The Steward Demonic Emperor

Pff!

You Wanshan spat out frozen blood as he wobbled to his feet, "Drifting Flowers Edifices' profound ranked martial art, Heavenly Austere Ice Palm, trained to such perfection it can even freeze my Demonic Face Seal. Congratulations, Lady of Steel."

"Valley Lord You's Demonic Face Seal is too exquisite even for me to take lightly. It's all thanks to decades upon decades of hard work that I had the honor to match Valley Lord You's skills."

With how Grandmother wheezed, looking thin and pale, she wasn't fairing much better either.

You Wanshan cupped his hands and withdrew.

Yan Bogong laughed, stepping in next, "Ha-ha-ha, Grandmother has aged with grace, coming above even the likes of Valley Lord You. How about you humor this old man next?"

"Yan Bogong, you lowlife, you just want to take advantage of Grandmother having fought a hard battle and being exhausted! You're just picking on the weak!" One overseer cursed.

Yan Bogong took it all in stride and showed a light smile, "That's a little off, my lady. We three houses joined hands just so we don't have to go one on one, how does picking on the weak fit here? We just want to duel with Grandmother right now for a bit instead of starting the assault. We're doing you all a favor!"

Yan Bogong justified himself, leaving the overseers speechless.

Grandmother let out a cold laughter, her eyes icy.

Yan Bogong implied he was giving Drifting Flowers Edifices leeway, but one thing remained unchanged. In an all out war, Drifting Flowers Edifices had the disadvantage, but it wasn't going to fall that easily, not when having a defensive array.

While Grandmother was the pillar of Drifting Flowers Edifices. With her being dead, the battle would already be over.

Even with the array, when there was no one to direct it, defeat was certain.

Yan Bogong and company wanted to cut the head and the body would follow. These duels were in fact in their complete favor.

The astute Grandmother picked up on their little trick right away.

But she accepted anyway. The three lords' defeat would have the same drastic effect on the enemy as her death.

It went without saying that it would work wonders in cutting Drifting Flowers Edifices' casualties short and would stall for their allies' support.

It really was the best choice in Drifting Flowers Edifices' current situation.

No matter how weak Grandmother felt, she had to push on. Just that revulsion at Yan Bogong preaching righteousness always came to her.

[Both sides are fighting a battle of minds, for their own interest, yet you want to look cool doing it?]

"Yan Bogong, come!" Grandmother had an icy air and a smirk.

Yan Bogong smiled there, calm and carefree. But the next second he turned savage, launching Rainbow Cloud Palm with both hands, Pill King Hall's signature move.

Grandmother knew it was coming and had a shield of ice around her as she went on the offensive.

The poison was acidic, but it wouldn't eat through the clear ice that fast.

It took no longer than a flash for Grandmother to pass through the heavy poison cloud and reach Yan Bogong with a palm strike.

Watching the icy palm inching towards his chest, Yan Bogong's heart tensed. His fate would soon be the same as You Wanshan before him.

He might be on edge at the incoming ice, but not panicked. He even had time to show off a creepy smile.

Grandmother had a bad feeling about this.

Whoosh~

From the thick fog, one man shot in front of Yan Bogong and punched. It was Merry Woods's Lin Rufeng.

"You?" Grandmother cried.

Lin Rufeng grinned, "One and only!"

The punch and palm collided. Lin Rufeng's savage power pierced the ice on her palm and wreaked havoc in her body.

With a sharp sound, the icy shield collapsed and ten fierce blows hammered her body, sending her flying.

She shot through the poison cloud and into the ground. The blood she spat tinted the ground in eerie colors.

This was the worst outcome.

Grandmother was heavily wounded and poisoned by the Rainbow Cloud Palm.

Pff!

Puffing out more blood, Grandmother glared at the two above with endless hatred, "Merry Woods' profound ranked martial art, Empty Cloud Art!"

"Our Empty Cloud Art is based on speed, splitting an attack into several blows to tear up your insides. The more advanced the cultivation, the more splits. You may have ice protecting you, but not even that can block all of them. I have managed to unleash twenty splits, ha-ha-ha.."

Lin Rufeng laughed in pride.

The overseers rushed at Grandmother's side, giving a hateful glare at the two lords above, "You no good two-bit filthy scumbags! Is that how a house lord acts nowadays, stabbing people in the back?"

"Oh, no, no, no. Didn't I say that already? This is a coalition of three houses; anything goes. Besides, us two work great together and we haven't even surrounded you with our forces yet. What's wrong with that?" Yan Bogong snickered.

The women's eyes spat fire from all the rage boiling in their hearts.

Grandmother panted, finding it hard to even speak, "Take me back, now!"

Yan Bogong snickered, "You won't get away that easy. Attack! Their head is down. It's the perfect moment to take them all down!"

"Understood!"

The sea of people came in like a tide.

The overseers rushed to get Grandmother back to safety. But Yan Bogong's team of two was faster, making a sinister strike at the retreating Grandmother.

Take her out of the picture and the Drifting Flowers Edifices would follow.

The other women rushed to defend her.

The overseers stood no chance in front of two house lords. They were dead in one blow, unable to stall one second.

Two more turned back to attack, but Grandmother stopped them.

"Grandmother!" They all cried.

Grandmother sighed, "I won't be able to survive this but you are the future of Drifting Flowers Edifices. Go, withdraw. Let Iris become the Edifice Lord. I will hold them off!"

"Grandmother, no!" They all teared up in sadness.

Grandmother barked, "You bunch of ignorant girls, how can you not see what's in front? I have to hold them back or we'll all die. Go back and wait. We will get our chance when support comes…"

Grandmother trailed off.

Not even she was certain that Drifting Flowers Edifices could come out alive, but held on to hope still.

The women saw the steel gaze of Grandmother and despite their distress, they nodded and withdrew to Drifting Flowers City.

Grandmother showed a clear smile, watching them go, "Silly girls, take care…"

"Ha-ha-ha, Chu Bijun, you should care about yourself first!"

The two closed in, Yan Bogong's creepy voice reaching her ears.

Grandmother had a cold smile, her mind set, "Humph, Yan Bogong, Lin Rufeng, as long as there's one breath left in this body, you will never tread one step in Drifting Flowers Edifices!"

Grandmother flew high at the two.

The two met her fearlessly. She had the Lady of Steel moniker, but with how downtrodden she was from that last blow, they wouldn't qualify as house lords if they backed off now.

With a bang, the two sides clashed.

The shock wave turned everything around them to dust. The two kept on attacking, even as Grandmother was spurting blood and lost consciousness.

Her frail and damaged body slammed into the ground.

"Grandmother!"

The women shed tears of pain, at their helplessness and their weakness.

Yan Bogong walked over and struck again, "Ha-ha-ha, the great Lady of Steel's head is mine for the taking!"

Something shot straight for Yan Bogong.

He squinted and looked shocked.

[Killing with intent. A Radiant Stage expert…]