Ying Yang's death and Qi Lu's escape set off a chain reaction like falling dominoes, sending the battle into a sudden downward spiral.
The experts of the Barbarian God Hall, who had still been fighting like cornered beasts, suffered a crushing blow to their morale. They were soon routed by the palace experts, Zhao Feng, Lu Bing, and the others. Some died and others were crippled; not one escaped unscathed.
The rebellious Imperial Guard also lost all will to fight. Yue Lang killed Deputy Commander Wang Hai with a single saber stroke. The rest were scared out of their wits and dropped to their knees, begging for mercy.
In midair, Su Qingwan and Jingxuan attacked Moro Ke from both sides. More than a dozen rays of white light sealed off his retreat from front and rear.
Moro Ke looked into the distance and saw the enormous white sword and gray curved saber locked together on the horizon. After several clashes, both vanished. Emperor Xian of Yan's skin and flesh began sloughing off uncontrollably.
He realized that the Ancestral High Shaman had already withdrawn and that the battle was beyond saving. More than half his internal power had been exhausted, and the dark red glow on his black banner had faded considerably. The skull pattern on the banner was losing its color layer by layer, and fine cracks had begun appearing along its edges. He changed direction three times in succession within the shadows beside the stone steps, each time trying to evade the converging attacks. Yet after every adjustment, the attacks closed around him faster than before, shrinking his room to maneuver until he could no longer even stand upright.
Abbess Jingxuan's Heavenlight Mirror locked onto him as he changed direction for the third time. Rather than shining directly at