Vice-President Tang son realized that the equipment was already going haywire from Elder Xu's attack.

He peered at the device as he pondered his options. After a moment, he decided to take the initiative and launch a direct attack on Elder Xu.

This device was the only one, and if it broke, there was no way to guarantee the outcome of tonight's battle.

He should ensure the Green Cloud Pavilion's victory while he still had the upper hand.

"I'll deal with Elder Xu. The rest of you, make sure to captureYao Tang. Whoever manages it will be greatly rewarded!"

Vice-President Tang barked at his greedy-eyed subordinates.

"Yes, Sir!"

The men wasted no time and proceeded to close in on Yao Tang, their faces twisted into fierce and ruthless expressions.

Meanwhile, Vice-President Tangbraced himself and mustered all of his spiritual power before launching it inElder Xu's direction.

Elder Xu was a skilled fighter himself, but with the shielding device playing against him, he was unable to fully exert his powers. He could block the attacks for now, but even he knew that it would be futile in the long run.

Vice-President Tang seemed to know this as well, and he was relentless in launching attack after attack.

The Cabinet disciples rallied around the elders, shielding them as much as they can. Every so often, their eyes would shift over to Yao Tang.

At the moment, she was all by herself on the Green Cloud Pavilion's turf. More than that, she also had to take responsibility forElder Chen's safety.

It was a heavy burden, but in addition to that, she also had to dodge and escape the men who were out to get her.In short, she would have to power through both spiritual and physical combat.

She was just a teenage girl. What was she going to do if she got caught?

At the thought of this, the elders tried to attack again in a desperate bid to rescue her.

Distracted, Vice-President Tangwhirled around and looked behind him.

The smug expression froze on his face.

He had expected his men to have seized Yao Tangby now, but he found that they were still in hot pursuit. In fact, they were still a couple of meters away from her, and couldn't seem to get any closer.

Vice-President Tang narrowed his eyes and realized that his subordinates appeared to be afraid of something, and it was keeping them from rushing forward.

He gnashed his teeth together in frustration. He never thought that this girl would be such a pain to catch!

He had even brought the Green Cloud Pavilion's elites with him. They should be much better compared to the worthless men under Elder Nie.

Perhaps he had underestimated Yao Tang. Even if she had defeatedElder Nie,Vice-President Tangpresumed that she was simply lucky, and that her strength was of no true significance.

Only now did he realize that Yao Tangpossessed a terrifying level of skill.

How else could he explain the fact that she was unharmed by the spiritual and physical blows that were being directed at her simultaneously?

It defied the realm of reason.

He wouldn't have batted an eye if she was merely using some martial arts for combat, but for her to apply her spiritual strength at the same time…

Moreover, Yao tangwas just a new recruit to the Cabinet. And yet, she remained calm and composed, despite facing a barrage of attacks all by herself.

Vice-President Tang could not believe it. How was this possible?

Could it be…

A staggering suspicion crept into his mind, but he quickly dismissed the idea as highly unlikely.

Maybe Yao Tangwas also carrying a similar shielding device on her person.

Yes, that would certainly explain why the spiritual attacks had no effect on her, and she was able to deflect the blows from his men.

But as Vice-President Tangthought about it some more, he eventually dismissed this explanation as well.

If the Cabinet did have such a device, then why weren't the elders using it in the first place?

He could still recall the shock on Elder Chen's face when he realized what he was up against.

Vice-President Tang had gathered from the old man's reaction that the shielding device was uncommon within the Cabinet.

So how could Yao Tang, the newest and youngest disciple of the Cabinet, be using it now? Where could she have acquired it, to begin with?

The voice of reason told Vice-President Tangthat the girl could not escape their clutches in this fight.

And yet, for some reason, he found himself spiraling into a panic, as if his subconscious already knew that things would not go according to his plan.

Yao Tang had willingly gone over to their side to extractElder Chen. If she somehow slipped from their grasp, theGreen Cloud Pavilionwould suffer great humiliation.

Vice-President Tang realized that he would have to take matters into his own hands and personally deal with her once and for all.

He told half of his subordinates to withdraw and redirect their attacks to the Cabinet Elders.

Then he prepared to attack Yao Tang.

'I'm not letting you escape, no matter what!'