Flashes of energy clashed fiercely at the highest point in the sky.
Fending off his opponent's oppressive pitch black battleaxe for the umpteenth time, Marshal Xianming proved his ability to be able to stand his ground against Marshal Shengding.
Yet even so, Marshal Xianming could not help but let out a bitter smile.
Earlier when his side had rallied in terms of morale, they had suddenly fought with much greater vigour, causing the Dragon Cauldron Army experts to falter slightly. When that happened, he had been thrilled about the fact that they were finally able to overcome the power boost provided by the Cauldron of Draconic Force.
But now, he finally understood what happened.
It was not that they managed to overcome the power boost provided by the Cauldron of Draconic Force.
It was that the Cauldron of Draconic Force had simply stopped providing this power boost.
That was because Longshao Wenqin had completely left the sky battle, and was now facing Fourth Prince Mosha nearer to the ground.
No one had noticed him diving through the sky, but that was only natural.
After all, everyone had been busy fighting their own battles.
The Scarlet Moon Army experts wanted to rush to the skies, while the Dragon Cauldron experts were hindering them with all their might.
As for Marshal Xianming's group, just surviving was all they had in mind. How would they have the time to be concerned about others?
It was only now that the pressure had alleviated along with the absence of the treasure cauldron, and Marshal Xianming was finally able to survey the entire battlefield once more.
In that case, they had only one job left.
Since their opponents had lost the support of the Cauldron of Draconic Force, they had to break out of their current situation as soon as possible.
Otherwise, once Longshao Wenqin's battle with Mosha ended, he might just return to continue boosting the others with his treasure cauldron.
At that point, Marshal Xianming's group would be left in a dire state once more!
"This is our chance! Give it all you've got!" Marshal Xianming bellowed.
Right now, Marshal Xianming could only hope that Mosha would be able to delay Longshao Wenqin for as long as possible. Or, it would be even better if Mosha was actually able to defeat Longshao Wenqin, ridding them of this problem once and for all!
Of course, Marshal Xianming did not have high hopes for the second scenario.
With his perception, Marshal Xianming could see just how the fight on the ground was playing out.
Bang-!
With a powerful punch, Wenqin sent Mosha flying through the air once more.
They had already exchanged countless strikes, but even after activating his primal beast bloodline and wielding dual treasure sabres in his hands, Mosha still found it difficult to contend with the latter's powerful fists.
Ever since the start of the fight, he had been forced to remain on the defensive. No matter how he tried, he simply could not find any openings to attack!
Bit by bit, the injuries started to pile up on his body. Right now, traces of blood could already be seen all over him.
Even so, Mosha was still full of fighting spirit.
After being sent flying by Wenqin, he still managed to land firmly on his feet, the momentum dragging his heels a couple of metres across the surface of the ground. When he finally came to a stop, Mosha's eyes flashed with a menacing light as he roared towards Wenqin.
This was the dominant instinct of the Emerald Sabretooth, one that was perfectly in line with Mosha's own personality. Even if there did not seem to be any path to victory, he would not cower in fear!
"How meaningless," Wenqin remarked in irritation.
In his eyes, there was absolutely no suspense to this battle. Despite his struggles, all Mosha was doing was delaying the inevitable.
Or in other words, a complete waste of time.
Around them, soldiers from both sides were watching their battle with mixed emotions. Those of the Dragon Cauldron Army cheered when they saw Wenqin holding the advantage, but the Scarlet Moon Army soldiers felt their hearts sink as they watched the bloodied body of their Fourth Prince.
They desperately wanted to help him out somehow, but that was impossible. This fight was simply beyond them.
A good distance away, a hemisphere of vines started to unravel, slowly receding back into the ground.
When Beimu Fei stepped out from within, her eyes looked straight towards the battle between Wenqin and Mosha. Even while she was blocked off within the vines, she had been sweeping out with her perception.
Therefore, she knew exactly what had happened until now.
At this moment, despite how badly Mosha was being beaten by his opponent, Beimu Fei could not help but feel a sense of envy towards him.
Yes, he was losing the battle.
Yes, he only seemed to be delaying the inevitable.
However, at least he had the qualifications to stand on that stage, and the courage to step forward once more after every time he was sent flying by his opponent!
This was someone who used to be named on the same level as herself, as one of the Four Stars of Scarlet Moon City. Yet now, he had already left her in the dust.
In comparison to Mosha, just what had she been doing?
Hiding in a shell the moment she encountered a powerful foe, did she really deserve her name as the proud genius of the Beimu Clan?
She desperately wanted to join the battle and fight the enemy alongside Mosha, but she knew better than to let her emotions dictate her actions.
With her current combat capabilities, doing so would be meaningless. In fact, she might even become a burden to Mosha, causing the situation to become even worse.
Watching from afar, Beimu Fei saw how Mosha was being rendered completely helpless. As time went on, the injuries on him only continued to grow more and more severe.
Yet all she could do was to look on, her fists clenched tightly in frustration.
But all of a sudden, realisation struck her like a bolt of lightning.
Wait, this was not what she should be doing right now.
Mosha was trying his best to do what he could, so she must not let his efforts go to waste.
She had to go do what she could as well!
At this moment, Beimu Fei finally steeled her heart. She turned around and dashed off, no longer bothering about Mosha's fight.
"I'm leaving the rest to you," a familiar voice rang out in her head.
Beimu Fei widened her eyes, the shock in her heart resulting in an involuntarily halt in her steps. However, this hesitation only lasted for a moment. Beimu Fei merely let out a bitter smile before continuing on his way.
A huge responsibility is now lying upon her shoulders, and every second counts!
"Why are you even trying this hard?" Wenqin asked. "Just take a look at your pathetic self right now. Is this really worth it?"
"It will be worth it when I finally defeat you," Mosha tightened his grip on his dual sabres.
"I see. How disappointing," Wenqin shook his head in disapproval. "I thought that you would have at least understood the difference between us by now. Since you are so dense, I would just have to finish things by force."
With a single thought, the Cauldron of Draconic Force behind him trembled. An invisible energy thread emerged from it and stretched towards Wenqin, attaching itself to Wenqin's back.
Since the treasure cauldron was able to amplify the strength of others, it was only naturally that it could be used to amplify his strength as well!
Wenqin smiled.
He could feel power surging through his body. It was as though every movement he made from now on would be filled with endless strength.
No matter how many times he tried, he would never grow sick of this feeling of ecstasy.
"This has taken long enough, let's end this," Wenqin confidently declared.
From his tone, it was as though he could have ended the fight at any moment had he wanted to, and everyone in the surroundings truly believed that he had the ability to do so as well.
However, things were not nearly as simple as it seemed.
Controlling a half-step Overlord rank treasure was actually not simple at all, especially for Wenqin who was only at the Second Cycle Origin Core realm. If he had to fight personally on top of that, it would actually be quite taxing on him.
Thus, he naturally wanted to avoid doing so as much as possible.
Unfortunately, Mosha was simply too tenacious, refusing to give up despite the outcome being clear as day.
If things continued at this rate, the battle in the sky might just turn for the worse before he managed to finish off Mosha. As much as possible, Wenqin wanted to eliminate any chances of such a situation happening.
Wenqin did not waste anymore words. He erupted with his top speed as he charged straight towards Mosha.
Mosha focused in response, his dual sabres slashing forward with all the strength he could muster.
He might not be able to see any physical difference, but he could certainly sense that Wenqin had undergone some kind of transformation. There was no doubt that the current Wenqin was even stronger than before!
Everyone in the surroundings braced themselves, some even retreating further back in anticipation of the huge collision that was to come.
Yet right before their clash, Mosha's movements suddenly slowed down, his eyes losing focus altogether.
In front of him, Mosha definitely would not wait politely for Wenqin to regain his clarity of mind.
His dual sabres slashed out mercilessly, aiming to decapitate Mosha right here and now.
The next moment, light returned to Wenqin's eyes. His loss of focus had only lasted for a short frame of time, not nearly long enough for Mosha to truly take advantage of it.
"Damn it!" Wenqin shouted in rage as he punched out to meet Mosha's dual sabres.
However, this punch was no longer as powerful as before.
Even though Wenqin had quickly recovered from his loss of focus, that one short moment of lapse had been enough to disrupt the flow of his attack, causing the bulk of his momentum to vanish altogether.
Bang-!
The two sides collided with another heavy clash. Yet when everyone saw the results, they could not help but widen their eyes in shock.
Earlier, Mosha had been sent flying every single time, clearly unable to match up against Wenqin.
But this time, Wenqin was actually the one who had been pushed back by Mosha!
What just happened?
Even after announcing so confidently that he was going to end things, Wenqin actually ended up with a disadvantage?
Or could it be that Mosha had been hiding his true strength all along?
All eyes turned towards Wenqin, wanting to see just how he would react to this sudden change in the situation.
What they saw was a livid expression on Wenqin's face, his calmness from before completely vanishing without a trace.
However, his rage did not seem to be directed towards Mosha. Instead, Wenqin looked in another direction, his eyes filled with killing intent.
In that same direction, a young man stepped out from the crowd with a sword in hand, directly entering the clearing that the ground soldiers had opened up for the two Origin Core realm martial artists earlier.
"It is you again?" Wenqin managed to blurt out through gritted teeth.
How could he not recognise this newcomer to the fight?
After all, they had met each other once before, and Wenqin had taken care to remember every feature on this young man's face.
He was none other than the renowned genius of the Scarlet Moon Army, Nanlu Tianzi!
Lu Tianzi did not bother replying, choosing to walk over to Mosha instead.
"He is strong," Mosha said, his gaze never leaving Wenqin all this while.
"I know," Lu Tianzi nodded, finally stopping beside Mosha.
"Are you sure about this?" Mosha asked.
"I am," Lu Tianzi turned his eyes onto Wenqin as well, his grip tightening on the hilt of the Moon Culler.
"Then let's do this," Mosha let out a deep breath.
The two of them did not exchange many words, but it was enough to get the message across.
Seeing the determined look in their eyes, Wenqin felt the corner of his lips twitch wildly in disbelief.
When he sent Bogeng down earlier, Mosha stepped in to stop Bogeng.
When he was about to get rid of Mosha, it was this Nanlu Tianzi's turn to get involved.
One by one, these insects just can't seem to stop getting in his way!
They want to work together?
So be it!
Since that is the case, he would just get rid of them both at the same time!