“Is this really it? Is this all that a branch sect amounts to?”

“M-my apologies senior but we must retreat, our warriors aren’t strong enough to hold the formation, they are going to break through soon, we need to evacuate!”

“You want to evacuate? Me an elder from the main sect!?”

“I…”

An angry-looking old man dressed in a white robe with the Heavenly Crane Sect insignia was shouting at another elder. Before them stood a large wall that they were protecting, large amounts of cultivators were flying on their swords and frantically trying to reinforce the protective formation with their Qi.

“It has only been a day! How can you dimwits not be able to empower this formation our ancestors left behind even for one day! We must not retreat, we will defend for as long as we have to and the main sect sends us reinforcements!”

The man’s nascent soul aura flew through the area stopping any replies of protests from the other people here, in his eyes, it would be dishonorable to retreat. The people under him wanted to cry out in indignation and run away. They knew that this man was strong enough to flee after the barrier was gone but they on the other hand had no such power. There were various elders just as strong as this man there and they would make quick work of their defensive structures and weapons, the battle was already lost.

“B-but, they won’t make it in time, we lack a teleportation gate at this outpost, and the closest city is two days away, we won’t last.”

“You still dare speak up? Be quiet!”

One of the older core formation experts cried out through his bloodied teeth as he was being suppressed by the much stronger elder. No one could go against him, if they dared to retreat they would be killed by his sword but if they stayed here the monsters on the other side would break through and do the same.

There was still hope though, if they were really able to hold out then perhaps a few elders that remained at the main city would arrive. They didn’t believe that the main sect would do anything about this as they had let many other outposts like this fall. Even if they fled now they would be branded as deserters and their close relatives would suffer the same fate. This was the price for yearning for immortality, only the resourceful would remain at the end and everyone here knew it.

“They are truly weak, we should have not waited this long and just continued to their capital.”

On the other side of the barrier, a different scene was playing out. Members of the Emerald Phoenix Empire were having quite a jolly good time. Grins were plastered over all their faces as they were ready to massacre their opponents the moment the barrier was blasted open by their large-scale ships. These along with their own battle formations were pouring their own version of spiritual energy onto the shields and quickly getting through.

“You are right Senior, if that order wasn’t given we would have been able to gather more merits than the other battalions.”

“That is true, I don’t expect these lesser warriors to have anything of worth but perhaps we’ll get lucky.”

“You are right senior, the further we get to the middle of this backwater Empire the higher the concentration of this magnificent energy.”

“Yes it is truly a blessed land, I feel that I’m already close to breaking through after spending just a month's time here.”

A Saint Emperor-level cultivator and his Supreme Saint follower were laughing while watching the siege taking place. To them, this was a land of secrets that opened up every hundred thousand years. Only the best elders and most diligent prospects could enter it and the rewards were truly magnificent. First of all the Qi here gave everyone a big boost, the concentration was at least twice as high as in their Emerald Phoenix Empire.

However, while this Qi was bountiful the residents of this region weren’t able to use it. They had captured various elders and some were on the level of Supreme Saints but paled in comparison to their grandmasters. They were using a faulty cultivation method that didn’t allow them to prosper in this place. The people from the Emerald Phoenix Empire, on the other hand, could prosper here, it was to the point of some of them instantly breaking through after entering this spirit-energy-rich environment.

In comparison, the pills, elixirs, and weapons that these lesser cultivators could offer them weren’t all that great. There was nothing besides the raw resources in their lands that were worth claiming and the spirit stone mines were one of the better catches. With the ever-increasing quality when pushing forward they were convinced to find something great in these vast lands that were even larger than their own Empire.

“That’s it, I can’t wait any longer, all Generals and Commanders follow me, we will push through this flimsy formation in one go and then slaughter the enemy!”

“As you command, Senior General!”

All of them were waiting for this order, even though they would need to use up a lot of their power it would come back to them almost instantly. This was the true might of their forces, even though they were outnumbered by the native people here they could fight almost without resting. Even their biggest attacks that would normally put them out of commission for multiple days would only need an hour or two before they recovered.

With all this newly gained power they were drunk on it. Every part of their body was bursting with new spiritual energy and it made them feel invincible. What normally would have been a suicide attack would turn to assured victory as they were not afraid of tackling the enemies in a direct fight. Thus they all combined their power to form an enormous bird that looked like a phoenix.

It was made up of green flames and symbolized the whole Empire. The technique was a war formation developed by the emperor themselves and took this form for a reason. It was supposed to signal his coming and the green flames were intended to be burned into the people that didn’t perish in this noble creature's wake.

“We… we can’t hold it!”

The large monstrosity collided with the translucent barrier that began to buckle under pressure. Everyone on the side of the Heavenly Crane Sect was giving their all to just hold out long enough for some reinforcements to arrive, it was to no avail as with one strong attack the enemies managed to blast a large hole in the middle. Even when they tried mending it back together it couldn’t.

“Haha, look at those inferior cultivators, it’s impossible to reestablish a protective formation after it was broken by the emerald flames!”

Just as the Saint Emperor proclaimed the green flames started burrowing themselves into this formation and expanding the hole that was created. Within a few moments, this opening was large enough for a person to pass through and soon enough it would be large enough for one of the large flying ships to get through.

“I Wung Tong of the Enlightened Victory Hall will pave the way for everyone, follow after me soldiers!”

Someone at the level of a nascent soul master charged through he created an opening and unleashed his large glaive arts on the people on the other side. The core formation experts that were hovering on their swords were unable to defend themselves, retreat was the only option but this only hastened the expansion of the fissure and soon enough more enemies arrived.

“You fools, who told you that you could retreat, fight to the last man!”

“S-senior, they are too strong, we need your aid!”

The man responsible for all of this started sweating. Even though he was loud and boisterous he also realized that the masters they were facing were a notch above them. The person that came in first was his match and from what he could tell he was not even the commanding officer. Even if he tossed himself into the fight there would not be much that he could do.

“Useless bastards.”

His pride didn’t allow him to back away though and soon he performed a quick palm stroke on the enemy elder. It produced a violet burst of energy that flew like a spiral towards the man that made it through the opening.

“Hah, weak!”

The man moved both of his palms toward this large attack and started swirling them around. His hands started moving in a circle as he performed a well-known energy-dispersing technique that worked wonders on this attack. Instead of getting hit by the violent palm Qi it was fully dispersed and couldn’t even harm the weaker Supreme Saint and Martial Saints that followed soon after.

“Is this all that all you people amount to? The Azure Dragon Empire? You are no dragons but just small snakes trapped in a tiny well, the phoenix will rise in these lands and rule over them, kneel before us and we might spare you!”

“You damn savages want us to surrender? We know well what you do to people that surrender, you have no honor!”

“Haha, so you know but you would have at least had a chance of becoming a slave or given a quick death, now we will just play with you until there is nothing left!”

“S-senior!”

“I…”

The old elder that kept everyone from retreating was biting his lower lip and drawing blood. He had made a mistake and now everyone here would die for it. The line was broken and the stronghold they were guarding would fall into enemy hands. Throughout his long life, he had never tasted a defeat like this. However, if he was going to die, then at least he needed to take some of them with him to the afterlife.

“We are of the Heavenly Crane Sect, we shall not surrender and we shall not plead for mercy!”

He could see that the people that were with him didn’t want to listen to his last order. They were weak and their fear was showing. It was another fault that fell on him as their leader, instead of training them more he spent most of his days raising his personal power. In battles like this however numbers did matter as with help of battle formations the tides could be turned even by lesser cultivators.

“Hm, good words but you will not die today, old man.”

“Huh?”

Before the carnage could start a voice resounded from above the clouds which made everyone look up. It was clear that it belonged to some kind of powerful master as it carried his Qi with it. When looking to the sky everyone saw him and it would be a silhouette that they would not forget for the rest of their lives…