"Retribution Talismans?" Immediately, Zi Feng recognized the talismans—equivalent of sixth-layer Retribution Seals that'd not only repel but send any attack at Dao Revelation or below right back to the attacker.
Zi Feng didn't recognize the mirrors, but following a Spiritual Sense scan, she realized that they functioned in a similar fashion. Known as Dark Intention Mirrors, just like Colorful Wing Supercity's Ominous Orchestra, those onyx mirrors could sense the nefarious intent of those they faced. The stronger the nefarious intent, the more damage they'd inflict on the assailant's soul. They also increased any physical damage that the assailant was already suffering.
But at the same time, the mirrors also assaulted the souls of their owners, twisting them with crushing pain.
However, in the hands of Heart-Wrenching cultists who, thanks to their cultivation methods, could turn any mental damage into proteins to bulk up—so to speak—the Dark Intention mirrors only offered perks.
Together, the 100,000 talismans and mirrors formed a terrifying defensive formation that could single-handedly repel and cripple any assailant at the Integration realm or below. Needless to say, not every Heart-Wrenching cultist walked around with such treasures. But in preparation for this battle, the Heart-Wrenching Demon Noble didn't hesitate to spend lavishly, personally preparing the resources that his disciples left with.
Underneath their large hoods, the cultists sneered at Zi Feng and the Zhi-Zhu twins. But following their initial stupor, the twins smiled at the cultists' arsenal. Zi Feng shook her head, joining her hands to pray for the cultists' soon-to-be-dead souls.
"A'Zhi, A'Zhu, let's set up the Funest Fantasy," Zi Feng said, not even bothering to conceal the exchange through mental messages. The twins nodded at her, and in tandem, activated their Millenium Revolution Code.
Their hands joined in a succession of mudras. The 30,000 armored dancers that they controlled organized themselves in groups of six, falling to the back while Zi Feng's 6,000 heavy-armor wearing war maidens took the lead, also assembling in groups of six.
In each war maiden group, one wore a shield, one wore a long sword, one held a greatsword, one raised a spear, one held a bow, and the last one waved a flag. In the dancer groups, however, they wielded ribbons, chakrams and whips.
The war maidens became columns of purple light, soaring towards the sky as the dancers turned into lilac beams that rose and curved around the 100 purple light columns. The sky darkened, cracking lightning and pouring rain echoing as a succession of ominous phenomena spread across the scene.
One mountain-sized orb of purple and lilac shades descended from the sky, leaving blazing trails as it slammed into the Heart-Wrenching cultists' defensive formation.
A succession of deafening blasts followed, and with each reverberating shock, the 2,000 cultists took a step backward, holding their chests to restrain a blood spurt.
"How...could this be?" The leader couldn't believe eyes. A formation pre-prepared by the Heart-Wrenching Demon Noble, a formation that could likely resist an early-stage Supreme Clarity realm powerhouse, struggled to withstand the blows of a trio whose leading expert didn't even reach Dao Revelation?
What type of concept was this?
The cultists wouldn't have the time to figure this one out.
So strong was this orb's destructive power that the defensive formation failed to send the blows it received back to Zi Feng and the Zhi-Zhu twins. However, cracks still spread across the orb's surface, but as it shattered, a tall woman rose from the breaking orb. Dressed in racy purple heavy armor that left her cleavage, arms and thighs exposed, the woman wore a lilac circlet and mask that prevented the onlooker from taking the full measure of her beauty.
Her eyes shone with radiant rays, divine power oozing from her flesh as her dark lustrous hair swayed at her back. That woman, the Idol of Funest Fantasy, represented the highest accomplishments of the puppeteer trio's cultivation.
In silence, she raised her right hand. One million great swords appeared in the sky, dropping on the cultists like a shower of flaming meteors.
"How...beautiful," the cultists' leader whispered. And as his lips curled into a smile of love and adoration, his arms tightened around the gray skull that he held, resisting the urge to let go and soar towards the goddess that blessed them all with her presence.
The other cultists too struggled to resist the idol's funest appeal, their eyes gleamed with a blend of love and carnal desires. Still, they held on, gambling on their defensive formation to cross this calamity.
The gamble didn't pay off. The first sword meteors to hit the defensive formation sent cracks through thousands of mirrors while causing the same number of talismans to tear into shreds. More sword meteors fell in droves, and following a brief struggle, blasted the defensive formation into pieces.
"Now!" Aware that their formation wouldn't save them from ruin, the cultists attempted to flee the scene. But Chun Xu was a step faster, and alongside the Li nuns, 100 Cow Demonesses, Dong Ling and Yan Le, launched herself at the cultists—targeting the gray skulls.
A razor-sharp white fan appeared in Chun Xu's right hand, a sword in her left, and wielding the two with mesmerizing grace, she turned into a hurricane of destruction, slicing through the unstable gray skulls while bisecting the cultists that held onto them.
Dong Ling wasn't any slower. Her whip sword split into two, one flung at the cultists' necks while the other stabbed through their skull anchors.
The Cow Demonesses took a more straightforward approach, stomping on the cultists' chests and destroying the skulls while blasting foot-sized holes into their enemies' sternums. Not to be outdone, the Li nuns chased their prey with buzzing clouds and thunderbolts.
The melee turned chaotic, the desperate cultists throwing the gray skulls into the distance to create an opening to flee the scene. Alas, it was all to no avail. By relying on long-ranged sword strikes and spells, Dong Ling, Chun Xu and the Li initiates smashed all the skulls.
Likewise, the 100 Cow Demonesses relied on their crude brute strength to catch up to and smash the 2,000 cultists into puddles of blood and gore.
In a flash, 2,000 skulls and souls perished, causing the collapse of the Desolate Ghost Tide.
All ghosts broke down, becoming particles of spectral energies that faded into nothingness.
