After a moment, she gritted her teeth and said, "Fine. I'll push the formation to its limit and kill every illusory beast here, and I won't take a single core. You can split them all among yourselves. Not only that, I have seven more illusory cores with me. Help me get through this, and they're yours too."

Her expression turned solemn. "Anyone who lends a hand today will also earn the friendship of the Gu family."

Having offered everything she was willing to give, she wasted no more effort trying to persuade them and turned her full attention to the formation. Golden light surged outward from Three-Rainbow Falls in rings. Those illusory beasts within fifty li felt an invisible weight pressing upon them like a mountain that slowed their movements severalfold. Not only that, stone spikes condensed in the air and rained down upon the advancing beasts as violent quakes rolled through the earth.

She was using the formation by herself to attack every illusory beast in the area. No one watching believed she could sustain such an enormous expenditure for long. Sure enough, her complexion grew even paler, and even...