"Something"s not right," he murmured to himself. "I can"t place a finger on it, but I feel a disturbance in the force…ahem, I mean a disturbance in the qi round the city. It was like a billion voices cried out at once…and disappeared."

Seriously? Where did the billion voices come from? Another planet or something? There had better not be a Death Star floaing in orbit somewhere…

Becoming serious, Lang Xie then left his bunk and headed straight to the command center that the Blood Blades had set up. He didn"t even need a few minutes before he stepped in, and the Blood Blades serving as comns and intelligence officers looked up in surprise.

"Lord Lang Xie, you aren"t due until the next five hours," his third-in-command (right below Hai Rong) said. "You should get more sleep."

"Something dangerous is on the horizon," Lang Xie replied curtly, ignoring his subordinate. "Give me a tactical update."

"Uh, yes, sir."

The third-in-command called up a tactical display atop one of the biggest monitors, which was displaying the thirteen invading sects. They had withdrawn just a few minutes ago. Apparently, the moment Shen Tian Yi and Song Si Yuan had arrived, the invading sects had decided to withdraw out of sight from Nine-Tailed Fox Sect.

But none of the officers in the command center were under the illusion that they had retreated. Infrared, long-range senses and auspexes still picked up their signals in the distance, the enemy hiding in the forest beyond Tushan City and among the Fire Mountain Range.

Lang Xie studied the monitor intensely, still feeling uneasy but unable to pick out anything wrong. Artillery hadn"t been invented in this world, so he doubted they were going to start sh.e.l.ling the place. No, it didn"t even occur to him – there was no way he could conceive of that. Besides, we had void shields…I mean qi barriers protecting the place from long-range qi projectile attacks.

Shaking his head, Lang Xie turned to his third-in-command. "Dispatch a squad to the plaza immediately. Increase the number of guards and keep a tight watch over that area!"

"Understood!" the third-in-command then hurriedly picked up a vox and began shouting commands.

Coincidentally, it was then I heard the orders over my comn bead in my ear. Tong Xue, Jing Wei and I were just returning from our shift when the orders came. Fortunately, it wasn"t Fourth squad, but I couldn"t help but be curious. There seemed to be quite the commotion in the plaza as the a.s.signed squads were rushing over toward it.

"I"m going to take a look," I told Tong Xue and Jing Wei. "Are you guys coming along?"

Jing Wei stifled a yawn. "Don"t waste your rest time. You should take advantage of every moment you have to sleep."

I couldn"t argue with him. I had tried to build another Sunburst, but I was too tired that I ended up dozing off on my bench and thus being unable to complete it. Whoops.

"I"m hitting the sack, and then going to check on Lian Rou." Surprisingly, Tong Xue declined my offer. He usually would join me, since he was the type who enjoyed collecting intelligence and information. But I guess he was more concerned over Lian Rou"s wellbeing. What with the enemy ma.s.sing in huge numbers and getting ready to attack us, I guess I couldn"t blame him. I probably should check on Tang Qi Hong later. If I wasn"t too exhausted by the time I got back, that is.

Even so, the curiosity was killing me, so I bade them farewell and went my separate way. Moving toward the plaza, I magnified the vision of my gla.s.ses.

As I thought, there were any changes to the Spirit Engraved Pillars. The three hostages, Shi Jing Yun, Wu Tuo and Su Bai Xue, were all shackled to their respective pillars, their heads lowered in resignation.

After losing an arm each, these esteemed and high-ranking people from the Six Valley Sects, Cloud Sky Mountain and Snow Valley Sect, had all lost their arrogance long ago and became very submissive.

They had lost the will to even converse with each other, preferring to sink into a despairing silence and waiting for their inevitable fates to claim them.

When Xie Zhi Zhang had been thrown into the center of the plaza and tied up by Tian Yu Di, the trio had grown even quieter.

Currently, a squad of ten Blood Blades martial artists were standing around the plaza, accompanied by another dozen or so outer sect martial artists who formed defensive lines. They watched over the four hostages, taking shifts and rotating out every three hours, just like we sentries did at the fortress walls.

They were fully aware of how critical these four hostages were in preventing the Martial Arts Alliance"s subordinate sects from launching a full-scale a.s.sault on Tushan City and destroying us immediately.

As long as these four hostages remained secure in our hands, then Martial Arts Alliance would not attack us, and we would be able to buy enough time for us to come up with new countermeasures. There was also hope that if we held out for another two days, the Imperial Guard would finally come to our rescue.

The resolution had been reached in the Diet just yesterday, which filled our hearts with fresh hope. Now we just needed to wait for the Imperial Guard to come.

Out of nowhere, the air rippled, and the wind in the plaza grew stronger.

"!"

One of the Blood Blades guards turned around in surprise, his eyes narrowing as he studied the scene before him. He tightened his grip on his weapon, but was unable to see anything out of place. Shaking his head, he whispered to himself doubtfully.

"Strange…I could have sworn I felt something pa.s.s by me earlier."

He frowned and scrutinized the plaza once more. Shi Jing Yun and the others were still securely bound in place, while Xie Zhi Zhang continued to sit in the middle, his entire body shackled by chains. There was nothing amiss, at least visibly.

The guard shook his head and turned back to watch the front.

When he did so, Xie Zhi Zhang suddenly opened his eyes. All this while, he had kept his eyes shut, almost seeming as if he was in a coma.

He had been trapped for quite a while now, his strength leeched out and absorbed by one of Tian Yu Di"s Heaven and Earth Absorption techniques, and now he was being chained down by the Heavenly Chains and Earth Restraints, which continued to seep away his qi to feed Tian Yu Di. I probably should ask Ancestral Master to teach me that neat trick next time.

However, despite his qi being leeched away, his senses were far from dulled. He could detect a very well-hidden qi aura.

And it was an aura he was very familiar with.

"Si Yuan is here." Xie Zhi Zhang relaxed a little, almost breathing a sigh of relief.

He focused his mind and sensed Song Si Yuan"s movements, and intuitively understood what the latter was trying to do. Relaxing further, he then opened his mouth. A Spirit Pill was then lobbed inside his mouth, almost as if it was thrown by an invisible hand.

Xie Zhi Zhang swallowed the spirit pill gratefully. He then felt his body invogirated as the Spirit Pill nourished his depleted body, and with a single surge of qi, he managed to break the qi chains that were shackling him, freeing himself from his restraints.

Standing up amidst the astonished Blood Blades guards, who then immediately charged at him, Xie Zhi Zhang nodded gratefully toward the air. "Thank you, Brother Si Yuan, for your a.s.sistance. I am fine now."

With a swing of his hand, he knocked the guards back.

Wait, what was that? It didn"t happen in Spirit Realm? Who cares about that story? I mean, the author completely forgotten about the Blood Spears and outer sect disciples standing guard there and had them do absolutely nothing but watch and cry out as the hostages broke free. He just had them crying out but doing absolutely nothing, and just skipped straight to Xue Li jumping in. Honestly, if you were going to treat them as virtually non-existent, why even mention them in the first place?!

Reality, however, was different. Despite being knocked down, the Blood Blades immediately rose to their feet. The chief guard was already voxing for reinforcements while the outer sect disciples closed ranks to ensure the hostages and their rescuer didn"t escape. Despite their best efforts, Xie Zhi Zhang alone was able to keep them at bay.

Worse, a thunderous noise erupted through the air as the shackles restraining Shi Jing Yun, Wu Tuo and Su Bai Xue shattered.

The trio who had been bound for so long were finally free. Jumping from the falling manacles, they stood up straight, grimacing as they clutched at their left shoulders where their left arms used to be connected to.

Song Si Yuan materialized and strode toward Xie Zhi Zhang while the latter continued to keep the Blood Blades at bay.

"How did you lose?" he asked mischievously, but also because he wasn"t uncomfortable with the idea that an unknown threat was running loose inside Nine-Tailed Fox Sect.

"Nine-Tailed Fox Sect is concealing an old demon. He is even more terrifying than that Xue Jian in the past. If I"m not mistaken, he"s most likely Xue Jian"s master." Xie Zhi Zhang was solemn as he answered.

Song Si Yuan raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Even more powerful than Lang Xie or Zi Da JI?"

Xie Zhi Zhang nodded gravely. "That"s right."

The duo were not even paying attention to the attacking Blood Blades. They didn"t even put them in their eyes, not seeing Tushan City as a threat. Instead, Xie Zhi Zhang flinched and suddenly looked in the direction of Flame Volcano.

"He"s coming!" he warned.

A potent aura settled across the plaza, and Tian Yu Di landed on the plaza elegantly before straightening himself.

"I see that the rescuers have finally come." He tilted his head, a little impressed. "Oh? It"s just one person?"

Song Si Yuan met his gaze evenly. "I alone am more than enough."

"Oh…what impressive power. It seems that the Martial Arts Alliance has finally sent out their big guns. The threat to Nine-Tailed Fox Sect has finally arrived." Tian Yu Di paused for a moment, closing his eyes as if reaching out with his senses. He then opened his eyes to stare at Song Si Yuan. "But you"re not alone, it seems. Where are the other two?"

"They"ll be arriving shortly," Song Si Yuan replied politely before bowing slightly. "If it"s not too rude of me to ask, who are you, Senior? You don"t appear to be from Nine-Tailed Fox Sect. Where are you from?"

"Don"t give me that polite rubbish, brat. It makes me cringe." Tian Yu Di grinned, looking really relaxed. "So there are at least three fellows of considerable power. Man, it"ll be hard for me to deal with just one of you, and yet you decide to show up with your friends." He glanced toward Flame Volcano. "The beautiful lady will likely have to handle one of you, but I fear my hands were be kept busy by the other two."

"Sorry to put such a burden on you, Ancestral Master." I finally reached the plaza, but was aware of what was going on. I could hear them from quite far away. Just like my fellow Blood Blades martial artists, I was kept out by Xie Zhi Zhang"s mystical techniques.

This was going to be tough.

"Don"t worry, Sect Leader. I"ll do my best to ensure that your precious Nine-Tailed Fox Sect doesn"t perish."

Song Si Yuan and Xie Zhi Zhang froze when they heard our exchange. They turned their gazes from me to Tian Yu Di.

"Sect Leader? Isn"t the sect leader of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect Zi Shou De?" Song Si Yuan asked, puzzled.

"Sect Leader Zi is the sect leader of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect," I confirmed.

"Then what are you talking about?" Xie Zhi Zhang demanded.

"Why should you care?" Tian Yu Di sneered. "That boy over there is the leader of my sect, which is not Nine-Tailed Fox Sect."

"Then what sect are you from, Senior?" Song Si Yuan asked, still maintaining his façade of politeness. Tian Yu Di merely snorted.

"That"s a secret. I have no obligation to tell you."

"It doesn"t matter. He"s just one man. As long as the reinforcements arrive, we should be able to occupy him while the rest of our army conquers Nine-Tailed Fox Sect." Xie Zhi Zhang reached for the comn bead in his ear. Now that his qi was restored, he was able to infuse the comn bead with enough power to punch through the interference that Tushan City"s qi barrier was causing and contact Xie Jing Lian. "Begin the siege!"

At the city entrance, Xie Jing Lian"s comn bead crackled to life in her ear.

"Ah…" Xie Jing Lian listened for a few seconds, and grew delighted. "Second Uncle has escaped! He"s asking us to attack the city! It should be safe now!"

"Hmm…" Shen Tian Yi nodded thoughtfully, his gaze focused on Tushan City. "All the hostages who were captured have been freed. You can act now."

"Good!" Long Shen also showed up, riding what seemed like a green dragon made out of qi. The dragon uncoiled and hovered ferociously in the air. Raising his voice, Long Shen shouted a command. "Slaughter all the outer sect disciples and elders and Blood Blades in Tushan City! Make sure to leave the blacksmiths and inner sect elders alive!"

Then he disappeared as his green dragon streaked toward the center of Tushan City.

"I should join him," Shen Tian Yi remarked as he jumped atop what looked like a cloud.

"Take me with you, Elder Shen!" Jiang Jun Hao shouted, scrambling atop the floating cloud while clutching his prized Heavenly Spear. He was hungry for glory and wanted to witness the demise of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect firsthand.

The pair of them then zoomed after Long Shen.

After being forced to suppress their murderous desires for so long, most of the martial artists – particularly from the first ten sects to have a.s.saulted Tushan City – roared in grim determination. "Invade the city! Leave no one alive!"

"Uh…did they forget Master Long"s instructions?" one of the Green Dragon Sect disciples asked.

"Who cares? If they disobey, we"ll kill them later." His comrade provided a cold and emotionless answer.

Unknown to the ten invading sect, the Martial Arts Alliance had planned to destroy them after the invasion, cutting them dry to face the justice from the Royal Family and Imperial Guard, and leaving them to their own demise while reaping the benefits and spoils of war. They never intended to allow the ten sects to monopolize the best resources and most treasured wealth and most skilled blacksmiths from Nine-Tailed Fox Sect. They would claim that these ten sects acted against orders and worked independently while providing fabricated evidence to prove their allegations.

Unfortunately, the ten sects weren"t aware of that.

The three forces of Cloud Sky Mountain, Snow Valley Sect and the Six Valley Sects were feeling particularly murderous after their VIPs had been taken hostages and gotten their arms cut off. They were screaming their heads off as they charged toward the walls.

"Avenge Boss Shi!"

"Take revenge for Big Boss Wu!"

"Slaughter Nine-Tailed Fox Sect for Second Sect Lady!"

*

Back in Flame Volcano, Zi Shou De received the news that the defenses of Tushan City had been breached, and that the Blood Blades and the outer sect martial artists had been pushed back and were being ma.s.sacred by overwhelming numbers of forces.

"Dear. What will you do?" Zi Da Ji asked as she turned to her husband. "Order an evacuation of the civilians?"

"We don"t have the manpower to escort them safely through the underground pa.s.sageways, not when it"s infested with demons. Moreover, Blood Shadow says that they know about the underground pa.s.sageways, so it"s conceivable that they will have posted platoons there to guard the exits. There is no way out for anyone."

"…so we stand and die with the sect." Luo Zhi Chang looked weary and resigned to his fate. The rest of the Great Elders also looked like they were in despair.

"It"s a pity." Zi SHou De sighed. "If we could just hold out for a few more days, we might just be able to survive. Already the Imperial Guard is mobilizing, but they will not reach us in another day or two. They haven"t mustered enough forces."

"So close, yet so far," the third Great Elder gritted his teeth and banged his fist against the table. "Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds! At a time like this!"

"It"s probably precisely because it"s a time like this." the fourth Great Elder sighed wearily. "They know their time is limited, and that if they don"t act soon, the Imperial Guard will arrive and all their plans will fall apart."

"That"s why they had to move as soon as possible," the fifth Great Elder agreed.

"Be it as it may, this is a good way to die." Zi Shou De rose from his seat, his eyes hardening as he steeled his resolve. "Those of you willing to accompany me, let"s go to the plaza. For the rest of you who are too afraid to die…and I don"t blame you – you may risk the pa.s.sageways. Or you may take the east exit and follow the river, but be careful, beyond the Will"O Wisp Forests are bogs and marshes that are equally as deadly as the underground pa.s.sageways, filled with monstrous creatures and demonic beasts. But if you want to risk it, you"re more than welcome to accompany me to make our last stand in the plaza."

"I will follow you, dear." Zi Da Ji also stood up and took his hand. She closed her eyes briefly and then turned toward the plaza. "It seems that the Martial Arts Alliance has sent formidable experts after us. I will do what I can to defeat them."

"Are you able to?" the Second Great Elder asked skeptically.

"I will do my best," Zi Da Ji replied, careful not to make any promises.

"Then let"s go." Zi Shou De then proceeded out of his main hall. "Spread the message to everyone in the sect. Those who wish to escape, may do so, at their own risk. Know that we will not spare manpower to escort them, other than those martial artists and Blood Blades who choose to leave with them."
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Even as he said that, he was highly aware that no Blood Blades martial artists would abandon Tushan City and flee. Not especially when their leaders, Zi Da Ji, Lang Xie and Hai Rong were fighting to the very end.

"Lang Xie is already heading torward the plaza," Zi Da Ji informed her husband as they descended the mountain.

"What about the inner sect disciples?"

"They are gathering on the plaza as well, but it"s currently besieged by the high-level experts from the Martial Arts Alliance." One of the inner sect elders reported.

"Then we"ll retake the plaza." Zi Shou De smiled firmly. "As our last act of defiance."

"Agreed!" Zi Da Ji shouted.

When the leaders of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect descended, members of the sect – whether inner sect disciple, elder or outer sect disciples and elders – ere all heartened to see them. None of them chose to flee. The civilians remained where they were, hidden in the refuges and resigned to die together with the sect, while the proper members of both the inner and outer sect followed the leaders like streams of rivers joining the sea.

"We will follow Sect Leader and Sect Leader to the end!"

"We"ll make our last stand here!"

"We live and die with the sect!"

"The sect will not fall! Nine-Tailed Fox Sect stands!"

"Very good!" Zi Shou De nodded in approval. He glanced at the plaza, where the fighting was the most intense, taking note of the presence of the elements of martial artists already engaged in combat there.

I was among them, still trying to break through Xie Zhi Zhang"s barrier and succeeding. Neither Tian Yu Di nor Song Si Yuan had acted yet, but if the Blood Blades worked together to delay him, we might just be able to defeat the both of them before reinforcements arrived. Already, over the vox, we could hear Lang Xie coolly informed us that he was on his way.

That was when a sect-wide announcement blared through the vox.

"All members of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, please be advised. This will most likely be the final moments of our sect. We understand the dilemma and know that death is almost inevitable, and thus we will offer you the following otpions. Stand and fight with the sect until the very end, or escape by yourself, either through the underground pa.s.sageways or the Will"O Wisp Forest at the east."

They went on to explain the dangers of escaping, but from then on I paid them no attention and focused on fighting, having already made my decision long ago.

I planned to stand with Nine-Tailed Fox Sect until the very end.