"Has the Azure Emperor come himself?"
"Why would he appear here now, is it to protect his children?"
The people from the united element sect were stunned at the scene that was playing out before them. Just a moment ago it looked like they would be able to board the inside of this flying fortress and get to the Long Clan members hiding inside. The gravitational formation had spawned some dark tentacles that clung to the huge structure and pulled it down to the ground. Escape was now impossible, or so they thought.
Almost at the same time as the defensive shield wavered a spike in spiritual energy occurred. They all backed away out of fright of an explosion happening but instead were greeted by a ferocious draconic roar. From within the fortress, a large blue dragon emerged that was around the same size as its golden counterpart that belonged to the United Element Sect's Patriarch.
It was preceded by an azure column of flames that reached the sky and created a fiery twister. This surge of energy started pushing everything away while creating a momentary safe spot in the middle. Even when someone like Huo Qiang who practiced the dao of fire tried to get closer, he was burned by these strange flames. No one could get close and had to watch the giant dragon rise up while spreading its wings.
'These flames aren't regular flames, they affect the soul as well…'
Zhang Dong, who was below the large fortress, started analyzing the situation. The draconic beast that he was looking at was more than likely the soul beast of the Azure Emperor. While he had not seen it before, the spiritual energy signature that it was giving off, was identical to the Emperor's.
'I don't feel his presence, did he just send out his beast instead of coming here himself?'
Most people were starting to panic. No one expected Long Qing's soul beast to appear and it wasn't even the only one there. Right behind it was a smaller version of the blue dragon that had one person standing on top of its head. It was the oldest child of Emperor Long Shen. The other three that had previously been here with him were missing.
'They are either attacking the other locations with their armies or returned home before this battle started…'
He had to at least give it to Long Shen. The man had stayed together with his troops without running away. For a moment he expected to see an elder replacing his position while he fled even before the whole battle started. Instead, he was together with his father's beast that looked only similar to his own.
'They must somehow force their soul beasts to look the same through their cultivation technique, maybe that's why they also confused me with being part of their clan.'
Bahamut the golden dragon looked somewhat similar to the azure being. They weren't a palette swap but were both western dragons with wings coming out of their backs. Both of them were staring at each other as the battle was paused. The azure flames that were swirling around were making it troublesome to move forward as they burned more than just flesh.
Luckily, the golden dragon that was on the side of the United Element Sect was similar. Its master had mastered the Dao of the souls which meant that it was capable of contending with these strange flames. It gave out a loud roar as it produced a counter technique. A lightning storm of pale golden light was formed in an instant and it flew at the swirling inferno.
These two spiritual forces collided with each other while everyone else just watched. A shower of lightning bolts descended on the entire fortress that was being shrouded in blue flames. The Azure beast on the inside opened up its wings to rouse the flames. They engulfed the entire space and became thicker but it was not enough.
"The lightning attacks, they are erasing the flames!"
One of the elders participating in the battle shouted out. After a moment the enraged flames started vanishing. With each strike of lightning and thundercrack, they were thinning out. The whole golden storm moved over the stronghold to engulf it and the battle raged on.
'They are about equal…'
While the other sect members couldn't really see what was going on, Zhang Dong could tell that Bahamut wasn't truly winning. Both forces were canceling each other out, for every bolt that landed on the flames more were born to counter it. The two massive dragons were now in a bout of endurance and nothing else. Their powers were suspiciously equal and even after a prolonged exchange a victor was not arising.
'Wait, what is that Long Shen doing? Is he trying to escape?'
In the turmoil, he could see the smaller dragon move somewhere. He finally left his position as the trapping formation had done what it was created for. However, it was already too late. When he arrived behind his golden dragon the other side was already activating a teleportation technique. They were using the Emperor's beast as a distraction while escaping along with the other Long Clan members.
'I should have acted sooner, they are actually doing the sensible thing and escaping…'
It seemed that his enemies weren't as stupid this time around. The moment they were convinced that there was no way of winning, they started escaping. Various teleportation talismans were being used and to his surprise, they weren't being blocked by the formation he created. It was created with the talismans the branch families were using in mind. This was a new batch and they were clearly superior in all aspects.
'They just left them all here…'
While the main Long Clan that was stationed on the stronghold escaped, the branch families that were stranded in the flying ships weren't as lucky. They were in possession of the older version of the talismans that could be blocked. They could only look from the sidelines as their allies fled and they were left here at the mercy of the United Element Sect.
"Don't think that this will change anything. Your deeds will not go unpunished! The whole Empire will know of your demonic nature!."
Long Shen's voice echoed through the whole battlefield before he vanished. His soul beast disappeared along with him but the flames that were being produced by the larger azure dragon were still there. It was staying there to act as a distraction and a shield. Even though Bahamut was close to breaking through, he would be unable to shatter the flames in time. Their main foe had managed to escape but this wasn't all.
"My brother, I might have underestimated you but… this won't happen again! I will see you soon, so until then, please try to stay alive, Ha ha ha!"
Zhang Dong that was still in the form of Lei Yinglo was stared at by the Azure dragon. The beast started to suddenly talk in the voice of his older brother, Long Qing. He was somehow able to see through his disguise while no one else could. After a few words the being he was controlling also started to fade away but before fully leaving it did leave a parting gift.
"Everyone, retreat, that stronghold is going to explode!"
He quickly shouted at everyone as he noticed an internal problem with the fortress. It was self-destructing and it wouldn't take more than a few seconds for the engine to blow up. Everyone retreated at the call out from the elder. Some nascent masters moved forward to shield their weaker juniors and it was the same for Bahamut. His wings spread to all sides as it began producing a massive shield to protect everyone that was behind it.
The fortress that was brought down to the ground exploded with a resounding boom. It was as if they had expected this outcome beforehand. Perhaps while their stronghold was under the gravitational pull, they had already evacuated their soldiers. This explained why the teleportation talismans were used in unison.
Yet not everyone was saved, the people belonging to the branch families that were behind this blast were getting burned alive. His forces were defending against the blast that was before them, there was no time for anyone to look at what was happening behind this evaporating stronghold.
'Hold it together…'
Zhang Dong strained his power as he tried to contain the blast together with Bahamut. Both of them were the closest to the initial detonation with Huo Qiang up in the air where he previously slaughtered a few nascent soul masters. Everything was quickly swallowed up by the bright blue explosion of azure flames that attempted to burn through the souls of everyone here.
'I need to protect their souls or they will all die, the spirit energy contained in this blast is just a distraction.'
The real attack was hidden inside of the explosion and loud noise. Normally everyone would protect themselves from the overloaded Qi but not be aware of the underlying soul attack. Luckily for everyone here, Zhang Dong was a specialist when it came to souls. Thanks to his quick reaction he was able to douse these azure flames that were trying to burn through.
They didn't seem to discriminate between anyone. The leftover branch family members belonging to the Long Clan could not protect themselves from this strange attack. For a moment he expected them to have some sort of shielding that would allow them to persist but they started dropping like flies.
'Damn bastards don't even care about their allies!'
He was enraged at the sight of people losing their lives. His side was safe from the adverse effects of the soul attack and only suffered some minor cases from the spike in spiritual energy. The branching clans on the other hand were getting wiped out. It was so bad that for a moment Zhang Dong wondered if his older brother was trying to eradicate these side clans and then pin it all on his faction.
To protect his own people his form expanded into a golden haze. His true form had to be exposed as without it, using his holy energies would be impossible. The light surrounded everything and pushed the flames away to cancel their adverse effect. Soon the area returned to normal but the sight that remained was anything but regular. A large hole where the stronghold was pulled down was now there and large groups of collapsed cultivators were everywhere.
'...'
He was speechless at the sight of the soulless husks on the ground. The inclusion of soul arts complicated things but it was also too late to turn back. Now that such a large number of his foes had perished, his side had an advantage that needed to be used.