Molting the Mortal Coil

Sage could only agree with what Baozhai yelled out. They had to beat these violet robed fellows fast before the others broke down the barrier. If they didn’t beat them now, they could rely on their allies and the chances of them killing that old bastard would drop greatly. Sage wished to build up Lionheart Town to repay his ancestor, but as long as he was alive there was always a chance to make that happen. He could easily abandon the town, but the Tiankong Siblings meant much more to him. He knew that with their father’s killer in front of them, there was no way they would retreat.

I’ll have to reveal more cards.

To try and kill the enemy faster, he’d already revealed the Blacksilver Knight and some of his poison, but it just wasn’t fast enough. To ensure revenge he had to prematurely reveal his tricks. He released a gout of flame, pouring it over the three enemies facing him head on, bathing them in an orange fire. With the fire as a cover he threw out a few large objects behind him. The silvery poles were wide and oddly curved in different places. At least to the eyes of these people. They flipped through the air, going nowhere near the other combatants. Their attention had been diverted from his flames and they were worried they were on guard only to find these ‘hidden weapons’ were thrown harmlessly into the air.

They had to quickly turn their attention back to their own fights, but they had looked away too soon. The spinning poles suddenly stopped, floating in mid-air and pointing at a dozen of the men and women wearing outfits the color of the sunset. The old man immediately realized the problem, but Ruanfu dashed in front of him. Her slashing tail smashing against the man’s glowing finger. At the same time her large feathers flew at him from every direction, pinning him down for just a few moments.

The wind hissed when beams of light shot from those silvery objects and punched holes into fleshy bodies. Those pole-like objects he’d thrown into the air were, of course, Shard Rifles. A very lethal weapon he’d like to save for last was revealed so soon, needing to end things here quickly. The only problem was they were not as effective as usual. The Soul Clone was controlling them, aiming directly where Sage saw the enemies moving to, but his Foresight did not seem to be working properly. Without being able to guess where an enemy would be dodging, he lost his ability as a flawless sniper. Even so, his clone was using a dozen vicious rifles at the same time and it was enough to rapidly turn the tides. Even if half of them missed, six of the enemy were still punctured. Blood spilled to the ground and the balance of the tense fights were suddenly broken.

Even worse, Sage had not used a normal fire and bathed his three foes in the Samsara Flame. They were suffering attacks upon their minds and experiencing other lives. That sort of attack wasn’t flawless as it came with a drawback. When he used the Samsara Flame to the fullest it also required his careful control and concentration. He’d caught the three of them, but it also took much of his attention. Since he wasn’t helping the Soul Clone much anyway, he dispelled his Foresight and just focused on burning them with the Samsara Flame. At the same time, the Soul Clone and the Blacksilver Knight assisted the six others who were battling at uneven odds against fifth rank fighters.

Songji would leap into the shadows and hop out next to her opponent, aiming for weak points like the throat and eyes. Facing off against two enemies at once, one of them attacked her with a violet fingertip while the other avoided her. They took turns with one as the bait and the other as an attacker. She had narrowly missed them many times, but since she always went for a debilitating strike she had not hit them yet. When Sage revealed his new card, the one on the attack was shot in the back, while the other had to scramble faster to avoid a second attack. That extra instant let her close the distance and her fingers sunk into the man’s neck. She clutched his throat tightly and then ripped her arm back hard. There was a gruesome sound, blood fell to the ground and the man choked, holding his neck helplessly. His windpipe had been completely crushed. While the attack wasn’t fatal to a Core Formation Cultivator, it completely stopped his breathing and that greatly impacted his physical ability. The inability to breathe rapidly led to his downfall. With his speed reduced, he couldn’t avoid Songji any more and she tore through each of his achilles tendons to slow him to a crawl. Then she snapped both of his arms and finally smashed her fist into his stomach. Her strike shocked his dantian and rattled his core, giving her time to release a torrent of energy into his body. The dark Qi shot into him like a blade, slicing his core into a dozen tiny shards.

The man’s partner scrambled to his feet after being shot in the back, but then faced off against a large armored figure. The ten foot hulk smashed towards him with ferocious swings and charges. The man was able to dodge them quite easily, even with his punctured chest, but the Blacksilver Knight did its job in keeping him away from his partner. He didn’t even see when his partner was finally killed, only realizing what had happened when Songji appeared behind him and kicked his knee from the side just as he was pushing off with that leg. His leg was already extended and exerting force so it was perfectly braced for her to snap it. She made quick work of the man and then Songji and the Blacksilver Knight ran off to quickly reinforce the other Tiankong Siblings.

In just a few minutes, the tide turned quickly, and the two dozen were wiped out. The Dragoons surrounded the remaining battle between Ruanfu and the man with the fu manchu. They formed a huge ring and the symbols on the chest of their armor lit up. They used their Formation Armor to form the Million Scale Shell. That could buy them a little more time. Tujiu jumped into the Samsara Flames and thrust his spear into the abdomens of each of the three trapped men, freeing Sage from maintaining the flames. Sage’s Soul Clone was currently firing upon the old man, helping Ruanfu in her battle.

Sage wanted to jump in and assist her in killing the old bastard more directly, but she already yelled at him demanding that she would get revenge herself. The others also wanted to jump in, but they were a whole rank lower and they would just get in her way. Instead they all stopped to recover from the battle. They had all been fighting at least two to one odds and they all had been wounded to varying degrees.

“Hide among the people like we discussed before. I don’t think we are going to make it back. They will probably just chase after me, but they might split up to take the city back as well.”

Sage used the Messaging Jade to inform Wan Ling and his other subordinates of what was going on. They were already heavily wounded and had barely beat a quarter of their enemies. He was not optimistic of their chances.

“We have to fight together. Stay near me, we will have to flee. Does everyone understand?”

Jiyao, Juzui, Baozhai, Tujiu, and Songji all reluctantly nodded. Baozhai was currently hugging her father’s head, tears and blood stained her cheeks, but that didn’t stop her from agreeing. Lei was not so agreeable, he was currently crackling with electricity and itching to join the continuing battle with Ruanfu.

Sage slowly sighed, “I’m sorry.”

He wanted to give Ruanfu a chance, but they had run out of time. A symbol appeared on his forehead and with a flash he released his true form, the huge cobra body smashed onto the ground and knocked up a cloud of dust. The huge hood of the cobra unfurled while his head rose up into the air. That hood was covered with shifting and swirling colors, creating a mesmerizing kaleidoscope while the strange pupils of his eyes started to vibrate. A golden glow came from them and he caught the gaze of the old man that Ruanfu fought with. He fixed the full power of his Hypnotic Eye upon him, and the man was frozen in place.

“Use your full power. Take your revenge.”

His voice drifted out among the six of them and they all released their Human Seals. Six demonic birds appeared, of varying sizes and styles. They rushed forward, releasing different screeches. Ruanfu’s screech was frustrated, but she joined them. Darting forward and using the full power of her law to tear apart the noble law that the old man had surrounded himself with. The seven birds tore the old man into pieces, ripping him apart piece by bloody piece.

In the end, only his core was left and Ruanfu snapped it with her crystalline beak. At that moment, there was another crack and the yellow barrier layer disappeared.