The man followed up with a roundhouse kick straight into her sides, fracturing her ribs and shaking her organs. Shirley spat out blood. Despite wearing plate armor, she could feel her consciousness slipping. Reverent Monk was absurdly powerful! Before he could finish her off, Benedict finally arrived. He entered the third stance of the Hawken Style and attacked with tremendous speed. Reverent Monk remained stoic as he grabbed Shirley, reversed positions, disentangled his staff, and kicked Shirley into Benedict's direction. The chain of actions was incredibly smooth, almost like they swapped positions instantaneously! It was like a magic trick! Caught by surprise, Benedict forcibly redirected his thrust to prevent impaling Shirley; however, the two collided mid-air. Benedict realized his footing was slipping, and he had to do something about it. If they slipped and fell right now, their opponent would kill them! His mind moved at lightning speed to determine the best course of action. He channeled Martial Energy into his legs and entered the first stance of the Hawken Style!
Memories of his father showcasing the perfected first stance with flawless and swift movements filled his head. Benedict might not be a Perception Realm, so he could not display the same mastery as his father, but by using Martial Energy, he could close that gap! His feet stomped down as he swiveled to catch Shirley with one arm and counterattack at the same time! He transferred Martial Energy from his legs to his arms and in an instant, his arms swelled with explosive power. Cloud Sea Style: Soaring Current! A flying slash surged out of his sword at Reverent Monk! At this close range, it should be nearly impossible to dodge, but his opponent avoided it with ease. A Perception Realm Master could sense the minute changes in Benedict's body and predict ahead of time what he was planning. What might seem impossible to Fundamental Realms was easy to Perception Realms!
Reverent Monk retracted his three-section staff whole and slammed down! Benedict hurriedly raised his guard when it hit. A shockwave spread from Benedict's feet, pushing him further into the ground. It was heavy, extremely heavy! Although he was using Martial Energy to defend, he still felt the monstrous pressure from the monk. Reverent Monk sneered and decided to play along with him. He unleashed an increasingly faster succession of blows on Benedict! A Perception Realm could unleash a dozen blows in a second, what to say about a Perception Realm Master? Less than a second passed, but Benedict was already attacked over twenty times! He was beaten senselessly and barely managed to protect his and Shirley's vitals. If Reverent Monk was using a bladed weapon instead of a blunt one, then they might have died a dozen times over already! Under the onslaught of pain and torment, his vision darkened. If this continued, then they would both die!
Right when he was about to fall unconscious, someone unexpected showed up. It was Princess Xiuying! Benedict never would have thought that she would show up to save them. His emotions grew complex. While he was distracted, Elizabeth and Freon also joined the fray! Originally, they were multitasking defending and recovering their Magic Energy. However, unlike Martial Energy, Magic Energy was very slow to recover and when accounting for the chaotic World Energy in Liguang, that speed grinded to a halt. Although Protector Avin once showcased the earth-shattering ability to siphon the World Energy across Firecast to recover his Blue Depth Core, that was impossible for either Elizabeth or Freon to reproduce. They were essentially roaming a desert for water! That said, they could not leave their friends in the lurch. They needed to do something! Unbeknownst to them, a bizarre phenomenon was happening in their Cores.
Princess Xiuying cleaved downwards with her sabre and showcased her father's domineering swordsmanship style! Seeing that Benedict and Shirley were temporarily incapacitated, Reverent Monk turned his full attention to the princess. He swatted her sabre away with his staff and reached for her wrist to snap it. Reverent Monk might have a reputation for recklessness and brutality, but he was not blind. Princess Xiuying was currently wounded from the Featherwind Sect's earlier attacks and barely in fighting condition. He could still play around with Benedict and Shirley, but Princess Xiuying was another case entirely. Handle her too roughly and she might die on the spot! He decided to neutralize her first. However, that condescending attitude infuriated the princess and ignited her fighting spirit instead. She was not going to go down that easily!
Suddenly, the man's face contorted in pain. His feet were straight pierced through by earth-type magic spikes! Since the attack came from underground, he could not sense it. Killing intent flashed towards Elizabeth. She was the one who did it! That unexpected attack disrupted his tempo, allowing Princess Xiuying to capitalize on it. She was already a Half-Perception Realm after all! Her sabre swung back to slash him! Reverent Monk grimaced. Because he was pinned to the ground and could not move, he decided to block when he was struck from behind! It was Benedict and Shirley! They had already begun to recover from his beatings and counterattacked. Reverent Monk underestimated their ridiculous willpower and tenacity. They could recover so quickly! The man cursed! He was too slow! Princess Xiuying's sabre sliced through the monk's chest with terrifying effectiveness. She did not hold back one bit. She aimed to kill! Hot blood flashed everywhere, but Reverent Monk was a Perception Realm Master after all. His decisiveness was far faster than everyone else.
In the split-second he realized the situation going awry, he focused his energy into his legs and forcibly destroyed Elizabeth's earth spikes. He needed to retreat! The instant that Princess Xiuying's sabre arrived, he moved a few hairs back. Although his wound was horrifying, that slight gap saved his life. It was non-fatal! Then, Freon jumped in and slashed with his sword, which Reverent Monk avoided. Freon was inwardly aggrieved. Since he decided to use his Bloodline Ability, that meant he could only cast the Peak Gaseous Fog fire-type spell Infernal Dragon. Although he deactivated his Bloodline Ability already, his body needed time to normalize. He could not cast anything for the time being. The legendary Bloodline Ability of the Arcellius Family came with its own fair share of risks after all!
Meanwhile, the monk was genuinely pissed off. He was actually repelled by a bunch of children! How was he going to hold his head high after this? His pride was seriously hurt! He was not going to hold back anymore. He was going to brutally destroy them! Just when he was preparing to attack again, he reflexively leapt away. Several arrows pierced the ground where he stood and one narrowly missed his leg. A Perception Realm Master almost failed to sense it? How was that possible? An ominous feeling crept into his heart. That profound and supreme level of archery… only one person appeared in his mind!
At a similar time, Poisoned Widow managed to get the upper hand over Blind Snake. They were both Perception Realm Masters, but Poisoned Widow was the slightest bit better. She saw her opening and knocked out Blind Snake with her poisoned needles. Seeing that Reverent Monk was dealing with Elizabeth and Princess Xiuying, she changed targets to the ones in the back. Ten Dawn Yvonne, Ten Dawn Rosemary, Princess Ming, Imperian Qiang… All the apex experts were busy fighting upfront and left the rear as vulnerable as a lamb for the slaughter. She smiled and dashed over like a ghost. Against these ordinary people, no one could sense her presence at all. She could do as she pleased! She took out several more needles and prepared to unleash a massacre when her pupils narrowed. Like Reverent Monk, Poisoned Widow retreated suddenly as arrows narrowly missed her. She was stunned. Someone saw her in this complex environment and nearly hit her? What an unbelievable level of skill! It had to be the work of a Perception Realm Master archer!
Because of the intrusion, everyone took a quick glance at where the arrows came from. It was outside of the battlefield, but still in Liguang. Near a tall piece of rubble stood a solitary figure wreathed in a cloak and holding a beautiful longbow. His pose was heroic and strong, while his aura gave an unfathomably deep and sharp feeling. Anyone could tell that he was a true phoenix among men! Everyone was surprised. It was Cardinal Hui Wai-Wing, the Captain of the Imperial Sentinels and the Four Cardinals! Only he could loose arrows from across the battlefield and pressure two Perception Realm Masters simultaneously. He was worthy of his praise as the empire's strongest sentinel! Now that he finally made his appearance, virtually all the strongest people in the human world were present. It was a fight of unprecedented proportions! But what everyone focused on instead were his actions. Why was he fighting Reverent Monk and Poisoned Widow? Were they not on the same side? What was going on?