An hour passed and the sun had long set as darkness took over as Qian Yu found Gu Zan and the rest before returning. Jiang Hai had lost all of his soldiers from the female Martial Fighter but with some others that were found along the way, they had pulled together about 1,000 qi gathering cultivators. 

“This is not a bad number,” Qian Yu nodded with satisfaction as he looked at them. Compared to before, everyone seemed brimming with energy now that they had gotten some rest. 

With the light from the moon, large rumbles of ongoing battles in the distance continued into the night. Nonetheless, a larger problem was occurring behind him. Turning around he saw two girls quarrying at each other. Ever since he returned and started discussing their plans, Bai Jia and Zhao Xieren had gotten into an argument. 

Zhao Xieren wanted to go and help out in the battles occurring around True Ice Manor. On the other hand, Bai Jia didn’t agree, saying that their strength was too weak. Rather, they should just try to find a way out of the city. Meanwhile, Zhen Yue was in between them, trying to get them to calm down. 

By his side, Sun Hong was silently watching the other three girls while Jiang Hai seemed absentminded, thinking about something else. 

“What are you planning to do?” Sun Hong spoke up after a while.

Qian Yu’s brow furrowed as he heard her words. For the first time, a large dispute had arisen among them.

“Alright, alright, calm down you two!” Qian Yu stepped in, breaking them apart. 

“Qian Yu, it’s too dangerous to fight them,” Bai Jia turned to Qian Yu.

“Even then-” Zhao Xieren was quickly cut off by Qian Yu. 

“I’m going to agree with Xie’er,” Qian Yu stated.

“Why!?” Bai Jia yelled back. 

“We are cultivators, no? Sometimes, we can’t always run away from everything. I’m afraid if we leave, Xie’er may develop inner demons. Besides, I’ve thought about it. What would you do if 500 qi gathering disciples attacked you?” Qian Yu asked. Of the 1000 disciples they had grouped up, about half of them had some type of long ranged martial technique.

“Well… they are easy to deal with since they are so weak,” Bai Jia replied.

“How about if they are spread out and not clumped together,” Qian Yu continued asking. 

“...It will be a little difficult but not problematic. Anyways, what are you planning?” Bai Jia asked.

“Assassination. Our presence is still unknown like before and we can be a flank. If we can take down a few Martial Fighters, it’ll help a lot. 1 or 2 may not seem like much, but if the Martial Fighters are able to help the Martial Lords, and so on, it’ll be beneficial,” Qian Yu answered. 

“With this many qi gathering cultivators, it’ll be possible. When I was a qi gathering cultivator a few years ago, I saw a band of qi gathering cultivators led by a rogue Martial Fighter take down a Martial Fighter elder from a major sect. The qi gathering disciples used a bunch of attacks from a far and when the elder Martial Fighter had to defend, the rogue cultivator found an opportunity to attack and took him down easily,” Sun Hong answered.

“Mmm, it is pretty dark right now so I plan to give you the Shrouded Cloak to use for this plan,” Qian Yu said to Sun Hong. The cloak had been sitting in Qian Yu’s storage ring for a while but now, it was an opportune time to use it. With the low amount of light available right now, it could help Sun Hong hide her aura and let her blend into the darkness.

“Ah that… the one we received from the inheritance realm… I’ll take it. It’s a good idea,” Sun Hong relived a few memories as she remembered about the cloak.

“Is this plan fine with you?” Qian Yu looked over to Bai Jia as he handed the cloak to Sun Hong.

Bai Jia took a glance around before sighing, “Fine, fine.”

“What about you?” Qian Yu turned to the last person, Jiang Hai. 

“Yeah, it sounds like a good idea. I’ll come along,” Jiang Hai nodded. 

With everyone agreeing, Qian Yu left as he approached the disciples. Giving a quick run down of their plans, Qian Yu was met with a wave of excitement. A few disgruntled faces were seen but they were quickly drowned out by everyone else. Many of them had just started their cultivation journey in recent months or years but now, the mere thought of taking down a Martial Fighter filled their blood with adrenaline. 

Only a small window of time was open for them. With the Shrouded Cloak becoming practically useless after the sun rose, Qian Yu and the rest left towards the inner area of the city. An hour passed as they did, stealthily and carefully arriving closer to the battles. 

“How are things looking?” Qian Yu asked. They had long spotted the allied and enemy troops near True Ice Manor with the help of Bai Jia and Sun Hong but they had been lying in wait for the best time.

The current situation of the battles was pretty simple. The allied forces continue to protect the area around True Ice Manor. The Martial Lords and Martial Saints were mainly fighting in the sky while the Martial Fighters took a more lax stance and instead, oversaw the situation on the ground. Meanwhile, soul foundation and qi gathering cultivators were mainly fighting.

However, one part of the defensive circle was different. The most chaotic part was at a large gate that connected the outer and inner parts of the city. Compared to the other locations, this one didn’t get breached yet and as such, it was an important part that both sides wanted to gain complete control of and as such, the Martial Fighters themselves were already fighting with heavy injuries on both sides. These Martial Fighters were their targets.

“We’re good to go!” Sun Hong couldn’t hide her excitement. Using the cloak her presence disappeared.

“Alright, everyone get ready. Remember, aim for the Martial Fighters near the bridge,” Qian Yu gave a few signals to the qi gathering disciples behind him. As they saw his hand movements, they slowly scattered around. Not only horizontally and even though many buildings were already destroyed, the ones left intact were enough for the qi gathering soldiers to take up and use as towers to attack from.

A few minutes later, everyone had gotten into positions and with a shout, Qian Yu ordered them to attack. 

Though he shouted, his voice was easily dismissed by the large rumbles from everywhere else. Yet it was sufficient for the nearby cultivators under his command. 

Spears of ice, waves of fires, large boulders of earth, and more simultaneously formed and flew across the city streets. They were far away, taking even a few seconds to fly across yet they were like a colony of bats, swarming the whole area.

“What!?” Qian Yu just barely heard a shout from the distance. As the projectiles got closer though, a large spherical shield of fire formed in the sky. 

*Boom!* Dust filled the night sky as the hundred attacks of the qi gathering cultivators collided into the dome of fire. By the looks of it, the Martial Fighter had decided to also protect the qi soldiers beneath him. 

Yet just a second later, Qian Yu saw a dark figure quickly shoot out the smoke. As the figure flew into the sky for a second though, its directionality quickly changed downwards with a large increase in velocity.

*BAM!* In just a few seconds, another larger explosion overtook the battlefield. With the dust settling, a flattened figure could be seen etched into the ground. 

“Elder Su!” Two voices accompanied by an aura with heavy killing intent suddenly appeared from the skies. Falling down from the sky, they took a few seconds to inspect the body before their killing intent further increased. 

Before Qian Yu could react, he felt a dreadful aura aimed his way. Along with this aura, a flurry of burning swords had manifested and shot his way. 

“Raging Twin Serpents!” Bai Jia didn’t stay idle though and summoned forth serpents of water to defend against the attack. 

*Hisss* the two attacks collided, blanketing the street with a white smokescreen.

Bai Jia didn’t look backwards as she maintained her cautious gaze into the smoke, “Are you guys okay?” 

Her words spurred Qian Yu to take a quick glance around as he noticed Tian Xinyi had appeared by Bai Jia’s side, poised to fight. 

However, before he could say anything, 2 other auras appeared. “Thank you for your aid,” one voice was a little tired, but a hint of anticipation was found in his voice. 

“May we know your identity?” The other voice belonged to a middle aged woman, whom upon falling down, had a very familiar robe on. 

“Inner Court Elder Wang?” A surprised countenance appeared on Bai Jia’s face as she seemed to recognize one of the two people that had landed in front of her. 

“This voice seems familiar… Outer court Elder Bai?” A few seconds of silence passed before the woman recognized Bai Jia who wasn’t in her sect elder robes.

“This was your doing?” She continued with a questioning tone as she looked at the dead Martial Fighter before turning towards Bai Jia and Tian Xinyi. With Sun Hong missing, she could only assume it was Bai Jia’s doing.

Bai Jia fell silent for a few seconds as she felt the woman’s gaze skim over herself and Tian Xinyi. Weakly biting her lips, she answered, “Yes, it is.” 

The woman continued to stare at Bai Jia for a few more seconds before sighing, “As expected from someone of a great clan in the Central Union. You have truly broadened my horizons tonight.” 

“Alright, that’s enough, we have matters to deal with at hand,” the male Martial Fighter intervened and pointed his attention towards the two enemies.

Hearing his words, Elder Wang and Bai Jia both nodded and turned to the two enemy Martial Fighters.