Chapter 156: Chapter 155: Taking Charge of a Front
Although the Northwest Martial University students usually scattered after accepting their missions, there were four or five hundred with Lin Wei. Dozens of them were in the Bright Soul Realm and had taken on high-difficulty tasks, making their collective strength quite formidable.
After Lin Wei cut through the already-collapsing ranks of the Sang Island martial artists with lightning speed, his group charged forward without hesitation, joining the chaotic melee.
The Dharma Realm Martial Artists still trapped within the Realm, however, paid them no mind. In their eyes, those few hundred students were barely at the Bright Soul Realm level. Even if they had learned powerful Secret Techniques, they couldn’t possibly defeat a thousand Sang Island martial artists. At most, they could only serve as a delaying tactic.
The true focus of their concern was still Jiang Qiu—the young man preparing to receive the full force of their combined attack.
"Die!"
The one among them with the strongest Dharma Aspect roared, and instantly, the Dharma Realm Martial Artists, who had gathered immense Spirit Charm, all attacked at once. The giant Python Dharma Aspects above their heads lunged in unison toward the tiny Azure Dragon Dharma Aspect behind Jiang Qiu.
More than twenty glints of light from their blades converged into a single, deadly line that sliced diagonally through Jiang Qiu’s body. A dead silence fell. The wind stopped, the clouds froze, and everyone’s gaze was fixed on the spot.
To everyone’s surprise, Jiang Qiu—who had been channeling his Spirit Charm to unleash his Spear Intent once more—was seemingly caught unprepared by the concentrated attack. He appeared to absorb the full force of the damage without reacting, and even the silhouette of his Azure Dragon Dharma Aspect shattered from the overwhelming impact of their Spirit Charm.
’Has he really run out of Spirit Charm?’
’He was just bluffing!’
The Sang Island martial artists were inwardly ecstatic, sighing in relief. But this was accompanied by the sheer panic of countless others. It was as if the sun had been extinguished in an instant, plunging the world back into darkness.
The refugees’ mouths went dry, unable to swallow. The Northwest Martial Arts University Students who had just charged into battle felt a lump in their throats, their chests tightening. They never expected the fight to be over so quickly.
"Did Jiang Qiu just die like that?"
In that instant, the same thought ran through most people’s minds. But as the wind blew and the clouds stirred, Jiang Qiu’s figure dissolved into disappearing Flame, and a young man’s silhouette suddenly materialized behind the twenty-one Dharma Realm Martial Artists.
Jiang Qiu emerged from the void, the cold glint of his spear tip slicing through the air. The trail of Flame following him abruptly engulfed all twenty-one Dharma Realm Martial Artists. They were still in a state of shock, their eyes wide with disbelief.
"Wh-what’s happening?!"
The words had barely left his lips when a sickening slicing sound echoed. A crescent arc of Flame bisected the battlefield, and a wave of delayed death snuffed out all life in its path.
In a single instant, all twenty-one Dharma Realm Martial Artists were sliced in two, their torsos separating from their legs. Blood bloomed like the legendary Other Shore Flower. As their heads, dropping alongside their Samurai Swords, spun through the air, their last sight was of Jiang Qiu’s ascending back, blood still dripping from the tip of his spear.
’We killed him... so why is he still alive...’
They would never know the answer to that question. The moment the Spear Intent blossomed from the tip of his weapon, their fates had been handed to Death itself.
Only the dumbfounded refugees witnessed it all. They saw the young man’s figure emerge from the Flame as if reborn from nirvana, his spear sweeping out to instantly execute twenty-one Dharma Realm Martial Artists!
"Is... is this the power of a Xia Country Martial Artist?"
"That genius, Jiang Qiu... to think he’s this powerful!"
After a few hushed whispers, the crowd of refugees erupted into fervent cheers. They celebrated Jiang Qiu’s arrival, shouting his name and the name of the Xia Country.
Meanwhile, on the Wall, most of the Belli Family martial artists, their legs having gone soft, trembled and exchanged glances, their terror plain to see. The cheers from the members of the Xia Country Martial Arts Team sounded to them like claps of spring thunder.
As for the Sanda martial artists who had fled for several kilometers, they had wanted to check on the status of the battle between the twenty-one Dharma Realm masters and Jiang Qiu. Instead, they were overtaken by several hundred young Martial Artists. Annoyed, they were about to fight back, but in the blink of an eye, the battle between their masters and Jiang Qiu was over.
And their masters had been completely annihilated!
The remaining Sang Island martial artists no longer dared to even think of resisting. They allowed Lin Wei and the other young Martial Artists to pursue them as they fled with all their might, never pausing for a second.
Out of a thousand Sang Island martial artists, most were sent fleeing in disarray. In the end, only two or three hundred managed to escape unscathed; the rest were either left here forever or were gravely wounded.
"Open the city gate. Let them in for now."
Jiang Qiu ordered a member of the Martial Arts Team standing by the gate mechanism, his icy gaze sweeping over the Belli Family members stationed there. "Do you serve the Belli Family, or do you serve North Border City?"
North Border City was huge, and the Belli Family didn’t have many Martial Artists stationed here—only two or three hundred. Their overall strength was also lacking; calling them a bunch of useless pushovers would not be an exaggeration.
But it was this very group that guarded North Border City’s South City Gate. They had been following Beligi’s orders to the letter, intending to open the gates.
To make them fall in line, one had to rely on overwhelming force.
"North Border City! Sir, we are loyal to North Border City!"
One of the more sensible Belli Family members raised his hands above his head, shouting in a cold sweat.
After all, they were just Martial Artists assigned to guard the Wall, far removed from the Belli Family’s inner circle of decision-makers. They didn’t reap many benefits, and thus their loyalty to the family was not particularly high.
They weren’t Grandmasters like Beligi, nor did they possess the immense power of the Dharma Realm. On a normal day, they were the respected "Master Martial Artists" in the eyes of the common folk, but when faced with powers like Sang Island or the Xia Country, they were nothing more than small fry.
And no one wanted to die.
Anyone with eyes could see that Jiang Qiu was determined to defend North Border City and protect the Xia Country’s administrative region. No matter how great this disaster was, he was going to hold the line.
’We’ll just listen to him for now. We can reassess when the next wave of enemies attacks. All that matters is staying alive...’
As this thought flowed through the minds of many Belli Family members, a wave of killing intent suddenly swept over them like a cold tide. "Since you’re loyal to North Border City, then follow me back into the city and slay some demons!"
The Belli Family martial artists’ eyes widened. "But... the gate still needs to be guarded."
Guarding the gate seemed like the most difficult task, but it was actually the easiest. If the enemy came, they could just open it. But if they followed Jiang Qiu into the city to hunt down members of the Demon Race who had infiltrated who-knows-when, they feared they would be bringing disaster upon themselves with no way to escape!
BOOM—
The shadow of a spear flashed. The [Chuyuan] spear instantly impaled and blew apart the Belli Family Martial Artist who had just spoken, an erupting Fire Lotus incinerating him to ash.
The others flinched, lowering their heads and not daring to meet his gaze.
"Those who come into the city with me will live. Otherwise, you won’t survive to see the end of this disaster," Jiang Qiu said, recalling his spear with a mere thought, his killing intent staggering. "You have three seconds. Anyone still on this Wall dies here!"
The Wall was, of course, critically important, but the character of these Belli Family martial artists made them completely untrustworthy. Rather than leaving them to guard it, he would rather entrust the task to Lin Wei and his people.
After all, Lin Wei and his companions were all geniuses trained at the university. When it came to actual combat prowess, they were far stronger than these mongrels from the Belli Family.
Soon enough, all the Belli Family martial artists were off the Wall. Jiang Qiu then assigned the task of defending the city to the Xia Country Martial Artists there and to Lin Wei’s group. All of them accepted his command without question.
