facing the mighty Great Eternal Bell. This meant that he was either scared silly or he was not afraid, and it was clear Zhao Jiuge was not the former.

“It's getting a little fun now,” Elder Wu muttered while looking at the stone platform with an expressionless face. No one could guess what he was thinking.

He had some understanding about Zhou Hongyong and knew how strong he was. As for Zhao Jiuge, he was very uncertain. Although Zhao Jiuge had just reached the Spirit Core Realm, and from how calm he looked, it looked like he still had an ace.

If things weren't going as they should, then there had to be something wrong!

Even Elder Wu became interested. Although both of them were only at the Spirit Core Realm, their methods and treasures made this no less interesting than a battle between Nascent Soul Realm cultivators.

Jiulian’s nervous heart also relaxed. At this point, she was no longer nervous. She knew Zhou Hongyong’s bottom line. All that remained was how Zhao Jiuge would deal with it. Thinking about this, her eyes shined brightly.

Luo Xie suddenly noticed Jiulian’s look of admiration and cried in his heart, 

“Another girl has fallen in love. How come no one looks at me? Why have so many female disciples locked on to Zhao Jiuge?”

On the stone platform, every time Zhou Hongyong’s hands moved, the spirit force around him fluctuated. As time passed, the fluctuations became more intense, and Zhao Jiuge finally made his move.

Although spirit formation masters could use spirit formations to launch large attacks, they needed time to set up the formation. Seeing the fluctuations getting stronger, Zhao Jiuge was getting anxious. If he let Zhou Hongyong set up the formation, then things would get even more difficult. He had to disrupt Zhou Hongyong!

A few dragon roars echoed throughout the peak and then three golden dragons appeared from the void. Their heads were raised up high in pride and there was a hint of intelligence in their eyes. 

With Zhao Jiuge’s cultivation progressing, the three golden dragons had become even more life-like and even gained some intelligence.

The moment Zhao Jiuge summoned the three golden dragons, he didn’t hesitate to send them directly at Zhou Hongyong. Since he wanted to disrupt Zhou Hongyong from forming a spirit formation, he had to be quick.

The dragon roars continued to echo, shaking people’s hearts. Those that hadn’t seen Zhao Jiuge’s battles before were shocked and wondered what kind of spell this was.

The three golden dragons surrounded Zhou Hongyong in the blink of an eye. The dragons released a dazzling light like the afternoon sun.

Three thunderous booms echoed when the three golden dragons smashed into the shadow of the Great Eternal Bell around Zhou Hongyong. The disciples watching felt like three poles ringing a golden bell.

The next instant, the outer layer of light became twisted and numerous ripples echoed. The golden dragons became brighter. Zhao Jiuge was pouring all his spirit force into the dragons, and it looked like Zhou Hongyong wasn’t fairing much better. Not only did he have to resist the attack from the golden dragons, he had to focus on setting up the spirit formation.

However, the powerful golden dragons could not break the defense of the Great Eternal Bell.

A soft crackling sound echoed and the twisted light exploded into specks of light. However, the golden dragons stopped. All of their spirit force had been consumed and the dragons disappeared.

It was such a powerful attack, but it could not break the defense of the Great Eternal Bell. The heavy aura it gave off could not be underestimated.

The outer layer was broken, but Zhou Hongyong still had another layer around his body!

Zhao Jiuge’s eyes were filled with disappointment. It looked like he was still a bit off. He couldn’t help but sigh in his heart. If he had condensed the fourth dragon, he was confident he would have broken the Great Eternal Bell’s defense instantly.

However, the difficulty of condensing the fourth dragon was much higher, and he needed a large amount of spirit stones. And cultivating the Sanskrit Divine Body further would be even more difficult. He would need heavenly treasures to help refine his body.

The appearance and the disappearance of the golden dragons had caused a lot of disciples to cry out. However, looking at the result, Zhao Jiuge still wasn’t able to break the Great Eternal Bell’s defense.

At this moment, the expressions of everyone watching changed. They looked at Zhou Hongyong, who had been hiding under his treasure. His hands had stopped moving and his eyes were opening, and they were shining brightly.

“Zhao Jiuge, I have let you play long enough, so let's change our roles. Let me give you a taste of my attacks.” Zhou Hongyong smiled with a sense of self satisfaction.

The surrounding disciples’ eyes were all burning with passion to see how Zhao Jiuge would deal with it. Whether Zhao Jiuge was a mere decoration or not, they would know after this!

The disciples who were on Zhou Hongyong’s side began loudly laughing at Zhao Jiuge. Those that didn’t believe Zhao Jiuge was this weak watched with doubt in their mind.

After Zhou Hongyong finished speaking, a violent surge of spirit force gathered on the stone platform. The violent spirit force continued to gather as if it was forming something.

Soon, Zhao Jiuge’s expression changed greatly and his pupils shrank. He saw a huge, green lotus appear in the air. The green lotus had very life-like leaves that were swaying. The huge, green lotus was surrounded by a black light.

Was this the power of a spirit formation? Borrowing the power of a formation to create an even more powerful attack with spirit force?

Zhao Jiuge felt a bit helpless and his mind was racing like crazy thinking of a way to deal with this move.

Even with the Sanskrit Divine Body, Zhao Jiuge clearly felt the danger from the huge, green lotus. The sharp aura from the green lotus created a huge pressure that even made his body tremble a little.

“What’s that?”

“A formation. Zhou Hongyong must have used his final ace.”

Some of the disciples that hadn’t experienced spirit formations before exclaimed.

Spirit formations were divided between strong and weak. The stronger the formation, the more talent it required, and the conditions were particularly harsh.

Looking at how long it had taken for Zhou Hongyong to set up the formation, it could not be weak. It was definitely not something someone at the early stage of the Spirit Core Realm like Zhao Jiuge could deal with.

Although Zhou Hongyong had lost a lot of spirit force after stopping the attack with the three golden dragons, he had a smile on his face. Now that he had set up his spirit formation no matter what Zhao Jiuge had instore it won’t be enough to resist his final ace.

This was his final ace. If this couldn’t defeat Zhao Jiuge, he had nothing else, but the chance of that was almost impossible.

He had a playful smile while he looked at Zhao Jiuge’s shocked expression. He felt a rush of joy like a cat playing with a mouse.

“Go, Buddhist Green Lotus!”

Zhou Hongyong’s indifferent voice echoed and the Buddhist Green Lotus Spirit Formation began to change.