Clip Clop! Clip Clop!

Sounds of a horse’s hooves beating the hard ground echoed from the cave tunnel.

He may have missed the sound earlier but it was impossible to not hear it now. Sect Master Yan looked at the tunnel and then at injured Lu Shao. He decided to kill him before the strangers arrived.

To demoralize the weak Lu Shao, Sect Master Yan mocked him.

“Now obediently die, because no one will save you!”

Yan Hao said with a vicious smirk. Just as he was about to bring his staff down on Lu Shao’s head, a loud shout reverberated in the tunnel.

“Who says no one will save him? His saviors are here!”

A majestic brown horse beast galloped out of the tunnel and stopped between Sect Master Yan and Commander Lu Shao. City Lord Zhen, parried the strike of the staff with his sword and protected Lu Shao.

Sect Master Yan jumped back upon seeing who the newcomers were. He looked at Clan Master Qing and City Lord with disbelief!

Clan Master Qing was equally confused. He closed distance between himself and Sect Master Yan and worriedly asked,

“Sect Master Yan, didn’t you say that only the Elders of the Sect knew of this passage?”

“I did! This passage was the closely guarded secret of our Sect! No one other than the Elders and their disciples should know of it.”

Yan Hao answered with bewilderment. Hearing this,  Qing Mo angrily hissed, “Then how come that son of bitch is here? Who snitched?”

Sect Master Yan did not take the accusation lightly.  Even in a dire situation like this Clan Master Qing was accusing his Sect’s elder of leading City Lord here.

“I wonder who betrayed us. We have guarded this secret for years without anyone the wiser. Today we brought you and your men into the passage and suddenly the enemy came through the same route!”

Sect Master Yan flipped the accusation on Clan Master Qing.  It shut him up and made him focus on the situation before them.

“Hmph! So what if he has come? What can he do alone? This is the chance to finish him off!”

Clan Master Qing’s eyes glinted with viciousness as he looked at the City Lord. The two of them saw him put Lu Shao on the Horse beast’s back and send it back into the tunnel.

Clan Master Qing took a step forward,  unsheathing his Dragon Blood Saber.

“It looks like Lord Zhen does not value the life of his Second Commander.”

“Of course I do!  Why else do you think I am here?”

City Lord Zhen replied, taking two steps forward with his sword pointed at the two Masters.

Clan Master Qing was taken aback for a moment but he quickly recovered. He smiled a vicious grin and displayed his yellowing canines to intimidate Zhen Wu.

Sect Master Yan took another approach. He pointed at Feng Yan and Gu Dan surrounded by their men with his Staff and threatened,

“City Lord, if you treasure their lives, surrender your Right to rule! As long as you do, I will let you walk out with them!”

City Lord Zhen looked amused by the threat. Sect Master Yan had chosen a threat that was not threatening at all!

Tactics of attacking with small Path Forging mobs would be effective against any other Sense Trainer. Except the two in question.

Even without their heightened senses and reflexes, they had weapons against sticks and fists of their weaker opponents!

Secondly, City Lord knew that their cultivation techniques were superior to the High Grade Cultivation manual he brought from Ikasa. This gave them much higher stamina reserves.

And lastly, Gu Dan may be an inexperienced fighter, but he was proficient in swinging a hammer. Nothing needed to be said about Feng Yan’s battle prowess. As someone who had suffered defeat at his hands, City Lord would bet on Feng Yan any day.

If Sect Master Yan and Clan Master Qing fought them in their weakened state, City Lord would be worried for their safety. That was not the case anymore as he had arrived to tangle the two Masters.

City Lord smirked at Sect Master Yan’s threat.

“Shouldn’t I let them make decisions concerning their lives?”

With a mischievous grin, City Lord shouted at Feng Yan and Gu Dan.

“Sense Trainer Feng, Sense Trainer Gu, do you want me to abandon this battle in exchange for your lives?”

The two quickly peeked a glance at the City Lord. They wondered what was wrong with his head. But the devious grin on his lips let them know that everything was within his control.

Acting like good cronies, they crowed their denial!

“No City Lord! We are willing to lay down our lives for your cause! Don’t surrender!”

“If the Absolutes will, I will be saved. But it should not come at the cost of your surrender!”

City Lord barely suppressed a smile at their pathetic acting. He looked at Sect Master Yan with twinkling eyes.

“You heard them.”

This one sentence contorted the faces of the two leaders with rage. Clan Master Qing was infuriated beyond measure by the utter disregard City Lord showed towards them.

“Zhen Wu! You have become too arrogant! It is about time you taste defeat!”

He spun as he approached the City Lord and added momentum to his slashing saber.

Clang!

The Saber collided with the Sword, pushing City Lord back two steps. Qing Mo took  a step back to create room for his swings and continued his barrage of attacks.

City Lord easily avoided and blocked his numerous shallow swings. Without momentum, Clan Master Qing could never match City Lord’s strength.

As they two engaged in the clash of weapons, Sect Master Yan kept an eye on the overall situation.

Feng Yan and Gu Dan were not as helpless as he had thought. When the grunts tried to attack them, Feng Yan chopped his attackers’s body into two.

Gu Dan was even more vicious. His Hammers struck with enough force to shatter vital bones, but not kill the man. The painful screams of his attacker deterred the men from even looking at him.

“First Elder! Shoot them with another dose of Sleeping Incense!”

Yan Hao’s order received no response. This is when he realized something was wrong. He hurriedly looked at the battle situation of Qing Mo and City Lord.

So far, Qing Mo was on the offensive and City Lord was calmly defending his rabid attacks. Except for a few nicks and scratches, neither had suffered a deeper injury.

Sect Master Yan knew that this was not the usual style of the City Lord. Even Clan Master Qing knew this. However, he was blinded by rage right now. In his berserk state, Qing Mo could not tell that his opponent was merely playing with him, trying to stall for time.

‘Why? Why would they need time?’

Sect Master Yan frantically thought. Then his attention went to the First Elder. The rooftop where he should be was empty.

“He has an accomplice. They are waiting for Feng Yan and Gu Dan to recover!”

Realization hit Yan Hao like a bolt of lightning. He joined Qing Mo to subdue City Lord, like they had done in the Hu Clan.

With the addition of Sect Master Yan, City Lord’s position grew precarious. After raging for a few minutes, Clan Master Qing was also coming out of his rabid rage.

They cooperated well to push City Lord on the defensive. Slowly wounds accumulated on his body but he was still calm.

After parrying a diagonal slash, City Lord Zhen suddenly smiled. Alarm bells rang in Qing Mo’s head and he immediately jumped back, creating distance. Sect Master Yan also took a defensive posture.

“Done?”

City Lord asked, not attacking either of them. The two of them were confused by his question.

“Yes. Now we just need to take care of him.”

Yan Hao and Qing Mo jumped even further sideways as they heard a voice answer from behind them. They saw a figure covered by shadows walking towards them.

There was a bag on his left shoulder and a saber in his right hand pointed at Yan Hao. Qing Mo recognized the man!

“You! How are you here?”

“Why can’t I be?” Ikasa asked, nonchalantly walking towards them.

Qing Mo floundered for words but then he broke out into laughter.

“Hahaha! This is fate! You killed my men. It is only right that your people die before you.”

“And who is going to kill them?”

“Hu Bei! The First seat of my Hu Clan. The one you bastards humiliated. He will have his vengeance!”

Qing Mo scathingly retorted. Ikasa calmly reached into the sack and took out Hu Bei’s head. He held it by it’s hair and asked,

“You mean him? Since you sent him to My Villa, I thought he was some guy you wanted to get rid of!”

The moment the two old men laid their eyes on the head, they went into a shock.

“HU BEI!”

Clan Master Qing fell to his knees and cried the tears of blood. He may be his adopted son, but he was the only family he had. Seeing his corpse being desecrated this way enraged him to end.

His eyes spit fire. If glares could burn, Ikasa would be ash now. Though Ikasa felt a little bad for what he was doing, this was the only way to end this meaningless battle of rights.

“Moony!”

He called and the little fox appeared near his leg. His jaw was clenched as if he was struggling to hold someone down.

“Clan Master Qing, you involved yourself in a needless war. Now you will die a meaningless death. With you, let your Hu Clan perish.”

Ikasa met the eyes of the old man on his knees. The fire and struggle in his eyes was getting stronger as he tried to break Moony’s chains and attack Ikasa.

He knew that as soon as the golden disc in Ikasa’s hands was launched he would never get the chance to avenge his son.

“Qing Mo, repent for all the deaths you have caused!”

With these words, the Serrated Sun Disc flew towards the kneeling old man.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep