While [Shadow of Torment], [Bloodreaper], [Wraith's Grasp], [Harbinger of Pain], and [Voidblade] previously only barely fought against the four Warrior Kings on Bai Qi's side, and as they lost [Voidblade], who had retreated for some reason, should have failed the confrontation entirely, Su Bo's aura not only allowed them to counter and even attack but even their attacks were broken.
A few smaller counter swings of Du Ten's [Shaking Destruction] even flew towards them, the situation suddenly changed. Neither of the four revealed any stress and used their aura to block.
An aura which from a shaky alliance between different Warrior Kings suddenly transformed into a single entity - one with enough power to stop not only the secondary and weaker strikes of the true Earth-tier weapon and true martial skill used by Du Ten but even launch a new wave of attacks themselves.
As for Du Ten's main attack inside the martial skill called [Shaking Destruction], the 13-th one, it didn't even reach Su Bo, who suddenly exploded with an even more forceful aura as she recalled all of the parts she had infused into her subordinates ones, for the first time, revealing her true strength, one of a peak Warrior King with a capacity to battle above her realm!
*BOOM*
The enormous warhammer's image, one bigger than an actual elephant beast, exploded as it contacted Su Bo's newly collected aura, which suddenly compressed and took a blood-like tint.
Adding to the sudden shock felt by the allied Kings and protected Warrior Lords, not only Du Ten's full-power counter was destroyed with apparent ease, even after their combined efforts, but a new wave consisting of a fresh [Phantom Lash], [Crimson Harvest], [Injuring Whirlpool], and the two other skills, [Shaving Live] and [Crushing Beasts] was sent against them.
While Bai Qi, in neither of his lives had been an experienced commander, mainly using his observations and experiences as an Immortal to help him, in both his past and current life, he knew that the situation was far from salvageable.
While the newly sent wave of attacks would be resolved, even with less trouble than before, neither of the Warrior Kings being an idiot, and an extra counter, this time by Lei Su was sent against the enemies, the results remained unchanged, with Su Bo using only a bit of her aura to solve them, as for the ones aimed at her? They were crushed entirely as she suddenly, as if without any preparation, consolidated her aura into what appeared to be an almost-ready domain.
***
{She has a strength above anyone present, not even the so-called genius-tier cultivators like Du Ten or the, even if weaker but far more talented, Lei Su having no chance to fight her. So... Why isn't she doing anything but solve the attacks..?} Bai Qi's mind went on full alert as his thoughts combined, crashed, and destroyed each other. All to try and understand the enemy's plan.
With a second, third, and then fourth wave of attacks resolving in the same way, even with the ones that he should call his allies sending more and more counters against the [Soulrend Elders] side, Protector Boling, Zhu Chen, Lei Su, and Du Ten, using the fact that the enemy sent the same skills, planning and cooperating more and more, one could say that Bai Qi's side even obtained an advantage.
{But, she hasn't acted in any other way but to solve the counters...} The more the situation continued, reaching even a tenth wave, during which neither of the allies failed to defend or send an actual full-power counter against the enemy side, meant that Bai Qi was more and more worried, nearly reaching a state of endless alarm, as he found not even a single reason for the enemy to present their skills on a plate for their own enemies to analyze.
As the [White Scroll Immortal] Bai Qi had fought a good deal of battles, even if his main path was one of knowledge and curiosity. In fact, his path of being interested in so many matters made him cruise not a few battlegrounds, both active and already finished, and the experiences accumulated by his travels, especially when both somewhat prooved by the events on the [Seven Islands Plane] and having no trouble to recall his previous experiences screamed that this situation was far from simple.
{No matter what is going on now, I am sure that she or, in truth, her higher-ups had a plan. I have no idea why they targeted me, but I have to deduce the plan before it affects my so-called allies.} With Bai Qi being the most experienced person, in terms of knowledge, he had reached a point where he didn't doubt that everything happening was just a part of some plan.
He had no idea why the enemy party targeted him specifically, Dongpo Dayang probably being just a distraction, especially as Bai Qi himself had interacted with the young woman and knew that she held nothing but a slightly above-average talent, but what he did know, was that even if all of the allied parties had some interest in him, neither of them, probably excluding the [Dongpo Clan], which didn't even have a single cultivator of a correspondent realm present, would risk both their lives and the lives of their powers' inheritors to defend him. Granted, they did so at the moment, but from Bai Qi's observations, he could only say that {Su Bo is letting them feel that they are defending me, and even winning the battle. Why..? Even if the previously disappeared Warrior King has an important mission that could change everything or affect the present situation, at least, why would she actually use such a strategy in place of actually forcing them to fight against her at full strength?!}
{Or, maybe..?} Bai Qi himself shuddered at the thought, but he couldn't help but continue it, {While I am a target, and the girl was mixed into it, the actual target was not only us, in fact, the reward for killing [Great Forest] emperors was the true goal?!}
A truly scary thought, as it would mean that this entrapment, even with himself being mentioned, was nothing but an extra setup, meant to disturb the emperors' fight while implicating him personally!
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If one had some knowledge of the updated plans, one could say that while the initial plan to destroy [Eastern Inscription City] was slightly altered by the newly revealed lord of [Hundred Souls Mountain], his commands, in the end, didn’t deviate much from what [The Coalition of the Chosen] had originally expected: the downfall of a city deep within the [Great Forest Region]. He had sent only the Warrior Kings after the target, while the Warrior Emperors engaged their equals, triggering the much-anticipated weakening and destruction that the region's current leaders desired. They even went as far as to use their trump card, the newly created [Soulrend Elders]!
What began as a plan to attack the city, then shifted to imprison Bai Qi while weakening the city, only to once again change - this time at the last moment. The Lord activated all the prior preparations, not to assault [Eastern Inscription City] as originally conceived, nor even to capture Bai Qi, whom the lord of [Hundred Souls Mountain] himself coveted, but to strike at the Warrior Emperors fighting within the city.
Although only the Lord himself was aware, nearly everyone present could now feel that the real target was the Emperors trapped within the corrupted city's formation.
What would be truly shocking to anyone fully informed, however, was that with a simple command sent to the true five [Soulrend Elders], along with one of the puppets, [Voidblade], the Emperors were instructed to go all out. Su Bo was ordered to ignore her original target - the very reason for the previous change - and to unleash the full power of [Agony’s Embrace], dealing with every Warrior King and Warrior Lord present. Bai Qi's fate was reduced to a single, chilling sentence: {If you can, capture him. If not, kill him along with the others. But do not even allow the thought of him being a target previously to surface!}
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
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As his new commands were delivered, everyone acted. But the newly declared overlord of the [Hundred Souls Mountain] still felt uneasy. After all, changing plans once was fine, with him already preparing a dozen alternatives for every possible situation, even for the one he had botched the entire initial plan to capture Bai Qi, the newly-proclaimed [Hundred Souls Mountain] Lord felt unease. After all, what he had not prepared or even planned for was for himself to thwart the plans over plans he had created, botching even his plans of capturing Bai Qi because he could not contest the unexpected, sudden arrival of over a dozen revered elders, not a single of them below the Emperor realm, all carrying badges of the powers that controlled the so-called [Coalition of the Chosen], the realm in which he had, even if developed to such level, he still, for now, couldn't be called a supreme being as he truly was!
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Unbeknownst to them, even if they could guess a few reasons, even the real ones, the Emperors present in [Eastern Inscription City] and now in alliance with the also present Dongpo Ao could only continue their battle.
Even with the heirs of their powers in danger, even with stars in danger, stars brighter than they were surfacing, although only applicable for the two of the two true tiered powers as [Yuxuan City] and the [White Grove Sect], they could only battle anyways!
___
Wan Chao, the [Crimson Specter] opposed the [Pan Trade Company] external elder, Hai Long, since the start of the operation. No matter if the overall plan had changed since Wan Chao stopped holding back, he had been holding the upper hand in the fight.
Strike after strike making his advantage even cleared, Wan Chao didn't allow Hai Long to activate his [Domain], the only thing in which such a suddenly-ascended Warrior Emperor as the former was could lose, and continued to continuously overpower the [Pan Trade Company] external elder, all while fighting inside the mortal plane and the city, forcing Hai Long to an even worse position. After all, the latter couldn't openly go and use a killing technique while killing every mortal and low-level cultivator around as a rightful path cultivator, not to mention after the alliance with Dongpo Ao!
Even so, Hai Long, as a previous senior of [Hai Family], now reinforced by the power of an unrestricted power the [Pan Trade Company] had his trump cards, and now, as he was forced back once and again, even suffering some injuries to both body and soul, braced himself against any provocation of the many that his opponent used, and went all out while loudly shouting as if to break the back-tracked situation of his, "[Drowning Mist]!"
While just a martial skill, it was one created by fusing the water path of the [Hai Family] that he had dutifully cultivated and a few low-level skills meant to improve the latter provided by the [Pan]'s. While not a unique skill, as dozens of variations existed already, the one that Hai Long had now was truly amazing in comparison, the skill shrouded an entire area, disorienting his opponents while veiling the surroundings in an eerie fog. Vision blurred, movements slowed, and even the air thickened to resist any counter while suffocating, each breath more difficult than the last, it was a true killer move against a single opponent or even a group. Unseen, the mist subtly sapped the enemy's energy, mimicking the slow, drowning pull of the deep sea.
While these effects could be said to be common about the variations of the skill, Hai long actually managed to create one that not only had all of the adverse effects towards his opponents but also allowed him to expand his domain, a pretty simple but still powerful water-element one called the [Great Ocean] after the skill went for over ten breaths!
*
Ren Hua, the [Obsidian Wraith], since the start, had used only his perfected martial skill - [Inferno Fang Fist]. While a homing skill and initially appeared as a high-tier one, this skill granted to him by the Lord was not stronger than any other martial skill. Still, Ren Hua used no other skill, constantly bombarding Dongpo Ao with it.
While, at the start, Dongpo Ao had been taken by surprise and could only defend against the enemy's skill, the experienced combatant and schemer who was the founder of the [Dongpo Clan] showed his worth, his defensive methods, and counterattacks getting fiercer and fiercer, even to a point that he had started to suppress the lower-level [Obsidian Wraith].
Combining the usually apprehensive, to other elements, Wind and nearly its opposite, Earth, Dongpo Ao could be said to obtain more and more advantages as the battle progressed. But in fact, it would turn into the opposite, as the more [Inferno Fang Fist] he blocked and countered, no matter the effort, the stronger the enemy's skill would get. Almost as if the remanent fire and even intent of the martial skill were being absorbed into the following wave, making it stronger and stronger as time went on!
And actually, to no wonder, as the [Inferno Fang Fist] was a combination of the Yin and Fire, two elements that also didn't get along well, but the skill formed by such a fusion acted on exactly that repulsion. Each punch Ren Hua unleashed sent a dark flame missile toward the target. Even when defended or suppressed, remnants of the dark fire linger, with either a wisp of fire or darkness remaining, depending on what kind of method or element was used to dispel the strike.
And remaining not just for decoration but actually feeding into the next strike. With every blocked or absorbed blow, the force of the following wave grew stronger, accumulating power until it became overwhelming, even for someone above the level of the user!
*
Gu Yijun, the [Shrouded Executioner] and [White Grove] Lei Qiang's battle weren't observable by normal methods. A surprising fact, as after all, with Gu Yijun's forceful entrance, bloody robes, weapon, and even domain having such an impact, one could have expected that the previously appearing unreliable Lei Qiang would be easily suppressed.
But the situation would turn different, as not only, did Lei Qiang resist both weapon and domain without using anything else but his own body, one that released sharp glints as if a sword it was, but directly forced Gu Yijun into the void, as he released his own domain, clashing a river of swords against a river of blood!
And with the battle ongoing inside the secluded void and no one as observers, just who could know that even without using weapons, and that with [White Grove] being a sect famous mostly for weapons usage, or well, sword path, Lei Su continued to clash against his opponent without being on the back foot - at all!
*
Zi Li, known as [Veiled Serpent] was not a first-line combatant, as shown right away by her usage of a prepared attack using a treasured item, the [Poisonous Scale Dress], and a concealed martial skill against an opponent like Gao Zhuli, a person known more for her political strength than martial talent.
But while such an overwhelming opportunity would usually mean an instant win or at least some advantages, it would be Zi Li the one having to run away from [Gao Clan] First Lady's unexpected attainment in a strange - at least for someone who wasn't known for fighting - mix of speed, defense, and close combat skills.
Not only the snake phantoms were resolved by a sudden flash of Yang element defensive aura, but even the concealed [Slithering Confusion] failed to do anything against the one known to reach the position only because of her management and political skills, well, along the fact that she birthed a child to the [Gao Clan] current leader.
Seeing this, the [Veiled Serpent] chose to enter the void to try and break distance, but before she could do so, Gao Zhuli used some strange method to follow right after Zi Li, and engage her in a mix of close combat and quickly activated techniques, skills, and even weapon skills as the woman who was considered nothing more than a politician but still had an aura of a warrior revealed that she was indeed the latter over the former, a good dozen of high-tier Spirit-tier short swords rotating around her and following all of her commands as she continued to assault Zi Li with both hands and legs!
Zi Li had her trump cards. Even if she was a lousy close-quarters combatant, and in truth, she was no better in combat at all, the path that she followed, the antique and nearly-forgotten [Element-Forged Gu Path], a deviation of the similarly overlooked antique path of [Gu], gave her an enormous advantage of being able to use dozens of technique- and skill- like powers while not using even a slither of qi or soul power, only eating through her already accumulated path-relevant resources, the [Gu]!
Not really suited for direct combat, a release of a good hundred sudden attacks, even if all were low-tier elemental Gu's that could only pose harm to a Yellow-realm cultivator allowed Zi Li not only to break away from Gao Zhuli's sudden attack but even busy her enough as to form the seals to release her mid- and high- tier Gu's. And while both tiers were basically no more than martial skill-like one-time use attacks, the high-tier Gu's could be combined into a far more powerful attack, one that was able to rival even Royal techniques, and Zi Li now had a window of opportunity to do so!
___
The battles between the eight Warrior Emperors went on, and while half of them were unaware, and the other half were confused by the changing orders, only the latter, the [Soulrend Elders] knew that no matter if they were in the winning or losing position, everything would change just in a moment, as the specially prepared cultivators that had not even revealed themselves activated the override of the city's defensive formation!