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**
The battle raged on.
As time passed, the sound of slaughter that reverberated throughout the Jia Ma Sacred City gradually began to weaken somewhat.
Clearly, this brutal and bloody struggle had drained both sides tremendously.
The extremely tenacious resistance of the Mittel Clan had indeed forced the Yun Lan Sect to pay a bloody price.
But as more and more reinforcements from the Yun Lan Sect poured in, and under the tidal wave-like offensive, signs of exhaustion finally began to show on the Mittel Clan's side.
This scene made the hearts of the onlookers anxious and full of sighs.
At this rate, it seemed only a matter of time before the Mittel Clan was wiped out today.
After all, no matter how you looked at it, the Yun Lan Sect's foundation and strength far surpassed the Mittel Clan in every aspect.
Atop the imperial capital's high tower, Jia Xingtian's gaze was fixed firmly on the distant battlefield, his withered hand within his sleeve emitting faint creaking sounds as it clenched.
But just a moment later, as he thought of that terrifying figure, Yun Shan of the Yun Lan Sect, Jia Xingtian's entire body instantly slumped, and his face, at this moment, seemed to age even more.
Against Yun Shan, he truly didn't have the slightest confidence of victory — he couldn't even muster the thought of clashing with him.
The chasm between Dou Huang and Dou Zong was not something that could simply be crossed at will.
Behind Jia Xingtian, Yao Ye, dressed in a purple-black brocade robe, also fixed her phoenix-like eyes on the battlefield, her pearly teeth lightly biting her red lips.
She knew in her heart that once the Mittel Clan was exterminated today, the leading of the empire's three great families removed, the Yun Lan Sect would ride this momentum — and then, who in the empire would dare step forward to oppose them?
"Great-grandfather…" Yao Ye bit her lip and turned her bright eyes toward Jia Xingtian.
"It's hopeless…" Jia Xingtian bitterly shook his head, his eyes slowly closing, heavy with weariness.
From now on, this Jia Ma Empire… would probably belong to the Yun Lan Sect.
At this moment, Jia Xingtian was already thinking about how to preserve strength to the greatest extent possible and lead the royal family's members to retreat safely.
Seeing the expression on Jia Xingtian's face, Yao Ye felt her whole body turn cold.
As clever as she was, she instantly understood Jia Xingtian's plan.
He intended to offer up the entire empire… with almost no resistance!
"Great-grandfather… is there really no way…?" Yao Ye murmured softly, her voice full of bitterness.
Jia Xingtian was silent.
As the Mittel Clan's defeat became more and more apparent, no miracle or turning point occurred.
Not only the royal family, but other factions too began to feel a heavy gloom settle over their hearts.
Just as countless people fell into a daze, suddenly — high in the skies above the Jia Ma Sacred City — a certain part of the void began to faintly distort.
That patch of space gradually rippled and began to rotate slowly like a vortex.
This sudden scene made some of the more perceptive people freeze, their eyes quickly fixing on it.
When they saw that twisting, rippling space, their pupils contracted sharply, and their hearts churned with wild waves of shock.
In the next moment, they saw two faintly discernible black figures step out from that distorted space.
As their footsteps crossed out of the void, their previously blurred figures gradually became clear.
Immediately after, an incomparably powerful aura erupted violently from one of the newcomers — like a volcano erupting, a scorching momentum surged into the heavens, instantly spreading and enveloping the entire Sacred City.
Boom!
Under the pressure of this terrifying aura, the imposing presence that Hai Bodong, Yun Du, Yun Sha, and others had been emanating collapsed in an instant.
The cries of battle at the manor also gradually quieted.
Even the air seemed to grow heavy and stagnant.
Very soon, the entire city fell into dead silence.
Everyone raised their heads, their faces full of shock as they stared at the figure high above — shrouded in a faint black radiance, like a terrifying black sun.
…
Atop the high tower, Jia Xingtian, who had previously closed his eyes in despair, suddenly snapped them open, his gaze filled with disbelief as he stared at that figure bathed in faint black light.
The aura emanating from him made Jia Xingtian feel an unprecedented sense of oppression.
Even Yun Shan could not make him feel such pressure.
What shook him even more was that this aura… carried an oddly familiar feeling.
For a moment, he was stunned — then his eyes widened sharply, his aged body trembling with excitement as he stammered:
"This aura… could it be him? Wei Yang… could it be he has returned!?"
"Master Wei…?" Yao Ye also looked up, her phoenix-like eyes filling with boundless shock and joy.
At the very top of the Alchemist Association.
Fa Ma's pair of cloudy old eyes suddenly burst forth with an astonishing light at this moment.
His body trembled slightly as he gazed upward at that figure in the sky, shrouded like a black sun, and his voice quivered: "He… he's back!?"
The same was true of the other faction leaders — including Hai Bodong, Yun Du, Yun Sha, Mittel Tengshan all of them stared upward in shock.
It was just that they weren't able to recognize the newcomer's true identity right away.
But even so, just from the terrifying aura emanating from him alone, their faces changed drastically, and waves of horror churned in their hearts.
This kind of aura was absolutely not something a Dou Huang could possess — even Yun Shan seemed to fall short of it!
When had such a powerful figure appeared in the Jia Ma Empire?
Not only these people — even the entire imperial capital's populace was stunned, confusion written all over their faces.
At this critical moment, just who was this powerful stranger who had suddenly appeared?
At that moment —
Boom!
Beside that figure shrouded like a black sun, another terrifying aura suddenly erupted.
As emerald-green flames surged and danced, another figure, completely wrapped in emerald-green fire, instantly drew countless gazes. Judging by the strength of his aura, he seemed to rival even a Dou Huang.
The auras of these two figures both carried an intense scorching heat.
As a result, the entire imperial capital seemed to fall into a blazing oven, baked under the searing sun.
The air temperature soared in an instant.
The whole city fell utterly silent.
Everyone's eyes froze on the two figures in the sky.
The two slowly lowered their heads, their gazes sweeping down over the entire city below.
Then, a light laugh broke the silence, slowly spreading throughout the imperial capital:
"Looks like we got here just in time. Good thing I didn't pick up your bad habit of always cutting it close at the very last second."
"Huh? When have I ever cut it close at the last second?" another voice retorted, sounding unconvinced.
"Oh yeah? You'd better remember what you just said today. Don't go cutting it close and trying to be dramatic at critical moments, or else I'll kill you myself."
"Uh… w-well… cough… we'll talk about that later. For now… let's take care of these Yun Lan Sect bastards first," the second voice replied, sounding a little guilty as he quickly changed the subject.
This carefree, casual exchange between the two left countless people stunned, dumbfounded even.
Judging by the voices, the newcomers didn't sound very old.
But listening to what they said… it seemed they had come specifically for the Yun Lan Sect?
"Who are you two, that you dare insult my Yun Lan Sect?!" Yun Du flared his wings behind him and stepped forward, raising his hand and shouting toward the newcomers.
His action immediately drew the gaze of the black sun–shrouded figure high above.
That figure lightly raised a hand and pointed a finger at him: "Annoying."
A point of black light rapidly gathered at his fingertip.
That black light was dazzlingly dark, utterly pure — like a black star igniting in the sky.
As the figure lightly uttered a word: "Go."
In an instant, that black light shot from his fingertip, transforming into a black beam of light that shot straight down.
Whoosh—!
Where the beam passed, the space silently twisted, leaving behind a ring-shaped vacuum scar.
And the beam, moving at a speed almost imperceptible to the naked eye, streaked straight toward Yun Du.
Before anyone could even react, the black beam was already right in front of Yun Du.
"No—!" Yun Du's pupils shrank as his entire body bristled with chill. He screamed in his heart, desperately trying to dodge — but it was as if his body had slowed by a beat.
At that instant, it was as though his eyes and mind reacted faster than his body could keep up, resulting in a momentary delay in his control.
Thus, he could only watch helplessly as the black beam rapidly enlarged in his pupils.
Puff!
A soft sound.
The black beam pierced cleanly through Yun Du's forehead like a chopstick through tofu, and exited through the back of his head.
Then, the beam continued forward at an angle, striking the stone-paved ground below and leaving behind a deep, finger-thick black hole, where it disappeared into the earth without anyone knowing how deep it went.
Though described at length, all of this happened in the blink of an eye.
It was only when the black beam vanished underground that Yun Du's body — his pupils already dimmed — fell from the sky.
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