In response to the Liu Clan's sudden assault, the three clans were immediately forced to retreat as dozens of their disciples died within half a breath's time. No one expected such a scene. Despite deploying their full force, the three clans were caught entirely off guard by the Liu Clan's ferocity.
They hoped to avoid direct confrontation, assuming that once someone killed Liu Hanyi, the Heaven Profound Realm ancestors would finish the job. That way, they could preserve their strength.
However, the Liu Clan's offense had forced their hand.
The three clans regrouped and struck back, plunging the battlefield into brutal chaos, which consumed the field.
Liu Xiucheng charged into the fray with a massive blade, slicing through enemy ranks. His strikes cut down swathes of disciples, leaving a bloody path behind him.
"Form the array!" the Liu Clan's elders roared.
The Liu Clan activated the Ten-Sided Annihilation Array in an instant, engulfing the entire battlefield. It locked the three clans inside; only then did the real slaughter begin.
The array powered up, exploding countless spirit stones. The Liu Clan spared no expense, as they no longer lacked resources.
Liu Wuxie's modifications allowed the array to consume fewer spirit stones and law fragments, yet it still unleashed devastating power.
Despite being outnumbered, the Liu Clan held firm, drawing power from the array to steadily push back the enemy forces.
"This is incredible. At this rate, both sides might end up destroying one another," whispered someone in the crowd. Their voice trembled at the sight before them.
From a distance, Liu Shen watched with a sinister face. The Liu Clan's strength had clearly exceeded his expectations.
The spiritual array surged with power, pulverizing everything it touched. While the weaker disciples darted in and out, launching sneak attacks, the Earth Profound Realm elders coordinated the array with precision, creating a seamless assault.
"The Liu Clan is terrifying!"
Numerous high-ranking Earth Profound Realm experts hovered in the sky, including some at the Heaven Profound Realm. Everyone watched in awe as the Liu Clan launched a counterattack.
Despite being outnumbered, they had seized the advantage. That fact enraged the patriarchs of the three clans, and they began to lose their composure.
"Quick! Destroy the spiritual array!" the Wang Clan's patriarch roared. In his fury, he slapped one of his deacons aside.
They couldn't afford to let the array continue running. Every disciple they brought was elite, none of them was expendable.
They had expected total victory, not the heavy losses they now faced, even though three Heaven Profound Realm ancestors were present.
High above, the ancestors noticed the changes in the battlefield.
"I'll take care of this myself," the Wang Clan's ancestor said. He turned and retreated, leaving Liu Hanyi to the other two.
Poisoned, capturing her was only a matter of time, so sparing one expert to break the Liu Clan posed no risk.
"Go." The others nodded.
The Wang Clan's ancestor vanished and reappeared in the skies above the Liu Clan.
"Break!" he bellowed.
A deafening explosion erupted as his strike tore through the air, obliterating buildings and turning nearby cultivators to ash before they could even react.
The Ten-Sided Annihilation Array collapsed instantly under the impact.
The ten elders maintaining the array vomited blood and collapsed, severely wounded.
With the spiritual array gone, the Liu Clan's advantage vanished instantly.
"Kill them all!" roared the Wang Clan's patriarch, charging at the front.
His advance shook the battlefield, and the ground trembled as if a thousand galloping beasts were stampeding across it.
The retreat of the array left the Liu Clan exposed. They didn't lack the will to fight, but the Heaven Profound Realm's pressure froze them in place.
Weapons from the three clans surged in like a tide, closing rapidly on the Liu Clan's core.
The tables had turned.
Though the Wang Clan's ancestor wouldn't stoop to kill mortals directly, his overwhelming aura crushed the Liu Clan's cultivators, paralyzing them.
"The Liu Clan is finished..." an old man in the crowd whispered, sinking to his knees. He had once received kindness from the Liu Clan.
"Why had things come to this?" cried another.
They had come to witness a spectacle, only to watch a tragedy unfold. Had the Wang Clan's ancestor not intervened, the battle would've dragged on. The Liu Clan's retaliation had been masterful, and their losses had been minimal.
For every one Liu Clan disciple who died, ten from the three clans would fall. That abnormal ratio had enraged the cultivators of the Heaven Profound Realm, forcing their hand.
Now, the weapons of the three clans loomed just dozens of meters from the Liu Clan's core.
"Liu Xiucheng, your head is mine!" the Wang Clan's ancestor bellowed, raising his sword.
The Liu Clan's cultivators stood frozen in grim silence. The Heaven Profound Realm's suppression pinned them in place, no matter how hard they struggled.
From the sky, Liu Hanyi saw it all. She wanted to help, and she tried to help, but the poison was ravaging, draining her strength.
The two remaining Heaven Profound Realm cultivators attacked from both sides, using despicable techniques. Liu Hanyi could only watch helplessly as her people teetered on the brink of annihilation.
The Wang Clan's sword whistled through the air, aiming straight for Liu Xiucheng's neck.
"Those of the Liu Clan, listen well!" Liu Xiucheng roared, his voice bursting with sorrow and defiance. "Our deaths will be glorious! Even in death, our names will be etched into the heavens! We die with honor, and our heads held high!"
His voice echoed across the skies, sweeping through all of Astral Glory City.
Meanwhile, in the Spirit Jade Pavilion's main hall, the atmosphere remained relaxed.
"Looks like the Liu Clan has reached its end," said the Scarlet Dragon Cult's sect master, idly toying with a jade ornament.
"Their destruction is inevitable," said the Profound Cloud Sect's sect master in agreement, but his expression grew grim. A faint unease gnawed at him, though he couldn't say why.
"It doesn't matter even if they hold on for a little longer," the Scarlet Dragon Cult's sect master added. "Someone will destroy them eventually."
The Liu Clan had grown rapidly in the past year, even surpassing the other Great Clans. Their tenacity made sense, but their fall was only a matter of time.
Meanwhile, at the Heavenly Dao Society, Liu Xiucheng's voice pierced the silence like a blade, stabbing everyone's heart.
The mood turned grave.
"Patriarch, should we send aid to the Liu Clan?" someone finally asked.
Many within the Heavenly Dao Society had roots in the Liu Clan. Watching their clan fall, powerless to help, left them shaken. However, Xu Yilin had already issued a command three days prior: no one was allowed to leave.
"It's too late to retreat. If the Liu Clan falls, we're next. Prepare for battle," Xu Yilin commanded.
He wanted to aid the Liu Clan, but powerful cultivators had surrounded the Heavenly Dao Society. If they were to leave now, they would walk straight into a slaughter.
Still, once the Liu Clan was no more, their turn would come. Destiny had already bound their fates together.
Liu Dayue paced anxiously, unable to calm down. He hadn't returned to the Liu Clan, and his father's voice had pierced his heart like a dagger.
"Don't worry. The Liu Clan won't fall. I believe Wuxie will return soon," Fan Zhen said resolutely.
His unwavering belief in Liu Wuxie ignited hope in everyone's hearts.
The longsword crept closer to Liu Xiucheng's neck, and its edge gleamed coldly in the light. The Wang Clan's patriarch could already picture the scene of Liu Xiucheng's decapitated head rolling to the ground.
Tears streamed down the faces of the Liu Clan disciples, who could only watch helplessly as their patriarch faced death.
"Come at me if you have the guts! Don't touch my father!" Liu Dazhi roared.
"You're next!" the Yuan Clan's patriarch snarled, charging at Liu Dazhi with sword raised high.
At the same time, the Liao Clan's patriarch locked his blade onto Liu Dashan.
They were targeting the Liu Clan's core—the patriarch and his two sons. Killing them would break the Liu Clan's spirit for good. The disciples wept openly; their hearts were crushed under the weight of despair.
"Is there no justice left in this world?!" countless spectators screamed, their voices hoarse with despair.
Another thunderous boom echoed throughout the battlefield. Liu Hanyi was blasted across the air once more, and her figure was utterly battered.
This time, the injuries were severe—her left shoulder hung limp, and blood soaked her robes. She could barely keep herself upright.
Many spectators shut their eyes, unable to bear the tragic sight unfolding before them.
"Liu Hanyi, stop resisting. Look at your people—soon, they'll all die by our hands," the Liao Clan's ancestor said, sneering as he closed in on her.
"The Liu Clan has no cowards! Even if we die, we'll drag your three clans with us!" Liu Hanyi roared. She steeled herself and decided to self-destruct; she was determined to drag all three ancestors to the grave with her.
A Heaven Profound Realm cultivator's self-destruction would obliterate everything within tens of thousands of miles. The blast would even wipe Astral Glory City off the map.
Everyone was thrown into an uproar. The crowd scattered in terror, fleeing in all directions.
Even the Liao Clan's ancestor hadn't expected her to make such a choice. They could endure the explosion, but their clansmen—at Spirit Profound and Earth Profound Realms—wouldn't survive it.
Just then, a blazing meteor split the sky like divine judgement.
It arrived above the Liu Clan in an instant.
"DIE!" A thunderous roar exploded from the heavens, rolling over the battlefield like a divine storm.
The sudden force struck the Wang Clan's patriarch first.
His longsword froze in place, less than a meter from Liu Xiucheng's throat. He channeled all his might into the blade, but it wouldn't budge even an inch, seemingly frozen by some invisible force.