Pass the hours of five AM—
"…"
Long Hua emerges from the tent just in time to see a ray of sunlight on the distant horizon.
"…"
Pressing a hand to his head, an expression of discomfort appears on Long Hua's face, as the image of an individual, who is seated beneath a tree's crown—beneath a rainy night, appeared on his mind.
"…"
Shaking his head, and dismissing the image, Long Hua mutters—
"Needless empathy will only serve as shackles… You're right, godfather."
Straightening his back, Long Hua turns his focus onto the current situation.
(I sense battle intent in the air.)
Looking towards a very specific direction, Long Hua spreads his divine senses outwards, and—
"…"
"…"
Emerging from the forest's shadings were the practitioners of the Ling Yuan family—all of whom had a solemn expression on their faces.
And almost as soon as the Ling Yuan family's practitioners had appeared, on the watermill tower—
"They're here!"
"Raise the alarm!"
One of the weapon spirits, who is stationed there, picks up a horn, and blows into it.
*Doooooooo!!!* as the droning sound of the horn is heard throughout the village, everyone emerges from their homes and tents, and looks to the opposite side of the river.
"…"
"…"
Emerging from the tent with Tian Cheng, Yao Ying asks—
"…It's starting?"
"Seems like it."
...…
In less than 15 minutes, a massive crowd is gathered on both sides of the river.
"…"
"…"
Standing at the forefront of the practitioners' group are Qing Ming Yang and Lin Yu Heng; while on the opposite side stands Zhu Xu, Liang Jin He, and the representatives of various Guilds, along with Shao Tianming and Wang Yongning.
It goes without saying that every single weapon spirit already has their Relics in hand.
"…"
Taking a few steps forward, Lin Yu Heng says—
"I'll make the first move."
Spinning his spear with both hands, Lin Yu Heng summons the golden phantom of a serpentine dragon.
And with each rotation of the spear performed, the larger the golden dragon becomes, to which, the weapon spirits look on with wariness, while remarking—
"…That guy, he's definitely a level five Immortal."
"Indeed."
Rather quickly, the dragon grows to a length of 200 meters—with a scale-covered body that is almost no different from the real thing.
Due to how long it takes to wind this attack up, it isn't very practical in live combat; however, using it as the opener of a battle is rather effective.
"…"
"…"
Under normal circumstances, it should be common sense for the opposition to make an attempt to halt Lin Yu Heng's winding of a powerful attack, but none of the weapon spirits are paying any heed to the matter.
Instead, all of them are currently directing a stare at Zhu Xu with a taunting gleam in their eyes—wanting to see if the latter is able to remain as domineering as yesterday.
"This is…?"
"Elder Hán Qiāng's divine art."
"Ai, Lin-xiong is Elder Han Qiang's grandson, he's bound to have been taught some of their techniques."
The name of Lin Yu Heng's grandfather is Lín Hán.
And due to the individual being extremely proficient with spear arts, Lin Han is more commonly referred to as Elder Han Qiang within the Ling Yuan family.
Outside of the Ling Yuan family, Lin Han goes by the Daoist name Han Qiang Zi.
(Still not perfect, but this should be more than enough.)
Narrowing his dark eyes, Lin Yu Heng shouts—
"Cloud Piercing Dragon Thrust!"
*Aooooouuu!!!* as Lin Yu Heng swings his spear, the 200-meter dragon raises a thunderous roar, as it soars over the river to descend upon the weapon spirits!
And in the next instance—
*Boom!!!* as soon as a cloud of dust is kicked up by this attack's crushing descent, the Ling Yuan family's practitioners cheer aloud.
However—
"…Hmph!"
Sensing something to have halted his attack at the very last moment, Lin Yu Heng raises a cold snort, as he raises his spear and swings it once more!
*Aooooouuu!!!* following Lin Yu Heng's movement, the 200-meter dragon rises into the skies—only to descend once more with greater force!
"…"
Within the dust clouds, Zhu Xu—who is standing within a crater, narrows his eyes beneath his lion-styled helmet.
Having assumed his Weapon Spirit True Body state, he currently stands at a height of five meters.
"Hmph."
Planting his feet firmly onto the ground, Zhu Xu raises a cold snort, as he raises his battle axe over his head, and—
*Boom!!!!!* receiving the full brunt of the golden dragon's attack, the impact behind it causes Zhu Xu to bend his legs slightly, and just as he is about to straighten his stance—
*Aoooooooouuuu!!!!!* the dragon roars with greater ferocity, as it opens its maw, and bites onto the ends of the battle axe!
Snapping its head upwards, the golden dragon tosses Zhu Xu into the air!
"Chief!"
"Lao Zhu!"
As the dust cloud settles—only for the weapon spirits to be greeted by this sight, several villagers call out to Zhu Xu with concern; however—
"Hrm."
Recovering his balance while in the air, Zhu Xu aligns his battle axe's blade towards the golden dragon that is approaching from below, and—
*Siiiiii…!!!* barely avoiding the golden dragon's charge—causing a portion of his white armor to be shredded, Zhu Xu pours his full weight into the swing of his battle axe, allowing its blade to dig into the corner of the dragon's maw!
"Merely a showy technique without any substance!"
Borrowing the momentum of his freefall, and continuing to apply pressure onto his weapon, Zhu Xu manages to tear a 20-meter cut onto the dragon's body!
"Hmph, quite some galls you have to make that remark…"
Having heard Zhu Xu's remark, Lin Yu Heng narrows his eyes, and—
"Detonate!"
*Boom!!!!!!* without any hesitation, Lin Yu Heng chooses to detonate the divine art—causing an earsplitting explosion to go off!
"…"
*…!!!* emerging from the blast, Zhu Xu falls onto the ground with his white armor in a tattered state.
"Lao Zhu!"
"Chief!"
"Tch!"
Pushing himself off the ground, Zhu Xu cracks his neck and shoulders—prior to reforming his Weapon Spirit True Body state.
"…"
Straightening his back, while maintaining a ferocious glare at the Ling Yuan family's practitioners—
*Boom!!!* Zhu Xu smashes the base of his battle axe onto the ground, and shouts—
"Attack! Show those Immortals that we are not to be trifled with! Douse yourselves in their blood to sharpen your combat instincts!"
"Charge!"
"Make them regret their decision to approach our village!"
In the same instance—on the opposite side of the river, Lin Yu Heng takes out a few spirit stones, and inhales deeply, causing the stones to turn into dust.
"…"
Refining a portion of the spirit Qi that he had just absorbed into his body, Lin Yu Heng states—
"Remember our battle plan! And do not be deterred by those weapon spirits—for we are the clansmen of the Ling Yuan family!"
"Forward!"
"Make them pay!"