In the wilderness between Heavenly God City and Spirit City, the top experts surged through the skies, Xuan Ji leading the pack. They leaped through space itself, and each time they disappeared, they reappeared thousands of meters further away.
Around one hundred breaths of time after they left, the skies filled with the sound of countless experts cutting through the air. Hu Bazi had led all of the Profound Pavilion’s troops out en masse.
“Have you made contact?”
“I could reach them earlier, but now I can’t. I’m afraid the situation doesn’t look good.” Xuan Ji knit her brows and transmitted back.
They’d been tricked.
For Bai Yulong to return to his clan’s main base at a time like this was most likely at Zhou Wu’s orders. Xuan Ji had been too idealistic; she hadn’t imagined the God Emperor would try something like this.
“Are the people from the Four Directions Palace on their way too?” Xuan Ji asked.
“I already ordered them to rush over, but as you know, I had my people stay in Triumphant City, which is even further from Spirit City than Heavenly God City. My people won’t make it in time; at most, they’ll be able to stave off any further retaliation,” said Bi’an.
“Then Qingyan, you….” Xuan Ji opened her mouth to speak, then trailed off.
If even the Four Directions Palace wouldn’t make it in time, how could a yao clan make it? They were stationed on the border of god race territory! Furthermore, if foxes entered the heart of god race territory in such numbers, it would be tantamount to declaring war!
It seemed they could only count on the Profound Pavilion.
….
Meanwhile, Ye Zichen’s forces now numbered less than a thousand, but they faced well over a hundred thousand Bai clansmen.
The remaining yao servants watched the perimeter on high alert. In truth, if they wanted to, they could hide themselves in the Yao-Sealing Pagoda. This was true even though the yao servants were absolutely loyal to the master of the pagoda.
The master of the pagoda had absolute control over the yao servants’ lives. He could kill them with a mere thought, scattering them into ashes.
This threat held the yao servants in check; they had no choice but to be loyal.
Now, however, Ye Zichen was on the brink of death. Furthermore, based on their current situation, he had little hope of bouncing back. They definitely could have hidden in the pagoda to ensure their personal safety.
And indeed, those of their number who feared death had already returned. Those who remained… were prepared to fight for Ye Zichen to the bitter end! They would live and die together!
So long as they had a single breath in their bodies, they would fight!
Xiao Yumei’s speech seemed to ignite their fighting spirit. Thirteen was on the brink of despair when she inexplicably glanced at Xiao Yumei and Pu Jingwan.
Yet just now, between her brothers’ uncertain fates and her running out of poison, she’d almost given into despair.
This wasn’t like her! It was true; as a master of poisons, she didn’t have particularly abundant battle experience, and of the Profound Pavilion’s generals, she was the weakest in direct fight. And yet, after entering the Profound Pavilion, she’d worked her way up step by step, fighting each step of the way. It was only after she and Xuan Ji realized that she was supremely talented at using poison that she’d changed paths and become a master of poisons.
She’d used poisons for far too long. Did that mean she could no longer carry a sword?
Suddenly, Thirteen raised her head.
She could do it.
Although she hadn’t crossed blades with anyone in far too long, her initial combat experience had always lingered in the bottom of her heart. Even if her fighting experience was near the bottom of the ruler level, she was still far stronger than a diviner.
“The look in their eyes has changed.” The Bai Family patriarchs arched their brows. Just now, their eyes had brimmed over with despair, but now, they saw nothing based on blazing intent.
All of this was because of that simple phrase….
Where there’s life, there’s hope?
“Hm? You….” At that moment, one of the Bai Family patriarchs suddenly knit his brows and glanced at Xiao Yumei. “Aren’t you Xiao Ting’s eldest daughter?”
“What?”
Xiao Yumei didn’t know why the Bai Family patriarch was asking, so she didn’t rush to confirm his suspicions. If he was enemies with Xiao Ting, she was better off denying their relationship. If they were friends, she was willing to acknowledge that she was Xiao Ting’s daughter to make them hesitate.
“I doubt I’m mistaken.” The Bai Family patriarch examined her, then nodded despite the fact that Xiao Yumei neither confirmed nor denied their guess. Finally, the two of them fell silent.
“That’s Old Xiao Ting’s daughter. It’ll be inconvenient if we hurt her.”
“Mm, it’s a bit troublesome. All those years ago, Xiao Ting said he wanted to erase her name from the family registers, but in the end, he didn’t. Furthermore, when she was a child, he doted on her.” After a moment of silence, the Bai Family patriarch continued, “Why would she come along for this? How troublesome. Let’s just ignore her. Why hasn’t Little Yu wrapped this up yet?”
“Don’t act like you don’t understand Little Yu’s personality. Besides, the auras emanating from over there really are stronger than the ones over here.”
These patriarchs were the two experts Bai Yulong had mentioned, his grandpa Bai Jinsheng and great grandpa Bai Mingli.
“You’ve got quite a few sons, but Little Yu is the best of the bunch. It’s just, his personality….” Bai Mingli sighed. “Let’s resolve the situation here as quickly as possible. It’s possible that Little Yu is struggling to hold on.”
Bai Mingli grunted his agreement, then they stretched out their hands. Xiao Yumei had been keeping watch on them both this whole time, and when she saw this, she knit her brows. She summoned a barrier around herself, but to her shock, Bai Mingli’s hands passed right through it.
“Zichen!” Xiao Yumei reached out.
Bai Jinsheng furrowed his brows. “Don’t think that just because you’re Xiao Ting’s daughter, we don’t dare touch you.”
Xiao Yumei said nothing. She merely glared and slapped Bai Mingli’s hand away. The Bai Family patriarchs’ expressions darkened. All else being equal, they wanted to spare Xiao Ting’s daughter out of respect for the Lightning Emperor, but it wasn’t absolutely necessary!
Xiao Ting had been famous for countless years, but the Bai Family wasn’t afraid of him, and their two families rarely came into contact. If Xiao Yumei insisted on being stubborn, the patriarchs would just get rid of her first.
Bai Mingli’s hands reached in even deeper, and the space exploded around it. Bai Jinsheng attacked as well.
The other Bai Family members saw their patriarchs attacking, and they attacked the remaining yao servants with renewed vigor.
“You don’t know when to back down, so all that’s left for you is death.” Bai Jinsheng’s fist seemed to contain unstoppable might. It came crashing down, but Bai Mingli’s attack cut through space.
At that moment, a hand came out of nowhere and grabbed Bai Jinsheng’s fist.
“Don’t touch her!” It was a voice like a vengeful spirit, a voice straight out of the abyss.
Bai Jinsheng was visibly shaken. Xiao Yumei and Pu Jingwan whipped their heads around.
They looked over and saw Ye Zichen, his right eye emitting deep purple light, the illusory figure behind him reaching the heavens, grabbing Bai Jinsheng’s descending fist so tightly it couldn’t even budge. “Don’t touch her!”
