Outside the dome, the Celestial Phoenix hovered calmly.

The cultivators on the ground halted only for a split second before the Elders led them to continue their assault.

The Phoenix stared ahead with a confused Ember behind her.

Kai and Hakuja were still watching from afar. They hadn’t made a move, at least not yet. As such, it didn’t make sense for her to step in so abruptly.

"Did something happ-" Ember was about to ask; her voice trailed off into silence as she noticed an unusual disturbance in the distance.

Space cracked and split open, revealing a figure that calmly stepped out from it.

From the opposite side, Kai watched with a look of contentment hiding behind his expressionless face. He assumed that Jidu was finally here.

Before the spatial rift could close, another figure stepped out.

They all recognized the second figure. He was none other than the Heavenly Virtue of Patience, Old Gu!

Ember sent voice transmissions to warn everyone. Although she didn’t know what his intentions were to have appeared here in the middle of the ongoing war, the reaction from the Celestial Phoenix did not give her a good feeling.

"Despite my warnings, you dare step into my territory!" the Celestial Phoenix roared toward the two figures.

Although her statement raised more questions, it also confirmed whose side those two were going to take in this battle.

Ember again sent a voice transmission, this time specifically to Rai.

’If the dome falls today, focus on our soldiers. We can rebuild the city if it falls.’

Ember understood that the Virtue of Patience, Old Gu, hadn’t joined the Heavenly Prince, Kami. On top of him, if the Prince were to send another Virtue, then the destruction of Phoenix City was evident.

In the sky, Old Gu observed the entire situation before his eyes finally landed on the only being who could give him trouble.

"I guess her rejection was a warning?" he sighed tiredly.

There was no sign of another Virtue on the battlefield. There were two Empyreans and together with Minho, he could easily keep the Phoenix and Ember occupied. But that wouldn’t give him the gap to do what he came here to do.

He knew the rotten personality of Kami, but he had hoped the spoiled brat would see the bigger picture for himself.

’Oh well-’

To his dismay, he wasn’t given time to think things through when the black fire of the Celestial Phoenix was almost at his helm.

Minho tried to protect his master, but a mere Empyrean couldn’t stop the flames.

Old Gu pushed him aside, his feet stepping into the air and it felt as if he had landed on solid ground. With a thrust of his arm, multiple circular rings of dense Spiritual Essence appeared before him.

As the flames collided with the rotating chakras, tremors spread across the land.

Old Gu was pushed back a little before the flames dispersed.

Minho watched with apprehension as he was reminded of the time that his master had warned him about the Celestial Beasts. He, who considered his master to be the strongest among the Virtues, thought that maybe his master could match the Beasts.

Yet, the scene before him was apparent. Even his master, whom he held in the highest regard, was pushed back.

’So, it was true. At least 2 Heavenly Virtues are needed to subdue a Celestial Beast...’

Before the Celestial Phoenix could attack again, however, Kai and Hakuja made their own moves.

Without any fear in the world, they attacked her. It was understood that Old Gu would protect them since he would need their help as well.

"No, you don’t!" Ember moved to intercept them, coming in between the two.

As the battle between the powerhouses began to shake the heavens and the earth, those on the ground below could hardly afford to pay them any attention.

Surrounded by three Elders from the Wilderness, Rai barely had time to catch his breath much less care about what was happening around him. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

He could only smile helplessly after receiving Ember’s voice transmission.

As he had counted, however, 2 Elders from the Wilderness and 1 from the Immortal Sect were still in a passive role. Despite being enraged, they were careful not to lose any more of the Sages.

Although it gave Rai and the others room to breathe, it also made sure that they couldn’t critically injure their opponents. Because whenever they tried, those keeping watch would intervene.

The only real advantage that they had was a wild card; Ozul.

"Mind giving me a hand as well!?" Rai shouted, trying to dodge the combined attacks of his fellow Beastkin.

As his voice reached the ears of Ozul, a whip of a slithering black material appeared to block the sight of one of the Elders harassing Rai.

"Took you long enough!" Rai commented, focusing on the other two.

The amount of Purity that Ozul could create now was enough to create a thousand blades. The only limitation he had was his mental capacity to be able to engage with multiple people at once.

The chaos weighed and pulled on his senses, making it harder to concentrate and guide the Purity.

Right after the battle began, he had taken a position second only to Ember!

As he stood still on the ground, he kept two Elders busy at all times. At the same time, he intervened in other battles as he saw fit.

Ropes made of the Purity spread across the entirety of the battlefield.

The Elders from the Sect and Wilderness had to always watch out for it. Having noticed that whatever methods they used, the Purity could not be felt by any other senses except for sight.

Ozul’s command over the Purity had risen to such a mastery that even the Sages couldn’t feel its movement unless it was too close to them.

This unpredictability stirred fear in the Elders’ hearts. They couldn’t make any moves without thinking twice!

As such, despite their extra efforts in this battle, the Elders from the coalition could hardly get an advantage.

The Purity whipped and slashed. It moved like flowing water and at once turned sharp enough to slice through a Sage!

His still figure in the chaotic battlefield sent a chilling warning to everyone.

"Do not go near him!"

"Leave that monster alone!"

Such shouts could be heard once in a while.

In the start, there were many who saw him as an easy target. Devoid of any Spiritual Essence and standing there so cluelessly made him appear weak.

Yet, the piling corpses around him in a radius proved it otherwise.

The two Elders who consistently tried to get close to him could only grit their teeth and deal with the onslaught of the barrage of blades created by the Purity.

It wasn’t just that the force behind each blade was threatening, but there was a horror of these blades twisting and turning in the middle of the attack. If even a single blade got near them, they could lose their lives!

"Just what is he?" The Elder from the Immortal Sect keeping watch over the others muttered to himself with a frown. He was the most senior

After the previous battles, they had already seen him dominating the peak Transcendents, but now he had gotten even stronger.

To think that the other Dragon Hatchlings had yet to make a name for themselves, while this boy was already fighting among the dragons. The Elder could not hide his frustration.

"If only we hadn’t let them go back then..." he lamented, stroking his white beard in frustration.

Among all the Elders from the Immortal Sect, he was the strongest and the most aged. But now, even he felt threatened by Ozul’s future.

"He must die. He cannot be allowed to live any longer!" He spoke, his voice reaching the ears of the two Elders from the Wilderness who were also mostly idle.

The three exchanged glances and an agreement was quickly reached.

They had to kill him, or there might not be a next time.

The senior Elder was in the upper stages of the Sage Realm. His addition alone could overwhelm Ozul, but he wasn’t going to take chances with that kid anymore.

In addition to the 2 Elders already engaged with Ozul directly, if they also joined hands, it would be 5 Sages against one.

And so, the three of them made up their mind.

"Let’s see how you can get away from this one!" The Elders combined their attacks, splitting the earth and the sky apart as their collective might reached Ozul.

’... Why me...?’

Ozul noticed the attack, and for a second, couldn’t help but sigh in frustration.

For the first time since the battle had started, he moved, hoping to dodge their attack. He couldn’t block that kind of sheer force with just the Purity. He would now have to start running as well.

If only he knew that standing like a god of death amidst such a war was bound to attract misfortune...