“Careful!”
The Tianji Holy Land elder shouted sharply. Both palms thrust outward, unleashing massive palm force of a ninth-level Martial Emperor. The force swept sideways, blocking the incoming blood arrows.
The strength the elder revealed left many disappointed.
They had thought he was at least a half-step Martial Saint, or even close to saint-level.
Who would have expected only ninth-level Martial Emperor?
Only Lin Xiao knew the elder was deliberately concealing his true power, suppressing his cultivation.
Two enormous palm forces shot out, shielding everyone inside.
Yet several blood arrows still pierced through from the sides.
Puff!
Puff!
Puff!
Those arrows were too powerful. They punched straight through the palm forces and through the crowd. In an instant, seven or eight people were pierced through the body and died on the spot.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!
At that moment, bursts of power erupted from the group, blasting in all directions.
As the two palm forces turned into waves of qi surging outward, swathes of jungle collapsed.
However, from the periphery, counter-forces also erupted, meeting the group’s attacks.
Among them, two particularly vast forces swept in from opposite directions, overpowering the group’s combined strikes and barrelling back toward them with rolling fluctuations.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The crowd was sent tumbling. Many were flung away. Several were killed outright.
Lin Xiao did not exert full effort. He only protected himself while retreating explosively outward.
Ge Jiuwei revealed the aura of a sixth-level Martial Emperor, but he clearly held back as well.
A few others also withdrew unscathed, without serious injury.
Evidently, many were hiding their strength. Only the truly weak suffered heavily.
“Who are you?”
The Tianji Holy Land elder demanded.
The rest readied powerful forces, preparing to strike.
The enemy numbers were considerable. It was clear they had at least one half-step Martial Saint.
Possibly more than one.
“Aren’t you here to wipe out our Blood Sect?”
A deep, rolling shout rang out. Thirty to forty figures closed in from all sides.
Two directions carried the aura of half-step Martial Saints.
The other two held ninth-level Martial Emperors.
Everyone in Lin Xiao’s team felt their hearts sink.
In their eyes, two half-step Martial Saints plus two ninth-level Martial Emperors far outmatched their group.
Their team was in danger.
“You are Blood Sect?”
An aged elder from Tianji Holy Land asked.
“Correct. Heh heh. You lot from Tianji Holy Land in Sacred Province want to destroy our Blood Sect. Did you think we’d know nothing? We’ve been waiting for you to come. Once we kill you, your blood will be ours.”
The speaker was one of the half-step Martial Saint elders.
The entire enemy group wore blood-red robes. Each deliberately projected a fierce, malevolent air to bolster their momentum.
“Brothers, attack!”
The leading half-step Martial Saint roared. Bursts of power erupted, slamming toward the Tianji Holy Land-led team.
Lin Xiao and the others unleashed their own forces, blasting outward to block.
Yet none revealed overwhelming strength. After this clash, many more would likely fall.
Lin Xiao did not know these people. Their life or death meant nothing to him.
On the contrary, they had come to oppose the Blood Sect. If Huo Ruyan truly was the sect master, more deaths among them would only benefit her.
Moreover, if fighting broke out, it would not fall to him to act. Someone else would be far more eager.
Hiss!
As expected, when the clash erupted, the Tianji Holy Land Martial Saint elder suddenly unleashed boundless, unparalleled power.
It was not true Martial Saint might, yet it reached near-saint level.
Two vast palm forces carried mountain-toppling, sea-overturning momentum. They slammed toward the two directions with half-step Martial Saints, combining with the remaining twenty-odd attackers’ power to meet the Blood Sect experts head-on.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of thunderous explosions rang out. Under the near-saint eruption, the Blood Sect forces on those two sides collapsed utterly. The two palm forces barely diminished. Together with the group’s strikes, they crashed into the Blood Sect ranks.
The Blood Sect crowd was sent flying. Fully thirty percent died instantly. Even the two half-step Martial Saints spat blood.
As for the other two directions, the ninth-level Martial Emperors’ attacks clashed with the rest of the team’s power. Some residual energy surged toward them.
Yet in the next instant, the Tianji Holy Land Martial Saint rose slightly higher and struck two more palms. Terrifying force slapped back the rolling fluctuations, hurling them toward the two ninth-level Martial Emperors.
The two ninth-level Martial Emperors and the dozen or so in their directions paled in shock. They hastily unleashed defences.
Alas, the two palms alone overwhelmed eight or nine attackers on each side.
Many were slapped dead outright. The ninth-level Martial Emperors and a few stronger cultivators were sent flying, gravely injured.
Near-saint strength could not be resisted by half-step Martial Saints, let alone those below ninth-level Martial Emperor.
“Near-saint!”
Ge Jiuwei and the rest of the Sacred Province group cried out in shock. The previous strike had shown only ninth-level Martial Emperor power, leaving them disappointed.
Who would have thought he was merely concealing it? His true strength had reached near-saint level.
This elder was surely an ancient antique, only a hair’s breadth from stepping into Martial Saint realm.
Of course, even a near-saint remained within Martial Emperor cultivation, still one full realm below true Martial Saint, however close the boundary.
Yet unless a true Martial Saint appeared, a near-saint could sweep all beneath that level.
Now none of them faced crisis any longer.
Instead, the Blood Sect were the ones in trouble.
Everyone inwardly rejoiced at following this Tianji Holy Land elder. Had they been in another team, they would likely have met disaster this time.
The Blood Sect members were equally stunned. Their side, with two half-step Martial Saints and two ninth-level Martial Emperors, was already extremely strong. Who expected the enemy to harbour a near-saint?
Added to the fact that the others were far from weak, their side stood no chance.
“Near-saint! Run!”
The Blood Sect half-step Martial Saint shouted, turning instantly to flee.
