"All units, break through!"
To the two Cardinals' surprise, after a moment of silence, Shike immediately let out a furious roar, red light and flames surging across his body, coalescing into the phantom of a massive bird of prey behind him.
It was a creature as perfect as a being from mythology, its entire body wreathed in flame — as if a god born from the very heart of fire itself!
"Fire Feather Art, eighth level! Shike, you've grown old! Not a shred of improvement!"
The two Cardinals exchanged a glance and stepped forward in unison. A massive wave of pressure erupted outward, bearing down on the fire phoenix phantom before them.
Darkness descended like nightfall as thick black fog instantly enveloped them along with Shike. Battle was moments from erupting!
"Kill them!"
Numerous members of the Mobius Ring roared the cry. Shadowy figures clad in dark robes burst from the darkness, daggers and similar weapons drawn.
Shouts echoed without end. Many of the task force members were green recruits who had already suffered heavy casualties in the earlier ambush. Morale plummeted in an instant, and several members on the outer perimeter turned and fled, screaming into the distance.
Bang! Shike was sent crashing to the ground by a devastating punch, countless curse-like patterns crawling across his body. Even the terrifying flames of the eighth-level Fire Feather Art were powerless to stop them.
Much of the flame was even tainted by the curse runes, gradually sputtering out.
Slowly, even the fire phoenix phantom behind Shike let out a pitiful wail. Shike's face turned deathly pale as several massive gashes tore open across his body, and countless black runes burrowed into him like earthworms.
"Haha... Shike! You're dead today!" One of the Cardinals wore a broad, exultant grin. "Now let me—"
"Let the instructor go!"
The sudden, thunderous roar cut the Cardinal off mid-sentence. He frowned, and what he saw were two members of the Fire Feather Clan charging toward them like madmen, their bodies engulfed in flames, faces twisted with panic and desperation.
"Heh heh... Now that's what I call hot-blooded youth! Shike, you're the same as ever — a master brainwasher!" The other Cardinal, an old man, let out a cold, rasping cackle. "Let me kill them first, then I'll deal with you..."
A sickly flush colored the old man's cheeks. Simply killing his enemies no longer held enough appeal. More than a decade of hatred drove him to savor their suffering a while longer — to let Shike fall into utter despair before finally ending him. Now *that* would be the most perfect revenge!
"You—!" Shike clutched his chest, turning to look at the figures charging toward him, his face stricken with both gratitude and dread. "Get back! You're no match for him! Break through with everything you've got!"
"Heh heh... There's no escape!" The old man cackled coldly, instructing his companion to keep Shike pinned while he himself moved to block the path of the two young Fire Feather Clan members.
"Stay with me, Instructor!" Lei Lin shouted with a flushed face. The Fire Feather Art blazed at full power in his hands, the terrifying scorching flames dealing serious losses even to several Earth-level priests. Wariness crept across their faces as they retreated to keep their distance from him.
"This kind of performance! He's probably like the hot-blooded protagonist from those novels in my past life — the kind who has to have some last-minute power-up or something..."
Lei Lin mocked himself inwardly even as he gave it his all in the performance, all while sweeping the surroundings with his spiritual sense.
Due to the ambush on the special task force, casualties were now devastating — nearly eighty to ninety percent of the squad had been wiped out. As for that little brat Miss, he had actually smeared blood on his face and collapsed to the ground, using some secret technique to mask his aura. He had survived until now, far luckier than those comrades who had tried to flee only to be caught down and cut apart, and he had barely sustained any injuries either — truly a freak occurrence.
Looking at Shike's tearfully moved expression, Lei Lin felt somewhat speechless.
"If you knew that these two who seemingly risked their lives to save you actually both have their own hidden agendas, I wonder if you'd cough up blood on the spot..."
Lei Lin's gaze flickered to the side, where Rock — the cold, ruthless man who had mastered the sixth layer of the Fire Feather Art — was also fighting with everything he had, his face full of passion and fervor, looking every bit the righteous and loyal warrior.
But in truth, this one was just as much bad news. A distinctly foreign aura clung to him, though it was well concealed. If Lei Lin hadn't possessed both the Chip and his soul force for dual detection, he might have been fooled just as easily.
"Lei! I'll hold them off! You go save the Instructor!"
The moment Rock noticed Lei Lin's eyes turn his way, he bellowed the order, simultaneously unleashing a torrent of flames that engulfed several Earth-level priests around them. Explosions rang out in rapid succession — the battle was clearly ferocious.
"Son of a —! He found himself a bunch of low-level cannon fodder as cover and dumped the two Sky-level ones on me!"
Lei Lin rolled his eyes in exasperation but still charged forward with a shout, throwing a punch directly at the Cardinal in red standing in the center of the path!
Shriek! Shriek!! An ear-splitting blast of air erupted, sounding like the piercing cry of a phoenix. A phantom slightly smaller than the fire phoenix Shike had conjured moments ago materialized behind Lei Lin, its brilliant scarlet flames blazing like sunlight, draping Lei Lin in a mantle of golden battle armor.
"Oh?! The Fire Feather Art — seventh layer! At peak mastery!!! The Cardinal blocking the center of the road cried out in surprise. Although the Fire Feather Art was the essential cultivation technique of the entire Fire Feather Clan, and nearly every adult Fire Feather clansman practiced at least one to three layers, anyone who reached the fifth layer or above was exceedingly rare. Peak of the seventh layer — that was merely a single step from the Sky level! Given the age of the Fire Feather clansman before him, this was absolutely a rare talent!