Chương 1528: 1526. Great Fang Clan

The Great Fang Clan, a family clan rivaling the Ten Great Sects with immense influence in the royal capital of the XiGuang Province. The ancestral estate was less than half a day's flight away from the capital itself and rivaled the royal palace. The vast and splendorous home, seated on one of the 20 Famous peaks of the province, struck awe and veneration into the commoners and cultivators visiting the public section for business and work.

What little of them knew was that they were the secret backer of the Southern Sect Alliance. While the Silk River Sect was the leader and the Midnight Merchants took care of logistics, the Great Fang Family was the actual puppet master that had brought the alliance itself together without ever stepping into the spotlight. Only the intense research of the Luminous Mountain Sect and the Soaring Falcon Sect had revealed this well-hidden secret.

Nobody would have expected one of the big players of the central forces to be this deeply involved with the Southern Sects. Since they had never directly involved themselves in the human trafficking and battles of Urth, nobody even suspected them until various connections and a flow of resources were ultimately revealed by their research. The Great Fang Family had never touched an Urthling, yet they bolstered their hidden forces tremendously with the resources from Urth and made use of Urthlings.

Even master Mountain had been shaken by the results of their investigation. It was not the small and twisted sects of the dark path that had benefited from the human pills and stolen resources. It had been the splendorous and bright Fang Family that profited from the suffering unleashed on Urth, stuffing itself like a child at a street stall.

The sun stood high, glinting on the vast formation array that enveloped the ancestral estate into a golden curtain of light and runes floating in the air, constantly shaping new patterns. They said not even the self-detonation of a Dao Seeking Realm Expert would be able to tear it down. Monique looked at the giant main gate of the estate, past the glittering veil. She propped herself up at the main gate, planting her feet firmly on the ground.

Tatzel's sacrifice hit the pristine tiles that paved the square, cracking them with ease. Everywhere else in the province, people of Minas Mar were wiping out the members of the Southern Sect Alliance. Dozens of Sects gone in a matter of a day, leaving only a couple of survivors who posed no threat with the single purpose to spread the news of the horror. It was all to strike fear into the hearts of this continent, so that other powers would think twice before picking a fight. However, that was not enough.

If people only heard stories of sect being wiped out, they would begin to have doubts. Right, how likely was it for a single organization to wipe out a whole alliance of sects, right? They would be stupid like that. They would look for excuses to underestimate them. This was why they couldn't leave a single doubt about their power. This was Monique's job.

"I'm Monique Lest, the Chosen of Athena and one of the 12 lords of Minas Mar! In the name of all Urthans that have suffered under the deeds of the Southern Sect Alliance and the Fang Clan, I have come to challenge the Fang Clan!" Her magically enhanced voice echoed across the square and far across the outer ring of the estate. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

People froze to gawk at the mad woman who had just challenged one of the top powers of the province, alone. There were murmurs among the crowd. People recognized the name Minas Mar from the Great Tournament that had been broadcast not too long ago. However, this only made them look at her with contempt. The sentiment was obvious. How dare a nobody from some backwater sect on a savage world challenge a pristine and renowned family of the XiGuang Province?

"Look here, country bumpkin. Your wittle savage titles mean nothing here! Now fuck off and stop harassing us with your preposterous presence. Come here, I will help you." A baboon, probably looking to ingratiate himself with the Fang Clan, approached her. He was massive and exuded a threatening aura. It was clear that he would attack the moment she was in range. Any other woman would have been beaten to death by him, even if she complied.

Too bad for him, Monique wasn't here to talk nonsense, or sense for that matter. The crowd didn't even see her move when she stepped forward and turned the man's head into a fountain of blood with a single strike. It was like his head simply exploded. Anyone in this area was a cultivator, many at various stages of the golden core realm. A man in the Golden Core Realm, around lv. 80, had died instantly and gruesomely without a discernible cause of death.

It took some in the crowd a long moment to realize the blood on Monique's silver gauntlet.

"Fang Clan, I repeat, I challenge you. You can come out one by one or all at once!" Monique called out, blood and brain matter dripping from her fist. Silence. Although the guards shook a little when she executed the loudmouth, they didn't move. Monique waited half a minute and scowled. It seemed that they didn't take her seriously. They didn't even send out someone to dissuade her. Maybe she didn't give them enough time... but why was that supposed to be hr problem? She loosened her shoulders a little.

"Very well... It seems that I'm not taken seriously..." She took a basic spear stance, readying Tatzel's Sacrifice. Circulating her power, she felt the mana and divine power broiling in her body. The enhancements of the armor were so strong that the dissonance almost made her feel sick in the beginning. Sparks crackled across the aegis and armor, without her even activating any kind of skill.

She didn't activate any additional skills, only relying on the passive boost as she used a divine skill she had practiced intensively. <Athena's Thrust>, a divine skill that perfectly enhanced her ranged capabilities. As a divine skill, a skill, and a spear attack, it received various passive enhancements from her armor. The Aegis alone tripled its power as a divine skill, and another 850% damage from the spear itself, as well as 35% Armor Penetration. Monique liked the skill because it fit her taste.

Even with several tens of times its base power, the skill was nothing fancy. It was a clean thrust. A pure technique, without any magical or elemental light effects. The spear thrusted forward with the power of Athena's Divinity. Originating from this clean thrust was the specter image of a spear that shot forth as an arrow loosened from a bow. The attack easily tore through the fancy golden shower curtain they called their barrier. The grand defensive formation they said could even stop an immortal was torn.

The giant gate was disintegrated. The spear continued to carve a path of destruction through walls and buildings beyond until it struck a secondary inner barrier and finally stopped, leaving the secondary cracked and flickering. Monique stared at the wake of destruction, then looked at the spear in her hand, and the glittering silver armor that covered her body. Although she did train to get used to her new armor, it had not been that long, and she never really had the chance...

Or rather, she never dared to unleash the full power of her divine skills. Her intentions were to provoke and lure out the ones inside and maybe crack or break the barrier... She had slightly overachieved her goals.

"I guess this should suffice," she mumbled to herself. She quickly regained her bearing before continuing with her voice once again enhanced.

"As I mentioned, you can come at me one by one, or all at once... If you aren't coming to me this time, I will come to you~" she called out, happily threatening them with her visit. Since she had already opened the gate, there was no point in staying outside if they didn't come to her.