The weight of the formation pressed down on the two elders like a mountain that refused to move. For a long breath, they lay there stunned, their arms shaking and their faces twisted in disbelief. The air around them trembled with the silent hum of the runes spinning above, their glow deepening like a heartbeat in the sky.

Wei Ji stood still at the center of it all, calm and quiet, his eyes sharp and focused. He looked like someone simply watching clouds drift by, but the power that radiated around him made the air feel heavy enough to choke.

The demonic elder gritted his teeth so hard that blood slipped through the cracks in his lips. His voice shook with rage. "Boy, you do not understand what you are provoking. You think this formation can hold us forever?"

The sword elder spat out a clump of dirt and tried to lift his head. "You are insane. If we die, you die with us. Our sects will burn everything you ever loved."

Wei Ji did not blink. "You have no say in this. You came to my home and broke it. You killed who you pleased. Now you pay."

His words were simple, but they cut deeper than any blade.

The demonic elder roared, his body trembling as his spiritual energy sparked wildly. "Then I will show you why the world fears us!"

He pressed his palms against the shattered earth and crushed something hidden beneath his robe. A faint red fog burst around him. His veins bulged, swelling with dark power. His bones cracked loudly as his spine stretched. His aura, though crushed by the formation, began to twist into something violent and unstable.

The sword elder twisted his fingers together and snapped something inside his wrist. A sudden surge of lightning burst around him. His hair stood on end, his eyes filled with blue light. The sky itself flickered as though a storm was trying to claw its way down through the formation.

Wei Ji narrowed his eyes. He felt the space around him grow tense and hostile as both elders tapped into their deepest reserves.

The demonic elder's voice gurgled with something thick. "I am sacrificing ten years of my lifespan. I will tear apart this cursed cage."

The sword elder shouted, "And I am burning my entire thunder pool. I will not be buried by a child's trick!"

Their auras exploded outward at the same moment. The ground shook violently. Cracks spread across the tiles like spiderwebs. The wind screamed. Raw spiritual force crawled up their bodies and tore through the air, fighting desperately against the crushing formation that pinned them.

A deep rumble echoed above them. The glowing formation circle flickered slightly, as if annoyed.

The demonic elder forced his waist up by an inch. That inch required more power than he had used in the last ten years. Sweat poured down his face. His fingernails tore from the pressure, leaving bloody streaks in the stone.

The sword elder's knees trembled as he managed to raise his upper body off the ground. Lightning burst out around him in frantic waves. The thunder tore small holes in the formation's light, but each hole was immediately sealed by glowing symbols that moved like living things.

Both elders felt the pressure increase again.

Both elders gasped as they were slammed back down.

But neither gave up. They screamed, releasing power that burned their bones, their meridians, their spirits. The demonic elder's skin cracked open, leaking dark smoke. The sword elder's hair turned white as the lightning ate through his core.

Their combined roars shook the courtyard.

The formation hummed again and glowed even brighter.

Wei Ji watched quietly. The runes around him flickered in response to his breathing, and he adjusted his hand seal ever so slightly. The formation thickened like a tightening chain.

The demonic elder tried to rise again. His muscles bulged, tearing open. Blood sprayed from his back. His ribs creaked. His left arm bent at an unnatural angle. He screamed so loud the birds in the forest scattered.

But he only moved half an inch.

The sword elder's entire body shook as lightning burst from every pore. His bones glowed faintly from the light inside them. He used every drop of his cultivation, every trace of his spiritual foundation, burning it like oil on a fire.

He rose a few centimeters.

Then the formation pushed down again with terrible force.

Both elders were crushed flat against the stone, coughing blood that splattered in dark red pools.

But even then, they did not stop struggling.

The demonic elder screamed, "I refuse to die here! I refuse to be killed by a brat!"

The sword elder roared, "Break, damn you! Break!"

The courtyard shook like a beast trying to escape chains. Flames burst from the cracks. Lightning clawed at the sky. Dark energy seeped into the ground and twisted the earth. Their combined power was enough to flatten a small sect.

But the formation held. Not even a flicker lost its rhythm.

Even Wei Ji, who expected it to work, felt the pressure of their desperation. He felt the sheer madness of two men who had lived centuries, now burning everything they had to survive one more moment.

The demonic elder's voice broke into ragged breaths. "Boy… what are you… what are you using? This is not a formation anyone should have."

The sword elder coughed out another mouthful of blood. "This… this is ancient… too ancient. Who taught you?"

Wei Ji did not answer. He stepped closer. The runes above responded to him like obedient soldiers, spinning faster and brighter when he moved.

The two elders glared up at him with pure hatred mixed with a fear neither wanted to admit.

"You… are not normal," the demonic elder whispered. "No mortal brat from this land can do this."

Wei Ji's voice was low. "You talk too much."

The demonic elder snarled and dug his fingers into the ground until the stone cracked under his nails. His silhouette expanded again, black smoke exploding outward like boiling mist.

"I will cut off my entire cultivation! Every single drop! If that is what it takes to stand again!"

The sword elder stared at him. "Are you mad? You will die!"

"If I stay down, I die anyway!" the demonic elder screamed.

And then he did it.

His cultivation core shattered with a sound that echoed like a bell breaking under water.

His entire body erupted in a storm of violent energy that tore the earth apart, ripping a deep trench through the courtyard. The pressure of the explosion forced even the formation to flicker.

But only for a breath.

The demonic elder lifted his chest half a meter off the ground. His veins were glowing with dark light. His eyes were bleeding tears. His bones were breaking one by one.

Then the formation pressed down again.

The earth under him cracked with a loud crack, and he slammed back to the ground so hard the breath was knocked out of him.

He could not move again.

The sword elder watched with a kind of terrified respect. He clenched his hands so tightly that blood dripped from his palms. "If you will go that far, then I will too."

He inhaled sharply, and all the lightning around him sank into his body.

His thunder pool shattered.

His cultivation foundation cracked.

Lightning exploded from within him like a star collapsing, and for a brief moment he rose almost to his knees. His face twisted in agony. His eyes glowed blinding white. The air around him screamed as lightning tore everything apart.

He pushed himself higher. A full meter.

Then the formation glowed, calm and uninterested.

And he was crushed down again, smashing into the ground so hard that every bone in his chest cracked.

Both elders lay on the ground. Their arms trembled. Their legs twitched. Their breathing came in small gasps. Their faces were pale and drenched in sweat.

They had sacrificed everything. Their cultivation. Their cores. Their lifespan. Their bodies. Their pride.

And all they gained was a little movement.

The formation held.

The sky remained calm.

Wei Ji remained standing.

The sword elder let out a weak laugh. It sounded like something was breaking inside him. "This… this is not a formation a man should use. You are… a monster."

The demonic elder panted heavily, his breath rattling in his chest. "You… you win. Let us up. We will… we will leave."

Wei Ji did not reply.

The two elders glared at each other, both barely conscious. They pushed at the ground with shaking arms, trying to help each other push up again. Their movements were clumsy, weak, pitiful for men who once ruled valleys and mountains.

They pressed their hands together, combining what little spiritual force remained.

They gave a final scream of effort.

Their bodies lifted by a hair's width.

Then the formation tightened like a closing fist.

Both elders slammed down again with a dull, final thud.

Their combined effort failed. Their arms fell limp. Their faces paled. Their breathing grew shallow.

They could not move anymore.

They were completely trapped.

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