Xiao Peng didn't back down.He drew one breath, then let go of everything he had been holding back.A Primordial Realm third level aura exploded out of his body like a wave with no fixed shape but felt across every inch of that corridor. The stone walls shook. The spiritual lanterns on the ceiling swayed. And the pressure expanding from the figure wearing an ordinary servant's face struck everyone within range all at once.Several elders still at the lower edge of Primordial Realm staggered, dropping to one knee by reflex before they even realized what their bodies were doing. The core disciples in the back rows had it worse. Some blacked out instantly, others vomited where they stood, their knees hitting the floor with nothing they could do to stop it.The pressure was too overwhelming for bodies that weren't prepared.Lu Zonghe and Gu Yanhao didn't stop. But both were forced to slow their steps momentarily, adjusting their spiritual energy to keep that pressure from entering their m

A moment earlier.The sound of chaos from outside the door came through clearly.Lou Bingxin's shout ordering the elders. The clang of swords and the blast of spiritual energy from the fight in the corridor. The sound of running footsteps from every direction converging on one point.Kael didn't turn around.His hand came up again, his knuckles no longer feeling right. The bones in his right fingers had fractured at several points, dried blood caked between them and dripping onto the stone floor below. But silver energy was still flowing from his palm, filling every crack in those bones to keep them from collapsing completely before this was done.The array in front of him was down to one layer.The final layer, the one with no color but the heaviest of all.Kael drew one breath, gathering silver energy from every meridian into a single point at his clenched right fist, until the skin over his knuckles looked like it was glowing from within.Then he threw the final strike.BOOM!Not t