Sage strode towards the large group of guards with a somewhat flustered expression on his face. The Core Formation Cultivator was faced with a difficult decision. He had to either bring him to see the Peak Master or directly antagonize this person with such a fearsome aura. Normally, he would not hesitate to activate the powerful arrays of Lian Palace to deal with an intruder that tried to throw their weight around. If someone were foolish enough to try to bully the Holy Flame Sect, they would pay for it. Only, in this case, he’d already discovered that the array was treating this intruder as a member of the sect. He could forcibly trigger them to activate anyway, but he wouldn’t act until he knew the full story.
Upon entering the great hall, he finally got a look at who the intruder was and he was furious. At least for an instant. Then he quickly recovered and prepared to lead this fellow into a trap. Then he felt the man’s aura and sweat covered his back. He immediately gave up his previous plan and dearly wished to get away from this man so he could inform the Peak Master. Unfortunately, the man rushed towards him with an eager look and he finally spun around and led him out of the room. He moved with purposeful steps, “Come with me.”
Then, with the problem behind him, he reached into his sleeve and touched the Messaging Jade he kept hidden there. He sent his Qi into it, but before he could formulate a message, the other man stepped up beside him and grabbed his wrist. The Messaging Jade cracked between his fingers and the man’s golden eyes stared ferociously at him.
“It’s very important you take me to the Peak Master as quickly as possible. If we waste any time, many people could be hurt.”
With the man’s hand still on his wrist he could sense a great force and he heard the threat in those words. He bobbed his head rapidly, giving a nod of assent to the man and walking even faster. He immediately decided that he would move behind the man after informing the Peak Master so that he could ambush this villain from behind. He kept repeating this thought to himself until he reached the Peak Master’s door. They’d climbed up a huge staircase and were now at the chamber directly above the huge showroom they were in earlier. He reached out and knocked on the door with a specific pattern that meant trouble.
“Peak Master, your esteemed guest is here.”
Sage pushed past the man even as he was speaking, wanting to minimize the amount of preparation the Peak Master could do. A green aura sprung up around him as he walked in, facing off with a middle-aged man that wore a very extravagant yet refined version of the Holy Flame Sect Uniform. It was much like someone had combined the cloud gray robes of the sect with a tuxedo. It had wide, but sharply folded cuffs on the sleeves, a sharply folded collar, lapel and rows of ivory like buttons along the front seams.
As soon as Sage stepped into the room, he already felt Formation Arrays coming to life around him. He smiled at the Peak Master and took a rapid step to the side. His aura formed into the shape of a large blade and stabbed into what looked like a decorative sconce on the wall. It shattered into two pieces and the formation flickered. He turned around so he could face the Peak Master to his left and the door to his right.
“You got me here just in time. Alright, you may all go, I have something important to discuss with the Peak Master. Many lives are on the line.”
The Core Formation Cultivator seemed to have regained his guts as soon as he had the Peak Master in front of him and a purple flame was dancing upon his fingertips. Behind him the other guards and disciples of the Peak Master had already drawn their weapons, swords and sabers appearing from out of their Storage Rings and glowing with power.
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“You have done well, Xu Long. Leave us for now. I have much to discuss with my colleague.”
The Core Formation Cultivator, Xu Long, was surprised to hear such a thing from his master. There was still a dangerous aura around this new guest and they’d just watched him damage the Peak Master’s formation. Why would the Peak Master ask them to leave? He stared into his master’s eyes for confirmation and what he saw scared him. He nodded quickly and bowed to Sage, “Forgive us for intruding.”
Then Xu Long turned around and quickly ushered the rest of the guards out of the room as quickly as possible. It was only when the door finally slid shut behind them that the Peak Master’s smile faded and he glared at Sage. At the same time, a line was drawn back towards Sage, disappearing from where it had been noiselessly and invisibly wrapped around each of the guard’s necks.
The Peak Master frowned at him, “You’ve made your point. Why are you here?”
“I did? Neither your formation or those guards can stand against me. If you overstep your bounds, this palace, along with everyone and everything you care about in it, will be no more. Understand?”
Xuegang’s eyes flashed with anger, and a law power filled the air around him. Sage smiled and sent two types of law power to clash against the man, “I won’t blame you for seeking benefits from what you thought was someone insignificant, but know this: If you ever get my Clan involved you will face a fate worse than death.”
Of course, Sage was being quite optimistic to think that he could merely intimidate the Peak Master with just his aura. A brilliant sapphire blue flame flared up in front of him. A thousand lotus petals unfurled around him and then collapsed towards him from all directions. The blue petals were formed of high intensity flames and Sage jumped backwards, drifting away like a leaf even as a wave of oily darkness and a blue tinted mercury spilled out to surround him like a shield.
A large figure appeared in front of him and blocked the blender of burning blades with its body. The Blacksilver Knight was used like a shield while Sage skirted around the outside of the flames. He leapt into the air, just as a disc of flame appeared where his next step was going to land. Instead of stepping on the ground, he kicked off the wall, taking his path into the air. Then he twisted into a corkscrew in midair and somehow he looked like he was somersaulting onto a small platform and then diving off the side of it. He not only dove out of the way of many blue flowers of flame, but then changed directions three more times in mid-air.
Then his arm shot out and a green blade sliced through a rose like blossom of sapphire flame and Sage was face to face with the Peak Master. As soon as his foot touched the ground, thick vines sprung out and large blue flowers formed all around the two of them. The flower buds grew rapidly in size and the sapphire flames around them flickered away. The Winter Lotus’ absorbed the flame that the Peak Master was creating, but only for an instant. They were almost immediately overwhelmed and their petals spread out, turning purple and forming a small dome around the two of them.
Sage shot forward and his arms moved rapidly, slicing through the fiery lotus petals that appeared in front of him. The Peak Master was now at the center of a flaming lotus, the many sharp blades spun and twirled around him like a beautiful blender, blocking off Sage’s attacks while also chopping at the purple Winter Lotus flowers that had surrounded him.
Then the many flowers around the Peak Master suddenly released a cloud of multi-colored gas. Purple, pink, red and white, like a strange kaleidoscope of color swirling and completely covering every bit of area around the Peak Master. Even the forest of flaming petals were not able to stop them completely and the cloying gas snuck through the gaps and surrounded the Peak Master. The man was not breathing, but the poison gas was not one that had to be ingested.