Chapter 96: Trickery?  

Hui stood on the bough of a tree far away from Yao Gong Palace. She hadn’t dared to get too close, but at the same time, simply could not resist the intense desire to watch the final battle taking place. In all the years she had traveled throughout the empire, she had never come close enough to lay eyes on it.

“Yao Gong Palace,” she murmured. “The gate through which the Ogres entered our world. And the Demon Emperor.”

Her heart was in her throat, and even though she didn’t realize it at the time, she was gripping her robes tightly with both hands.

She had no trick move up her sleeve this time; the Kun-Peng Pipes could only be used once per century, and none of the other relics and powerful items she had accumulated over the years would have done any good.

All she could to was wait, and watch.

From her vantage point, she could just barely make out what was happening in the square. She saw the Demon Emperor fly up into the air, and then saw Bao yet again unleash that blinding blue and white light.

Even after much thought, Hui couldn’t figure out how Bao was using such a powerful attack. In the era that Hui hailed from, the heroes of the world had managed on two occasions to acquire both the Phoenix Crown and the Wind Sabre, and although they had been a powerful combination, they had most certainly not led to a massively overpowered attack the likes of which Hui was now witnessing.

Is it strong enough to kill him? she thought. Although Hui would not bemoan the death of the Demon Emperor, wouldn’t it mean that all of her decades of work would be rendered meaningless? She had traveled the streams of time to bring a message to Bao and Sunan, to teach them how to seal the Demon Emperor with a powerful spell formation. Her mission was the culmination of decades of planning on the part of the most righteous Profound Masters of her era.

And yet, as of this moment, it looked like the Demon Emperor might not live long enough to be sealed.

**

Everyone in the square watched in shock as the Demon Emperor lurched back through the air once, twice, and then a third time.

Then, Bao let out a roar of rage as she pulled the Wind Sabre back slightly and then shoved it out in front of her.

At the same time, the Demon Emperor howled at the top of his lungs, the sound of which merged with the piercing boom of the buckler exploding. The white beam of light slashed forward, completely incinerating his right arm and sending him tumbling out of the sky to slam almost directly into the middle of the square.

**

Mao Yun’s black axe whirled rapidly, creating a black disc of light that slammed into the cloud of incoming arrows. At the same time, Li Jiahui waved his arm, sending a spiraling wind out that knocked at least half of the arrows out of the air.

Even still, a handful of arrows made it through, striking Mao Yun in the shoulder and thigh. A few others made it past him and struck other random members of the Pure Phoenix Sect. However, none of them reached Bao.

Mao Yun didn’t even feel the pain of the arrows. Roaring, he slashed his axe out, sending a blast of energy toward the crossbow-wielding Ogre. However, when his attack simply vanished into the Ogre’s jade-encrusted breastplate, remembered a point that had been drilled into the sect during their training, but had slipped his mind in the heat of the moment.

Ogres are immune to Qi!

Even as Mao Yun’s mind raced as he tried to decide what to do, the Ogre in the jade breastplate put another bronze arrow onto his crossbow, pointed it straight at Mao Yun, and then pulled the trigger.

**

Bao’s blow had seriously injured the Demon Emperor, and apparently, stunned him, as he currently lay motionless in the middle of the battlefield.

The surrounding enemy troops and fighters were clearly stunned, but that was one when one of the Ogres suddenly shouted, “The King of the Pure Ones cannot be killed! Crush these worms!”

Chaotic fighting immediately broke out. Because of the use of the Titan Squad Array and the Dragon Pearl Formations moments before, and the push by the Phoenix Division, the battlefield was now quite lopsided, with the front line being more like a sinuous curve than a straight line.

As the Demon Emperor’s forces roared and began to fight back with powerful techniques, the Demon Emperor twitched and lifted his remaining arm up, planting his hand onto the ground next to him as if to push himself up.

**

More Ogres were leaping into the fray, so this time, Li Jiahui could not come to Mao Yun’s assistance. As soon as the crossbow’s retention spring clicked, the arrow show into the air, buzzing as it transformed into a hailstorm.

Mao Yun gritted his teeth and once again began to spin his axe out in front of him.

**

Sunan sent a group of ten soldiers flying backward through the air, half of them killed from the initial force of the blow. Turning his head, he saw that the Demon Emperor appeared to be struggling to his feet.

Bao was standing there, panting and seemingly struggling to lift the tip of the Wind Sabre up off the ground.

As for the battlefield as a whole, although it seemed chaotic, Sunan was very pleased to see that the main line between the Dragon-Phoenix Sect and the forces of the Demon Emperor had twisted into something of a wave-like shape.

At the same time, the Demon Emperor was located almost equidistant between himself and Bao.

This is the moment, he thought.

However, that was when his eyes flickered to the left to land on Mao Yun

Mao Yun was facing a hulking Ogre with a jade-inlaid breastplate and a hand-held crossbow. The Ogre pulled the trigger, and the arrow leapt from the crossbow, instantly multiplying and dividing to become a hail of bronze that caused Sunan’s eyes to widen.

Most terrifying of all was that the arrows were not only numerous, they thrummed with powerful energy. Clearly, they were no ordinary arrows, but were backed by powerful magic.

There was no time for Sunan, or anyone else in the square, to do anything to help Mao Yun. Everyone was involved in their own desperate fighting, especially those who had been tossed out of place by the whirlwind moments before.

Sunan could only watch as the hail of arrows descended up Mao Yun, whose black axe twirled in front of him to create a black disc-like shield of light.

As the brightly shining arrows slammed into the shield, the light began to flicker and tremble. And then, a moment later it collapsed.

An arrow slammed into Mao Yun’s arm, and then his hand, and then his shoulder.

More arrows sliced into him, lifting him off his feet and sending him spinning backward through the air, splatters of blood flying out in curving arcs.

“NOOOO!”

The scream which echoed across the square came from Mao Mei, who had been fighting a group of elite fighters some distance away from her brother. At the sight of the hail of arrows slamming into him, she burst away from her opponents and then leaped into the air, drawing on a Qinggong technique to speed over the heads of the other nearby soldiers.

Spears and other blades lashed at her as she passed by, a few of them reaching their target and leaving her legs bleeding profusely.

Even as her brother landed hard onto the ground and skidded across the stone floor of the square on his back, Mao Mei reached him and scooped him up into her arms.

Although he was a head-and-a-half taller than her, and one of the mostly well-built and imposing men in the entire sect, she channeled her Qi flow into her arms, and picked up with ease. Even as she leaped into the air, the Ogre with the jade breastplate put another arrow onto his crossbow and fired it at her back.

At that point, Sunan was forced to look away to counter an attack from one of the elite fighters.

**

When Bao saw Mao Yun flying backward through the air in a shower of blood, her heart lurched up into her throat.

Brother! she cried inwardly.

Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do.

In their planning and training, they had taken into consideration that some of the Dragon-Phoenix Sect would fall in the fighting. Even the possibility of Bao or Sunan being killed had been worked into the plan.

No matter who it was that perished, the plan would be carried out.

Gritting her teeth and burying her anxiety over what was happening to Mao Yun, she turned back to face the Demon Emperor, who by this point had pushed himself up onto one knee.

Looking up, he made eye contact with her, and then started to chuckle.

“I’m impressed,” he said. “Very impressed. Unfortunately, if that’s the best you have, then I’m afraid you’ve made a grave error in coming here today.” Sneering, he turned to look at the stump of his arm which had just been incinerated.

To Bao’s shock, she realized that the end of the stump, which moments ago had been cauterized and even smoking, was now wriggling and pulsing. Then, the darkened skin cracked and bulged, then began to grow outward. Clearly, the Demon Emperor’s arm was regrowing itself right in the middle of the fight.

Just like the report from the Raksha agent had indicated, even the most serious of injuries were of little concern to the Demon Emperor!

Chuckling again, he began to rise to his feet.

At that point, Bao looked over the Demon Emperor’s shoulder to make eye contact with Sunan, who was standing opposite her, right behind the Demon Emperor’s back. Sunan nodded. Bao nodded back.

Without any hesitation, Bao’s fingers interlocked, and she took a step forward. At the same time, she drew deeply upon her Qi flow.

Across from her, Sunan did the same thing, and instantly, a resonance built up between them, causing the air to vibrate.

The Demon Emperor’s eyes narrowed as he regained his feet. He could sense the resonance, and in fact, it passed directly through him, like tiny waves that he could feel in the core of his being.

From north to east the clouds surge forth,

From south to west fair feathers sing.

In a position very close to Sunan, Sun Mai was sending illusory swords flying across the battlefield toward one of the elite fighters, when he looked over and saw what was happening. Without the slightest hesitation, he tapped his foot onto the ground, launching himself into the air at high speed to land behind Sunan, and a bit to the left. He had chosen to wear the robes of the Golden Dragon Division that day, and as he flew through the air, he almost looked like a golden cloud.

Locking his fingers together, he planted his feet and channeled his Qi through his meridians in the prescribed fashion. Another resonance sprang into being, between himself and Sunan, which bolstered Sunan’s energy, causing the resonance between him and Bao to increase in intensity.

The Demon Emperor’s eyes went wide, but before he could do anything, Ma Ge flew into position behind Bao, her silver Pure Phoenix Division robes fluttering like feathers.

Again, the resonance between Bao and Sunan grew stronger.

Next to abandon the fighting and leap into formation was Tie Gangwen, and then Wang Tian.

One by one, the most powerful fighters of the Dragon-Phoenix Sect sped like lightning to join the growing formation, like a stream of clouds and feathers swirling through the air.

With each addition to the formation, the resonance grow more powerful, and the effects wider. Even with only six people in place, it began to pulse, sending out rolling ripples of energy that pushed against the soldiers, elite fighters, and Ogre guards in the square.

As for the Demon Emperor, although his arm was growing out rapidly, he suddenly found that his feet were locked in place.

“What trickery is this!” he growled. “Immolation!”

In response to his words, raging flames burst into being around him, flames so hot that the paving stones around him were immediately blackened, and even began to pop and hiss. However, it did nothing to affect the resonance, which increased in intensity with every addition person who fell into spot behind Sunan and Bao.

Within a few short moments, there were twelve people in the formation, and already, bright golden light, intermixed with silver sparkles, could be seen in the air between Sunan and Bao, and also around the two groups of people in formation.

**

From her position atop the tree, Hui could just barely see flickers of golden light in the ceremonial square in Yao Gong Palace.

“It’s begun,” she murmured.