Author's Note: Happy new years eve! That said, I have some sad news. School returns next week and I'm taking pretty hard courses so I'll be moving the release schedule down to 2 chapters a week like before

Sorry about that and hope everyone enjoys the chapter!

“I should go help the others,” Qian Yu said as he pulled himself upwards from the rubble. 

Looking around, he saw Zhen Yue engaging in a fight with some other soul foundation cultivator. Giving her a quick glance, they both exchanged eye contact and nodded. A quick Trance Gaze by Zhen Yue allowed Qian Yu to quickly sweep in and easily finish him off. 

“Master, that was amazing!” Zhen Yue exclaimed as she walked over to Qian Yu. 

“Hmm? We always do this, no?” Qian Yu said as he started looking around for Zhao Xieren. 

“No, I’m talking about the fight with the late stage soul foundation cultivator,” Zhen Yue shook her head. 

“Ahh… I’ve been spending a lot of time with Bai Jia in her soul world and since the water laws in there are so potent and strong, I’m not completely inexperienced with the laws of water,” Qian Yu explained. They were cultivators and staying inside her soul world naturally allowed him to comprehend a bit about the laws of water. 

As he finished, Qian Yu turned towards the dome of stone hands. His own fight with the advanced stage soul foundation cultivator had taken a while and even though a fight between Martial Fighters normally took longer, they had a numbers advantage.

“Are you guys still fighting?” Qian Yu asked Tian Xinyi. 

Qian Yu waited a couple seconds before Tian Xinyi replied, ‘Something is wrong with them. They aren’t cultivating a normal technique and it’s something definitely not secular so we are trying to capture them alive. It’s taking a while but we are pretty safe right now.’

Hearing her words, Qian Yu didn’t dally and returned to help out Zhao Xieren and the others. With the enemy troops being sandwiched, it was only a matter of time before they would all get wiped out and before long, half an hour passed as the area around the gate was slowly being cleaned out. 

As they finished up, the dome surrounding the fights between the Martial Fighters finished up as well. Turning his attention to them, Qian Yu realized that they had only captured one of the cultivators alive, who at the moment, was unconscious. Contrary to what Tian Xinyi had said though, they seemed pretty injured and tired though.

‘Master, I’m going to go rest,’ Tian Xinyi returned with Bai Jia and, finding a moment when no one else was watching, she sneakily disappeared into Qian Yu’s soul world. 

Yet as Bai Jia was about to sit down and take a breath to recover, a sudden deadly aura appeared. As if his body was made of stone, Qian Yu felt stiff and incapacitated. Slowly moving his eyes across the field, he realized that everyone else was in a similar frozen state, including Bai Jia and the other Martial Fighters. However, a few dozen other specs in the sky quickly flew away in different directions.

“Cultivators… cease fighting,” a soothing voice resounded from above. Looking up, a floating cultivator with long white hair appeared in the skies. Contrary to his deadly killing intent, he had a very pacifying appearance.

‘An ally?’ Qian Yu thought. His appearance and the fleeing flying cultivators indicated his strength, most likely another Martial Emperor and though the figure was small, he could see that this wasn’t Martial Emperor True Ice. 

“Troops from the Chen Empire, put down your weapons and surrender. There is no need for blood to be shed,” the floating cultivator said as he looked down on everyone here. 

As he said that, the heavy pressure disappeared as Qian Yu regained control of his body. The previously noisy city had now become quiet. With just a few words and a showcase of his strength, he had killed the momentum of the battle. 

“Great Martial Emperor, may this one inquire about your identity?” A cultivator in the air spoke up. 

“Hmm… let’s just say I’m from the royal family. The emperor has sent me to aid True Ice City,” the Martial Emperor answered. 

*BAM!* Yet before he could say more, an explosion occurred in the ground near Qian Yu’s location. 

“What?!?” Qian Yu had been paying complete attention to the Martial Emperor but the disturbance had been caused by the captured cultivator nearby.

“Get him!” The familiar roar of the two Martial Fighters who had fought with Bai Jia and Tian Xinyi rang out as a figure emerged from the dust. Escaping with all his might, he flew towards Qian Yu’s general direction. 

*Whoosh!* However, he didn’t manage to go far until a figure stopped in front of him. 

“Who’s this? You dare?” the Martial Emperor’s killing intent returned along with a simple smack of his hand that sent the escaping Martial Fighter into the ground. 

“Damn, it’s just too easy for him,” Qian Yu smiled and unconsciously walked closer, to get a better view. 

“My lord, he has been captured because of suspicious activity and cultivation technique. Though the World Congress does not intervene in political affairs, I am part of the Order but also a native of this country and I believe this is something with the potential to serve as evidence to call off the war,” the male Martial Fighter appeared before the Martial Emperor and cupped his hands.

His words weren’t exceptionally loud but everyone in the area fell silent as they heard him. A quick glance around the city easily showed the horrors of the war and though the war had only lasted for over a month, the majority of everyone was already tired of it.

“Very well. It would be truly good if the war would end. Have you informed the local commissioner?” the Martial Emperor nodded with a smile a few seconds later.

“He has already notified me,” a feminine voice interrupted from above. “If you don’t mind, I’ll take custody of him now,” the woman said with little respect in her voice. 

Qian Yu found her attitude a little displeasing. ‘Is she cocky because of her status? Or is she strong as well? Perhaps both?’ Qian Yu thought. 

However, he didn’t have much time to think. As the woman approached the Martial Fighter on the ground, his body suddenly turned red, emanating a dangerous aura.

“You!” the Martial Emperor swung his fist again. 

*Whoosh!* Yet before the fist reached him, a red colored cloud shot out from the Martial Fighter.

“It’s coming at me!” It moved faster than what Qian Yu had ever seen before. He had been about a dozen meters or so away from the captured Martial Fighter, but he could only stare in shock as he saw the red glow zoom at him.

“ARHGHHH!!” Qian Yu roared as he fell down while clutching his head. He writhed in pain, as if he was being eaten alive from the inside.

“Qian Yu!” Bai Jia and the two girls hurriedly bent down with the intention to help him. 

‘Master! Your soul world!” Tian Xinyi’s words entered his mind.

Qian Yu could only gnash his teeth as he heard her words. 

‘There’s an enemy here! COME!’ Tian Xinyi yelled in his consciousness.

‘W-what?’ Furiously biting his tongue, Qian Yu mustered up the willpower to recite the Immortal Soul Scripture.