Zi Shou De stood at the peak of Flame Volcano, watching the outskirts of Tushan City through binoculars. He handed them to an inner sect disciple, who served as his aide, and turned to face all of us with a solemn expression.

"What do you mean?" Zi Da Ji asked, but she looked as if she already knew the answer. Her husband sighed heavily.

"The ten invading sects have called for reinforcements, and their reserve forces of martial artists are approaching us even as we speak. Already they are at the outskirts of Tushan City, ready to barge in. Blood Blades have only just recently reclaimed Tushan City, but alas, it seems that they will be driven back to the main sect grounds again."

"With that elder who obeys Fei Wu, shouldn"t we be able to handle even the main bulk of the ten sects" forces?" the second Great Elder asked.

"If it"s just those ten sects, maybe." Zi Shou De looked grim. "But this time they have sent out their big guns. Green Dragon Sect, Heavenly Way Sect and Kun Lu Sect are already here. Along with Snow Valley Sect, it means that four out of the seven other major sects have joined forces to destroy us. Even with Elder Tian"s prodigious strength, I find it highly unlike that we will be able to withstand their combined a.s.sault."

Even though Tushan City still possessed a barrier capable of jamming vox signals and thus denying the martial artists within from contacting their sects and informing them of the reversal, they weren"t stupid. They also had other means, such as unmanned aerial vehicles, drones and other surveillance devices that allowed them to construct a rough picture of what had occurred within the sect grounds.

Thanks to those other means, the Martial Arts Alliance"s respective subordinate sects had learned that the situation within Tushan City had far exceeded their imagination. They realized that the first wave they had sent in had been annihilated, or at the very least suffered a crushing defeat and were unable to escape.

Additionally, there was also a sizeable number of martial artists who had lost all patience with the lack of communication and information, and they had quietly headed toward Tushan City on their own accord. They wanted to figure out what exactly happened, and how Nine-Tailed Fox Sect defeated ten invading sects on its own.

Xie Jing Lian, Yang Zhong and Cao Xuan Rui were among those who were currently rushing toward Tushan City, hoping to stabilize the situation before it was too late. Unfortunately for them, it was far too late – there was no longer anybody to save except the three high-ranking hostages.

"Miss Xie, if your relative from the Xie Clan is still around, then please contact him as soon as possible." Cao Xuan Rui looked extremely pale despite his calm tone. He was riding atop a land rover that roared over the uneven terrain of the forest surrounding Tushan City. "Given how Lang Xie is currently inside Tushan City, we can only presume that Liang Yang Zu and the others have failed. Lord Tu Xi and Di Shi Jiu have also gone missing. Something unexpected must have come up, exceeding even their expectations."

That was redundant, but I was not there to comment on his poor choice of words. Not that it mattered.

Yang Zhong sighed as he rattled about in the armored fighting vehicle that rea.s.suringly crawled through the forest at top speed, avoiding trees and crushing roots in its path. "Tu Xi is a high-level expert from the Heavenly Way Sect, and is very renowned in combat. Is there anyone in Nine-Tailed Fox Sect able to defeat him?"

"Don"t underestimate Lang Xie," Cao Xuan Rui warned. "He is extremely strong. I have exchanged blows with him before, and he had utterly overwhelmed me and defeated me." he smiled bitterly. "I can"t even call it a fight."

Atop the cupola of her armored fighting vehicle, Xie Jing Lian turned to look at Cao Xuan Rui"s land rover in surprise. So did the Dark Asura Sect Leader"s subordinates.

"Sir, you actually lost to Lang Xie?" one of his subordinates asked incredulously. "Just how powerful is that man?!"

Cao Xuan Rui sighed darkly. "I can say with certainty that Lang Xie is stronger than even our Grand Sect Leader and Cloud Sky Mountain Sect Leader. In fact, I doubt there"s anyone in the Martial Arts Alliance who can match up to Lang Xie, other than the elite pract.i.tioners from the other seven major sects. Perhaps even Lord Tu Xi…is no match for him as well."

Xie Jing Lian pondered over the Dark Asura Sect Second Leader"s words for a few moments, her face extremely grim. She wasn"t given any time to think, however. Before she could say anything, her comn bead buzzed and a deep, male voice spoke over a secure channel.

"Jing Lian, meet me in the forest east of Tushan City."

"Understood." Xie Jing Lian lowered herself through the cupola and glanced at the hatch where the driver and gunner were seated. "You heard him."

"Yes, ma"am!"

The driver was good at his job. Without any hesitation, he turned the steering wheel and the armored fighting vehicle swiveled on its tracks, moving toward the east without any pause. He even accelerated the st.u.r.dy transport, which practically flew over the foresty terrain.

"Sir?" the driver of Cao Xuan Rui"s rover glanced over his shoulder at his sect leader. The latter nodded once.

"Follow them."

The column of land rovers and armored personnel carriers belonging to the Dark Asura Sect veered off from their original trajectory and swiftly pursued her toward the east. It didn"t take them more than fifteen minutes, with Xie Jing Lian"s AFV being the first to arrive.

"Second Uncle!" Xie Jing Lian popped her head out of the cupola, scanning the forest urgently. "Where are you?"
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"Jing Lian, over here." a disembodied voice seemed to float from everywhere and nowhere, but being from the same clan, Xie Jing Lian was able to instantly pinpoint the location of her uncle. Without waiting for the driver to disengage the hatch to allow the troops within to disembark, she climbed out of the cupola and jumped gracefully to the ground.

Yang Zhong and a small squad of martial artists followed her closely, and they headed in the direction of the source of the voice. There, they spotted a middle-aged man with handsome features, his light blue uniform in stark contrast with the verdant greenery.

Inwardly, Xie Jing Lian marveled how she was unable to spot him inside the forest despite the colors of his uniform making him stand out visibly. It was a testament to his skill.

However, that wasn"t what caught her attention. As she drew closer to her second uncle, she froze.

This area of the forest had been devastated, with trees toppled over and broken, and gra.s.s torn up from the soil like tornado. Even the solid earth had been cracked, with craters pockmarking the now barren clearing. Blood spread over the uprooted gra.s.s and brown, caked earth like a river, flowing in a serene and unceasing manner.

The source of the blood was what disturbed her the most. Lying at the feet of the middle-aged man was a headless corpse.

"S…Second Uncle…" Xie Jing Lian gasped. "This…this is…"

Xie Zhi Zhang raised his head to look at his niece, and said a single, simple sentence. "This is Tu Xi."

"Tu Xi?" Yang Zhong exclaimed incredulously. "That Tu Xi from Heavenly Way Sect?!"

Xie Jing Lian"s face was drained of all color, but she forced herself to look at the corpse. Swallowing, she turned to Xie Zhi Zhang. "Second Uncle, who killed Tu Xi?"

"Who do you think killed him?" Xie Zhi Zhang riposted. "In Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, who is the only one capable of killing Tu Xi? If it"s not Sect Lady Zi Da Ji, then it must be Lang Xie." He closed his eyes and sensed the qi around him. "If I"m not mistaken, this qi belongs to Lang Xie."

"Lang Xie? But Lang Xie should only be mid-level Pure Spirit Stage. He can"t possibly kill someone of a higher level than him..." Yang Zhong was stunned.

"There you go again, obsessed with these meaningless levels and stages." Xie Zhi Zhang scoffed. "They are only a rough guide to estimate one"s strength. They are not absolutes. So what if you"re of a higher level? Maybe you"ve more qi or something, but that doesn"t mean you"re physically stronger, or you"re faster. Experience also matters greatly, and combat experience is definitely something Lang Xie possesses in abundance. Not to mention strategy, tactics, intelligence and all sorts of trickery and deception. If he ambushed Tu Xi, then it doesn"t matter how high Tu Xi"s level is if he is taken by surprise."

Xie Jing Lian and Yang Zhong fell silent.

"Nine-Tailed Fox Sect truly isn"t something we can underestimate." Xie Zhi Zhang sighed. "If they have a decade more…no, perhaps in a few years, they would surpa.s.s the other seven major sects and become even more difficult for the Martial Arts Alliance to deal with than they are right now. That"s exactly why the Martial Arts Alliance seek to eliminate them. They are far too powerful and dangerous."

After he finished speaking, he began to stroll in the direction of Tushan City. However, within moments, he disappeared from sight, leaving Xie Jing Lian and Yang Zhong confused. When he fully vanished, Cao Xuan Rui and the martial artists from Dark Asura Sect finally caught up on foot, having disembarked from their vehicles as well.

"This…whose body is this?!" Cao Xuan Rui cried out when he caught sight of Tu Xi"s headless corpse.

"Tu Xi"s," Xie Jing Lian replied coolly, and was already returning to her AFV with Yang Zhong and her squad at her heels. She was obviously not interested in elaborating or making small talk with the newly arrived Dark Asura Sect members.

"What?! Tu Xi?!" Cao Xuan Rui"s eyes bulged as he stared at the body. Upon confirming the traces of qi and uniform, he gasped. "It really is Tu Xi!"

Spinning around to face his subordinates, he hurriedly rasied a hand to his comn bead and issued orders on the main channel.

"All forces, beware!" he shouted. "Tu Xi from Heavenly Way Sect has been slain! Approach Tushan City and Nine-Tailed Fox Sect with utmost caution!"

"Yes, sir!"

A collective chorus filled the channel as the reserve forces of Dark Asura Sect responded to his instructions.

*

I watched as my Castellax battle-automata picked up the corpses with their power claws and piled them up. Once they had done so, I squeezed the trigger of my flamethrower, pouring napalm onto the heap of corpses and incinerating them.

Sparks flew and flames raged in front of me, smoke billowing out to block out the sky. All around me, outer sect disciples were helping in disposing of the bodies. It was thankless, dirty, tedious work, but someone had to do it.

I wasn"t fond of such disgusting duties, but I couldn"t shirk from the responsibilities, not when I was responsible for killing quite a number of them. Fortunately, both the Blood Blades and I had our battle puppets and battle-automata to help us out, which made the job a lot easier. Of course, many of our battle puppets had been damaged in the fight earlier, but there were only so many blacksmiths, and we were taking turns to have our battle-automata and battle puppets repaired and maintained.

Tang Qi Hong had offered to check on my battle-automata first, and despite my protests because I didn"t want to receive preferential treatment, the rest of the Blood Blades insisted, and I got reprimanded by Tang Qi Hong, so I relented. After she was done, I immediately set them to work, clearing the bodies and burning the corpses.

We had no choice. If we left the corpses where they were, disease would spread. Flies, rats and other scavengers would feast on the corpses, causing our city to be tainted with filth and become unhygienic. They would rot, especially in such hot weather, their bodies swelling, bloating and releasing foul gas. The occupants of Tushan City – namely us – would fall sick more easily, and piles of corpses were always prime breeding grounds for plague.

In order to prevent that, we had to burn the bodies. They weren"t going to magically disappear after we killed martial artists, not like what all those clean and idealistic xianxia or wuxia stories would have you believe. When you killed so many people, you had to dispose of the bodies. No one was going to do it, so it was left to the soldiers who did the killing in the first place.

As one of the Blood Blades, I refused to shirk from my duty.

"…"

Noticing the intense glare from the existences beyond the fourth wall, I glanced up to stare back at the readers.

"What?" I asked, annoyed. "Are you expecting me to be halfway up Flame Volcano, flirting with Ling Yu Mei and discussing some past we never had? You"ve read too much Spirit Realm. I just want to point out the illogical stuff and everything that didn"t make sense in the story, not rip it off!"

Well, some of the readers had never heard of Spirit Realm before. I actually preferred watching the anime, despite it butchering the original. It was a little shorter, and a lot more visual. The original was filled with quite a few plot holes anyway, so it didn"t matter if they changed the story.

While we labored unceasingly to clear and dispose of the corpses, among the pile of dead, there were a few who were still alive.

The ice entombing Ling Yu Mei and Ling Yu Xuan melted, and the two sisters collapsed onto a puddle of steaming water, coughing as they choked on the acrid smoke. They glanced around and were horrified to see the blazing corpses around them.

"Oh, you"re still alive," I remarked casually, as if I was merely greeting an old-time acquaintance. They stared at me in horror, not comprehending what was going on. For my part, I had deliberately gotten my Castellax battle-automata to ferry the ice blocks that trapped them to this pile of corpses, so I wasn"t surprised to see them.

"You are…"

"What…what"s going on?"

The poor sisters looked so confused. I cleared my throat and gestured for them to get out of there.

"Careful, or you guys will get burned. Come on."

They flinched as the flames neared, but Ling Yu Xuan remained unperturbed. Oh, right. Now that I remembered, she was a fire user. Ling Yu Mei could protect herself with her water techniques. Neither of them were in danger of being burned to death.

Even so, it must be highly uncomfortable, standing in such intolerable heat. The sisters finally snapped out of it and hurried toward me.

"We have survivors over here!"

A couple of Blood Blades members noticed the Ling Sisters emerging from the flames and flocked toward them, but I quickly raised my hand to forestall them.

"They survived the initial slaughter. Seems like Heaven wants to give them a chance at life. Who are we to deny them their fate?"

Okay, I was being pretty shameless, bringing fate and destiny into all this when I was supposed to go against the heavens. Nonetheless, it was the only thing I could think of to persuade my fellow Blood Blades not to indulge in murder.

"Those two girls…they are from the Dark Fiend Sect, are they not?"

Lang Xie appeared out of nowhere, shocking the h.e.l.l out of me. I swallowed and tried to plaster a smile across my face.

"Lord Lang Xie…I"m not sure. Maybe?"

"…we are." Ling Yu Mei bowed her head deferentially. Lang Xie stared at both her and her sister coldly, but didn"t say a word.

"My Lord," I began. "I know they are enemies, but they haven"t attacked us, and they clearly show no intention of fighting back. Don"t you think it"s beneath us to kill them when they"re helpless and unarmed?"

"Then what do you propose we do with them?" Lang Xie asked, without even turning back to me. He maintained his stern gaze on the trembling sisters. "Imprison them and take them as hostages like Shi Jing Yun?"

"Uh, well…" I thought for a while, and then an idea formed in my head. "That"s right, Lord Lang Xie. If I"m not mistaken, these two sisters are the direct disciples of the leader of Dark Fiend Valley Sect, Jiu Liu Yu." Pushing my gla.s.ses up, I smiled. "Even if she doesn"t care about Shi Jing Yun"s life, she will definitely care about her disciples" lives. I say we keep them alive for now." I nodded to my Castallax battle-automata, who stepped forward to circle the terrified Ling Sisters. "I"ll escort them to the main sect grounds."

"Good idea." Lang Xie nodded in approval. "Keeping the sisters alive will definitely increase our bargaining chips. I"ll leave it to you then."

I sighed in relief, and with a mental will, slightly loosened the ring that my Castellax battle-automata had formed around Ling Yu Mei and Ling Yu Xuan. They were both watching me with indescribable expressions.

"Thank you," Ling Yu Mei finally said.

"Huh? Why are you thanking me?" I asked, astonished.

"For helping us," Ling Yu Xuan replied softly.

"What are you talking about? I"m taking you guys as hostages. No one"s helping you." I turned away and beckoned for them to follow me. "If anything, I"m surprised you guys aren"t p.i.s.sed off at me."

Ling Yu Mei smiled, her shoulders relaxing a little.

"You didn"t kill us back then…only freezing me and my sister. You knew you would have to burn the corpses later, and the heat of the fire would melt the ice and free us…that whole thing about Heaven giving us a second chance is just an excuse, isn"t it?"

"The hostages too…it"s just an excuse to stop the Blood Blades from taking our lives." Ling Yu Xuan was just as sharp as her sister.

"But why are you helping us?" Ling Yu Mei looked at me curiously. "Aren"t we…strangers?"

"We are far from strangers. We"re acquaintances. I even agreed to help you guys get Spirit Artifacts before…it"ll be tragic if you get killed before I fulfil my promise. Well, I say that, but Elder Tie is the one forging your Spirit Weapons…"

I paused for a moment and sighed.

"But don"t misunderstand. I"m not forgiving you or sparing your lives. You"re still an enemy. You partic.i.p.ated in the invasion of our sect. You followed your fellow sect members here to witness our demise, as if this was some sort of entertaining play. You did so because you didn"t think there was any risk to your life, because you thought Nine-Tailed Fox Sect would be destroyed for sure and you wanted to be there to witness its last moments because it contains some sort of historical significance. I"m not going to forget that."

"Even so…you still showed us mercy and didn"t kill us." Ling Yu Mei bowed her head gratefully. "Thank you."

"Thank you for saving our lives," Ling Yu Xuan added.

I wasn"t stupid enough to confirm or affirm heir suspicions, especially in the open. So I merely snorted.

"Believe whatever you want. I have no obligation to play along with your delusions."

Before I knew it, I led them to Tang Qi Hong"s villa. She and Lian Rou were busily dealing with the repair and maintainence of the battle-automata of other Blood Blades, but they glanced up in surprise when they spotted the Ling sisters.

"Those girls…they"re still alive?" Lian Rou gasped in shock.

"Why did you bring them here?" Tang Qi Hong narrowed her eyes at me. I felt a chill run down my spine. Maybe this was a bad idea after all.

"They are hostages. A bargaining chip to deal with the Seven Valley Sects. After all…" I gestured toward Ling Yu Mei and Ling Yu Xuan, who were timidly standing under the shadows of my Castellax battle-automata. "They"re the direct disciples of Jiu Liu Yu, the sect leader of Dark Fiend Valley Sect. I"m sure she"ll value her disciples" lives more than others"…even Shi Jing Yun"s."

Tang Qi Hong regarded me suspiciously, and then nodded when she realized the truth of what I said.

"So why bring them here?"

"I"m entrusting them to you." I shrugged. "I don"t think it"s proper for a guy to take charge of female prisoners. And both Lord Lang Xie and I are convinced they won"t pose any danger or try anything funny. So I thought maybe it would be best if I leave them with you." I glanced at them. "Maybe they might help you guys out."

"…I"ll see what we can do." Tang Qi Hong thought about it for a while, and then sighed. "Fine. Since you"re the one asking, I"ll help out."

"Thank you very much!" I bowed deeply. "You"re the only one I trust regarding this matter!"

"I"m flattered." Tang Qi Hong snorted, but she did look a little delighted. "Well, go back outside and make sure those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds don"t return."

"Roger that."

The Ling sisters looked uncertain, but they obediently went over to the spot Tang Qi Hong directed them toward.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Ling Yu Mei asked quietly. Tang Qi Hong grimaced and shook her head.

"You have no knowledge of blacksmithing, do you?"

"Not really," Ling Yu Mei admitted. "But perhaps…polishing, cleaning…or oiling…we can help with basic stuff like that."

"That will be great." Lian Rou rose to her feet and approached them. "I"ll show you the gist of it."

"Thank you." Ling Yu Xuan thanked her.

The girls ended up working pretty well and seamlessly, repairing and maintaining both weapons and battle puppets for hours until they finally stopped for a necessary break.

As they drank water and took advantage of the short lull to relax, Ling Yu Mei glanced over at Tang Qi Hong and hesitated a little.

"Forgive me if I sound impudent, Miss Tang…but are you in a relationship with Master Fei Wu?"

Tang Qi Hong spat out the water she had been drinking from a bottle, and choked, coughing as she flailed about wildly.

"W…w…w…what nonsense are you blabbering about!?"

*

At the south entrance of Tushan City, Elder Zhao awaited like a sentinel, watching the approaching forces warily.

They were clad in the uniform of the Dark Fiend Valley Sect, or at least the first row of them was. Behind them were the members from the other six Valley Sects. The Snow Valley Sect had chosen to operate separately this time, for some reason.

Not that Elder Zhao particularly cared about their reasons. Right now, he was more concerned with the nearing row of martial artists proudly bearing the emblem of the Seven Valley Sects. However, they were forced to stop before the closed door of the city entrance, the gates having been repaired and reinforced mere hours ago.

Standing atop the ramparts, Elder Zhao stared down at the Six Valley Sects martial artists with disdain. His eyes rested on a particularly luxurious limousine, which was arrogantly rolling behind the marching rows of martial artists.

As if they were executing a perfectly disciplined parade, the martial artists split into two rows, providing a wide path for the limousine to rumble between them. It halted a few meters from the gate, but no pa.s.sengers disembarked.

Elder Zhao frowned, and took a deep breath. He recognized the family crest adorned over the surface of the luxurious limousine.

"Are you the Sect Leader of Dark Fiend Valley Sect, Jiu Liu Yu?" he asked.

"That is correct." The voice of an old woman declared proudly from inside the limousine, even as a window wound down for it to travel outward and upward. "How are my three disciples?"

"One of them have been killed in combat, but the two sisters are still alive." Elder Zhao had received the information shortly after I convinced Lang Xie to let the Ling Sisters live, so it wasn"t surprising that he knew about it.

"…I see. So Lu Li is dead, huh?" even though the old woman"s voice was calm and composed, there was barely concealed anger bubbling beneath the surface of ice. "I see you have been taking good care of my disciples. I wish to take my surviving two disciples back."

"We will release them if you agree to our terms," Elder Zhao replied coldly. "But until then, no one is allowed entry into Tushan City."

"No one is allowed entry?" Jiu Liu Yu repeated as she laughed icily. "Do you think we"ve traveled all this way here just to obey your instructions and accept your terms? Arrogant fools. We are here to conquer the city and destroy Nine-Tailed Fox Sect!"

The moment she finished, all the martial artists from the Six Valley Sects drew their Spirit Weapons and launched their a.s.sault.

It wasn"t just them. At the same time, invaders appeared at every main entrance of Tushan City, simultaneously hurling themselves in to breach the stalwart defenses.

And just as before, the Blood Blades met them in b.l.o.o.d.y combat, their battle-automata rearing up behind them to spit bolts of death and superheated plasma at the berserk horde of martial artists, razing large swathes of them.

The second siege of Tushan City had begun.