Chen Du headed north.
The farther north he went, the clearer the scale of the Yan Kingdom's military advance became.
Along both sides of the imperial road, the corpses of routed Zhao Kingdom soldiers grew more numerous. Discarded banners and weapons lay scattered across the ground, crushed to pieces beneath wagon wheels.
In the distance, great columns of black smoke rose into the sky every few dozen li. City after city, breached by the Yan army, was burning.
Refugees streamed south from the north, bringing their families with them like a muddy river. Every face wore a numb, despairing expression.
The Yan Kingdom's Southern Expedition Army rolled forward like an unstoppable flood.
Before that flood, the Zhao Kingdom's border defenses, cities and armies crumbled one after another like paper dikes.
Perhaps the Zhao Kingdom, like him, had grown too comfortable and paid an agonizing price.
Chen Du walked north against the flow of people.
Along the way, he kept examining himself, comparing the Heavenly Human Realm's system of cultivation realms with his own cultivation.
The Transcendence Realm was a realm he had established in the Xuanye Realm, while the Mortal Transcendence Realm was one he had broken through to on Blue Star by following the Evolution Factor Path. Together, he roughly estimated that they should make him comparable to an Earth Tier expert of the Heavenly Human Realm!
But in the course of last night alone, he had deduced the Soldier Body-Refining Art all the way from the Mortal Rank to the Heaven-Human Realm, creating two entirely new chapters based on the original martial canon: the Saint Stage Chapter and the Heavenly Human Chapter!
Even now, he did not know just how much stronger he had become.
At some point, a wooden sword had appeared in his hand. It was a child's toy, its blade only as long as a forearm.
Its edge was too blunt even to cut paper, and a crooked character for "courage" had been carved into its hilt.
Perhaps a child had dropped it while fleeing, or perhaps the child had already died by the roadside, letting the wooden sword slip from their arms for Chen Du to pick up as he passed.
The wooden sword did not fit his hand well. Its grip was too thin and its blade too light, but it was a weapon, at least.
He rubbed the crooked character for "courage" on the hilt with his thumb and kept walking.
He did not know how long he had walked, or where he had ended up.
Beside the imperial road ahead stood a dead tree that had been struck by lightning. A middle-aged man in tattered clothes was crouched beneath it.
His hair hung loose and tangled, his face was covered in dirt, and his long robe had been torn into strips. Only one shoe remained on his feet; the other foot was bare.
He crouched by the roadside with his head in his hands, muttering something over and over.
Chen Du stopped.
The middle-aged man looked up, his eyes unfocused, his manner crazed.
When he saw Chen Du, he broke into a grin. "It's over! The Zhao Kingdom is finished! Completely finished! The Yan Kingdom's great army has already surrounded the capital, three ranks deep inside and out, so tight not even water could get through!"
Chen Du crouched down, looked the deranged scholar in the eye, and asked, "Where is the army besieging the capital now?"
The scholar stared blankly for a moment, then raised a filthy hand and pointed east, trembling.
That was the direction of the rising sun. Morning light was spilling out from behind the mountain ridge, staining half the sky gold and red.
Chen Du glanced in the direction he was pointing, then rose and walked that way.
Inside the Yan army's command tent, enormous tallow candles crackled as they burned, their light casting the assembled generals' faces in shifting shadow.
The sand table bristled with small flags. Most of those marking the Zhao Kingdom's defenses had been removed, leaving the capital standing alone in the center, surrounded so tightly by a dense mass of Yan army flags that not even water could get through.
S itu Zhen, commander of the Yan Kingdom's Southern Expedition Army, stood before the sand table with his hands behind his back. He was past fifty, with gray hair and beard, but his hawklike eyes showed no trace of age.
He wore no armor, only a black battle robe, and the aura around him was as deep as.
His cultivation was at the early Saint Stage, second in the entire Yan army only to the nation-guarding marshal, who spent all year in seclusion.
"Report!"
A scout lifted the tent flap and entered, dropping to one knee. "Reporting to the commander: all four gates of the Zhao Kingdom's capital have been sealed off. The city's provisions will last three more days at most."
S itu Zhen nodded slightly and waved the scout away, leaving only himself and his deputy, Han Rang, in the tent.
Han Rang was around forty and had reached the Peak Stage of the Earth Tier. He was a trusted favorite whom S itu Zhen had personally promoted. He had followed him for over a decade, fighting from north to south and taking countless cities.
"Three days."
S itu Zhen picked up a bamboo rod and tapped the lone city on the sand table. "We've besieged them for half a month. Half the people inside ought to have starved to death by now. Early tomorrow morning, concentrate the catapults on the east gate, then send two ten-thousand-man units to feint at the south gate.
"Once they transfer the east gate's defenders over there, the elite troops attacking the east gate will charge straight through the breach in the wall."
Han Rang cupped his fists and assented, but seemed to hesitate over something he wanted to say.
S itu Zhen did not turn around, but it was as though he had eyes in the back of his head. "If you have a fart to let out, let it out."
"Commander," Han Rang said after a moment's hesitation, "there's something I've been thinking about these past few days."
"What is it?"
"The Blade Saint."
The tent fell silent for a moment.
S itu Zhen put down the bamboo rod and turned around.
Han Rang continued, "Fifty years ago, when the Ning State's capital was besieged, the Blade Saint defended the city alone and held our Yan Kingdom army back for a full half month.
"I wasn't there for that battle, but I've heard the old soldiers tell the story countless times. The bloody mud before the city gates was ankle-deep, and he smashed more than a dozen siege engines by himself.
"Although the Blade Saint ultimately died amid the chaos of battle, how many generals did the Yan Kingdom lose in that fight? No fewer than forty officers of the rank of commandant or higher died by the Blade Saint's blade alone.
"Now we're besieging the Zhao Capital. The Zhao Kingdom's Martial Dao foundation is at least as strong as the Ning State's was back then. The Ning State had the Blade Saint; could the Zhao Kingdom have someone like him too? If it does, I'm afraid he'll be no small trouble."
S itu Zhen was silent for a moment. Then he let out a cold snort. "The Blade Saint?"
He turned, lifted the tent flap, and pointed at the city wall, dimly visible in the gathering dusk. "The Blade Saint was formidable, certainly. One man held a city for half a month. I admire him, but he's dead. No matter how formidable a dead man was, what use is it?"
He let the flap fall and walked back to the sand table, his voice growing lower. "I've studied the matter of the Blade Saint over and over in the army, no fewer than dozens of times.
"He managed to hold back the army for half a month not because his blade could split the heavens, but because only one wall of the Ning State's capital could be attacked back then.
"The Blade Saint only had to block the city gate. The cavalry couldn't charge through, and the infantry couldn't surround and kill him, so they could only pile up lives against him wave after wave.
"But now, here at the Zhao Capital, we have spies, and there are breaches in all four walls. I have catapults, giant crossbows, fire oil and siege towers.
"If he can defend one side, I'll attack all four. If he can block the gate, I'll blast open the wall. How long do you think these martial arts experts can hold out against so many weapons?"
"What if another Blade Saint comes to storm the camp?"
"Then let him come." S itu Zhen's voice was calm and cold. "Do you think the Yan Kingdom made no preparations after that battle fifty years ago?
"Those hundreds of thousands of troops may appear to be besieging the city, but several Iron Chain Strangling Formations are hidden between the camps, designed specifically to counter the movement techniques of martial arts experts.
"With my Saint Rank Early Stage power driving the formations, even the Blade Saint brought back to life could forget about moving freely through the camp. Besides, layers of powerful bows and crossbows are deployed throughout. If he dares come, he'll lose a layer of skin even if he doesn't die.
"Back then, the Blade Saint had the city walls to rely on while defending the city. If he had instead stormed the camp of an army hundreds of thousands strong, with nothing to shield him from bows, crossbows and iron chain formations on every side, even if he had three heads and six arms, he would still have been a mortal. Mortals grow tired, get hurt, and can be worn down to death."
Han Rang fell silent for a long time. Then he suddenly raised his head, looked S itu Zhen in the eye, and asked, "The Blade Saint was at the Peak Stage of the Saint Tier. What about a Heavenly Human?"
The air in the tent seemed to freeze, and S itu Zhen's hand paused slightly on the bamboo rod.
A Heavenly Human...
The Blade Saint at the Peak Stage of the Saint Tier had been able to hold back an army of hundreds of thousands for half a month. What if there really were a Heavenly Human?
S itu Zhen thrust the bamboo rod hard into the sand table, his tone ringing with finality. "Why throw our own army into disarray? Even if a Heavenly Human comes here, I have hundreds of thousands of troops. We'll still make him leave his bones beneath the city walls!"