Shen Shitao's eyes immediately reddened. "But the Elders, you—"
"Rest assured, we'll buy you time. Remember, you must reach the Lingxiao Pavilion. Only the Lingxiao Pavilion offers a chance of survival! This mission is critical—you must find a way to bring the disciples inside!"
"Elder!" Shen Shitao shook her head repeatedly.
"Go now!" The beautiful woman's expression turned fierce as she glared at Shen Shitao. "Do you want the Qiantian Sect to be erased from the Dark Star? Do you want us to face our ancestors in shame?"
Shen Shitao froze, overcome with grief and speechless.
Another elder of the Qiantian Sect gazed at her gently and smiled. "Remember, you must survive. Once the Grand Elder returns, our Qiantian Sect will rise again."
"Go!" the beautiful woman barked.
Shen Shitao's tears fell like rain, her delicate frame trembling. She knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times to her elders with deep reverence before springing to her feet, ready to leave.
At that very moment—
The beautiful woman and the remaining Qiantian Sect powerhouses standing atop the city wall spotted something unbelievable and turned their gaze toward the distant horizon.
In the rear of the Corpse Spirit Sect's formation, chaos had erupted. Violent bursts of chaotic energy exploded between heaven and earth, brilliant light flaring outward. Every breath, hundreds of Corpse Spirit Sect enemies were cut down.
"Elder Du, it looks like someone is fighting their way through from that direction!"
"I see it. Who could it be?" The beautiful woman nodded softly.
"Not many—perhaps only seven or eight—but they're incredibly strong..." The Void Refinement realm expert who spoke drew in a sharp breath. He could only see flashes of light over there, and swathes of Corpse Spirit Sect warriors falling like harvested wheat, leaving him stunned on the spot.
"Wait—is that... the Huntian Azure Sun Tower! It's the Grand Elder! The Grand Elder has returned!" Another voice cried out in elation.
Every gaze in an instant locked onto a tower-shaped Artifact soaring over a dozen zhang high in the sky, its entire body radiating an azure mystical glow.
The tower spun rapidly as it plummeted from the heavens, and each time it struck down, it crushed countless Corpse Spirit Sect disciples into paste. Countless rays of azure mystical light also shot from the tower—sharp and piercing—and any Corpse Spirit Sect disciple or lackey struck by the light was annihilated completely, vanishing from the world without a trace.
In a matter of moments, over two hundred Corpse Spirit Sect members had perished beneath this Artifact.
"It really is the Huntian Azure Sun Tower!" The beautiful woman's eyes blazed with astonishing radiance, as though hope had been reborn, her expression filled with fervor.
The Huntian Azure Sun Tower was the Qiantian Sect's paramount treasure, an Artifact that existed between the Void grade and the Void King grade—essentially a quasi-Void King Artifact.
This formidable Artifact had always been in the custody of the Grand Elder, Mo Yu.
Its appearance now clearly meant Mo Yu was activating it.
Even without seeing Mo Yu himself, they could feel his familiar energy fluctuations from far away.
"We're saved—the Grand Elder has returned!"
"Haha, slaughter every last one of those Corpse Spirit Sect bastards!"
"Make sure they never return!"
"Avenge the Sect Master and our fallen brothers and sisters!"
In an instant, frenzied battle cries erupted along the city wall. Every person was righteous with fury, emotions running high. Had it not been for the beautiful woman's orders, they would have charged out to meet the Grand Elder on the spot.
Among the crowd, however, the beautiful woman's delicate brows were tightly furrowed, a trace of unease rippling across her face.
The Grand Elder appearing at a time like this—whether it was fortune or catastrophe, she could not tell.
Though the Grand Elder's strength was unfathomable and he wielded the Huntian Azure Sun Tower as an Artifact, the enemy's numbers were simply too vast. If the Grand Elder were to be surrounded and unable to break free, then the Qiantian Sect's last shred of hope would be extinguished.
"Pass my command. All who are still able to fight—follow me down to reinforce the Grand Elder!" The beautiful woman's thoughts raced, and she made her decision swiftly.
"Yes!" The order was relayed without delay.
Before long, the Qiantian Sect's remaining forces had been mustered together. The beautiful woman surveyed the fewer than a thousand warriors, and deep within her lovely eyes surfaced a profound sorrow.
The entire Qiantian Sect had been reduced to this handful of people. Nearly every one among them was wounded, and their strength varied wildly.
Although Mohai City boasted a million residents, only this pitiful number actually belonged to the Qiantian Sect. The vast majority were ordinary people who had never cultivated, or martial artists of such meager strength they were virtually useless.
"What lies ahead is death with no expectation of return. We go solely to reinforce the Grand Elder. Are you ready?" The beautiful woman swept her gaze across the ranks and demanded in a commanding voice.
The thousand warriors wore solemn expressions as they answered in unison: "Ready!"
"Your names shall be inscribed upon the Qiantian Sect's Spirit Memorial. Move out!" The beautiful woman wasted no words. With a decisive sweep of her slender hand, she was the first to charge out of Mohai City.
The others followed close behind, every face etched with bone-deep hatred, every eye burning with the determination to find life through the embrace of death.
A thousand surged from the city, and countless more followed in their wake.
These were the residents of Mohai City and the martial artists who had fled here as refugees.
None of them were ignorant of the truth that when the nest falls, no egg remains intact. Seeing the Qiantian Sect marshal its final strength and launch an assault, they immediately fell in behind, contributing what little they could.