"Copy?"
Dongfang Ji suddenly understood, the light of life in her eyes gradually dimmed like a candle in the wind. The Fire Controller and the Ji brothers shielded her. Dongfang Jing, pushing through the crowd, rushed forward, tears glistening in her eyes, but her face showed no sign of grief.
"Good granddaughter, the women of our Dongfang clan have always been stronger than men. Our Jing'er has finally grown up~"
Dongfang Ji attempted to raise her left hand to stroke her granddaughter's hair, but midway, she weakly retracted it. Dongfang Jing bit her lip tightly. The firelight illuminated her exquisite face, making her appear like a flower blooming in a land ravaged by war.
She slowly leaned her head forward, pressing it firmly against Dongfang Ji's outstretched hand.
Only then did she realize how thin her grandmother's hands had become. She vaguely recalled these frail hands, not long ago, holding hers as they walked through an entire lavender plantation. She remembered it as having the most delightful scent in the world. Her grandmother's hunched back, to her, who had lost her mother at a young age, was the sturdiest pillar supporting the heavens.
Now, this pillar seemed even frailer than charcoal-burnt firewood, on the verge of collapse at any moment.
"Grandma~"
"Don't cry, Grandma is useless. I couldn't save your sister and ended up burying everyone here."
Dongfang Ji suddenly grabbed Dongfang Jing's hand with frantic intensity. Then, she waved towards the stunned allies in front and behind her, saying in a deep voice, "Don't mind me, everyone, hurry and escape~"
Her words carried a desperate cry, yet also a mockery of fate. But these people showed no reaction. Immediately after, she heard Ji Fu say, "We've come this far. Fleeing means death, and staying means death. Rather than live on in shame, let us fight to the death!"
"Fight to the death!" All allies shouted in unison, trying to respond to Dongfang Ji with their resounding voices.
Clang!
At that moment, thunder crashed like waves hitting a shore. The blinding lightning illuminated the entire world as bright as day. The mountain wind whipped up everyone's hair. Dark clouds rapidly converged above like a vortex, lightning streaking through the sky, flickering on and off.
"Fight to the death?" The sect leader's voice was like a booming bell, making the allies' ears ring. "Are you worthy?"
The Fire Controller and the Ji brothers activated their powers again. A pillar of fire twisted like a dragon. The two brothers simultaneously punched the hard altar ground. The area where the sect leader stood immediately cracked open with hundreds of fissures, and the ground sank.
The sect leader leaped into the air, about to retreat, when the Fire Controller unleashed a massive tongue of flame. Simultaneously, the Ji brothers' fists danced wildly. The cracked ground continuously hurled large chunks of rock, which instantly ignited upon contact with the flames, like fragments of meteors streaking through the sky!
"The momentum is grand and majestic, but unfortunately, this isn't a movie!"
The sect leader gathered his strength in his丹田, then moved his feet. His soaring body suddenly sank. Following the gaps between the fire and the debris, he somersaulted and passed through, appearing to do so with ease.
Seeing their attack ineffective, the three were momentarily at a loss. The Fire Controller seemed to be running out of inner energy after controlling such a large area of flame, breathing heavily, his face pale. The Ji brothers, as if telepathically connected, saw the sect leader rapidly approaching. They suddenly unleashed a flurry of strikes in the air, as if tearing the air apart. The piercing energy currents were like solidified mist, each punch hitting the sect leader and producing terrifying air explosions!
"Get lost!"
The sect leader did not dodge. With a single shout, the energy currents from the two brothers vanished. The sonic wave, like a raging tide, slammed into the chests of the brothers and the Fire Controller. Their clothes were instantly shredded, and they were sent flying backward like kites with broken strings, crashing heavily, spitting blood, their lives uncertain.
At this moment, only Dongfang Jing was by the sect leader's side. The other ability users had been held back by the twelve guards, whose spirits had been uplifted!
"Dongfang Ji, you have lived to this age like an empress, tasted the treatment of an emperor, and now you will have no regrets being killed by me, right?"
As soon as the sect leader finished speaking, he transformed into a white smoke and struck towards Dongfang Ji with a palm!
In a flash, Dongfang Jing immediately let go of Dongfang Ji's hand and shielded her. This palm strike contained nearly all of the sect leader's life's cultivation. The powerful wind raged, the thunder roared incessantly, the flames surged, and the stone fragments flew. Dongfang Jing felt as if the scene before her was the end of the world.
"Jing'er!"
Dongfang Ji, from somewhere, found the strength to once again envelop the sect leader with her "Instant" ability. At the same time, she pushed Dongfang Jing away like a mother wolf emerging from a desperate situation. The "Instant" ability did not last for two seconds. The moment it deactivated, the sect leader's palm strike, which used over ninety percent of his power, finally landed on Dongfang Ji's chest.
As this palm strike was unleashed, lightning flashed and thunder roared. The lightning even split a towering tree, with charred smoke rising slowly. The heartwood cracked into several segments, just like Dongfang Ji's heart at that moment.
The sect leader laughed wildly at the sky. His greatest enemy, that old woman, had been killed by his palm, meaning his reign was about to begin, and the vast expanse of space would open up for him. His conquest had taken a crucial step.
Of course, at the same time, he had also lost a powerful helper. Two completely different emotions caused him to laugh, then cry with joy, then laugh again, his state fluctuating as if driven mad.
"Dongfang family head!"
"Family Head!"
Dongfang Ji lay fallen before the giant bronze tripod at the base of the altar. A large section of her chest had caved in, her heart shattered. Before everyone could rush forward, the elder, over eighty years old, had completely breathed her last.
"Family Head!"
Over a dozen men bore sword wounds of various degrees, their faces covered in dirt, far from their usual dignified appearance as retainers. Although they had not interacted much with the old woman in the past, their livelihoods depended on her. And this old woman had never treated them poorly. She even meticulously prepared thoughtful gifts for them during every festival. All of them had received her kindness.
But now, this old woman had fallen forever in a pool of blood, without even a chance to say goodbye.
"Damn it!"
"Everyone, rally yourselves and avenge the Family Head!"
"Yes, revenge!"
The more than ten retainers were completely blinded by their rage, completely forgetting the most crucial point: the gap in strength.
"A bunch of trash."
The sect leader roared. Before the dozen men could reach him, their bodies suddenly stopped, as if a song had abruptly ended. Then, blood gushed from their seven orifices, and they all died from the secret thunder technique.
"Weren't you all looking like you wanted to devour me alive just now? What happened? Is there anyone else?"