"Th-that... what''s that?"


    "The sky... why is it all golden light? That aura is terrifying..."


    "It''s the Celestial Pce! That''s the Celestial Pce uniform! That''s the Celestial Pce army!"


    "Dear heavens... so many cultivators, such a massive force... the Celestial Pce is... is it here to wipe out Cloudhaven City?!"


    Terror swept across the whole of Cloudhaven City in an instant, fast and vicious as the worst gue.


    The calm ease that had been sitting on the people''s faces vanished in a blink and was reced all at once.


    They broke. Order broke with them. The fear showed everywhere.


    The lively streets turned into chaos in the span of a breath.


    Vendors threw down their stalls in panic. Goods spilled all over the ground, and no one even tried to pick them up before running for their lives;


    passersby went white and sprinted for home without caring about anything else;


    children started crying from the crushing atmosphere, their sharp sobs cutting through the streets. Women clutched them tight and screamed. Men wore hard, ashen faces, but even they dragged their families around looking for somewhere to hide.


    Crying, screaming, shouting, running, the crash of things shattering...


    All of it tangled together into one frantic uproar. In a single moment, all of Cloudhaven City went from a Peach Blossom Haven to a ce where panic ruled every street.


    As for the different forces that had attached themselves to the Janis Family and taken shelter under Cloudhaven City, they were even worse off, their faces as gray as ash.


    They hid inside their homes with doors and windows shut tight, peering through narrow cracks at the Celestial Pce army hanging over the sky, blotting out the sun and boiling with killing intent. Despair and regret filled every house.


    "It''s over... it''s all over..."


    "The Celestial Pce isn''t ying around this time. They''re here to ughter the whole city!"


    "If we''d known... if we''d known, we never should''ve stayed in Cloudhaven City, never should''ve thrown in with the Janis Family... and now it''s toote to leave. There''s nowhere to run!"


    Under full power, the cityward array slowly came to life.


    A pale golden curtain of light rose from all four sides of the city. It spread upward like


    a massive dome and sealed all of Cloudhaven City beneath it.


    Spiritual light flowed across the barrier, and a protective force ran through it. But under the terrifying pressure of the Celestial Pce army, it looked so fragile, so small, as if a single touch would be enough to shatter it.


    On the city walls.


    Rnd stood at the very front, straight as a spear.


    Behind him, dozens of Sky Dragon champions waited in full readiness. Draconic energy rolled off every one of them, and every face had gone hard and solemn.


    Their numbers wereughably smallpared to the thousand-strong elites of the Celestial Pce, but not one of them stepped back. Not one of them showed a trace of fear.


    They were the Sky Dragon n, the proud descendants of the Draconians. They would die before they surrendered.


    Rnd drew in a deep breath, lifted his head, and looked straight at the golden warship hanging in the sky. Then he drove his spiritual power through his whole body and shouted at the top of his lungs.


    His voice crashed out like thunder, rolling across heaven and earth and spreading in every direction. "Lord Godric!"


    "You moved an army for no reason and brought it down on Cloudhaven City. What exactly are you trying to do?!"


    At the prow of the golden warship.


    Godric stood high above, looking down at the tiny Cloudhaven City below and at Rnd on the wall. His face did not change at all, and when he spoke, his voice came down t and cold, carrying the kind of authority that left no room to resist.


    "Rnd."


    "I did note here today for anything else. I came for one thing only. Hand over Jared."


    That one sentence carried clearly into every ear.


    Rnd''s face changed on the spot, and something in him dropped.


    So it really was Young Master Chance they hade for.


    In the end, the Celestial Pce still refused to let Jared go. They had actually mobilized an army this massive just to force Cloudhaven City to hand him over.


    Rnd''s gaze sharpened, and when he answered, every word rang like steel without the slightest retreat. "Jared is the Dragon Emperor


    acknowledged by my Sky Det


    n. He is also an honored quest of Cloudhaven City. If you want to take him, get past me first. Step over the corpses of everyst member of the Sky Dragon n first!"


    A cold, contemptuous curve pulled at the corner of Godric''s mouth.


    "Rnd."


    His tone stayed t, but the scorn in it could not have been clearer. "Your Sky Dragon n only has a few hundred people. Even if every one of you counts as an elite, what can you really do? Behind me stand more than a thousand Celestial Pce disciples and countless prue


    Immortal Realm experts."


    "Do you really think this handful of people and this broken cityward array of yours


    can stop even one strike from the Celestial Pce army?"


    He paused, and when he spoke again, the chill in his voice deepened, the threatid


    bare for everyone to hear. "I will say this one more time. Hand over Jared."


    "I promise I will only take him alone. This matter has nothing to do with your Sky Dragon n, and nothing to do with the people of Cloudhaven City.


    If you know what''s good for you and hand him over obediently, I can leave you a way to live. I can give the order and make sure not a single innocent person in the city is harmed."


    "Otherwise..."


    Godric did not finish the rest.


    But the words he left unsaid, the cold killing intent, and that crushing pressure had already made the meaning of the threat perfectly clear.


    Otherwise, the city would be ughtered.


    Otherwise, not even the dogs and chickens would be left alive.


    Behind Rnd, several Sky Dragon elders shifted, their expressions changing as hesitation crept across them.


    They looked at Rnd. Their lips moved, but the words never came out.


    They were not afraid to die. What they feared was the Sky Dragon n being wiped


    out here and the innocent people in the city getting dragged into it until blood ran through the streets.


    On one side stood Jared, the Dragon Emperor. On the other stood the lives of their whole n and the entire city.


    There was no easy choice.


    But Rnd never turned his head even once.


    He kept staring at Godric in the sky, his eyes locked and unmoving. Then, word by word, with each syble falling like a de, he said, "If you want to seize the Dragon Emperor, then step over my corpse first."


    "My Sky Dragon n would rather die than betray him!"


    "Cloudhaven City would rather die than surrender!"


    Killing intent surged in Godric''s eyes.


    Rnd''s stubborn refusal finally pushed him past restraint. He let out a coldugh,


    and his voice came down sharp enough to freeze the bone. "Good. Good. So you''d rather die than surrender. Since you''re so determined to throw your life away, then I''ll grant your wish!"


    As soon as the words fell,


    Godric suddenly raised his right hand and shed it through the air.


    "Attack!"


    With that single order,


    the thousand Celestial Pce disciples in the sky all stepped forward at the same


    time, every movement perfectly aligned.


    They raised both hands together,


    and all kinds of spiritual arts


    gathered in their palms. Gold light


    blue light, red light... the ze from it


    lit up the whole sky, and the violent


    spiritual fluctuations were so


    terlying that even heaven and earth seemed to change color


    The battle was one breath away.


    The air seemed to lock solid in ce, and the shadow of death settled over all of


    Cloudhaven City.