The night sky over the city had been unnaturally quiet until the first shockwave tore through the silence, rattling windows from the slums to the noble districts. People who had been deep in sleep bolted upright, their hearts hammering against their ribs as the distant roar of battle echoed from the direction of the Tang Estate.
In the tea houses that stayed open late, rogue cultivators and merchants stepped out into the cool night air, eyes fixed on the horizon where flares of crimson Qi illuminated the clouds. The sounds were unmistakable, the rhythmic boom of high-level techniques and the screech of steel meeting steel that told of a struggle to the death.
Anxiety spread through the dark streets like a rising tide, with neighbors whispering over fences and strangers huddling together for warmth and safety. For nearly half an hour, the city held its breath, the terrifying cacophony of the Master Wing's destruction vibrating through the very earth beneath their feet.
