—Meanwhile, the frail, elderly man who had been in this spot was now flying through the air, hurled out of the Eye Charm Array by the living figure whose face had taken his place.
—And that airborne figure? It was none other than one of the royal guards who had just been attacking Zhan Zhao moments earlier!
Mo Dao’s heart sank.
It was then he realized that what he had grabbed was not the old man, but a slender flagpole.
Under the crushing force of his Five Poisons Asura Palm, the flagpole had splintered into countless shards, scattering like meteors in every direction.
—The slender flagpole, where a banner had once been mounted, was still emitting faint green smoke.
—This very pole had just been in Zhan Zhao’s hand, shielding the child and young mother who had escaped the Eye Charm Array from the illusory rain of the Apricot Blossom. How could it now have ended up in Mo Dao’s grasp?
Mo Dao couldn’t fathom it.
And he had no time to figure it out.
The royal guards near him were too close to evade. The fragments of the shattered pole, propelled by the residual force of Mo Dao’s venomous palm, shot toward the soldiers with unstoppable momentum. The splinters silently burrowed into their bodies, triggering anguished screams.
As those cries filled the air, a cold wave rushed forward, the icy blade of a sword cutting through the space between them. The chill seemed to seep into Mo Dao’s very skin, its sharp killing intent surging endlessly and enveloping him entirely.
A shiver ran down Mo Dao’s spine.
He leapt backward, retreating hastily. In just a breath’s time, he had moved several meters away.
Only then did he realize that this ferocious sword strike had driven him out of the Eye Charm Array.
Mo Dao couldn’t believe his eyes.
—He had been inside the array. How had the sword reached him?
He muttered in disbelief, “Impossible! This is impossible!”
Zhan Zhao couldn’t approach the Eye Charm Array. No matter how long his sword was, how could it have extended into the array?
The remaining royal guards had already retreated in an orderly fashion, forming a protective circle around Mo Dao.
Turning his head, Mo Dao finally noticed the banner in Zhan Zhao’s right hand. At the end of the pole, the rolled-up fabric was clutching his long sword. Zhan Zhao had used the flagpole as a makeshift weapon to control the sword, forcing Mo Dao to retreat without ever entering the poisonous array himself.
Zhan Zhao’s quick thinking, adaptability, and mastery of martial arts had reached an almost divine level, leaving even his most dangerous adversaries astounded.
From a distance, Zhong Xiong, who had been silently observing the battle, couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.
One of the leaders of the Iron Blood Guards approached Zhong Xiong with quick steps.
“Master, do you have any commands?”
Zhong Xiong murmured as though to himself, or perhaps with a tone of resignation, “When the prince first spoke of this matter, I couldn’t believe it. Even a celestial being with three heads and six arms would find it nearly impossible to escape from Chong Xiao Tower. The Copper Net Array that killed Bai Yu Tang—how could it fail to trap a single Zhan Zhao? Only now do I understand that the prince’s words were not exaggerated.”
The leader of the Iron Blood Guards asked, “Master, what do you mean by this?”
Zhong Xiong replied, “Mo Dao’s earlier strike carried all the essence of his inner strength, refined into a single, decisive move. Once launched, it would be nearly impossible to preempt him.”
The leader added thoughtfully, “But Zhan Zhao seems to have done just that—he preempted him.”
Zhong Xiong said, “That’s because he devised a way to make Elder Mo slow himself down.”
The Iron Blood Guard leader asked, “What way?”
Zhong Xiong explained, “When Elder Mo made that grab earlier, he had already concentrated all his inner energy into that single strike. If Zhan Zhao’s flagpole was presented to him, he would unconsciously take it. The moment he did, his inner energy would inevitably falter, slowing and dispersing slightly. To gather his energy again would take a moment, and in that brief delay, the royal guards were able to intervene and knock the old man out of the Eye Charm Array.”
His voice turned somber, filled with an inexplicable sense of loneliness.
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