The wind of Muye swept yellow sand into their faces, carrying the reek of blood and scorched earth.
Ji Fa sat astride a gray horse, reins drawn tight as he stood before Xiqi's formation.
Behind him, the banners of eight hundred feudal lords whipped in the wind, like a torn-up mass of clouds.
He swept a glance across the opposite side. The Shang Army wore red robes and black armor, their ranks stern and orderly, stretching from the far end of the plain all the way to the foot of the mountain, like a crouching Fire Dragon.
Against them, the motley armor and clothing of Xiqi's allied forces looked like an overturned dye vat, blue, yellow, red, white, and black all mixed together. From afar, they actually resembled wild grass growing madly across the wilderness.
Ji Fa stood on the high slope, the great banners of the eight hundred lords behind him blotting out the sky and sun. He unfastened a wineskin from his waist, pulled out the stopper, and poured the amber liquor into the soil beneath his feet.
"The Mandate of Heaven belongs to Zhou. King Zhou of Shang has lost the Way. He must be attacked!"
The cries of the eight hundred lords surged into the sky.
"Campaign Against Shang! Campaign Against Shang!"
The wave of sound smashed through the ragged clouds at the horizon, drowned out the howling wind, and rushed straight toward the Shang Army's formation opposite them.
Jiang Ziya sat his horse slightly behind Ji Fa's flank, his white beard yanked into a wild mess by the wind.
He raised a hand and pressed it down. Behind him, nearly a hundred cultivators formed hand seals at the same time, and all colors of Spiritual Light spread out before the formation. Fireball, ice spike, Earth