In an instant, hundreds of battles erupted over the Swan Sea.
Back during the eruptions, battles between the two sects had erupted over the Natural Essences. But those weren't life or death battles, just a struggle to see who could reach a treasure first. Once someone got the treasure, the battle grudgingly ended. These battles, on the other hand, were very much battles to the death.
The Elders of the Swan Sea Sect tried to stop the New Port Sect disciples, but found their moves intercepted by the Elders of the New Port Sect. The center of the Swan Sea became a chaotic area as dozens of Core Formation Realm cultivators began fighting. Each of their attacks could shake and split the sea, and with so many launching at once, it became impossible to approach the center area.
And while the Elders found themselves occupied, the disciples of the New Port Sect were free to hunt down the Swan Sea Sect.
They fought like savages, every strike aiming to kill. Their eyes were filled with rage, their minds filled with the desire to avenge their sect. Some Swan Sea disciples tried to fight, but most chose to flee to shore. Their competition already proved that they were no match against the New Port Sect, and the disciples knew if they fought, they would die.
This time, the Sect Master and Elders wouldn't step in when the battle got dangerous. They had their hands full dealing with Macnair and his Elders.
As for everyone else, they did the most sensible thing and fled. Harry saw thousands of unaffiliated cultivators fleeing as rapidly as they could. The Patriarch of the Hopkins Clan took out a formation paper, which he activated, and every member of his clan disappeared in a twist of space and flash of light. Everyone else frantically sped away from the site of the chaos.
"Gwenog, today will mark the death of the Swan Sea Sect!" Macnair yelled. "I won't rest until I slaughter your sect down to its last chicken and dog!"
"Die!"
His battle-axe smashed into the Sect Master's blue blades, and the war began.
The disciples of the New Port Sect spread out across the waters, hunting down the disciples of the Swan Sea Sect. But a small contingent of cultivators were shooting directly towards Harry and his friends. In the front was a raft carrying the two Nott brothers, and behind them were ten or so cultivators at the high-level of the Qi Absorption Realm, closely following Theodore.
With a large, bloodthirsty grin on his face, Theodore withdrew his sword and pointed it towards Harry.
"James, you heard my master! Today is definitely the day of your death!"
"Rainstorm Storm – Rain Pours from the Sky!" he roared.
The sky of the waters between Harry and Theodore was filled with a screen of blades. They descended, swords of death reaping the lives of all who stood underneath. Seven disciples of the Swan Sea Sect, and plenty more unlucky and unaffiliated cultivators, were caught in the crossfire. They screamed as their bodies were pierced through and riddled with holes. They didn't even have a chance to resist before they were slaughtered. Blood gurgled out their bodies as they collapsed and fell over, into the depths of the Swan Sea.
Harry himself only avoided that attack by a few meters. If his friends were any slower in propelling the boat, he would have died too.
He saw Scott throw up over the side of the raft, and the rest of his friends looked sick too. But the moment after, desperation overtook them and they put all their energy into propelling the raft forwards.
'What can I do?' Harry thought in panic. There was no defense he had against that move, and Theodore Nott was too far away for them to launch any attacks back.
There was only one option – flee!
"Faster, faster!" he cried, and paddled the raft as hard as he could.
Rebirthing Muscle!
His powerful strokes sent the raft forward, but it wasn't enough. Theodore Nott, his younger brother, and the 10 other disciples behind him were quickly catching up. And in the background, he saw the rest of the New Port Sect crazily attacking the Swan Sea Sect.
He saw one man from the New Port Sect drive his sword straight through a disciple's chest – just a few nights ago, that man had been doing his best impersonation of Harry kicking Theodore Nott in the balls during the celebration party. His face was twisted in pain and terror, and then with a single slash, his head fell off his neck, into the waiting hand of his murderer. Immediately, the man set off to find another disciple to kill.
He saw a group of two Swan Sea Sect disciples gang up against a New Port Sect disciple, who was being pushed backwards under the onslaught of desperate attacks. But then two more New Port Sect disciples joined the battle, and the two from the Swan Sea Sect were killed.
He saw weapons fly and cultivation techniques erupt, Magic Spirits bloomed and cries were silenced across the Swan Sea. Everywhere Harry's eyes glanced, he saw the death and destruction of the Swan Sea Sect. The sea was dyed red with blood.
And in the front of it all, headed directly towards him –
"James, I'm going to give you a miserable death!" Theodore screamed over the Swan Sea. "I'll teach you the price of offending a Sacred Clan! I'll peel your skin and cramp your muscles, flay your flesh and grind your bone to dust! Die! Rainstorm Sword!"
He thought of nothing other than killing James as slowly and painfully as possible. The only way he could wipe away his previous shame was to make an example out of James.
Above their heads, another storm of blades appeared and descended down. With a roar of power, the Inner Disciples on his raft pushed out with their Qi, desperately sending a blast of energy backwards. Their raft jolted and leapt forward, just narrowly avoiding the descending blades.
Except for one of them, which shot downwards with uncanny accuracy – directly above Shaun's head. It pierced right through the top, sinking through his cranium and brain, and entering as far as the throat. His eyes were wide open in surprise, as if he couldn't understand what just happened.
"G-guys? What – what just –" before he could finish his sentence, blood spurted out his mouth, and he toppled onto the raft.
"Shaun!" Harry screamed.
'No, no, this can't be real!' he panic-strickenly thought. Shaun – not Shaun!
He caught Shaun right before he fell, and felt the bile rise to the back of his throat. He could see straight through the wound in his head down to his throat, a mess of brain and flesh and blood. Completely shocked, he let Shaun's prone body fall through his arms.
Shaun…
Shaun…
Back when he entered the sect, and knew nobody, Shaun was the first person he met and befriended. It didn't matter that he was just an Outer Disciple, Shaun came over and introduced himself all the same. He was the first person to approach him in the Swan Sea Sect – in fact, he was the first person to ever approach him like that his entire life.
"No!" he wailed, but Shaun lay there, motionless except for the river of blood gushing out his body.
"Haha, how does it feel, James?" Theodore Nott's face was twisted in a sadistic pleasure, and he readied his blade again. "All your friends will die today!"
"Go! Go!" Harry screamed, panic completely overtaking his brain. For the first time in a long while, he was in a fight he had absolutely no confidence to win in. Actually, this couldn't even be called a fight. A fight meant both sides were fighting. In this case, someone was attacking, and he was fleeing. If he didn't get away, he would die without a doubt.
Slade let out a curse and took out a vial of pills. He distributed one to each Inner Disciple, and they popped them into their mouths. In just a few seconds, their bodies erupted with power. All of it went into propelling the raft, which shot forward with renewed speed.
'That – is that some kind of pill to stimulate Qi? It gives them a boost of power!'
Harry knew pills like this existed, but had never seen one personally. They were only taken in life-or-death situations, as they were very risky to consume. Although the user got a huge increase in power, it was temporary, and they ran the risk of severely damaging their own body afterwards – sometimes permanently. Such a price was only worth it if their life was in danger.
The other issue with these pills was that they consumed the user's Qi very quickly. At most, the effects would only last for a few minutes. In that case –
"Take these!" Harry cried as he pulled out his two remaining Qi Gathering Pills, and forced them into Slade's hands. He was saving those for reaching the 9th level of the Body Tempering Realm, but there was no point in that now.
"Thanks!" Slade exclaimed, and stuffed one into his mouth while handing the other to Scott. In an instant, the Qi around this area of the Swan Sea gathered into a vortex that shot and funneled straight into their bodies.
They were originally on the far side of the Swan's Seamount, well away from the shore. To avoid getting caught up in the fighting in the center, they had to take a circuitous path back to the Swan Sea Sect. Now, with the power boost, they were outside of the immediate area of fighting, and increased the distance between them and Theodore. Though they were still in a very dangerous area, only a few miles separated them from the safety of the sect.
Then Harry saw them.
They were still in the distance, but fast approaching the center of the Swan Sea. From the shores of the Swan Sea Sect, three rafts of Elders were speeding towards the fighting. They split up, each heading towards a group of fleeing Swan Sea Sect disciples – one of them right towards Harry and his friends.
Harry and his friends collectively gasped in relief. Just a few more minutes, and they would be saved.
Battle raged in the center of the Swan Sea. These were battles between cultivators at the Core Formation Realm, and each attack sent tremors and shockwaves across the sea.
Over 60 cultivators were engaged in a chaotic fight to the death.
Though the Elders of the New Port Sect were more vicious, the Elders of the Swan Sea Sect were no pushovers either. For the most part, the fighting was a stalemate.
Generally, when two people at the same level of the Core Formation Realm fought, it was difficult to kill their opponent. Unless one had overwhelming strength and could finish their opponent off in a few blows, the best one could hope for was just injuries. A Core Formation Realm cultivator surely had numerous treasures and life-saving artifacts accumulated over their life, and rich battle experience to have made it so far. And if the worst came to worst, they could retreat. It was rare for battles at the Core Formation to end in death.
The Elders of the Swan Sea Sect were only half-focused on the battle because they needed to rescue their disciples. If they didn't save them, there was no telling how many would die to the hands of the New Port Sect. Knowing that, the Elders of the New Port Sect were focused on stalling and restraining their opponents, enjoying the helplessness written all over their faces.
And in the center of the fighting, a long, overturned boat had been converted into a makeshift battle stage. Two aloof figures faced each other on opposite ends.
"Macnair, you have guts to attack my sect," Gwenog Jones coldly said. "The 20 Tier 2 sects have long-standing agreements to not fight each other! You've broken the peace!"
"Agreement?" Macnair responded simply by laughing.
"True, we have an agreement. But who enforces that agreement? Isn't it the heads of the Tier 1 cities and the capital that step in to manage the Tier 2 Sects? In other words, the Sacred Clans? And if the Sacred Clans are on my side, then that agreement doesn't mean shit!"
"The Sacred Clans are not on your side," the Sect Master evenly replied.
"Haha, you've been holed up in your sect too long, Gwenog! Perhaps you don't know the position your side is in?"
"Of the 28 Sacred Clans, 20 of them are on our side! And of the remaining eight, there are only two who have any power to contend against us! But that'll be changing very soon! Once that happens, we will be in control of the whole empire. Your agreement means nothing if there's no one on your side to enforce it!"
"You mean, there are three Sacred Clans."
Macnair's face twisted into displeasure, but only for a moment.
"So what if there's the third? Once we unite the rest of the empire, will they be able to stop us? And even if they aren't on our side, they certainly aren't on yours either," he snarled.
"Regardless, your grand dreams of taking over the Scarlet Phoenix Empire will never come true. Your master was killed 20 years ago, and without him, the rest of you are just rabble to be cleaned up."
"Rabble?" Macnair echoed her words, and let out a long laugh.
"If we're the rabble, then why is your side hiding or fleeing like wounded dogs? And look around Gwenog, look across the Swan Sea. Watch your disciples getting slaughtered – just who is the rabble, and just who is doing the cleaning? Does it pain you to watch your disciples dying?"
"It does pain me greatly," the Sect Master admitted, her voice full of sorrow.
"But the rest of my Elders are here now. With our reinforcements, we'll defeat you and your Elders, and then we'll end your sect. We may have taken heavy losses, but we'll still be the victors."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that. You're not the only one who brought reinforcements."
On cue, two cloaked figures appeared behind Macnair. They were the two distinctive people Harry had noticed earlier, the two squat and lumpy figures. The two of them took off their hoods, revealing a pair of identical facial features, chubby and pig-like. Both wore cruel, malicious grins.
"Amycus Carrow, Alecto Carrow, you two are with Macnair?" the Sect Master's expression darkened.
"What a pleasure, Gwenog," the tall man let out a nasty laugh. "Is your Master doing well?"
"Since you two have come, then die!" the Sect Master finally lost her composure. All nine of her blades came out and shot towards her opponents at once. They streaked through the air, like nine blue flashes of light, shooting directly at the three people.
In response, the Carrows brought took out two discs. Once they appeared, they rapidly expanded to many times their size. It looked a metal wall appeared over the sea, a wall where every inch of the metal was covered in inscribed runes. The next moment, the Sect Master's nine blades struck the wall, sinking a few feet in but unable to go further.
"Weak, too weak!" the woman, Alecto, taunted from behind her enormous shield.
"Why the hostility?" the man, Amycus, asked in mock surprise. "Could it be, talking about your Master is a sore spot?"
"My Master may have faked his death, but at least he wasn't killed when caught murdering a baby," she retorted.
"Let's see how long he can survive then. I hear some of our friends are catching up –"
CLANG!
Her swords buried themselves into the shield, but it still wasn't enough to shatter it apart.
"Your turtle shell won't protect you forever," Gwenog Jones sneered, and with a grasp of her hand, the blades shot out of the wall, then veered off towards the sides and above.
"We don't need forever – in fact, I think just 10 more minutes will be enough," Macnair darkly chuckled. He emerged from behind the shield and attacked the Sect Master, forcing her on the defensive and preventing her from interfering with the battles across the sea.
"Judging from your expression, you don't think we can finish your sect off in 10 minutes? You should know, we've been eyeing your sect for years now, and have made many preparations for this day," Macnair leered.
"Like what?" the Sect Master contemptuously asked. "Is 3 vs 1 not enough, and you need additional helpers to fight a woman?"
"Haha, something like that!" Macnair's face lit up with the joy of absolute victory, an expression that made the Sect Master's heart sink. He turned to yell across the Swan Sea.
"Now! Mayson, what are you waiting for? Attack now!"
The Sect Master's eyes widened, and her head whipped around, towards where she knew the Ivory Fist Clan was. For the first time in the fight, an expression of panic could be seen on her face. Sure enough, their Patriarch was standing on their ivory boat, dressed in a full suit of armor with his weapon in hand. Behind him were dozens of strong men from the Ivory Fist Clan, all in Qi Absorption or Core Formation Realm.
"Men, the time for our Ivory Fist Clan to rise has arrived! After today, we shall be the sole rulers of the Swan Sea City! Go! Kill off the Swan Sea Sect!" the Patriarch roared.
"Kill! Kill!" the men behind him chanted, and their boat shot straight towards the center of the Swan Sea, joining in the fight against the Elders.
"You – Mayson, your Ivory Fist Clan is seeking death!" yelled the Sect Master. Three of her enormous blades veered off to attack the Ivory Fist Clan, but they were intercepted by the Carrow twins.
"Did you expect this?" Macnair grinned. "As I said, we've been preparing for this day for a long time. You should just obediently stay here, and watch as we kill off your entire sect."
"Macnair, scram!"
The Sect Master made a grasping motion, and then the water of the Swan Sea rose and shot towards the three Death Eaters. It was almost like another eruption of the Swan's Seamount, except this one was targeted. Thousands of streams of water formed into spears that pierced towards the three Death Eaters.
And behind her, a pair of feathery brown wings appeared. They were illusory at first, but quickly solidified and attached themselves to her back. They looked like the wings of an eagle, but for the largest eagle one had ever seen. The wings dwarfed the Sect Master herself, but she controlled them effortlessly. With a powerful flap of her new wings, she shot towards her three opponents in a blur of speed and valiantly fought the three at once.
These wings were her Magic Spirit, and also the source of her nickname, the Swan Sea Harpy. She loved to fly – when she wasn't flying on her wings, she was flying on her swords – and her wings were the perfect reflection of her personality. They were also a powerful Magic Spirit for combat. Her wings gave her the aerial advantage, allowing her to launch attacks from above, and from a distance hard for her opponent to reach. Her speed was also increased by many times. But when fighting against three people, there was only so much she could do.
"Not even your Harpy Wing Magic Spirit will save your sect today," Macnair sneered.
In his hand, a simple-looking but terrifying axe came into existence. Holding his Magic Spirit in his right hand and his regular battle-axe in his right, Macnair sent both weapons slamming towards the airborne Sect Master. The two Carrows joined in, and in the midst of the sea, over a dozen weapons clashed together in an ear-splitting explosion.
And the result was that the Sect Master was violently shot away, struck flying across the Swan Sea. Though Gwenog Jones was a powerful cultivator, she couldn't defeat all three of her enemies at once, especially not when she was distracted by the massacre of her sect taking place. With a desperate cry of rage, she flew back into fray and resumed the disadvantageous fight.