Red Skies, Golden Hymn
Chapter 38
Red Skies, Golden Hymn
Yu Minge's voice was like a clap of thunder waking up the slumbering.
As it faded, the entire Holy Blade Sect exploded into a massive conflict, hundreds of skirmishes erupting everywhere. Yu Minge took to the front, drawing out the illustrious namesake of his Sect, the Holy Blade. The sword shimmered in the resplendent gold even within the confines of the scarlet sky, dissipating the murkiness that began to converge.
Immediately after, he was joined by three other Soul Ascendance cultivators--Shen Rong, Elder of the Bloodmoon Sect, Hae the Immovable, Elder of the Iron Mountain Sect, and titular Dark Night, a roaming swordsman who often bothered Yu Minge for drinks and duels.
The four didn't utter a word because they've already noticed that, among the surging masses of the attackers, there were three that stuck out the most, as all were at the Early Soul Ascendance. Yu Minge didn't have the time to ponder on the massive ramifications of a singular power having at least three Soul Ascendance cultivators, as the trio dispersed into a blood-soaked formation, constructing a towering avatar that immediately attacked.
Yu Minge stepped forward, walking on air as though it was ground, his sword crying out as a golden array of sword Qi burst forth, shattering the crimson bolt heading their way. As the only Mid Soul Ascendance cultivator, he knew that he had to be the one to take the front.
"One of you go back and start saving the kids," he ordered as he began to prepare another attack. "Others, help me buy time! They can sustain dharma avatar for at most five minutes!"
**
A crack of thunder was followed by a serpent-like bolt of lightning that shattered a nearby building. Lya and Song hurriedly darted to the left, dodging the falling debris; however, quite a few weren't so lucky. They watched in horror as the rock and stone collapsed on kids their age, some older and some even younger, burying them.
Everywhere they looked, the world was falling apart--black-cloaked figures appeared from the dark shadows and began attacking indiscriminately.
"Watch out!" Song cried out as he pushed her to the side. Steadying herself, she saw her Junior Brother take an attack of a Late Core Formation cultivator head on--though he endured it, his sword had shattered, and he was barreled backward toward her. She quickly tethered him with Qi threads, steadying him by her side; the sight of the bleeding boy caused her heart to stir. His left arm was broken at the elbow, and he was gnashing his teeth as to not scream in pain.
Uncertain as to what to do, she was just about to run away when the hooded figure appeared in front of her, dagger in hand, aiming for her neck. Her feet frozen, she just barely managed to toss herself in front of Song, closing her eyes. The pain she was expecting, however, never arrived; opening her eyes, she glanced to the side where she saw the hooded figure sprawled on the ground, his neck snapped. In his stead, the man she fought during the tournament stood.
He didn't say anything, merely nodding toward her before rushing off into another fight.
Everything was in chaos--screams of agony, rage, and sorrow blurred the line between the horror and the reality. She hoisted Song over her shoulder and ran toward the cluster of Disciples she saw in the distance fighting alongside several Elders.
**
Shen Tao was flustered, but more than that, he was angry. His chance at glory, at his name spreading throughout the Lower Ashlands, was suddenly interrupted by an onslaught of cloaked figures.
In the distance, he caught sight of his Master Uncle fighting alongside the Holy Blade to stave off the monstrous-looking dharma avatar dyed in red like blood, so he knew that he was on his own for the most part. Two of the Disciples that had come with him had already perished, their hearts stabbed from the back when they weren't defending.
He slid to the side and deftly dodged an attack from the back, his anger surging further as he reached out and clasped the hooded figure's neck. Rather than killing him immediately, he began to indiscriminately stab the man's body with a knife until there were at least thirty bleeding holes, and even the cold face of the demon began to crack, the façade rupturing under the weight of pain.
In the end, he snapped the man's neck and tossed him aside, refocusing. He didn't want to fight--it was in the chaos of things that even the most talented perished. Additionally, he was here alone, and this wasn't his home ground. Even the Disciples of the Holy Blade Sect were struggling, and there were thousands of them.
Thus, he was looking for ways to escape. However, just as he was about to dash to the exit, he caught sight of someone appearing some ten yards from him as though from nowhere--it was a boy, no older than ten, sporting bloody-red eyes, black hair, and a strange symbol etched on his forehead glimmering in scarlet.
What was far more shocking, however, was that the boy exuded the aura of someone at the Peak of Core Formation Realm. A 10-year-old-boy... at Peak Core Formation Realm... Shen Tao's mind broke for a moment and his thoughts ceased. His reality, as fragile as it was already, had just been shattered.
"You can't run," the boy spoke, the countenance at an eerie juxtaposition with the appearance. "Let's dance for a little bit."
**
Shui Xiaoling and Qiu Mei had, by some happenstance, managed to join up right after the battle broke out. Standing side by side, it wouldn't be strange for those who didn't know them to consider they were sisters with how alike they were, but few had the chance to admire their beauty at the moment.
Both forewent their own safety, rushing about madly and saving as many Disciples as they could. On the way, their dashing robes were ruined, blood smeared over the silver cloth. However, because of their aggression, they managed to pool together quite a cluster and faced the hundred or so cloaked figures directly with their backs against the formation-hardened wall of the medicinal hall.
"Here, come, quick!" Xiaoling glanced to the side where she saw a pair of newcomers just barely dodge a shadow-stirring spear, ducking into the cluster. She recognized the two as they were Lya and Song, the pair who were rapidly becoming little stars of the Sect. There was little of that in their visage, however; Lya was visibly tired, her hair disheveled, while a cut on her forehead was bleeding profusely. Song, on the other hand, was in an even worse condition--his skin was as pale as snow, his left arm was bent in an unnatural manner, and his robes were almost entirely dyed red.
"Pull them to the back! Give them whatever pills we have left!" she ordered, glancing forward again, her teeth clattering. She was frustrated--with her Soul Blade, she could have easily dispatched the vast majority of the hooded figures, but there was one in particular standing in her way.
It was a brutish-looking man with short, brown hair and a pair of glowing, red eyes, a strange symbol glowing in faint black etched into his forehead. By the appearance he was a Body Cultivator at the Peak Avatar Realm, but he wasn't directly fighting. Rather, he was focused entirely on deflecting her Soul Blades, as though he could see them as clearly as the blue sky.
As such, because she was tied up, she couldn't help the other pair of Elders that were struggling to keep the flanks steady. Qiu Mei, too, had exhausted herself being the only Core Formation Disciple in the cluster as the others were busy fighting elsewhere.
Just as it all seemed to become hopeless, a world-shattering roar erupted, drawing her attention; the massive dharma avatar in the sky had collapsed, a golden pillar of light erupting in its place.
"Sect Master!" she exclaimed in a rare outburst of joy.
"We have found her! Retreat!" at the same time, however, another voice erupted and drew Xiaoling's attention--some four hundred yards to the south, she caught glimpse of several hooded figures yanking a young, ordinary-seeming girl from a group of corpses. At the same time, the pressure on her as well as her group decreased exponentially as the hooded figures began retreating.
"Like hell you will!!" a low, melodic voice broke out right after and Xiaoling watched thick shadows converge toward the group of figures dragging the girl. By the time the shadows vanished, the figures were turned into bubbling pus on the ground, while a differently-hooded figure was holding the girl who'd passed out by now. Xiaoling recognized the figure as the one that often bothered her Master--Dark Night, one of the few vagabonds who'd managed to reach Soul Ascendance Realm.
"Haah, how disappointing..."
**
Blood chilled in Yu Minge's veins as the voice washed over the Holy Blade Sect. He watched the three figures who'd formed the dharma avatar suddenly kneel toward the source of the voice, mumbling 'Master' softly.
"EVERYBODY, GET OUT!!!" Yu Minge howled at the top of his lungs, kicking Shen Rong and Hae back and as far away from him as possible. At the same time, he summoned as much Qi as he physically could and transposed it into Light, causing the Holy Blade to leave his hands and stay suspended in front of him, bursting out with the blinding iridescence. It was the calling of the Soul, taking out a trace of Divinity therein to conjure the Art within the Blade.
Right after, a cleaver the size of the sky itself burrowed through the array and fell directly toward him. With sweat beads coalescing, he raised the sword and slashed. The silence was brief, and the explosion afterward loud enough to deafen the weakest present.
Yu Minge spat out a mouthful of blood as he found himself shot back nearly ten steps; he'd used the secret art on top of exhausting a little bit of Divinity of the Holy Blade and just barely managed to block the strike. However, were the world to know, they would not find it shameful--if anything, they'd likely erupt in cheers.
"I've helped enough," the voice faded, and with it the pressure. Yu Minge was barely holding steady in the sky, his face covered in blood.
"Where the hell did an Immortal come from...?" he could only mumble to the sky. At the very least, the voice and the entity behind the attack were of the Immortal Foundation Realm, the initial stage of becoming a True Immortal.