“Give it your all, he might still be alive!”

A group of old men and women along with various large creatures behind them continued to barrage a specific spot with all their ranged techniques. They stood before a large ancient gate with many chains attached from all sides. It was the only exit from this area and required a pure Long Clan bloodline to open.

It was a spot where they could teleport themselves as the passage outside was also blocked. Only with the help of the Azure Emperor’s pure bloodline would they be able to leave this place. They needed to do their best to stop this man who was their enemy. He had already proven himself to be Long Qing’s equal.

With that in mind, they offered up all of their spiritual energy to turn this place into a blasting zone. Rubble flew everywhere and even the sturdy walls that had remained unchanged for millenia started crumbling. This was probably their only realistic chance to defeat this monster. If the Azure Emperor was unable to beat him with the help of the azure blade of dragons, then what could they do?

“Continue, give it all that you have!”

“We must eradicate this fake and secure our clan's future!”

“Hoh, you are really into it, do you want some help?”

“Huh?”

The elders looked to the voice that came from the side to witness a human shape emerging from the shadows. It quickly took on the form of the man that they were trying to kill or at least injure.

“Oh? You don’t need my help? Well, I’ll excuse myself then but could you step to the side, I need to concentrate on this last door a little bit…”

“I… it’s the usurper! How did he get here?”

The Elders panicked, the man that they were trying to stop was right there. His clothes were somewhat messed up but this was more due to his battle with the Emperor than from their attacks. It didn’t seem that he had been even grazed by one of their spiritual blasts. Was he able to predict this trap before they could spring it or was he just so strong?

“What’s with those faces? Do you still want to fight? I’m sorry to inform you but without your leader, this will not go your way.”

This answer was answered rather quickly as a massive surge of spiritual energy filled the entire area. All of them started getting pushed down to the ground. It was a strange combination of a suppressive aura attack and gravity shift in the whole area. They could not feel how powerful this person was because of the mystical chamber he was occupying with the Emperor. Now they became aware that they were nothing but flies and could not even stall him for more than a few moments.

…

“Good, just stay there while I open this thing…”

Zhang Dong called out to the scared cultivators while using his Dao of Gravity to keep them in check. Thanks to his fast reaction time he was able to evade the ambush and sink into his shadowy form. He then waited for a moment to allow these people to drain their spiritual energy. If not for this fact it would probably be impossible to suppress them this well even with his unique cultivation realm.

Killing or ripping out their dantians crossed his mind but there was no time to waste. Long Qing was not among these people which allowed him to push forth. The quasi-immortal blade that he possessed was still on his mind. Breaking it was unsuccessful so he needed to open up this gate before even thinking about lowering the number of his enemies.

Living all of these powerful people alone could potentially cost some of his people their lives but if he died, then his entire sect would be eradicated. They would be branded traitors and hunted down to the last remaining one. The people of this world were extremely brutal to their opposition and he did not want his people to be left with nothing but misery.

‘Bob, help me out here.’

‘Initiating bloodline… unlocking successful.’

At first, it looked like it would be a headache to open this new gate but after tapping into the first one, it wasn’t such a problem. His bloodline seemed to already be part of this structure so having Bob work his magic didn’t take long. With the gate spreading apart he quickly shifted into his darkness form to slip through the tiniest opening.

‘It’s a shame to leave this place when it’s fully operational. Now that I look at it, there are some other tunnels leading out from this main area… There are probably other secrets hidden here…’

Perhaps after everything was over he would return to this place to find some answers but as it stood now, it was time to return to his people. There were only five hundred meters until he arrived at a clearing. Then it would be finally possible for him to teleport out of this place. However, would his dear older brother just allow him to escape without even trying to stop him?

‘Warning.’

It didn’t take long for a red system massage to appear before his face. There was another ambush waiting ahead and this time around his dear brother was part of it. It seemed that Long Qing left his goons to stall him for a while while he waited above the city that they found themselves under. Even without getting there, he could feel a dangerous presence.

“I wanted to end this without bloodshed but you leave me with no choice, farewell my young brother, may you find peace in death!”

Long Qing's brotherly love could only go so far as he had finally decided to part ways with Zhang Dong. The Golden Dragon in question had become too strong to be left alive and showed that he would not surrender. It was clear that Long Qing would rather lob off his head than try to reason. There was time for peace to occur but the Long Clan was unwilling to give an inch.

Zhang Dong didn’t stop, he was too close to the exit for even someone like Long Qing to stop him. Even if he had the blue sword, there wouldn’t be a problem as long as he didn’t get hit. Only a few hundred meters remained before he reached the safe zone and his opponent was not aware of this.

‘I’m not sure if he is aware of the limits of my teleportation ability. Perhaps I won’t even need to lift a finger. Bob, be sure to instantly teleport me when you get the connection.’

‘Affirmative.’

While the plan wasn’t bad in itself he underestimated his opponent's resourcefulness. The sword he was holding wasn’t the only problem as the massive amount of spiritual energy that was building up was not coming from it. He was making his way straight up and had a good view of the bottom of the flying Azure city. What he had thought to just be a rock had more to it than he initially thought.

‘Is that a giant spirit cannon? Does he not care about all the elders that I left behind in that chamber? Or are they supposed to be a noble sacrifice?’

His brother was not even trying to swing his sword. Instead, he was waiting for the humongous ray of concentrated energy to do the deed. The Long Qing he was looking at was not even real, he was either a hologram or an illusory technique used to keep him focused on the wrong thing. It was too late to go back now, the energy blast was coming but so was he.

‘There is no other choice… I need to take it and survive.’

Zhang Dong decided to use up his reserves. The ray of energy was bursting forth from the top of the city above him. It was wider than the tunnel he had found himself in after leaving the previous gate. Drilling to the side was not an option as the diameter was just to large, the only way out of there was up.

His whole body turned into a blur as he surrounded himself along with Bahamut in a thick layer of energy. His lightning crackled and another sonic boom resounded through the place as his body slammed into the wave of energy. Everything turned blue and he could feel immense pressure coming from all sides. The force attempted to push him down but he could not let it win.

‘Eleven… ten… nine… eight…’

Bob counted the meters remaining before he could teleport him out of this place. The first set of defenses started to give in as his shield of gravity could not withstand the pressure. Following it were the flames he received from battling the Emerald Phoenix Emperor and other Daos quickly followed suit. Only a thin coat of golden light remained as he pushed himself forward.

His eyes went red and blood spouted from within his nose. He could feel his bones starting to shatter under the immense heat and pressure. This attack contained various energies that when mixed created an almost perfect weapon of death. Yet, with a final burst of vitality and using his forearms to shield his face, he pushed on.

A massive explosion of unprecedented proportions spread through the area as the earth under the capital city collapsed. A giant shockwave spread in all directions and bounced off the defensive barrier of the floating city. The sound was so loud that if heard by a normal person it would instantly rupture their eardrums and the heat resembled an atomic blast.

Only one man remained in this zone of death and only after the dust was starting to settle, did the person that ordered the attack appear. Long Qing had moved into the safety of his city to observe the spectacle along with a few other people. What was left over was a giant crater with a large opened gate beneath it.

“The path was open so the elders probably didn’t survive.”

The man mumbled while focusing his gaze on the few charred corpses in the chamber the elders were supposed to block Zhang Dong’s escape. All the walls there were made from an extremely sturdy material that not even the giant cannon could budge.

“He should be dead… but I won’t know for sure unless I find his body…”

Long Qing flew down with his hand resting on his hip. Even though he had won their confrontation there was something bothering him. What would happen if his brother had escaped? Could he really win another confrontation if his weapon was not there?

“Follow the Emperor! Find the remains of the usurper!”

He was not alone here as his oldest son followed after. The intrusive thoughts were pushed to the background as he focused on the search. If his brother was still alive, then he should be somewhere nearby. There was no escape and if he lived, then finishing the job would not be hard.