"Stop!"
Zuixian regained his senses, but still burdened by the increased weight of his body, the Wine Eccentric struggled to keep up with Xiao Hu's extreme speed.
'I should leave this place, but if I do...things will only get worse.' In the blink of an eye, Haoyue assessed the situation, and despite her desire to escape Xiao Hu's murderous blows, knew that by doing so, she'd be doing the Myriad Beast Gang a service.
This fight wasn't just about Haoyue, but the location of the formation's eye.
In the current maze block, Zuixian and the Stone Sentinels could oppose Xiao Hu and hopefully prevent her from forcing Qiu Meng to shift maze and blocks to protect Haoyue. But once she escaped to another maze block, she'd expose herself to the colossal number of troops that the Myriad Beast Gang had scattered throughout the maze. A stray blow from a Beast Officer or above was all it'd take for Haoyue's life to become at risk.
Haoyue despised her own weakness. But at the moment, she had to stay realistic.
Could the sentinels in other blocks offer better protection than she had here? Unlikely, so unless she could teleport to Bai Renyi, who likely now confronted Ordained Beasts, Haoyue had to stay with Zuixian.
Zuixian and Xiao Hu both understood this reality, and while the former's face broke into a cold sweat, the latter's eyes flashed with a maniacal splendor.
"I will live and die...for Daji!" With no care for her safety or future, Xiao Hu set her demon heart ablaze, becoming a comet of green, red and purple energies as she blasted through all defenses on her way to Haoyue.
"AAAAAARGH!" Zuixian sent a rain of razor-sharp liquor drops. The sentinels stabbed with swords and spears. But with a guttural howl, Xiao Hu forced her way through it all, ignoring the piercing and lacerating blows hacking through her flesh to rake her knife-shaped hand at Haoyue's neck.
"NO!" Desperate, Zuixian, pushed his golden core to the limit, raising an aquatic wall that formed right between Xiao Hu and Haoyue. Alas, the pipa demoness was too fast. The wall couldn't rise fast enough to prevent Xiao Hu from decapitating Haoyue — only Qiu Meng could!
"Hateful!" And so without hesitation, Qiu Meng did just that! The maze block split into two, with formless energies dragging Haoyue's side away from Xiao Hu's reach while breaking apart other maze blocks to restructure the whole thing.
In that instant, Zhiji Jing's Holy Sense latched on the formation's eye, and her lips curled up.
"Ximei, I knew I could count on you. Well done." The Holy Beast Sovereign stretched her hands out. Large peacock wings sprouted from her back, shining like an assembly of resplendent gems as Zhiji Jing's eyes flashed with radiant rays. Two colorful energy beams shot out of her eyes, merging into a single force that revealed all the nodes and intricacies of Qiu Meng's compromised formation.
The formation's eye couldn't resist, and hit point-blank by Zhiji Jing's colorful beam, shattered instantly.
"Go! Tear them all to shreds!"
Zhiji Jing ordered, and without delay, the beasts resumed their charge. Now left completely defenseless, the Nameless Sword Mountain had no hope to resist a force that could make the Eastern Continent's top players tremble in fear.
Even Qiu Meng's Nameless Sword Giant showed signs of collapsing.
Zhiji Jing vanished, and infinitely faster than all on the scene, appeared beside Xiao Hu, sending Zuixian and the stone sentinels crashing into the distance with the mere pressure of her aura. The sentinels broke into pieces, Zuixian's bones and organs shattered as well. The aquatic environment enabled him to preserve his life, but despite nigh-instantaneous regeneration abilities, the speed at which he healed still proved too low before Zhiji Jing's overwhelming pressure.
With one hand, Zhiji Jing poured her Holy Force into Xiao Hu, helping her heal her Demon Heart while, with the other, she made a grasping motion at Haoyue.
Without suspense, Haoyue flew towards the peacock, unable to show the faintest hint of struggle before a Holy Beast Sovereign.
But as all seemed lost, the Nameless Sword Mountain's disciples died like fleas, and the very structure of their faction threatened to collapse, golden winds, rays and clouds spread across the sky, and all violence came to a screeching halt.
"Impressive. Without guidance, you've managed to cultivate your bloodline to the limit and unlock an innate skill unique to you. I'm curious, how did you name it?" One mild voice boomed across the land, causing Zhiji Jing to shiver uncontrollably.
She wasn't the only one. Qiu Meng, Zuixian, Haoyue, Xiao Hu, for different reasons, all shivered at the appearance of this voice, and regardless of cultivation, willpower and Soul Force, instantly acknowledged their helplessness before the owner of that voice.
Time and transformative events had slightly changed the voice's timbre, especially for Haoyue who'd not heard it in years. Yet, the ignorant Zhiji Jing aside, they all recognized it — even Xiao Hu who still suffered from memory loss.
Their eyes peered into the distance, seeking the monastic robes that usually followed that voice. But instead of the white colors they kept in mind, a robe of red and gold welcomed their sight, draping over a herculean monk that kept his hands joined in a prayer sign.
A long beaded necklace hung around the monk's shoulder, split into six sets of 18 beads, each set with a different color.
With peerless beauties at his left and right, plus a disciplined army of terrifying aura flying at his back, the herculean monk stepped forward, his lips flashing a disarming smile at the warring sides. Age, species or cultivation, it didn't matter. A simple glance at that monk and all acknowledged their inferiority.
In the instant that he appeared, the Dongli state held its breath, glued to the eyes and lips of that monk — glued to Xinzi.
"The Golden Lotus be praised. My sincere apologies for my delay, but since My Humble Self has joined the party, it all ends now," Xinzi said and raised his right hand, causing a blinding flash of Holy Force to spread across the scene.
