85 Doing What One Can

Though they had originally wanted to try and help Gong Xinyue, Hua Yan saw Wen Xiulan throw her from the arena surrounded by a protective coating of Qi.

Knowing he wouldn't be of much help in the fight on stage, Hua Yan had his brother, Xuan Yan, protect Mao Qiu, Xiao Lan, and Susu Lengshi as he and Zhu Qiu cut a path through the red-robed attackers targeting members of the Devouring Moon Sect.

It didn't take a genius to understand that an enemy Sect had used the tournament as an opportunity to try and destabilize the Devouring Moon Sect but, as he still intended to join, Hua Yan considered himself an active disciple. He wanted to pay back a bit of the debt he owed the mysterious woman who had spared them so, while he wasn't going to lay down his life for complete strangers, he would help those he was able to.

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With this in mind, Hua Yan used his longsword to deflect the attack of a man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties. He had been trying to cut down two outer disciples of the Devouring Moon Sect with a vicious smile on his face so Hua Yan had no qualms about stepping in to put an end to the murderous man's attempt.

Having his blade intercepted, the man performed a swift pivot on his heel that caused his body to blur as he angled his sword and drew a secondary arc toward Hua Yan. This caused a crescent of red flames to pour from the blade as he shouted, "You dare interfere with the matters of the Searing Sword Palace...!?"

Hua Yan was momentarily surprised by the man's exclamation but, as the most powerful force on the continent shouldn't have such weak practitioners, his reasoning propelled him forward. He was able to use his own flames to diffuse his enemy's attack and, while his speed seemed to be a little slower than the man's, Zhu Qiu had appeared from the flank to sweep at him with his spear.

Surprised by the emergence of a second attacker, the man twisted his right hand to form a rune out of flames but, before he was able to fire off the attack, Hua Yan threw his sword in a flaming arc that bisected the man at the waist. This caused the light to quickly fade from his eyes but, rather than go peacefully, crimson red blood began to flow from his mouth that quickly erupted into an intense inferno.

As the red-robed man was not the first to lose his life, there were several infernos raging throughout the arena and, while many normal citizens had been able to flee, there were still hundreds of charred corpses littering the battlefield. The only place that was largely untouched was the stage used in the tournament as, after the initial surprise attack, Wen Xiulan had been able to claim the arm of one of her attackers while the other had been frozen solid in a pillar of pure white ice.

After looking around the battlefield for a brief moment, Hua Yan forced the two cowering disciples to follow along with his group as they made their way to safety. They could easily be killed by any stray attack from anyone near the level of the Sect Master so staying to observe was not an option. Since he wanted to reunite with Gong Xinyue, as they were fellows from the same original Sect, he urged the group to make haste as he cleared the way through the intense flames that had already started spreading through the city itself...

(Fenrir's Commentary: 'I smell burning...')