"Damn, traitor! As long as the ancestral council exists, the foundation of the sect remains!"

"Even if you kill me this doesn't change anything!"

Yang Guanyu shouted at the man that appeared to be the traitor from his sect. Zhang Dong and his allies were to the side, they were being watched by the nascent soul realm cultivators from three various sects. While this was happening Matt was concentrating most of his attention on healing his leg. The wound was still hurting like crazy but the holy energies were slowly removing the demonic Qi while healing.

"The ancestral council? Hehe, you should probably worry more about yourself."

The man in the golden robe replied while smirking, Yang Guanyu furrowed his brows.

"What do you mean? What did you do!"

"Do you think that you are the only sect with hidden senior elders? Use your head, why do you think that we are all here?"

The conversation in the distance continued while Zhang Dong and his comrades waited in the back.

"What do you think their intentions are, Senior Brother Dong?"

Feng Liena asked while glancing at some of the old men and women floating around. 

"We can be certain that they are here to get rid of the Dark Palm sect..."

This group of cultivators must have been waiting for them for a while. They only reacted when Yang Guanyu was making a run for it. From Matt's point of view, they were probably waiting for both parties to weaken or kill themselves before pouncing on the survivor. The sudden escape attempt of the Dark Palm sect leader made them do it prematurely as only one person had died. 

"Yes, they were waiting for us to tire."

Feng Liena agreed.

"Hey, stop prattling!"

One of the nascent soul cultivators shouted at the trio, he was wearing a similar robe to the first person that spoke out with the dragon gate on it.

"Or what?"

Huo Qiang answered and pushed his killing intent along with this nascent soul aura in the direction of the person. The man backed off after feeling the large man's superior aura but soon his friends moved in to back him up.

"What do you think you are doing!"

The group of five had increased to six and they started glaring at Zhang Dong and his allies, they weren't attacking just yet though. They had seen the fight from start to finish and were wary of the man that was able to contend with Yang Guanyu. Most of the nascent realm cultivators here were in the early stage and the three main ones that were now holding a conversion with the Dark Palm sect members were all in the late stage.

"That's enough Qiang."

Zhang Dong stepped in as he placed himself between his group and the new arrivals.

"Everything depends on you... what are your intentions here? If you are after the Dark Palm sect then we won't stop you, but we would like to know your intentions towards us."

Zhang dong asked while trying to get some more information, would these guys turn hostile the moment they took care of those weakened Dark Palm members. He had already burned through most of his Qi reserves, he was holding out for the last blow against Yang Guanyu but he was unable to finish the job.

"You don't need to know, the three seniors will decide, just stay still and wait!"

Another man from that group spoke out, he was wearing one of the whiter robes and belonged to the sword sect. Matt frowned as these people weren't willing to give them answers.

'Should we wait or make a run for it? Will those people let us go just like that?'

There were a couple of ways that things could go here. In most of them, his side wouldn't be getting out unscathed. From his point of view, the powerful group of cultivators would either try to dispose of them or demand some payment. He didn't think that they would just let three powerful nascent soul realm cultivators just roam the land under their noses.

'They might even try to force some of those soul contracts on us...'

He glanced back into his storage ring and then to Spirit Spring City. The Zhang Clan headquarters were still standing and the large defensive formation was working fine.

'Think I'll have to use that to get out of here... but first I want to see what they will do to that skinny old fart...'

Zhang Dong had to place his hand on Huo Qiang's shoulder to pull him back. His red-haired friend just wanted to charge forward but he knew that fighting this sect alliance here and now wouldn't be the smartest thing to do.

"Sister Liena, Brother Qiang let us wait for now... we should see how it all plays out first..."

The two others looked at him and nodded, the group of cultivators that were around them backed away slightly but they were still glaring at them while on their guard. It wouldn't take long for the matter to be resolved as everyone felt a rise in demonic energy followed by shouting.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST KILL ME, ME!?"

Apparently the talks have broken down and they were ready to fight. The Dark Palm sect elders found out that while they were talking their base was getting assaulted by similar ancestral elders from the present three sects. They were all dead set on destroying this demonic sect and taking their riches for themselves. This was all thanks to Zhang Dong that managed to divert their attention to himself.

While the Dark Palm sect was distracted, the three other sects slowly moved their masters through the borders unnoticed and waited for the battle to start. They didn't believe that Zhang Dong's side would be actually able to last for so long but they were happily surprised and could now come in and just take the rewards for themselves. 

Yang Guanyu wouldn't just sit back and let himself be killed though. The old man started glowing purple, the glow was mostly concentrated on the gem in his forehead that was spitting out more and more ghastly apparitions. 

"THIS CHANGES NOTHING, YOU WILL ALL DIE HERE!"

His body started changing, it expanded in size and became immaterial. The change was similar to how his disciple transformed during the Dao Festival. His monstrous appearance was much bigger and the dastardly Qi radiating off him was far grander though. 

"Ha, do you think that we didn't come prepared you fool?"

The three commanding cultivators gathered together and surrounded the demonic cultivator. One of them took out a necklace that was made out of white beads. He threw it directly at the monster of a man, the moment the beads collided with the blackish purple energies they started absorbing them.

"What!?.. are those devil sealing beads? Where did you get those!"

The bead necklace broke apart after it absorbed more and more of that demonic Qi. The round orbs that were pure white started to dim and take up a dark purplish color the more of Yang Guanyu's energy they absorbed. The man that looked more like a lanky monster with blades for fingers started shrinking back as quite a chunk of his energy got absorbed by the items. 

The three leaders that were up against this demonic cultivator used this chance to attack. Each one quickly performed one of their strongest attacks.

Cheng Yang performed a lengthy chant before pushing his palm forward, a large golden hand appeared that descended on his enemy. Xu Qing roared out and punched out, a large illusionary gate appeared behind him. It opened up and you could hear a dragon's shout escaping from it followed by a surge of flames that flew at the Dark Palm Sect leader. Zhan Jie brandished his blade and with one swift move cut forward, his sword energies carrying his Dao were at a collision course with his opponent.

The attacks came from three sides and they had killing intent behind them. In his weakened state and after his trump card had failed Yang Guanyu looked around not sure what to do, his eyes moved separately from each other as he searched for a way out. 

The three nascent soul elder's attacks finally collided with each other, exploding and causing everything in the area to shake. It looked like a nuclear explosion took place as a giant mushroom cloud expanded to the sides bringing around dust and destruction.

"Is he dead?"

The other members of this ambush party kept the explosion contained in the area with their spiritual energy. They looked with attentiveness at the spot that the techniques collided with themselves, hoping to see a dead Dark Palm Sect leader. What they saw though, was a slightly different scenario.

The monster of a man looked hurt but he wasn't dead. He was holding three bodies pierced by his claw-like fingers, even now they could see those bodies squirming and getting drained from their vital energies. These were the three remaining grand elders from the Dark Palm sect. Their glorious sect leader had used the confusion to pierce them in the backs in hopes of absorbing their energies to recover and it had apparently worked.

"YOU CAN'T KILL ME!"

The ambush party didn't have enough time to react as the man bolted forward in one direction, he was going for some cultivators and trying to absorb them as well. The boost in energy was apparent as his strength had apparently recovered. Zhang Dong and his allies were to the side watching, he in particular squinted with his eyes as the lanky monster was heading their way.

'It looks like he had recovered... but his body is deteriorating... that technique is probably incomplete or he absorbed energies past his limit... he probably won't last for long.'

The group of nascent soul elders from the other sects started backing away at the sight of the monster coming their way. Huo Qiang, Feng Liena, and Zhang Dong, on the other hand, looked at each other. The three just nodded at each other and started concentrating, their Soul-beasts appearing behind them while roaring.

"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT, DIEDIEDIEDIE"

Yang Guanyu sounded more like a crazed person now, his eyes had gone fully black and he was drooling from his mouth. He focused on Zhang Dong that holding two fingers out towards his incoming enemy, the tips were already glowing with golden light while arcs of electricity crackled to the sides.

In a similar fashion as the three nascent soul elders before, Qiang, Liena, and Dong fired of their respective techniques. The three energies, red, green, and gold intertwined with each other to form an even larger attack. The giant torrent of spiritual energies looked like a massive pillar. The elemental energies collided with the incoming monster and bathed it in spiritual Qi of the three nascent soul masters.

The screams of Yang Guanyu that had transformed into a beast were heard by the twenty so nascent soul cultivators in the area. They looked with astonishment at the giant torrent of energy that washed the demonic cultivator away. He dissolved into particles and not even his nascent divinity was able to survive after this massive attack. The large column of flew upwards and into the sky, it parted the clouds and escaped into the atmosphere exploding in the distance.

The Dark Palm sect leader was no more, his grand elders slain by his own hand. There was a moment of silence, the remaining people that were in the area looked up into the sky. The energies that had detonated in the sky looked like a blooming flower which then shattered into many tiny whisps of light that scattered.

The battle was finally over, the people in the Zhang headquarters wanted to cheer for the victory but instead, their faces were solemn. This fight had ended but another one looked to be upon them. Their three new sect elders were now hovering above the mostly destroyed city, twenty or so nascent soul masters looking at them with various expressions.