Chapter 1351: Despair

Despite the amount of actions that took place during the battle, Bai Yunfei's fight against Liang Yinshen didn't even actually pass a minute. During that time, Xiao Qi and Shen Pojun's battle with Liang Yinshen's other avatar was at a stalemate.

The avatar was a Mid-stage Soul Saint in strength, but it wasn't able to fully demonstrate its abilities since it was an avatar. That being said, two Early-stage Soul Saints would still have a chance of winning against it.

Neither Xiao Qi nor Shen Pojun were 'regular' by any definition. They both had the power of being able to fight toe to toe with a Mid-stage Soul Saint by themselves. When they banded together, they were definitely able to fight against Liang Yinshen's avatar without being at a disadvantage.

Wu Lie was able to re-enter the battle after a period of recovery. The wounds Liang Yinshen gave him were still fresh, but he was still able to fight in some capacity. He had the power of at least an Early-stage Soul Saint right now, so he was able to contribute quite nicely in the battle.

Liang Yinshen's avatar was in a tough shape. It wasn't able to recover its soulforce since it was just an avatar, so the longer it fought the more it weakened.

By his estimation, it'd be another two minutes before he'd be at his limit and forced to dissipate. That'd harm the real body and would make it even more likely for Bai Yunfei to win.

But the battle between Bai Yunfei and Liang Yinshen was already reaching a conclusion before Xiao Qi and Shen Pojun's battle with the avatar...

Right as Xiao Qi was battling Liang Yinshen's avatar, it suddenly retreated a fair distance away from them and began to make a few handseals. Everyone felt their vision grow blurry for a moment as the avatar's aura somehow skyrocketed to the levels of a Late-stage Soul Saint!

"Boom!!"

The recently 'translocated' Liang Yinshen took immediate action before any of the three Saints could react. Violet and black exploded out from his person as waves of chaotic energy responded to his presence. All Xiao Qi and the others felt was an irresistible force pushed past them and out from their entrapment!

"What happened?" Xiao Qi chirped in confusion.

"Yunfei!!" He cried again after sensing the former's sudden presence.

Shen Pojun and Wu Lie both looked up just in time for a crimson streak of light come to a stop in front of them.

And much to their surprise, a semi-transparent cocoon of light floated behind Bai Yunfei—it was Liang Yinshen's avatar!

Unable to hold his confusion in, Shen Pojun gave Bai Yunfei a quizzical glance, "Yunfei, what..."

"I had the chance earlier to kill him, but he used some strange magic to switch places with his avatar. We have to hurry after him, he's trying to escape!"

"What!?" That caught their attention. Wu Lie stared at Bai Yunfei in disbelief; how had this 'youngster', someone who was only a Mid-stage Soul Saint, able to overpower a Late-stage Soul Saint?

But Bai Yunfei didn't have the time to answer their questions. Waving his hand, Bai Yunfei sent the cocoon of light toward Xiao Qi and yelled out to him, "Xiao Qi, kill his avatar!!"

"Okay!!"

Though he didn't understand what was going on, Xiao Qi just knew that Bai Yunfei was asking for his help. Beating his wings, Xiao Qi sent dozens of tiny spatial edges toward the cocoon and brought the avatar to pieces!

Since it lacked a physical body, an avatar could technically live through being bisected. But Xiao Qi had evenly spaced his spatial edges so that the majority of them ate away at too much of the avatar for it to sustain itself!

The reason why Bai Yunfei had Xiao Qi be the one to kill the avatar was because it'd be good for the bird. Killing an avatar was good experience. It wasn't enough to make a breakthrough of any kind, but it'd definitely expand his knowledge.

......

"Ahh!!!"

A scream echoed across the skies when Xiao Qi destroyed the avatar. Liang Yinshen, pausing in the air to writhe in pain, was now screaming at the top of his lungs!!

The death of his avatar was in essence the death of a portion of his soul. It was a harsh pain by itself and was practically enough to nearly kill him in his weakened state!

It was only through pure willpower that he managed to bite back down the pain and continue his escape. The protective dome over the palace was already within sight! Spreading his soulsense, Liang Yinshen quickly found out where Wu Hong was fighting Liang Fu.

Like a meteorite crashing into the earth, Liang Yinshen shot down from the heavens to where Liang Fu was and pulled him to him!

"We're leaving!!"

Sparing Liang Fu an explanation, Liang Yinshen retrieved a black jade slip from his space ring and crushed it in his fist! Space began to warp in front of him before tearing open an entrance for him to disappear into!

This was a teleportation-type soul armament!

......

"That's..."

Wu Hong was stunned. He couldn't believe his eyes that Liang Yinshen had appeared so abruptly and left just as quickly with Liang Fu.

His battle with Liang Fu had been a stalemate. The two of them were equally matched and both had powerful Regalias with them. The only thing that happened worthy of mention was when at one point, Liang Fu cried out the word 'Triumphant Flame' and looked upward—that had been the moment when Bai Yunfei took out the Triumphant Flame to stop the Thunder God's Judging Halberd. Being its master, Liang Fu would know the moment when it was out.

It was because of this change that Liang Fu's mind was thrown into chaos and his fighting was affected.

The distraction was only for half a minute at longest before he and Liang Fu both heard the heavens above split open and a bolt of lightning come crashing down. The next second later and Liang Fu was gone with the wind...

"Whoosh!!"

Moments later and four other streaks of light came crashing down to where he was.

"Grandfather!!" Wu Hong exclaimed once he took sight of Wu Lie. He flew to his side at once to hold the man up by the shoulder, "Are you alright?!"

"Worry not, I will live."

It slightly mitigated his concerns to hear those words. Turning his attention to Bai Yunfei, who's aura was currently making his heart race, he asked, "Have you...defeated the enemy?"

"Your Majesty Wu Hong..." Bai Yunfei first bowed to the man in respect. "The enemy has been defeated, but they've succeeded in running away..."

By now, Liang Yinshen and Liang Fu were both long gone. They all knew that a soul armament had taken the two of them away.

"Indeed. Liang Fu has been taken away by that 'Divine Ancestor' of his...there'll be no hope tracking them if a teleportation-type soul armament was used. But that is a matter for another day. We must quell the rebel fighters within the Capital."

Liang Fu and Liang Yinshen were gone, but their subordinates weren't. They were still fighting within the Capital, but they wouldn't last long now that their strongest fighters had fled.

"Liang Fu?" Bai Yunfei blinked, "Does Your Majesty mean...Wu Hao?"

"He..." Sorrow filled Wu Hong's eyes at the name, "he is not 'Wu Hao', but..."

Wu Hong retold the story of what he heard to Bai Yunfei after that. Though Bai Yunfei already knew a little bit of the context after learning about Liang Yinshen, he was still deeply shocked to hear that Wu Hao had been Possessed by 'Liang Fu' since childhood.

Then it was Bai Yunfei's turn to share. His story was shocking to everyone that heard it, but Wu Hong was the one most affected by it. All of a sudden, the man bowed to Bai Yunfei and the two with them, "Our enemies were routed swiftly by your group's timely intervention. To this, We of the Royal Family and the entire continent are grateful. I, Wu Hong, pay my respect to you!"

"There's no need for that, Your Majesty!" Bai Yunfei was flustered to see the ruler of the empire bow to them. "Your Majesty, we'll leave the clean-up of the Capital to the others. I must chase after Liang Yinshen. I'll never be able to rest easily as long as he's out there."

"What?!" Wu Hong looked hopeful at his words. "You have a means to find them?!"

Bai Yunfei nodded before taking the Soul Seeker's Mirror out from its space ring...

......

Far far away from the Capital. Deep within a valley. Among the trees, space warped inward on itself before two individuals stepped through.

It was Liang Yinshen and Liang Fu.

"Pfff!!"

Liang Yinshen stumbled to his knees and collapsed onto the ground. Face flushed red from the pain, the man couldn't help himself but let out a mouthful of blood!

"Divine Ancestor!!"

Alarmed, Liang Fu quickly helped Liang Yinshen to a giant boulder to rest. "Divine Ancestor...what happened back there?!"

"That Bai Yunfei..." Gasped Liang Yinshen, "was too strong...my Thunder God's Judging Halberd was destroyed....by him....my avatars were destroyed as well...and so I fled...cough cough..."

"What?!" Exclaimed Liang Fu, "It's impossible! How could Bai Yunfei be that strong?!"

Never did Liang Fu ever associate 'defeat' with his Divine Ancestor. Not only did his ancestor lose, but it was a completely one-sided defeat!

A while ago, he had been standing confidently over the palace. And now, here he was with his Divine Ancestor, beaten like dogs and forced to flee pitifully. It was a blow so crushing his heart found it difficult to bear without screaming.

"Alas...our Liang has been defeated once more....Fu'er...my death isn't long from now. Devour my soul and seek a location to isolate yourself...His strength is unrivalled, should he seek us out for revenge...you cannot die! The Liang bloodline lives on for as long as you live!!"

Weakened, Liang Yinshen could only let his words describe his hatred at the situation.

The spirit of Liang Fu nearly flew out from his mouth at Liang Yinshen's words. "What?! Divine Ancestor...how could I possibly devour your soul! I...I can't..."

What Liang Yinshen was saying was to have them go through the act of Possession. Liang Yinshen would attempt to 'Possess' Liang Fu so that it'd backfire and allow Liang Fu to seize his soul for himself. It was in essence what Bai Yunfei had done to the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord's soul. If Liang Fu succeeded then he'd be able to process Liang Yinshen's soul and become even stronger. He'd be able to have a quick route through Sainthood and possibly become a Late-stage Soul Saint after time.

The method was practically a 'cheat', but it was a cheat with dangerous risks. The destruction of both souls was likely if they didn't focus, but the payoff would be worth it. A ruling ancestor of the Liang 'offering' his own experiences and strength to the next generation was a grave matter that wouldn't have been done in any other case but this.

But even now, this was nothing but a gamble. The two of them were gambling with the hope of the Liang Kingdom on the line.

"Speak no more about it, my life is quickly coming to a...ah!!" The words of Liang Yinshen trailed off as he looked to the eastern skies in despair and fear. "It...it cannot be!! How was he able to discover us!!"

"What!?!" Liang Fu's head snapped up just in time to see a streak of green light shoot across the skies toward them!

"That's...Hundred League!!" Liang Fu gasped, "The Soul Seeker's Mirror!! After killing Shangguan Xiongyan, Bai Yunfei took the Triumphant Flame and the Soul Seeker's Mirror! He's...he's found us...it's...it's all over..."

He had completely forgotten about Bai Yunfei having the Soul Seeker's Mirror. The rush of the battle and the gravity of the situation had made him unable to concentrate. As the enemy drew closer to them, Liang Fu found himself sinking deeper and deeper into the abyss of despair...