Aelna's eyes widened before she took in a deep breath. Ezra Zephyr was indeed extremely surprising. To think that he would be able to carve out a path for himself even in such a dire situation.

If Ezra Zephyr managed to escape from Blood Slaughterer Peak's encirclement today, they would truly lose all face. When she thought of this, even Aelna felt a little joy at their misfortune.

<Outside the Mountain Range>

While the disciples outside the valley were gasping in shock, the commotion outside the mountain range was even more unimaginable. Countless disciples burst out into gasps of astonishment, creating a tsunami of noise that flooded the area.

Just moments ago, everyone was under the impression that the prince had been forced into a dead-end by Blood Slaughterer Peak. Besides voluntarily withdrawing from the diamond belt selection to keep his dignity, there seemed to be no other route he could take. However, none of them had expected that he would suddenly blow away their trump card in the blink of an eye...

Unbeknownst to everyone, he had already set up an extremely formidable 4th Grade Rune Boundary in the valley!

A gorgeous smile blossomed on Ella's beautiful face, as her tightly clenched hands slowly loosened. She knew that Ezra would not give up so easily.

If they want to force him to his knees, even the elite gold belt disciples from Blood Slaughterer Peak would have to pay a heavy price.

Beside Ella, Lychris's expression had turned rather stiff. He too never expected Ezra to have such a trump card hidden up his sleeve.

"Umor and his crew are trash. I can't believe they allowed a new disciple to set up a boundary right under their noses!" Lychris cursed inside. Even though a  Rune Boundary was extremely powerful, it was quite difficult and time-consuming to set it up. And yet, Ezra had managed to deploy it right under Umor and his crew's noses. One had no choice but to admit that Umor and the gang were truly a bunch of dumbassess.

They had now lost the initiative, allowing the prince to gradually tip the odds in his favour.

...

"To think he still had such rune boundary in his arsenal." Elder Song slowly withdrew his bewildered gaze and turned towards Elder Lo, who was as surprised as him from start to end.

He gently touched his beard and said. "It seems that you are starting to take interest in Ezra."

Elder Song calmed himself and sighed as he said, "So he wasn't using the Gossamer Steps to hide. Instead, his goal was to use to conceal himself in Gossamer form so that he could secretly set up the boundary. At the same time, he was also baiting Umor and the rest into the valley.

Now that all the prey has entered the net, it's time for him to pull it up. Brilliant!"

Elder Song stared at the Blood Slaughterer Peak disciples in the mirror, before he said without any sympathy, "Those guys thought that they were the ones chasing Ezra, but they would never have imagined that he had been using himself as bait from the start…"

Elder Song stared at the young figure in the spiritual energy mirror, as amazement flitted across her clear eyes.

The current Ezra Zephyr was this much powerful, what kind of martial master he would be in upcoming years. 

"Elder Lo, I know it will be shameful for me to say this but... can you share Ezra's talent with our Imprint faction?"

Elder Lo smiled but didn't reply.

...

~BOOM BOOOM~

Red thunder clouds churned above the valley, as scorching ripples violently pulsed.

The Blood Slaughterer Peak disciples, who were about to attack the prince, had stopped in a panic, a trace of fear in their faces as they gazed at the boundary before them.

They could detect an extremely dangerous scent from the boundary.

How could they have expected that what they originally believed would be a piece of cake would suddenly take such a turn?

As they looked towards Ezra, the contempt in their gazes turned to graveness.

Umor stared at this boundary as his face gently twitched. His gaze swept about the area, finding several glowing rune strips hidden between the cracks of the rocks around the valley.

It was these rune strips that formed the boundary.

However, he had not noticed them previously, and did not know when Ezra Zephyr placed them down…

Umor stared intently at Ezra and said, "You were using Gossamer Steps to secretly set up the boundary."

The prince smiled but did not answer. It was already obvious after all.

Umor smiled bitterly. Previously, he had thought that Ezra was merely hiding from them. Who could have imagined that the latter never had any intention of hiding. Rather, he was completing a boundary right under their noses.

Behind Umor, there was a dazed look on Denise Tubble as she blankly stared at this scene. The joy in her eyes had already completely vanished, fear now in its place.

"Senior brother Umor…" She mumbled with a trembling voice.

Umor took in a deep breath, as he gradually regained his calm. "There is no need to panic, we will deal with him together. Though this boundary is extremely powerful, I don't believe that it is capable of wiping out our entire party."

"This is his final trump card. Once we cross it, I will make him pay a painful price!"

Thanks to Umor's words, the panicking Blood Slaughterer Peak disciples finally regained their balance. They quickly huddled towards Umor, as streams of powerful spiritual energy shot into the air, forming protective spiritual energy layers above them.

Umor stared at Ezra like a hawk. Having the tables turned on him had obviously dealt a blow to his ego. However, he knew that there would be a chance to regain his pride as long as they managed to withstand the boundary's assault.

Ezra stared at the Blood Slaughterer Peak disciples who had banded together before he chuckled.

"Come on, you lots are already shitting your pants when the party has yet to start."

~BOOM~

The instant his voice sounded, the spiritual energy accumulating in the rumbling thunderclouds above finally reached the limit. In the next instant, giant red thunderbolts pulsing with the scent of destruction rained down upon the land.