Durant and his two companions flew high into the sky. They made no deliberate effort to conceal themselves, immediately drawing the attention of everyone present.
Irose and the others were currently positioned to the south, their line of sight largely blocked by the great hall atop Tianji Peak, yet they could still see the three figures ascending into the upper sky.
They knew the three from the Federation had made their move.
The other Throne martial artists present were not particularly surprised. In truth, every one of them knew that if their offensive stalled, the Federation would not be able to sit idly by.
Thus, while one could say they had exerted themselves in the battle just now, none had actually brought out their full strength—not a single one of them had even manifested their external visage.
Meanwhile, aboard an airship keeping well clear of the main battlefield, Briggs looked upward as though sensing something.
The Empyrean Behemoth flew at immense altitude, appearing merely as a black speck in his eyes, and now he could faintly see three clusters of light flying higher still.
"It seems the Federation is preparing to reinforce them," he remarked.
Hearing this, Lily followed his gaze, raised her camera, and snapped several photos toward the sky in quick succession with a series of clicks.
Normally, due to a martial artist's spiritual fire and field, it was impossible to capture such shots. However, her camera had been issued by the Martial Artists Council and was itself a living entity endowed with memory; as long as it memorized the scene on the spot, it could later be developed through a certain relic.
Briggs took two steps to the side at that moment, blocking the line of sight coming from an adjacent airship.
The Federation directly entering the fray was contrary to what they had claimed earlier. While they could always conjure excuses afterward, disposing of what was in their hands was obviously far simpler; it seemed that later on, he would have to find a way to navigate that hurdle.
Durant and the other two maintained a steady speed, continuing upward until the summit of Tianji Peak appeared no larger than a finger in their sight before finally halting.
Fantner gently tossed the fiery-red sphere in his hand upward. At the same time, he flicked his finger across its surface, instantly sending the entire sphere into a rapid spin.
The object seemed to turn into a blazing fire, spraying tiny sparks outward in all directions.
Because the force he applied was exceedingly subtle and ingenious, once it began spinning, the violent power within actually stabilized completely, leaving it suspended in midair. However, the sparks scattering from it were astonishingly numerous, dyeing the surrounding airspace completely crimson in mere moments.
Such a commotion naturally drew attention from below.
Real Man Chonghua could tell that the disturbance definitely did not originate from a martial artist; it likely stemmed from a relic. And relics were notoriously unpredictable—some defied conventional reason altogether.
Judging by its aura alone, it appeared to be a relic intended for frontal assault, and within it he could distinctly perceive an ominous, unfathomable omen.
This was a very direct omen manifested by heavenly secrets, indicating that this object had a distinct possibility of breaching their present defense.
He said solemnly, "Junior brothers, be on guard."
All three voiced their assent.
However, Daoist Ming lowered his head ever so slightly.
High in the sky, the fireball spun faster and faster, spreading out a vast luminous cloud of fiery red.
Durant had been watching the situation closely from the side. Seeing that the gathered power within the fireball was nearing its peak and that it was on the verge of falling as the applied force dissipated, he reached out and struck downward in the direction of its spin. This caused the fireball to unleash a thunderous roar, transforming into a colossal fire meteor that plummeted from the sky toward Tianji Peak.
At that moment, Crossal held the pebble between his fingers and flicked it toward the hurtling fireball. It caught up in an instant and slammed into the sphere before ricocheting back at high speed, right into his grasp.
Struck by this blow, the sphere spun with even greater violence, seeming to expand several times over in an instant, and turned into a beam of blinding, razor-sharp light shooting down from above.
Because Real Man Chonghua and the other three had to guard the dead center of the great hall, they had to maintain unity with the main peak, leaving them essentially rooted to the spot—though under normal circumstances, there was no need to move anyway.
Yet in this situation, facing such a ferocious assault, they had no choice but to absorb it passively.
No longer paying attention to the individuals besieging them outside, they focused entirely on the sky. When the fiery brilliance was about to descend directly above their heads, their auras resonated, congealing their fourfold strength into a singular whole, and they simultaneously raised a hand upward, pressing against it.
BOOM!
The fire seemed to crash into an invisible barrier, exploding into an arched, flattened screen of light. Working together, the four resisted the impact, though faint ripples appeared across their Divine Visages. The entire hall and the mountain body trembled faintly, causing the radiant light upon them to flicker and sway in waves.
Yet the four held their ground steadily, successfully keeping the tremendous shockwave at bay.
The other Throne martial artists pinning them down from below saw their chance and surged forward almost en masse, focusing their attack squarely on Long Xian.
Real Man Long Xian was devoting all his effort to withstanding the bombardment from above and could not attend to the perimeter, leaving him with no choice but to let them burst through his outer spiritual flames and strike directly at his Divine Visage.
Although their strikes blasted multiple portions of his Divine Visage into clouds of golden mist, aided by the esoteric ritual and the other three, it reconstituted itself in an instant.
And above the great hall, the blasted flames did not simply dissipate; instead, as if possessed of life, they rose back into the sky.
Guided by Fantner's spirit, wisp after wisp returned to his hand, coalescing once more into the same crimson sphere as before.
As a breaching-type relic, after a single attack, it merely needed a period of recovery before it could be used again.
However, this time, they could not afford to wait. They needed to unleash the full potential of this object all at once, or else breaching the four's ironclad defense would be impossible.
And if taking down the Tianji Sect succeeded, sacrificing two Grade 1 relics would be well worth it, for the ultimate harvest would far exceed that cost.
Once more, Fantner spun the sphere, and when its rotation reached its utmost limit, Durant struck it downward again. As the fiery brilliance plummeted, Crossal flicked the pebble once more to strike it.
Real Man Chonghua had just dispersed the fluttering rays of light around them when he saw the second attack arrive, and they could sense that the power unleashed this time would be even more formidable than the last.
Sure enough, as the four shielded against it this time, the clear light and golden glow shimmering across their bodies violently trembled in waves. Even deep within the mountain, faint rumblings sounded, and the defensive talismans inside the Tianji Great Hall flared with light. The forces of internal defense and external assault locked in a contest of strength for a time.
How could the other Throne martial artists pass up this opportunity? Yet this time, the four had allocated a portion of their strength to Long Xian in advance. With a wave of his sleeve, like a surging wave of boundless wrath, everyone was swept up by a force and hurled outward, followed by a deafening roar like mountains collapsing and oceans raging through the atmosphere.
Up in the sky, Durant watched below coldly and said, "Continue."
The fireball reconverged in Fantner's hand. Manipulating and wielding relics in such a manner of retrieval and strike was by no means simple, especially with a Grade 1 relic. For a destructive type, its power was not inferior to their own, and the energy contained within could inflict tremendous damage even upon him.
The key was that every strike required them to direct the blast while keeping the internal forces properly constrained; should any step falter, the backlash would harm them. This was why the three divided the labor and collaborated, each focusing solely on his own step.
This time unfolded just as smoothly as the previous two. As Crossal's pebble struck the crimson sphere, the two relics each released the very last of their power.
Thudding rumbles that made one's chest tighten resonated through the sky as a streak of fiery light plunged diagonally toward Tianji Peak.
The torrent of this impact was exceptionally fierce, forming a visible crimson cone that seemed to drag down an entire fiery red curtain of the atmosphere with it.
It was an apocalyptic sight reminiscent of a natural calamity. Even the several Throne martial artists participating in the assault felt it, retreating to the sides one after another for fear of being caught in the blast.
Chonghua and the other three looked grave. They could tell that this strike was the most powerful attack they had encountered so far, demanding their utmost effort. Their focus was sharpened to an absolute pitch, and the power of the esoteric ritual within Mount Tianji was fully mobilized.
Watching the blaze expand until it eclipsed the sky overhead, their minds linked in resonance, they simultaneously raised their hands and pushed all their spiritual fire upward!
Yet at the very instant the opposing forces were about to collide, Real Man Ming's eyes flashed, and he actually pulled back his hands, withdrawing the power he was on the verge of releasing!
The four had originally formed a cohesive whole, and the esoteric ritual required the seamless cooperation of all four to operate smoothly. His sudden withdrawal instantly broke the formation binding the four to the heavenly mechanism. The screen of light formed from congealed, complete spiritual luminescence immediately lost a corner, and the other sections destabilized under the disruption.
At the very moment Real Man Ming withdrew his strength, the portion of Real Man Chonghua's Divine Visage seated within the hall sensed it immediately. It transformed into a beam of divine light and soared up, turning its visage body into a sheet of spiritual flames to fill the gap and reconnect the fourfold power into one once more.
With a deafening crash, the fire meteor finally struck. A colossal burst of flame exploded across the sky above Tianji Peak, causing even the sun overhead to dim for an instant.
The spiritual light barrier congealed by Real Man Chonghua and the others shattered instantly. Although it absorbed the vast majority of the force, the residual energy still crashed against their mountain peak.
The entire great hall shuddered violently. In a single instant, the Divine Visages of the three Zhenren crumbled by more than half, scattering billowing golden mist and lucid light all around.
Because the grand esoteric ritual array had suffered a severe shock, Real Man Ming himself was likewise unable to stabilize his Divine Visage. However, since he had taken no part in withstanding the relic's onslaught, he was unquestionably in the best condition.
His Divine Visage, which had not yet completely collapsed, turned around at that moment, and its massive hand snatched toward the Tianji fish swimming within the Tianji Great Hall!
Chapter 1301