Hundreds of figures gathered around them, each of them carrying the same face – a face that looked exactly like Lonemoon's.
"Why is Elder Lonemoon...?" Yu Hong was confused as well. All of those figures looked the same. They couldn't all have been Lonemoon's siblings, could they?
"They've duplicated Father Niu's data," Shen Ying said. Her expression darkened as she scanned the figures around her, one by one. In a low voice, she said, "Not one of these people are real."
Once the group got over their shock, they managed to respond. Once again, they attacked the figures around them. Now that they could see these figures, they could retaliate properly. The different colored lights from their different techniques filled the sky once again.
The hundreds of Father Nius charged toward them, battling intensely with the group. Very quickly, the group discovered that the figures did not just look like Lonemoon on the outside – even their cultivation level and skills were exactly the same as Lonemoon's.
In other words, the hundreds of figures they were up against were sword cultivators of the Young Emperor cultivation level. Once they realized this, they broke out in a cold sweat. Although each of them were at the level of Celestial Emperor, fighting this many Young Emperors meant that each Celestial Emperor had to match up against tens of Young Emperors. Naturally, this took a toll on their strength. What's more, the Young Emperors were sword cultivators. While the group felt empowered at the start, they quickly began to feel defeated.
Their enemies seemed to have caught on. They attacked the group with more vigor and aggression. They even went so far as to abandon all forms of protection, putting their lives on the line to get rid of the group. The situation seemed hopeless, until they suddenly heard a dragon's roar.
Yi Qing had no intention to give up. He transformed into his true form – a huge golden dragon – that charged toward the sky. His God Power was overwhelming. As he flew higher and higher, lightning began to flash throughout the sky, so that it looked like a huge net was cast around the entire world. The net flew toward the clones.
The deafening sound of thunder filled the air. The figures looked like they were wheat during harvest – one by one, they fell to the ground.
"Dra... Dragon!" All the Celestial Emperors stared in disbelief at the golden dragon in the sky. It took them a long while before they could react.
"Don't get distracted! Fight!" Yi Qing could not help but remind them. His thick God Power swept past the group.
It was then that all of them regained their composure. With renewed strength, they faced the battle before them. It was almost as if someone had given each of them a boost – especially the Celestial Emperors. Each of them became much more aggressive. On the other hand, the Skyfiends seemed to grow weaker. After such a long time, a divine race had finally appeared in the immortal realm once again. Although they were similarly encouraged, they could not help their bodies' natural reaction. The divine race was their arch-nemesis after all. The presence of God Power caused even their legs to grow weak.
The situation in the air had changed. Father Niu's clones were falling to the ground one by one, like broken shards of a crystal. Before they hit the ground, they would disappear. Just like that, there were only a few of them left.
The battle had gone on for a few hours already. Everyone, including the Skyfiends were gravely injured. They could not even find it in them to speak another word. Once the last clone disappeared, all of them heaved a huge sigh of relief and retreated back to where Shen Ying was.
"It's finally over," Yu Hong sighed. She undid the defensive array around her and started to walk out to meet the others.
"Wait!" Shen Ying pulled her back all of a sudden and pointed in front of them. "It's not over!" That glacier had not yet disappeared.
"What... " Yu Hong hesitated, but she did not know what to say.
The glacier emanated white light once again, causing the demonic Qi in the air to dissipate. A strange aura began to spread rapidly across the entire area, and figures appeared all around them once again.
"Everyone, watch out!" Yu Hong exclaimed. She started to fly up to warn the rest.
But the group did not seem to hear her. Instead, they were flying toward her at top speed. The white light was catching up to them. Suddenly, their victorious expressions turned icy..
Yu Hong's heart sank. Something was not right. They were... being controlled! She quickly summoned her flying sword and flew back to Shen Ying. "Sect..." Before she could call out for Shen Ying, her expression changed. The light before her eyes seemed to have disappeared. She turned around and summoned her immortal sword, flying toward Shen Ying expressionlessly.
"Master!" Yi Qing screamed. But he was too late. The attacks from the various people rained down on Shen Ying. Daggers began to rain down upon her. The defensive system in Shen Ying activated itself, causing a transparent defensive layer to form around her body. It wrapped her up safely in a protective ball which absorbed all the different attacks raining down on her and rebounded them outward.
The crowd that had been fast advancing toward her fell down toward the ground. Even Yu Hong flew back from the impact. A moment later, however, they got back to their feet. Their expressions now looked exactly like all those clones of Father Niu's – calm and unmoving, like wooden dolls.
"Their consciousness has been captured!" Shen Ying exclaimed, her face hardening.
"Master." Yi Qing finally made it to Shen Ying and landed beside her.
Shen Ying jumped. She shouted, "Don't come here!"
It was too late. The moment the words came out of her mouth, something jumped out of the soil beneath her feet. What looked like thorns from the ground headed toward her, threatening to stab her. Yi Qing wanted to move out of the way of the thorns, but ended up being pierced through his left shoulder. He fell to the ground. Fresh blood flowed out of his wound.
All around, the glacier was expanding. Shen Ying was now trapped inside the ice.
"Master!" Yi Qing crawled to his feet, attacking the ice with all his might, but to no avail. All he could do was stand by and watch the ice pillars around Shen Ying grow into a huge ice mountain. He could no longer spot Shen Ying inside. What's more, the suppressive force had appeared once again. Yi Qing felt the God Power leave his body as he began to vomit blood.
Shen Ying was now completely trapped inside the ice. Everything around her was white as snow. The space she was in now was much bigger than the one they were trapped in before, and she was now separated from the world she was in.
Now she realized why the glacier did not seem to expand while they were fighting Father Niu's clones. The glacier had in fact been expanding downward, wrapping itself around the world beneath it so that it covered everything within a few hundred miles' radius. The main aim seemed to be to trap her in this space that was separated from the world.
The assistant's powers came from the manager. As long as she was not in the plane, Yi Qing would be easily subdued.
"Manager." Indeed, a familiar voice echoed throughout the space. A white figure walked toward her from among the layers of ice. The man's face was exactly the same as the many ones she saw awhile ago. The only difference was that this man carried with him a familiar aura as well.
Shen Ying narrowed her eyes and heaved a sigh of relief. He's finally here. The real... body of Father Niu.
She confirmed her guess after scanning the man from head to toe. As she reached out and touched her wristband, she called out in an icy voice, "Invader!"
"I've finally caught you." The man stared straight at Shen Ying and broke out in an evil grin. "As long as you disappear, we can completely replace this world."
Oh..." Shen Ying's expression remained icy. She tilted her head and asked, "Are you sure?"