Chapter 158: Caught in the Crossfire

In the square before the Lunar Wheel Temple in Black Gold City, tens of thousands of people stood in orderly rows.

On the sacrificial altar, the three emissaries, Deputy Temple Master Wuku, and Fierce Eagle, the leader of the four major emissaries, stood quietly before the statue of the Moon Goddess.

Every face bore a solemn and respectful expression.

"Brother Ding, the ceremony is about to begin."

Yu Wenxiao turned his head back and, noticing that Ning Xiu had returned at some unknown moment, spoke in a soft voice.

Ning Xiu gave a slight nod and raised his gaze toward the distant altar.

"May the glory of the Moon Goddess illuminate the world!"

At the chanted proclamation of Deputy Temple Master Wuku, the tens of thousands of people in the square dropped to their knees in a vast, dark sea of bodies.

At that very moment, centered around the divine statue, a clearly visible moon-white radiance burst forth in a ring, sweeping outward to envelop the entire square.

The square, holding tens of thousands, fell into absolute silence, every face etched with a look of devout and fanatical adoration.

"This is..." Ning Xiu furrowed his brows slightly. Just a moment ago, he had distinctly felt a sliver of consciousness attempting to force its way into his mind.

Yet that consciousness was pitifully weak, and he crushed it out of existence almost instantly.

He glanced around, noticing that every single believer of the Lunar Wheel Temple in the vicinity had a fanatical gleam in their eyes, transforming them completely from who they had been just moments before.

What a formidable mental attack. Wang Danfeng's seductive arts were like a child playing with a wooden sword by comparison.

The entire square grew so quiet that only the sound of a gentle breeze could be heard.

"I beseech the Lord to bestow divine revelation, illuminating the path forward for all lost souls," Wuku continued in a ringing, resonant voice.

The divine revelation ceremony was held every single year, and Wuku, as the master of the Black Gold City's Lunar Wheel Temple, was long since intimately familiar with every step of the ritual. The gods had no leisure to enlighten all living beings; he was the sole director of this entire spectacle.

Naturally, in the eyes of these mortals, there was no difference between him and a god.

This was precisely why the emissaries on the platform, especially Fierce Eagle, wore expressions entirely devoid of reverence.

Wuku was just about to proceed with the final step of the ritual when the situation on the square suddenly mutated.

The statue of the Moon Goddess on the altar abruptly emitted a blood-red light, illuminating the entire square.

Simultaneously, a formidable oppressive aura rolled forth from it. Wuku and the others whirled around to stare at the statue, their faces draining of color as they dropped immediately to their knees.

That oppressive weight was one with which they were far too familiar.

They had never imagined that on the day of the divine revelation, a true divine revelation would actually descend.

...

On the altar, the eyes of the Moon Goddess statue suddenly projected two rays of bloody light, casting a brilliant illumination over a radius of several meters around Ning Xiu and exposing their existence clearly to everyone present.

Suddenly exposed, Yu Wenxiao suffered a great shock, yet he managed not to lose his composure.

At this point, the entire affair was like an arrow drawn on a taut bow; he had no choice but to release it.

"Brothers, attack!"

Yu Wenxiao shouted at the top of his lungs, and from every corner surrounding the square, voices responded in unison.

In an instant, battle cries merged into a deafening roar.

He glanced back at Ning Xiu, only to find that the man's expression did not hold even a trace of panic.

"He really must have noticed this long ago..."

Yu Wenxiao muttered under his breath, quickly shifting his attention away from Ning Xiu as the high-level experts of the Lunar Wheel Temple on the platform locked their sights directly upon him.

"Who did I think it was? So it's you remnants of Loulan. Who gave you such audacious courage to come and desecrate our Moon Goddess altar?"

Swish!

On the altar, an emissary abruptly stood up, thrusting his right hand forward with a ferocious slap. A sharp tearing sound rent the air as a blood-red giant handprint, as solid as reality, hurtled directly toward Yu Wenxiao below.

"Don't talk about mere branch temple altars! The day will come when we personally storm your main temple to avenge the blood debt of the past!"

Yu Wenxiao sneered coldly, drawing the long saber at his waist and slashing it forward.

Saber Qi crisscrossed to form a colossal blade aura, instantly cleaving the incoming giant handprint apart. The momentum of the saber qi remained undiminished as it continued to slash toward the Moon Goddess altar twenty meters away.

Along the path, several temple attendants attempted to block it, but upon encountering this peerlessly fierce blade aura, they were sliced into two halves on the spot before they could even emit a single scream, hot blood spilling across the ground.

Judging by its immense momentum, it threatened to split the altar in two with a single blow.

"Mayflies shaking a giant tree, utterly overestimating yourselves!"

On the altar, Fierce Eagle let out a cold snort, stepping forward and driving his clenched right fist violently into the oncoming blade aura.

Boom!

A tremendous explosion echoed across the square.

Fierce Eagle's iron fist crashed heavily against the blade aura unleashed by Yu Wenxiao.

*Crack.* A fissure suddenly appeared on the massive blade aura, spreading instantly like a spiderweb until it engulfed the entire structure in the blink of an eye.

The blade aura shattered completely, dissolving into countless fragments.

Yu Wenxiao's expression shifted drastically as he raised his saber horizontally across his chest to parry, just as a wave of immense rebound force struck him.

Amidst the swirling storm of shattered blade light, his entire body was sent flying backward.

Ultimately, he smashed heavily onto the distant ground, kicking up a vast cloud of dust and debris.

"Leader!"

Seeing this scene, the group of Loulan survivors cried out in alarm, their faces blanketed with worry.

If even Yu Wenxiao, the strongest among their ranks, was defeated by a single punch from the enemy, then what possible meaning remained in continuing this fight?
Within the ruins, utter disbelief hung on Yu Wenxiao's face. Although he had long anticipated the strength of Fierce Eagle—the leader of the four major emissaries—and knew the man would be formidable, he had never imagined that the opponent could be powerful to this terrifying degree.

The group of Loulan refugees was likewise struck dumb with astonishment; in their eyes, Yu Wenxiao was the very embodiment of invincibility.

Who could have guessed he would be shattered by a single punch!

Even though the blade aura had suffered some attrition before clashing with Fierce Eagle, it was an undeniable fact that Yu Wenxiao had failed to withstand that punch.

"Is this the legendary Loulan Blazing Fire Saber? It is truly a disappointment."

Fierce Eagle did not press his advantage. Standing upon the altar, he looked down at Yu Wenxiao collapsed in the ruins and shook his head with a trace of disappointment.

"A single spark can start a prairie fire!"

Yu Wenxiao forced himself to his feet, staring fixedly at Fierce Eagle in the distance as he slowly raised the long saber in his hand.

Schwing!

The blade ignited with flames in an instant. With a single slash from Yu Wenxiao, the fiery light multiplied into ten thousand points.

Ten thousand sparks of fire, resembling tiny embers, swept outward with the momentum of a wildfire, encircling the entire altar.

These flames were as tangible as reality, and their scorching temperature caused the surrounding air to warp and distort.

Fierce Eagle, trapped at the center of the flames, had nowhere to run!

Yu Wenxiao's slash had actually managed to harness a trace of the world's natural power, a testament to the extraordinary nature of the Loulan Blazing Fire Saber.

"Now this is more like it..."

Fierce Eagle's lips curved upward in a faint, appreciative sigh as he allowed the sea of fire to engulf him.

Just as he prepared to make a move and extinguish this "blazing fire" before him, the sound of rushing wind suddenly erupted behind his back. Simultaneously, a dark figure flashed like lightning, hurtling straight toward him at blinding speed.

This human silhouette was swift as a fresh breeze, vaulting over the dense crowd to arrive directly above Fierce Eagle. His right leg struck downward toward the man's head with the ferocity of a raging storm.

Leg shadows poured down like a torrential downpour, and the momentum of the kicks was as violent as a gale—this was the ultimate extremity of storm and tempest.

Wind God's Kick, Torrential Storm and Raging Gale!