Chapter 98 - 97:Battle.

Chapter 98: Chapter 97:Battle.

No words were needed afterward.

The air had already gone stale, and the bitter taste rising in everyone’s throat seemed to settle in their lungs.

Zhao Tianqiong turned to the nearby Zhao Family cultivators and ordered, "Set up the Ninefold Dragon-Suppression Formation!"

"Yes!"

Zhao Tianqiong glanced back at the two women behind him.

His expression softened slightly when his eyes fell on Zhao Linger, though his voice remained firm.

"Take Linger and leave this place. Don’t come back until I summon you."

"But, Father—"

"No arguments." He briefly glanced at Zhao Lianyu. "Keep her safe."

Zhao Lianyu bowed. "Understood."

Zhao Linger looked as though she wanted to say something more, but the sight of her father’s serious expression made her swallow her words.

With Zhao Lianyu guiding her away, the two hurried toward the outer grounds.

Above them, the Zhao Family cultivators had begun forming hand seals.

Crimson lines spread across the sky, connecting one after another until an enormous formation took shape overhead.

Its light deepened, expanding outward like a dome lowered over the imperial palace, enclosing the ruined residence and the surrounding area within its scarlet glow.

Zhao Tianqiong turned back toward the masked man as the last lines of the formation fell into place.

A golden flash flickered in Zhao Tianqiong’s hand, revealing a long sword with a broad, slightly curved blade.

Fine golden veins ran from its guard to its tip.

He gripped its dark hilt and rose into the sky, stopping beneath the crimson dome.

Zhao Wuchen followed.

He raised one hand, and a long spear appeared in his grasp. Its shaft was a dull, bone-white, interrupted by several dark rings near the base of the blade.

The spearhead was narrow and forked at the base, with a short, backward-facing hook along one edge.

In the next second, the two vanished on the spot as the masked man stomped his foot into the ground.

"Come!"

Boom!

The platform beneath his foot cracked, and the shock waves exploded into the sky as dust swallowed the ruined residence.

Two streaks of light tore through the cloud of debris.

BOOM!

The first arrived with a golden flash.

Zhao Tianqiong’s sword descended, its broad blade cutting through the dust with a shrill whistle.

"Good coming!"

The masked man tilted his head, allowing the edge to pass beside his face, then struck the flat of the blade with his palm.

CLANG!

The impact sent the sword sweeping past him, but Zhao Tianqiong had already turned his wrist, bringing the weapon around in a golden arc that split the dust apart.

At the same instant, Zhao Wuchen’s spear pierced through the opening, "Die!"

SHING!

The masked man bent backward, the spearhead passing a hair’s breadth above his chest.

His hand snapped against the shaft, knocking it aside, but the spear’s backward-facing hook caught the sleeve of his robe.

Zhao Wuchen twisted his wrist, attempting to pull him off balance.

The masked man simply stepped forward.

His sleeve tore, and his palm struck Zhao Wuchen’s chest.

BOOOOOOM!

Zhao Wuchen shot backward, but Zhao Tianqiong was already there, his sword cutting across the masked man’s retreat.

The man turned his shoulder, let the blade slide past his robe, and drove his fist toward the Emperor’s face.

Zhao Tianqiong raised his sword to block.

KLANG!

Their collision split the clouds.

A golden shock wave burst outward, sending the broken platform beneath them tumbling into the depths of clouds below.

Before the fragments could fall far, another streak of pale light cut across the sky, followed by the sharp ringing of metal.

Zhao Wuchen had returned.

His spear thrust forward in a succession of rapid strikes, each point aimed at a different opening.

The masked man twisted between them, turning his head aside, shifting his shoulders, and redirecting the spear with brief taps of his fingers.

Yet the attacks came faster than before, forcing him to give ground for the first time.

Zhao Tianqiong seized the opening.

He swept his sword upward, and golden light erupted from the blade.

A crescent of sword energy tore through the sky, forcing the masked man to leap aside.

Zhao Wuchen followed with a thrust that sent a pale lance of spiritual energy after him.

The two attacks crossed.

BOOOOOOM!

The sky erupted in gold and white.

The masked man emerged from the explosion with one hand raised, his palm pressed against the spear shaft while his other hand caught the sword’s spine.

He twisted both weapons outward, and their combined force burst apart around him.

WHOOOOSH!

The shock wave struck the crimson dome.

Its surface shuddered, scarlet lines flaring across the heavens.

At the perimeter, the Zhao Family cultivators felt the impact travel through the formation beneath their feet.

Several staggered, their faces turning pale as they hurriedly formed new seals to reinforce the barrier.

"Hold the formation!"

The command rang out across the perimeter.

Crimson light surged through the formation lines, spreading from one cultivator to the next.

They poured their spiritual energy into the barrier, struggling to contain the force of the battle within its boundaries.

Another collision shook the sky.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A succession of impacts rolled across the imperial palace.

Several cultivators groaned as the pressure slammed into them.

Blood spilled from the corners of their mouths, and some nearly collapsed before their companions caught them and helped sustain their positions.

The formation flickered, its crimson surface bending inward beneath the pressure, but the cultivators gritted their teeth and continued pouring energy into it.

Inside the dome, the battle grew more violent.

Zhao Tianqiong descended with his sword held in both hands, golden light gathering along its edge until the blade seemed to carry the weight of a falling mountain.

Zhao Wuchen moved beneath him, his spear tracing a pale circle that drew the surrounding spiritual energy into a spiraling current.

Their techniques converged upon the masked man from above and below.

The masked man crossed his arms.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

The impact drove him downward, shattering the remains of the platform beneath his feet.

Stone and dust exploded outward as he plunged through the debris, only to halt abruptly in midair.

His arms spread apart, and the golden sword energy and pale spear current were forced away from him in opposite directions.

One swept across the ruined residence.

The other tore through the distant rooftops.

Both struck the crimson dome.

KRAAAAAASH!

The formation blazed like a second sun, its surface rippling violently as the destructive force spread across it.

At the perimeter, several cultivators coughed up blood, their spiritual energy nearly exhausted.

The crimson lines beneath their feet dimmed, then brightened again as reinforcements took their places.

Still, the barrier held.

The masked man lifted his head toward the two figures descending upon him.

His painted smile faced them directly.

Zhao Tianqiong’s sword flashed.

Zhao Wuchen’s spear followed.

CLANG! BOOM! SHING!

The three figures collided again, their movements blurring into streaks of gold, white, and grey that crossed the sky faster than the eye could follow.

Every meeting of sword, spear, and bare hand sent another thunderous shock wave through the imperial palace.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOOOOOM!

The clouds churned.

The ground split. Buildings trembled beneath the relentless force, their shattered remains tumbling through the clouds.

Then, just as Zhao Tianqiong and Zhao Wuchen closed in for another exchange, the masked man’s movements changed.

He abruptly lowered his right hand, and his fingers seemed to pierce into the air as his figure flickered like moving pictures.

’It’s time to leave. I hope I have enough spiritual energy to use the space attribute.’

The golden sword and pale spear struck the space where he had been standing, their combined force erupting into a blinding flash.

BOOOOOOM!

For an instant, the entire battlefield vanished beneath the explosion.

Zhao Tianqiong immediately turned his sword, searching for the masked man’s presence through the turbulent spiritual energy.

Zhao Wuchen swept his spear across the sky, his divine sense spreading in every direction.

Nothing.

Their expressions changed.

"Where—"

Before Zhao Wuchen could finish, a disturbance appeared far beyond the crimson dome.

A person’s right hand appeared first from the air, then the full body as the masked man stood outside the formation, several dozen kilometers meters away.

And beside him stood Zhao Lianyu and Zhao Linger.

The two women had been watching the battle from a distant building when the masked man appeared before them.

Neither had time to react before a strange spiritual energy spread around their bodies, wrapping them in place.

Zhao Lianyu’s face paled.

She immediately circulated her spiritual energy, attempting to break free, but the force around her limbs restricted her movements.

Zhao Linger could barely move her fingers.

The masked man stood between them, his grey robes fluttering.

Then the pendant hidden beneath Zhao Linger’s clothes began to glow.

A faint pulse of energy emerged from it, and the familiar protective barrier started to form around her body yet again.

The masked man glanced down, "Too slow."

His right hand reached toward the pendant.

A strange darkness gathered around his fingertips, so faint that it seemed to swallow the light rather than emit any of its own.

The moment his fingers touched the pendant, the glow abruptly stopped.

Crack.

The small treasure shattered into fragments.

Zhao Linger stared at the broken pieces falling from her hand in fear.

Inside the crimson dome, Zhao Tianqiong and Zhao Wuchen had gone completely still.

Neither seemed able to accept what they were seeing.

How did he get out of the formation?

What’s with that strange hand?

But these questions were destined to be left unanswered.

And more importantly, they were tricked! The man’s goal had always been Zhao Linger from the start!

"YOU BASTARD!"