"Hmm…impressive." Tian Yu Di was the only completely unaffected by the G.o.dly aura that was suffocating everyone else. He grinned and stepped forward excitedly, his expression feral and delighted. "Finally, someone with some backbone! I was beginning to think that this era was full of nothing but weaklings. I hope you can entertain me!"

His own aura flowed out and suppressed Long Shen"s in an instant. Or to be more accurate, it was almost as if his qi consumed Long Shen"s. Like a black hole, it ravenously devoured the divine qi, sucking the vast amounts of qi into a bottomless abyss. Everyone felt bone-chilling coldness washing over them and trembled unconsciously as they experienced the sensation of their soul being gradually flayed apart by something…monstrous…

"You… Just who the h.e.l.l are you?!"

Even Long Shen went pale as he staggered under the suffocating presence of Tian Yu Di. If he was a divine dragon G.o.d, then Tian Yu Di was a demonic G.o.d emperor, his very presence alone sufficient to subjugate mere mortals and bring us to submission.

"Good! Very good!" Tian Yu Di cackled. "You"re still standing even under the effects of such power! Admittedly I am far from fully recovered, but for a single brat to withstand my divine demonic aura, you have potential!"

"This is the same as Tian Mo of yesteryear…" Song Si Yuan was just as pale as Long Shen, studying Tian Yu Di. "It"s almost the same level, but otherwise the techniques are related. Is he related to Tian Mo of the Heaven and Earth Sect?"

Suddenly, it occurred to me that Master Tian Mo shared the same family name as Ancestral Master Tian Yu Di – the surname Tian. It was highly possible that Master Tian Mo was actually the descendant of Tian Yu Di. I wouldn"t be surprised if Tian Yu Di left a few offspring behind, who continued to propagate, which eventually led to the birth of Master Tian Mo almost a millennium later. If that was the case, then fate certainly had a funny way of bringing things full circle.

For now, I focused on the present. Thankfully, because I cultivated Heaven and Earth Formula, I was less affected by the demonic aura that Tian Yu Di was projecting. Taking a deep breath, I heaved myself back to my feet and raised my Azure Lotus Sword to a fighting stance.

It wasn"t just me. Lang Xie and the Blood Blades martial artists, who had also practiced a somewhat incomplete Heaven and Earth Formula, were also able to resist the terrifying effects of the intimidating aura. Lang Xie"s eyes flashed fiercely and he raised his Spirit Sword to rally all his subordinates to him.

"For Nine-Tailed Fox Sect! Even if we all perish today, we will take as many of the enemy with us! Till death!"

"Till death! Kill all the invaders!" the Blood Blades martial artists echoed. Even I joined the shout, since I was technically and officially a member of Blood Blades.

"Hmph. With me and Sect Leader around, who says your Nine-Tailed Fox Sect will be destroyed? As a branch offshoot of my Heaven and Earth Sect, you should have more faith in yourselves!" Tian Yu Di coldly snorted as he crossed his arms.

Lang Xie and the Blood Blades took no heed of his statement and charged into the reeling enemy, reinvigorated by the sudden reversal in the situation, and began slaughtering as many invaders and trespa.s.sers as they could.

"How dare you!"

Long Shen descended before them, and Xie Zhi Zhang forced himself to move, placing his body between the Blood Blades and the recoiling intruders. Refusing to lose, Ling Shen bellowed as he stood beside Xie Zhi Zhang, and increased his divine aura as much as possible, restoring the morale of the beleaguered attackers.

The Green Dragon that had been coiling around his body suddenly grew exponentially, its serpentine body thickening and lengthening rapidly. It towered over the steely Long Shen, now as tall and ma.s.sive as a mountain, and its divine aura settled upon the entire city like a vast sea. It was even temporarily able to counteract Tian Yu Du"s black hole effect, erasing the intimidation caused by his divine demonic presence and allowing the martial artists underneath his aegis to recover and stand again. Now that his allies had pulled through, Long Shen focused his attentions on the main threat, Tian Yu Di, and launched a cyan fireball the size of a house with a swing of his blazing sword. The gargantuan projectile seared a charred path across the plaza as it streaked toward Ancestral Master like a miniature sun.

Tian Yu Di threw out both hands to parry the green fireball, only for the fearsome fireball to explode instantly upon contact. A conflagration similar to a thermonuclear explosion blossomed across the plaza, and it was only because I conjured Snow Aegis to cast a barrier over a wide area that the rest of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect wasn"t caught up in it.

"No way…"

I gaped at the expanding explosion in dismay. There was no sign of my Ancestral Master. He had been utterly enveloped and consumed by the highly destructive flames, which were so powerful they actually overwhelmed and blocked out Tian Yu Di"s qi signature. My heart thudded in panic when I considered the possibility that he might have perished in the attack.

"Evil will never prevail," Long Shen announced, as hypocritically oblivious to the irony as all the other antagonists were. Even so, I was in no position to make a retort as his presence continued to strengthen following the seeming demise of our most powerful a.s.set.

Long Shen"s aura was so potent that it actually affected the weather, dispersing the dark clouds that had gathered above Tushan City and allowing bright golden rays of the sun to shine through, illuminating the usually gray Flame Volcano in bright yellow.

So fearsome was the divine aura of Long Shen that even his allies couldn"t help but be overawed by it.

"The divine might of the Venerable Dragon G.o.d! Even the heavens submit to his power!" Xie Zhi Zhang couldn"t help but look up briefly and marvel. It was all he could do to prevent himself from literally falling to his knees in reverence to worship the G.o.dlike existence and its tremendous strength.

"With such power, how is Elder Long not the sect leader of Green Dragon Sect?" Song Si Yuan murmured. "This manifestation of divine power can only be executed by those who have mastered the ultimate techniques of the Green Dragon Sect! With his current strength, Elder Long can even suppress an entire army on his own!"
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"Ouch…very impressive. I didn"t think you"ll actually succeed in burning me."

My heart leaped up in hope when I heard the familiar voice from within the blazing inferno that Long Shen had caused. Tian Yu Di emerged from the flames, shaking his hands gingerly. They seemed reddened and somewhat singed, but otherwise the great elder of the Heaven and Earth Sect was otherwise unscathed.

"Impossible!" one of the trespa.s.sers shouted, his voice filled with fright at the unexpected sight. "How did that monster survive the Venerable Dragon G.o.d"s attack?"

Long Shen didn"t seem to care, however. His brow furrowing, he attacked without hesitation or question, swinging his sword down in a ferocious manner.

"Green Dragon Flaming Flash!"

A fiery blast of qi was unleashed from his divine blade, incinerating the very s.p.a.ce between them as it scorched a destructive trail toward its target. Not taking anything for granted, especially after the last attack failed to end his enemy, Long Shen released a barrage of gigantic fireb.a.l.l.s, slinging them all at an apparently indifferent Tian Yu Di.

Shi Jing Yun, Wu Tuo, Su Bai Xue and many of the invading martial artists couldn"t even stand straight at this moment. They trembled in awe as they witnessed the top martial artist of the Great Zhou Empire unleash his fury upon the enemy. His divine might was so oppressive that they found it difficult to even breathe.

I wouldn"t be surprised if those idiots actually started prostrating themselves on the floor to worshp the Venerable Dragon G.o.d and beg him for his forgiveness.

"This is the pinnacle of all martial artists! A Nascent Soul Stage pract.i.tioner!" Wu Tuo seemed to be yelling crazily inside his heart as he watched in soul-striking awe. "The terrible might that can only be unleashed by someone who has attained the Nascent Soul Stage!"

"One day I will reach this level as well. One day, I will surely become just as powerful as the Venerable Dragon G.o.d!" Su Bai Xue"s eyes glittered greedily as she drank in the heady scene, drunk on the power emanated by her superior.

In contrast to their worshipping reactions, Tian Yu Di merely laughed.

"Heh! Not bad! Not bad at all! I knew following Sect Leader will allow me to experience such joy in combat! For the first time in almost a millennium!"

Tian Yu Di grinned and laughed in delight, almost insane from the excitement. He raised a hand, unfurled his fingers and then thrust his arm out.

"Heaven and Earth Palm Strike!"

In a single attack, he shattered Long Shen"s Green Dragon Flaming Flash. The shockwave from his palm strike reverberated across the plaza and smashed apart the barrage of fireb.a.l.l.s following closely behind, tearing them apart and scattering them into harmless embers.

"Heavens!" Shi Jing Yun cried out in utter disbelief. "How is that possible!? That old demon countered the Venerable Dragon G.o.d"s attack with just a single simple palm strike?! What the h.e.l.l is he?!"

However, Long Shen didn"t seem surprised. He had actually antic.i.p.ated that, or so it appeared, as he was already launching yet another attack. And the power of his current attacked surpa.s.sed his Green Dragon Flaming Flash by several magnitudes.

"The h.e.l.l?" I complained. "Instead of steadying increasing the power of your attacks as each one gets countered, why don"t you just use your most powerful techniques from the start?! Otherwise you"re just wasting everyone"s time!"

"No, this is a smart move. It would be stupid to reveal one"s trump card right from the start. If any enemies survive and witnesses it, they will be able to come up with countermeasures against your most powerful technique later. Moreover, it is reckless to expend all your energy right at the start – if you fail to kill your enemy, or reinforcements and new enemies show up, then you"ll regret not having conserved your energy and will be forced to fight an uphill battle."

To my surprise, it was Lang Xie who replied. I blinked, and then nodded grudgingly, feeling some sense of shame. Well, yeah…I guess that was common sense. I had gotten carried away, thinking that I was the straight man here, but it seemed that there were a lot of things I have yet to learn. That was only natural.

I wasn"t a Mary Sue who was always right, or a Mary Sue who already knew all the answers.

"Green Dragon Solar Sword Strike!"

An apocalyptic surge of qi rushed forward like a tsunami, seeming large enough to engulf not just the plaza but the whole of Tushan City. I glanced at Ancestral Master, wondering if he had anything up his sleeve to deal with this.

Evidently, he did.

"Grand Disciple." Tian Yu Di grinned as he addressed me. Surprisingly, not as his sect leader, but his grand disciple. The reason was clear soon enough. "Watch closely and learn. I"ll probably only demonstrate this once."

Raising a hand, he performed what seemed like a complicated gesture before punching at the incoming torrent of catastrophic destruction.

"Heaven and Earth Reversal."

"?!"

Long Shen"s attack rippled once, and then suddenly reversed direction. No, it didn"t simply reverse direction – it was consumed by the golden qi that Tian Yu Di unleashed, its tremendous power adding into the already formidable power of that golden blast. The new, golden blast funneled across the plaza, demolishing large chunks of the place. In fact, I imagined that the plaza was only still mostly intact because of the arcane powers of the Spirit Engraved Pillar containing the immense destruction and keeping it in check.

Otherwise we would all be swimming in the lake by now.

"AAAAAH!"

"NOOO!"

"Watch out!"

"Run!"

The invading martial artists who had arrived along with Long Shen, or had arrived while pursuing the retreating Blood Blades martial artists, quickly turned tail and fled, instinctively recognizing the danger that this reversed attack would deal.

Just a single touch would be enough to rip them into shreds.

"!!!!"

Long Shen realized just how much danger he put his comrades in. Gritting his teeth, he lunged forward and slashed at the golden torrent of qi with his sword.

The golden tornado erupted, engulfing the Venerable Dragon G.o.d in an enormous explosion that caught several of the fleeing intruders and incinerated them, even searing the plaza. The Spirit Engraved Pillars glowed briefly, their Spirit Diagrams coming to life as they sought to protect themselves and the plaza they stood guard over with mystic barriers, otherwise minimizing the damage.

"Huff…huff…"

Long Shen crashed out of the inferno, blackened and singed. He glanced up through a blistered eye, blood trailing from his mouth. That was the only sign of blood, not because he was relatively unhurt, but because most of his severe injuries had been cauterized by the superheated flames that he had just been caught up in.

"That technique…you didn"t just overwhelm my Green Dragon Solar Sword Strike. You somehow incorporated my attack into your own and used it against me!"

"Yeah, I combined it with my Heaven and Earth Strike." Tian Yu Di grinned. "How was it? I"m sure you enjoyed the taste, no?"

"I knew it…I don"t know how you survived, but you"re a member of Heaven and Earth Sect!" Long Shen coughed as he shrank back. "Those techniques – they are definitely Heaven and Earth Formula! How did you get your hands on it?!"

"None of your business." Tian Yu Di"s smile was icy. "And someone who is going to die doesn"t need to know, anyway."

He raised a hand, getting ready to attack. Long Shen turned pale as he coughed out some blood, realizing that he was too heavily wounded to block the next strike.

"Like I"ll let you!" Xie Zhi Zhang dove forward, only for Lang Xie and several Blood Blades martial artists to block his way.

"Where do you think you"re going?" Lang Xie asked coldly. "Your opponent is us."

Xie Zhi Zhang gritted his teeth. "d.a.m.n you!" he cursed. Even if it was a one-on-one and he was confident of defeating Lang Xie on his own, the Blood Blades vice-commander was still powerful enough to delay him for minutes. Never mind that now he had his subordinates to reinforce him. But Long Shen didn"t even have seconds.

"Elder Long, hang in there!"

Song Si Yuan had begun to act as well, but before he could take a step, he was suddenly forced to jump back as a flaming spear struck the spot where he was standing on a few moments ago. A delicate hand then plucked the spear out of the ground.

"We haven"t decided the winner of our match yet, have we?" Zi Da Ji asked frostily, twirling her spear around and getting ready to deliver another attack.

"…f.u.c.k."

Long Shen could only watch in despair as Tian Yu Di launched a devastating blast of qi at him.

*

High above the plaza, in Flame Volcano, the Ling sisters moved about restlessly along with the civilians who had been seeking refuge in the main sect grounds during the war. They weren"t exactly very famous, and by keeping a low profile, were able to blend in with the townspeople and non-combatant civilians who used to live in Tushan City.

n.o.body questioned their ident.i.ty or approached them. There were certainly a few glances here and there because of their beauty, but otherwise n.o.body bothered them. The two of them huddled together, straining their ears to listen for news. Even though they were receiving the latest updates through their smartphones, they were still unsure of what was actually happening in realtime outside the shelter.

It took them everything to resist the desire to walk out of the shelter to peer down at Tushan City and see with their own eyes what was happening in Nine-Tailed Fox Sect right now. The civlians had been forbidden to leave the shelter, more out of concern for their safety than because the martial artists wanted to imprison them. There was heavy fighting going on outside, and they could hear sporadic explosions, blood-raged howls and shrieks of the dying. Many of the civilians cowered and pressed their hands against their ears, shutting their eyes as they tried to ignore the screams of the wounded and the vengeful bellows of rage of those who saw their comrades die before their eyes. a whistling screech resonated beyond the walls before erupting into another explosion as one martial artist hurled an elemental technique at another.

"Master…will be coming, wouldn"t she?" Ling Yu Mei asked softly as she lowered her head. Even though she wasn"t privy to the details of the invasion, she knew there was no way Jiu Liu Yu would sit back and do nothing, not after Lu Li was killed and Shi Jing Yun was taken prisoner.

For all of her faults and arrogance, Jiu Liu Yu had been kind and gentle to the Ling Sisters, treating the both of them well and taking good care of them. She was essentially a mother to them, teaching them martial arts and ensuring they were brought up properly without lacking anything. She had given them a home, and protected them from demonic martial artists.

Ling Yu Mei was well aware of her master"s strength, and did not believe that anyone in Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, with the exception of Zi Da Ji, Lang Xie and that old demon who appeared out of nowhere, could hurt her.

Yet she couldn"t help but worry. Not just for her master, but also for the people of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect. Even though she didn"t know them very well, they had treated her decently. And there was that guy who not only saved her cousin, Ling Qing Zhu, but also helped her and her sister with their Spirit Artifacts orders, and even spared their lives after the rest of the trespa.s.sers in the first wave were ma.s.sacred. She owed him too much.

But knowing her master, she would definitely brutally murder the poor kid without a moment"s hesitation.

"Is there any way to stop this?" she wondered.

"Sister?" Ling Yu Xuan glanced at her older sister, concerned. Ling Yu Mei forced a smile, and shook her head.

"…no, it"s nothing." She closed her eyes. "Master is coming. I can sense her."

"Now that you"ve mentioned it, me too." Ling Yu Xuan nodded, her expression complicated. "It seems that she"s…in a rage. All the qi signatures before her are expiring quickly. Is she here to rescue us?"

"Partly." Ling Yu Mei affirmed grimly. "But also because she wants to destroy the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect."

"…but why?" Ling Yu Xuan glanced at all the frightened civilians around her, and no doubt was recalling the faces of all the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect members they had encountered. "What did they do to ddeserve this? All they did was manufacture Spirit Artifacts. Just because the Martial Arts Alliance perceived them as growing stronger and richer, they want to destroy the sect before it "becomes a threat" and so that they can plunder all of its wealth and resources? Where exactly is the justice and honor in this? Aren"t these just crimes against humanity?"

"…I don"t know." Ling Yu Mei sighed, slumping against the wall helplessly. "I don"t know anything anymore."

*

Unlike the Ling sisters, Tang Qi Hong and Lian Rou had followed the inner sect elders and Tang Qi Hong"s adopted parents to the plaza to make their last stand. As members of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, they were determined to stand together and die with the sect, fighting until the very last moment. Right now, even as Long Shen was cornered by Tian Yu Di, Tang Qi Hong, Lian Rou and the inner sect disciples – despite not being proficient in combat – were brandishing high-quality Spirit Weapons and joining the combat with near-suicidal recklessness.

Tong Xue and Jing Wei had also appeared shortly, and with the Blood Blades withdrawing from the gates in ma.s.s, we were able to put together a huge army of battle puppets who formed an iron ring around the plaza to repel all invaders. Sheltered behind the stalwart, formidable circle of Castellax battle-automata and Thallax battle puppets, the members of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect hunted down whoever was left inside the plaza.

Only the very strongest such as Song Si Yuan and Xie Zi Zhang survived. Even the three original commanders who had lost their arms were putting up a good fight and holding us off, determined not to be taken hostage again.

"You"re finished!" Tian Yi Di sneered as he blasted Long Shen.

At that moment, a shrill screech thundered through the air and a golden spear of light snashed through the qi blast, dissipating it harmlessly. Tian Yu Di frowned and sidestepped, effortlessly evading the golden spear, but it then switched trajectory and flew back to its owner"s hands.

Shen Tian Yi of Heavenly Way Sect inspected his spear, then turned his gaze back down.

"Are you all right, Brother Long?"

"Fine. Thank you for intervening and saving my life."

Despite still coughing out some blood, Long Shen quickly seized the opportunity to withdraw. Shen Tian Yi then raised his eyes to cautiously regard the smirking Tian Yu Di.

"That elder must be quite the formidable opponent if he is able to injure you this badly, Brother Long."

"Be careful. That old demon is from Heaven and Earth Sect. After suffering an attack from him, I"m sure of it. He"s using the legendary Heaven and Earth techniques." Long Shen wiped the blood from his mouth and stood up unsteadily. "If we want to win, we"ll have to team up against him."

"Are you sure you"re all right, Brother Long?" Shen Tian Yi raised an eyebrow in concern.

"After throwing up the blood clots, I feel fine." Long Shen nodded solemnly. "Besides, if I don"t do anything, that monster will kill me later anyway. I might as well die fighting."

"No one will die today," Shen Tian Yi declared. But he relented. "Truthfully, having sensed this elder"s qi, I am not confident of dealing with him alone. I will very much appreciate your help."

As both elders readied to attack Tian Yu Di, I slowly moved toward Tang Qi Hong and Lian Rou to help Tong Xue protect them. They were currently my priority in the sect, the same way Zhao Shi and Da Ge were still zealously guarding Zi Xiao Ji despite fighting against the invaders from the Martial Arts Alliance.

However, before I could reach them, I suddenly picked up a very familiar presence.

"This person…!"

Spinning around, I caught sight of a blinding golden glow in the distance. The respeldent light brightened as it drew nearer, finally morphing into the shape of a golden spear not dissimilar to the one Shen Tian Yi was wielding. No, I was actually more familiar with this particular golden spear than the elder"s.

I had seen this golden spear before, as well as the guy riding on it.

The giant golden spear hovered above the ground, bearing several figures. It seemed that shortly after following Shen Tian Yi, Jiang Jun Hao had returned to fetch a few of his closest subordinates to serve as his personal bodyguards (because he was smart enough to know that Shen Tian Yi would be too busy with high-level battles to protect him), and then chased after the elder. Which explained why they arrived half a minute later.

My eyes swept across the figures atop the golden spear, and sure enough, I did not recognize almost all of them. However, I did know the guy right at the very front, a b.a.s.t.a.r.d with red hair who was dressed in exaggerated yellow clothing, while giving off an arrogant and domineering air as he stood out against his brethren.

Jiang Jun Hao. How long had it been? A few months? The expedition to the Nascent Soul Stage pract.i.tioner"s tomb was only a few months ago, before all the shenanigans with Liang Shao Yang and the drama within Nine-Tailed Fox Sect began, but it felt like years. Probably because so many things had happened – not just the aforementioned events regarding Liang Shao Yang, but the a.s.sa.s.sination attempts by Divine Shadow Sect and the war.

h.e.l.l, the entire war against the Martial Arts Alliance felt like it had been going on for years. Honestly, I couldn"t be blamed for feeling a sense of temporal disorientation.

"You!"

It seemed like I wasn"t the only one who recognized a mortal enemy. Jiang Jun Hao"s eyes widened when he caught sight of me, and he jabbed a finger rudely in my direction, spluttering soundlessly.

"You"re that guy next to Zhu Jiao! That b.a.s.t.a.r.d friend of Zhu Jiao who intervened and helped him before I could kill him!"

Actually, I didn"t do anything. Zhu Jiao had the situation well in hand and was in fact kicking Jiang Jun Hao"s a.s.s without me having to lift a single finger. But he wouldn"t believe me if I told him, so I kept quiet.

I wondered why his memories of the event were distorted, but that wasn"t important right now.

"Who?" one of Jiang Jun Hao"s subordinates asked, confused.

"You know! That guy!"

"What guy?"

Everyone was staring at Jiang Jun Hao blankly as he expostulated in frustration, waving his hands stupidly.

"That guy! Zhu Jiao"s friend! The guy who follows Zhu Jiao everywhere! His sidekick!"

Ah. I understood now. Jiang Jun Hao viewed as me so insignificant that he couldn"t be bothered to remember my name, or perhaps he never even bothered to find out. Despite clearly holding a grudge against me just because I was Zhu Jiao"s friend.

It was reasonable. Zhu Jiao was the protagonist, after all. I was the nameless, insignificant, forgettable side character. As long as I wasn"t one of the heroines in his burgeoning harem, I wasn"t important, and n.o.body cared about me. I didn"t spend enough time to follow Zhu Jiao around for people to remember me. You know all those xianxia and wuxia novels where the protagonist goes around on adventures while mentioning obscure flunkies from time to time? Yeah, I was one of those flunkies who would show up for one adventure to "help" the protagonist (or more accurately, get saved by the protagonist, my failure and weakness being emphasized to make him look good), then disappear for a large portion of the story as the protagonist either meets up with new friends and gain new flunkies, or reunite with yet another insignificant sidekick whose name the readers simply couldn"t be bothered to remember.

"Ah…that Zhu Jiao. So this guy is Zhu Jiao"s flunky?" the subordinate nodded in agreement. I don"t want to hear that from you, Subordinate A.

"Yeah. He"s…he"s Sidekick A!"

…what the f.u.c.k?

No longer even bothering to pretend to remember my ident.i.ty, Jiang Jun Hao selfishly designated me with a ridiculous name that was used only in the ending credits of an anime series. Who the h.e.l.l is Sidekick A? And honestly, it felt insulting that I was remembered only because of my friendship with Zhu Jiao, and not because I was anyone important enough to be remembered.

Sucks to be me. In any case, I was now officially known as Sidekick A or Flunky A by Jiang Jun Hao and the readers of Zhu Jiao"s story. Thanks a lot. Now I knew how all those nameless side characters felt, often dismissed and left by the wayside as the protagonist abandoned them, leaving all of us behind in order to reach greater heights.

"You useless b.a.s.t.a.r.d! You are actually still alive!"

Jiang Jun Hao howled. His eyes darkened and he s.n.a.t.c.hed up his gigantic golden spear, pointing it at me.

"I swear that I will kill you here today!" he bellowed before thrusting with his spear, a streak of golden light exploding from its tip and lancing toward my chest.