Having gotten used to attracting attention, Ozul had forgotten that he had become a threat to all cultivators.

Even the Sages under Ember occasionally gave him strange looks, which he often ignored.

He completely ignored the norms of the martial world. His very existence went against their perspective and experiences, which had shaped them.

It simply did not make sense for someone to get so strong and hold his ground against those who were clearly stronger than him. And despite all of that, betray no sign of Spiritual Essence!

He watched helplessly as the five strongest Elders from the coalition reached for his throat.

Getting their attention reduced the burden on the others, but if something wasn’t done soon, it wouldn’t end well for him.

But it seemed as if lady luck had forsaken him today.

He couldn’t hope for someone like Ember to help him since she herself was despairing at the scene before her.

...

Ember and Hakuja were both transformed into their True Forms.

Having seen Hakuja in Human form for so long, many had forgotten that he was originally a once-in-a-lifetime Jade-Crowned snake.

As the Dragon wrapped in scorching flames clashed with the giant snake in the sky, Old Gu was busy dealing with the Celestial Phoenix.

Minho and Kai were both helping him, yet he couldn’t find many opportunities to deal a heavy blow to the Phoenix.

"Why are you so stubborn, you old hag! It won’t affect you even a little!" Old Gu tried to convince her, as braced himself for the abyssal claws reaching for him.

It was apparent that the Phoenix didn’t want to listen to reason.

While Old Gu thought that she was simply being stubborn; the reality was far from that.

Since the appearance of her Jinx, her mother, the Phoenix, was careful with protecting her territory. Not only did she not want to lose face in front of Jinx, but it was also to avoid any potential troubles. After all, Old Gu was unwilling to state his reasons either.

In the critical moment, Kai’s sword arc distracted the Celestial Phoenix, who had to simultaneously deal with the three of them.

Kai had housed Old Gu in the Immortal Sect when he was hiding his identity, as such he could fight with him without worrying about his back.

When everyone was in a deadlock, something happened that had the potential to tip the scales in either side’s favor.

A fissure appeared in the sky once again!

Hope flickered in Ember’s heart as she felt the waves of Spiritual Essence leaking from the fissure. She thought that maybe the Lord of Shadows had finally sent reinforcements.

Meanwhile, the smirk on Old Gu’s face went unnoticed. Yasasshi Hito had promised him that he wouldn’t send a Virtue.

As such, the only arrival could be of a Virtue sent by Kami!

And it just so happened that the person who stepped out from the spatial crack was a middle-aged lady with baggy eyes; Lan Duò, Virtue of Diligence!

Ember’s heart dropped and the Celestial Phoenix glared in Lan Duo’s direction. She wasn’t confident in being able to hold off two Virtues at the same time.

"My, aren’t you having a hard time?" The middle-aged lady tried to smile alluringly, but she gave up halfway.

Wasting no time, the Phoenix launched an attack at Minho, who tried to block in vain. He was sent shooting in the distance, quickly disappearing from sight.

Each clash of these powerhouses sent tremors throughout the lands.

There were even sparks of the space distorting as their attacks collided!

If they hadn’t moved far away from those fighting on the ground, neither side would have an army to speak of!

After all, even a peak stage Sage could only die quietly in the face of those giants.

Lan Duo clicked her tongue.

She was already annoyed at being sent by Kami here to help these pathetic fools.

To add to her frustration, the moment she had arrived, the Celestial Phoenix came after her!

The only reason she agreed to come here in the first place was because she was told that Old Gu would be here.

"Why do I only find you in tricky situations, old man?" She smiled and asked as if they had been friends for a long time.

Old Gu, however, didn’t bother to reply. He evaded the storm of black fire, making sure Kai didn’t get caught up in them either.

"Will talk once this is over then," Lan Duo couldn’t seem to read the situation.

She furiously engaged with the Phoenix, not holding her strength back.

Meanwhile, Old Gu couldn’t hide his cringe. He really didn’t like Kami’s choice of sending her instead of the other old coots.

It was painfully obvious that despite having been relieved at her arrival, Old Gu didn’t like her for some reason.

In a matter of minutes, the situation began to turn!

The Celestial Phoenix was now on the receiving end for the first time. Ember watched in despair as she noticed the two Heavenly Virtues ganging up on her.

She desperately attacked Hakuja. "Get out of my way!" She yelled, but her struggles were to no avail.

Hakuja was simply stronger than her. After all, he had been an Empyrean since most of the Sages alive hadn’t even been born yet.

*Screech!*

The Phoenix cried as the air around began to boil.

Wisps of black fire began to flicker all around the sky, a testament to her rage.

She had never been this angry before. Never had she thought of being humiliated like this in front of her mother.

"Well, that does it..." Old Gu muttered, his voice reaching over to his companions.

Lan Duo was about to ask what he meant by that, but his next words were enough of an answer.

"Do not die, Minho!" Old Gu shouted, giving his trusted subordinate a knowing look.

And then, he turned around, and sped away!

"What-" Lan Duo’s words were stuck in her mouth as the enraged Phoenix began to bombard her with attacks!

Even Kai who was thrown off to the side and Hakuja who was fighting with Ember didn’t understand what was going on.

’Just what is going on?’ Ember’s mind raced to come to a conclusion, but she wasn’t given enough time to think as Hakuja’s venom reached for her eyes.

They had created such distance from Phoenix City, that the giant dome of shield wasn’t even visible anymore.

Soon, Old Gu’s figure also disappeared into the distance, and they couldn’t do anything about it.

"Damn that old man!" Lan Duo shouted in frustration, realizing that she was tricked into coming here.

...

Ozul found it difficult to move around as whichever direction he took to escape, an Elder would block him, ready to tear him apart with their bare hands.

He ran over the frozen ground, courtesy of one of the Sages who specialized in the Ice element when the Beastkin Sage brought down their claws at him.

Creating a platform to jump from, he used another part of the Purity to block Beastkin’s vision and was about to counterattack when the Elder from the Sect swung her Jade Staff at him!

’Should I just give up?’

Such thoughts continuously sprung up in his mind. That option seemed much less troublesome than what he was going through now.

As for the fact that he would die, life wasn’t looking very attractive to him at this moment.

Fortunately, Rai and old man Jaka occasionally gave him a helping hand once in a while to take some weight off his shoulders.

’There are no reinforcements from the Lord of Shadows and that old man has joined the Heavenly Prince instead...’

Taking a quick look around, he noticed the dwindling numbers of the soldiers on their side. Even the shield covering the city continued to dim ever so slightly.

The Wilderness and the Sect had almost squeezed dry their resources for this battle.

The Grand Elder of the Sect attacked less and observed more. He had already confirmed from their Sect Leader via voice transmission that another Virtue had joined them, so victory was only a matter of time.

As such, he took a more calculative approach to put down this anomaly once and for all.

He waited as the other 4 Elders cornered Ozul, making it difficult for him to even have breathing space, much less time to escape.

And just when he had found the small opening he was looking for, it happened!

In his hurry, Ozul attacked two Elders, forcing them to back away momentarily, but the third one was already too close to him. He had to block the attack head-on as there was no time to dodge.

But the Grand Elder saw this opportunity and swooped in as well!

As Ozul was sent blasting back from the force of the attack, he could only use the Purity again to counterattack that Beastkin.

In the critical moment, he failed to notice the Grand Elder reaching for his back.

"Let me see how you can live without a heart, you brat!"

"Arkh!"

He grunted loudly in pain. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Ozul!" The trio shouted in horror. They were keeping watch over him, but couldn’t help him either. Their cry attracted others’ attention as well.

They witnessed the chilling scene; the Grand Elder stood behind him, his hand passing through Ozul’s chest!

Even the Elders from the coalition were surprised that they had finally gotten rid of their worst nuisance.

The most shocked by this event, however, was neither the trio nor Ozul. It was instead, the Grand Elder himself.

"What are you...-"