Painting of the Nine Immortals
chapter-316

The Sun draped down from the sky, emitting an infinite amount of light that lit up every corner of the House of Zi Yang.

However, despite the warmth brought by the Sun, it could not chase away the chill everyone inside the House felt.

That chill came from the battle before them.

At this moment, everyone from the House of Zi Yang was holding onto their weapon of choice. Under the leadership of the Supreme Headmaster, they were bathed in blood and battled on to stop the invaders.

A crisp amount of energy dissipated throughout the air as bands of killer’s instinct swirled all around. Everyone’s expression was stern as they continued to give all their lives to defend.

Boom, boom, boom!

After a groundbreaking rumble, every single generation of the Zi Yang House worked together to slaughter the opponent. Flames engulfed the entire House.

Ling Xian’s premonition became true.

Using the opportunity of the activation of the Palace of Fortune, they declared war against the House of Zi Yang. However, it was not the Demonic Fairy who led this, it was the nemesis of the House of Zi Yang – the other two political forces on Shi Ao Island.

The House of Xuan Yin and the House of Ling Jian.

These two political forces have accumulated hatred over a long period of time and have been fighting over resources and land. The friction between them was strong. However, because the three forces have been living in equilibrium, no large war had ever broken out.

However, during the time the Palace of Fortune was open, the Xuan Yin House and the Ling Jian House has come to an agreement. They organized their army and calculatedly declared war against the Zi Yang House just three hours ago.

Now, the three forces began their battles.

A fierce battle was commencing as the men of their army exchanged moves. The Xuan Yin and the Ling Jian House aggressively attacked in the hope of driving the people of the Zi Yang House into extinction.

Right now, on top of a tall mountain peak, all representatives from each and every force of the 36 islands were standing there, watching the war happen. They chose not to interfere.

One, there was no reason to interfere and help a particular party. Two, they didn’t want to. After all, it was a war between the three strongest political forces. They were all external parties, of course, they wouldn’t interfere.

"Interesting. I did not expect the two Houses would choose such a time to make a move." A studious looking man brandished his fan as he watched the battlefield.

An elderly man with white hair softly sighed. "Yeah. I did not expect this. But I cannot deny that it is a very good opportunity. After all, more than half of the foundational cultivators from the Zi Yang House entered the Palace of Fortune."

"That’s right. Speaking of this, the capability of the Shi Ao Island is relatively weak with the highest cultivation level being the completion level. The foundational leveled cultivators are medium in strength. Now that Zi Yang House is pretty much empty – a perfect time to invade."

A middle-aged stalky man spoke slowly. After pondering for a while, he continued to ask, "Should we interfere?"

"Interfere?"

The studious looking man chuckled. "Why interfere? Isn’t it nice to watch the Tigers in a cage fight?"

"Hehe, that’s right. I love watching drama the most. It is rare to see three political forces fight." A grim-looking old man laughed. His murky eyes glowed with evilness, "Fight. The more violent the better. I hope all parties incur losses. When that happens, I can catch a fish in the muddy water."

"You are right. However, it’s impossible for all parties to get hurt. Despite that, we are the ones with the real advantage. No matter which party ends up being the weaker one and needs help, we can ask for anything we want." The studious man continued to fan himself and smile without kindness.

"Haha, you are right."

That elderly laughed as he watched the battle intensely. He muttered to himself, "Based on how the battle is going, the one who needs help will definitely be the House of Zi Yang. I wonder how high of a price Zi Dong Lai is willing to pay for help."

He was not wrong. Based on what was happening, the Zi Yang House was losing.

Even though the Zi Yang House had the land, the Xuan Yin, and Ling Jian House had been plotting this war for a long time and has bought a high-status Elder as their spy.

Using that person’s help, they were able to enter the House of Zi Yang and break the Array of the Purple Cloud!

The alliance of the two political parties, plus with most foundational cultivators inside the Palace of Fortune, it was hard for the House to save itself.

The Zi Yang House was losing greatly. It was only a matter of time before they were defeated.

In the sky, Zi Dong Lai’s robe floated behind him. His expression was grim as Qi poured out of him and attacked the two strong opponents before him.

Against him stood a middle aged man. He wore a white robe and held onto a sword. He was the leader of the Ling Jian House.

The other one wore all black and carried a cold expression. He was the Supreme Headmaster of the Xuan Yin House.

Currently, these two completion leveled cultivators were manipulating their Qi to fight against Zi Dong Lai.

HOOOM!

The wind blew, and cloud converged. The land in all directions shook!

The three terrifying energies clashed in midair and ended in a stalemate. It became a tug-o-war, and nobody could win against the other.

"Hmmph!"

Zi Dong Lai coldly sneered. His face a little red and swollen and sweat could be seen on his forehead. It was obvious that he wasn’t feeling too well.

After all, he was fighting against two powerhouses by himself. Even though the leaders of the Xuan Yin House and the Ling Jian House were weaker than him, the teamwork of two of them was not easy to balance by himself.

However, even if he cannot block them, he had to force himself. Because he knew very well that under the circumstance that none of the foundational cultivators were here, he had to fight on. If he loses, the House was done for.

Therefore, he firmly believed and fought with his all. Even if he could hang on for 15 more minutes, there would be more hope for everyone.

The hope that the House of Zi Yang will not die.

"Zi Dong Lai, stop resisting. You are wasting time." The Supreme Headmaster of the Xuan Yin House coldly smiled before raising his right arm and unleashing an invigorating amount of power. It made Zi Dong Lai stumble backward.

"Hmmph, you want to get rid of the House of Zi Yang? You have to display some real skills."

Zi Dong Lai snickered as a gold spear appeared on his hand. Disappearing in a flash, he dashed towards the two powerhouses.

Booom!

The gold spear exploded with heavenly light. Accompanied by his resolution and determination, it flung towards the two like a dragon’s tail.

Bang!

The leader of the Ling Jian House held onto his sword and clashed against the gold spear. He ended up being in close proximity to Zi Dong Lai.

At the same time, the Supreme Headmaster of the Xuan Yin house made his move and joined the battle. The two of them circled Zi Dong Lai.

On the other end, the two hidden completion leveled cultivators made an appearance and fought against the completion leveled cultivators from the other political forces.

Nobody was truly winning this battle in the air.

However, below them, was a different story.

Even though the elders of the descendants of the Zi Yang House was fighting their hardest with the determination to never back down, most of the foundational cultivators were inside the Palace of Fortune.

For this reason, they had little support. The few left over foundational cultivators were no opponents of the alliance of the two Houses. As for the descendants in the meditational level, they were useless. Even if there were a hundred thousand of them, they would not change the state of the battle.

As time went on, more and more descendants of the Zi Yang House collapsed in hatred and were slaughtered by the other two Houses.

"Die!"

Screams filled the air, killer’s instinct sent a chill down everyone’s spine. The cultivators of the Zi Yang House bathed in war and did not retreat until death.

Everyone was red-eyed and rushed in without giving it a second thought. Their determination was boiling.

HOOOOOOM!

An infinite amount of heavenly light shot through the cloud. All types of techniques were being displayed and were clashing in midair.

"Dammit. Nobody retreat! We promise to protect the House of Zi Yang!"

"Yes! We shall not retreat! We must protect the House!"

"Everyone, hold on! After we kill those two Supreme Headmasters, we will have hope!"

The descendants of the House of Zi Yang screamed out loud and declared their resolution of never giving up.

However, beliefs alone aren’t enough. Capability is the source of everything!

Without capabilities, what use are beliefs?!

Even though every generation of the Zi Yang House was working together and declared to never give up, they found it hard to defend against the alliance of the two Houses.

As time went on, more and more Zi Yang descendants were being killed by the opponents and were now lying on the ground with hatred-filled and desperate faces.

After some time, there were hundreds of corpses on the ground. Even though a lot of people have died from the other two Houses, most of the dead ones were from the Zi Yang House.

Corpses made up a road, blood made up a river, the air smelled heavily of blood.

Watching the descendants fall down one by one, Zi Dong Lai’s heart bled. He turned his pain into strength as he flung his gold spear and attacked the two completion leveled cultivators.

The battle was fierce, the attacks were ruthless.

After all, he was alone. Even if he gives up his own life, it was getting hard to defend the alliance.

He was fighting as if his life was worthless. He planned on trading wounds for wounds. However, his opponents were just the same. The battle was not improving, it was just getting more dangerous.

"Die!"

Zi Dong Lai shouted. His spear became aggressive like a tiger as he attempted to end the two.

However, he knew very well that he merely appeared violent. The reality was that he was reaching the end. At most, he could hold on for another 15 minutes before getting killed by his opponents.

This made him sigh silently. He couldn’t help but think of the youth who was always smiling.

[Aye, if Ling Xian was here that would be nice. At least he could stop a completion leveled cultivator and reduce my stress.]

Luckily, he spoke of this silently in his mind, and nobody else heard. If they did, they would be rolling on the ground with laughter.

What a joke. To store the hope of House of Zi Yang’s survival on a foundational cultivator was far too funny.

However, Zi Dong Lai didn’t think this was funny.

He was fully aware of just how capable Ling Xian was after personally witnessing him fighting against the Phoenix. Naturally, he stored hope onto Ling Xian.

[Ling Xian, Ling Xian. Hurry up and get out of the Palace of Fortune. If you can show up fast enough, the House of Zi Yang can survive.]

Zi Dong Lai silently prayed as his movements intensified. He fought without caring about his own life.

Perhaps the Gods heard his prayer. Just as he began to show his fatigue before the two opponents, the Palace of Fortune in the sky suddenly shook and draped down a golden ray of light.

Then, many foundational cultivators appeared out of thin air.

Ling Xian was there also. His white robe, his faint smile, made Zi Dong Lai’s tiger-like eyes explode with dazzling light.

It was the look one reveals when one sees hope on the brink of death.