In Chen Haoran's private chambers, he was seated in meditation. A small whirlpool of Qi essence was being absorbed into his body. Everything was calm until
BOOOMM
A thunderous explosion rocked his private chamber. The wall trembled and the ground quaked as a deadly pressure descended upon him. Chen Haoran's eyes snapped open. Without hesitation, he jumped to his feet and rushed out of the room. As soon as he stepped into the corridor, he saw his mother, Xie Meilin, rushing towards him like a shooting star, her robes fluttering in the air wildly, and her face was pale and anxious.
"Mother, what's happening, he asked, startled by everything.
"There's no time to explain." She grabbed him into her arms before he could react and shot through the air like a streak of light heading towards the Patriarch's Pavilion.
The wind howled past as she flew with her son in her arms. Chen Haoran's eyes narrowed as he looked up to the sky. A massive protective formation shimmered above the city, its lights flickering as it stopped shockwaves from a battle above it. Above the formation, he saw the clan's ancestor, Chen Hao, locked in a ferocious battle against two terrifying figures.
One looked more like a beast than a man. He was covered in gray fur with long, sharp claws. The other figure was an old man, who was so thin he looked like a shriveled corpse.
Even though Chen Hao's still suppressed them slightly, his expression carried only desperation and despair.
Chen Haoran's body trembled slightly as his gaze drifted lower to another battle. He saw his father, Chen Daotian, covered in blood, his robes torn into shreds, even so, he still swung his saber with ferocity, facing two heaven spirit realm experts all by himself. The four great elders faced the three remaining heaven spirit realm experts, yet were still at a disadvantage.
And then, finally above them all, he saw a man with his hands clasped behind his back with his eyes closed, his face veiled behind blinding light. The pressure rolling off his figure made the air around him twist and hum. Above him, a small black light floated, pulsating with sealing runes that supported a black dome that covered the city, isolating it from the outside world.
"A saint." Chen Haoran mumbled, his pupils tightening.
Xie Meilin gritted her teeth and sped towards the Patriarch's Pavilion. In a matter of breaths, many people were already rushing into the Pavilion as they arrived. She held her son tighter as she stepped through the gate and sped through the hallway to the ancestral Hall. The ancestral Hall was forbidden to all except the Ancestor, Patriarch and Great Elders. Yet today, it was filled with three dozen direct descendants of the clan. In the middle of the Hall, a massive array was carved into a large flat stone. Around it stood three dozen people with pale faces, dread and sorrow filling their eyes.
Chen Haoran's gaze swept through them. He saw Su Qing, her face was pale, with a trembling Chen Ruifan clinging to her. He also saw Chen Ruolan and Chen Lianhua, both clutching each other's hands tightly.
Xie Meilin led him through the crowd to stand beside her sister wives. The spirit array in the middle of the room was a top secret of the clan, only known to the higher ups. It was created by a Mystic rank formation master long ago to repay a favor to the Chen Clan's founder. There was never a need to use it until now.
The door slammed open as old man with grey hair rushed in with panic and sorrow on his face. He was a peak Earth spirit realm Elder of the Clan.
Without wasting a second, he dumped an obscene number of qi essence source crystals along the edge of the array. With a trembling voice he spoke as he was dumping the essence crystals.
"The Clan is in danger of annihilation. I don't know the reason, but the ancestor sent a soul message before the battle above began. A saint has locked down the city and is hell bent on destroying our clan. We can't contact the Primal Heaven sect for reinforcement because of the seal."
Gasps and cries broke out among the crowd, but he continued. His voice much steadier now. "This space array can only teleport three dozen people, ten thousand kilometers away."
He turned to Su Qing and pulled out a storage ring and offered it to her.
"First Matriarch, as soon as everyone is teleported safely away, use your jade slip to contact the Primal Heaven Sect and ask for reinforcement. If reinforcement arrives in time and saves the clan from destruction, you are to return the storage ring. If not…" His breath hitched, "hand it over to the first young master and help him rebuild the Chen Clan anew."
Everyone fell silent. Even the sound of the battle raging above the clan felt distant.
"Everyone, step into the array." The elder said quietly.
As soon as everyone stood upon the flat stone, the elder channeled his Qi essence into the array and activated it.
The array began to hum, swirling brighter as the glow enveloped everyone completely.
Above in the sky, the Saint suddenly snapped his eyes open. 'Why do i sense space force?' His divine sense erupted and swept through the entire clan. The next moment his expression darkened. His body blurred and disappeared.
When he reappeared, he was already standing inside the ancestral hall.
His gaze landed on the glowing array and twelve figures fading from sight upon it.
His aura erupted in anger. "You dare." His hand lashed out, a wave of Qi tore through the air, striking the array like a divine hammer.
BOOOOM!
The entire room exploded into blinding light. The elder who activated the array turned into blood mist.
As the dust settled, the Saint stood amidst the ruin, expression calm yet cold. "A space storm should finish them off, but to be safe, we should wrap this up quickly." His figure blurred and vanished again.