Rumble! Rumble! Another scarlet bolt roared downward.

The middle-aged man’s brush flared with dazzling gold. He swept it through the air, forming a golden barrier of vital energy, yet the moment the shield met the lightning, it shattered into sparks, and the bolt crashed straight through.

Terror and despair filled the eyes of the cultivators behind him. They understood all too well that a single failure would doom every one of them.

While the thunder rolled closer, the middle-aged man drew a deep breath. In the blink of an eye, his entire form transformed into a streak of blinding light.

He was going to meet the lightning head-on, using nothing but his own flesh and blood. For his family, for his clan, had to succeed, failure was not an option.

Boom!

The radiant streak tore the descending bolt apart, and hope briefly rekindled in the onlookers’ eyes. Yet that hope lasted only a heartbeat before countless more scarlet bolts gathered.