Even in this situation, Baotian was unwilling to panic. He used Shooting Blood Dancing Armor to propel himself but, instead of aiming for Liu Jianhong, he aimed toward Xiao Chen:
"Ye Mu, I'll hold her with Zi Moyan, eliminate Liu Jianhong with Hanchen and join us quickly!" he shouted.
Liu Jianhong had never been adept of charms and talismans and, in a fair battle, Baotian was confident that the fox would at least be able to match him, with Hanchen being able to pose a threat with his Earth talent. Zi Moyan, in comparison, was much more suited to deal with Xiao Chen, an ice cultivator, and Baotian would be able to support her with the Golden Owl Bow and the Blood Red Flame Torrent.
But more importantly…
"Come on senior sister, we need to keep up until Ye Mu is done killing master!" he shouted.
He knew that whoever killed Liu Jianhong would be hunted down and eventually killed by Liu Zhenyun. At the point where they had arrived, the chances of escaping before his arrival were near zero, and so, Baotian wanted to avoid being the one losing all chances of survival. He didn't think Zhenyun would extend his pity to the others anyway, so they would die in every case.
'Matter of fact… Wouldn't I have a higher chance of survival if I surrendered now?' he thought.
He looked at Zi Moyan besides him, fending off ice projectiles while desperately trying to counter-attack, and armed his bow, before firing an arrow at Xiao Chen.
"Tssk" the latter said, as she easily deflected the projectile with her bare hand.
He was weak after all. Zi Moyan was the one person he knew he could trust. She was the only person who had other options and chose to stay with him. Baotian valued his own life above everything, but he feared a life where the person he was dependent on had disappeared.
And so, Zi Moyan and him kept fighting and stalling Xiao Chen, whose frustration was increasing by the moment. At the same time, Liu Jianhong was dancing among the leaves that Ye Mu attacked him with, the grace of his movements and that of his sword contrasting with his disheveled appearance, all while maintaining his guard enough that Hanchen wasn't seeing any opportunity to stab him from behind.
Even though the righteous cultivators were the one with time on their side, the elder of the Xiao clan was actually the one seeming to become more frustrated by the moment, simply because she didn't want anything to put an end to the life of her disciple, but herself. For one like her who had dedicated her life to the clan and for the clan, this was the greatest proof of love she could show to the one who was now an obstacle in their path.
And so, both at the same time, Ye Mu and Xiao Chen activated their killer moves:
"Deadly Autumn Leaves Storm!"
As the fox used his killer move, a hurricane filled with red leaves sharper than any mortal blade rushed toward Liu Jianhong, with terrifying speed and lethality. And yet, the power of this move wasn't even close to that of the one that Hanchen's former master unleashed: the cloud above them, or rather the water particles composing them, turning into tiny ice particles instead, which them split and reassembled into a large maelstrom of scalpel-sharp microscopic blades.
In itself, the move wasn't much different from Ye Mu's, a hurricane of small sharp elemental blades. The difference was the size, the fineness, the degree of perfectionement… in other words, it was the gap between an early stage and a late stage, as large as that between the lowest and the highest branch of a sal tree.
"Heavenly Winter Execution" she said coldly. "That is the name of the move that will end your miserable lives"
As the cataclysm was slowly descending upon them with a power nearly that of an early stage Nascent Soul killer move, with a barrier of ice surrounding them to ensure they couldn't escape, Zi Moyan and Baotian both paled and looked at each other with a bitter smile, transmitting their thoughts through divine sense:
"Do you have a genius plan to survive this one, junior brother?" Zi Moyan asked.
"I fear that not, senior sister… Nothing more than doing our best" Baotian replied.
"Ahh… sometimes, I forget how much of a useless junior you are"
"About that… now that we are about to die, I have a confession to make"
"Ah? What is that?"
"I… actually have memories of my past life. I died when I was around thirty years old back then. So technically, it means that you're the junior"
"Ah, junior brother, you sly bastard… is that really so?"
"Yes… I fear it is"
"Then… thank you for letting me play the senior all this time, I suppose"
They both looked upward and prepared their killer moves to try and counter it:
"Blood Red Flame Torrent!"
"Blazing Devouring Vortex!"
Even with their two moves, which had an inherent affinity advantage over ice, they only managed to shave off about forty percent of the ice. Even with ZI Moyan using all the fire spells in her repository afterward, she only managed to melt another forty percent of what was left, her spiritual energy almost exhausted as over a third of the killer move remained.
"I wish you luck, junior brother"
As the remains of the killer move descended upon them, she coated her body in blazing blue flames and began dancing amidst the cataclysm, trying to divert the impact as much as possible through the wind spells she had learnt in the Void Hurricane while also painstakingly maintaining her armor of fire.
Baotian, on his side, was not so lucky, being able to rely solely on Shooting Blood Dancing Armor for his defense. He didn't use the move just once or twice, but thrice, consuming nearly all his reserves of spiritual energy the same way Zi Moyan had done to maintain the three layers of protection that were currently the only thing separating him from death, as the microscopic ice shard broke against his armors, each inflicting a small dent to it before its destruction. As these insignificant damages piled up, Baotian could rapidly hear his armors crack.
After two minutes, the first layer had cracked and after a third one, the second had ceded as well, leaving him with only one layer of protection that was already showing signs of weakening.
'In this case…'
He forced his way through the storm and quickly joined Zi Moyan, who looked at him as if he was crazy. However, he did not care and instead began to infuse his spiritual energy into it. Quickly, right before his defense gave up, a barrier extended around him, just large enough to surround the two of them. It was the barrier artifact Zi Moyan had sworn to lend him in case he ever needed it, and that he had taken from her while they were running away through the Martial Devouring Mountains.
Now it seemed that the moment had come.
"Phew, it was really close" Baotian sighed as his armor broke down, revealing slight cuts over his body. "I didn't use it earlier since the barrier is only at the grand perfect stage of Core Formation but now that the killer move has weakened enough, it should be able to resist for a full minute. By then, I hope this cataclysm will be over"
But while Baotian was sighing in relief, Zi Moyan's expression was still dark:
"And so what, what will happen once the killer move is over?" she asked.
"We hope Hanchen and Ye Mu will have gotten rid of my master by then" Baotian replied flatly.
"And if they don't?"
"We keep stalling"
"..."
"..."
She sighed:
"II really hope we will live"
"Obviously" Baotian agreed. "People often talk about sins catching up to one, but for all I care, I surely hope I will be able to escape my sins forever. But then, maybe I simply was not fated with enough fortune to run away from my sins"
"For all I care, junior… or should I say senior brother? Either way, if you have such a fate, it might as well be burnt down" Zi Moyan said. "Many sinners before us have remained unpunished, and both you and I will definitely join them!"
"Haha…"
Baotian didn't even know if he wanted that.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Liu Jianhong was using his own killer move to resist Ye Mu's, his momentum and power increasing as he danced among the leaves, his sword shining brighter and brighter each second:
"Foolish Swordsman Last Stand!"
This killer move was composed of twenty-one different positions assumed successively, the twenty-first ending with a devastating cut toward the opponent. Ye Mu, anticipating the last move, stood on guard, as Hanchen was preparing for the opportunity it would inevitably create in the old elder's defense.
However, instead of going through with his killer move, Liu Jianhong suddenly interrupted it and took out several flying swords from his storage bag before switching his stance, choosing to take the damage from the leaf hurricane instead.
"Ah?"
Both Ye Mu and Hanchen were stunned and, using this opportunity, Liu Jianhong unleashed another killer move, using the swords he had just taken out:
"Liu Sword Technique, first formation move: Circle Piercing Brightness!"
Liu Jianhong was much weaker than his disciple, and he had used the move in precipitation, resulting in something that could only be qualified as a pseudo-Core Formation killer move. Even then, the Spirit Beast, taken off guard, couldn't completely dodge it and was thrown away while Hanchen, who had been too surprised to attack him during this action, missed his chance. Using this opportunity where nobody was able to follow him, Liu Jianhong quickly flew toward the place where elder Xiao Chen was fighting Baotian and Zi Moyan.
'Quick, I must kill the demoness!' he thought.
With all the time that had passed, it seemed strange that Liu Zhenyun had still not caught up, and Liu Jianhong was afraid that something had happened. Thus, while time was theoretically on his side, he wasn't willing to bet on it, instead choosing to take risks so they could defeat their enemies faster. As of now, the fire demonic cultivator teaming with Baotian was indeed the only real threat they faced, and her attention was likely to be entirely focused on Xiao Chen at this moment.
If he could take her off guard and cut her core in two, then even if he ended up unable to fight as a result, he didn't doubt that the other elder would be able to finish the fight by herself. Then, he wouldn't have to kill the young man from the Xiao clan and, more importantly, Baotian himself.