Chapter 36 – Siege on Black Brigade

  Diyuan and Feng Xueying were walking together down the street. Night had taken the city after the Golden Auction had concluded. The two of them had gone their separate ways from Auntie Mei Yi and Yao Luchen, but not before all the information he had learned was shared. Auntie was curious as to how he knew everything, but trade secrets were trade secrets. They had set up the defensive plan based on how many immortals were going to attack which area in the city and figured how to best merge their forces to push back their enemies.

  The fun didn’t wasn’t going to wait until tomorrow night it seemed.

  Two immortals, the Earthen Brothers, stood in their way. It was no surprise to Diyuan as he heard them mention this plan before the Golden Auction began.

  “We have seen your bravery at the Golden Auction. I have great respect!” One of the brothers gave a mock salute.

  Diyuan held up his storage ring hand. “My wealth only leaves me when I die. So tell me, are you here to claim my life?”

  “How could we? As righteous cultivators, it would be our duty to keep safe your rings while vile people lurk in the shadows.”

  Feng Xueying looked over at Diyuan. “What do you want to do?” she asked.

  “I made my Grand Invitational speech clear. Anyone who wants my wealth, even if their tongue claims righteous intent, should be seen as murderers. Since they came, they should be prepared to leave their lives. If you want to kill them, you can,” Diyuan said. He was already walking to the side of the street, leaving her alone on the street with the two men.

  The Earthen Brothers’ cultivation was at level 1 and level 2 Spiritweave respectively. If their teamwork was good enough, they could probably face off against a level 3 Spiritweave cultivator. Feng Xueying was at a disadvantage.

  Feng Xueying made a sword appear in each hand using the free storage ring that Diyuan had given her.

  Strange. Whenever they sparred, or when she sparred with Yao Luchen, she had always used just one sword.

  The two men chuckled and stupidly decided to only have one person fight while the other backed off. Something about Feng Xueying being a woman and all.

  The fight began. The level 1 Spiritweave Earthen Brother crouched down slapped both of his hands into the ground and pulled on it. Blue spirit energy circled around his hands as the ground under Feng Xueying moved like a rug being tugged. She stumbled and the man charged forward. In his hands were two earthen daggers, created by the ground he had just touched. He flung both weapons, which burst into sand right when Feng Xueying was about to deflect. It went into her eyes, forcing them shut and causing her to lose her vision.

  The man struck out with a real dagger in his hand. Feng Xueying squinted through one eye and moved out of the way, but not before her arm received a cut.

  “Hey now, I’m no fan of fighting women, even if she has scars like you. How about you drop those sharp toys?”

  The other Earthen Brother watched to see if Diyuan would step in to help.

  Diyuan didn’t move. Fighting against Spiritweave cultivators would be good experience for her. Better she practiced against weak ones like them under his supervision.

  Feng Xueying blinked rapidly to get the sand out of her eyes. The man ran in again. The other brother was watching Diyuan once more to see if he would intervene.

  There would be no need.

  Feng Xueying rubbed her eye—an act. She tipped both of her swords so they touched each other. She clenched her eyes shut as tightly as she could.

  Her arte activated. Both of her swords glowed brightly in the night. Diyuan had to squint from the blinding light. The level 1 Spiritweave brother turned his head away but still ran forward. Feng Xueying’s eyes snapped open as all the sand in her eyes had already been resolved. She ran forward and under the man’s dagger. She plunged both swords into his torso, stumbling back a bit from his speed and weight.

  “No!” the other brother shouted out.

  It was too late. The level 1 Spiritweave brother yelped out and gasped. The swords had gone in too easily, which suggested a lack of proper defense. Feng Xueying pulled out one sword and thrust it forward again into the man’s chest. He stood there in disbelief, looking down on the sword that struck his heart.

  “You ugly…” His body went limp as he fell backwards. Feng Xueying retrieved both of her now bloodied swords and turned towards the other man.

  “That is how you take advantage of a blinded opponent,” she said calmly.

  “No! You dare! You won’t leave here alive!”

  The remaining brother shrieked and cursed. He clapped his hands once, creating a blue energy around them and causing the ground beneath him to ripple out like it was made of water. Feng Xueying ran forward towards it. Diyuan suspected the earth-style arte was about to trigger once she got close enough, but she didn’t seem to care. If she wasn’t careful, Diyuan was going to have to step in. The first brother died because he was confident and arrogant, but the second one wasn’t going to play around.

  As the earth ripple was about to reach her, she jumped forward, above the rippling earth, and landed one foot on the other side.

  The Earthen Brother clapped again with blue energy. The ground burst up, launching dirt into the air with weaponized pebbles. The force hit Feng Xueying. It tore at her clothes, ripping them in places, and cut her skin. She dropped the sword that her wounded arm had been clenching. She reached out her hand and used spirit energy to retrieve it. It hit her hand and stumbled away as she missed to catch it with her offhand.

  It probably wasn’t a good idea to try a new combat style in the midst of combat against someone stronger.

  The Earthen Brother did some martial arts moves in her direction, despite being a bit away from her. The ground shot up spikes at her, covered in blue spirit energy. She dodged and deflected. A dagger appeared in her hand that she flung. He clapped his hands and an earthen wall formed quickly. When the dagger hit it uselessly, he clapped again and placed a palm on the wall, breaking it down in chunks of rock, which hovered in the air. It flew forward towards Feng Xueying.

  When she blocked it, she was surprised when she felt her own force used against her. Each chunk of rock was reflecting back a portion of strength used against it, giving it an additional weight behind its strikes.

  That was essentially the battle, just on repeat. Feng Xueying didn’t have a Spiritweave arte yet, but she did manage well against someone who had two. Her combat style was better suited for opponents who utilized swordplay, not the unique style she was facing now. She kept getting whacked by earth attacks and failed to get near the Earthen Brother. Her body was stronger than most, a benefit she had that the other man didn’t, so she was holding on still.

  When a spike launched up from behind her, Diyuan activated limitless Bonegrit Dreadflesh and placed it on her, transferring what would have been fatal damage to himself. The spike still pushed her forward, where she recognized her lack of awareness.

  “Feng Xueying, you lost,” Diyuan said. The shared damage did nothing to him, as a light heat pressed into his body to spread it.

  Feng Xueying bit her lip in frustration.

  But the Earthen Brother wasn’t having it. “You think you can just call a winner or a loser? You both will die today!”

  A sharp, reverberating beat sliced through the air. Diyuan had vanished and reappeared directly in front of the man. His eyes widened, but then locked in place as the stun arte hit him. He stood there, motionless, as Diyuan stabbed the man with his Wind’s Edge.

  The stun wore off. The man staggered back and used what strength he had to try to remain standing.

  Diyuan turned and said, “Take their storage pouches and let’s go.”

  The level 2 Spiritweave brother fell to his back and breathed his last. There were now two less immortals that would be attacking tomorrow.

  She blinked a few times at the ease of his kill. She had struggled to do anything, but Diyuan ended it in a moment’s time with no effort. She was realizing that even during training sessions, he had still been going easy on them.

  Diyuan taught Feng Xueying as they returned. He healed her cuts and bruises with limitless Benediction Balm, something she was now used to. Without a Spiritweave arte, she was already at a disadvantage, let alone using a combat style she wasn’t used to yet.

  He taught her about identifying the Earthen Brother’s weaknesses. The earth bullets could only travel in a single direction based on where the first one flew, so once she dodged one section, she would have dodged them all. And the ground rippling attack could only explode in a cascading fashion and didn’t happen at all once, so she could have stepped into a previously exploded part just before the ground she stood on erupted.

  The information wasn’t going to be useful in a direct sense, now that both Earthen Brothers were dead, but it was going to teach a mindset on how to fight against a wide variety of artes. Fights against Spiritweave cultivators were varied and unsuspecting cultivators would die quite easily. It was hard to transfer the knowledge he gained from the Reflections Pagoda, but Feng Xueying seemed to understand the concept he was trying to express.

  Finding Feng Xueying a Spiritweave arte was the current challenge. He had hoped to see something during the Golden Auction, though nothing of interest appeared. Yao Luchen now had his father’s Phantom Soul Twin arte, but Feng Xueying didn’t have a family backing. If she wanted to gain a proper arte, she might need to join a proper force or sect. This problem would continue to persist for the future Black Brigade Spiritweave cultivators.

  When they got close enough to the Black Brigade area, they saw that the barrier had been activated and was in effect around their walls. Diyuan and Feng Xueying sprinted until they reached the front gates. Commoners were awake despite the late hour and were watching from the sides. The front gates were opened, but undamaged, as the barrier covered the walls and doors. Diyuan looked for an enemy but saw none.

  Inside the courtyard, the Black Brigade squads were in combat positions, along with Manager Fanjian.

  “What happened?” Diyuan asked.

  The barrier disappeared at Manager Fanjian’s command. “I’m embarrassed to say nothing has happened. We were just running drills and practicing our response time.”

  In preparation for what needed to happen, Diyuan brought out the Boundless Expanse Flag Formation. They would need a formation expert to help set it up, so a request to Guardian Zhai Tielong would need to happen. The sooner the better.

  “Ah, we won’t need to do that,” Manager Fanjian said. “Yibei can help with that. Now then…where is he? And I don’t see Guard Yiyi either. Not again.”

  Manager Fanjian barked some orders for someone to retrieve Yibei. In that time, Diyuan learned how quickly Yibei seemed to have picked up Guardian Zhai Tielong’s teaching when it came to formations. Yibei’s intellect made him a good student for formations and was apparently the person who came up with the method to translate Diyuan’s Mudpit Bog formation in a way that could be use broadly—something Diyuan didn’t know needed to happen.

  Yibei came out with a flushed face. Guard Yiyi walked slowly behind him, her own face satisfied with something. Diyuan showed Yibei the flags and he took a quick examination of it.

  “Whoever made these is very considerate,” Yibei said. He held up a flag an inch from his eye. “Five flags can be placed in a specific pattern and turned a certain way to make whatever shape we want. We can even control if we want the spiritual energy to evenly distribute or focus it all in a single area. It’s very easy to use. After experiencing the other two formations, I can tell this is a very high-quality item; several tiers better, actually. I say that but I’m no expert, so maybe I’m wrong.”

  Both the formation flags and the Body Cleansing Pill recipe were provided by the two Zhuge family members based on the sound transmission Diyuan snooped into. Both of these items served the single purpose of increases someone’s capabilities to reaching a higher cultivation level. Was it just generosity? They had said they wanted as many Holy candidates as possible. Without people knowing where these treasures came from, the Zhuge family wouldn’t get credit—

  Diyuan detonated.

  An explosion of power burst from Diyuan, erupting outward and throwing everyone into the air. Yibei and Feng Xueying were the closest and were thrown into the walls with a loud thud. Those further away were flung to the ground. Diyuan’s vision went hazy and a sharp pain pricked his entire body. His Bonegrit Dreadflesh didn’t activate. He felt strength leave his body as he collapsed to his hands and knees. He coughed. Blood. His ears rang. He heard people shout, but couldn’t comprehend what they were saying.

  He felt a hand pull him up to his knees. His vision cleared a bit to reveal a concerned Feng Xueying. Her eyes were wide as she used a finger to collect some of the excess blood that dripped from his mouth. Diyuan was able to see the color of it.

  Black.

  “Leader Diyuan…?” She looked at the blood on her finger and then to him. Fear crept across her face. The unwavering confidence she once held for him was faltering.

  Diyuan closed his eyes and sensed inward, though he already figured what he would see.

  His core had cracked again, the second time since he left the Tribulation Shroud. But this time, it was a fissure throughout his Foundation core. He felt his strength weakening even further. He staggered to his feet.

  “I’m fine. There’s nothing to worry about.”

  “Leader Diyuan, black blood means…” but Feng Xueying was cutoff when he raised his hand.

  Of course she would know what it meant. Her own core had been cracked before. “It’s nothing new.” Diyuan straightened and wipe the blood off his face. “Yibei, set the flags up to cover this place. Feng Xueying, tell everyone what’s going on and what to expect tomorrow night. I will need to enter seclusion for a bit.”

  He left them and found isolation. He immediately checked his Foundation core to see what information he could glean from it. After working on Yao Luchen’s shattered core and healing through it, he was able to have a deeper understanding on cores in general; probably even knew enough that Venerate Grouch Huizhong would only insult him a little bit.

  What had surprised Diyuan was how shallow the fissure was on his core. After causing such a scene, he had expected it to be even worse than it looked. Which was good news, as this meant the original three-month time limit had indeed been extended as he had expected. If this second crack had happened while the first one had not been healed, it could have been even more devastating.

  He got a slightly better understanding now when it came to the literal description of a core explosion destroyed a city.

  But now he had a second problem to consider. He could heal the fissure without a problem with his limitless Benediction Balm, but the healing arte would enter a three-day exhaustion period. Part of his plan was to use the healing in support of the Black Brigade for tomorrow’s battle. But if he didn’t heal his core, its damage was at a state that it could disrupt his artes even with his level of energy control.

  It didn’t take him too long to decide it was better to heal his core. A disrupted arte could mean an attempt to save someone with limitless Bonegrit Dreadflesh or limitless Stunlock Bind might not work as intended. He focused inward and began the healing process. He was more efficient with it, allowing for a clean healing. Part of him mused at the first time his core was severely damaged, back inside Gu Guoxiong’s Craigshatter Upheaval domain. His core became damaged to the point of breaking because he used his Emperor’s Rule teleportation without restriction.

  It made him wonder, though. Couldn’t he keep doing that, purposely damaging his core, and then heal it afterwards? The post-healing would solve for the major weakness of his teleportation arte—which was the long period between teleports.

  That theory assumed several things. Could he remove the restriction again in the first place? When he did it the first time, he was in a life and death situation. And if he did it now, with the threat of his core exploding, would that trigger a chain reaction and potentially detonate his core early?

  There were too many variables and he didn’t want to risk exploring that option while he still had his Foundation core problem.

  Diyuan could tell when the formation flags were working. He sensed a spiral of spiritual energy start to fill the area. He didn’t know how effective it would be, but hopefully it would provide aid to the other formations during the battle.

  He closed his eyes. The hit on his core drained him, making his body demand sleep. He decided to allow it, hoping to get back to peak shape when he woke up.

  He sensed some movement inside his storage ring, which he assumed was Di Guilin’s egg rocking back and forth again. He paid it no mind and kept resting.

  ***

  The morning gave way to the afternoon, which then relented to the more colorful sky as the sun prepared to set.

  Yan Liu, or better known as the Young Master of the Strongbow Style, was making his way to the Sunset Garden. The orange sky was slowly becoming black. Next to him was his woman, Su Que. He liked how she was always clinging to him and feeding him. He still felt humiliated that Yuhan Diyuan outplayed him at the Golden Auction, but it wasn’t his job to make the Black Brigade leader fall tonight.

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  People were still out at this time and moved out of the way to let him pass.

  “Darling, if you knew I was about to fall into deep trouble that would end my life, would you risk your life to save me?” Su Que asked.

  “Not even a question. You are mine and this world would be too dull without you.”

  She looked up at him to search his eyes. He said it in a tone where he could still claim masculinity, where he wouldn’t be embarrassed if another man heard him, but he meant the words.

  Su Que finally smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder. “I feel the same. Let’s take a seat over there; my shoes are forgetting that I’m a proper Jade Beauty to some.” Su Que pointed to a bench where several mortals sat. Once they heard her, they immediately got up and gave them room.

  “We can’t have you feeling uncomfortable. Let’s sit.”

  He led them as Su Que swung his arm. She pressed her upper body even closer, letting him feel what he wanted to feel. She always knows what’s good for me.

  Yan Liu sat down, wondering how quick his attack on the Sunset Garden would be.

  A prickling feeling pierced the arm Su Que was holding onto. He looked down and saw her press her ring into him.

  The ring now had a needle protruding out of it.

  Yan Liu looked upon her face, confused as to what was happened. But he didn’t expect to see what he saw.

  Su Que had a face full of pity and concern. Her cutesy act gone. He felt an electric current coursing through his body. He was paralyzed and could not move.

  She sat next to him and leaned her head on his shoulder again as if nothing was wrong.

  [Woman! What are you doing?] He had to speak through sound transmission as he wasn’t able to talk.

  She turned her head so her mouth was up to his ear for a quiet whisper. “I told you I’d do the same for you. Do you remember how I came from Fengpo city originally? I was part of the Sunset Garden. That means I know that the Golden Alliance will lose today. And…if I’m wrong, you can just kill me in front of everyone to explain why you weren’t there.”

  She returned to her loving embrace of his arm. Yan Liu couldn’t do anything. His breathing slowed as the electric current in his body coursed through, but there was nothing life threatening.

  She was a spy this entire time! Angry filled him, though it didn’t stay for long. If the Golden Alliance won, he could explain his absence just as she had described. If they lost, then couldn’t he say he was never part of it?

  Ridiculous. How could the Golden Alliance lose?

  Hmm…

  [I’ll trust you. You always know what’s good for me.]

  He felt her nod.

  ***

  In the Sunset Garden, Mei Yi walked through the hallway of the upper floor with casual grace. Her wardrobe was sleeker now, something that most weren’t used to seeing on her. She would need to go about and potentially fight so she would do away with her more fanciful outfits. She tucked a strand of white hair behind her ear, feeling the energy from her fingertips tickle her when it touched her skin.

  An immortal energy entered her Sunset Garden. That would either be the Strongbow Style Young Master or…

  Zhai Tielong came upstairs and saluted her.

  Mei Yi expected it to be him. He had been hidden away after he recovered his Spiritweave realm, but now it was time to reveal it to the public. She walked on and he followed behind her. Mei Yi stopped at a door and rapped on it.

  No answer.

  Not that they could. She opened the door to reveal the two immortal guests she had brought to the auction house with her. Though, now, they stood in an awkward doll-like pose; one stood on one foot with arms stretched out awkwardly, and the other in a pose that seemed like he had paused mid-dance. Both of them looked at Zhai Tielong, hoping that it would instead be the Strongbow Style immortal. Their faces drooped in disappointment.

  [The odd habit of yours returned,] Zhai Tielong said with a disapproving look. He included the two immortals into his sound transmission.

  [Oh, come now, I was just stretching. It’s been too long since I’ve used any of my Spiritweave artes. You can’t even see the strings from this distance and lighting.] Mei Yi walked forward and plucked at one of the silk strings that was attached to one of the men. It was thin enough that it looked to be like a spiderweb. [They did seem so disappointed to see you, my Right Guardian. Tell us, what has become of their hopeful savior?]

  Zhai Tielong sighed. [Su Que did not assassinate him—she only paralyzed the Strongbow Style. He’s been neutralized in either case.]

  Mei Yi calculated what that would mean for her in the future. [She was always fond of the buffoon types. This will make it easier to step into Yelan city in earnest, then.] Mei Yi turned to the two immortals. They didn’t need to talk for her to understand what they were feeling. They had been trapped and played from the start. Should they beg for their lives? Should they pretend they weren’t going to backstab her? None of it would matter. It wouldn’t stop them from trying, however.

  [Madam Mei Yi! Wait, we were wrong!]

  [Spare us! We can become your bodyguards forever!]

  But there would be no dialogue. Mei Yi held up her hand and tapped her fingers to each other. She began controlling the strings once more. She saw a glint in the light as some webs hovered around their helpless necks. It tightened. The color on their face changed as the strangulation started.

  [I believe I’m controlling my strength well, but in case they pop, find one of the less queasy women clean up the mess,] Mei Yi ordered. [Then destroy the families that have united against us before you bring support to the Yao family. I have secret documents to intercept and cannot be late.]

  The attack on the Sunset Garden ended before it could even begin. Based on the information that Nephew Diyuan laid out, all fronts would be resolved and then moved to the next group, cleaning up the assailants. Once all of that was accomplished, they would eventually meet together at the Black Brigade.

  The Black Brigade was where the unknown factor existed. If the Virtuous Wind Sect stepped in, things would get complicated.

  ***

  “Yuhan Diyuan of the Black Brigade, come out and face justice for your many crimes!”

  The voice echoed and boomed throughout. The Black Brigade barrier had formed when they received news of the incoming forces. The Black Brigade teams were lined up inside the courtyard, prepared for battle once the barrier got destroyed.

  But there was a slight problem with the plan tonight. Yuhan Diyuan was still recovering.

  Feng Xueying stood and watched everyone get into position. Fu Yibei was in charge of keeping the barrier up as long as possible. He stood there in the back with two fingers held before him, concentrating on what he needed to do. He had only briefly learned about formations from the Right Guardian, but Fu Yibei must have been some sort of genius as he had picked up everything he needed to. Feng Xueying only heard snippets of him bragging to Yiyi about what he could do with the flag formation, ensuring the barrier would remain solid for the entire siege.

  Feng Xueying knew better. She had already lost to one of the Earthen Brothers simply due to her lack of experience. And now, with the Golden Alliance at their doorstep, who knew what they had prepared to bring them down?

  Flanking Fu Yibei were the women of the Black Brigade. Yuhan Diyuan had named their group as the Sable Shapers, to go along with Sable Watchers and Sable Vanguards. The Shapers were responsible for the formation control. While Fu Yibei would handle the barrier, the women would help him control the Mudpit Bog formation they had received from their leader.

  As for Manager Fanjian and several others, they weren’t present. They would provide support to the Left Guardian and other forces to protect the streets.

  Beyond the barrier were the enemies. Two immortals were side-by-side: Deacon Hu and Patriarch Niu Bolin. The Niu’s main family were there as well, with plenty of Perfect Harmony Stage experts. They outnumbered the Black Brigade three-to-one.

  Then, standing behind everyone, were the three immortals from the Virtuous Wind Sect. They were here as observers. Time would tell if that would change.

  “What crimes?” Feng Xueying asked back. This was her first time using a loud voice. She was surprised by how naturally it came to her.

  Niu Bolin used his own loud voice to respond. They could have just spoken normally, but this was all a show. A justification to attack. Nothing she said or did was going to prevent that. She wasn’t one of those smart people who could trap someone with just words. All she could do is buy time since she doubted she could defeat both Deacon Hu and Patriarch Niu Bolin by herself.

  “…And the murder of the Earthen Brothers is only the most recent of your crimes,” he finished.

  “You mean the two immortals who came to kill us to steal our storage ring?” Feng Xueying responded. She felt like she should say something more here, something that Yuhan Diyuan would say, but she came up short.

  Yuhan Diyuan was supposed to be here. His core suddenly getting damaged was not part of the plan. And since the plan had gone astray, she had decided to do something she did not like.

  When she took the storage bags from the Earthen Brothers, she had found a Spiritweave arte tablet in one of them. Profound Rubber Rebuke was the name of it. It was something she had faced against personally when she fought the second brother. It was an arte that rebounded impact, weakening the attacker’s strikes.

  It wasn’t an arte she would have wanted. She was exploring options to sneak and kill people efficiently, but she had to absorb it since she wasn’t sure when Yuhan Diyuan would recover.

  When Patriarch Niu Bolin finished with his nonsense, they began their siege in earnest. The Niu family brought wealth with them. Several members lifted up paper talismans and activated them. Large weapons appeared above as giant energy-based objects; swords, axes, bows, spears, and hammers. They all launched and struck at their barrier.

  A loud ringing noise echoed upon each impact. The barrier rippled, but held on. The giant talisman weapons were able to continuously attack as others summoned forth their own talismans. Dozens of weapons were bombarding them.

  Feng Xueying looked over at Fu Yibei. It was the scholar’s job to keep the barrier intact and restore any damage it could receive over multiple hits. She was checking to see how strained he might be, but what she found a man smiling—someone enjoying himself at a new puzzle had found.

  Everyone could see the barrier slowly thin out. When it was fully charged, they could see the sparkles within. But things began to dim and cracks were slower to heal. The talisman weapons would run out of time, but then the Niu family would just summon new ones. They really were wasting a great amount of spirit stones.

  The Black Brigade members readied their weapons in anticipation.

  “Oh, so that’s how it works,” Fu Yibei suddenly said.

  In the next instant, the barrier fully restored back to its original state. Few of the exhausted Niu family members threw up their hands in annoyance.

  The stalemate lasted for a while. Night had fully claimed the city. She doubted anyone in the city would be able to sleep based on the sound echoing out. If the siege on the Black Brigade wasn’t loud enough for them, the sudden explosion in the distant streets certainly would be.

  “What was that?” Youzhi asked. The bombardment on the barrier came to a halt. He fingered his spear on his back, eager to do some fighting. The explosion in the distance was evidence that another battlefield was happening.

  “Don’t mind it, Martial Senior,” Patriarch Niu Bolin said. “I assume it’s a trap they had planned ahead of time since they were expecting you to be here. If you leave to check out whatever is happening there, then the demonic cultivator will find a way to flee.”

  “That’s a lie,” Feng Xueying said. She wanted to claim how it was the Golden Alliance that were attacking the city and that it was the Black Brigade’s people defending it, but finding a way to speak up was difficult when it seemed like the opposing side had prepared lines for everything.

  Patriarch Niu Bolin turned to Youzhi and did a deep salute. “Martial Senior, I ask that you help us destroy this barrier. The sooner we can prove that this vile human is a demonic cultivator, the sooner this whole thing ends.”

  Youzhi nodded and turned to the two Immortal Maidens that were watching. Sound transmission must have happened because they only kept looking at each other, where Youzhi eventually frowned.

  The one known as Xiaoya stepped forward. She had an umbrella resting on her shoulder.

  “I’ve heard about you,” Xiaoya said, looking directly at Feng Xueying. “You’ve met my Senior Sister before, haven’t you?”

  There was only one person she could have been talking about.

  The Holy Daughter candidate, Zi Qin.

  Feng Xueying nodded. “We’ve met several years ago. She gave me an alchemy recipe to refine a pill that can restore a cracked core.”

  “Interesting.” Xiaoya turned to face Youzhi. “Senior Sister trusted this woman enough to want her to continue cultivating. To me, that has more weight.”

  More weight compared to what? Feng Xueying wouldn’t know since the conversation went back to sound transmission.

  Another burst of flame in the distance.

  “Enough of this,” Youzhi said. “I won’t be known for not acting against a demonic cultivator.”

  Under Youzhi’s instructions, new talismans were activated and all sorts of giant weapons appeared above. As it was about to strike, Youzhi pulled out his spear and entered a stance. Blue energy enveloped the tip of the spear. He charged forward and struck the barrier at the same time as everything else.

  The cracks with each individual hit met, creating a wound that Fu Yibei couldn’t restore. The front half of the barrier shattered, raining down motes on the waiting Black Brigade.

  Youzhi put his spear on his back again, smiling at his achievement.

  For some reason, that annoyed Feng Xueying.

  “All that just to do what Brother Diyuan did with one punch,” she said. She called Yuhan Diyuan as Brother since she wanted to support him even more than just by being a Black Brigade member.

  Youzhi frowned at her taunt. Of course, it wasn’t a fair comparison since they now had the flag formation to strengthen the barrier, but she said it since it would irk him.

  Not that it mattered. The real battle would now start.

  The Foundation cultivators from the Niu family’s side charged in and attacked the Black Brigade’s squads. Feng Xueying watched and waited for Deacon Hu and Patriarch Niu Bolin to act, but both waited, content to see how their numerous forces would bring them down.

  The clash of the mortals went as expected. Despite being outnumbered, the teamwork that the Black Brigade had was significantly better. The Sable Watchers didn’t need to do anything fancy but stick with the foundational elements they had learned from Yuhan Diyuan. That was enough to fend off the disorganized opponents.

  They worked together and blocked for each other and stabbed the enemy’s openings. They would switch out when needed with the back line. The Niu side started activating talismans to smash through the squads, but the Sable Vanguards would rush up and block them with their defensive stances. Just when it seemed like a vulnerable Sable Vanguard would die, the movements of the attackers slowed enough to either be killed by a Watcher or to have the Vanguards pull back. The Niu family wouldn’t have identified it yet, but that would be the Sable Shapers working the Mudpit Bog formation.

  For the Black Brigade, none died while the Niu family’s side saw death each moment that passed.

  That was enough to tip Patriarch Niu Bolin over the edge. He apparently had a heated sound transmission conversation with Deacon Hu. They settled on something and both of them charged in. Feng Xueying ran forward to meet them in battle.

  Patriarch Niu Bolin had no sword or spear, but everyone in the city knew about his combat style. With an open palm, he struck out. Deacon Hu’s sword swung down at her at the same time. She brought out both swords and held them up to block both attacks. Her Profound Rubber Rebuke helped rebound the hits, pushing them back slightly.

  They moved to pincer her, but it wouldn’t work as they had planned. Fu Yibei—or one of her women—had activated Mudpit Bog and made it hit Patriarch Niu Bolin. There was no visual proof of it, but Feng Xueying could tell how his movements became sluggish and the response of what he wanted to do arrived late. She couldn’t take advantage of his slow movement as she had to focus on Deacon Hu’s attacks.

  Her battle was going better than it had when she faced the Earthen Brother. She had not been sure on how to deal with an arte that had an area attack, but Deacon Hu’s sword artes were short ranged and were predictable based on how the blue energy moved. Patriarch Niu Bolin’s palm artes were, strangely enough, not short ranged. He would strike out and the palm energy would shoot forward. Feng Xueying was able to dodge as the normally swift patriarch was now slow.

  “Tempered Knuckle Barrage!”

  Patriarch Niu Bolin used a different arte. He jabbed his fists as he punched several consecutive hits, as if the Mudpit Bog formation did nothing to slow him. Feng Xueying held up both sword for a defense, where her rebound arte was capable of acting as an absorbent for part of the damage. She held her ground well, not budging against the multiple impacts.

  During that period, Deacon Hu came in for the kill. Feng Xueying noticed because that’s what she would have done. She shut her eyes and activated her blinding arte, causing her swords to flash bright. It didn’t stop the Niu patriarch’s attack arte, but it did cause Deacon Hu to back off.

  For someone at the peak of Early Stage Spiritweave, Deacon Hu was rather unexperienced. Which was saying something as Feng Xueying should have had even less experience than him.

  A random Niu cultivator jumped up and over the Black Brigade teams. He landed before the Sable Shapers team.

  “Yiyi!” Fu Yibei shouted out and left his post.

  The sluggish movement of Patriarch Niu Bolin ended. Both immortals were now upon her in earnest.

  The Niu patriarch was fast. He could shift and jab as her, then palm strike her sides. Deacon Hu was there to follow through. No matter how weak Deacon Hu was for the Early Stage Spiritweave realm, he was still at the peak of it while she had only just stepped into it.

  She was on the backfoot, slowly falling behind their dual assault. Just as she was starting to get nervous, a blue phantom of a person leapt over the outer wall and threw its sword. The blue translucent sword struck at Deacon Hu’s shoulder, causing him to yelp out in pain. The sword vanished and reappeared in the phantom’s hand.

  That would be Yao Luchen’s Phantom Soul Twin, the very same arte that gave the title of Phantom Swordsman to his father. If he had sent the phantom here, then the battle at the Yao family must be going well.

  The Phantom landed and stood next to Feng Xueying.

  “It’s the Phantom Swordsman!” someone shouted out.

  “Yao Luchen is helping us!”

  The phantom had the same appearance as Yao Luchen, except it was fully blue and see through. It was a phantom true to its name and, from what Feng Xueying understood, had a portion of Junior Brother’s capabilities.

  The combat changed to two-versus-two. Feng Xueying felt right at home fighting next to Yao Luchen’s phantom. They had teamed up before to practice against Yuhan Diyuan—a fight they never won.

  She couldn’t help but smile as she watched Deacon Hu and Patriarch Niu Bolin try to stumble through their teamwork. Deacon Hu took a healing pill, but for the remainder of the fight he would have to favor only one arm.

  The phantom kept Yao Luchen’s combat style, but it wasn’t a copy of the real person. It couldn’t speak or make any suggestions. But it would be enough to take care of the immortals here—

  A spear sliced right through the phantom, causing it to dissipate into the air.

  Youzhi held up his hand and had his spear returned to him.

  “Outsiders should not interfere,” Youzhi said, grasping at his spear and returning it to his back once more.

  Outsiders? Outsiders!? That was Yao Luchen! He’s part of the Yuhan Alliance!

  Feng Xueying felt a rush of anger towards Youzhi. She was distracted. She saw how furious the two Immortal Maidens, Xiaoya and Min, got as they probably had some words to say to Youzhi.

  That was why she didn’t notice both Deacon Hu and Patriarch Niu Bolin charge in. They slowed with Fu Yibei hitting them with the formation again, but the distance was too close. Feng Xueying held up to block but one sword got knocked out by the patriarch’s palm strike. Deacon Hu went in for the kill.

  It was like time slowed. She saw the sword but could do nothing to stop it.

  A sharp, reverberating beat sliced through the air, followed by a humming noise.

  Yuhan Diyuan appeared suddenly between her and her two opponents.

  He held up one finger and blocked Deacon Hu’s sword. The strike from the immortal didn’t even cause Yuhan Diyuan’s finger to move. Patriarch Niu Bolin did another palm strike which flew past Yuhan Diyuan. Feng Xueying moved to block but failed. The strike her hit square in the chest, causing her to stumble one foot back.

  Pain flared and… Wait, there was no pain? A strange sensation covered her, but the strike itself got absorbed by the sensation and just…disappeared. It was the same thing that had happened when the Earthen Brother almost pierced through her with one of the spike attacks. She suspected it before, but now she knew for certain that Yuhan Diyuan also had a defense arte he could apply to someone else.

  Just how many things could he do?

  The fighting everywhere stopped. The Niu family backed away as the Black Brigade saw him and shouted out his name. Feng Xueying looked over to Fu Yibei and Yiyi and saw how the man now had a cut on his face—deep enough that it could scar—but both of them were otherwise fine. She then looked at the absurd block Yuhan Diyuan had done with his finger.

  It was a trick.

  He didn’t actually block anything. The sword had come just a sliver short from hitting his finger. Feng Xueying now realized that Deacon Hu had been stunned, though Yuhan Diyuan made it look like he blocked it effortlessly.

  Ah! Now she fully understood what was happening on the battlefield. It wasn’t just Deacon Hu that got stunned. Patriarch Niu Bolin and the Niu fighters that wanted to keep fighting were all forced to stop moving. The other opponents stopped simply because they thought everyone else did.

  When the stun wore off, the two immortals jumped away from Yuhan Diyuan, who now held the stage.

  And Feng Xueying saw that he was looking furiously at Youzhi from the Virtuous Wind Sect.

  ***

  Wuyin watched from a distance. He was at a location where his sensory arte allowed him to glimpse at every combat location happening in the city. Regardless of how weak everyone was, it was his duty to ensure the lady's safety.

  [Oh look, Silent Wolfy, Yuhan Diyuan is finally out!] Lady Zimei sat on the rooftop, dangling her legs. She was only interested in the battle that was happening at the Black Brigade.

  Wuyin had checked the other battlefronts. The Yuhan Alliance had suddenly received multiple immortals that they weren’t known to have. In the streets was a large woman who people were calling the Left Guardian. She had just reached Early Stage Spiritweave. Near the prestigious household’s battlefront, the man known as the Right Guardian had passively increase his Early Stage strength to a degree faster than normal, which suggested he was recovering his Spiritweave energy after having it suppressed.

  Meanwhile, a bit outside the city where his sensory arte could barely reach, the woman known as Madam Mei Yi had recently caught up to a man named Gaoshe and…

  Gaoshe was now in several pieces.

  That string combat style that Madam Mei Yi used against Gaoshe was now being used against the auction house owner. Both were fighting at the peak Early Stage Spiritweave level. Their powers and strength seemed similar, but the Sunset Garden’s madam had more experience.

  Madam Mei Yi’s ability to turn off her cultivation level—even to his sensory arte—was something that he had experienced once before; an arte known as Turtle Breathing prevented any from tracking their immortal energy. That was something taught to the Hao Sect members. If Madam Mei Yi knew such an arte, then she would somehow be involved with them.

  [Hey! Are you listening?] Lady Zimei poked him.

  [Yes, but he had been watching the battle for a while now. Did you not notice how he had been stunning people this entire time? Whenever his own were about to die, his opponents conveniently stopped moving in a way that had nothing to do with their delaying formation. His men are not skilled enough to avoid having death against so many, yet none of them died so far.]

  [Oh.] Lady Zimei looked back at the battlefield. [Looks like it’s almost over now anyway.]

  [No. The most interesting part is about to begin. Look over there.] Wuyin pointed towards a different rooftop that had a vantage point towards the Black Brigade. A darkened shadow was there, hiding their presence. But that wasn’t enough to trick his sensory arte.

  [Eh, is it someone important?]

  [It’s someone you’ve been wanting to meet,] Wuyin said.

  Lady Zimei’s eyes went wide and she stood up. [Really!? She’s here?]

  Wuyin nodded.

  On that rooftop, a woman from the Virtuous Wind Sect had been watching ever since the barrier had been destroyed.

  The Holy Daughter candidate, Zi Qin, was here.