The first stone gate outside the ancestral grounds had already shattered.
When Xiao Fan arrived, black Soul Chains were dragging people out through the gap. Half the sleeve of a Yao Clan elder was caught between the stones. Both his hands clung desperately to the threshold, shielding more than a dozen children behind him.
The Soul Chains pulled taut.
The old man's finger bones snapped, but he did not let go.
Colorless fire fell from Xiao Fan's palm and swept back along the Soul Chains. A scream rang out from deep within the black mist. The old man toppled backward, but first pushed a child from his arms beyond the gate.
Xiao Fan caught the child and looked into the depths of the ancestral grounds.
The Medicine Emperor Remnant Soul he wanted was there.
So were more people dying.
"Clear a path first."
Zi Yan did not ask which path.
She pressed her five fingers into the void, and the Dragon Phoenix Pattern on her brow suddenly lit up. She forcibly tore apart the spatial barrier pinned shut by Soul Chains outside the ancestral grounds, revealing a purple-gold rift leading to the Medicine Canon square.
"Those who can walk, carry those who can't."
Her voice carried across the stone steps.
"Don't crowd. The path won't close."
A black shadow swooped down from above.
Zi Yan raised her other hand. A dragon claw closed in midair, crushing the Soul Clan expert along with his soul blade.
She stood at the entrance to the path without moving.
Xiao Fan handed the child to a fleeing Yao Clan steward, then charged through the second stone gate. Three thousand burning flame spread into a wall of fire behind him, while the ghostly white patterns of bone spirit cold flame snaked along the ground, freezing