The chamber shook as the two Azure Scale experts unleashed their lightning aura. The air itself seemed to crackle, every breath thick with static. Bolts of azure light crawled across the walls, splitting stone and searing the ground. Jael staggered, his vision blurring, his chest tightening as if invisible hands were crushing him. His veins glowed faintly, his body trembling under the suffocating pressure. If Elijah had not been standing beside him, shielding him with a cocoon of flame, Jael would have collapsed and been crushed outright.
Elijah's eyes narrowed, his aura compressed into a barrier that wrapped around Jael like a second skin. He could feel the boy's pulse faltering beneath the weight of the lightning storm. Protecting him was no simple task. Every ounce of flame Elijah summoned had to be restrained, shaped, and directed so it did not burn Jael alive. Yet at the same time, he had to fend off two Peak Sky Limit Realm experts whose killing intent was focused entirely on the boy.
The battle began in a blur. The Azure Scale cultivators moved with terrifying speed, their bodies wreathed in lightning. Spears of azure qi thrust forward, arcs of thunder splitting the chamber. Elijah met them head‑on, flame erupting from his palms, his strikes sharp and precise. The chamber rang with the clash of fire and lightning, each collision shaking the walls and sending shards of stone raining down.
A hundred exchanges passed in the span of heartbeats. Elijah's flame blades carved through lightning spears, his footwork weaving between strikes that could have annihilated Jael in an instant. Yet even Elijah could not remain untouched. A bolt of lightning grazed his shoulder, searing flesh and leaving the scent of scorched blood in the air. Another strike tore across his ribs, forcing him to grit his teeth as pain lanced through his body. Still, he stood firm, shielding Jael behind him, refusing to yield.
The Azure Scale experts pressed harder, their movements synchronized, their killing intent sharpened to a single point. They feinted with lightning spears, then gathered their aura into a massive strike. The chamber darkened as a storm of azure thunder condensed above them, a bolt so vast it seemed to split heaven and earth.
Elijah's eyes blazed. He could not afford hesitation. With a roar, he unleashed the fourth technique of the Flaming Dragon Method—Flaming Sonar. Waves of flame burst outward in concentric pulses, each ring scouring the chamber, colliding with the incoming lightning strike. The clash was deafening. Flame and thunder tore against each other, the shockwave forcing the Azure Scale experts back several steps. The chamber cracked, fissures racing across the walls, molten stone dripping from the ceiling.
In the background, Ricard fought his own battle. Elder Rick and Elder Fenton of the Obsidian Talon Clan pressed him relentlessly, their ice qi freezing the air, shards of frost slicing through the chamber. Their target was the same—Jael. Every strike angled toward the boy, every technique designed to bypass Ricard's defenses. Ricard's flame sword spirit tool blazed, intercepting their attacks, his movements sharp and unyielding. Yet he knew he could not hold them forever.
The chamber became a storm of elements—flame, lightning, and frost—each clash threatening to tear it apart. Ricard's eyes narrowed. He could not allow Jael to remain trapped in this chaos. With a deep breath, he made his decision. His body trembled, scales rippling across his skin, his aura surging to its peak. Then, with a roar that shook the chamber, Ricard shed his human form and revealed his true self.
A ruby dragon erupted into existence, massive and radiant. His scales gleamed like molten gemstones, each one burning with crimson light. His wings unfurled, filling the chamber, his tail lashing with the force of a mountain. The transformation unleashed an explosion of aura, a shockwave that forced all four enemies back. Lightning shattered, frost cracked, and the chamber itself groaned under the weight of his presence.
The four elders snarled, their eyes narrowing. They tried to retreat, but Ricard's massive tail slammed down, blocking the entrance. The chamber shook as stone collapsed, sealing the way. The Obsidian Talon elders and the Azure Scale experts exchanged grim looks, then shed their own disguises. Scales rippled across their bodies, wings unfurled, and four dragons emerged—azure and obsidian, their monstrous auras colliding with Ricard's ruby blaze.
The clash of dragon forms was apocalyptic. Aura pressed against aura, the chamber collapsing further under the weight of titanic power. Flames roared, lightning split the air, and frost crystallized the ground. The battlefield became a storm of destruction, each breath threatening to tear the chamber apart.
Meanwhile, Elijah seized the moment. He wrapped Jael in his arms, shielding him from the chaos, and moved swiftly. He did not head toward the clan's safety zone, the pocket world prepared for emergencies. Instead, he carried Jael deeper into the chamber, toward a hidden teleportation formation he had prepared long ago.
But before he could reach it, two figures burst into the collapsing chamber—Elder Ian of the Iron Cloud Clan and another Sage Realm expert. Their eyes locked on Jael, and without hesitation they hurled sharp metal spears of condensed qi, each strike shrieking through the air with lethal intent.
Elijah twisted, flame barriers erupting to intercept the spears. Sparks and molten fragments scattered as steel clashed against fire. Every strike forced him to split his focus—shielding Jael, deflecting the deadly projectiles, and keeping his aura restrained so it did not crush the boy. Ian pressed harder, his fury palpable, his voice echoing through the chamber: "You won't leave here alive, boy!"
Elijah's jaw tightened. With a surge of qi, he forced the attackers back just long enough to reach the formation. The runes blazed to life, light enveloping both Elijah and Jael. Ian hurled one final spear, but it shattered against Elijah's flame barrier as the teleportation swallowed them whole.
In an instant, they vanished.
The formation pulsed once more, then detonated in a burst of flame and stone. The chamber shook violently, the teleportation array collapsing into rubble. No trace remained—no path to follow, no trail to pursue.
And so the battle ended not in triumph, but in frustration and fury. With the target missing, the coalition's purpose unraveled. Their mission had failed. But none was more enraged than Ian, denied even the sight of the boy he had sworn to kill.
The war had lasted less than an hour, yet its toll was immense. Half‑step Transcendent Realm elders on both sides bore grievous wounds, Sky Limit Realm experts fell in numbers too great to count, and even Sage Realm elders lay broken amidst the ruins.
Far from Virtian City, Elijah and Jael appeared in a forest. The air was quiet, the scent of pine and earth replacing the stench of blood and ash. Jael staggered, his body trembling, his eyes filled with guilt.
"This is all my fault," Jael whispered, his voice breaking. "If I hadn't—"
"Enough moping," Elijah cut him off, his tone sharp. "We can't afford the luxury. From now on, we are rogue cultivators."
Jael clenched his fists, head lowered, eyes burning with frustration, and his heart heavy. "But the clan—"
Elijah placed a hand on his shoulder. "The clan will be fine. You just need to endure and grow stronger. And when the time comes, we will return."
With that, Elijah led Jael deeper into the woods. The forest swallowed them, shadows stretching long, the path uncertain. Yet in that uncertainty lay survival, and in survival lay the seed of future vengeance.