"The formation... the formation is broken!"
"Where are the Formation Masters?! Reinforce the formation runes! Channel your spiritual power, quickly! Are we out of Spirit Stones? I have some here!"
"Your Highness, Prince Qian, where are you?! Come back and take command!"
The disciples of the Three Great Immortal Sects had already been scared witless by the explosion.
Now, discovering that the formation was broken and that Prince Qian had vanished, they were utterly lost and leaderless.
"It's the Li family! It's them! They're here!" some disciple cried, pointing toward the edge of the city.
The snow fell once more.
And through the blizzard, the Li family advanced.
"Quick, form battle formations to meet the enemy! Our numbers are more than a hundred times greater than theirs, and we have more experts! Do not be afraid!"
"Hahaha, that's right! We are the Powers of the Duravia Trade Prefecture! Why should we fear those petty villains from Azure Cloud?!"
"Kill the enemy!"
In the end, a few elders managed to take command, and the disciples of the Three Great Powers began to form their battle arrays.
...
Charge! Charge!
Facing the blizzard head-on, the members of the Li family shot toward the city like sharp arrows.
The spirit tablets they carried began to glow, bringing them a measure of comfort.
They knew that the Old Ancestor, who had just sacrificed everything, was now watching them from some unknown place.
The Old Ancestor had opened the impassable chasm for them. Now, the rest was up to them.
Charge into that city. Seize the future for the people of Azure Cloud and bring it home!
"Boss."
The members of Skynet were charging into the city alongside the Li family, but Gu Yinming frowned and turned to their leader.
"Inside the city... There are a lot of them!"
"I know," the Boss of Skynet replied with a slight nod.
With a blank expression, he continued to advance with the Li family.
His gaze pierced through the shattering formation, locking onto Ming Daozi as he descended from the city's center.
A flicker of killing intent flashed in his eyes.
At full strength, he would never dare to fight an expert at the peak of the Void Refining realm like Ming Daozi.
But the Ming Daozi of this moment... was no longer a threat.
That terrifying display from the Li family's Old Ancestor had not only consumed ninety percent of Ming Daozi's power, but had also shattered his Dao Heart.
Seeing his boss's determination to avenge the God of War, Gu Yinming turned to the ever-calm Dongfang Xuan. "Lady Dongfang..."
But unexpectedly, Dongfang Xuan was simply staring at the spot where the Old Ancestor had vanished, murmuring as if in a dream, "A true man of this world, the very finest of his generation. I wonder what face lies beneath that mist. He may be undying and indestructible, but I fear there are still limits. The cost this time must have been immense. I only hope that I may meet him in person one day."
"..."
Gu Yinming's mouth twitched. He glanced over at Han Yun and decided against asking any further. Veins were already bulging on the man's skin; it was clear he intended to fight to the death, no matter how many enemies were in the city.
He turned to the Old Man, but the Old Man simply shook his head.
"It's useless," he said. "I know you, Old Gu. You were hunted everywhere as an evil cultivator, and it forged your cautious nature. But you won't be able to talk them out of this. Have you ever seen the ancestor of any power fight with such desperation? That man's life is gone, yet his body still attacks the formation. The Boss and the others... they're all running on hot blood now."
"That's true enough," Gu Yinming conceded with a frown. But seeing that the Old Man remained so calm, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Who knows how dangerous it is in that city? At least I can stick with the Old Man for safety.
The Old Man then said, "Old Gu, we cultivators must remain rational. Just stick with me. If the two of us work together, our chances of survival will be much greater."
Gu Yinming was overjoyed.
But a moment later, his expression changed drastically.
In several hundred years, it was the first time he had ever seen the Old Man's aura explode with such power.
As Li Yaozu's sword strike pierced into the city from the Li family's ranks, the Old Man refused to be outdone.
"Where is Prince Qian?!" he boomed. "This old man has returned to have a word with you! Show yourself at once!"
Divinity Transformation... Peak!
The Old Man was wreathed in the aura of the Buddhist Faction.
His Primordial Spirit manifested in the world as a jade statue of the Greatly Merciful, Greatly Compassionate Bodhisattva.
It was impossible to tell what Buddhist Dharma he was using, but the phantom of a Thousand-Hand Bodhisattva appeared, and a colossal jade palm materialized above the city, pressing down toward the main gate.
Seated upon a jade lotus, the Old Man rose into the air and charged to the very front.
He roared at Gu Yinming, "Old Gu, what are you waiting for?!"
"..."
Gu Yinming slowed his pace and silently flew to the side of the spirit ark.
He thought. Damn it. We've been running together for hundreds of years, and that old geezer always used Daoist arts. Who knew there was a thieving Bodhisattva hiding among us?
He then glanced at the Boss and Lady Dongfang; even that idiot Han Yun didn't seem the least bit surprised. Gu Yinming's expression grew darker still.
The moment he reached the spirit ark, the White Qilin stepped upon an auspicious cloud and ascended into the sky.
"You, old Daoist Puci, hiding in the back," he called out.
"Come and fight!"
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