\nDespite the amount of actions that took place during the battle, Bai Yunfeiâs fight against Liang Yinshen didnât even actually pass a minute. During that time, Xiao Qi and Shen Pojunâs battle with Liang Yinshenâs other avatar was at a stalemate.
The avatar was a Mid-stage Soul Saint in strength, but it wasnât able to fully demonstrate its abilities since it was an avatar. That being said, two Early-stage Soul Saints would still have a chance of winning against it.
Neither Xiao Qi nor Shen Pojun were âregularâ by any definition. They both had the power of being able to fight toe to toe with a Mid-stage Soul Saint by themselves. When they banded together, they were definitely able to fight against Liang Yinshenâs avatar without being at a disadvantage.
Wu Lie was able to re-enter the battle after a period of recovery. The wounds Liang Yinshen gave him were still fresh, but he was still able to fight in some capacity. He had the power of at least an Early-stage Soul Saint right now, so he was able to contribute quite nicely in the battle.
Liang Yinshenâs avatar was in a tough shape. It wasnât able to recover its soulforce since it was just an avatar, so the longer it fought the more it weakened.
By his estimation, itâd be another two minutes before heâd be at his limit and forced to dissipate. Thatâd harm the real body and would make it even more likely for Bai Yunfei to win.
But the battle between Bai Yunfei and Liang Yinshen was already reaching a conclusion before Xiao Qi and Shen Pojunâs battle with the avatarâŠ
Right as Xiao Qi was battling Liang Yinshenâs avatar, it suddenly retreated a fair distance away from them and began to make a few handseals. Everyone felt their vision grow blurry for a moment as the avatarâs aura somehow skyrocketed to the levels of a Late-stage Soul Saint!
The recently âtranslocatedâ Liang Yinshen took immediate action before any of the three Saints could react. Violet and black exploded out from his person as waves of chaotic energy responded to his presence. All Xiao Qi and the others felt was an irresistible force pushed past them and out from their entrapment!
âWhat happened?â Xiao Qi chirped in confusion.
âYunfei!!â He cried again after sensing the formerâs sudden presence.
Shen Pojun and Wu Lie both looked up just in time for a crimson streak of light come to a stop in front of them.
And much to their surprise, a semi-transparent cocoon of light floated behind Bai Yunfeiâit was Liang Yinshenâs avatar!
Unable to hold his confusion in, Shen Pojun gave Bai Yunfei a quizzical glance, âYunfei, whatâŠâ
âI had the chance earlier to kill him, but he used some strange magic to switch places with his avatar. We have to hurry after him, heâs trying to escape!â
âWhat!?â That caught their attention. Wu Lie stared at Bai Yunfei in disbelief; how had this âyoungsterâ, someone who was only a Mid-stage Soul Saint, able to overpower a Late-stage Soul Saint?
But Bai Yunfei didnât have the time to answer their questions. Waving his hand, Bai Yunfei sent the cocoon of light toward Xiao Qi and yelled out to him, âXiao Qi, kill his avatar!!â
Though he didnât understand what was going on, Xiao Qi just knew that Bai Yunfei was asking for his help. Beating his wings, Xiao Qi sent dozens of tiny spatial edges toward the cocoon and brought the avatar to pieces!
Since it lacked a physical body, an avatar could technically live through being bisected. But Xiao Qi had evenly spaced his spatial edges so that the majority of them ate away at too much of the avatar for it to sustain itself!
The reason why Bai Yunfei had Xiao Qi be the one to kill the avatar was because itâd be good for the bird. Killing an avatar was good experience. It wasnât enough to make a breakthrough of any kind, but itâd definitely expand his knowledge.
A scream echoed across the skies when Xiao Qi destroyed the avatar. Liang Yinshen, pausing in the air to writhe in pain, was now screaming at the top of his lungs!!
The death of his avatar was in essence the death of a portion of his soul. It was a harsh pain by itself and was practically enough to nearly kill him in his weakened state!
It was only through pure willpower that he managed to bite back down the pain and continue his escape. The protective dome over the palace was already within sight! Spreading his soulsense, Liang Yinshen quickly found out where Wu Hong was fighting Liang Fu.
Like a meteorite crashing into the earth, Liang Yinshen shot down from the heavens to where Liang Fu was and pulled him to him!
Sparing Liang Fu an explanation, Liang Yinshen retrieved a black jade slip from his space ring and crushed it in his fist! Space began to warp in front of him before tearing open an entrance for him to disappear into!
This was a teleportation-type soul armament!
Wu Hong was stunned. He couldnât believe his eyes that Liang Yinshen had appeared so abruptly and left just as quickly with Liang Fu.
His battle with Liang Fu had been a stalemate. The two of them were equally matched and both had powerful Regalias with them. The only thing that happened worthy of mention was when at one point, Liang Fu cried out the word âTriumphant Flameâ and looked upwardâthat had been the moment when Bai Yunfei took out the Triumphant Flame to stop the Thunder Godâs Judging Halberd. Being its master, Liang Fu would know the moment when it was out.
It was because of this change that Liang Fuâs mind was thrown into chaos and his fighting was affected.
The distraction was only for half a minute at longest before he and Liang Fu both heard the heavens above split open and a bolt of lightning come crashing down. The next second later and Liang Fu was gone with the windâŠ
âWhoosh!!â\nMoments later and four other streaks of light came crashing down to where he was.
âGrandfather!!â Wu Hong exclaimed once he took sight of Wu Lie. He flew to his side at once to hold the man up by the shoulder, âAre you alright?!â
âWorry not, I will live.â
It slightly mitigated his concerns to hear those words. Turning his attention to Bai Yunfei, whoâs aura was currently making his heart race, he asked, âHave youâŠdefeated the enemy?â
âYour Majesty Wu HongâŠâ Bai Yunfei first bowed to the man in respect. âThe enemy has been defeated, but theyâve succeeded in running awayâŠâ
By now, Liang Yinshen and Liang Fu were both long gone. They all knew that a soul armament had taken the two of them away.
âIndeed. Liang Fu has been taken away by that âDivine Ancestorâ of hisâŠthereâll be no hope tracking them if a teleportation-type soul armament was used. But that is a matter for another day. We must quell the rebel fighters within the Capital.â
Liang Fu and Liang Yinshen were gone, but their subordinates werenât. They were still fighting within the Capital, but they wouldnât last long now that their strongest fighters had fled.
âLiang Fu?â Bai Yunfei blinked, âDoes Your Majesty meanâŠWu Hao?â
âHeâŠâ Sorrow filled Wu Hongâs eyes at the name, âhe is not âWu Haoâ, butâŠâ
Wu Hong retold the story of what he heard to Bai Yunfei after that. Though Bai Yunfei already knew a little bit of the context after learning about Liang Yinshen, he was still deeply shocked to hear that Wu Hao had been Possessed by âLiang Fuâ since childhood.
Then it was Bai Yunfeiâs turn to share. His story was shocking to everyone that heard it, but Wu Hong was the one most affected by it. All of a sudden, the man bowed to Bai Yunfei and the two with them, âOur enemies were routed swiftly by your groupâs timely intervention. To this, We of the Royal Family and the entire continent are grateful. I, Wu Hong, pay my respect to you!â
âThereâs no need for that, Your Majesty!â Bai Yunfei was flustered to see the ruler of the empire bow to them. âYour Majesty, weâll leave the clean-up of the Capital to the others. I must chase after Liang Yinshen. Iâll never be able to rest easily as long as heâs out there.â
âWhat?!â Wu Hong looked hopeful at his words. âYou have a means to find them?!â
Bai Yunfei nodded before taking the Soul Seekerâs Mirror out from its space ringâŠ
Far far away from the Capital. Deep within a valley. Among the trees, space warped inward on itself before two individuals stepped through.
It was Liang Yinshen and Liang Fu.
Liang Yinshen stumbled to his knees and collapsed onto the ground. Face flushed red from the pain, the man couldnât help himself but let out a mouthful of blood!
Alarmed, Liang Fu quickly helped Liang Yinshen to a giant boulder to rest. âDivine AncestorâŠwhat happened back there?!â
âThat Bai YunfeiâŠâ Gasped Liang Yinshen, âwas too strongâŠmy Thunder Godâs Judging Halberd was destroyedâŠ.by himâŠ.my avatars were destroyed as wellâŠand so I fledâŠcough coughâŠâ
âWhat?!â Exclaimed Liang Fu, âItâs impossible! How could Bai Yunfei be that strong?!â
Never did Liang Fu ever associate âdefeatâ with his Divine Ancestor. Not only did his ancestor lose, but it was a completely one-sided defeat!
A while ago, he had been standing confidently over the palace. And now, here he was with his Divine Ancestor, beaten like dogs and forced to flee pitifully. It was a blow so crushing his heart found it difficult to bear without screaming.
âAlasâŠour Liang has been defeated once moreâŠ.FuâerâŠmy death isnât long from now. Devour my soul and seek a location to isolate yourselfâŠHis strength is unrivalled, should he seek us out for revengeâŠyou cannot die! The Liang bloodline lives on for as long as you live!!â
Weakened, Liang Yinshen could only let his words describe his hatred at the situation.
The spirit of Liang Fu nearly flew out from his mouth at Liang Yinshenâs words. âWhat?! Divine AncestorâŠhow could I possibly devour your soul! IâŠI canâtâŠâ
What Liang Yinshen was saying was to have them go through the act of Possession. Liang Yinshen would attempt to âPossessâ Liang Fu so that itâd backfire and allow Liang Fu to seize his soul for himself. It was in essence what Bai Yunfei had done to the Bloodsoaked Demon Lordâs soul. If Liang Fu succeeded then heâd be able to process Liang Yinshenâs soul and become even stronger. Heâd be able to have a quick route through Sainthood and possibly become a Late-stage Soul Saint after time.
The method was practically a âcheatâ, but it was a cheat with dangerous risks. The destruction of both souls was likely if they didnât focus, but the payoff would be worth it. A ruling ancestor of the Liang âofferingâ his own experiences and strength to the next generation was a grave matter that wouldnât have been done in any other case but this.
But even now, this was nothing but a gamble. The two of them were gambling with the hope of the Liang Kingdom on the line.
âSpeak no more about it, my life is quickly coming to aâŠah!!â The words of Liang Yinshen trailed off as he looked to the eastern skies in despair and fear. âItâŠit cannot be!! How was he able to discover us!!â
âWhat!?!â Liang Fuâs head snapped up just in time to see a streak of green light shoot across the skies toward them!
âThatâsâŠHundred League!!â Liang Fu gasped, âThe Soul Seekerâs Mirror!! After killing Shangguan Xiongyan, Bai Yunfei took the Triumphant Flame and the Soul Seekerâs Mirror! HeâsâŠheâs found usâŠitâsâŠitâs all overâŠâ
He had completely forgotten about Bai Yunfei having the Soul Seekerâs Mirror. The rush of the battle and the gravity of the situation had made him unable to concentrate. As the enemy drew closer to them, Liang Fu found himself sinking deeper and deeper into the abyss of despairâŠ