8 The Sacred Family Strikes Back

Discord Link: https://discord.gg/NMmtDbwHVQ

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(Jing's POV > Next Day)

'Hmm? Seems like my Soul Force is already at 86 units,' I mused as I glanced at the cyan-colored specs of light that were floating within the crystal.

Every once in a while I would pull out the crystal to check my Soul Force– the average person 1-4 units a week, whilst the more talented people could do that same number in a day. Of course, this number could vary depending on how long you cultivated for, and the technique you were cultivating.

"At this rate, it won't be too long before I reach Bronze rank," I muttered as I put the crystal away and began going through a book of Alchemic formulas for a bit… and they were all shit. "I originally planned on making my own Association, but with how easy these are to improve I suppose it'll just be better to take over the current one. Besides even though my family's filthy rich, even we would feel our pockets being drained from having to sustain and re-brand such an Association."

As I finished putting everything away for the night, I began browsing through Nie Lie's memories to try and find some suitable techniques for Lin; even though I wasn't too sure about his Soul Attribute or Soul Form I could still come up with a list of techniques that could be suitable, and then just choose the one that fit best when I found out.

Only after all that was done did I sit down cross-legged and fall into a meditative trance as I began cultivating.

(Next Morning - 3rd Person POV)

*BOOM*

The next morning, as the rays of the sun began to descend upon Glory City, a deafening explosion suddenly echoed through the air.

'What the fuck was that?!' Jing wondered in shock as his eyes snapped open from his cultivation, and he began to sense his surroundings, trying to understand just what that noise was.

Meanwhile, the rest of the city was suffering an even worse fate as countless explosions wreaked havoc on the streets. The typically lively, and bustling city was now engulfed in chaos and destruction.

Cries of terror could be heard from families as people dressed in dark cloaks began to slaughter the civilians and low-ranked cultivators who dwelled within the city.

This attack, however, wasn't just solely targeting the civilians as even larger explosions could be seen going off from the Divine Family's, and Sacred Family's estates.

"You should run back to where you've come from," Hong grunted as he clashed with two figures who were cloaked in dark hoods and had white masks covering their faces.

As the two-on-one battle raged on it became apparent that though Shen Hong was certainly powerful, his opponents had the numerical advantage which was pushing him back.

As the two cloaked cultivators continued to press their advantage, Shen Hong decided to retreat slightly. Seeing him run away, the two cultivators instantly began giving chase, however, this proved to be a mistake as an intense heat was beginning to come off Hong as his body began glowing bright red.

With a deep breath, he summoned all the energy within him, tapping into the profound power of his Demonic Spirit Beast: The Sacred Flaming Condor. Suddenly, a surge of intense heat washed over Shen Hong's body as he began to undergo a transformation.

His entire being seemed to be engulfed in flames as his figure morphed and reshaped. His arms extended into powerful wings, and fiery feathers emerged from his back. His legs transformed into talons, and his eyes gleamed with a flash of viciousness before they quelled into a cool heat.

In a matter of seconds, the tide of the battle changed, from being on the back foot, Hong was now on the offensive as each attack he launched took the combined might of the two cultivators to stop.

"Seems like the old man is serious about this battle!" one of the two figures shouted as he turned to the other and nodded.

Having come to an agreement they both decided to flee as fast as they could, apparently not wishing to engage the Patriarch any longer.

What no one else within the city saw, however, was the slight nod the two cultivators had given Shen Hong, a nod which he had returned.

[A/N: Bro's a bigger fraud than Sukuna lmao.]

(Scene Change > Divine Family Estate at the same time)

*BOOM!*

A thunderous explosion rocked the estate of the Divine Family as debris flew all over the place.

"Zhenlong!" a voice boomed as a powerful Soul Force descended upon the Divine Family estate before it was promptly countered and repelled.

Chen Zhenlong wasted no time in making his appearance as he began clashing with the cloaked figure who tried attacking his estate.

However, as he wasn't facing two opponents at once like Shen Hong was, he began to corner his opponent almost instantly, but instead of being met with desperation, he was greeted by a smile of ridicule as the cloaked figure's body began to bulge considerably before it exploded.

The explosion had caught everyone, including Chen Zhenlong, off guard, and because of that, he didn't have time to take any defensive measures. The size of the explosion had engulfed the entirety of the battlefield that the two were fighting on, and it left behind a giant smoke cloud that reached the sky.

All the members of the Divine Family collectively gasped and held their breath, hoping that their Patriarch had managed to survive.

As the moments passed, the Divine Family members' eyed the smoke and debris anxiously, fear gripping their hearts.

*ROAR!*

A massive flaming aura blew the smoke away, and once the smoke was gone there stood Chen Zhenlong, unharmed and covered in bright red scales as the entire upper half of his body took on a form reminiscent of a dragon's.

[Image > Just imagine only his upper body as opposed to his full body.]

After a beat of silence, the rest of the crowd broke into cheers at the Patriarch's victory and survival.

"Enough. This is no time to be cheering– the city is still under attack. Go help everyone out," Zhenlong commanded as he disappeared in a burst of speed.

(Scene Change > Jing's room at the same time Zhenlong is fighting)

(Jing's POV)

'Well shit,' I thought to myself as I stared down a Silver-ranked cloaked figure.

The man had burst into my room through the roof once the second explosion within our estate went off. Since I didn't already have my armor on there wasn't anything I could do.

'Will he accept my Buddhist prayers as a form of payment for my life?' I idly wondered as he began coming closer.

"Um, so… you want money?"

Seeing that my - enticing might I add - offer had no effect on him, I quickly looked up at my destroyed roof in relief as I shouted, "Dad, he's trying to kill me!"

As the man looked up in terror to see if my dad was truly there, I had already bolted out of my room and began making my way toward the courtyard where I could hear the sound of fighting.

I was lucky the man was trying to play with me - pause - because if he was trying to kill me with full effort from the beginning I wouldn't have been able to leave the room so easily.

"Kid, give it up you can't run forever!" he shouted from behind me, as I heard his footsteps get closer and closer.

Since the guy didn't know the layout of the estate as well as I did, I took him through multiple sharp turns all of which slowed down his momentum to ensure he couldn't catch me. In many ways, I was like a Gazelle running from a Cheetah– I couldn't outspeed my opponent, but I could get away from them by making sure they were never able to unleash their full speed.

After turning past a particularly sharp corner, I burst forth at my max speed to the courtyard where I could hear everyone fighting. "HELP!" I shouted using a voice amplification technique from Nie Lie's memories, and within an instant, a Gold-ranked Demon Spiritualist answered my plea.

"Young master, stay behind me," he warned as he burst forth and killed my assailant in an instant.

Seeing how easy it was for him to kill the man I clenched my fists in anger as I could feel a desire to grow stronger within myself.

After taking a deep breath to calm my still-jumpy nerves, I walked up to the corpse of the cloaked figure and slapped the dead man's face with all the power my body could muster at the moment. "Call that a young master-certified face slap."

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Hey guys, hope you enjoyed this chapter. We were writing at night and were incredibly tired so sorry if it's a bit rushed. Also, been a minute since I've last written a fight seen properly so sorry if it wasn't up to the standard.

Anyway, I've finally decided on the FML, and you'll find out soon within the story.

Also, didn't want to make Jing seem weak by running away, but his opponent was Silver-ranked and he didn't wish to take any chances. He's already experienced death so he isn't trying to run headfirst into it once again lol.

Short 1.6k word chapter, but hopefully the next is back up to the regular 2k.

Regardless, I hope you guys enjoyed it, and have a great rest of your day. Also, drop ur power stones lmao.