Dongpo Lian had started far later than the youngsters leaving at first notice, but she still had the advantage of cultivation and flying inside the city, her being the substitute Lord of the latter. Thus, she arrived just a few breaths after the duel between Bai Qi and Yuwen Dong started.

While in her mind, Bai Qi's death would be a boon, at least for Qingqiu, she was well aware of the implications. And so she rushed to stop the duel between someone from their city and the young upstart, not to mention the three heirs of powers that could easily destroy the [Dongpo] clan and not even be scolded for it!

*Crash*

Still, her charge, done to the utmost of her power, truly worried for any nobler blood than hers spilled in the city, was easily prevented by a formation that appeared from nothing.

Dongpo Lian, who had rushed out alone, all to prevent any possible incident, which would both make the clan suffer and kill her son, as who of the powerful would leave live someone who had started all of this, and tried to break in with all of her force, she found herself unable to do so.

Clashing once, twice, thrice, and over a dozen times against the formation, Dongpo Lian felt that all of her gifted cultivation, no matter how she tried to train herself to be a daughter to Dongpo Ao, was a joke. She couldn't break a formation meant for Warrior Lords, all while she was a Warrior King - and not of a low level!

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While Dongpo Lian, whose presence he had sensed a few breaths before, tried, unsuccessfully, to break through the formation, Bai Qi would be the only one who knew that it wasn't because of the former's lack of strength, but because another Warrior King, and one with a powerful mind power, Minister Tang, constantly reinforced the defenses around the area.

Still, while only he knew the reasons, the fact that Dongpo Lian herself, the current city lord, until the latter was reverted publicly, was attempting to get into the protected area generated a lot of responses.

For some, as the [Dongpo] clan's people, it was nothing more than assurance that they would be saved.

For others, especially the helpers that Tang Chao had arranged by enforcing their debts towards the [Shadow Lotus] organization, it was nothing but despair, their hands shaking and not even paying attention to what essentially were their hostages.

As for the heirs and their subordinates, it was nothing more than the development Bai Qi had told them to wait for, making even the so-proud Gao Xiulan shout out while briefly retelling what was going on.

While Bai Qi had predicted that someone from the city, or a powerful entourage member would follow their group, he, as his senses expanded, understood that the formation had been strengthened to such a degree that the flag's mobility lost any importance, while becoming a fortress that not many Warrior Kings could break, not to mention the most important point. Even if the powerful people outside could see everything happening, they wouldn't even hear anything inside. Bai Qi was quick to understand but he didn't allow himself to dwell in the thought.

***

The sudden arrival of the acting City Lord, Lady Liao, had affected everyone, including Yuwen Dong, who not only was promised no trouble but also remembered what Dongpo Ao had said about the [Sima]'s. And he had said that in public, with his position clear. Thus, even if he killed Bai Qi rightfully during a duel now, under the eyes of Dongpo Liao, it would be going against the only local Emperor's orders! No matter how he excused himself, the champion for the [Sima] clan had been Bai Qi, and no matter what reasons he could produce; if it happened before her eyes, no one could predict Dongpo Ao's anger against attacking the clan he had declared protection over, no matter if an outsider or else!

Quickly returning to the present, mainly because he was keen to survive the ordeal, Bai Qi noted Yuwen Dong's inattentive manner and immediately acted, caring no less about what would follow.

*Grab*

Bai Qi's left fist suddenly turned into a claw, and as he avoided the now messy movements of his opponent, he didn't counterattack but directly grabbed Yuwen Dong's right wrist, which the latter had not retrieved in time.

*Swoosh* *Swoosh*

Using the [Yuwen] head impulse as a driving force, Bai Qi pivoted his body to avoid the former's left leg kick. All while releasing a backhand against his opponent's head.

*Smash* *Crash* *Drip*

While Bai Qi's counterattack wouldn't usually catch an experienced opponent unguarded, Yuwen Dong was too engrossed in the events outside the protective formation. Not to mention the counter, he barely had noted his attacks missing, and the fact that Bai Qi was grabbing at his wrist, only registered a moment before the latter's knuckles impacted against the low aura cover he had kept for self-defense. And the latter was too low of a level to contain the combined force of Bai Qi's and his own impulse, not only shattering the cover but reaching his skin, splintering it, and making him drop the first blood of this combat!

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The sudden impact of Bai Qi's knuckles against Yuwen Dong's cheek sent him staggering back. The force of the blow, coupled with the humiliation of bleeding before someone he considered just a lowly youngster, ignited a burning rage within him.

Dongpo Lian's presence, the chaos she could unleash as a witness, and Bai Qi's unexpected prowess converged in his mind, forming a chaotic storm. He knew the precarious position he now found himself in. No matter what happened, whether he dealt with Bai Qi or not, the result would be the same. If Bai Qi activated the talisman in his possession, the [Yuwen] clan was already finished. But now, even if he somehow escaped the city, his family would still be exterminated. Dongpo Ao wasn't one to joke with his own words. Whether he killed Bai Qi or not didn't matter anymore!

A fierce determination replaced his earlier frustration. His eyes blazed with a newfound intensity as he focused all his rage and despair on his opponent. Yuwen Dong's resolve and anger mixed, as he forcefully ignored what was going on outside their improvised duel ring, and as Bai Qi released his wrist as soon as the hit connected, and retreated for a few steps, all while releasing his inner qi, and activating the best and quickest techniques he could think of.

His left fist shot out with the [Shadow Fist Strike], creating illusory afterimages to confuse Bai Qi. A rapid, multi-strike attack that uses qi to generate deceptive duplicates. Maybe not powerful enough to hurt the latter, as the youngster had proved his resilience, but to confuse him?

With a swift motion of his right palm, Dong unleashed the [Serpent’s Coil], releasing a constricting wave of energy aimed at immobilizing Bai Qi's limbs. As a technique that binds and restricts movement, even if the youngster defended himself, he would lose some time!

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Finally, Dong gathered a concentrated burst of dark qi with both hands for the [Abyssal Surge]. He aimed the swirling vortex to disrupt Bai Qi’s focus and drain his energy. While the previous ones were mostly for interdiction, this one was a high-speed attack that disrupted the opponent’s energy reserves. No matter how good this Bai Qi was,

This combo, long-practiced and often successful, was executed with precise timing and lethal intent. Yuwen Dong’s aura flickered and shifted, using his deceptive techniques to create an opening for his final, decisive attack. Gathering his aura while the opponent was dealing with the combo and releasing one of his most powerful martial skills, he had won not a few duels just like that.

Seeing how Bai Qi struggled in the mix of shadow punches, illusory snakes, and the black wave of the [Abyssal Surge], Yuwen Dong couldn't but smile, as his aura reached the possible peak in such a short time and he unleashed [Soul's Wrath]. The massive wave of Yin energy controlled by all of his available soul power surged forward with devastating force, a final, desperate strike designed to consume everything in its path, providing not even a path to the other life, as it didn't much target the physical body but the soul, literally cutting one's chances to even reincarnate as an evil spirit. The only martial skill of the true [Yuwen]'s he still used, and one that had never failed him!

*Swipe* *Crash* *Crash* *Crash*

But before the smile fully formed on his face, Yuwen Dong's face turned into one of surprise, as the struggling boy, at least before, broke through all of the three techniques with a single swipe of a bright, nearly white, flame-covered claw.

*Flare*

Suddenly, the nearly white flame turned pitch black, the already powerful Yang transforming into such a powerful Yin that even the [Soul's Wrath] one could only pass by, even nearly merge into it, without doing anything.

*Shiver*

At this moment, the just sure Yuwen Dong shivered, not only from the recoil of his martial skill being broken without even a movement, or even fear as he saw Bai Qi's figure suddenly appear before him, but of something else... amazement!

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*Rip* *Splatter*

Seeing his opponent's eyes turning from disdain and contentment to a mix of fear and amazement, Bai Qi didn't go so far as he would usually, his left [Ghostflame] infused claw simply ripping the latter's clothes as his right one penetrating the now undefended chest of Yuwen Dong, as the latter had indeed invested all of his power into the martial skill used before, and simply destroying the latter's heart, leaving a nearly entire body.

*Phew*

Bai Qi heavily exhaled as his hands returned to normal, the [Ghostflame] retreating into his dantian.

While others, and probably all of the present, would think that the battle was easy, Bai Qi would never dare to say it was so. Granted he had battled Yuwen Dong physically while paying just some attention to the combat, but it wasn't because the latter was weak. No, it was just that as a person who followed the Soul path, and seemingly failed to do so, his aura being no better than a normal 9th level Warrior Lord, no matter how he trained his body, he was no better than the average peak one. And Bai Qi had a similar level too. Plus, with martial arts based on experience gained from combat, how could Bai Qi lose? Even if he wasn't such a melee fighter before, the difference between 70 and 800, 1000 something if considering Kui Mulang, years was truly insurmountable.

What Bai Qi did lack was techniques and skills for his level, as well as experience in usage of such, as he had never even fought as a Warrior Lord or less, at least in his previous lives. Thus, as Yuwen Dong released a barrage of techniques while preparing for a skill, it was true that Bai Qi struggled for a bit.

And while he wouldn't have lost, not with all of his trump cards, the battle would have gone a bit different, or at least longer, if not for Yuwen Dong's usage of pure Yin, which was easily contested by Bai Qi's Yang [Blazing] and [Scorching] claws. As for the former's impressive martial skill, it regretfully lacked profundity to contest against the almost fully developed [Yin Flame] Bai Qi housed.

Yin and Yang represent fundamental opposing forces that inherently restrict each other. Unlike the five elements—wood, fire, earth, metal, and water—which interact through a cycle of mutual generation and restriction, yin and yang are in a constant state of opposition. This means that when yin and yang clash, it often results in a direct and fierce confrontation, be it through qi, aura, or physical bodies. And with Bai Qi's already shown advantage, or at least equality in all of the former, it wasn't strange for him to destroy the techniques sent against himself.

Also, the profundity of one's energy can significantly influence the outcome of confrontations. For instance, a cultivator with purer yin energy possesses a refined and potent force that cannot be affected by other yin energies unless they are of a higher grade. This purity grants them a unique advantage, making their yin energy impervious to lesser forms and allowing them to dominate in clashes of qi and aura.

Thus, while Yuwen Dong did present a challenge for Bai Qi, his dominance of the Yin element, even if he had trained for longer, at least in current comparison, didn't amount to much before a nearly developed [Yin Flame], one of the flames blessed by their element themselves!

While the duel had forced him to concentrate on it, Bai Qi was quick to snap out of the victory, not even listening to the surprised, or scared, shouts of the ones present. What could he care about the congratulations of companions or the fear of the ambushers?!

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It wasn't like Tang Chao didn't know some of the secrets of the [Dongpo] clan, like the open embezzlement and usage of treasures being just a front.

No matter how much Dongpo Liao and her dumb son, especially the latter as he was simply unaware of the truth, spent and took.

No matter how many spirit stones, precious resources, and other treasures were taken by the ministers and other people working for the clan, a lion share by himself.

Most truly precious resources, and spirit stones enough to buy even the rarest Earth-tier herbs and pills would be funneled somewhere else. To the point that he, someone who had by luck, deals, and a bit more shady actions ascended to the position of the main minister in the city, suspected a powerhouse instructing Dongpo Liao to do so.

Still, even in his wildest dreams, he couldn't have imagined that all of them were meant for the cultivation of Dongpo Ao, who had released himself just because of a matter that escalated so quickly that even Tang Chao couldn't solve, and was nearly to escape the city, even leaving behind the task that he was asked to do in exchange for the manuals, resources, and even the spot he so much desired.

Now when he had just felt the chance, the situation changed again. Dongpo Lian had arrived too quickly as if the Emperors in the city were aware of his, or no, even further, aware of the [Shadow Lotus] objective of preparing for any big event that would attract the heirs of powerful powers, ripe for them to pick off.

No matter how strange it was, especially as Tang Chao had already succeeded in plotting and killing two heirs of 3rd-tier powers before the [Sword and Herb Festival] held by the [Delicate Forest Palace], he now felt as if all was some plot of the regional powerhouses.

Thinking that he was getting worried about nothing, Tang Chao forcefully calmed himself, as he continued to infuse dozens over dozens of herbs, pills, materials, and spirit stones into the flags. Shattering and extracting the energy from the precious treasures he had - seemingly - embezzled as to reinforce the 4 flags he had prepared for this.

And while not even he was aware of it, his formation, one meant for Warrior Lords reached such a height and brilliance, as treasures worth far over half a city were invested into it, reached the highest possible peak, all while nearly shattering, the flags starting to crack and tear, obtaining the ability to block even peak Warrior Kings!

But he couldn't just care about, as he continued and continued investing resources into the flags, all while waiting for Bai Qi's death, and for the latter to be the detonator of his newly formulated plan, of offering safety for anyone who killed the most of the others, even if a fake one.

*Rip* *Splatter*

But even this plan would fall into the gutters of the netherworld as he felt Yuwen Dong's presence disappearing, Bai Qi standing victorious, his eyes looking almost at his position as if the youngster could pinpoint the hidden him!