"It seems I can only rely on the Shanhe Seal," Zhang Fan's divine sense quietly communicated with the artifact spirit of the Shanhe Seal, which was nurtured within his divine consciousness space.
As of now, the Shanhe Seal was considered his strongest trump card. Zhang Fan was well aware of the power of a high-grade spiritual treasure, but it was incredibly difficult for him to utilize the Shanhe Seal relying on his own strength.
One had to understand that in the myriad star sea, high-grade spiritual treasures were generally held by Nascent Soul Heavenly Immortals. Only geniuses like Immortal Ban Yue, who had condensed a first-grade Golden Core, were qualified to possess their own high-grade spiritual treasure at the Golden Core stage.
Although Zhang Fan had successfully refined the Shanhe Seal with the cooperation of its artifact spirit, it was still too difficult for him to unleash its full power on his own.
"Little kitty, wake up quickly! If I fall into their hands, you'll be stuck on this desolate planet forever, unable to leave." Zhang Fan roared within his divine consciousness space, rousing the artifact spirit of the Shanhe Seal.
A cute little kitty, its entire body the color of white jade, slowly stretched its petite spiritual body. Its small face showed a hint of displeasure, seemingly unhappy at being woken up by Zhang Fan.
Sensing the few presences in the hall, the little kitty felt that its current master was too weak. Not a single cultivator had condensed a Golden Core, yet he was being forced to use the Shanhe Seal.
It remembered that when it followed Immortal Ban Yue, the Shanhe Seal would appear and obliterate Golden Core cultivators. What magnificent power that was!
However, the little kitty dared not voice its thoughts. While its current master was weak, he possessed many tricks. If it angered him and had its consciousness wiped out, it would be truly finished.
And if its master died here, falling into the hands of these natives, it might be confined to this spirit-energy-depleted planet for eternity, something it was even more unwilling to accept.
Therefore, after hearing Zhang Fan's summons, despite its displeasure, it responded quickly.
"Suppress them for me!"
Feeling the artifact spirit awaken, Zhang Fan immediately summoned the Shanhe Seal and tossed it into the air.
The Shanhe Seal, originally the size of a fist, became immensely huge the moment it was thrown by Zhang Fan, hovering above everyone's heads like Mount Tai descending.
"What is that?"
The white-robed Pope and the other arbitrators stared at the scene with astonishment. The jade seal hovering above them made them feel immense pressure.
"Suppress!"
Zhang Fan formed a peculiar golden hand seal, which he then projected onto the Shanhe Seal suspended in the sky.
Boom!
The Shanhe Seal unleashed an incredibly heavy pressure. The few individuals suppressed beneath it erupted with powerful holy light, resisting the pressure with all their might, yet they still felt unable to move an inch.
"I need to be fast!"
After temporarily suppressing the others, Zhang Fan's gaze shifted to the central screen above the church. A point of white light flickered there. Whether it was the Flower of Sacred Light previously displayed by the Pope or the light barrier conjured by the white-robed elder just now, its origin lay there.
According to them, it was the power of their church's supreme treasure, the 'Heart of Sacred Light'. Thus, Zhang Fan's plan was to use the Shanhe Seal to suppress them. As long as the Heart of Sacred Light was seized, the light barrier would naturally disappear.
Zhang Fan flickered and appeared before the 'Heart of Sacred Light' that was emitting silvery-white light. The Heart of Sacred Light was a pure white particle, about the size of a Chinese date pit, its entire body resembling refined glass, radiating extremely powerful fluctuations of light element.
Even with Zhang Fan's extensive knowledge, he couldn't immediately discern what this object, called the Heart of Sacred Light by the church, truly was.
However, something capable of emitting such a powerful energy barrier and producing techniques like the Flower of Sacred Light was certainly not ordinary. If he could snatch it, it would likely cause the church's Pope and the arbitrators much pain for a long time.
Zhang Fan grabbed the Heart of Sacred Light. To his surprise, he seized it without any obstruction.
But when he withdrew his hand, he froze.
"It won't budge?"
The Heart of Sacred Light floated less than a foot from the wall, without any physical support. Yet, despite Zhang Fan's full effort, it didn't move an inch.
Considering Zhang Fan's current divine body strength, he could easily pull a train with ease.
The arbitrators and the Pope, suppressed beneath the Shanhe Seal, revealed mocking smiles. The white-robed Pope taunted, "This is our church's sacred artifact. How could it not have some form of protection? Master Zhang's actions are truly laughable."
"The Heart of Sacred Light is the core that suppresses our church's many protective formations. Unless you can break through the formations laid down by our church's ancestors over generations, you will not be able to move it even a millimeter."
"Formations?"
Zhang Fan's eyes lit up upon hearing this.
Perhaps it was because he hadn't seen anyone else set up formations on this planet for a long time, which made Zhang Fan almost believe he was the only one who knew how to set up formations in this world.
Although the Dan Shen Pavilion had displayed their mountain protection formation in the past, Zhang Fan found it too rudimentary and easily dismantled, so he hadn't paid it much mind.
The light barrier enveloping him within the church, though powered by the Heart of Sacred Light, was essentially a formation. As long as it was broken, the Heart of Sacred Light would be his.
"I must break it within one minute, or the suppression won't hold." Zhang Fan could sense that although the Shanhe Seal's suppression power was immense, it was unrealistic to keep five Core Condensation realm experts suppressed indefinitely.
While Zhang Fan's current strength was not overwhelming, he was extremely confident in his formation skills. The formations set up by cultivators on Earth were simply beneath his notice.
To scout the range of the entire formation, Zhang Fan simultaneously released his Lightning Fire Divine Eye domain and his Disintegration domain, easily blocking the probing attempts of the white-robed Pope and the arbitrators.
"This kid is only in the Divine Realm, yet he already possesses his own domain, and it's even more powerful than mine!"
The leading arbitrator was only a step away from the late Core Condensation realm. His domain, when released, could almost crush all early Core Condensation realm experts.
However, the power of Zhang Fan's domain could directly dissipate his Light domain, making the superiority clear.
Without the obstruction of domains, Zhang Fan's divine sense could freely scout every corner of the church. In almost the time it took for a single breath, he had discovered the hidden formation within the church.
"This small church actually knows how to set up a double formation. That's somewhat surprising," Zhang Fan muttered to himself with a smile.
During Zhang Fan's investigation, besides the currently activated light barrier, there was another killing formation hidden within, filled with a sharp aura.
Setting up a single formation was relatively simple, but stacking two or even multiple formations would increase the difficulty exponentially.
With Zhang Fan's current strength, he could at most set up three formations, which demonstrated how difficult multi-layered formation arrays were.
"This killing formation is not activated. It seems they were afraid of accidentally killing me, rendering their efforts futile," Zhang Fan thought to himself.
Throughout their exchange, the white-robed Pope had never used the killing formation. His primary methods involved restraint, aiming to capture Zhang Fan alive.
"Seven formation eyes, quite reminiscent of a Seven Stars Trapped Kill formation. Breaking it shouldn't be too difficult." Zhang Fan's mind raced, contemplating the fastest way to dismantle this double-layered formation.
...