"The Demon Race has launched their attack," Gao Xueting replied.
Yang Kai frowned. "If the Demon Race is attacking, then prepare to fight. What are you still doing here?"
Gao Xueting pointed ahead. "They're trying to flee the city!"
Yang Kai's brow jumped. "At a time like this?"
He knew something about Tiger Roar City's situation. While there were a fair number of Emperors within the city, it was far from abundant, and only Li Jiao was a Third-Order Emperor. The city could mobilize around fifty thousand fighters at most, but the Demon Race army outside numbered three to four hundred thousand.
To fight as the underdog, they had to rely on Tiger Roar City's protective great formation — only then would there be a sliver of hope.
In other words, the great formation absolutely could not be compromised.
And now, at this critical moment when the Demon Race had mobilized their forces, there were actually people trying to flee the city. Wouldn't that tear a gaping hole in Tiger Roar City's greatest defensive asset? The formation could still be shut down afterward, but who knew what accidents might occur in that brief instant it was opened?
Moreover, this was precisely the time when Tiger Roar City's warriors needed to band together and fight the enemy as one. Having a group of people trying to bolt was practically inviting chaos from within.
No wonder Gao Xueting had brought a group of Green Sun Temple Disciples here to confront this crowd. She clearly understood that the great formation absolutely could not be activated at a time like this.
"Who are these people?" Yang Kai swept a look of disgust over the group. There were quite a few of them — several hundred at least — and many were Dao Source Realm cultivators, though he didn't see any among the Emperor Realm.
"The five great families of Tiger Roar City. These are people from those five families," Gao Xueting said.
"Families!" Yang Kai snorted coldly. Clans like these existed in countless numbers across the entire Star Boundary. Generally speaking, such families enjoyed considerable status within their respective cities and had grown accustomed to doing as they pleased. They had probably been wanting to leave for some time but had never made up their minds — until the Demon Race launched their full-scale invasion. They must have decided Tiger Roar City couldn't hold, so they wanted to get out early and save their own skins.
"Open the formation!"
"Open it now and let us leave, or don't blame us for being discourteous!"
"Why waste breath on them? If they don't open the formation, we'll just seize the control plate ourselves!"
The crowd at the base of the city wall was shouting up at a Dao Source Realm cultivator on the wall — apparently one of the people in charge of the great formation, who held a formation plate that controlled the protective array. The cultivator stood atop the wall, looking down with a troubled expression, repeatedly cupping his fists and bowing. "Esteemed family heads, please don't make things difficult for this old man. If you wish to leave the city, please go to the City Lord. As long as you bring his written orders, I will open the formation immediately. Otherwise, I simply cannot do it!"
"The Demon Race is invading — the City Lord is busy dealing with that. He has no time to bother with us. Enough talk — you have ten breaths to open the formation, or don't blame us for not caring about old sentiments!"
As the words fell, several hundred people fixed the old man with predatory stares, making it clear they would truly resort to force if the formation wasn't opened.
The old man's face changed drastically. Though he was also a Dao Source Realm cultivator, how could he possibly contend with the combined might of the five great families? If a fight truly broke out, he'd be chopped to mince in the blink of an eye.
A flicker of hesitation crossed his face, then he made up his mind. Opening the formation and letting people leave would certainly earn him the City Lord's punishment afterward — but that was still better than being killed right here by the five great families.
He pulled the formation plate from his spatial ring and was just about to activate it when a figure appeared beside him like a ghost, placing a hand on his shoulder.
The old man startled and turned his head, only to see a tall, imposing young man standing beside him. Before he could react, the formation plate had already been casually plucked from his hand.
The old man shuddered inwardly, realizing the young man's cultivation was far beyond his own — otherwise he wouldn't have been so oblivious to the approach. He hurriedly asked, "You are…?"
"Yang Kai, Palace Master of Ling Xiao Palace," Yang Kai glanced at him and said flatly. "Rest easy, old man."
The old man's eyes lit up at those words, his heart immediately settling, and he promptly stepped aside.
Yang Kai's voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly to the several hundred people below. Seeing the formation plate now in Yang Kai's hands, all of them furrowed their brows. Several figures at the front exchanged glances, and a middle-aged man with a sallow complexion stepped forward, cupping his fists in greeting. "Greetings, Lord Yang."
Yang Kai gave a slight nod without asking the man's name — he was certainly some family head from one of the five great families.
Yang Kai's casual, unhurried demeanor displeased the several hundred people below, but they knew he had every right to it. He was a Palace Master, an Emperor Realm cultivator after all. They dared not show the slightest hint of displeasure. Instead, they maintained their polite manner and said, "We of the five great families wish to leave Tiger Roar City and seek a chance of survival in these chaotic times. We humbly ask Lord Yang to grant us passage."
Yang Kai toyed with the formation plate in his hand and said coolly, "Leaving Tiger Roar City will give you a chance of survival? Do you even know what the situation is like out there right now?"