The Dragon Clan elder's face, lit by the black mist emanating from the Demon Shadow, was as white as a sheet of rice paper soaked in water. His lips trembled, and even the fingers clutching his sleeve spasmed.
The Dragon Clan cultivators behind him who had just spoken froze with their words at their lips. Seeing the elder so utterly distraught, their Adam's apples bobbed hard twice.
"It shouldn't have awakened..." The elder's voice seemed squeezed through clenched teeth, trembling like a broken bellows. "This wasn't part of the plan!"
The moment those words landed, the expressions of several gray-haired elders in the Dragon Clan party changed drastically.
The old man at the edge, leaning on a dragon-head cane, slammed its tip into the ground. His knuckles went white with shock as he muttered, "This is bad!"
The next instant, the Dragon Clan elder whirled around, his gaze sweeping over the young men and women at the edge of the crowd.
They wore brocade robes embroidered with dragon patterns. Their brows still retained traces of youthful innocence, yet the solidity of their cultivation foundations was already plain to see. They were the most outstanding seedlings of the Dragon Clan's generation.
"Children, run!" The elder's voice abruptly rose, filled with urgent command. "Head southeast! There's a secret passage of the Lineage there!"
The youths looked at one another. The green-robed boy at the front had just opened his mouth to ask what was happening when the elder shoved him hard. "Go! If you delay any longer, it'll be too late!"
After roaring those words, the elder's spiritual radiance surged. A bluish-gray escape light wrapped around several figures, shooting toward the horizon like an arrow loosed from the bowstring.
Startled awake by his ruthless urgency, the youths dared not ask further. They