Chen Jie etched a formation onto Zhu Qing's sword, allowing his spiritual and mental energy to flow into it, aiding Zhu Qing.
The principle behind shattering their combined momentum was the suppression through mental energy.
Zhu Qing turned back, casting a look of shock at Chen Jie, marveling at his methods.
At this moment, Feng Yuan declared, "So what if you broke our combined strength? With so many experts among us, should we fear Zhu Qing? Attack him together!"
Thus, Zhu Qing once again found himself in a perilous situation.
Even if his individual combat power surpassed that of the Dragon Guards, what of it?
Facing over a dozen opponents simultaneously, he was still no match for them.
However, Zhu Qing soon discovered that the power of his attacks was far greater than before.
Each clash with an enemy sent them stumbling backward.
At times, the sword seemed to possess a will of its own, guiding him to parry the attacks of the Twelve Dragon Guards.
"A marvelous man!"
Zhu Qing mused inwardly.
"Hmph, Zhu Qing, stop your futile resistance. You cannot hold on!"
Zhu Qing retorted angrily, "Even if I can't hold on, I will!"
"Very well, you asked for this!"
Feng Yuan was also incensed and directly instructed the others, "Attack with full force, no more holding back!"
"Chen Jie, we truly can't hold on anymore. You should run!"
Seeing this, Zhu Qing turned to Chen Jie and said.
"It's fine, with me here, it's alright. You just hold them off!"
Chen Jie extended his hand, pointing at Zhu Qing's sword.
Zhu Qing's sword trembled, emitting a faint, dark red glow.
This was the sword's body showing signs of being unable to withstand Chen Jie's energy.
"Go!"
With Chen Jie's command, the sword actively led Zhu Qing to meet the onslaught of the Old Dragon Guards.
Clanging impacts echoed incessantly, sword light swirling, deflecting all the attacks of the twelve individuals.
"Damn it! What is going on? How can one person block all twelve of us! This is illogical!"
"It's Chen Jie! He did something to the sword!"
"If this continues, we can only compete with him in endurance, to see whose true qi depletes first!"
The Twelve Dragon Guards were in a panic but powerless.
However, they were confident that their combined true qi was far vaster than Chen Jie's, so even a prolonged battle would ultimately be their victory.
But the fact that the Twelve Dragon Guards were being held back by a single person was a major blow to their pride, and they were eager to reassert their dominance.
Otherwise, even if they won, it wouldn't be a glorious victory within the Dragon Gate.
With this thought, Feng Yuan commanded, "We must deal with Chen Jie first! Long Yu, you go!"
"Understood!"
Long Yu also realized the gravity of the situation and with a sinister grin, lunged at Chen Jie.
"Chen Jie, you are my opponent!"
He knew Chen Jie was no ordinary person, possibly even superior in martial prowess.
However, his immediate goal was not to kill Chen Jie but to prevent him from aiding Zhu Qing against the Twelve Dragon Guards.
"You are not worthy of being my opponent. Get lost!"
Chen Jie uttered a light shout and slapped out with his hand.
A surging torrent of energy struck Long Yu, who gasped in shock. Could Chen Jie, while helping Zhu Qing, unleash such a potent palm strike? This was unbelievable!
But he gritted his teeth and met Chen Jie's palm.
BOOM!
CRACK!
Long Yu cried out in pain, his sleeve exploding into fragments.
Under Chen Jie's terrifying palm strike, his arm began to bleed.
He was then sent flying backward, collapsing on the ground and convulsing.
Whether he was dead or alive remained uncertain.
"What?"
The faces of the Twelve Old Dragon Guards turned grim.
They had never anticipated such an outcome.
Even Feng Yuan wouldn't have been absolutely confident in blocking that palm strike.
The thought of facing Chen Jie after defeating Zhu Qing weighed heavily on their minds.
"Hmph, let's see how long you can last!"
After a moment's consideration, they reasoned that even if Chen Jie was strong, he had reservations about directly attacking due to Li Ziling's safety. As long as they didn't provoke him, they could wear down Chen Jie by exhausting Zhu Qing, thus gradually depleting Chen Jie's strength.
Thus, Feng Yuan and the others changed their strategy, opting for a war of attrition against Zhu Qing.
However, as time passed, everyone began to sense that something was amiss.
After an hour had passed, despite their relentless attacks, Zhu Qing seemed inexhaustible, still fighting with vigor.
They had been maintaining their maximum true qi output, with over a dozen people bombarding him in shifts. Any normal person would have buckled by now.
They knew Zhu Qing's capabilities; on his own, he would have been defeated long ago.
Yet, he remained steadfast.
Several of them began to question their sanity.
They were essentially facing Chen Jie, and even they were starting to falter, while Chen Jie's expression remained unchanged.
"I don't believe it! This must be fake! How can one person possess such immense true qi?"
"He's faking it!"
One of the Old Dragon Guards cried out in near despair.
He was unaware that Chen Jie was currently employing his cultivation abilities.
Spiritual energy could draw upon the energy of heaven and earth, and it also allowed for near-effortless remote output.
Furthermore, a mysterious tree within him continuously supplied him with spiritual energy, making it inexhaustible. Even fighting for a month would be a trivial matter for Chen Jie.
Zhu Qing had long sensed the abnormality and was utterly shocked.
But he also felt fortunate.
If not for Chen Jie, they would have perished long ago.
However, he suspected Chen Jie might be feigning exhaustion, so he called out, "It's not too late to mend your ways. If you few now withdraw, I can show leniency, as you were merely misled. But if you persist in your stubbornness, you will be unforgivable sinners in the Dragon Gate!"
At this, the dozen Dragon Guards began to waver.
Feng Yuan grew anxious. Without the support of these Dragon Guards, he could not maintain control of the situation.
He launched several ferocious attacks on Zhu Qing, but it was still ineffectual.
A smile spread across Zhu Qing's face.
He could clearly sense Feng Yuan's dwindling strength.
He would soon be able to eliminate Feng Yuan.
However, at that moment, the sound of hurried footsteps approached.
Following closely, Wen Zaifu, along with the twelve elders, burst into the scene.
"Patriarch Wen of the Wen Family! Wen Zaifu!" Feng Yuan exclaimed.
Zhu Qing's expression darkened, and he halted his attack.
*Clap clap clap...*
Wen Zaifu began to applaud, "The Dragon Gate is quite lively. What is happening? Are you fighting amongst yourselves?"
"Wen Zaifu, why are you here?" Zhu Qing demanded.
"Hmph! I am here to kill Chen Jie!"
Wen Zaifu's cold gaze fixed on Chen Jie.
Everyone followed his gaze to Chen Jie.
Chen Jie remained expressionless, unfazed by Wen Zaifu's appearance.
"Wen Zaifu, you come to our Dragon Gate and threaten to kill our people. Is this not going too far?" Zhu Qing rebuked.