Two Powers Collide

"Well, I guess all there's left to do is destroy your sect, which has overstayed its welcome on this continent!" the two elders of Myriad Soul Palace yelled in unison, before charging into the formation, barehanded.

Everyone in Myriad Soul Palace was an elemental cultivator, specializing in the the rare soul element, which could be used to release powerful attacks which targeted their enemies' souls. Because of this, the two elders needed no weapons to display their full power.

What worried the Grand Elder was that since they trained in the soul elements, their own souls were extremely powerful, making them less susceptible to the power of illusions, which was what most of the defensive formations in the sect used. All he could hope for was that the power of the formations had not deteriorated too much from when Ts'ui Ru had set them up, hundreds of years prior.

All the spectators, on both sides of the fight, could only wait, with rising anticipation. After all, the formation was not something that golden core realm experts could handle. The two elders from Myriad Soul Palace were not in the golden core realm, though, and they had actually already broken through to the Nascent Soul realm long ago, since in the mainland this was the required strength to become an elder.

This was not because they had more talent than the Grand Elder or the sect leaders in Crouching Tiger Kingdom, rather they had gotten access to areas with denser heavenly energy, and had received precious resources that aided cultivation. This, as well as hard work, was also the reason why Li Zhu had reached the golden core realm by the age of 16, when he had been the crown prince of the Heavenly Dragon Empire.

As the elders disappeared into the formation, there was a long moment of silence, as everyone waited to see the results of the clash. After all, even the Grand Elder had no idea if the formation was still strong enough to defend against the two, let alone everyone else, who did not even know what cultivation the elders were at.

Finally answering the question on everyone's mind, the two elders were thrown out of the illusion, their bodies covered in blood. Their robes were tattered, and the confident smiles on their faces had been wiped away, replaced by fury and embarrassment. They had acted all strong and mighty just a moment before, yet now they had been humiliated in front of all these people!

"I guess we really have no choice, junior sister... we have to use the item that master gave to us! The fact that we lost to this ancient formation only proves that the inheritance could actually be important for our sect, and Bo Ai!" mumbled one of the two elders, the injuries she received only fueling her desire for Myriad Soul Palace to gain the treasures of the inheritance.

After a short moment of hesitation, the other elder nodded, replying, "If we really must... but that man will need to pay for forcing us to use that treasure!"

The Matriarch of Myriad Soul Palace had given a treasure to the two elders, in case they and Bo Ai were in danger on their journey. The item was a powerful weapon which could only be used a limited number of times, but with destructive results.

The younger of the elders touched the spirit ring on her hand, causing a small, wooden bow to appear. Then came a quiver, with five equally simple arrows.

As the elder held the wooden bow and the five arrows, everyone on the ground was confused. They had heard the two talk about a powerful weapon, but what was actually brought out was the most common bow they could imagine, something that even mortal soldiers would not use.

"Old man, I disdain even using one of these arrows on your pathetic sect, but your ancestor was a cautious one, to set up such powerful formations!" the elder said, before knocking one of the arrows, and releasing it.

Hearing the elder's threats, everyone simply thought the illusion formation had messed with her head, and she was not thinking properly. Li Zhu, though, looked shocked, as he had instantly recognized the bow.

"The Myriad Soul Bow, pride of the Myriad Soul Palace. It takes the sect five years to forge one simple arrow, with the best spirit blacksmiths in the continent working on it. The sect has only about fifty arrows in their arsenal, but each one can destroy an entire sect, so usually the arrows are not used." mumbled Li Zhu, remembering the warnings his master had given to him about the Myriad Soul Sect, and the bow that had made them rise to power.

As he had expected, the moment the simple arrow reached the illusion formation, a blinding light filled the sky, followed by a thunderous sound, which left everyone's ears ringing.

A frightening wave of energy then engulfed the camp set up outside of the Flaming Saber sect, blowing everyone, golden core realm or not, miles away. Only Bo Ai was untouched, as she had a defensive talisman made exclusively to protect her from the shock waves caused by the arrows.

The energy that had blown everyone into the distance was just the residual energy formed from the impact the arrow had with the formation, and the power of the arrow could actually kill a nascent soul realm cultivator..

Still, the illusion formation did not shatter, and although they were clearly weakened by the strike, the sect's defenses were still intact and functional.

The most surprised people where the elders of Myriad Soul Palace and Li Zhu, all three having a clear grasp of the power contained in that simple arrow, which had easily destroyed entire sects in the past, and this included sects from larger kingdoms than Crouching Tiger.

"Junior sister, this inheritance must be ours! Use all of the arrows!" said the older of the two women, determination etched onto her face.

Although the arrow had not destroyed the defensive formation, it had still caused a large amount of damage, so from this point on it was just a question of how many strikes it would take. The issue was that they did not have all fifty arrows that the Myriad Soul Palace owned, since each one was seen as a precious treasure, that needed to be protected. Because of this, the matriarch had only given them five arrows, since even she had expected that one arrow would be enough for any trouble they would encounter.

The younger of the two elders nodded, before knocking another arrow into the bow, and releasing it. Just like before, the strike was followed by a blinding light and deafening sound.

Same as before, the formation stood strong, though where there used to be nothing visible, there were now cracks forming in the sky, sign that the invisible formation was actually breaking, albeit slowly.

The elder did not even wait for the smoke of the explosion to clear, before already shooting a third arrow, which had an even ore devastating effect on the increasingly fragile formation.

'They can't have that many arrows... the formation needs to hold on for just a few more strikes!' thought Li Zhu, nervous about the outcome of this clash.

As the third arrow hit the formation, many weaker disciples of the Flaming Saber sect were swept up into the air, a small portion of the shock waves actually reaching inside the defenses.

"This fourth arrow should do the trick!" the elder mumbled, before releasing yet another powerful strike.

Her estimations were correct, and the formation which had been full of cracks after the last strike finally shattered, the explosion reaching the defensive dome of the sect, and shattering it as well.

Fortunately, most of the energy contained in the arrow had been absorbed by the defensive formations, so the members of the Flaming Saber sect simply had the same result as their enemies, and were flung into the distance.

The Grand Elder, Shen Zan and the owner of the Flaming Saber sect auction were the only people who remained at their previous locations, frowns appearing on their faces.

"Old man, you have lost, now it is time for you and your sect to be destroyed!" yelled the elder holding the bow, furious at how many precious arrows she had used.

Hearing her voice, the members of the Ferocious Sword sect and the Endless Storm sect charged forwards, returning from where they had been thrown from the first explosion.

The disciples of the royal family also came forwards, but they were much more hesitant, having been deeply shocked at the power of the Flaming Saber sect's defenses.

"Now you must die, old man, for wasting four of our arrows, equivalent to twenty years of hard work for our sect!" the elder of the myriad soul palace announced, before charging forwards.

The enemies flowed into the sect, but in that precise moment the Grand Elder yelled, "Stop!"

"What do you want old man... are you angry that your disciples will pay the price of your actions?" asked one of the two elders, who had been about to deliver a killing blow on Shen Zan.

"hahahaha, you scum. I really have been defeated today, but that does not mean I will give you the chance to kill my disciples! If anyone lays a finger on a member of the Flaming Saber sect, we all die together!" the Grand Elder Announced, before taking a small, red crystal out of his pocket.

"I trust you two know what this is... since you seem so proud of the fact that you are stronger than us. I will repeat myself, if anyone of my disciples is harmed, everyone will die. Although it is a pity, if the sect will be destroyed, it will bring its enemies down with it!" he yelled, a crazed expression on his face.

As they recognized the crystal in his hands, the two arrogant elders were filled with fear, as they quickly scrambled to yell, "No one touch the Flaming Saber sect members!"

Hearing the imposing voice of the two elders, who were stronger than anyone else currently here, everyone froze, not daring to go against their words.

Turning to the Grand Elder, the younger elder asked, "So, what are we going to do now? As long as you do not activate the Demon Slaying Crystal then I can ensure no one of your sect will be harmed!"

The elder had changed her attitude quite a bit, as the fear of dying reminded her that one should never be arrogant, since even the weakest of enemies could always have a powerful last resort.

The Grand Elder laughed, before saying, "Now... we wait! If you promise that the Myriad Soul Palace will not take action against my sect in the future, I can allow your disciple to attempt the inheritance trials. That said, if your disciple does not win, you cannot steal from whoever does... or else."

Although it was humiliating for him to give in to his enemies, the future of the Flaming Saber sect was the main priority to the Grand Elder, and if he kicked the elders of the Myriad Soul Palace out with the threat of killing everyone, they would return later with reinforcements. To avoid such an ending from occurring, the Grand Elder had no choice but to make this small concession, and give them at least a chance at winning the inheritance.