At the western gate, Xie Jing Lian, Dark Asura Sect"s Cao Xuan Rui, and the rest were scattered in front of it. Fighting had been intermittent, but their allies had pleaded with them to withdraw. Furthermore, many of Dark Asura Sect"s members had been mowed down by the Cybernetica Cohorts, the fearsome battle-automata and battle puppets razing them apart with their ancient yet hi-tech ranged weaponry.

Seeing the heavy casualties that they had suffered, Xie Jing Lian had suggested they regroup and retreat for now. She informed Cao Xuan Rui that Xie Zhi Zhang was currently engaged with Lang Xie, and if things went well, they would be able to take the gate from the inside once her uncle defeated the reputable vice-commander.

Cao Xuan Rui respected her proposal and thus had ordered his subordinates to withdraw for now, merely watching the Blood Blades who stood sentry at the top of the fortress walls and glaring back at them.

Honestly, Cao Xuan Rui felt chills when he saw the Blood Blades stationed atop as sentries. None of them seemed to make any move to help their vice-commander. Cao Xuan Rui wondered if it was because they knew they were too weak to influence the outcome of the battle between the two monsters, but he doubted that.

However, he saw the merit of holding back the remainder of his surviving forces and not investing too much strength in taking the wall. Casualties had been mounting at a horrific rate, and he was not an advocate of the needless loss of life. Once the battle had been decided, Cao Xuan Rui would then act based on the result.

"What do you think was that terrifying aura from earlier about?" Yang Zhong asked inside the command Armored Fighting Vehicle, having continued his duty of monitoring the situation inside Tushan City with his drones. "That wasn"t Lord Xie"s qi. Could it be Lang Xie"s? But there"s no way he is that powerful…"
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When Tian Yu Di had arrived from Flame Volcano to descend upon Xie Zhi Zhang, his heavenly qi had emanated across half the city. Even Yang Zhong, Xie Jing Lian and Cao Xuan Rui, who were outside the city, had sensed it.

Fortunately, the terrifying qi aura had vanished for now. Even so, it had been hours since they had last heard from Xie Zhi Zhang, so Yang Zhong took a deep breath, disembarked from the vehicle and hesitantly raised a question to his mistress.

"Miss, there"s still no news. Do you think something has happened?"

Xie Jing Lian frowned. Under the gazes of Yang Zhong and Cao Xuan Rui, she tapped the comn bead in her ear and tried to contact Xie Zhi Zhang through the private channel accessibly only by members of the Xie Clan.

"Second Uncle? Do you copy? Second Uncle? Can you hear me?"

After attempting to contact him for a while, Xie Jing Lian grew grim. She finally gave up and shook her head.

"Second Uncle isn"t responding to my hails."

Everyone paled.

Right at that moment, Ji Liu, Jiu Liu Yu, Feng Lin and the rest of the allied forces from the Seven Valley Sects, Cloud Sky Mountain, and representatives from the Green Dragon Sect, Kun Lun Sect and Heavenly Way Sect had gathered in the same area.

They had all withdrawn from their respective gates of Tushan City, and gathered here because they had heard that an expert from the Xie Clan had infiltrated the south gate and district. They were hoping that Xie Zhi Zhang could rescue the members of their sects who had been captured as hostages, so that they could then boldly break through the gates.

"The Six Valley Sects" Shi Jing Yun…his arm has been cut off!"

"Wu Tuo"s arm has been cut off!"

"Su Bai Xue"s arm has also been cut off!"

After Jiu Liu Yu, Ji Liu and Feng Lin arrived, they immediately complained like the whiny b.a.s.t.a.r.ds they were to Xie Jing Lian. They were all extremely outraged and furious, like the hypocrites they were, as if they were allowed to maim and slaughter the members of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect but we weren"t allowed to hurt them back. Then again, that was the twisted logic of bullies and criminals. It"s fine if you"re the one doing it, but if someone else does it to you, then he is evil and must be punished!

The hypocrisy of these people never ceased to amaze me.

Xie Jing Lian looked troubled. She swept her gaze across the approaching high-rankers, and shook her head.

"My second uncle hasn"t responded. I don"t know what"s happening inside the city."

Even Xie Jing Lian didn"t imagine that Nine-Tailed Fox Sect would be so ruthless. Ironically, she had perceived us as an orthodox sect and didn"t imagine that we would resort to such violent measures. Never mind that the orthodox sects under the Martial Arts Alliance were currently engaged in blatantly criminal atrocities.

However, she felt that something was incredibly wrong here.

Yang Zhong, unable to put up with the awkward atmosphere, returned to his seat inside the AFV. When he reached the monitors, he finally caught sight of something. It wasn"t from his drones, but rather something someone posted on social media.

Yes, Yang Zhong, despite supposedly on the job and monitoring for changes within the city, still had some time to spare to check Twitter and Facebook on social media. But it was thanks to that he finally realized what had happened, albeit being several hours too late.

"All of you, look at this!"

Panicking, he practically jumped out of the AFV, stumbling over the shaft as he flailed about wildly. Everyone stared at him irritably.

"Lang Xie is still alive! There is no sign of Lord Xie, but Lang Xie is still definitely alive! He had returned to the plaza earlier today…and it was him who cut off the arms of Wu Tuo, Shi Jing Yun and Su Bai Xue!"

Everyone paled in horror when they heard that, staring at Yang Zhong in disbelief. He gestured toward the monitors inside the AFV.

"If you don"t believe me, look up the Internet! The video"s being spread online! Apparently someone filmed it and streamed it live, and now everyone is distributing it across social media!"

That someone was me, by the way, but I obviously used an online account that concealed my real ident.i.ty, so they didn"t know it was me.

"Then Second Uncle…he…" Xie Jing Lian said, trembling. Yang Zhong shook his head.

"I don"t know," he told her honestly.

"It appears that we"ve underestimated Nine-Tailed Fox Sect," Guang Song Lin whispered softly. "Everyone dismissed them as a sect of blacksmiths and Spirit Engravers, but…they have completely forgotten about Blood Blades and Lang Xie. As long as Lang Xie remains in Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, and they are protected by Blood Blades, they remain a potent force."

A force that was about to be reinforced by the very weapons of ma.s.s destruction that they accused us of having.

*

At that moment, after hours of working, Tang Qi Hong and I had finally finished building seven Sunburst bombs. They were glowing ominously atop my bench, emanating incredibly destructive waves of power.

Tang Qi Hong shuddered before she wiped the perspiration off her delicate face. She glanced at me with trepidation.

"Did you manage to modify them as you intended?" she asked, though from the fear in her face it was obvious that she already knew the answer.

Lian Rou was helping out as well, and was moving through the door of my workshop to shift some stuff. When she caught sight of the Sunburst bombs, she turned curious as well. Approaching us inquisitively, she couldn"t help but marvel.

"These are the weapons you used to blow Blood Shadow up into a b.l.o.o.d.y pulp?"

"Just one. And they are far from completed." I admitted as I wiped the sweat from my brow before it could dripped onto my gla.s.ses. "Now we are just left with the Spirit Diagrams. They"ll only be the finished product after I inscribe the Spirit Diagrams."

"Really?" Tang Qi Hong snorted. "They"re already emanating such power, yet you say they are incomplete?"

She had a good reason for her doubts. After all, the current Sunbursts were several times more powerful than the prototypes we had built earlier.

"That"s right." I grinned. "There"s always room for improvement."

Inside the core of the Sunburst, pure, volatile qi tried to clash against each other, kept apart only by an exotic containment field. The moment they collided, they would undergo qi fusion, which would unleash a devastating amount of energy akin to that of a nuclear reaction. Well, it was basically the xianxia version of a nuclear bomb.

"Thanks for helping out, guys."

I glanced at Lian Rou and the other inner sect disciples who were still a.s.sisting us, either by bringing new Spirit Materials or necessary equipment. They all swelled up in delight.

As expected of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, they spared no expense in providing the very best Spirit Materials, offering the purest and highest quality spirit ores, and the inner sect disciples were superbly competent, helping me grind the ores to fine powder without any incident – a stark contrast to the clumsy and b.u.mbling me when I accidentally ignited the powder during my first try all those days ago. If I didn"t have Absolute Zero, I woud have been blown apart back then.

Nonetheless, all the inner sect disciples had cooperated and worked together to produce the extremely pure qi powder, and were able to replicate components from my blueprint perfectly. Then Tang Qi Hong and I would just put the components together.

Before long, we finally reached the final stage.

"Are there enough Spirit Materials?" Lian Rou asked, sensible enough not to let the praise and grat.i.tude get to her head. No wonder Tong Xue was in love with her. "First Great Elder said that there is still a lot of Spirit Materials remaining in the storage room. If you need more, we"ll go get them for you immediately."

"It"s more than enough," I a.s.sured her. "The amount of stuff we have here is sufficient to build thirty Sunburst bombs! We don"t have time to build that many, anyway, so it should be enough for now. I hope."

Inwardly, I was astonished by the sheer amount of resources that Nine-Tailed Fox Sect possessed. Just a small portion of its Spirit Materials was enough to craft far more advanced Spirit Bombs that what was necessary.

No wonder the Martial Arts Alliance and all its subordinate sects coveted our wealth. It was so much that it would drive any ambitious person crazy, causing him to drool over our possessions. Well, I guess this is what they meant when they called our wealth a double-edged sword. On one hand, it made us powerful, but on the other, it would ensure we would always have enemies desiring our wealth and resources.

Sighing, I forced myself to focus on the present.

"I"ll start inscribing the Spirit Diagrams." I glanced at the others. Unfortunately, inscribing Spirit Diagrams wasn"t as simple as showing other people my diagrams and asking them to perfectly replicate it. Otherwise almost anybody could be a Spirit Engraver. Perhaps if given time, my fellow disciples would master the Spirit Diagram I had invented – I mean, I was an average Spirit Engraver at best, so it shouldn"t be too hard for them to do so – but right now time was a luxury we couldn"t afford. "Watch my back, guys."

"All right." Tang Qi Hong understood the reasoning too. Even though she was the one who had helped me the most, and it was only because of her help that I was able to succeed in inventing the Sunburst, this last, crucial aspect was something even she wasn"t sure of. Spirit Diagrams were very individualized, after all, attuned to their inventors, and it would take her a lot of time to comprehend my original intent for the Spirit Diagram. That was why she wasn"t offended, and instead smiled. "Just focus on Spirit Engraving."

"Yes, ma"am!"

I then turned my attention back to the Sunbursts, taking a deep breath and gathering my qi into my fingers. Picking up the engraving equipment, I began to forge furiously, trying to complete them as quickly as possible without making any mistakes.

Good thing I managed to get quite a bit of practice when I was inventing the Sunburst back then, or I would have found it difficult. Furthermore, I had already succeeded once, so if I relied on my memories, I should technically be able to replicate it without much problem.

"Where is Fei Wu?" against the rising sun, the five surviving Great Elders personally came to check on my progress. The inner sect elders had tailed them, keeping a low profile.

"The Spirit Bombs have already been built," Tang Qi Hong informed them with a bow. "He"s inscribing the Spirit Diagrams right now."

"Very good." Luo Zhi Chang nodded in visible relief. "The Spirit Diagrams are the last step. With this, he should be done."

"From your experience, how powerful are these Sunburst bombs?" the second Great Elder asked Tang Qi Hong.

"I"ve seen them work. The prototypes are already pretty powerful, but these new versions that we built are several times more powerful than them!" Tang Qi Hong paused for a moment. "The prototypes were able to blast craters in the ground about a dozen meters deep and across, and should be able to kill even Pure Spirit Stage pract.i.tioners without much trouble."

"Blood Shadow would have died if he didn"t leave a good amount of his strength elsewhere," Lian Rou added. "It was only because he recalled that separate portion of his strength that he was able to survive."

"Amazing…" the third Great Elder gulped and turned to Tang Qi Hong. "You guys were working to create something so dangerous?"

"Well…we thought it might help the sect," Tang Qi Hong said timidly.

"It does." The fourth Great Elder nodded in approval. "If you guys didn"t invent this Sunburst, then Nine-Tailed Fox Sect would be doomed."

Right at that moment, Cheng Ping appeared, smiling because he was the bearer of good news.

"Snow Valley Sect, Cloud Sky Mountain, and the Six Valley Sects have all stopped attacking." He beamed. "All of them are afraid that we will resort to killing their hostages, so they are wary of us for now and don"t dare to provoke us."

Luo Zhi Chang and the others exchanged glances, seeming as if a great weight had been lifted off their shoulders.

"I knew it! Being more ruthless will intimidate those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!" the fifth Great Elder laughed. "If we just compromise and give way, they will only take advantage of us and demand for more! Give them an inch and they will demand a foot!"

"Lang Xie made the right choice." The second Great Elder nodded in approval. "His methods may seem cruel, but they are undoubtedly the right one."

"I"m just worried about Xie Zhi Zhang." Luo Zhi Chang glanced in the direction of the city anxiously.

"Where is Sect Leader?"

Everyone jumped with fright when they heard Tian Yu Di"s voice. He was proceeding up Flame Volcano while carrying a body over his shoulder. He stopped right in front of them and dropped Xie Zhi Zhang in front of the inner sect elders.

"Fei Wu is currently engraving Spirit Diagrams for the Sunburst bombs," Elder Tie Jiang replied.

"Eh?" Tian Yu Di raised an eyebrow. "He"s a Spirit Engraver now? I thought he sucks at Spirit Engraving and blacksmithing."

"Fei Wu is certainly an average blacksmith and Spirit Engraver," Tie Jiang admitted. "But he has quite the active imagination. He"s the one who invented the Sunburst, and thus the one most familiar with its Spirit Diagrams. At this current stage, no one else is more suited to the task of Spirit Engraving the Sunburst than him."

"I should have paid more attention and comprehended the Sunburst Spirit Diagrams," Tang Qi Hong murmured wistfully. "I didn"t think we would need to build them again so soon…"

"No one expected this, my dear," Luo Zhi Chang told her gently. "Don"t blame yourself."

Tian Yu Di glanced at me while I slaved away inside my workshop. His eyes rested on the Sunburst bombs and he chuckled.

"Oh, that is indeed the impressive device!" he exclaimed excitedly. Evidently he could sense their destructive power from a distance. He nodded in approval. Even though he did have some reservations about Nine-Tailed Fox Sect taking on the Martial Arts Alliance by itself, the moment he sensed the intense energies emanating from them, he believed there was a possibility that they could turn the tables on our enemies.

"Thanks," I muttered under my breath. I knew he could hear me, though, having reached the level he was now.

"Sect Leader, I have captured the martial artist sent by the Martial Arts Alliance. The one you asked me to take care of."

Tian Yu Di grinned as he kicked the body. Xie Zhi Zhang made no sound.

"Great. Um…tie him up and restrain him. We"ll think of what to deal with him after I finish." I was still half-distracted with inscribing the Spirit Diagrams.

Luo Zhi Chang and the other Great Elders bowed slightly to express their grat.i.tude, but it was clear that they were still feeling apprehensive of him.

Tian Yu Di did not care. He just nodded, tied up the motionless Xie Zhi Zhang, and sat down lazily somewhere.

After thirty minutes, I finally finished my task.

"This should do it."

"You"re done?" Lian Rou raised an apprehensive eyebrow as she studied my work. I smiled bitterly.

"You don"t believe me? You want me to test it out?"

"Don"t do it!" Tang Qi Hong yelled. Everyone turned to stare at her. She raised both her hands. "The last time we did it, we destroyed a huge part of the forest at the back of Flame Volcano. I shudder to think how much damage these new ones will cause."

"I think we should mine the city with them. The moment the Martial Arts Alliance break through the walls and force us to withdraw, we"ll give them an explosive surprise." I thought for a moment. "I"ll build a few more, just in case."

"If you have the chance to." Tian Yu Di rose to his feet and nudged Xie Zhi Zhang"s body with his foot. "I doubt they"ll give you the time to do so. Now that we"ve captured this trash, I"m sure they will send in a stronger wave. Even I cannot guarantee that I"ll be able to fend them off."

"You"ll need to recover at least eighty percent of your strength if you want to fight them all off?" I asked as way of confirmation. Tian Yu Di nodded.

"That"s right. If I can recover to eighty percent of my strength, then I"ll be able to hold out against whatever the Martial Arts Alliance send for the next four days you need."

I turned to the Great Elders. "Is it possible to give Ancestral Master, uh, Elder Tian the spirit medicines and whatever he needs to recover?"

"I"ll see to it," Luo Zhi Chang replied, somewhat stiffly, but unable to conceal the hopeful expression that surfaced on his aged face.

"Thank you." I bowed.

That was when Cheng Ping spoke up, after listening to something in his comn bead. In the process of blacksmithing and building the Sunburst bombs, I had taken off my comn bead to avoid distractions, but that left me frustratedly ignorant of what was going on with Blood Blades.

Nonetheless, Cheng Ping was on hand to offer information.

"Dark Asura Sect is a.s.saulting the western gate. They are being led by Cao Xuan Rui and a girl named Xie Jing Lian. They are also being supported by Heavenly Way Sect, Green Dragon Sect and Kunlun Sect." he glanced at the Great Elders. "Elder Zhao is heading over there now and requesting reinforcements from the other gates, but we"re worried that the other sects will attack if we leave them. But at this rate, we won"t be able to stop them…"

I grinned as I glanced at Xie Zhi Zhang. "That"s exactly I asked Ancestral Master to take this guy as a hostage." I couldn"t be bothered disgusing my relationship with Tian Yu Di now. Turning to Cheng Ping, I made a request. "Elder Cheng, can you bring this guy to the plaza, tie him up, and then take a picture of him?"

"A picture?" Cheng Ping frowned. "Why?"

"I"m going to post it all over social media," I replied mischievously.

*

"Stop! All forces, stop attacking!" Yang Zhong shouted. At his command, the Dark Asura Sect members froze and stared at him.

"What is the meaning of this, Yang Zhong?" Xie Jing Lian demanded as she ducked down the cupola to glare at her subordinate. "Why are you calling for a halt?"

Swallowing, Yang Zhong beckoned toward a monitor, which showed a clear picture of Xie Zhi Zhang being imprisoned in the plaza of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, shackled to a Spirit Engraved Pillar. Despite being unconscious, there was no mistaking his features as his head hung loosely from his shoulders.

"Your Second Uncle has also been taken hostage."

"Everyone, retreat!" Xie Jing Lian screamed immediately. Even Cao Xuan Rui had no choice but to obey her, pulling back. With that, the slight momentum that they had gained with the a.s.sistance of three major sects immediately halted.

"How…how is this possible…?"

"Even Lord Xie has been captured?!"

"Just what kind of monsters are in Nine-Tailed Fox Sect?"

As I had predicted, the news dealt a crippling blow to the allied sects, the Martial Arts Alliance martial artists losing the will to fight. Beating a fighting retreat as the merciless cybernetica cohorts continued to fire at their backs, they drew back to the plains overlooking the city, astounded by the turn of events.

"What"s going on? How is Lang Xie able to not only defeat Lord Xie, but even capture him as a hostage?" Yang Zhong was perplexed.

"Was it even Lang Xie who did it?" Cao Xuan Rui snapped, his disbelief growing. He glared in the direction of Tushan City from atop his rover. "This…this Nine-Tailed Fox Sect is getting more and more mysterious! Monsters dwelling in their underground pa.s.sageways, having so many battle puppets, and now able to defeat both Tu Xi and Lord Xie?"

"We need to find a way to rescue Second Uncle!" Xie Jing Lian said angrily, balling her hands into fists. She glanced at the deflating martial artists around her, while still perched in her cupola. Worse, it seemed that there was significantly less of them than before. They had suffered casualties when a.s.saulting the fortified walls manned by both Blood Blades and their formidable battle puppets. "Morale is dropping like a rock! At this rate, we"ll be the ones who get annihilated!"

"It seems we"ve bitten more than we could chew," Yang Zhong mused quietly as he shook his head in resignation.