Tents could be seen circling around Righteous Sword sect as the soldiers blocked off any entrance and exit.

The atmosphere was exceedingly tense and silent, only the occasional sounds of birds chirping could be heard.

2 men could be seen floating in the sky, each carrying their own oppressive aura.

"What is the meaning of this? Elite. War. General. Yi." Patriarch Wei suppressed his anger and steadily asked, he was on the verge of exploding in anger.

"Hahaha... Are you deaf old man? Come, let me repeat again. Righteous Sword sect was found colluding with Devils to overthrow the Human Emperor. Under the orders of the Human Emperor, Righteous Sword sect has been sentenced to sect extermination." Elite War General Yi arrogantly said while throwing out the Emperor's decree.

"Colluding with the Devils? I don't believe it..." Patriarch Wei voice trailed off as he caught sight of the Emperor's decree. It was indeed the genuine Emperor's decree.

"HOW CAN THE HUMAN EMPEROR DO THIS! THE RIGHTEOUS SWORD SECT HELPED THE HUMAN EMPEROR TO ACCEDE THE THRONE AND REMAINED LOYAL THROUGHOUT THE YEARS! WAS HIS CONSCIOUS EATEN BY DOGS?" Patriarch Wei exploded, each of his words contained immense pressure, even some of the soldiers started to bleed from their ears.

"Good, good... insulting the Human Emperor. You just wait." After saying that, Elite War General Yi turned around and flew towards the encampment.

Although he was infuriated by the insults against the Human Emperor, Elite War General Yi knew that he had to wait for the other 2 Elite War Generals to take down Patriarch Wei. After all, they were only at the Core Formation upper stage, while the Patriarch was at Spirit Ascension lower stage.

"Trying to go?" Patriarch Wei eyes were bloodshot as he grabbed towards Elite War General Yi.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

When his palms were about to reach Elite War General Yi, a translucent jade colored dome suddenly appeared, causing the collision.

During the point of impact, runes started appearing on the dome one by one, with each rune containing a dragon symbol. This was the Imperial Jade Dome, a Spirit ranked weapon.

"I set it up while you were looking at the Emperor's decree. Enjoy your pitiful last days," Elite War General Yi nonchalantly said before tucking his hands behind his back and flew away.

Only Patriarch Wei remained at the same spot as he stared at the dome in disbelief. To think the Human Emperor was so vicious that he blocked off all paths of survival.

***

All of the disciples of Righteous Sword sect gathered in the middle of the sect, in front of them were the Patriarch, High Elders and the Elders.

"I'm sorry that the Righteous Sword sect couldn't protect all of you. As you all might have already known, our sect is going to be exterminated by the imperial army and all of our exits are blocked," Patriarch Wei paused and looked at the disciples.

This time, murmurings could be heard coming from the crowd, some people even started to sob. The only one who remained calm was Shadow as he had no idea what pain and loss felt like.

Patriarch Wei raised a hand for silence and continued, "In the upcoming battle, I, the 13th Patriarch of Righteous Sword sect, the High Elders, and the Elders will do everything we can to fight back. We will not find fault with you if you choose to hide."

After a moment of silence, the crowd erupted.

"We were born as disciples of Righteous Sword sect, even if we die, we will die as disciples of Righteous Sword sect! Never abandoning, never forsaking!" At the front of the crowd, Lin Fan shouted with tears flowing down his eyes.

"That's right! We are no cowards! Fight! Fight! Fight!" Someone else added. The words ignited the courage of the disciples, some of them who thought of hiding away decided to participate in the upcoming battle.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Soon enough, the entire Righteous Sword sect resounded as one, causing the air to tremble.

"Good! Good! As expected of disciples of Righteous Sword sect!" Patriarch Wei was moved by the scene, he did not expect all of them to be willing to fight for the sect.

Following that, he gave out orders to set up the sect's defense formation while calling Shadow and Lin Fan to follow him.

The three of them walked into the Martial Techniques Buildings and went up level by level. They went past the 7th level and eventually, they reached the door to the 9th level.

The level guardian respectfully bowed towards the Patriarch before disappearing into a million bright fragments.

Upon seeing the confusion on Lin Fan's and Shadow's face, he explained, "The level guardians exist solely to protect the martial skills from intruders, however, once the secret skill at the 9th level is accessible by more than 1 person, they will lose their meaning in defending this place and thus, cease to exist."

"Inside this room is the secret skill of Righteous Sword sect. Learn it and hide. Wait until the battle is over. The sect rests on both of your shoulders now," The Patriarch softly said with a tinge of guilt and sadness before walking away.

'I'm sorry to all the disciples of Righteous Sword sect, sacrificing your lives for the lives of 2 geniuses who will one day rebuild the sect. I'm so sorry that I'm useless. I have failed all of you.' The guilt hung in the Patriarch's heart, his hand tightened into a fist.

Only Lin Fan and Shadow were left inside the room.

Lin Fan glanced at Shadow and noticed that Shadow was oblivious of the seriousness and tension in everyone's heart. 'Of course, he just came into this world 1 week ago. Even if a person is extremely intelligent, it is still impossible for them to understand emotions just by reading.'

"Hey Shadow..." Lin Fan tried to hold back the raspiness in his voice.

"Yes?" Shadow asked innocently.

"You know, I have to join the fight too. So you have to stay here and comprehend the secret skill." Lin Fan looked at Shadow with resolution.

"But the Patriarch said..."

"Don't worry. I'll be back before you know it." Lin Fan laughed sheepishly and patted Shadow on the back.

"Alright. Take care," Shadow gave a genuine smile in return.

"Oh and one more thing, if... if I don't come back, go to my courtyard and dig under the third tree from the gate," Without giving Shadow a chance to say anything, Lin Fan rushed off.

'Lin Fan...' Shadow thought before looking at the secret skill.

[Holy Soul]-Secret tier killing technique

Description: Project one's soul onto an evil soul using Qi to eradicate them from the world.

Side effects: One's soul will weaken after use. Decrease in strength.

Usable by: Disciple of Righteous Sword sect

Shadow was amazed by how overpowered this skill was, imagine you could destroy your enemy's soul just by using Qi.

Wasting no time, Shadow quickly read the Secret tier scroll. In an instant, golden lights flooded his mind, as if a powerful force was trying to look inside him. Next thing he knew, his vision went dark and collapsed. When he fainted, his body became non-corporeal and passed through the 9 levels, eventually seeping into the ground.

***

"Elite War General Er, Elite War General San, you have come," Elite War General Yi welcomed his fellow Elite War Generals.

The 3 of them were at the Core Formation upper stage, almost stepping into Spirit Ascension lower stage.

That being said, Elite War General Er was known for her cruel blood absorbing techniques, with just a taste of a person's blood, she is able to absorb all the blood in that person's body, regardless of distance. She was known as the Blood Queen.

Elite War General San on the other hand, used a Spirit ranked sword, known as the Sword of Piercing Ghouls. Piercing Ghouls were a type of ghoul that used their incomparably sharp claws to hunt for preys, and the sword was made by merging 100,000 Piercing Ghouls' claws using Qi for a total of 30 days. Of course, the sword would naturally inherit the unparalleled sharpness.

As for Elite War General Yi, he possessed a Qi Devouring Chain. Once it was latched onto an enemy, it would drain the Qi from their body, causing them to become nothing more than stronger mortals.

The 2 of them silently nodded their head before commanding the merged army to advance. With a quick wave of his, Elite War General Yi recalled the Imperial Jade Dome. Like water leaking in from all directions, the army gradually closed in on the sect.

***

When the dome disappeared, Patriarch Wei frowned and signaled everyone to embrace the battle. In his heart, he really hoped that they were able to win.

After placing a few things under a particular tree, Lin Fan noticed the disappearance of the dome and immediately made his way into the masses.

Everyone clenched their weapons tightly, both sides were confident that the battle was going to be bloody; Both sides hoped that they could make it out of this alive.