A Hasty Defense

Li Zhu stared at the elder, dead in front of him, a solemn expression on his face. The dreaded time had come, and he did not know whether the future would bring treasures... or a painful death.

"Hua Shu, go find the Grand Elder, and I'll warn the guards!" yelled Li Zhu, before running towards the gate of the sect. Hua Shu simply nodded at his words, before traveling at top speed towards the Grand Elder's hut, on Formation Peak.

Although she was confused at what was happening, an elder wearing the robes of the sect had died in front of them stating that they were being attacked, so she understood the seriousness of this situation.

"Senior, come with me to the gates... there may be trouble for the sect!" said Li Zhu, directed at the elder that watched over the training grounds. He, as a qi gathering realm cultivator, did not plan on fighting any enemies of the sect, rather he would just warn the people who could activate the defensive formation. The elder, instead, could actually stall the enemies for enough time that the formation would be erected.

The elder, Zhang Dai, simply nodded his head, before flying towards the entrance of the sect. He, as a golden core realm expert, had clearly heard the final words of the dead elder, and he also had recognized the old man as the protector of the fifth floor of the library, a man more powerful than even himself. For these reasons, he knew what needed to be done, and did not mind the fact that Li Zhu had addressed him as a peer.

"You warn the guards, and I'll stall whoever wants to harm our sect" he yelled, from afar. He recognized Li Zhu as one of the winners of the tournament, so he trusted him enough to assign him such an important task, albeit very simple.

Li Zhu fused with Buddy, increasing his speed by quite a bit. Spirit beasts were generally much faster than humans, and Li Zhu used this as an advantage, quickly reaching the main defensive towers of the sect.

There, everyone was simply going about their daily business, talking to each other and laughing. Li Zhu did not bother with them, entering Shadow Lurk and traveling past them. He had no time to waste with disciples that would probably not believe his words anyway, so he just entered the first tower he saw, and went all the way to the top.

There, an elder was sitting cross legged, cultivating. The sect had elders on each of the five main towers, in case of an attack. The elders in the sect alternated between tower duty and their normal activities, and with about fifty elders in the sect, each one of them needed to defend a tower once every ten days.

"Senior, we are being attacked, and the defensive formation must be activated!" appearing from Shadow Lurk, Li Zhu spoke up as fast as he could, while panting.

"And why should I believe you?" calmly asked the elder, opening his eyes. The Flaming Saber Sect was the strongest sect in the kingdom, so no one would dare attack them. Furthermore, If they were being attacked, a fellow elder would warn him, not a qi gathering realm disciple.

"Senior, we do not have time for this, the formation must be activated. If you don't trust me, simply use your Spirit Sense to discover the truth!" replied Li Zhu, exasperated.

Cultivators in the golden core realm could use Spirit Sense, a technique that allowed their soul to travel, separate from their body. Using Spirit Sense, the elder could see up to fifty miles away, without the need to move from the tower.

Although the elder looked suspicious, he could not find a reason why Li Zhu would lie to him, especially since he was encouraging him to use Soul Sense, which would very quickly prove him right or wrong.

Not wanting to be the reason why the sect was defeated, the elder closed his eyes again, before activating soul sense.

It did not take long for the elder to open his eyes again, but this time they were filled with fear. "They nearly captured my soul!" he yelled at Li Zhu, angry that he had followed the suggestion to use Spirit Sense.

Li Zhu did not reply, since he was speechless. The elder had not believed him, so he had suggested the most logical way to find out the truth. Now the elder was angry at him, all because he wasn't careful enough, and got too close to the enemies.

When a person used Soul Sense, their soul could be captured by other experts, but only if they were stronger than him, and actually saw him. As long as one was cautious, and stayed their distance, there was no real risk when using this technique.

Although the elder was angry, he was mostly scared for himself and the sect. The enemies were surprisingly not from a single sect or organization, rather a group of a few hundred cultivators, many of which were in the golden core realm. Now that they had seen his soul, they knew that the sect was aware of their presence, and they would hurry to arrive before the many defensive systems and formations were employed.

A solemn expression on his face, the elder raised his hands into the sky, creating a beam of light above the tower, visible in the entirety of the sect.

Soon after, four more beams of light were formed, creating a circle over the mountain range that was the Flaming Saber Sect, as well as the adjacent city. From the circle, a dome of light began to form, encasing the territory.

Seeing the phenomenon, everyone in the Flaming Saber Sect realized in shock that they were under the threat of an attack, as they scrambled to prepare for whatever was to come.

The dome, the first defensive method that the sect had placed, was almost completed, as the elders manning the towers infused as much energy as they could into it. The elders in the other four towers had not seen the enemies firsthand, but they believed their fellow protector, so they took the situation seriously.

At that moment, though, a blue flash of light reached the formation, lightning sparks flying everywhere. From the light, a bearded man holding a sword appeared, laughing uproariously. The lightning around him stopped the dome from forming, leaving a hole in the formation, that could only be filled if the man left, or was defeated.

Li Zhu gritted his teeth, realizing that he should not have suggested the use of Spirit Sense, since it had revealed the fact that the sect knew about the enemies, and was activating a formation. Now, he could do nothing but sit in the tower, since the man that controlled the lightning was in the golden core realm, far above his capabilities.

Zhang Dai, who had reached the outer part of the sect, yelled, "Fellow elders, we need to defeat this man, to allow the formation to be completed! Then, no matter how many experts they throw at us, we will kill them all!"

He then charged into the lightning storm, a short bow in his hands. He was a short ranged archer, who alternated powerful shots with sword strikes, in what could only be described as a balanced fighting style.

After his cry for help, many elders also flew up into the sky, fearlessly charging into the enemy.

"You think you puny juniors can kill me? As long as your precious Grand Elder doesn't step up, your pathetic sect is at my disposal!" the bearded man yelled, before extending his hands towards the crowd of elders flying towards him.

Clouds of blue lightning instantly formed, meeting the elders halfway, in a destructive attack. The lightning sparks seemed as though they had a will of their own, as they accurately struck each elder in their weakest spots, while keeping them at bay.

Meanwhile, the man laughed, knowing that only four people in the Flaming Saber sect could fight him, and one of them, the protector of the library, had already been killed. He was the sect leader of the Ferocious Sword Sect, and many of his own elders were not far behind him, ready to help in the fight.

The elders of the Flaming Saber Sect struggled in the lightning, but none could escape. The moment they tried to exit the cloud, hundreds of lightning sparks would strike them, forcing them to defend themselves.

A few elders were not that lucky, as they fell from the sky, burn marks covering their bodies. Between cultivators of the golden core realm, each stage represented a massive difference in power, and these simple elders were clearly not strong enough to contest the sect leader.

"Are you done bullying my children, Wang Hu!? Do you think you can barge in here without my permission!?"

At that moment, a booming voice rang out from the sect, causing the lightning around the elders to instantly vanish, as though it had never existed.

From the clouds, the Grand Elder emerged, an enraged expression on his face. Hua Shu had warned him just in time, since many of the elders had been close to falling, heavily injured. He had been in seclusion with a noise canceling formation, so he would not have heard the commotion outside if not for Hua Shu, who had rushed to his hut as fast as she could.

"Old man, do not think you can talk to me like that simply because I rose to power later than you! Due to the wealth of your ancestors, you have angered the entire kingdom and more, and it is now time for the Flaming Saber Sect to come to an end!" yelled Wang Hu, furious at how the Grand Elder had treated him.

In the tower, Li Zhu was observing the scene with a serious expression on his face. If the sect was actually defeated, he could end up being killed, let alone entering the inheritance trials. "I guess I can only hope that the Grand Elder has a few tricks up his sleeve, for everyone's sake!"