Meanwhile, up in the clouds, the God of Wine had retreated until he was a hundred meters away. He stared up, his gaze solemn and his breathing ragged.
The clothes on his upper body had completely ripped open, and fresh blood dripped from his shoulders and down his arms. When it reached his hands, it fell, drop by drop, from his fingertips. He looked as ragged as could be.
“Hah….” He took a deep, ragged breath. Merely a hundred breaths of time had passed, but he and the two patriarchs had already exchanged over one hundred attacks. He’d poured everything he had into his offense, but from his current situation it was obvious: his furious offensive hadn’t won him any sort of advantage.
He had to attack with all his might.
When the two patriarchs appeared, the God of Wine sensed the strength of their auras.
Their presences surrounded him, and he felt like he was a canoe in the middle of a hurricane, beset on both sides by a pair of vicious, glowering beasts.
In the deepest recesses of his heart, he trembled. It didn’t matter that he was fully intoxicated; he still didn’t think himself a match for either one of these elders, much less both of them together.
However, he couldn’t retreat! He’d spent enough time on the battlefield to know that advancing was the only way to maintain their final line of defense. Furthermore, if he retreated now, even by a single step, his spirit would give way and crumble. Then he’d have to face an abyss of terror, which would hang over him from then on. Even if a hundred or thousand years passed, the two patriarchs would linger in his heart like dark shadows.
Unfortunately, the Goddess of Luck didn’t favor them with her blessing. He’d known that this whole battle was a losing proposition to begin with, but he hadn’t realized they’d lose so completely and utterly.
He attacked with all his might, pouring everything he had into his attack, but he failed to even scratch the two patriarchs. Neither of them had shed even a single drop of blood.
Not even a single drop!
He turned his divine sense inward. The meridians of his right arm were in tatters, and in his dantian, his divine spirit had wilted. It had none of its usual liveliness. At his waist, his wine gourd was completely empty. Before fighting the patriarchs, he’d weighed the situation and drained his gourd completely to ensure complete intoxication.
His divine power was on its last legs, and his body was battered and broken…
But his opponents, the Bai Family patriarches, were still in peak condition. Worse, the God of Wine could tell that even though he’d been fighting with all of his might, his foes were both yet to reveal their true strength.
Rather than “fighting” him, they were essentially just playing with him.
“This old man recognizes you,” said one of the two patriarchs. They likely understood the God of Wine’s situation better than he understood it himself. They knew that he was like a cat with its claws clipped, and that he no longer posed even the tiniest hint of a threat. At most, he could provide them with some entertainment.
If they wanted to take his life, it would be as easy as pie. They had this in the bag already.
Their invaders’ fates were sealed, but they weren’t in a rush to end their lives. They were currently more concerned with gathering information.
“You were the first to follow that Xuan Ji girl, and can be considered her direct subordinate. Yet now you’re here causing trouble at the Bai Family estate. Does this mean that Xuan Ji has chosen to no longer serve the God Emperor? Or are you people here of your own volition, against her will?”
“That’s highly unlikely. These are Xuan Ji’s most loyal subordinates,” said the other patriarch.
The two patriarchs chuckled, but they said no more. Instead, they looked at the God of Wine. Although they had some sense of what was going on, if it was at all possible, they wanted to hear what the God of Wine had to say right from the source.
“Hah.” The God of Wine laughed coldly.
“This is your last chance at life. Cultivation is fundamentally a form of rebellion against the heavens, and I know it wasn’t easy to reach your current level. Besides, answering my questions won’t betray your loyalty to Xuan Ji. If I want, I can naturally acquire the same information by asking the God Emperor. Telling me now will only speed things up a little,” said a Bai Family Patriarch slowly.
They’d sent requests for information already, but they’d yet to receive any sort of response from God Emperor Zhou Wu.
However, the Bai Family patriarchs were different from Bai Haoran. Bai Haoran asked about their motivation out of genuine fear of the Profound Pavilion; he didn’t dare be reckless. The patriarchs, conversely, were merely curious. All else being equal, they’d rather find out what was happening now.
“Then ask the God Emperor!” said the God of War with a hideous grin.
If the God of Wine was willing to tell them, great. If he refused, they wouldn’t push him.
A giant palm appeared above the God of Wine’s head, then viciously attacked.
Pu Jingwan and the other Divine Generals were currently locked in combat with other Bai Family rulers. When they felt the threat from the above, they retreated explosively back.
Boom!
The palm crashed down to earth, flattening everything within ten miles.
The powerful shockwave collapsed the surrounding buildings. Every Bai clansmen beneath the palm died a miserable death. Although the yao servants returned to the Yao-Sealing Pagoda as soon as they sensed the threat, some were slower than others. The stragglers perished beneath this massive palm as well.
The yao servants had suffered heavy casualties. Most had perished or returned to the pagoda; less than one thousand remained outside.
The survivors all felt lingering terror coursing through them as they looked over the squished corpses and flattened buildings. This single palm filled the Divine Generals with a profound sense of helplessness.
Pu Jingwan had come from the First Era, and she’d spent quite some time in the Third Era, but this was the first time she had felt such pressure.
She’d never understood what her elders meant when they described those ancient experts. By then, she was already one of the strongest in the Outside. She’d even once thought that, no matter how strong the people of the ancient era were, they couldn’t possibly be much stronger than her.
All that changed when she came to the Third Era with Ye Zichen. There, she met Xuan Ji… the first person she’d met who she couldn’t see through. She’d silently engraved Xuan Ji into her heart, but now, she’d run into Bai Haoyu. She could sense the sheer power contained within his handprint.
Regardless of which of them she compared herself to, she knew she wasn’t their match.
“Is this like the ancient era my elders spoke of?” Pu Jingwan gnashed her teeth and clenched her fists. Back in the Outside, her path had been smooth; she was a chosen daughter of heaven. It didn’t matter who her opponent was. She’d never help this kind of helplessness before.
She glared up at the sky, but at that moment, the remaining Profound Pavilion Divine Generals shouted frantically, “Ol’ Wine!”
They, too, were shaken by this palm’s power, but as soon as they investigated with their divine senses, they discovered the top Divine General of the Profound Pavilion. The God of Wine was burnt black from head to toe, and his body was gradually dissipating.
The Divine Generals rushed toward him, their eyes bloodshot. As they did, even more Bai clansmen came rushing in, surrounding them once more.
“Scram!” The Divine Generals were both frantic and furious. They viciously attacked the Bai Family members trying to keep them contained, but little did they know, the God of Wine’s fall was only the start of the grievous defeat that was to come.
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