Chapter 38
Dark Battle Angel: Family or Morality?
Around Duan Mu, a colossal white tiger erupted into existence, its form towering higher and higher until crimson clouds churned beneath its paws.
Dharma Idol—White Tiger Treading the Clouds!
Lightning burst from its blazing eyes, crackling across its massive body before fusing with the crimson sea beneath.
White Tiger—Lighting the Sky!
Screeeech!!!
The titanic claws raked down against the ward, shrieking as lightning clashed with glass.
The crowd was struck dumb. Awe filled their eyes.
The manifestation of a true Dharma Idol* was breathtaking—an existence entirely above the pseudo and makeshift idols Lu Xietong and Yan Feitian had displayed earlier. Compared to Duan Mu's manifestation, their idols were like sparks against the sun.
Yet… even this astonishing move only carved faint scratches into the ward.
Gasps filled the air.
Even Duan Mu himself was shaken. He knew the power behind his strike. He had even woven in a Mystic Art to ensure destruction. To see it resisted so easily…
"Impossible…" Duan Mu muttered, molten silver eyes narrowing.
"Jiejiejie… Such cute cat claws. Too bad that's all they amount to." The eerie voice sneered.
"Hmph! Then why don't you try my Frost Clan skills!" A cold female voice rang out.
A woman draped in icy-blue silk stepped forward, her face veiled, her presence cold as ice. She released her Dharma Idol—a majestic Icy Luan that spread its frozen wings across the sky.
One after another, experts across the arena unleashed their False Idols and Dharma Idols. The heavens blazed with countless Idol manifestations: weapons gleaming like suns, towering flora with pulsating Qi, some like ferocious beasts roaring at the ward, and others, strange entities whose forms could not even be identified.
The evening sky turned into a battlefield of colors, clashing against the crimson sunset that bled across the horizon.
There was only one goal: Break the ward.
At this point, only Yang Jiang, Yin Feiyu, Yan Zhen, and Yan Youmei (Rouxi) had yet to move. Even the other members of the Yin-Yang Dynasty and Yan Clan hurled their power at the barrier.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
But no matter how much it was bombarded, the ward barely flinched. At most, faint scratches appeared—and they healed before the crowd's eyes, recovering at a terrifying speed.
The eerie figure chuckled again, reveling in their struggle.
Then—
BOOM!!!
Yang Jiang moved.
His Dharma Idol surged forth, and unlike the others, it was not faint or half-real. It was solid, gleaming, and divine.
A black carp, its scales lined with shimmering gold, emerged into the heavens. Every scale glimmered with cold, unyielding defiance and whiskers that snapped like golden celestial lightings.
A Divine Idol!
Everyone froze, their own attacks faltering momentarily to admire the sight. Even the crowd below erupted into frenzy.
"A Divine Idol…!"
"Senior Yang Jiang's idol… it's real!"
"With this, the ward will surely fall!"
"We're surely saved!"
*Boom!*
The carp's tail lashed against the translucent ward.
At last, a crack appeared. Thin as a hair strand—but a crack nonetheless.
"That's enough!"
The eerie voice rang out once more, but this time, it lacked its previous smugness.
Whoosh!
A figure materialized within the ward, only a few meters above Lu Xietong and Yan Feitian.
He was tall, his skin pale as bone. His thin, damp hair hung limply, clinging to his face, while his eyes were endless gray abysses that seemed to devour the soul. He wore a feathery ash-gray robe, and a bone-crafted bell dangled from his neck, emanating a faint, sinister chime.
Recognition struck the enlightened ones like lightning.
"A… Soul Stealer!"
Lu Xietong's voice overlapped with several enlightened ones present.
The figure smirked. "I am Kuang Luosheng. And I have… an interesting offer."
In a blur, his form flickered, reappearing at the boundary of the glassy confinement, facing Yang Jiang in his Idol state. His smile stretched unnaturally wide, lips curling with madness.
"I promise it won't disappoint."
"Not interested." Yang Jiang's voice was flat and cold.
Kuang Luosheng's abyss-like eyes flicked toward him. "Am sure you are curious why I revealed myself so suddenly? Don't overthink it—there's no grand conspiracy. I simply… had an idea and I thought it would be fun share. Tell me, what would you do if you were caught between saving that little lass or the lives of countless people present.
To say it simply, What would you choose between family and morality?"
His deranged grin widened.
A foreboding chill seized every heart. Yang Jiang's brows furrowed, his instincts screaming trouble.
"My offer is simple," Kuang Luosheng continued, voice dripping with twisted joy. "Leave these two younglings to me… and I let everyone else walk away alive."
"Dream on!" Yin Feiyu snapped.
"Jiejiejie… It's amusing that you think you even have a choice."
His gaze swept across the crowd like a predator surveying prey, till it fell back on Yang Jiang. "That brings us back to my question: Which do you pick—family, or morality?"
"What do you mean?" Yang Jiang's voice grew sharp.
Kuang Luosheng's answer was chillingly casual.
"It's simple. For every attack made against this ward… one random person from the crowd will vanish." He gave a mocking "Bye" wave.
Duan Mu snorted coldly. "How would you even enforce such nonsense?"
"It will be my pleasure to demonstrate."
Kuang Luosheng's lips curled into a cruel grin. "You've already struck my ward over a hundred times. That means over a hundred people should disappear, right?. Jiejiejie…"
He lifted his hand and waved again.
Screams erupted.
"Ahhhh!"
"My son—!"
"No! Save me—!"
From random places in the audience, cultivators began to vanish—dragged below by some unseen force.
One.
Two.
Three.
.....
In the blink of an eye, more than ten were gone.
The experts desperately tried to track the source, but the phenomenon was too fast, too erratic, random.
Finally, someone caught sight of it—and their blood ran cold.
From beneath the victims' feet, inky-black tendrils surged upward like living shadows, wrapping around bodies and yanking them below.
Panic exploded.
"Don't step on the shadows!"
"Get away from the arena!"
"Run!"
Some fled in terror, but the moment they passed beyond a certain radius, their bodies detonated into bloody mist.
Despair spread like wildfire. Some froze, unwilling to move at all.
Within moments, nearly a hundred cultivators had either exploded into fog or been dragged into the abyss.
Duan Mu's silver eyes narrowed, uncharacteristic fear flickering within. "What… what evil is that?"
Kuang Luosheng grinned, his bell chiming faintly. "The secret of the heavens must not be revealed."
Almost immediately, the abomination appeared.
A humanoid blob of writhing black ink stood beside him. Around it floated the missing cultivators, their bodies shriveling, blood seeping from every pore as it streamed into the entity's form.
The sight made Lu Xietong's stomach twist. For all her thousands of years of experience in her past life, she had lived in a sheltered greenhouse and hardly experienced the dark side of humanity. This scene of raw, grotesque slaughter rattled even her.
'Shit! I'm really in trouble this time…' she cursed inwardly, her face pale.
Kuang Luosheng spread his arms wide, deranged glee painting his expression.
"So, Yang Jiang…" His voice dripped with mockery. "Let me ask again. Family… or morality? Choose wisely."
All eyes turned to Yang Jiang.
Yang Jiang's brows knitted together tightly, veins bulging on his forehead.
'Damn it…'
'Damn it all!'
'Damn you, Kuang Luosheng!'
'No pressure at all!' He thought sarcastically.
Yang Jiang's jaw tightened as the weight of every life pressed down upon him.
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