"If only I were stronger, I wouldn’t have to hide here, watching their backs!"
Zhao Rushi clenched her fists tightly and looked up at the sky where Xu Ma’an and others were. It was only now that she felt regret, realizing how helpless she was due to her inadequate strength.
Despite having worked hard to train over the past months, the gap between her and people like Xu Ma’an was simply too wide. She had only just managed to reach the Third Layer of the Reverting Void Realm, while even the younger generation like Xu Lianyu and Hua Lianxin had surpassed her cultivation level.
With her cultivation, she could only battle against some low-level martial artists on the front lines and was unable to be a pillar of strength in the fight.
Therefore, Lin Chen’s Second Soul Division had arranged other tasks for her: first, to refine all the herbal materials and resources within Cloud Sky City into elixirs to replenish supplies, and second, to protect Wang Yilin and Hua Lianxin from joining the fight as their strength was not suited for such a battlefield.
However, just one hour ago, the last herbal material within Cloud Sky City had been refined into an elixir, leaving the city completely without any supplies.
At that moment, while observing the distant battle, Zhao Rushi suddenly spotted a dense troop to the west that had somehow breached Cloud Sky City’s defenses and entered the city.
Zhao Rushi was shocked, as Lin Chen and the others were still fighting, and Cloud Sky City had not been breached; how could martial artists have gotten inside?
She immediately flew towards the commotion, and upon reaching the western gate, she discovered that the army consisted of about ten thousand soldiers of medium-grade cultivation, shockingly belonging to the Shuanghan Royal Family.
The Shuanghan Royal Family had been beaten to a pulp by the Jade Cauldron Sect over the past few months, yet they dared to send troops here; could it be that they saw the Jade Cauldron Sect fighting against the Red Soul Hall and wanted to take advantage of the situation?
Zhao Rushi immediately sounded the alarm and activated the city’s defenses. Although there were less than a thousand soldiers within the city, she was still confident in facing the Shuanghan Royal Family’s ten-thousand-strong army, for this was Cloud Sky City, the stronghold of the Jade Cauldron Sect.
Once the city’s formation was activated, the Shuanghan Royal Family’s army would have great difficulty resisting.
"Xu San, as Senior Brother Hong’s True Disciple, our Jade Cauldron Sect nourished you, and yet you’ve sided with the Shuanghan Royal Family. You’re truly a shameless ingrate!"
Zhao Rushi glared furiously at the leader of the Shuanghan Royal Family’s forces, who was none other than Xu San, and loudly chastised him.
However, upon hearing Zhao Rushi’s words, Xu San burst into hearty laughter.
"Nourish me? Haha, how utterly laughable!" Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on NoveI~Fire.net
"Do you not know how the Jade Cauldron Sect treated me?"
"Though I was that old man’s True Disciple, I suffered humiliation at Lin Chen’s hand; when did he ever help me?"
"Day after day, all you think about is currying favor with him, groveling at his feet."
"Do you think that by pleasing Lin Chen you will be treated well?"
"I used to be among the top ten disciples of our sect, but since Lin Chen took power, even the Sect Leader has kowtowed to his commands; what’s so great about him?"
"What about me? How did the sect ’nourish’ me? Were there any good cultivation techniques or elixirs for me?"
Xu San glared fiercely at Zhao Rushi, yelling at her.
Zhao Rushi sighed, shook her head, and chose not to explain further.
Xu San had offended Lin Chen and was disrespectful to Nephew Zhao, and should have been punished according to the sect’s rules, but Hong Yanbing saved him.
If Xu San could have contributed to the sect, he would naturally have received corresponding treasures. However, Xu San made almost no contributions to the Jade Cauldron Sect, and yet the sect was still supposed to provide him with cultivation resources.
Moreover, Xu San barely contributed to the sect and committed acts of bullying, if not for Hong Yanbing’s protection, he would have been dealt with long ago.
"You’re a shameless thing, contributing nothing to the sect, yet you turn around and bite the hand that feeds you."
"Without the sect’s resources, how could you have advanced to this realm so quickly?"
"You are like an ungrateful dog that turns to bite once raised!"
Zhao Rushi couldn’t help but outspokenly condemn Xu San as she looked at his vile face.
Hearing Zhao Rushi’s scolding and the surrounding Shuanghan Royal Family martial artists’ murmurs, Xu San’s face flushed with rage, losing all sense of reason as he grew extremely angry.
"Shut up, you old hag! Don’t think I don’t know about the affair between you and that waste, Lin Chen! Night and day, in the alchemy room, refining elixirs, you might be his martial uncle on the surface, but who knows what you did in that alchemy room— you know better than I do."
"Wasn’t it because you physically served him that he’s so compliant to you, getting all the sect’s support for cultivation?"
"And not just you, but your disciple too. You’re all the same. Looking all shiny on the surface, who knows all the fancy things you’ve been up to in secret."
"How pretentiously high and mighty you act, as long as you serve that boy well, you could get endless cultivation resources—what about me?"
"Should I, like that old bastard Hong Yanbing, go wagging my tail at him for powerful resources?"
"I didn’t, and look where that’s gotten me, right?"
At that moment, Xu San was completely consumed by rage as he hurled a barrage of abuse at Zhao Rushi.
Hearing these words, Zhao Rushi and the other martial artists’ expressions immediately turned icy cold.