Chương 236: A War of Revolutions

The chase out of Port Meridian was a silent, multi-layered affair. The winning group from the auction, a quartet of men dressed as nondescript merchants, moved with a swift and purposeful urgency, their path leading them away from the main trade roads and into the desolate, rocky wilderness that bordered the city to the east. They were clearly trying to disappear, to take an unconventional route back to their hidden base. Following them at a discreet distance was the second group, the losers of the bidding war.

They moved with the practiced stealth of seasoned hunters, melting into the shadows of the urban landscape, their killing intent a cold, sharp presence in the air. And following them all, completely unseen and unfelt, were Li Yu and Jian Xuan. They were two phantoms, their auras so perfectly suppressed that they had become one with the world around them. They moved with an effortless, silent grace, a pair of ancient predators observing a fight between two wolf packs.

The chase continued for nearly an hour, leading them deep into a desolate canyon of jagged, wind-carved rock. It was a perfect place for an ambush, a natural killing ground far from the prying eyes of the city's authorities. It was here that the second group finally made their move. With a sudden, explosive burst of spiritual energy, the four hunters shot forward, their movements a blur as they intercepted the fleeing merchants, cutting off their path.

The two groups, now facing each other in the narrow, shadowed canyon, did not waste time with words. The battle erupted instantly. Li Yu and Jian Xuan watched from a high, concealed ledge, their gazes analytical and cold. They were still unsure which group was their true target. One was fleeing with the prize the Beast Revolution Faction wanted, but the other was attacking them with a ferocity that suggested a deep, pre-existing hatred. The battle below was a chaotic but surprisingly even match.

Both groups were composed of seasoned fighters, their teamwork fluid and their techniques vicious. The power levels were, as they had sensed, almost identical. Each side had one leader at the early Core Formation realm, with their three subordinates all at the peak of Foundation Establishment. The two Core Formation experts immediately engaged each other in a furious duel that became the centerpiece of the battle. The leader of the ambushers, who fought with a long, elegant spear, quickly escalated the conflict.

With a powerful roar, he activated his martial spirit. A luminous, phantom image of a majestic, armored Gryphon materialized behind him, its ethereal wings spreading wide. A brilliant, golden light enveloped his spear and majestic wings emerged on his back made out of energy. The man's speed increased, the power and speed of his thrusts increased dramatically as well. His opponent, the ring-wielding man who had won the auction, met this empowered assault with a savage, almost bestial ferocity.

He did not manifest a martial spirit of his own. Instead, his eyes seemed to glow with a faint, predatory light, and his movements became unnaturally swift and powerful. His heavy iron rings became blurs of motion, crashing against the Gryphon-empowered spear with a brutal, relentless force that seemed to come from raw, innate physical might rather than a refined technique. As they fought, their taunts and curses revealed the true nature of their conflict.

"You beast-loving filth!" the spear-wielding leader roared, his Gryphon spirit letting out a silent, spiritual cry as his weapon clashed against the spinning rings.

"That orb is a sacred relic of humanity! It will not be used to strengthen the monsters that plague this world! We will take it from your corpse!"

"Your pathetic, human-supremacist delusions will die with you in this canyon, you fanatic!" the ring-wielding man snarled back, his face contorted in a mask of pure hatred.

"The age of beasts is dawning! The weak will be swept away, and only those who embrace the true, primal power of the Beast God will survive! That orb is but one piece that help us usher in the new era!" This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Li Yu and Jian Xuan exchanged a look. So, the man with the rings was their target, a member of the Beast Revolution Faction. But who, then, were these others?

They fought with a similar, fanatical conviction, their hatred for the Faction a palpable, burning force. From their high perch, they continued to watch, their goal not to intervene, but to learn.

"They fight as if they are mortal enemies," Jian Xuan murmured, his expert gaze analyzing the flow of the battle.

"This is not a simple robbery. This is a holy war in miniature." The dialogue between the two leaders continued, painting an even clearer picture of their deep, irreconcilable hatred.

"You and your kind are a cancer, a betrayal of your own blood!" the spear-wielder shouted, his Gryphon spirit flaring as he pushed his opponent back.

"You would see humanity enslaved to monsters!"

"And you are blind fools, clinging to a dying world!" the ring-wielder retorted, landing a powerful blow that made the spear-wielder stagger.

"We have fought your 'faction' in a dozen cities, and we have won every time! The momentum of history is with us, not with you!"

'They have fought often,' Li Yu thought, his mind piecing the clues together.

'Two factions, diametrically opposed, fighting a shadow war across the continent. Fire and ice, as the spear-wielder said. They truly cannot live under the same sky.' The battle raged on for several more minutes, both sides taking casualties. The two Core Formation leaders were now bloodied and breathing heavily, their spiritual energy reserves running low. They had learned all they could from simple observation. It was time to end it. Li Yu gave a single, almost imperceptible nod to Jian Xuan.

It was time to intervene. Jian Xuan did not launch a volley of energy swords. He simply stood up on their hidden ledge, his expression cold and remote, and activated his soul technique.

"Soul Dominion." The brilliant, white, spherical soul of a 2nd level Soul Formation expert emerged from between his eyebrows. It hovered in the air above him, radiating a light that was not bright, but was impossibly pure. From this seemingly small orb, a crushing, suffocating pressure, a wave of pure spiritual dominance, descended upon the entire canyon. For the two warring factions below, it was as if the sky had fallen. Their techniques, their movements, their very thoughts, seized up and froze.

The intense, burning hatred in their eyes was extinguished in an instant, replaced by a look of pure, primal terror as their souls were directly suppressed by a higher-order being. Their bodies were forced to the ground, their faces pressed into the dust. Their bitter, all-consuming holy war was rendered completely and utterly meaningless in the face of a power so far beyond their comprehension it might as well have been the wrath of a god.

Li Yu and Jian Xuan descended into the now-silent canyon, landing softly amidst the paralyzed, trembling cultivators. They walked over to the two leaders, who were struggling just to breathe under the immense spiritual pressure. Jian Xuan's gaze was as cold and hard as a winter sea. He looked down at the two defeated experts, his voice calm and dispassionate.

"The interrogation will now begin," he stated, the words carrying an absolute, unquestionable authority. He looked from one leader to the other.

"Which of you belongs to the Beast Revolution Faction?" The ring-wielding man, who had been so arrogant just moments before, began to tremble even more violently. But it was the spear-wielding leader who reacted. His face a mask of pure, unadulterated outrage, not at his captor, but at the very suggestion. The insult was so profound, so offensive to his core beliefs, that it momentarily overrode his terror.

"You think we are with those faction scum?!" he roared, his voice cracking with fury and disbelief.

"How dare you! We are from the Human Revolution Faction!" The words echoed through the silent, rock-walled canyon, a shocking, impossible revelation that hung in the air like a death sentence. The chapter of their investigation had just taken a dark, new, and terrifyingly complicated turn.