Alex appeared outside the cave, something clutched in his hand, and was once again pushed back by the force of another clash.
The thunderous sound had all but deafened Alex by now and the light had all but blinded him.
Yao Ning seemed to be holding on to the fight in front, using her Hundred Arms Golden Sphere technique to fight off the Dragon Emperor.
Liang Shufen's pretty face looked dark and haggard in the light. Unlike Yao Ning, she didn't have much capability to fight back against the Dragon Emperor. She only had enough Immortal Qi for a few attacks and defenses at most and that seemed to have run out.
Yao Ning would have to be in a similar situation as well.
"Your Majesty! What are you still doing here?" Liang Shufen shouted over the cacophony of blasts at the front. "You should be gone by now."
"Everyone else is gone, and the gate is closed. You guys can't leave without me opening it," Alex said. "I need to take you back."
Liang Shufen's eyes widened and then narrowed in frustration. "How do we get sister Yao to come with us?" she asked. "I don't think she can leave."
Alex stared at the Dragon Emperor in the sky who kept on shooting more and more attacks. Had Yao Ning's technique not been specifically focused on defense against multiple attacks, along with a Dao to reflect the weaker ones, she would've lost by now. Even with that, she only had so much Qi to go around. "Dammit! How much Immortal Qi does he have?" Alex asked, looking at the sky.
"He's not even using Immortal Qi," Liang Shufen answered, her voice laden with frustration and annoyance. "He keeps mixing between the two, and sister Yao doesn't have the time to make changes to her technique at all. Not that she can take a chance on it. She has to put up her best defense just in case."
Alex could understand the problem.
"Elder Yao, I'm coming in to take you away. We need to leave while the Emperor is disoriented," Alex sent to the old woman through his spiritual sense.
"It will be hard to get him distracted," she sent back. "I'm doing all I can to keep him from going after you two."
Alex frowned. "Don't worry, I can do it," he said. "We're coming in."
He grabbed Liang Shufen's arm and teleported into the golden sphere. Then, he brought out his mirror. That would give them the perfect opportunity. Alex waited for the moment the attack would pass and then… "NOW!" The golden sphere went down and Alex put up his Mirror of Barren Truth.
The dragon-shaped Lightning strike that was supposed to land on them was instantly returned back to the Dragon Emperor, the power within it remaining intact as it flew back.
"Let's go!" he bellowed and grabbed Yao Ning's arm to teleport away. But even as he did, he saw her look of horror and realized that somehow, somewhere, something had gone wrong.
The understanding of the mistake came right after.
The attack he had just reflected had been strong, very strong. But it was not an Immortal attack.
Even as Alex understood it, there was no point in dwelling on it. He had already employed teleportation aura, so they could leave. As Alex felt the teleportation happen, however, something happened around him.
The Dragon Emperor simply walked through his own attack, the damage to him being a pitiful amount. He had his hand raised toward Alex, seemingly doing something.
Alex couldn't tell. Not that he bothered to figure it out in his haste. He teleported into the cave in front of the Voidgate… by nearly 5 meters.
"Huh?" Alex cried out in surprise. His teleportation was supposed to bring him right next to the Voidgate, not this far away. "Shit!" He rushed forward in a hurry and quickly grabbed onto the edges of the opening and pulled it open wider.
The cave brightened with the swirling colors inside the Void as Space and Time aura filled the area around them.
"Get in!" Alex bellowed. "Quickly!"
The two Elders wasted no time at all.
Liang Shufen jumped in immediately, disappearing in the glow of purple and silver. Next was Yao Ning. She jumped— An attack landed right in front of Alex on the Voidgate, the force of the impact sending both Alex and Yao Ning backward.
Alex heard his head ring loudly and also felt pain in a few parts of his body that slowly mended itself. He opened his eyes and realized he was outside of the cave, thrown back.
Next to him, the Dragon Emperor landed with his spear in hand and a gloomy look on his face. Alex glared at the Dragon Emperor with all the fury in his heart. However, the Dragon Emperor wasn't looking at him at all.
His eyes were looking somewhere to the side.
Alex turned his ringing head in that direction and saw Yao Ning trying to stand amidst the broken rubble of the cave. Her hands trembled as she tried to get back on her feet, but failed to do so. The Dragon Emperor raised his spear and attacked.
Alex teleported, arriving right in front of Yao Ning. He had enough time to take his mirror out too, just in case it would do something since the last attack he defended was definitely not on par.
Alas, the Mirror was used up, so there was no blocking anything. It would have instead been destroyed by a normal attack if Alex had done that. Instead, he simply stood in front of Yao Ning to give her enough time to get back on her feet.
The attack landed directly on Alex and a thunderous roar filled the world.
Bai Jingshen's gigantic ethereal head floated out from inside of Alex, glowing brightly in the daylight. It stopped the Dragon Emperor's attack, which was most certainly an Immortal attack.
The tiger head floated proudly in front of Alex even after the attack had died and a single voice came from within the head.
"This human is under my, Bai Jingshen's protection. Anyone who dares harm him shall suffer my wrath."
The words hung in the air like a guillotine, ready to strike down at anyone who dared defy it. The tiger's head slowly faded, and Alex watched as the Dragon Emperor's face changed from uncaring to worried to terrified. He had never expected to see these emotions in the face of the Dragon Emperor.
"That…" the Dragon Emperor slowly found his words to speak. "That… that was the White Tiger. Bai Jingshen, yes, the White Tiger. How did you gain his protection?"
Alex remained quiet. There was no point in explaining, and the explanation was likely not going to bring back any result either way.
"ANSWER ME!" the Dragon Emperor screamed, his voice ripping through the air to strike at Alex.
Alex steeled his heart and got ready to fight.
"First a king, then the damn White Tiger," the Dragon Emperor grumbled. "It seems I must kill you once and for all now."
The Dragon Emperor dashed right next to Alex and swung his spear.
"Die!"
