While Feng Han's direction was clear, the same could not be said for Eternal Flame City and the clashing sects.

  The city lived true to its name, eternal flames spreading from east to west. Chaos needed but a spark to burn, and once the fire started, stopping it was an impossible task.

  Jin Zhenyu retreated backward, his eyes greedily eyeing Han Kui from top to bottom. "You're really going to do this? Aren't you getting too full of yourself, ol' Kui?"

  Han Kui snorted, his murderous intent roiling like a boiling pot despite the chilling yinfire qi that radiated off him. "It's you who is getting too full of yourself, swine."

  He launched forward, bridging the gap between himself and Jin Zhenyu in the blink of an eye before sending a flurry of punches flying. His attacks were cold and sharp, veritable ice hammers that weighed heavily on the air.

  Jin Zhenyu smirked, "The righteous weep at the foolishness of the guilty."

  Around him, golden flames surged, enveloping him in their warm embrace. He waved his fingers forward, and they surged, cutting through the air like sharpened blades. "I may not be as proficient as ol' Iron, but I can still cut quite deep."

  Han Kui snorted, his arms surrounded by azure yinfire. "You talk too much, Zhenyu."

  The two clashed, sending bursts of qi whipping across the terrain like a veritable storm. It caused the mortals below to cower in their homes, the streets barren as everyone hid away.

  Zhao Tianqing came in with indifference and commands, but the maddened state of the two sect leaders left him feeling a headache brewing. He waved his hand forward, shielding himself and parts of the city in a pale golden barrier before sighing.

  His actions mattered little to Han Kui, whose eyes were bulging angrily.

  "There has never been a soul that defamed the Han Family who's lived long enough to brag about it," Han Kui snarled, swiping his arm forward and volleying a half dozen yinfire needles from his palm. "Yinfire Quills!"

  "You're all bark, you old dog," Jin Zhenyu retorted, his golden robes billowing behind as the golden qi blades swirled around him. "Goldfire Slash!"

  The two attacks struck down the middle, a blast of searing hot and freezing cold pushing both men back three steps. Jin Zhenyu spat, a hint of fury on his face. "Han Kui! Do you dare deny the Han Family's involvement with the Blood Lotus Sect?"

  "You dare—" Han Kui's pale face turned icier than a frozen tundra.

  Jin Zhenyu smirked, qi overflowing as he flicked his fingers forward and sliced through the azure flames, nicking Han Kui's face.

  "Damn you, swine," Han Kui said through gnashed teeth. The temperature dropped violently as frost spread outward with him at the center. "You're courting death. We have never—"

  "Give it a rest, ol' Kui," Jin Zhenyu interrupted, his round face glowing with glee. "You didn't burn every thread connecting you to them, and we found out. Aren't you curious to know how?"

  "Screw you!" Han Kui roared, moving like a beast as he exchanged one blow after another with Jin Zhenyu. "You've engorged yourself on delusions, Zhenyu."

  While the two fought, Zhao Tianqing remained watchful. His indifference nearly faltered upon hearing Jin Zhenyu's claims, but he knew the time was not right to question them. Still, he crossed his arms, clenching them to restrain himself. He knew there was merit in those words, and that meant a storm was brewing in the Central Province.

  He quickly sent a talisman transmission to Wen Ruhao and sighed.

  The two sects had no time to pay attention to Zhao Tianqing or his people; the disciples and elders fought brutal battles that spread all across the city, mirroring their leaders. Death came like a sudden tide, waves battering far and wide, until corpses were strewn all across the streets like forsaken clams.

  Zhao Tianqing helped those he could, erecting his barriers repeatedly to protect. And he had Wen Ruhao running below, moving those in the gravest danger to safety. His speed proved useful, movements nearly imperceptible to the naked eye, each swipe of his arm grabbing dozens of mortals like baby chicks.

  Han Kui roared, "Yinfire Bladed Claws!"

  His fingernails elongated with icy flames that resembled a beast's claws. He lunged at Jin Zhenyu crazily, slashing from all sides in a flurry of strikes that sent qi waves across the sky. Each one aimed at the man's vitals—ruthless and precise and brimming with killing intent.

  "Goldfire Dome!" Jin Zhenyu blared, raising his hand toward the sky as golden flames curved in front of him, shielding himself from Han Kui's frenzied slashes. "Like hell you'll get me with such a lazy attack."

  Golden qi thrummed from Jin Zhenyu's body, and as he defended, blades coalesced to his sides, surging with golden flames. "Goldfire Saber Art!"

  The blades turned into sturdy sabers, and with a flick of his wrist, they rippled across the sky, clashing against Han Kui and his yinfire claws.

  "Bastard," Han Kui spat as the attack pushed him back.

  "Did you skip out on breakfast? You're just bones, ol' Kui."

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  "Zhenyu!" Han Kui snapped, his hollow eyes surging with anger. "You detestable swine, why are you provoking me?"

  Jin Zhenyu smiled, the folds of his face creasing as he clapped his hands together. "How am I provoking you, old friend? I mean well, after all, it's you who has planned treason..."

  "Zhenyu!" Han Kui roared, his reason crumbling beneath the repeated agitations. The air surrounding him frosted, shards of ice blowing outward like a blizzard. He whipped his arms downward as the qi around his hands launched like blades, cutting across the area.

  Jin Zhenyu slashed horizontally, letting his golden sabers free as they cut through the yinfire blades.

  "You're crossing the line, Zhenyu," Han Kui said, his voice eerily soft as he glared from afar. "Don't think because you've begun forming your spirit embryo that I fear you. Without your wealth, you're but a coward shirking responsibility."

  Jin Zhenyu chuckled, "And? What of it? Wealth is innately tied to the spirit. I can form the golden spirit with ease, while you're still struggling. Whose fault is that?"

  "Bastard."

  Han Kui attacked again, the clash sending an eruption of sparks as the two men's qi met. It turned the area surrounding them into a barren crater, buildings and people vanishing in the blink of an eye.

  Even Zhao Tianqing and Wen Ruhao could do nothing but continue saving as many as they could. Any overreach would end with an all-out conflict that could destroy the entire city.

  "Yinfire Burial!" Han Kui said, exhaling sharply as the already chilling temperature plummeted to a deathly degree.

  "Are you mad, ol' Kui?" Jin Zhenyu blurted, his eyes widening in shock.

  "Are you?" Han Kui retorted.

  "Han Kui! Do you not see how guilty you are? You've lost all reason!"

  "Silence, Jin Zhenyu! Utter more nonsense and you'll see me lose all reason!"

  "What nonsense? All of Eternal Flame can see the attitude of the Frozen Flame Sect—of the Han Family, and you—you dare still deny it?"

  "Cease your slanderous barking!" Han Kui roared. It was a known fact that the cultivators of Eternal Flame City were often renowned for their fiery tempers. And at this time, Han Kui was living proof of it.

  Not that Jin Zhenyu was much better. His persistent nagging may have infuriated Han Kui, but inadvertently, it also irritated him enough to retaliate. "Goldfire Saber Eruption!"

  Jin Zhenyu slapped his hand down as a deluge of golden sabers manifested from the flames, tearing through the wreckage around them with wanton abandon and aiming to disrupt Han Kui's attack.

  "Yinfire Frost Shield!" Han Kui snarled as he flicked his right hand upward, forming a qi barrier of ice and flame. With his left hand, he continued gathering qi as the yinfire burial manifested in the sky.

  The frost shield intercepted the blades, and a callous grin spread across Han Kui's face. Despite his efforts, blood dripped down his hand, but it wasn't enough to depress him.

  Jin Zhenyu was far from a weakling despite his heft, and their cultivations were nearly evenly matched.

  Such was the life of a Sect Leader. If one wanted to establish themselves and their sect, they had to be able to keep up with the competition.

  "Fine, Han Kui," Jin Zhenyu said, his voice low and biting. "Goldfire Immolation Art—"

  Zhao Tianqing gasped, his fury unconcealed as he screamed, "Are you two bastards suicidal? Are you trying to destroy the city? Cease this immediately!"

  Jin Zhenyu smirked, his gaze unforgiving as he stared at Han Kui. ?You heard him. Just give up, accept your crimes. The Han Family will fall, and the brat you doted on so much will be confined for stirring this pot.?

  His scathing mental transmission caused Han Kui's expression to twist, his yinfire qi bubbling as his flesh turned a pale azure akin to his flames. "Ha—h!" Han Kui laughed, his voice spreading across the city as his eyes burned with fury.

  With each pulse of qi in the air, his strength visibly increased, creating a suffocating tension that weighed down on all.

  Jin Zhenyu smirked smugly. He glanced at Zhao Tianqing with a telling gaze: See? It's not me.

  Then, he turned back to Han Kui, his voice cruel as he said, "It's time to die, ol' friend. You and the inbred brat who lost the treasure."

  Han Kui froze, his pride bruised beyond recognition as a blizzard swelled around him violently. It began to condense quickly into an endless quantity of icy spears lingering in the sky above the city.

  Jin Zhenyu returned the favor, golden sabers manifesting around him as far as the eye could see.

  With the two men at the center, the overwhelming pressure began to flatten the city just from their presence alone.

  Sect Leaders rarely ever fought, and even if they did, it would be hundreds of miles away from city grounds to not topple everything in their path. Yet at that moment, Jin Zhenyu and Han Kui cared little for the city or the consequences.

  "The Han Family is eternal! The Central Province and the empire are our guiding light! You've crossed the line repeatedly, Jin Zhenyu. If you wish to die, I'll make it happen."

  "Come then," Jin Zhenyu provoked.

  "Do you take me for a saint?" Zhao Tianqing said, his expression growing cold as his qi swelled. "Don't act foolishly like you don't know the consequences of this act!"

  "So be it," Jin Zhenyu shrugged.

  "Consequences can come after the swine kneels at the Han Family's gates while his flesh is flayed."

  "All those who remain idly in the city after the count of ten will die!" Han Kui roared. As he spoke, the icy spears glowed with a searing heat that felt like the end of times for the pitiful mortals below who were sweating and praying.

  Even with all of Zhao Tianqing's assistance, the millions of lives in Eternal Flame City could not all get equal treatment.

  "Run!"

  "Hurry for the gates... they've gone mad!"

  "Why? What did we do to anger Lord Cultivators?"

  Han Kui and Jin Zhenyu's outburst, along with their surging qi, triggered a chain reaction of panic. People were simplistic animals; those who could not contend with the times lived modestly, with their heads down. They wanted nothing more than to avoid trouble and escape the harsh reality of the world and the imbalance of power, which continuously destroyed their hopes.

  But against trying times, and when the odds were so visibly against them. They all had to face reality: death was truly terrifying.

  When the pressure mounted, blood spilled with or without anyone commanding it. The stronger men crushed elders and children beneath their desperate charge. The feeble begged and pleaded. The weak faltered and clawed at whoever they could, to not be the only ones to fall.

  It turned into chaos the likes of which Eternal Flame City had never seen.

  Zhao Tianqing gnashed his teeth, a feeling of helplessness clawing at his chest. He could not move. Not yet.