Chapter Ch151.1 - Vulnerability
TL-Checked by Sassystrawberry; Edited by Animeart
The frosty glow flickered on the three foot long sword.
The sword could be used to seek the Dao, but it could also be used to kill.
Lin Shu held the sword horizontally in front of him and glided his finger slowly across the blade’s edge.
The body of the sword was clear, the intangible sword intent was stimulated inch by inch, and he once again explored the meridian network within the Folding Bamboo sword, and integrated himself with it.
The Shangling Grandmaster, who was beside him said admiringly: “An excellent sword!”
The sword of the Shangling Grandmaster was also unsheathed, it was a silver longsword with a clear and shining body, its sword light was akin to the brilliant radiance of the full moon.
If Mr. Meng’s weapon had been a sword, it would definitely have been this manner of bright and cool sword. As for the Shangling Grandmaster, his sword was also suitable.
The Shangling Grandmaster said: “I will go to the front and hold the line.”
After saying this, his body flew upwards, and headed towards the edge of the barrier.
The densely packed living corpses had swarmed upwards together, crawling over the barrier, tearing and ramming themselves against the barrier, trying to exhaust the spiritual power of the barrier.
The barrier created by the Immortal cultivators was akin to the city walls of the mortal world, it must not be taken down!
The glint of blades, sword light, the glow of the Taoist Talismans and the sound of thunder roaring, constantly burst upon the barrier array. As one living corpse was hurled downwards by spells, a new living corpse would climb up to take its place, obscuring the sky and blotting out the sun with sheer numbers, the scene was extremely terrifying.
Lin Shu waited.
He awaited the return of the disciples of Dream Hall, who would bring back information on the specific location and number of the Northern Xia wizards.
About half an hour later, the green-clothed disciples came back one after another.
Yue Ruohe frowned and said: “We found no trace of the wizards.”
Hall Master Yue said: “This 200,000 strong army is entirely made up of living corpses. There is no sight of wizards in the middle or at the end of the horde. This one presumes that the Northern Xia wizards may be scattered amongst the living corpses or hidden within the surrounding mountains and forests currently. It will be difficult to locate them under short notice.”
Xie Zishe clasped her hands together in front of her chest and said: “Requesting that the Hall Master Yue lead his disciples to continue the investigation.”
Hall Master Yue replied: “Of course, it’s just that, if we still are not able to find them, how do we proceed?”
Xie Zishe: “At this time, there are 200,000 living corpses, clustered tightly around and above one another. If the wizards are hiding within the swarm, it would be really difficult to pinpoint their location. Once we wipe out most of the living corpses, and then search for them, it would be an easy matter to accomplish.
Hall Master Yue: “That would be good.”
The Dream Hall disciples continued to probe ahead, while the rest of the Immortal Path disciples focused their energies on guarding the barrier.
The Shangling Grandmaster’s intention was to have Lin Shu wait at the city wall to preserve his strength, waiting for the confrontation with the Northern Xia wizards to attack.
As a result, all Lin Shu did was to observe the battle conditions at different parts of the barrier, and step in to assist with his sword intent when the fighters encountered danger.
On the whole, Phoenix Mountain Villa’s sword technique contained the Lihuo Qi’s power, which was the most effective in counteracting against the yin and evil. The overall strength of the sect was the most powerful, and the Phoenix Mountain Villa Grandmaster who had a Tribulation cultivation base was holding the formation. Being the frontline of the villa’s defense, obviously she was under the most pressure, but she was able to do her job well, firmly guarding the most critical part of the barrier, and even sending people to reinforce other areas.
The northwest corner of the barrier defense was composed of a mixed group of disciples from smaller sects. Their original strength was already weak, and cooperation with one another was poor. Crisis frequently occurred, hence this was where Lin Shu helped out the most.
The barrier enchantment of the garrison city was utilizing the highly defensive formation “Heavenly Big Dipper Array”, it could defend against all kinds of attacks from the outside world, and it could also block the enemy’s line of sight, obscuring the situation within the barrier and preventing them from gaining knowledge of the layout within the barrier.
The ideal outcome of this battle of defending the city would be that the disciples of the Immortal Dao would be able to stop the living corpses outside of the barrier!
However... it was still too difficult!
These two thousand Immortal cultivators are a little weaker compared to the horde of living corpses. One person had to contend against several living corpses simultaneously, it was a struggle. Perhaps if one had reached the later stage of Yuan Ying, then he would indeed be able to match scores of living corpses.
And the army of living corpses, on the other hand, numbered more than two hundred thousand!
Even if a person had dozens of hands, he still wouldn’t be able to stop them all. There was an endless stream of living corpses attaching themselves to the barrier, tearing it in a frenzied attack. The spiritual power of the barrier was constantly being consumed, consumed and consumed even more.
This was a battle which was not destined to end in victory, and the barrier could not be sustained for a long time. All they could do was fight to the death!
Each living corpse killed would reduce the pressure on the barrier, and reducing the pressure meant that it would be able to last a little bit longer, lasting a little bit longer would allow the other defensive arrangements within the city to be improved by a little!
The sun was rising higher in the sky, and it shone on people’s faces with a searing heat. There was a distant cry of a rooster from the city, and it seemed that it was almost high noon.
In other words, six hours had already passed since the living corpses had begun to attack the city!
The Immortal Dao disciples suffered heavy casualties, and there was an unending stream of blood-covered disciples falling from mid-air.
The disciples and elders of the Academy immediately rushed to provide medical aid. Some of them could be rescued, some of them were critically injured and couldn’t be saved, and some of them... From the moment they fell, they were already dead.
The sun’s rays were getting hotter.
Another two hours passed.
The disciples were no longer able to maintain their fighting power, and the numbers of fallen kept increasing. Even if they could continue to fight, their spiritual power was almost exhausted, and they were also injured, so their combat power was decreasing.
The barrier was also greatly damaged. In the beginning, it was full of dazzling and bright colors, overflowing with dense Qi, but it was now faint and close to crumbling.
At this time, it has been eight hours from the start of the battle.
It’s been... sufficiently long.
Xie Zishe closed her eyes and said, “Retreat.”
As the sound of her voice fell upon them, the people of Immortal Dao withdrew and fell back towards the city, while the scarred barrier began to slowly close inwards to the city wall.
On the battlefield, retreat often signified defeat.
A howling sound rose up from the horde of living corpses.
That howling was probably an outpouring of delight due to victory, but when it fell on the ears of the Southern Xia people, it turned into malicious revelry. The high-pitched, sharp screams pierced the eardrums, and the blood-red ocean enshrouded everything. They were clearly in the mortal world, but it was like being in Asura hell, this dreadful situation made one feel chills down their spine.
Someone passed on the message, “Lady Xie, so-and-so Prince, so-and-so Dukes, and so-and-so Minister have already fled towards Liang Prefecture with their families. Should we send a team of soldiers to intercept them?”
Xie Zishe sneered: “Let them leave.”
Afterwards, she said: “During peaceful and prosperous times, it would take time and effort to distinguish the loyal from the traitors, but now it hardly requires any effort!”
The messenger smoothly flattered: “Lady Xie is wise.”
Xie Zishe looked ahead with cold eyes.
But watching the barrier shrinking layer by layer, gradually moving closer to the city wall, the army of living corpses slowly moved in this direction–anyone with eyes could see that the barrier wouldn’t last much longer.
And once the barrier fell, the Jinguan City would inevitably fall, and she couldn’t blame those flighty high officials and nobles for fleeing to the north in a panic.
However......!
The Shangling Grandmaster descended onto the city wall and said: “Withdraw the array!”
The guardian barrier suddenly shattered!
The gate of Jinguan City was wide open, only a small-scale enchantment was left, barely being able to guard the city wall!
The living corpses howled in unison and charged forward!
What awaited them was not a smooth path to the City, but a killing ground prepared using the eight hours bought by the lives and struggles of the Immortal cultivators!
Seemingly level ground, but within it were scattered scores of trenches that were hundreds of meters long and nearly a hundred meters deep!
The bottom of these trenches were peppered with countless sharp iron spikes, and long thorns!
The iron spikes and thorns were reinforced with the magic arts of the immortal cultivators, and it was indestructible. The living corpses did not know how to jump or retreat, and once they fell into the trench, they would be pierced through by the sharp iron spikes!
The mighty living corpses horde was like an endless stream of blood red water, encountering such a trench, they were like a river following its path, directly falling into the trap!
At that time, sharp and miserable cries rang out one after another!
The Shangling Grandmaster said: “Lady Xie’s strategy was good.”
“I dare not take credit.” Xie Zishe said, “When I was in the Academy in the past, during the Art of War class, we were tasked to come up with ten strategies to defend the city. This is one of the ten strategies of Her Highness Fengyang.”
The army of the living corpses paused, probably it was the wizards directing them who realized that something was wrong and ordered them to stop.
But, very quickly, almost immediately after they stopped, they started moving again! Not only that, even their speed was much faster than before!
The first trench was filled over with living corpses, levelling it with the ground.
The army of living corpse stepped over the filled trench and advanced.
The second trench.
The third trench.
...... The seventeenth trench.
The instructions given to the living corpses by the wizards was to use them as cannon fodder to fill the trenches!
Countless living corpses filled the seemingly bottomless trenches, and the entire army of living corpses was also reduced by nearly half.
The strength of the immortal cultivators was indeed greater than that of mortals, but it was still one person against scores of living corpses. However this kind of tactic could kill tens of thousands of the living corpses in half an hour. It was evident that on the battlefield, when the two armies were facing off, the power of immortal cultivators was often superfluous. The success or failure of a real battle depended on the military strength of the mortals and the craftiness of the commander.
However, although the army of the living corpses suffered heavy losses, unlike the living people, they did not feel fear, they still gathered together and rushed forward!
This time... The frontal advance was really a smooth path.
And they rushed up, heading directly towards the Jinguan City wall!
Xie Zishe said: “Fire.”
Once the herald received the order, the horns sounded out. The archers on the city wall set up their bows and crossbows. When the horn rang again, the bows were bent like a full moon, ten thousand arrows soaring into the sky together!
After one round of arrows, they replenished and continued the volley of attack.
A rain of arrows fell upon the living corpses, but it only reduced their speed slightly.
Under such a rain of arrows, without shielding or protection, a mortal army would have been reduced to a mess of bloody flesh, but the living corpses were different, and the damage from the arrows was probably like being tickled.
The people on the Southern Xia side could already imagine the sneers of the Northern Xia wizards upon witnessing this scene.
But... who said that the intention behind these volleys of arrows was to injure the living corpses?
The Deputy General of the Garrison of Jinguan City reported to Xie Zishe: “My lady, the supply of incendiary bombs has been exhausted.”
Xie Zishe looked at the sea of living corpses swarming below, lifted a corner of her mouth, smiling slightly, and said: “Light the fires.”
The Deputy General said in a loud voice, “Change to fire artillery!”
Upon hearing this, the arrangements at the front of the city had been made, and the already heated fire tubes spouted hot gas. With a few loud ‘bangs’, a scorching fireball was shot downwards!
The archers had changed their ammunition, burning brands were bound to the arrowheads and shot down the city.
The fireball fell to the ground and exploded noisily!
On the battlefield, smoke diffused outwards, and the unstoppable wave of fire spread quickly!
——It turned out that in the first few rounds of volleys, packets of oil were tied to the arrowheads. After the arrows hit the living corpses, the fire oil packets ruptured and the kerosene covered them. After a few rounds of arrows, there were numerous living corpses who were drizzled from head to toe in flammable oil. At this time, if the fire bombs or torches were used to ignite them, the fire would rise immediately, unstoppably.
Xie Zishe said: “Her Royal Highness Fengyang was both proficient in the Art of War and familiar with the magical arts of the Immortal Dao, resulting in this strategy. When I first encountered this strategy, I felt that the conditions required were too stringent and it could only be used in dangerous passes of the isolated cities, although it was brilliant, it could not be implemented in reality...Unexpectedly, today is when we put it into practice.”
She did not take credit, but revealed that this was from Ling Fengxiao’s assignment for the war strategy class several years ago.
Lin Shu thought to himself, since Ling Fengxiao was reliable, his methods were also reliable, and his handpicked personnel were also very appropriate.
If it were not Xie Zishe, and some other veteran, he was sure that the person would just try to defend to the death, and would not make use of such a strategy.
However, looking at the blood red ring of fire raging over a radius spanning 10 miles.
That incendiary oil was not ordinary fire oil, but had been mixed with secret formulas of the Immortal cultivators, resulting in a blaze a hundred times fiercer than ordinary fire!
And evil things like living corpses, feared fire the most!
They could no longer advance, but could only roll and howl within the fires. Once they started to roll, they inevitably bumped into their companions. As a result, those living corpses that had barely survived the sea of fire and had not been touched by the incendiary oil were also set alight by their compatriots. Once set alight, they began to roll and wail together, and none were spared.
The miserable wailing of the living corpses was almost deafening.
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