Chapter 460: Chapter 454: Natural Disaster Maker, The Sentient Golden Lotus
Yang Chan touched the invisible barrier and discreetly applied pressure, testing its rebounding force.
In truth, it wasn’t just Yang Chan; members from all the major Sects were attempting to break the barrier.
Perhaps for the Great Zhou Imperial Dynasty and the Jin Meng Empire, this Magic Array was meant to contain the shockwaves from the clash between Martial Saints, preventing the affected area from becoming too vast.
But for Yang Chan and the others, it was a cage, preventing their escape.
Without this invisible barrier, they would have left long ago.
"It seems the Great Zhou Imperial Family made arrangements before even coming to Jinyun City. Otherwise, a Magic Array like this wouldn’t have appeared so suddenly."
Song Yunxiang remarked.
Deploying a Magic Array like this takes time and requires rare materials. Each activation consumes a vast amount of energy. For the Great Zhou Imperial Dynasty to set it up now meant they weren’t just targeting them—they seemed to be defending against something as well.
A defensive barrier like this works both ways: it traps those inside and keeps others out. No one can enter, and no one can leave.
"It’s difficult to break this barrier with brute force."
Yang Chan felt the force rebounding from the barrier. With his cultivation at the Inner Refining of the Five Viscera Level, he knew he couldn’t break it even if he used his Sword Momentum.
The Invisible Array was completely seamless. Attacking a single point would cause energy from the surrounding area to surge in and resist the blow.
To breach it would require a prolonged bombardment. Even if everyone from all the Sects attacked at once, they couldn’t do anything to this Invisible Array in the short term. Furthermore, the barrier would reflect the attacks; a sustained assault would likely end with the attackers being injured by the rebound.
It was a truly infuriating obstacle.
BOOM!
Another earth-shattering tremor rocked the land. Even Yang Chan and the others, over a hundred li away, could feel the ground shake violently. The shockwaves from the battle were growing stronger, and their range was expanding.
It was even possible that a massive earthquake would soon strike their location.
For everyone present, this was on the level of a natural disaster.
Although Inner Masters possessed immense Life Force and formidable Combat Power, they were insignificant before the might of nature itself.
And the current clash between the two Destiny Golden Dragons and the two Martial Saints had already reached the scale of a natural disaster. The longer the battle raged, the wider its effects spread, and the consequences were naturally becoming more severe.
Amidst the clash of these four beings, the Golden Lotus had begun to move, drifting about. With each shift in its position, the range of the battle’s shockwaves expanded even further.
The four entities were like walking cataclysms. In their wake, not a single blade of grass remained, and the earth itself collapsed and sank, as if devoured by a colossal earthquake.
Yang Chan and the others watched from afar, their expressions grim. In the face of such Combat Power, they were utterly helpless. Even the Martial Arts Cultivation they took such pride in seemed pathetically weak by comparison.
They finally understood why a Martial Saint could be a National Guardian. No Imperial Dynasty could withstand a clash between experts of this caliber. Without the defensive measures around Jinyun City, it would have been completely destroyed.
Even as it was, Jinyun City’s situation was not much better. The special Spiritual Array’s range was slowly shrinking, and the number of people it could protect was steadily decreasing.
In this one battle, it was likely that most of the soldiers who had come to defend Jinyun City had already become casualties.
Only the men the Old Emperor Yang Yu had brought, who possessed a special Secret Technique, were still holding on. How much longer they could last, however, depended on how long it took for the battlefield to shift.
As the battlefield began to shift away from the border city, some of the pressure was naturally relieved.
But for Yang Chan and the others, the pressure was immense, as the battle was now moving closer to their position.
"Go! We have to go now!"
Song Yunxiang’s expression changed drastically when he saw this.
He immediately turned and fled.
Staying any longer would be courting death.
As Song Yunxiang took off, the other disciples of the Cyan Yuan Sect followed suit.
Members of the other Sects had already begun to distance themselves while testing the barrier, and they moved even faster after noticing the battlefield was shifting.
No one wanted to be caught in a battlefield that had become a natural disaster; they would have no way to fight back.
Yang Chan, however, did not follow the others. He applied a pre-prepared Disguise, changed into a set of plain clothes, and headed in the opposite direction.
He wasn’t sure if someone was intentionally steering the battle, but a large group was bound to be more conspicuous. It was better to be alone. By concealing his breath, he would be even more hidden and less likely to be discovered.
Besides, in the face of a cataclysm of this magnitude, even an Inner Master like Song Yunxiang could be of no help to him. Following the group might instead expose his own Cultivation, which would be a terrible mistake.
Yang Chan activated his Meditation and Breath Holding Technique, making his aura even fainter. At the same time, using the trajectory of the battle that his Soul Body could perceive, he fled in the opposite direction.
The battlefield’s movement seemed random, but it was actually influenced by the Golden Lotus. All four combatants were vying for it, and the Golden Lotus itself seemed to have a will of its own, unwilling to be taken or devoured.
In Yang Chan’s opinion, the Invisible Array was most likely intended to contain the Golden Lotus. Therefore, if he avoided the Golden Lotus, he could stay away from the battlefield’s epicenter and survive.
This was also one of the reasons for Yang Chan’s current choice. As for telling Song Yunxiang and the others—never mind whether they would believe him—the explanation itself would be incredibly complex and could even expose some of his secrets.
Naturally, Yang Chan didn’t bother with something so complicated.
’Next time I sense trouble, I should just flee immediately. My reaction was too slow, and I still got caught up in the aftermath.’
’Just like now. All I can do is run for my life!’
Yang Chan lamented internally. If the Great Zhou Imperial Family hadn’t been so tyrannical, forcing the major Sects to join the battle at the border, he wouldn’t be in this predicament.
He had once thought that reaching the Inner Refining of the Five Viscera Level would at least grant him the ability to protect himself. But now, after witnessing the clash between National Guardian Martial Saints, he realized that even an expert at the Inner Refining Grandmaster Level was utterly insignificant in their presence.
Countless people could die from the battle’s aftershocks alone. This must be why the major Sects had ultimately sent so many of their masters to reinforce the border.
The power gap was too immense. To resist by force would only drag their Sects down to ruin with them. Under such circumstances, they could only compromise.
The Great Zhou Imperial Family had later made concessions, which naturally lessened the major Sects’ will to resist, preventing the situation from escalating into an open war.
Even though the Great Zhou Imperial Family had a National Guardian Martial Saint, if all the Sects were to unite against them, the Great Zhou Imperial Dynasty probably wouldn’t last long. Its Destiny Golden Dragon would die, its national destiny would shatter, and even a Martial Saint would be powerless to salvage the situation. Thus, some leeway was given.
Yang Chan continued to flee in the opposite direction of the trajectory he perceived, doing his utmost to avoid the battlefield and distance himself from this cataclysmic war.
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