"I swear I felt her presence.. what happened?" The foolish young one muttered while turning to her last location. 'Only.. Jasmine is there. What happened?'
"In the future, the Dark Tiger-fire family will have a new leader after the Empire gets involved in a Censure! All those who disturb the peace of the masses will be put down!" Leroy's voice caused Victoria and Ling Jing to fight harder, he was a government official after all. "Let none of them live to cause more strife!"
"As you command Inspector!" The trio composed of the bodyguard, Victoria, and Jing Lin said together. But those like Jing Van and Jing Hao also understood the situation was going to get worse real soon.
The Jing family members who were there had no idea what to do without direct orders. They would blame whatever happened on the Inspector to save their own asses. Though it may be above his Official capacity to make such a declaration, it was not unheard of that if something truly was found illegal and he didn't prevent it that would be much worse.
"So many to kill.. so many to leave to their fates.." Leroy currently held the staff whip weapon. Its purple flames still swirling as it battled, nay contested against his blue-white flames. The crackle of lighting that exuded from him burst most of the Death Qi that gathered. "...so many useless people."
The flicker of purple in his eyes was a little alarming to those who could see him. The feeling turned oppressive and set warning bells off internally.
Old Chu and Chu Xue more or less started thinking the same thing by the way they moved away from him. Chu Mu already deciding to make sure the family makes a better decision about the future.
Chu Xing was getting very agitated at the way everything was going. His family were still looking to Chu Xue who for all purposes made the situation worse than it needed to be the last few months.
Chu Xue noticed his cousin's irritable behavior and knew what it was. The feeling of powerless that he himself could have helped but he stood with the Rebels before coming back and cost his family more than one problem with his actions. He thought about the words the Ancestor told him.
Oddly enough when he did so, Princess Jasmine was thinking back to the same thing that took place once more.
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Flashback-
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Chu Xue rose from the cushions full of formations that burnt out. He placed his clothes on despite the tattered state they were in and fixing his throbbing cultivation. The North Princess Jasmine lay limply as she held back tears and clutched her chest in agony. This had been the worst she ever felt and the worst for her cultivation that felt completely gone.
''Resentment and the feeling of powerlessness.'' The two were both problems Chu Hao Yue understood really well. ''What could I do to help him at this time? I couldn't serve my brother well with all those whispering in his ears. Even was locked away when I made my move to save our Empire.''
The walls of the cave melted from the generated heat and Qi used in the room. The drops of water all over were still drowned out by the words of the Ancestor.
"Strip of all my wealth and authority I couldn't even save the lowliest of our kin from what came. My pleas went nowhere as I told them time and time again the Regent was not to be trusted and he would be the downfall of the Empire. The purple flamed bastard..." Chu Hao Yue's eyes flashed in bitter hatred for a second before relaxing. "..even has a family to this day in power. Robbing Lion-ice of even it's dignity to rise up once more."
"I couldn't imagine one's own Family doing such a thing. To be locked away so long and have your very life zapped away from you." Chu Xue paid no attention to Jasmine as if she was not even there in the room. Eyes only on Chu Hao Yue who gave him a chance for more power to save his Family by his own hands. "I must get back to them to prevent another disaster. The Rebels.. are misunderstood I have to let my family know they mean well."
"..." Jasmine stirred a little at that as this was getting worse by the moment.
"Once the family is saved and the power of the Dark Tang Family is reduced we will be able to make our move. Finding a sacrifice that you can use will be a lot easier once life becomes simpler." Ready to go, he reached out pulling his new weapon over. The Trident he used to wield had been refined by the Ancestor and the power it exuded was way more than before. "This will need a new name... but for now I have to save them!"
As the young Emperor descended and left the cave, he missed the look of joy on his ancestor's face. It was not something you would expect from one so.. detached from the problems of her traitorous kin.
"Ss!" Jasmine took in a sharp breath as she stood up. Seeing this woman smile had her acting very quickly now. She had no hope of winning but it was best if she get at least dressed before something else took place. 'Chu Xue.. why did I ever seek to help you!?'
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"Oh, I forgot about you." Adding more shame to the situation with her tone alone, Chu Hao Yue set her sights on a part of the North princess that mattered. "Your cultivation may be gone now and there is a chance you can recover it but.. it is highly unlikely. Best to take you back to town for now."
*Shine!* A flash of light shot out of the hands of the Ancestor as she made her last moves on the Noreth Princess. She collected the blood and secretions of the young defiled women and placed them in a bottle.
Giving it a few shakes, the joy in her eyes could not be hidden away. But the pass over Jasmine's body did not bring any happiness. It was actually utter disgust despite her hand in the situation that took place.
"Barren, and not the source of anything worthwhile! So why does her Purity Blood contain power?!" At a loss, Chu Hao Yue bit her lip drawing blood. With a dab of the finger, she drew patterns all over the stilled Jasmine. "Come on!"
Frustrated as the blood did not move she wiped it off and then moved to the next choice. One that only gave her a little pause in its cruelty of use and what it did to someone after.
Delicate fingers pushed directly into the head of the unconscious girl. Not only was she robbed of what was precious to hear she was now robbed of her very soul and what she held dear.
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End Flashback-
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All of you the Family members left behind searched for anyone who could still be alive or needed help directly around them before moving to other areas. The Light Lion-ice Family was invigored after seeing how much power Chu Xue wielded.
Some even thought he could defeat the winner of the Elemental Festival Martial Portion if a rematch took place. The situation was not over as a few Rebels had come to the family area via an escape route that led to the heart of the compound. Running from what looked to be plants of various origins.
"Damn, they are almost on us!" A rebel shouted in agitation. "If this does not pan well I will haught these creatures for the rest of my afterlife!"
"Creatures.. those are our comrades!" Another rebel did not like what was going on as he was confused about what to do. Killing them would be a bigger blow than leaving them be but the fact the enemy numbers kept increasing they were at a loss what to truly do. "Maybe if we rip that growth off..."
"We tried that, all it did was make them go crazy and kill everyone near them!" A member of the Shining Demon Family was with them but no one questioned it as they ran for their lives. "I don't know how many of my family was overrun in town but they can all be counted as the enemy at this point!"
*Rumble!* The tunnel they were running in shook as something smashed into it. The scared cultivators didn't have to imagine what it was as a giant Blood Worm pushed through a hole. Just as fast as it came it vanished amongst dirt and dust.
A young man more dashing than any of them hope to be could be seen. In his hand, he wielded a Halberd that pushed wind around its tip. Besides a mane of flowing hair that reached the middle of the back, a symbol that brought hope to one of them could be made out.
"The Dark Rose.. is that the heir of the main house!?" Still running for their lives, the Shining Demon member was the only one not happy. The rebels were quite happy and it was more than weird to him. "How in the blazes did he do that!?"
The heir was blessed with a good lineage but also the knack for combat that set him way apart from his sisters. With deep and stable cultivation the application of the Blood Worm made him more ferocious and deadly.
"I need to end this faster." Victor looked from one end of the tunnel to the other. The fleeing people did not draw his attention but the approaching glowing green-eyed creatures did. "Well, at least more blood for power."
Victor was falling into a trap that was not going to end well for his own family. He was not supposed to be here at all but hearing his sister had come out once more and he was supposed to stay home pissed the heir off.
He was tired of being controlled and acted out in utter rebellion thanks to the Blood Worm giving him a few techniques. With more enemies to fight he became excited to increase his strength even further than what it was now.
"Just need to kill all who stand in my way!" As the words echoed in the tunnel those who fled felt sorry for the taken over people even more so. "Feed my power, you weaklings!"
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A few Hours Later-
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Leroy was very decisive in cleaning out those that came to cause trouble. As well as making the various families fighters actually kill someone. Those who disobeyed the order, he took note of for later to deal with. Putting them on a list of useless when things turn rough and not even remotely entertaining the idea of treating them later.
Those that did, were treated better and he fought harder to help them. This was a battle of survival and stopping the spread of an infection or contagion of someone's ambition. The Dark Tang and Dark Tiger-fire Family were both on his kill list but the Rebels were mixed in so well he had trouble keeping track of who not to kill sometimes.
Fighters were needed after all, so they buckled down and kept fighting everyone that came. Victoria despite how worn out the situation made her kept fighting and improving. Xiao Mei and Tang Bo fought back to back and were able to pull of combinations veterans would have trouble with.
Chu Xue took note of what transpired as he joined the fight. Unfortunately, he felt bad about how he treated Victoria and didn't speak much to her for the time being. To make it worse he felt guilty about what happened with Jasmine after seeing her enter the battlefield and not handling it better after he woke up. Completely discarding someone who .. offered.. herself was not the best thing.
*Fwoosh!* A plume of fire that exploded into a maelstrom of destruction erupted killing a lot of the enemy forces. Regrouping was not needed as everyone pushed harder to kill everyone who acted out and contained a plant-like protrusion on them.
*Splash!* A torrent of water had left the town soggy a dripping with water in some places. Members of the River Dragon Family that came to assist had done really well at boosting the counterattack. The enemy had numbers not much strength for some reason.
The various Family leaders were all in the center of town watching over the corraled enemy remains. Taking down who was all lost and assessing damage to their own might. None had thought the Dark Tang Family was turning into such a horrible problem. But it became clear they stumbled across something they shouldn't have and it may have been the end of them all if not careful.
The Shining Demon Family fought the hardest to keep the town from going under as well as the Jing Family under the leadership of Jing Ling who took control of them mid-battle. With Jing Van and Jing Hao backing her, it was a seamless transition that was downright scary in Leroy's eyes.
He needed to revalute her at all costs. She knew only a little of what he could do and though he had that oath with her and promise, her behavior was not something he was tread lightly with.