However, to their surprise, the harder they tried, the fiercer the backlash of divine abilities became.
By the time they realized it, they had stopped channeling their powers, but it was already too late.
The ferocious torrent of divine abilities swept through with unstoppable force.
Green smoke enveloped the individuals, stripping them bare. Strange, distorted shadows rose from their heads – some like oxen, some like horses, some like clouds… the forms were endless. These shadows twisted and intertwined, eventually merging with the preceding green smoke into a single torrent that flowed back into Mo Qi and Chang Yu Ning.
Seated on the ground, the two narrowly managed to absorb the divine power after a perilous process of neutralization.
The ground was littered with fallen bodies. Mo Qi stepped forward to examine each one.
This was Ni Guang's elder brother, this was Ni Guang's younger brother, this was Ni Guang's son.
"Are you planning to wipe out the entire Ni family?" Chang Yu Ning asked.
"Shouldn't I?"
"Indeed, they all deserve to die!" Chang Yu Ning said through gritted teeth.
Mo Qi reached out and took Chang Yu Ning's hand. "It seems we can't be separated from now on. Look, when we combined our swords earlier, we were practically invincible."
Chang Yu Ning, blushing, pulled her hand away. "Stop being so indecent. Who said we can't be separated? I… I can cultivate by myself."
Mo Qi said seriously, "I don't mean to discourage you, but if you were alone, you probably couldn't even defeat one of them."
"This…"
"Are you perhaps looking down on me? Alright, you have three breaths to reconsider. One, two, three. Time's up, I'm leaving." Mo Qi finished speaking and turned to leave.
Chang Yu Ning froze for a moment, then immediately followed. "I didn't say…"
After a few steps, the little flying dragon emerged from the side, chirping joyfully and rubbing against Chang Yu Ning. The big flying dragon followed behind it. Chang Yu Ning, startled and pale, quickened her pace to leave.
A moment later, Mo Qi and Chang Yu Ning emerged from the cave. The little flying dragon and the big flying dragon followed them out.
Mo Qi stood there, smiling as he watched Chang Yu Ning and the little flying dragon chase each other, finding it amusing.
Chang Yu Ning, meanwhile, noticed that the little flying dragon seemed to have bathed. It was clean all over, with wide, round eyes and its head tilted, looking exceptionally cute. She stood still. The little flying dragon rubbed against her feet, exceptionally happy, its tail wagging non-stop.
Chang Yu Ning crouched down and stroked its head. The little flying dragon was incredibly docile, fanning its ears and emitting happy, cooing sounds.
"It's over. If you're like this, it'll stick with you forever, and you won't be able to shake it off," Mo Qi said.
Chang Yu Ning couldn't help but frown. What should she do?
Mo Qi, with a mischievous grin, looked at the big flying dragon. "This is a good thing. Then you can command the big flying dragon however you please from now on."
The big flying dragon glared at Mo Qi, as if daring him to try.
Without another word, Mo Qi stepped forward, grabbed the little flying dragon, and looked at the big flying dragon. "Come here, be my mount."
The big flying dragon wore a pained expression, kneeling on its hind legs as if begging for mercy.
Mo Qi was the first to climb onto the big flying dragon's back.
After a moment of hesitation, Chang Yu Ning also climbed up.
Just as Mo Qi was about to signal the big flying dragon to fly, a voice came from behind them. "You only care about each other. Have you forgotten something?"
It was Chang Xun Huan, emerging from the cave.
After entering the cave, he had taken a different path and also encountered some fortuitous encounters. His current cultivation level was on par with Chang Yu Ning's.
"You were always superfluous, didn't you know that?" Mo Qi said with dissatisfaction.
"Not superfluous. Now that her maternal family is dwindling, who will agree to your union?" Chang Xun Huan said with a smile.
Miraculously, Chang Yu Ning strongly agreed with Chang Xun Huan's words and moved closer to Mo Qi, making a little space for Chang Xun Huan.
Thus, Chang Xun Huan also climbed onto the flying dragon's back.
Meanwhile, in the Red Leaf Empire, Zeng Xin Bei had persuaded several other teachers from the Tian Fu Palace to lead a group of students to attack the Red Leaf Empire.
Ye Qing Qing rallied everyone to set up their formations, and they calmly responded.
The people from Tian Fu Palace had never seen such a formation. The women defending it were all as beautiful as flowers, making them drool with desire.
They were like demons, drooling as they fiercely assaulted the formation.
Ye Qing Qing followed their previous strategy, deliberately letting some people in at opportune moments, then absorbing their spiritual power through the formation to turn them into cripples before releasing them.
After several such instances, no one dared to enter the formation lightly. They only fiercely attacked the formation's barrier, and even when the gate opened, they dared not enter.
Consequently, later on, whenever the Tian Fu Palace forces attacked the formation, the people inside would immediately withdraw from the corresponding positions, opening the gate for them to enter, yet they still hesitated.
After countless rounds of attacks, the Tian Fu Palace suffered heavy casualties but achieved nothing.
Mo Qi, Chang Yu Ning, and Chang Xun Huan, riding the flying dragon, arrived at the Ni family residence.
The Ni family, and indeed the entire Immortal King Palace, was greatly shaken. In millions of years, no one had ever dared to challenge the authority of the Immortal King Palace. This was the first time.
Ni Guang initially did not want to report the matter to the Palace Master, Yu Chu Chu. He wanted to handle it quietly himself, believing he could manage it. However, for some reason, Yu Chu Chu still found out about it.
He felt he could not stand idly by, as this concerned the dignity of the Immortal King Palace.
Therefore, he sent people from the Lin family and the Sun family, two of the three great families, to assist.
Simultaneously, he initiated a series of actions to restore the Immortal King Palace's dignity.
First, he captured the Pi family and the Bian family, who were as renowned as the Chang family, and exterminated the Pi family in the Stone Casting Plaza before the public.
Yu Chu Chu declared, "The remnants of the Chang family are now resisting my Immortal King Palace and have offended its dignity. The Pi family has no relation to the Chang family, but they witnessed mortals infringing upon my Immortal King Palace's authority and did nothing, thus they deserve to die. I want to tell you all that my Immortal King Palace's authority is inviolable. On this matter, you cannot remain neutral, because you are all lowly commoners. Either die with them, or step forward to stop these rebellious individuals."
After a moment of silence, the plaza erupted in cheers, with people shouting in unison, "Immortal King is mighty!"
Then, groups of people marched towards the Chang family residence and razed it to the ground.
Secondly, Yu Chu Chu captured all of Ni Guang's sons and detained them in the Immortal King Palace, informing Ni Guang that if the trouble was not resolved, his sons would be killed.
Ni Guang was furious, his lungs practically bursting. He never imagined that his small decision would push his Ni family to the brink of annihilation.
He recalled a few days prior when his Ni family was still a distinguished family of the Immortal King Palace, a noble clan, enjoying immeasurable wealth and glory.
But today, they found themselves in such a passive predicament.
All of this was caused by the Chang family remnants and that beggar.
Therefore, they must die, and they must die a most tragic death.
He had already devised various methods to torture them beyond recognition.
He gathered the elite forces of the Ni family and the Sun and Lin families in his own plaza, preparing to personally lead them to deal with the Chang family remnants and the beggar.
Among them, Ni Guang, the Cheng King Sun Cheng Si, and the Lie King Lin Jun Ye were already at the Saint Sect realm. The guard Wan Yu, Ni Guang's brother Ni Hu, and Sun Cheng Si's brother Sun Cheng Wu were all at the Saint Venerable cultivation level.
After a brief oath-taking ceremony, the few were full of confidence and ready to depart.
At this moment, Mo Qi and his party arrived on the flying dragon.
The flying dragon spat a mouthful of fire towards the plaza, instantly turning the entire area into a sea of flames.
Ni Guang and the others leaped into the air, escaping the inferno, and lunged towards the flying dragon.
The flying dragon again spewed a cloud of black mist, a poison Mo Qi had specifically prepared for them. The made pills were held in the flying dragon's mouth, and when spat out by the dragon, their effect was even greater than before.
Guard Wan Yu, Ni Guang's brother Ni Hu, and Sun Cheng Si's brother Sun Cheng Wu were instantly killed by the mist, turning into poisonous vapor that permeated the air.
Ni Guang, Cheng King Sun Cheng Si, and Lie King Lin Jun Ye reacted swiftly and used teleportation to escape.
However, their bodies were all affected to some degree. Lin Jun Ye immediately seized the opportunity to flee, as he felt this matter had little to do with him, and dying here was not worth it.
Ni Guang's figure suddenly appeared to the side of the flying dragon. The flying dragon, flapping its wings, lunged at Ni Guang with its massive claws. Ni Guang met the attack with his bare palms. With a flash of its immense form, the entire body of the flying dragon was flipped over, tumbling in the air and falling towards the ground.
Mo Qi, Chang Yu Ning, Chang Xun Huan, and the little flying dragon, all seated on the flying dragon's back, also plummeted rapidly.
After falling a distance, Mo Qi quickly stabilized his form. At this moment, Sun Cheng Si suddenly appeared nearby and unleashed a palm strike. Ten thousand palm shadows surged outwards, dense and impenetrable.
The ten thousand palm shadows then converged into a single massive palm shadow, striking towards Mo Qi. The edges of space were distorted, and the entire attack formed a hurricane that blew forward.
The sky darkened, and sand and stones flew everywhere.
Heaven and earth were drawn into a vortex.
Mo Qi's footing became unstable, and he was almost sucked into the vortex. In a moment of inspiration, he formed a hand seal, "Myriad Forms Devour Souls," and pointed. Ten thousand dark shadows poured out from his body, expanding in all directions like blooming flowers. Then, they twisted in the air, forming a vortex centered on Mo Qi.
The vortex spun, creating an exit, and condensed dark shadows flowed towards Sun Cheng Si.
The massive palm shadow finally clashed with the dark shadows, merging and pulling at each other. There was no violent impact, only the persistent force attempting to tear and absorb the other.
Ten thousand human-shaped mists emerged from Sun Cheng Si's body. After twisting in the air for a moment, they re-entered his body. Mo Qi was in a similar situation, with ten thousand human-shaped images intermingling, entering and exiting. It looked like a grand spectacle, yet they were undergoing a trial of life and death.
This was because if those images carrying soul bodies went out and did not return, their bodies would become corpses.
Thus, both sides were locked in a stalemate, and time ticked by.
On the other side, Ni Guang had thoroughly enraged the flying dragon. The flying dragon roared, flailing its limbs as it lunged at Ni Guang, using fire, poisonous gas, and sharp claws interchangeably, supporting each other as they attacked Ni Guang.