Fang Meili had come with her grandfather to this gathering of the sects. She had come unwilling and would have rather remained in the sect. Her brothers and sisters were now in dire need and it felt like she was running away.

She couldn’t refuse her grandfather though, she was the youngest female family member that had survived the beast onslaught. She was also the favorite granddaughter of Fang Heng, one of the more prominent nascent soul elders of the sect. She knew what her grandfather was planning to do but it felt wrong to just run away and live quietly here.

She as a junior member wasn’t allowed to follow her grandfather into the teleportation gate. She was left with some of her sect members outside and they were to wait till the competition was over.

Then it happened, a group of cultivators from the Limitless Sword Society and the Yggdrasil Sect appeared. They made quick work of the senior members from her faction and then forced her to enter the competition.

She was subdued by one of the powerful elders and couldn’t move a muscle. The other people didn’t seem to notice or just didn’t care. She was thrown into the labyrinth and then her nightmare began.

She started running for her life, the people from those two sects had put a bounty on her head. She could clearly hear them mention it, the ones that either killed or crippled her would be given a reward. The junior members from those sects were a greedy bunch. They wouldn't mind slaying a child to gain some favor with their elders.

She fled and fought, she even managed to take out a couple of her pursuers that were stupid enough to get close while being weaker than her. There were just too many of them though and after many hours of running and hiding, she was now against a wall.

She was now grasping her belly, a blade had pierced through it and she was losing blood. Her body was more resistant than a regular humans was but the continued blood loss was getting to her.

She was now looking at a group of people. They varied by age and looks, some were male some were female but each one of them was grinning. They were clearly enjoying this process of chasing her down, they were just treating this as a game.

“I think senior brother should do the honors~”

A girl that looked to be in her early twenties called out from the side. She was hugging another cultivator’s arm closely while smiling.

This was the strongest young master from the group, his cultivation level was in the great circle of foundation establishment. His skin was slightly green and he was clearly someone from the Yggdrasil side. There were some other youngsters here but they knew that this sect was the strongest, they couldn't complain.

“Yes, I think this hunt belongs to the senior brother.”

Other people just nodded while cursing inwardly. They all wanted the promised rewards but could not go against this senior.

Fang Meili just spit down at the ground while glaring at the group of cowards. It was one thing to fight to the death one on one but another to just be hunted down like an animal.

“You’ll never get away with this, you scum!”

She cursed at them while they laughed at her, the senior brother from the tree hugger sect took out a spear. He pointed it at her, it shone brightly and she could feel spiritual energy gathering on the tip.

Fang Meili was far too tired to do anything about it. She had long since burned through her spiritual reserves and was just running on fumes. She would not be able to take an attack even from someone at the early stage.

She knew that this was the end, her grandfather would have probably done something if he could by now. There was no help coming.

She removed her hand from her wound and grasped her weapon. It was a Ji, more popularly known as a type of halberd. It was a large weapon and she could barely hold it now, even with both her hands now.

“Let me end this farce!”

The young man said while scoffing. He could see that the woman here was unwilling to give up, he would need to deliver the finishing blow himself. He bolted forward with his spear, it would only take a little poke with it and the young girl would probably be dead. He could clearly see that the girl was holding herself up by leaning against the wall behind her. She had no strength to swing that weapon.

“Repent your sins in your next life!”

He delivered a thrusting attack forward, his spear started shining and the tip looked like it was spinning around. His hands extended in length and the green glowing spear tip headed for Fang Meili’s head.

The young girl kept her eyes open. This was the most she could do, she really couldn’t move a muscle. Her wound opened itself back up, her past experiences filled her head. It was over, she would die but at least she would look in the eyes of her murderer. Maybe if she was lucky enough to get reborn she could get her revenge.

However, before the spear could reach her head something astonishing happened. She could hear a strong voice fill the whole labyrinth. It sounded gallant and resolute, the moment the people around it heard it they felt weak in their knees.

“That’s enough!”

The young master couldn’t stop his attack anymore, it was flying right towards the girl’s head but this wouldn’t be the end of her. Following the booming voice, something collided with the labyrinth’s array wall.

Just like any good trial ground this one also had a protective barrier around it. It was in place to block out people from interfering and also to block the contestants from fleeing outside. Once you were inside you were trapped and on your own.

The array was attacked from the outside and everyone looked to the sky. They could see some kind of golden light pushing up against the transparent shield. The shield didn’t hold up at all and a golden ray of light invaded the labyrinth. Everyone could feel that the power of this attack was something immense.

This golden light made its way inside of the labyrinth in a certain direction. It traveled at a tremendous speed that these juniors couldn’t follow and finally landed. It connected with the golden-haired girl, the spear was just a second away from blowing her head apart.

The golden light surrounded her body and when the spear hit it, the weapon shattered into a million tiny pieces. The youth that was holding on to the weapon was repelled and flew backward. His body embedded itself into the opposite wall nicely while his sect member went slack-jawed.

Fang Meili found herself floating now, the golden light felt warm and calming. It infused her body with new power and she felt that her wounds were getting closed. In a matter of seconds, the holy healing energies managed to heal her battered body.

This wasn’t the end quite yet. The light didn’t leave, it made her float upwards and into the air as if she was getting sucked into the sky. The other people that were in the trial saw a girl with gold hair flying upwards while flailing her hands around. It looked as if gravity was turned off for her and she was tossed into space.

She flew towards the rift in the protective array that was broken and squeezed right through it before it could mend itself. Soon she was nothing more than a glowing spec in the sky while heading towards the mountain peak where the elders were.

The juniors from the sects that were after this girl were stupefied. Who would be so brazen to go against their elders? Was the Yinglong Pavilion themselves making a move or was there another strong sect that didn’t fear the consequences of a move like this?

Everyone knew that such an act would bring the wrath of both the Yggdrasil Sect and the Limitless Sword Society. The only thing that was remotely plausible was if the Divine Fist Sect had somehow falsified the beast tide incident. The two sects that were going after the Divine Fist Sect had spies that informed them about this. If it came out that they were somehow wrong they could be in for a war that they couldn’t afford.

Fang Meili floated up into the sky, she was moments away from getting pierced by a ferocious spear technique a second ago. Now she was gently flying, the golden aura keeping her warm and protected from the cold weather and winds.

Soon she was able to see the person that helped her. When she reached the top she saw him, a handsome white haired man was standing there. His long hair was fluttering around and he was glowing in the same golden aura that she was. His eyes were crackling with energy and once in a while, she could hear the clap of thunder.

She was brought down right in front of this tall man. The moment he removed the golden shield that surrounded her she dropped down to her knees. She was far too flabbergasted by this whole turn of events that she couldn’t utter a word.

The man that saved her was someone that she didn’t know. Meili recognized him as a Patriarch from another sect, she had briefly seen him sitting in a booth during the pre-banquet pleasantries. Why he was helping she didn’t know, the only reason she could think of was her grandfather.

Her grandfather on the other hand was confused just as the girl was. He had been held back by two other nascent soul masters and couldn’t move a muscle. But then Zhang Dong shouted out and saved his granddaughter. Before he could ask about it the Patriarch from the Yggdrasil Sect spoke up, his tone unamused.

“What is the meaning of this? Who are you to interfere? You better have a good reason for this, otherwise…”

“Otherwise… what?”

Before the man that looked like a sentient tree could threaten Zhang Dong further the man’s aura exploded. The people there were standing closest to him had to even back away. His golden aura began glowing stronger and small lightning bolts in the same color started to appear and crackle.

“A good reason? I have one! Why wouldn’t I aid someone from my own family?”

Fang Meili and her grandfather had floating question marks above their heads. Why was this man claiming that she was someone from his family, was he just lying to save her?

“You jest, you clearly just interfered for no reason!”

The Patriarch from the Yggdrasil Sect wasn’t having none of this, his aura exploded and clashed against Zhang Dong’s but to his surprise, he couldn’t overpower the golden sheen. Zhan Jie from the Limitless Sword Society saw this and aided his ally in the clash, it was now two against one.

The Yinglong Pavilion leader remained sitting there without moving a muscle. He was just waiting for this to play out. The other people in the area started backing away as this looked to be heading in the wrong direction.

“Hoh? You don’t trust my words? Would you believe me if we did a simple bloodline assessment, don’t think you would complain then! I bet the fellow Daoists from the Yinglong Pavilion can perform such a trifling task!”

Zhang Dong proclaimed while inserting more power into his own aura attack. The two men that were going against him were quite shocked that he was able to last against their combined assault.

There was a plan behind this whole scene. Zhang Dong had checked Fang Meili’s status quite thoroughly and he had discovered something interesting. She was indeed related to him, he was her uncle. This of course was only possible thanks to one man, the one man harem Zhang Jin. His grandfather had apparently sired someone from her line and it was someone from his earlier conquests.

He wasn’t sure about the logistics of it all. He could have left her with a baby in her belly and then run, the woman then had the child back at her sect and this child was Fang Meili’s grandparent. Now the only thing left was to prove this and maybe he could evade a fight, if not this might be a lot more troublesome.