The dust gradually receded with the man's voice. All cultivators, having witnessed the apocalyptic scene firsthand, felt an overwhelming fear.
"Is this the power of elemental abilities? It's truly terrifying."
"If it were in the past, perhaps the Great Golden Immortals who had shattered the void could have resisted it. We~"
"We've brought our sect-protecting grand formation today. Even if we can't resist it, we can at least serve as a distraction."
Hundreds of people spoke one after another, their morale growing stronger.
But Ren Yuanhao's expression became increasingly stern, like the biting white wind of deep winter. Anyone who saw it would feel a sense of dread.
"Kid, at this point, I believe you have no more reservations, right?" Fang Moyu unbuckled the gourd hanging from his waist. "I remember the first time I saw you, you were a clueless greenhorn almost finished off by the Blackwater Prison. Now, you've become the leader of this 'rabble' of ours."
Ren Yuanhao still kept his head down, cradling his father's finger, his teeth gnashing. "This is the final battle. To the death."
He raised his arm and shouted. Hundreds of people immediately raised their banners, following Ren Yuanhao in a mighty procession towards Guyao City.
...
By this time, Guyao City had become an empty shell.
Not that there were no people within, but because the original inhabitants dared not step out of their homes. The streets were littered with all sorts of crumpled propaganda flyers. Mangy dogs and homeless vagrants desperately fought over rotting carcasses on the ground. Vultures circled in the sky, their mournful cries like funeral dirges. Vehicles lay tilted in street corners and alleys, covered in dust, having not moved in a long time.
The surroundings were a scene of bleak and desolate desolation.
However, the massive gathering place to the east of Guyao City was different. A dozen huge wooden stakes were erected there, with vultures perched atop each stake, seemingly waiting for the men and women tied to them to lose their lives so they could devour their clouded eyes.
A fire burned in the center of the altar. A large black iron cage stood within the flames, the fire continuously heating the bottom of the cage. The barefoot men and women inside had woken from their slumber.
The scorching heat made them even more alert, while the searing pain in their feet was fully awakened by their pain nerves!
"Wh-where is this place?"
The speaker was a woman. She kept shifting her weight from foot to foot, her delicate soles already flushed red!
She held an infant of a few months in her arms. This woman was Ren Yuanhao's sister-in-law.
A man lifted her. His thick, strong arms were gripping the iron bars at the top of the cage. However, the iron bars conducted heat incredibly quickly. In just a few minutes, the bars became scorching hot.
This man was Ren Yuanhao's cousin. Although he didn't know what was happening, everything before him seemed exceptionally strange and eerie.
A moment later, he could no longer endure it and had to let his wife stand on his feet, bearing the increasingly hot iron bars entirely himself.
The cage was filled with Ren Yuanhao's relatives. They hopped around like ants on a hot pan, their faces etched with terror.
But when they saw the two people tied to the iron bars on the other side of the bonfire, their blood ran cold.
Ren Yuanhao's parents were bound to the iron bars. The choking smoke had rendered them unconscious. Their faces were pale, and their backs were already reddening from the heat of the bars. It was only a matter of time before their skin split open.
Even more terrifying was when they looked up at the thick clouds overhead. As lightning crackled, they could vaguely hear voices speaking within the clouds!
They had thought it was an unreal dream. But the tangible pain on their bodies and the blazing fire were all reminders that this was reality, the source of their terror!
Just then, a fierce wind swept in like a biting gust of air. They saw, through the swirling dust, banners unfurling in the wind, and Ren Yuanhao standing proudly in the air, majestic as a god.
"Ren Yuanhao!"
"You're finally here!"
"Save us quickly!"
Seeing the scene before him, how could Ren Yuanhao contain his fury? Just as he was about to unleash a gale to extinguish the flames, the fire suddenly surged skyward like a fiery dragon, shooting straight into the clouds!
Following that, a heart-wrenching howl echoed from the top of the clouds.
"Jiangcheng, get out here!"
Ren Yuanhao charged directly at the massive bonfire. But just as he activated his abilities, the sky filled with yellow sand surged upwards like a colossal wave, resembling the end of the world, directly blocking Ren Yuanhao's path.
"Ren Yuanhao, we've been waiting for you!"
This voice undoubtedly belonged to Victor, the second of the Eight Kings. It seemed he had devoured the elemental earth origin ability, allowing him to control the sand, which rolled and churned, soul-snatching.
"Release everyone here immediately. You want my life, don't you? I'm here. Come and take it honorably!"
Ren Yuanhao, holding the Thorn Spear, lunged straight for Victor. Victor, within the sandstorm, neither dodged nor blocked. He simply raised a hand, and the flames instantly flared up, the tongues of fire shooting directly into the cage and towards the feet of the elders!
"Stop, or I'll turn all your relatives here into charcoal immediately." Victor's smile was like that of a demon.
Ren Yuanhao gritted his teeth and said, "You dare!"
"At this point, what is there I wouldn't dare to do? As for you, dare to take one more step forward, and I guarantee you'll taste the pain of losing your loved ones."
Victor raised the flames again. Utterly agonizing cries erupted from the cage. His cousin, to protect his wife, had his soles torn open!
"Cousin, sister-in-law, aunt, uncle, aunt!" Ren Yuanhao laid his long spear across his chest, his killing intent sharp.
"Yuanhao, save us~"
"Save us, I can't hold on~"
The smoke had already entered their lungs, and the flames consumed most of the oxygen. Ren Yuanhao knew very well that if this continued, his relatives wouldn't last much longer.
"Ren Yuanhao, if you're sensible, hand over the Thorn Spear and the Fierce Sword Fen Chuan. Only then will I reluctantly agree to release them."
Victor sneered, calculating his plan with extreme shrewdness.
"Alliance Leader, don't listen to his nonsense!"
"Exactly. This kind of person is cunning and treacherous. Even if you comply, he still won't let your relatives go!"
"Alliance Leader, think thrice!"
Ren Yuanhao hesitated for a moment, and the flames immediately surged upwards!
"Fine, fine! I promise you!"
Ren Yuanhao threw the Thorn Spear forward.
"Hmph, Ren Yuanhao, look up again!"
After Victor snatched Fen Chuan, he slightly raised his hand. The black cloths covering the bound people on the huge wooden posts were instantly unfurled.
Over a dozen familiar faces appeared before Ren Yuanhao one by one.
"Bastard!"
Ren Yuanhao's heart grew cold. Seeing the scene before him, his fighting spirit plummeted to freezing point.
"Look, these peerless beauties. You've had quite the good fortune, kid. But now, they will all perish because of you!"