Arrival of the battle.

Upon receiving Yao Jun's agreement to the alliance, Yuri's lips curved into a wide grin. Her eyes blazed with excitement so bright that it was almost blinding, her palm slapping the table between them and turning it to dust.

"Alright! I'd love to see who's going to try to stop us from snatching that tower! Come, Luosho is sure to leave the city as quickly as possible, we can't waste too much time dilly-dallying."

Yuri swiftly stood up and headed for the door, raring to charge head-first into battle and go wild. Yao Jun also stood up, stopping Yuri by placing his hand on her shoulder and holding her back.

"Wait. We'll go now, but I don't want you charging in like an idiot, if you do that, the alliance is off. I'm not going to tell you to listen to my orders, but at least wait for me to give the clear signal before charging in."

Who knew just how many people would end up taking part in that battle, charging in head-first was suicidal and stupid, they had to observe and wait for the right moment. Yuri's shoulders slumped and she puffed out her cheeks slightly while pouting.

"Boooo, no fun. But alright, I don't want the alliance to end right after it has begun, so I'll defer to your judgment for now."

Yao Jun felt like letting out a sigh when faced with Yuri, he could tell that dealing with her would result in him getting a headache. But at least she was willing to listen, for now at least. He shook his head lightly, space around them rippling while he talked.

"Alright, don't resist, I'll bring us to a place where we can better observe the battle."

Yuri did as he asked and didn't resist, allowing herself to be teleported through space alongside Yao Jun. The two immediately arrived a good distance outside of the city, the southern exit visible in the distance. They appeared on an outcropping close to the top of the valley wall, allowing them to clearly see everything that went down on the bottom of the valley. Yao Jun sat down on the stone, his shadow stretching out and swallowing them, a layer of distorted space surrounding the shadow afterward to serve as another layer of protection.

"Alright, now we just have to wait here, they should be arriving within a few hours."

Yuri looked at the dark void around them with eyes glittering with curiosity, stretching out her hand and poking at the edge of the void, from which she could see the valley around them. Her finger easily passed through the edge, showing her that she could leave whenever she pleased. After inspecting it as much as she pleased, she sat down and faced Yao Jun.

"You're able to spy on Luosho and tell where she is?"

If Yao Jun was truly able to spy on Luosho Li like that, Yuri would have to raise the already high opinion she had of him. Did Yao Jun have the capability to spy on Luosho Li with his law of space? He did not, so he shook his head and gave a short explanation.

"No, I can't spy on her, but it's easy to spy on the people traveling with her, as well as the people tailing her to ambush her."

Yao Jun had memorized the faces of everyone he had seen at the auction, especially those that had been following Luosho Li. He had started keeping a close eye on them the moment Yuri came with her proposal, tracking their movements and keeping an eye on their surroundings. Of course, as he wasn't actually seeing her, he couldn't be certain that Luosho Li was traveling with them.

But the southern exit was the best place to leave the city, it was the closest to the coliseum and it provided the most space for movement. There was also the fact that there were quite a few other people already tailing the group of people that Yao Jun was tracking, he found it unlikely that so many people would track the wrong group so closely. Yuri nodded her head, continuing to peer past the edge of the void and observing their surroundings.

And then, a few hours later, Yao Jun's statement proved correct. Luosho Li approached the area along with her entourage of 24 people. Some of them had a few wounds and some of them had some blood on their clothing, signs that they had already encountered other people that ambushed them. Yuri quickly stood up, her eyes blazing once more.

"Alright, you weren't wrong! Let's go!"

Yao Jun tapped his finger on his thigh, causing the darkness around them to spawn countless tendrils that prevented Yuri from leaving the area. He then had the tendrils force her into a sitting position, something he could only do since she wasn't resisting.

"Are you an idiot? Do you think I picked this place as our hiding spot on a whim? This is the widest part of the valley, it is also covered in countless caves and outcroppings, its the perfect place to prepare an ambush. There are already 16 other groups of people here, and there might be more. We continue to wait."

Yuri puffed out her cheeks slightly, shaking off the tendrils and sitting on the ground in a grumpy fashion. She sent an unsatisfied glare at Yao Jun, a crafty light flashing past her eyes as her lips curled into a taunting smile.

"You know, for someone with your strength, you certainly are cautious. What's the matter, are you scared?"

Yao Jun didn't even turn his head to face her, merely casting a sideways glance at her out of the corner of his eye while continuing to keep an eye on the valley. Just as two of the groups in hiding burst forth from their hiding spots and surrounded Luosho Li, he shrugged his shoulders.

"Is that supposed to be a taunt? Sorry, but that's not going to work on me. And you're damn right I'm scared, you'd have to be a fool to not be scared in a situation like this. Fear isn't something bad, as long as you don't let it control you. You have to overcome it, use it to drive you forward. Did you never learn that?"

It had almost always been fear driving Yao Jun forward, the fear of disappointing those close to him, the fear of losing them. It continuously pushed him forward, made him aim for higher heights. Yuri wanted to say something, but Yao Jun pointed towards the battle below and spoke up before her.

"Liven up, we're approaching the start of the main show."

Yuri cast her gaze beyond the edge of the void, her eyes lighting up when she saw the scene below them. Luosho Li's group had easily dealt with the first eight groups that had come for them while Yao Jun and Yuri were talking, but now some big contenders had arrived. Berius Daemon, Xiao Yan, and Ysolde, their three groups all burst forth at the same time and besieged Luosho Li.

Two fragment lords and Peyton's strongest subordinate, as well as their own subordinates, were completely surrounding Luosho Li and launching attacks from all angles. Yao Jun paid specific attention to Xiao Yan, he carried a fragment of Yao Jun's own God Gate after all. Xiao Yan stood at a bit of a distance, using a bark-like bow to launch attacks from a distance while sending out countless Demonic beasts to serve as defense and frontline.

Yao Jun frowned slightly when he saw Xiao Yan's way of fighting. All the Demonic beasts he sent out varied greatly in their strength, some had reached the various stages of the Immortal Rebirth realm, while others had only reached the earliest stages of the cultivation realms, some were even so weak that they hadn't even reached the 4th Houtian Sky.

Just why did Xiao Yan have so many low-strength Demonic beasts? Why hadn't he focused on bringing them all up when he could increase his strength by having them grow or evolve? Other than these questions, Yao Jun wasn't too fond of the way Xiao Yan was using his Demonic beasts. He used them as fodder, expendable pawns he could toss out whenever he pleased. As the one who carried the Demon God's Gate, seeing Xiao Yan treat his own Demonic beasts like this didn't sit quite right with Yao Jun, almost like an instinctual reaction.

But Yao Jun didn't make a move, he continued to wait and observe, closely observing even the smallest movements of the people below them. Luosho Li was stronger than the enemies, but they were able to tie her down using superior numbers and several formations. But if Yao Jun had to admit who among them seemed the most terrifying, he would have to admit that it was actually Berius.

Berius fought in a somewhat similar manner to Xiao Yan, conjuring forth a countless number of souls and corpses, having them rush forward to swarm Luosho Li. But in his grasp, he was holding a massive greatsword, so it didn't seem like this was his usual way of fighting. This was the first time Yao Jun had seen someone carrying a fragment of the Ghost God's Gate fight, and he had to admit that he hadn't quite expected this. Just how terrifying was the sight of an endless horde of dead swarming you?

Just like Yao Jun was watching the battle closely, so too was Yuri, her eyes blazing with excitement and a desire to simply charge forward and join the fray. But she kept herself in check for now, awaiting the arrival of the true main show. And just as the thought crossed her mind, Yao Jun spoke up from beside her.

"Here they come. Prepare yourself, we'll join the fray shortly after they enter it and cause havoc, we can't let either of them snatch the tower."

She quickly understood what he meant, her eyes turning towards the distance as her lips curled up. Two groups were rapidly flying over from the distance, one group led by Baam Noctris and the other by Mascheny Materius. The two other big players had arrived, their arrival heralding the start of a truly chaotic and bloody battle.