A low snarling sound could be heard echoing throughout the treetops as several demonic beasts stepped out of the shadows and circled around a single mysterious figure.
The beasts growled and tried to intimidate the figure to no avail.
Instead, contrary to expectations, the strange figure simply snapped his fingers and caused all of the creatures around him to be immediately knocked back crashing into the nearby shrubbery.
Getting up, the beasts whimpered and scurried away in fear. Meanwhile the man just stared coldly at the creatures.
"Mutts daring to test their master." Raising up one foot, he tapped it onto the ground lightly. Yet a resounding boom could be heard in the far distance.
This was the first signal. That left only a short period of time left before the plan commenced.
Although the man did have some worries, such as the city's formation, he did prepare a pawn to deal with these worries.
"It's up to you now Guardian. Do not fail me…"
________
It was awkward.
Xue Chang volunteered to defend one of the formation cores, but he didn't expect that they would ask him to guard one by himself.
Not only that, but the formation core he was charged with guarding was-
"Life is quite unpredictable isn't it Yong Heng? At one moment you're getting in the way of my family and our personal business, and then the next moment you are here forced to guard me at the risk of your life. Ha, how unpredictable life is." Wang Mu glanced over at Xue Chang and made some small talk.
It was an understatement to say that Xue Chang had a bad relationship with Wang Mu's family.
Considering he beat up his son, his nephew, and and elder at his family. Although some of those things were done under a different identity, his current identity was the one that caused the most harm.
Honestly considering the rumors about Wang Mu, Xue Chang was surprised he wasn't attacked the second they met.
Of course their current predicament was not something that they could waste time settling personal matters over.
But still, Wang Mu seemed much calmer than he expected.
As if reading his mind, Wang Mu asked, "What? Are you thinking that I'm not a vindictive monster like others say I am?"
Xue Chang raised his arms up defensively ready to refute the claim, but Wang Mu just laughed as if he didn't have a care in the world.
"Well I would be lying if I said I wasn't tempted in snapping your neck right now." Wang Mu's brilliant smile contrasted against his dark words.
This made a chill crawl down Xue Chang's back.
He never expected such open hostility to be presented with a smile like that of a kind uncle.
It made Wang Mu all the more frightening. But while Xue Chang was aware of his reputation, he had never seen Wang Mu's ruthlessness first hand. As such he only gave a curt nod and said, "You can certainly try."
Xue Chang's response was met with a toothy grin. There was no hospitality in this smile, but in Wang Mu's eyes there was a strange emotion. A nostalgic type of look.
"You remind me of my younger days. You have quite the bright future ahead of you Yong Heng. I look forward to seeing how our enmity will one day end."
"We will have to get through this situation alive first."
At these words, the casual banter between the two men stopped. A more serious atmosphere fell down between the both of them as time slowly ticked by.
In order for the city formation to go off without a hitch, the two cores needed to be activated at the same time. Now all they had to do was wait for the signal.
On the other side, next to the second formation core, Wang Fan took in a deep breath as he looked at the young warriors beside him.
They all looked nervous and some even trembled in fear from the grim situation they were facing.
Wang Fan chuckled out as he said, trying to raise their morale, "What are you all so nervous about? It's not like we are all going to die. Most of the beasts will be charging toward the front of the city where are strongest experts are stationed. While we aren't in the formation, we are in a hidden area far enough that we will probably be ignored. Protecting the formation core is just a last resort situation."
His words calmed down the group of young men who volunteered in the heat of the moment since the hero Yong Heng stepped up. Their goals were to raise their reputation from this act since they'd be mention in the same light as Yong Heng, but after their initial excitement died down they realized what they were doing.
Thankfully Wang Fan's words were able to let them get over their fear.
Before Wang Fan could continue his speech, the ground beneath them shattered apart as a huge explosion occurred enveloping the surroundings.
At the first core, Wang Mu and Xue Chang quickly faced toward the sound of a large explosion. Seeing the billowing smoke rising and the direction it came from, both of their faces blanched as they realized what happened.
And right on cue, the beast wave quickly arrived in full force!
It was as if the explosion was a signal for the demonic beasts, signaling the destruction of Water Cloud City!