"Lightning"

Wu Guang's murmur wasn't heard by anyone, but it wasn't like he wanted it to be.

He threw 8 knives and only had them imbued with the weakest 'Lightning Attraction Rune' possible, but still, with the Sect core members simply sweeping them aside, he probably would reach an even bigger result than the one he wanted. Not that he stayed to watch, activating the 'Counting Steps' movement technique as soon as the first lightning sphere formed.

***

As the simple, at least at first look knives fell to the ground, Lu Zhong, and most of the people who did see Wu Guang's move wondered why he had even thrown them. And if not for the shout of someone eager to prove himself, or someone simply too paranoic

"THEY ARE TRAPPED!" A shout that followed a closer examination of the knives.

Lu Zhong did not think before calling for his aura and surrounding himself with a thick cover of qi, and he had done it right in time, as just an instant after, the first of the mind power traps activated, covering the surrounding five feet in lightning and sparks.

*BZZZZzzt*

And that was only the start, as another seven such knives followed right away.

*BZZZZzzt*

It hardly took more than a few moments for the lightning to appear and then dissipate, but as Lu Zhong surveyed the area where the group he was supposed to lead stood before, he could only curse.

The spells were not so strong, after all, he could have not missed them on the contrary, even with his senses retracted. Still, they were enough to injure, and even kill unsuspecting cultivators.

There were only 8 knives, thankfully he wryly thought, and they had been swatted aside by the first line, but in any case, the lightning explosions managed to claim the lives of six people and injure at least the same number.

He made himself deaf to the screams and curses from the Core members behind him, fearful of losing it himself and turned towards where the one responsible stood. Or at least was just a moment before.

"Where is he?!" Lu Zhong angrily shouted, before ignoring the risk and expanding his aura and senses. Finding none of the previous problems, he quickly swept the surroundings and found a quickly retreating Wu Guang.

"Someone stay with the wounded! The rest, follow me, the bastard is escaping!" He shout a command, and without paying attention to anything, rushed in pursuit.

***

"Sensed me? Good" Wu Guang murmured as soon as he felt the pursuit start. Then he put back his hood and activated the concealing runes on his cloak. Maybe Xiong Yating saw through it, unsurprising as it may be when the Cloak was made as a defense against Sage realm detection, but he wasn't present anymore. The pursuers were even weaker than the Headmaster, and so, he could easily use the cloak to escape. Not that he planned to do so, no, he planned to play tag for a while, circling the same area and making them fall into the prepared traps.

________________________________________________________________________

"No wonder the old Chen was ready to break the customs and request the prime throne guard to be sent out, or even request Our attention" The figure concealed in the void from before was still observing, and an amused twinkle could be seen in his uncovered eyes as Wu Guang played with a hundred cultivators from which each was stronger than him.

At this moment the boy again used his cloak for moving stealthily. He had been jumping from one to the other side of the Central Hill for a few minutes already, releasing a few signs of his presence and making the pursuers break into teams while running around as crazy.

"Even though I loathe to miss the opportunity to see how he had planned to deal with that rat Xiong, the clansmen are about to fall" Turning his attention to the battlefield a few miles away, where the Snake clan Head was already down on his knees and everyone except Lang Mu was wounded, having used too much qi and Soul power to continue maintaining their full power.

"And I have to finish this quickly anyway" As this half-sight escaped the figure, the void shivered and a hand covered with shriveled skin materialized, and a finger pointed at Teng De.

"Demon's Claw Restriction"

________________________________________________________________________

Wu Guang could feel that he was reaching the limit of what he could do without being encircled, and albeit he had not reached the optimum state of mind for his opponents, he had no other option to lead his pursuers into the trap now. After all, it wasn't like he could fight them earnestly, especially in his current, still weakened condition.

"Oi! Just stop running around, I am trying to kill you! Just come and die openly!" Wu Guang stood in the small safe area in the middle of the zone covered by talismans and 'Destruction' runes.

"YOU BASTARD!"

"I SWEAR I WILL TEAR EVERY TENDON FROM YOUR BODY"

"YOU WILL WISH TO NEVER BE BORN"

"FUCKING SON OF A BITCH!"

"Let's capture him and torture him until the Headmaster returns!"

"Such a wide assortment of curses and threats. Aren't you all members of a respected sect? No matter, now that it is mine, I will make it a favor and dispose of such trash" Wu Guang continued infuriating the approaching cultivators, hoping to make them rush towards him, and right across the biggest concentration of traps. "Now, let's just hope that the two treacherous bastards that stayed behind don't appear in time to save them" Wu Guang thought, thanking again for the fact that neither Elder Mo nor the Hallmaster had moved from their spot nor tried to advise anyone of the dangers. Not that he could understand the reason behind such.

***

"Don't let him escape! Surround him and approach from all directions at the same time!" With Wu Guang right in front of him, and enough people to not let him escape anymore, Lu Zhong felt that this time they will definitively meet success. A success that was brought by him. Whatever the reason for Wu Guang being alive and his master leaving, the idiot had attacked them himself, and so they could kill him in any case. And somehow, he doubted that he would be met with his master's anger, no, he would be congratulated for sure. And the title that he dreamed of, one held by Wu Guang, would be his as well! The official successor of the 'Three Hills Sect'. And not of a third rate power no, but an equal to any of the true powers, after all, they had great master Xiong, a true Earth realm cultivator!

***

"Hoh, so many cultivators are coming to catch me? I am honored by the Sect's assessment of my true powers" Wu Guang added oil to the fire again, inwardly praying for them to move out already.

*Step*

And as the first person stepped into the trapped area... Nothing happened.

Wu Guang could not help but to let a small "What?", but he had no time to think about it. No, he had to escape right away! No way he could fight even a couple of advanced Soul real cultivators right now, what to say about the dozens in front!

"Don't worry... And don't move" Suddenly a qi transmission entered his mind. And then a very powerful aura, one meant to restrict and suppress anyone covered the entire area.

The origin? A cultivator so strong that Wu Guang was forced to reassess his idea of the plane, after all... With the limit of the plane being the 2nd level of the Warrior Lord realm, he truly did not expect someone to have an aura comparable to a 3rd, or even a weaker 4th level one!

________________________________________________________________________

An hour later, in front of the 'Three Hills Sect' gate.

Two groups of people, with a cloaked figure in the middle, were present while facing each other.

On one side a bit less than a hundred people knelt. Any observer would be surprised to see people so famous as Mo Tai, Zhao Zhihao, or even Headmaster Teng among the numbers. While someone older, or more knowledgeable would shudder at seeing the previous headmaster, a person rumored dead for over 30 years, Xiong Yating kneeling at the front as well!

On the opposite side, there were far fewer people, but neither of them was kneeling, nor did they show any fear or distress on their faces.

"I was just passing through, but seeing the levels of treachery reached by the people who call themselves a righteous sect, as well your brave effort, I decided to help you, Wu Guang. Now that I did, I will leave it to your judgment how to deal with this 'Three Hills Sect'. And don't worry, no one will hold it against you, even if you decided to eliminate it... entirely" The cloaked man, at least judging from the appearance announced. He had not revealed his identity yet, at least to no one except Wu Guang before. Still, he had asked the latter to play along, seemingly intending to confirm something.

"Thank you for your kindness senior. If not for your assistance, I fear that probably we will not be able to win, even though the heavens had been helping us so far" Wu Guang played along.

"Good, so tell me, what is your intention towards the Sect? They announced you were dead and when it was found that you were not, they decided to kill you. Not to mention attacking people you consider your friends"

"I call for death for the ones that participated, as for the rest of the Sect, I find myself incapable to judge people who neither did know nor participated"

"Good enough... You!" The figure suddenly turned to the kneeling people and pointed at Teng De

"If I am not mistaken, you are the Headmaster of this Sect. Do you have anything to say?"

Teng De, who as everyone including his own master, Xiong Yating was suppressed by the extremely strong aura to the point of not being even able to speak, found that the suppression lessened slightly, allowing him to raise his head and even talk.

"Oh powerful master, please hear me out! The man that you call the victim is not one, no, he is the true enemy! He conspired with the Eagle Kingdom trying to bring ruin to the island, and even tried to assassinate members of our Sect!"

"Lies!"

"Shit!"

"Say that to me again!"

The only still standing Clansmen immediately reacted, with only Lang Zheng maintaining his silence. Not that his glare, one full of hatred allowed one to assume he did not think the same.

"Silence! Let the man talk!" The cloaked figure continued playing the rule of a judge, one that wasn't affiliated to either party, and motioned Teng De to continue.

"We had hoped he died, and so decided to hide the fact of his evilness. I agree that it was a low move from our side, but with the losses of the war, a fake hero would be far better than a true villain, and so we had decided so. It was my Master and me who assumed this to be the correct way, so if someone is to be condemned, I am to take the brunt of the blame for making the proposal" Teng De was indeed a good liar, and Wu Guang could only be amazed at the skill used to spin this story.

"Umm, I see, you indeed know how to lie"

"Wha.."

*Splat*

The suppression suddenly increased and Teng De found himself flattened against the ground, not only unable to talk but even to breathe.

"When I asked if you had something to say, I expected some kind of truth. Not a blatant lie. Let you all remember that I was present around here for a few hours, and I not only saw but also heard everything"

"Wait!" Xiong Yating spoke up with effort. He was wounded and suppressed with the same aura as others, but his cultivation was higher, allowing him to retain at least some ability to move or speak.

"Hmm? Do you want to add something? Master of the laying rat, right?"

"You can not kill us! We are under the protection of the Black Empire, and no matter who is the wise lord in front, making enemies of the most powerful power in this plane is a mistake"

...

....

.....

An entire minute of silence followed the unexpected threat.

"You mean you are vassals of Emperor Huanglong?" The man asked after the silence.

"Yes! Everyone in the core of our Sect is a vassal of the Empire. And albeit we are weak, we are held in high regard. If you know of His Imperial Majesty, please reconsider your decision"

"Gahahahahaha" The figure suddenly broke into laughter. One that continued for a long time before he somehow calmed and said

"Ha, and here I was wondering when you would try to invoke Mine name"

"What?!" Xiong Yating exclaimed in a mixture of disbelieve and panic.

"You stand in front of the Emperor, and dare to threaten him with his own name?!" The cloak fell down, allowing everyone to see an old grey-haired man dressed in black armor covered with blood-red characters. And old couldn't be simply applied to Emperor Huanglong, after all, he was almost 180 years old, and had been ruling the Empire for over a hundred.

Not to mention that, from Wu Guang's own feelings, the Emperor was by far the most powerful cultivator on this plane. And even Kass Shaa'r presence felt extremely small when compared to the latter.