… the Divergent Hunt Coalition was about to cause the defensive formation on the Starlight Jade Wolf Clan's major city to collapse by sunset. They successfully took down the battle formations of the Starlight Jade Wolf Clan and a few other powers, forcing them to retreat.
The blood of countless soldiers was shed, painting the battlefield in a big puddle of crimson here and there as though forming a system of a lake. There were severe losses on the coalition's side and minor losses in the Central Primesky Alliance's at this point, a matter that made neither party rest until they saw the other party's face contort with fear and regret.
Moreover, the three other assassination powers were also able to hold back the Ghost Tear Hall.
With no Immortal Emperors on the battlefield, the Divergent Hunt Coalition was practically a thin line away from destroying the exhausted Starlight Jade Wolf Clan's troops!
However, the Earth Dragon Clan finally took action on that very same third day, causing the Starlight Jade Wolf Clan to be saved.
Their three divisions out in the open, and six divisions that were hidden practically swooped in together and smashed the metaphorical soul out of every battle formation in their path. They circled around the city's defensive formation, expending every ounce of their energy to smash their foes before quickly retreating into the barrier, causing the coalition to curse out with fury.
But as a result, the Fire Phoenix Clan had lost a third of its forces on the first day due to their captured elite divisions getting beheaded and smashed through a killing formation and more than a quarter on the second and third due to the Starlight Jade Wolf King's overwhelming power, the Grand Starlight Wing Formation and the sudden attack of the Earth Dragon Clan's forces, so they had only a little over a few more divisions on the front lines as of today, the fourth day.
"Klavius, you bastard! Show your face!"
Patriarch Killian Zenflame was outside the Earth Dragon Clan's Dragon Gate.
Each Dragon Clan had a Dragon Gate where its guests must pass through its pressure to be able to get in. But this time, it was sealed, not letting anyone in.
The Earth Dragon Clan had closed its gates to outsiders, but that didn't stop the Divergent Hunt Coalition from swarming its gates. However, they dared not go overboard. After all, it was still the Earth Dragon Clan, and the other Dragon Clans were also here with them to ask for justice.
They waited for the Earth Dragon Clan's Patriarch to come out amidst the furious cries of those who suffered under their attacks at the last moment.
Finally, the Earth Dragon Clan's Patriarch, Klavius Rocksunder, appeared above the gates, his gaze overlooking them as he had his hands over his back.
"To what do I owe these repeated curses falling on my ears?"
"Vile Dragon! Don't play dumb with your Earth Dragon Clan's forces stationed in the Starlight Jade Wolf Clan. Do you want to explain!? Depending on how you answer, your clan could be facing expulsion from the Dragon Alliance!"
"I don't want to hear that from someone who's already expelled from their own alliance."
Patriarch Klavius Rocksunder sneered, causing the veins in Patriarch Killian Zenflame's face to erupt.
"Enough. Klavius, I really want to hear your explanation."
The Water Dragon Clan's Patriarch rose up, his voice sounding sincere.
Patriarch Klavius Rocksunder smiled, "Naturally, we want to woo our immortal inheritor into our clan, so we chose to take 'radical' methods like this Fire Phoenix Clan over here, except we're not offending our inheritor but doing everything in our power to attract her."
"…"
Patriarch Killian Zenflame's expression looked cold. He was about to open his mouth with the Light Dragon Clan's Patriarch piped in.
"Do you understand that helping the Emperor of Death is a cardinal sin at the moment since we're all affected by his karmic burden?"
"Heh!" Patriarch Klavius Rocksunder chuckled.
"When have we dragons started fearing karmic burden? So many people were there, and we left almost immediately. There's no way we could've incurred an amount that could be said to endanger our lives. Are you all afraid of superstition? Look at the Central Primesky Alliance that's siding with him against all odds. It had collapsed into a remnant of three major powers that could be considered righteous powers. Would those righteous powers take such an evil stance against the world?"
Patriarch Klavius Rocksunder argued, causing the expressions of the people below to become slightly contemplative, particularly the Dragon Clans and Phoenix Clans.
In fact, the other Dragon and Phoenix Clans weren't that interested in this war.
They only sent a single division as a form of saying that they were also taking part in this hunt. After all, they were beasts having powerful physical bodies enough to protect themselves against the lightning, not to mention only incurring heavenly tribulation when they surpassed Low, Mid, and High Levels in the three Immortal Beast Stages.
Therefore, they naturally didn't fear a little bit of karmic burden haunting them.
It made their tribulations a bit tougher? They welcomed the challenge!
"What about the others?" Patriarch Killian Zenflame looked mockingly, "We haven't fallen low enough to a level where we stopped caring about the well-being of others. Sigh, the Earth Dragon Clan has never been cowardly than-"
"Oh, stop it, you trash of a Fire Phoenix. Even your ancestor immortal inheritors abandoned you and left the Fire Phoenix Clan disappointingly."
Patriarch Killian Zenflame's eyes flickered with killing intent, but Patriarch Klavius Rocksunder sneered as he continued.
"We all know what you're after. Why don't you swear to your heart and sign a Blood Soul Contract that you won't go after your immortal inheritor Shirley Davis and I'll remove my troops from there right now?"
Everyone turned to look at Patriarch Killian Zenflame, waiting for his answer, but they only saw him tremble as he glared at Patriarch Klavius Rocksunder. They knew once Patriarch Killian Zenflame swore and signed a Blood Soul Contract, there was no escaping it as a Phoenix's tribulation involves Heart Demon Tribulation.
Any falsehood as he was done for life, never to grow ever again with him being impeded in the Low-Level Immortal Emperor Stage forever if he were to go against his words.
"Hmph! Don't blame us if we slaughter your troops!"
In the end, Patriarch Killian Zenflame waved his hand and turned back, his expression appearing incensed as he left the Earth Dragon Clan's Dragon Gate!
The gazes of the other people flickered.
They knew he wouldn't promise such a thing, thinking that it was expected, but they were all never here for Shirley anyway. They were only here to hunt the Emperor of Death down so that they could get rid of the karmic burden inflicted on them and also gain karmic virtue, not to mention that they had lost a lot of soldiers with the glorious display of force from the Central Primesky Alliance and timely help from the Earth Dragon Clan and even the elusive Ghost Tear Hall.
They couldn't possibly back down, not after suffering so many losses.
Who would take responsibility for this failure?
They remained and tried to reason with the Earth Dragon Clan Patriarch, but after explaining his reasons, he no longer entertained them and left, causing the other Patriarchs to also leave.
They couldn't possibly storm the Earth Dragon Clan's Main City, could they?
That was the same as declaring war against all the Dragon Alliances unless they had been exiled, which the Dragon Clans seemed unwilling to do even after consulting with them.
