Chapter 36: Crushed to Dust, the Tide Turns Instantly

Jingru, the monk, having achieved the greatest merit so far, saw that the demon sect followers, exhausted and barely holding out, were already at the end of their strength. Their defeat was only a matter of time. He signaled his disciples and moved swiftly toward another front.

“Brother! I’ll help you!”

With Jingru and his disciples joining the fray, the pressure on the crimson-robed elder increased dramatically. Beset by two top-tier martial experts and further hemmed in by the Five Staff Monks and Jingru’s disciples, the elder found his space to maneuver shrinking rapidly.

Alarmed and enraged, the crimson-robed elder realized he was being pushed into a deadly predicament. The iron staff of Monk Jingyue and Jingru’s ceremonial staff struck from front and back, their fierce energy enveloping him. The timing of their assault was impeccable. On either side, the Five Staff Monks and Jingru’s disciples pressed in, the combined might of six masters sealing off all avenues of escape.

On the spot, the crimson-robed elder spun around, his arms sweeping out, conjuring a thousand phantom palms. His hands blazed like fire, each palm print a flickering flame, sending waves of scorching heat visibly distorting the air. Jingru’s staff, Jingyue’s iron rod, the weapons of the Five Staff Monks, and the swords of Jingru’s disciples all shuddered mid-swing, their momentum stifled as if caught in a mire.

The slight difference in timing between the staff and the iron rod, though minute, was enough. The elder seized the opening, his phantom palm reaching out to grasp the tip of the ceremonial staff, sending a vortex of swallowing energy spiraling toward Jingru’s heart.

Startled, Jingru quickly recalled his strength to defend himself, but the crimson-robed elder used the recoil to propel himself forward, seizing the opportunity. His other hand lashed out into the air. Jingyue and the other six were shocked to find a portion of their energy vanishing as if swallowed by the sea—the elder had risked losing control of his inner force to unleash the Devouring Art, absorbing their energy to fuel his own. Even at the cost of injury, he was determined to inflict a grievous wound on Jingru.

If he could just buy himself a brief respite, the elder was confident he could escape with his life, even if gravely wounded, now that only one master remained to oppose him.

But at that critical moment, a whistling chain mace shattered his plans.

The commanding officer, who had been observing the battle, saw his chance. His warhorse thundered forward, and, harnessing all his innate strength and true energy, he hurled his two-hundred-pound chain mace like a meteor at the elder.

The officer was a master of battlefield martial arts, trained to end a fight with a single blow. This strike gathered the full force of his power, and its might far exceeded several thousand pounds. The crimson-robed elder, his moves spent, could not evade. He had to abandon his assault on Jingru and meet the blow head-on.

Despite skillfully diverting the chain mace to lessen its force, the spiked weapon still tore the elder’s hand to bloody shreds.

Pain wracked his body, slowing his movements just enough for Jingyue’s iron rod to sweep into his calf. With a muffled crack, bone shattered, crippling his ability to move.

Surrounded by weapons closing in, the elder knew death was upon him. With a resigned sigh, he unleashed a terrifying surge of energy, pressing down upon everyone like a mountain. Breaths caught in their chests, the fighters felt sapped and powerless as his hands, moving with deceptive slowness, suddenly clamped down on two incoming staves.

Terror froze the faces of the two monks. In the next instant, a monstrous force surged through the staves into their bodies, exploding from within. With two loud pops, blood sprayed everywhere, drenching those nearby.

“Die!” Monk Jingyue roared, driven mad with rage. His iron rod crashed down on the elder’s crown, the full force of his wrath smashing the spent elder into a pulp.

With the elder defeated and slain, Feng Fei, fighting fiercely on the other side of the battlefield, sensed the shift and felt anxiety gnaw at her heart. No hope remained.

If Jingru, Jingyue, and the remaining monks attacked together, supported by the relentless soldiers and archers, even she knew she would follow the elder’s fate.

Facing death, Feng Fei abandoned all thought of saving energy for future betrayal or seizing the True Scripture. If she did not escape today, her dream of mastering supreme power and uniting the demonic sects would be nothing but a fantasy.

Do not blame me!

Feng Fei’s face twisted with ferocity. In utter silence, she pressed her palm against her disciple’s dantian. Yunqing, dreaming of escaping the siege with her master, never imagined such betrayal. Caught unawares, her vital energy was shattered, her life force draining away in an instant.

Master... how ruthless you are.

Yunqing died with her eyes wide open, lips parted but unable to utter a single word as her life ebbed quickly away.

Feng Fei’s robes billowed violently without wind. The soldiers surrounding her reeled, seeing stars, the world spinning as they collapsed to the ground. With a sharp cry, Feng Fei soared into the sky.

Arrows showered toward her. Using Yunqing’s corpse as a shield, she was soon carrying a body riddled with arrows. Tossing the corpse away, she drew breath and, without touching the ground, darted several yards to the side, evading another volley. For a moment, there was nothing anyone could do to stop her.

“No matter how strong you are, how long can you last at this rate?” the commanding officer sneered inwardly. With the crimson-robed elder dead, the monks would soon be free to join the hunt. The woman in white, for all her skills, was courting death. Though their bows could not quite catch her, the military formation below would keep her trapped.

Enough arrogance!

Catching a flaw in Feng Fei’s breathing, the officer hurled his chain mace like a shooting star, aiming to finish her. Yet, impossibly, she vaulted high, dodging it by a hair’s breadth.

As the mace swung past, the officer reversed its momentum with his inner strength, pulling it back. But at that moment, the woman in white landed deftly atop the spiked ball. A tremendous force surged along the chain, accelerating the mace’s return.

A smile played on Feng Fei’s lips; the flaw she had shown was a deliberate lure. Her form flickered through the air, heading straight for the officer. He felt a chill pierce his heart—there was no time to react.

“No!” Jingru and Jingyue both cried, a half-step too late.