Chapter 1052.1: Siege of the Iron Sky Kingdom (Part 1)
"What do we do now...? There is no way she would do something like this without knowing about us!"
"Indeed, if we stay here until she stabilizes her cultivation base, she will undoubtedly find us. The only way for us to stay alive is by escaping from the Iron Sky Kingdom before this happens. Don't forget, her formation doesn't just cover the capital, but the entire kingdom!"
"But... How do we do that when she closed off the capital and the kingdom with her formations before entering seclusion to stabilize her cultivation base?"
"I... I don't know... Maybe we can try and contact our superior and hope they can break through the formation before she finishes stabilizing her cultivation base..."
As the spies gathered together to discuss their next course of action, they all ended up concluding that the only way for them to escape from the Iron Sky Kingdom safely was if their superiors saved them. Outside of that, there was no other way for them to leave the Iron Sky Kingdom after the formations had been activated by Yi Min.
Although most of them were in the Domain Lord Realm and they could try to sabotage the formation from the inside, they also understood that doing this would expose them to Yi Min and in turn make them a target for the formation.
Before their superiors appeared and forced the formation to use most of its power to defend itself, there was no way for them to do anything other than wait around and pray that the formation didn't discover them before this.
At the very least, they didn't have to worry too much about being discovered by the formation that wasn't being personally controlled by Yi Min. The only real way that the formation would discover and attack them at this point in time was if they decided to willingly reveal themselves, something that none of the spies dared to do without their superiors present.
In the end, all they could do was desperately contact their superiors before finding a decent hiding spot to wait for them to show up.
...
Opening her eyes inside a small room located in the depths of the palace, Yi Min frowned slightly before turning to look in the direction of the Iron Sky Kingdom's border with the core region of the Sky Empire.
Even though there was a large wall blocking her way, it didn't stop her divine sense from piercing through it as the scene at the border soon became visible to her... And not too far away from the border of her kingdom, three lonely figures could be seen floating in the air as they examined the formation in front of them.
"Looks like they are here..." Spotting three people floating in the air just in front of the borders to her kingdom while also examining the formation in detail, it did not take more than a few seconds for her to realize that they were the Soul Ascension Realm Experts that had come over from the capital of the Sky Empire to deal with her.
Although she didn't recognize any of them other than the cardinal from one of the three religions standing in the middle of the three people, she didn't dare to underestimate them-
Whoosh-!
Wasting no time, she directly took out her personal supply of spirit stones and pushed them into the space below the palace where the true core of the formation was located. Hoping that it would be enough to hold them off for another few hours.
After all, even if it had already been a little over a day since she had broken through to the Soul Ascension Realm and she had used all sorts of precious spiritual herbs, potions, and pills to speed up the process, she had still not fully managed to stabilize her cultivation base and still needed a few hours to do so.
If she didn't manage to do this and just decided to take control of the formation to fight off against the three Soul Ascension Realm Experts, her unstable cultivation base might cause some problems for the formation during an extended fight, something she wanted to avoid if possible.
Even if she had to burn through the wealth she had accumulated during her time as a skilled blacksmith and owner of one of the largest spiritual metal mines in the Sky Empire!
Not even a second later, the three outside had finished examining her formation, as the first attack landed-
BOOOOM-!
Sending large shockwaves through area outside the formation, while a loud banging sound echoed out for everyone inside the formation to hear-
Boom-boom-boom!
However, this was only the beginning, as the other two Soul Ascension Realm Experts soon joined in and attacked the formation as well. Momentarily causing everyone inside the Iron Sky Kingdom to feel like the heavens above were about to shatter, as the terrifying sounds and small earthquakes caused by the attacks made it feel like a prelude to the sky shattering.
...
"This formation is stronger than the last time I was here. Looks like Yi Min already predicted that she would be in trouble after breaking through to the Soul Ascension Realm."
"Indeed, even if all of us work together to attack it, it will take at least a few hours for us to break through the formation. Maybe even longer depending on how many spirit stones she managed to gather over the years."
Having thrown a few probing attacks towards the formation now covering the entire Iron Sky Kingdom, the two Soul Ascension Realm Experts not from one of the three religions could not help exclaiming in admiration as they firsthand experienced just how strong the formation was.
Even if it should only be able to hold on for a few hours on its own, this alone was more than enough to demonstrate just how powerful it was. After all, even the guardian formation that had protected the capital city of the Sky Empire would be having a difficult time holding back three Soul Ascension Realm Experts without the assistance of the old ancestor from the imperial family.
Of course, the formation in the capital of the Sky Empire would not just passively defend like Yi Min's formation was forced to do and would instead use powerful killing formations to attack the moment it was attacked.
Unfortunately, the formation that had once made everyone around the Sky Empire think twice about attacking the capital city was now gone together with the old ancestor. Making the Sky Empire a far easier target to attack compared to before.
"Both of you, stop talking and continue attacking the formation. The faster we destroy the formation, the faster we can deal with Yi Min and leave this place. Even if everything seems fine and safe on the surface, it won't stay like that for long." Calling out to the two soul Ascension Realm Experts in the process of admiring the formation protecting the Iron Sky Kingdom, the cardinal didn't wait before continuing to launch a flurry of attacks towards the large formation-
Rumble~
Causing the entire formation to shake violently as dozens of small cracks appeared all over it before rapidly being repaired again before they had a chance to develop into large cracks that could potentially create a way for the three Soul Ascension Realm Experts to enter the formation.
""...""
Hearing what the cardinal said, the other two Soul Ascension Realm Experts remained silent for a short moment before joining him in attacking the formation. Both of them understood what he meant.
Even if everything seemed fine and they hadn't been attacked by anyone during their journey to the Iron Sky Kingdom, it didn't mean that things would continue like that.
If they stayed outside the capital of the Sky Empire for long enough, one of the powerful experts from one of the empires eyeing the Sky Empire would make a move to test the waters and see if the old ancestors of the imperial family had indeed disappeared and wasn't just trying to set up a trap to turn around and attack them when they least expected it.
After all, from their point of view, the imperial family of the Sky Empire had just disappeared after a group of powerful experts had fought close to their capital city. Even more suspiciously, the other powers inside the capital city were fine without any casualties.
It was also because of this that the three religions and other powers left in the capital city were able to continue going about their day in peace for the last few weeks.
However, this would not last forever...
Boom-boom-boom!
For this reason, all three Soul Ascension Realm Experts used all of their strength to attack the formation covering the Iron Sky Kingdom. Wanting to take it down as fast as possible and not give Yi Min a chance to stabilize her cultivation base and fight back against them.