It seemed that they had taken all the changes and possibilities into account and calculated all the odds for a successful operation. Indeed, even if they all died, the destruction of the formation behind the hellish nightmare that had enveloped the [Void Palace] grounds would be a triumph.

But, even in the worst of the cases, they had thought, neither Tao Xuegang, Shen Kun, nor He Delan would have expected to meet Huo Ah. Someone who was supposed to be dead. And someone who hated them, although for reasons of only his own understanding.

Still, if by some chance they did expect to meet someone they knew, and even if it was someone like Huo Ah, neither of the [Void Palace] elders could envision that it would be in such a manner. With them under the effects of a formation that turned them into mortals and him with his cultivation intact. A cultivation far lower than any of theirs, but at that moment, far above the required to kill them.

"Do you plan to keep speaking for long? There are things to be done."

"Then, I will finish now."

Wounded, suppressed, and slowly feeling how their bodies neared their limit, one that would lead to only one outcome, failure, the three had different thoughts.

For Tao Xuegang, it was the regret that they did not accomplish the task they had to. He did not care about death, but he did want the Palace to survive. And that latter was only possible if they destroyed the formation and that Hea Kongbai had remained in condition to fight right after recovering from the qi-drain.

For Shen Kun, while he did think something along the lines of the Vice-head, his primary thoughts were about Huo Ah. How did his criminal, sentenced to death, disciple survive? How did he end as an ally of the [Seven Souls Sect]? Who was helping him from the shadows? Whose voice, calm and somehow mechanical, had sounded and made Huo Ah immediately agree to finish them in place of persisting fishing for the words he seemed to desire?

As for He Delan, to the surprise of even the people that knew her well, her thoughts had nothing to do with her or the Palace's predicament. A small part of her mind wondered about the fate of her disciples. Not only the two that were supposed to stay in her tower, Chun Hua and Mao Lei. But the four that were secluded in one of the pocket realms below the Palace's central building as well.

But the most surprising part, and the biggest one to her own astonishment, was dedicated to the youngster sprawled on the ground just a few feet from her. And as she asked herself why he, Bai Qi, who had done so much for their [Void Palace], would die for it without reasons... She found herself feeling a true surge of fury.

Still, neither the pain, the now muffled groans, nor the thoughts distracted either of them from reality. And as they felt Huo Ah's aura's pressure increase, the three understood that it was their time to go.

***

At the limit, with their vision blurry and their minds nearing breakage, the three [Void Palace] elders had closed their eyes and prepared to meet death. But nothing happened. The pressure was still there, and the pain did not go anywhere either, but neither was increasing.

The three could only think before they felt how the darkness of a sleep spell forcefully shut down all of their remaining consciousness.

Somehow, before falling unconscious, He Delan managed to open her eyes for a single moment. And what she saw, she could never forget, although she would be unable to believe it to be true either.

After all, how could she assume that indeed, from a practically parted in half Bai Qi, a figure made of pure darkness, even darker than the night, emerged? A figure ten feet tall and as if made of black flame. A figure whose horned head, if a form made of fire could be called one, shone with shades varying from crimson to white. A figure whose bright blue eyes, made of a flame-like almond-shaped wisp, glared all around...

Huo Ah had made several miscalculations this day. But even so, except for the [Void Palace] Head, his prey was right in front and in his power.

While they had not been able to guess his identity without help and still had somehow tracked down the core's location, the result was as he had planned since the start.

Vice-head Tao Xuegang, who had advocated for absolute punishment and had personally delivered a chained Huo Ah to the [Delicate Forest Palace] Senior elders.

Shen Kun, his master, was someone who did not try to defend him even.

He Delan, the person that had tracked and captured him after Huo Ah was found out and tried to escape.

Huo Ah had been left in the wilderness towards the south from the [Lands of the Ice Exalted], right on the border between the [Great Forest] and [Demon Worshippers] regions.

With severe burns, half of his abdomen torn apart, and his dantian destroyed in front of his eyes, Huo Ah should have died. But he had not.

A lucky, destined, nearly-impossible, or similar term to describe the fact, that the encounter happened. A lone, wandering cultivator who called himself Tui Mogwai had found and saved him, at least from dying right away.

Not that that cultivator could be called a human. Over seven feet, extremely skinny, grey skin, feet long claws, and the left leg made of bone in the image of some beast's, with an inverted knee and clawed appendage.

At first, the demon-like man did not say, offer, or do anything but save his life and then offer to accompany him to somewhere more peaceful. But at some point, probably after Huo Ah, for the only time in his life, honestly explained what had transpired, their relationship changed.

Or maybe it would be better to say that Huo Ah's meeting with the Bonejade had occurred. At least the part of it that traveled and used Tui Mogwai as host, transport, and means to continue improving its main body.

And that Bonejade's being offered him a deal. Become a replacement for Tuo Mogwai in the case that something occurred to the latter. In exchange, Huo Ah's cultivation was, in a bloody and far from righteous way, restored. And not limited to that, his knowledge about formations and else was improved to where no normal formation Saint could compare.

Huo Ah still required the Bonejade to help him create the formations, as his cultivation could not advance for a long time more, but it was undoubtedly true power. A power that had allowed him to get closer to Linghun Gong, the master of the [Seven Souls Sect]. And enough to convince him of the feasibility of this plan, or more truthfully, to convince him that the words about the [Three Fangs Beacon] were true.

But he had not even the chance to apply more pressure to finish his prey. Something that he could not expect. The appearance of a demon coming from the youngster he had ignored, taking him as a simple bystander that he would have to kill as well.

A demon, whose sheer presence was enough to freeze Huo Ah and even make the formation, supported by the Bonejade's energy, waver.

Ten feet tall, made of black flames and with a head of colored flames. How could it have appeared? How could a simple youngster, one that probably was a Warrior Lord before the formation's effect, house something like that? And...

Just how it was making its appearance now, in a land with neither qi nor natural energies, everything sealed by the grand, truly grand [Mortality Formation] he, Huo Ah, had drawn and the Bonejade activated?!

Linghun Gong, [Seven Souls Sect] Sectmaster, was a careful and experienced cultivator. His inherited grudge against the [Gazing into the Void Sect] was a strong one, and his desire for the [Three Fangs Beacon] was so as well, but neither was enough to blind him.

And while Huo Ah's words were sweet as honey, and the power behind him was real, Linghun Gong had taken far more precautions than the ones he had revealed.

Before setting out, he had confirmed through several channels all the plans of the [Demon Worshippers] region's leading power, the [Blood Mist Sect], as well as the ones of their allies. Several raids to continue provoking the [Great Forest Sect] and its region would happen during these days, and so, Linghun Gong was nearly sure that no reinforcements for the [Void Palace] would arrive.

Not that he would not make it absolutely impossible for that reinforcements to arrive by first busting the [Void Palace] communications.

But... at this moment, when his peak 6th level Warrior Emperor's senses perceived the approach of at least several Warrior Emperors and Warrior Kings from the west, he could only accept he had missed something.

Leaving the question without an answer, he calmed his mind before ordering the over five hundred elites that had stayed away from the [Ice Phoenix Ravine] since the start to prepare for battle.

***

Linghun Gong had indeed miscalculated, and not once but thrice.

The first time, it was to miss the 3rd level Warrior Lord that hand entered the [Ravine] two and half days ago. As if he did or someone of the never placed scouts did, and then the new arrival traces were backtracked, it would be discovered that not only a glyph but even a runner was sent, both asking for reinforcements.

The second time wasn't entirely his fault, but it still was a decisive moment for this timely, even speedy arrival. Linghun Gong had no idea about the alliance between the [Steel Fang] and the [Great Forest] regions. An alliance that guaranteed the [Great Forest] region flanks, especially the most dangerous south one, and freed most of the usually reserved forces of theirs for dealing with the southern beasts. Forces under the [Southern Forest] command, the strongest of the four 1st tier vassals of the main sect.

And the third thing was something he knew but somehow overlooked. Lao Shu, the Great Headmaster, the current overlord of the entire [Great Forest] Region, wasn't someone to forget offenses and grudges. And the fact of the constant provoking by the [Demon Worshippers] had crossed his limit for both. Thus, at the first moment he found out some of that damned bastards were trying something, he commanded the entire [Southern Forest] area Kings and Emperors to move out.

"I don't care how much qi or resources you have to burn. I do not care for the teleportation formations cooldown period. Get there, and don't return until the last of that dog shit-eating bastards isn't dead." In a missive sent via the sole instant message formation, meant only for the highest of the emergencies, Lao Shu had commanded while he and the central area powers continued to play tag with the [Blood Mist Sect] provokers.

And now, half a day before Bai Qi's estimates, the reinforcements had arrived. Two hundred Warrior Kings, each not weaker than the 7th level of their realm. Accompanied by ten Warrior Emperors between the 1st and 4thlevel. And all under the command of no one else than the [Burning Forest], Ran Shao, the head of the [Southern Forest Sect] and a beginner 7th level Warrior Emperor.

Forces enough to destroy not only the entire [Seven Souls Sect] but probably to overturn an entire region. And as if in response to their arrival, all the formations surrounding the [Ice Phoenix Ravine] shattered as one...