Xiao Lan shrugged his shoulders, "Okay, that may have been a bit too hot for a warm up, but it still worked out just alright in the end so that's fine. So... when are you two going to attack for real?"
Oblivion and Glory exchanged a glance. They were both veterans of many conflicts and hadn't lived for thousands of years for nothing... The situation was a first, sure, but it did not mean they couldn't come up with a solution to the problem at hand. Maybe they had even already come up with one. As a matter of fact, a solution had been in their minds from the very first moment they had laid sight on the Oak Shield.
And that had to do with the fact that, while head on attacks may not work, in the end...
There was still only one shield!
However, neither Oblivion nor Glory had never even considered implementing such a cowardly and unbefitting act of attacking a weaker opponent in the back! However, seeing the current situation and noticing the urgency in each other's draconic eyes, this pair of husband and wife truly felt at a loss and could not find a different way no matter how much they thought about it. The two only hesitated for a bit before nodding resolutely: a victory was a victory! And no matter how many times a corpse would scream "unfair" as its soul undertook its journey towards the underworld, it would not bring him back to life.
""Roar!"" The dragon cries echoed as the two both began pushing their Long-Huo gems to their highest possible output: two flame dragons, one black and one white, began coiling around their bodies. Although the two might not look as impressive as the beast of grey flames that had nearly extinguished their lives earlier, the blazes making up the ephemeral dragons were growing hotter by the second as a faint amount of Flame Laws began to manifest...
Watching this, Xiao Lan chuckled and immediately yelled, "Oh, two attacks this time around? This servant wonders which of the two Retard- ahem, Tyrant Dragons will attack first? It's usually ladies first, but after hearing your high-pitched cries of pain earlier, this servant has begun to doubt… just which of the two esteemed seniors, exactly, is the lady?"
Oblivion's mouth twitched but, surprisingly, he did not retort and instead simply focused on gathering power... They probably only had a single shot at this, and it would have to be enough to completely incapacitate the other party: they had already greatly exhausted their Long-Huo gems in the earlier exchange, after this they would be completely spent. Except for their Dragon Flames, they had no confidence that any other abilities they could demonstrate would be able to defeat their opponent while they still had that damned shield.
However... it's too late! Even if it's only one attack, it will be more than enough!
Xu Ling's eyes field of vision narrowed, as if he were squinting, and Xiao Wu felt his body stiffen as well for a second. He relaxed immediately thereafter, but she could still sense a faint nervousness had yet to be completely dispelled, as shown by his hand making its way towards Mirror's handle...
Seeing this, Xiao Wu was startled:
Did... Did he notice something wrong?
"Little Lan-," Xu Ling turned to speak with Xiao Lan..
"Everything's under control Boss!" Xiao Lan's unhurried voice interrupted the blue-eyed man, "Just look at this servant handle this: sit back, relax, and enjoy the view!"
"Little Lan..." Xu Ling sighed again.
"Mmm, what's up? Everything's alright!"
"... Fine. Just be sure to protect the rear as well or we'll all turn into roasted chicken."
"Yeah sure... wait, what did Boss say?" Xiao Lan's relaxed image dropped and turned into one of horror as the figure of Oblivion, who had seemingly been standing beside Glory all along, suddenly blurred and dissipated into thin air: it was actually an afterimage! Then, came a dragon's roar, full of rage, hatred and humiliation, which, coupled with a sudden rise in temperature made even the carefree Xiao Lan clench his jaws.
The purple-haired youth turned around immediately and what awaited him was the terrifying sight of a slightly charred, golden dragon - resembling a more than a thousand feet tall, horned, winged lizard with finely chiseled golden scales - looking down upon the Evil Saint's army as the flaming, black dragon coiling around his body shot downwards!
"Feel my wrath, son of Xiao! Feel the might of a Tyrant!" Oblivion laughed maniacally as the dragon morphed into a ball of black fire many miles in diameter!
Xu Ling relaxed his tense body as he turned around with his lips crooked in a bitter smile, "... Little Lan..."
Xiao Lan still donned a terrorized expression as the ball of flames, as if a blazing supernova, grew closer and closer, "... Yeah, Boss?"
Xu Ling snapped his fingers, "I don't have a change of clothes at hand. It would be pretty inopportune if I were to go head to the base naked because some random Tyrant Dragon burnt my clothes to a crisp. Also, I'm hungry, get rid of them this instant."
Xiao Lan nodded, "Sure! How many?"
The blue-eyed Evil Saint seemed to ponder for a moment before speaking, "One hundred should suffice."
As soon as those words were spoken, it was as if the world had turned upside down: countless golden chains suddenly appeared, as if they had materialized from thin air! Following the chains was a door, as tall as the sky, as thick and imposing as a mountain chain! Xiao Wu who was watching with wide eyed noticed a striking resemblance between the massive door and the ones located on Cheng Hao's Martial Way, the Immortal Ascension Tower! It was as if either had been modeled after the other...
"Finish it quickly," Xu Ling waved his sleeve.
However, before she could indulge any more deeply into the matter, the door slowly opened following the blue-eyed youth's movements! The sky turned a bright gold, as the sound of drums beating, of trumpets being blown and of fearless howls rang out; these were none other than war song from the ancient times, resonating through the might of the golden gates-
Xu Ling's 'The Golden Gates of Old': this was none other than the Sensed Qi of the Evil Saint!
And what was beyond the golden gates... made her consciousness nearly faint from the shock!
Because, beyond the door, each trickling down a thick, white mist...
Were tens, dozens, hundreds of perfectly intact, humongous...
White Oak Shields!
Meanwhile, Glory had also attacked, and a ball of frigid white flames had begun its approach from the rear. However, who could have ever imagined that as soon as the Golden Gates opened, a cascade of White Tree shields would suddenly jump out, suddenly barring its path! A wall of exactly one hundred White Oak Shields had circled around the area Xu Ling, Xiao Lan and their fellow rebels were resting upon.
Needless to say, both balls of flames faded into nothingness as soon as they came into contact with the defensive layer of more than a hundred of Martial Ways!
"How... Impossible..." Glory and Oblivion both coughed out a mouth of blood.
It wasn't due to the overexertion of their cultivation as much as it was due to them feeling extremely dejected at the moment: that had to be cheating! But how could cheat codes possibly exist in reality?
"Oh? It seems like Tyrant Dragons are not only idiotic, but blind as well!" Xiao Lan's terrified self had god knows when morphed back into his confident appearance, as if subject to a switch that had just been flipped on and off. "Finish it quickly, uh? This servant is also hungry... Then, if boss wishes so, there won't be the need for this servant to hold back!" The youth's right and left index fingers pointed at the front...
And one-hundred-plus-one White Oak Shields followed.
"....."
Cheng Hao and Xiao Wu were sipping tea in their small hut #5742, the small yet welcoming fifth hut in the seven hundredth forty-second ward. The golden-eyed youth was enjoying the hot beverage while lying back on his chair, while Xiao Wu had an extremely puzzled and sour look on her face.
"As I'm sure you have realized, your ancestor Lan was an outstanding figure, be it when it comes to talking down on others or as a cultivator. His specialty had always been the research and study of Martial Ways, a subject that had intrigued him a lot since very young. Before meeting Xu Ling after all, the - at the time - exiled and broke Xiao Lan only had his three Martial Ways on top of his measly cultivation to preserve his life. It is just natural that he would one day develop an interest towards the few objects that had saved his life more than once... To the point, after countless years of studying and crafting Martial Ways in many different methods (Yes, such methods were countless, I'll deem in the future whether it will be worth it to explore them), he stumbled upon an astonishing and terrifying concept... That even the creators of Martial Ways had never even considered! At least, no records have ever been found on the subject. For that reason, the two of them, your ancestor and the Evil Saint, chose to gather and consult the greatest minds of the century in order to elaborate... the Theory of Dualism!"