Far too late.

The sounds of battle carried with the wind, growing heavier with each step Yap Jun and the others took towards the lakeside. Yao Jun's hair and clothing fluttered as the energy dispersing out from each attack and defence blew over them, some of the energy still so potent that it pricked and cut his skin. When Sovereign Gods fought each other, all other beings should just take cover and pray, because being caught in the area was the same as being caught in a natural disaster. But even so, Yao Jun didn't show the slightest hesitation as he approached.

"Leave the first line of defence to me. Sirius, I'd like it if you can support me since you have the most fitting law, Ba-Shei, I'll entrust the proper positioning to you. Zhuan Yi, can I leave the rear to you? You'll be responsible for ensuring that we don't get followed."

He didn't make any detailed plans, there was no telling exactly what sort of situation they might encounter after all. Sirius and Ba-Shei's eyebrows rose slightly, but neither of them elected to say anything about Yao Jun placing his trust in Zhuan Yi. He was changing, and it was their duty to oversee whether or not his change would be for the better, or for worse. Zhuan Yi had no experience with the old Yao Jun so she couldn't comment on anything like that, but she could comment on his plans, or rather, she could comment on what they implied.

"You're expecting the domain to be unable to perfectly shield us? But is fighting really a viable option in this situation? I'd much prefer it if we got to actually stay alive until you can 'give me your thanks'."

Zhuan Yi wasn't someone who didn't have confidence in her strength, but the beings standing ahead of them were not something they could resist. If they were, then she wouldn't have gone to find the tomb of her ancestor to beg for help. There would only be one outcome for them if they tried to actually fight, and that would be death. Of course, this simple fact was one that Yao Jun was acutely aware of.

"I wouldn't say that I'm acting with the expectation that it will fail, but the number of times things have gone just as I wanted them to is vastly outnumbered by the number of times things have gone wrong. And I'm not making plans for fighting, I'm making plans for defending and deflecting. We're likely to only get a single shot so having some organization ready will increase our odds."

He might be embracing the fact that he had to make riskier choices due to his heightened ambition, but that didn't mean that he was going to abandon all reason. Now more than ever would he have to wrack his brains and come up with plans, no matter how rushed and small they might be, everything would help.

Zhuan Yi found his words to be reasonable, and the way he carried himself was a tacit display of how much experience he had despite his young facade. As such, she gave a slight nod of her head to show that she agreed and understood her own position. Her body shrank slightly, as if she contracted all her muscles while tensing up, preparing to burst forth with full speed at a moment's notice. A single instance would likely be all they got indeed, anything beyond that and they would die.

Sirius and Ba-Shei also took up suitable positions, Sirius standing half a step behind Yao Jun while Ba-Shei placed himself in the middle of everyone. Neither of them allowed their attention to lapse for a single instant, because both of them knew that a single mistake would cost the one serving as the frontline dearly.

The group moved at a slow and steady pace, the battle in front of them growing ever wilder. The other groups that had been in the process of rushing over quickly detected the waves of battle and increased their pace as much as they could. New people were joining the battle and dying at nearly every moment, especially thanks to those that had just so happened to be nearby when all hell broke loose.

But no matter how slow and steady the pace, what had to come would eventually come. The shore of the lake was now so close that it would only take them a few seconds to reach it, Zhuan Yi had already shrunk the domain created by the armguard so that none of the nearby people would end up accidentally entering it.

Naturally, being so close to the array that everyone was fighting over, the remnant waves of energy that hit them had only grown in intensity. If there was a ray of light for them then it would be the fact that the main competitors, the late-stage Sovereign Gods, were very careful with making moves. The moment one of them got too close to the mark on the lake, the others would team up to stop them, a moment of inattentiveness could cost even them their life.

As such, the duty of pushing for the planet-shaped mark sadly fell on the lackeys. But with the late-stage Sovereign Gods sending out attacks of their own to bait the others into moving, the fate of these lackeys could only be imagined. Yao Jun's group hadn't been gone for long, but the area around the lake was already dyed completely red, torn up bodies littering the entire shore.

"We'll aim for the part of the mark on the eastern shore of the lake, it should be a touch safer than the other parts. There's no telling what will happen so be ready."

The three others nodded their heads solemnly at Yao Jun's words, their energy already surging. That was especially the case for Sirius, who was using his Supreme Law of Defence fragments to weaken the incoming waves of energy to a bearable level. They made their way around to the part of the lake that Yao Jun had pointed towards, doing their best to avoid the various corpses that were scattered about.

The corpses would be quite useful to them, but picking them up not was accompanied by a certain risk of being discovered so they had to temper their desire. They stopped when they reached their target, a strand of energy slinking out from Ba-Shei's body and branching into a dark thread that tied all four of them together. It looked soft and pliable, but it wouldn't even take a thought from Ba-Shei to turn parts of it as hard as steel so he could easily control the positions of everyone present.

None of them wasted any time on words, making sounds wasn't the smartest idea even in this place filled with the deafening roar of battle. Chengong Ao charged towards the lake surface while they stood there, Mao Tangye and the others hurrying to stop him while also looking for the smallest opening they could take advantage of to enter the lake.

It was a risky moment thanks to the remnant waves of energy, but it was also an extremely suitable moment since everyone's attention was focused on those grand existences. So Yao Jun's group took advantage of the moment and charged ahead, near-instantly crossing the distance between them and the lake surface.

But as they got close to the array, the energy it gave off resonated with the armguard that Zhuan Yi wore. After all, the armguard and the array were both closely tied to the Thousand Arms Master, a bit of resonance was only to be expected. But unfortunately for them, that bit of resonance threw off the precise control Zhuan Yi used to maintain the domain around them.

It was only for a split second, but the domain wavered and popped like a bubble, revealing the group of four. Almost everyone's attention was drawn towards the fighting Sovereign Gods, but Yao Jun was able to instantly pick out a gaze that riveted directly onto him.

"...Here we go."

Yao Jun couldn't help but mutter to himself, but that didn't mean that he stopped moving. His hands instantly moved to the pure white glaive strapped to his back, it was pulled out and snapped together in a single move. By the time it finished snapping together, it was already swinging upwards in a diagonal manner, carrying with it every single ounce of energy that Yao Jun's body could exert.

And as the blade of the glaive rose upwards, it collided with an arrow that simply appeared out from empty space, a horrible screeching sound stabbing at the eardrums of everyone in the area. Yao Jun didn't even have to look, he could feel every single bone in his hands breaking from the impact. Had he not been using his law of ice to force his hands to maintain their shape then he would have already lost hold of his weapon.

He could feel Sirius and Ba-Shei moving behind him, the dark thread connecting them forcing the entire group into such a position that their backs were facing the mark that covered the lake. He also felt Sirius's energy rush along his body and cover his hands, forming a reflective shield on both his weapon and in front of his body. The shield helped push back the rampant energy of the collision, which was affecting Yao Jun's mind in such a manner that time seemed to slow down around him.

Yao Jun's gaze rose slightly and landed on the person behind the arrow. It hadn't been fired, it was actually being grasped and used to stab. And the person holding it was none other than Lang Tian Kong, his expression one of bewilderment as he looked at Yao Jun.

"Stop right there! How are you still alive?"

That was the only question he was able to form right now, because he knew just what sort of arrow he had shot Yao Jun with before the start of this competition. He couldn't sense the presence of an Authority from Yao Jun any longer so it likely had something to do with that, but there was no way he should have been able to survive that attack even if his Authority took the brunt of the damage for him.

Lang Kong had felt something strange ever since he arrived here, it was a sensation quite similar to the energy that his Origin Beast arrows radiated. He hadn't been able to locate the source of this sensation, but the moment the domain around them wavered, he was able to locate Yao Jun since he was the source. And while he was shocked to see Yao Jun still alive, he didn't hesitate to move, foregoing everything else.

Yao Jun had seemingly lost his Authority, but did that mean that he was less of a danger? Evidently, the conclusion Lang kong had reached was no. True, he had lost a great deal of his power, but he had survived an attack by a weapon made from a major Origin Beast. How many people could do this, how many Earthly Deities could do this?

Lang Kong felt that the number was so low that it was laughable, yet Yao Jun had done it. If anything, the realization that he could do this had only made Lang Kong recognize him as someone even more dangerous. But whatever was going through Lang Kong's mind, Yao Jun didn't care one whit about it.

"It's already too late, Lang Kong. It has already become far too late to stop me."

The energy that Sirius used to cover Yao Jun's weapon burst out as he spoke, the law of reflecting bouncing back a great deal of the power created by the collision. The remainder was enough to make Yao Jun's insides feel like they were churning, but it was also the perfect opportunity for them.

They used the force to launch themselves backwards, and since their backs were facing the open array, that was exactly where they were sent. Lang Kong was forced to handle the rebounding force of his own attack so he could only watch as Yao Jun and the others were pushed into the array, space rippling like water around them. He had failed once again, and this time he felt the gnawing sensation that Yao Jun might be right, it was already far too late to stop him.