The rainbow colored elder exploded with power that gushed out and blew away sand and cobble stones as he rifled towards Hartley who had arrived in front of the elder shrouded in a white aura, an elder in the pentagon formation shouted chaotic instructions as they moved backwards in unison desperately trying to buy a little more time so the rainbow colored elder could catch up.
They knew that as long as they were feeding their elemental powers into the formation they were sitting ducks but if they stopped feeding the formation there wasn't a chance in hell that they could fight the youth one on one and the rainbow colored elder would be considerable weaker.
Hartley's blue eyes burned with stubborn resolve, there was no way he was going to make this opportunity slip by, from five meters away he slashed out with the short sword in his left hand in a smooth horizontal strike from mid-left to mid-right.
Whoosh!, the sword produced an arching blue light that flew out at the speed of light and clashed with the retreating elder, the blue aura exploded with a bang when it made contact with the white aura sending sparks flying in all directions fluttering Hartley's tattered black robe, this caused the retreating elder to jerk and stumble which gave Hartley just enough time to appear within reach of the elder, he propelled his right hand with the swirling maelstrom of blue lights towards the elder's chest
The blue aura on hartley's fist burned a trail through the protective white aura shrouding the elder like a shooting star across the night sky.
Boom!.....
A gush of red sprayed out the back of the white shrouded elder, the spiral circulation punch had penetrated through the elder like an armor piercing shell fired from a tiger tank. The elder shook with a look of disbelief on his face then collapsed to his knees with a miserable scream then went silent forever more.
"You dare!"
Exclaimed the rainbow colored elder as he caught up to Hartley a second too late, he lashed out with another punch which connected with Hartley's unprotected back, after a muffled thump Hartley was flung across the floor creating a shallow trench across the ground as he slid to stop about ten meters away, but this time the punch was nowhere as powerful as the first one, even undefended, Hartley didn't suffer as much as he did the first time, apart from feeling a throbbing ache vibrating through his body.
Hartley flashed back to his feet as swift as a yellow striped leopard with a few bloody bruises on his face, he smiled at the elder creepily, his blue eyes blazed bright in the waning light of the evening like a torch in the wind.
Blarg!!!
The other three elders still in the pentagon formation each spat a mouthful of blood from having one member of the formation forcibly removed... "How strong are you now?" Hartley asked the elder with a mocking tone.
The rainbow cololred elder's aura now dimmed drastically and he was missing a color from his aura, the overwhelming pressure that was radiating from his body was now gone... Fear..... The fear that radiated from the four mid phase xiantians was now palpable.
The rainbow colored elder gritted his teeth in determination, this youth had to die, he was too strong at such a young age and he was on the opposite side of the eldest prince, the elder steeled his heart, he still had the power of a 8th layer xanthian even though they lost one person from the formation and the rest suffered a backlash,
he still had enough power to finish the youth off..... or so he thought.
Hartley could tell what the elder was thinking just from the look of desperation on his face, but that chance was long gone. Hartley had been stalling for time himself.
Ever since he exited the spatial crack he was waiting for the ten seconds of cool down to finish so he could engage his time domain again.
"Die!!!" the elder raged, Colors exploded from the elder as he was about to lunge at Hartley in a final life and death struggle, suddenly the color and sounds drained from the world around them, everything stood still in suspended animation and eerie silence, Hartley engaged his monochrome time domain and saw everything in mind-bending black and white detail, from the vicious determined scowl on the elder's face to the bulging fear-riddled eyes of the ones left in the formation, Hartley could now see the lines of energy that connected all four elders, he took his time to study it just in case he came across others using this tactic.
Hartley's time domain now lasted 15 seconds and covered fifty meters, he used the first ten seconds to study the elemental power connections between the elders then nonchalantly made his way over to the nearest elder and swiped at his neck with his short blade....Whooosh! time returned to normal speed as the sword made contact with the aura shrouding the elder, it shattered like glass and the sword sliced through the vulnerable elder's neck in a blue blur, his head went flying away with a fountain of blood chasing behind it as the other two in the formation puked up another mouthful of blood and staggered around like old drunk men leaving the pub at closing time. The white haired elder that was covered with rainbow colors returned to normal, the formation was truly broken now...
The hairs stood on the elders neck, he was just about to go all out to execute the youth, then the next second the youth was ten meters away casually beheading another elder, it dawned on him now that he had missed his chance, he was now thinking about the best escape route, he knew he couldn't return to Song Zemin either, he would be executed on spot for his failure.... BOOOM!! there were two blue flashes in the gloom of the evening and another elder turned to bloody mist with a miserable shriek.
That was it! He had had enough at this point, the elder was about to lose his mind, he took off in the direction he had come from, Hartley smiled while he brutally chopped the final elder that was in the formation in two halves, in his weakened state this elder couldn't even resist a baby with a stick right now...
Then Boom.... The earth rattled and clouds of dust flew as Hartley caught up with the escaping elder 400 meters up the street, he was now back to being a measly 6th layer xiantian, he had no chance of escape.
Bam! Hartley punched him in the back and he sprawled face first in the road, Hartley then stomped on both of his knees crushing them to powder then did the same to his elbows he layed on the road squealing like a pig while shouting "I was just following orders."
Hartley flashed away and ran amok in the armored soldiers that came with the elders, geysers of blood sprayed upward from their necks and some turned to bloody mist, amidst screaming and horses neighing it was truly like chopping vegetables. It was like a scene from hell, puddles of blood stained everywhere, in the chaos a couple escaped but Hartley couldn't be bothered to chase them.
Hartley returned to the squealing white haired elder with a horse and the black heavy shackles that was littered with bloodstains and rust that they had brought to use and parade him through the streets... The elder kept screaming words, but Hartley paid no heed to him
Hartley shackled the elder then tied him to the horse.... clop, clop, clop, he made his way to the northern gate dragging the screaming elder across the ground behind him....