Chapter 27: This Is Going Too Far!
"I'll show you right now that I, Bai Qiuran, can wield a sword too!"
"You're not running anymore. Have you run out of True Essence?"
"Oh, for crying out loud!"
Bai Qiuran's face fell, as if he'd just eaten shit. "Heh. Looks like there's a whole lot you still don't understand about the Divine Martial Heavenly Army."
None of them had died, though. They were only badly injured, sprawled on the ground and groaning in pain, now long and low, now short and sharp.
The disciples of Baiyue Temple all blanched. Even the Golden Core old Daoist's face turned deathly white.
"The thing I hate most is people showing off their Flying Swords in front of me! Sword, come!"
So when the old Daoist had shouted things like "You're only at the Qi Refining Stage" and "Where did you get True Essence?", Bai Qiuran had felt something inside him start to go wrong.
As a cultivator who had reached the sixty-six thousand six hundred and sixty-fourth level of the Qi Refining Stage... No, the sixty-six thousand six hundred and sixty-fifth level, he'd spent three thousand years trying every possible way to make up for his shortcomings. But there were still a few things he could never make up for, no matter how hard he tried.
As a Golden Core cultivator, he could unleash enough power to shatter mountains and split valleys. But even he couldn't use sheer physical strength to yank a massive stone sword, thirty or forty meters long and thicker than two people's waists, into the air and whip it around like a crackling lash.
With a low shout, she activated her secret art. Under the surge of True Essence within Zuo Yanfei, her blood and qi boiled.
One of the Baiyue Temple disciples behind the old Daoist pointed at Bai Qiuran and laughed. "You can't even summon a Flying Sword. You really were bluffing. Brothers, come on! Let's show this Qi Refining kid what a Flying Sword looks like!"
Zuo Yanfei dashed in, and Pei Shan and Pei Dao followed without hesitation. But halfway there, they saw Zuo Yanfei stop.
With a deafening boom, the Golden Core old Daoist's Indestructible Golden Core True Essence proved no match for the endless True Qi. It was instantly overwhelmed, and his technique was broken. The old Daoist himself was crushed against the stone sword, spitting blood as he hurtled toward his disciples.
The Golden Core old Daoist raised a hand. "Never mind anything else. If you can summon a Flying Sword, I'll count that as your win."
With that, she drew in a deep breath of True Essence and activated the Divine Martial Heavenly Army's secret art.
The Golden Core old Daoist hurriedly raised his hands. "Please, calm down!"
His hand shook as he took a bundle of Immortal Rope, made from the sinews of a great demon beast, out of his Storage Bag.
And flying on a sword was an ache that would never leave Bai Qiuran's heart. Back when his master was still alive, his Senior Disciple Brother had loved taking their junior sister out for joyrides and flirting with girls. Bai Qiuran could only stand on the mountain, watching with envy and jealousy.
Still, in keeping with the principle that a gentleman should try talking before fighting, Bai Qiuran patiently advised the Baiyue Temple elders and disciples, "You'd better not attack... Seriously. You'll regret it."
Pei Shan and Pei Dao were also furious at Zuo Yanfei's actions. They failed to notice that, given her footwork and familiarity with the terrain, she could easily have shaken them off and escaped.
"Miss, endure a little pain now, and you'll have a future... We're at the middle and late stages of Foundation Establishment, while you're only at the early stage. On top of that, our attributes counter yours. Even if you're a member of the Divine Martial Heavenly Army, you can't beat us."
One of those shortcomings was True Essence. Bai Qiuran's Qi Sea was nearly infinite. No matter how much True Qi he had—though he didn't know how much it was by now—it was still nowhere near enough to fill his Qi Sea. So compressing True Essence using the limits of his Qi Sea remained a pipe dream.
Pei Dao sneered and cracked his knuckles.
Bai Qiuran flicked his hand, and the Immortal Rope shot out, wrapping around the giant stone sword in the hands of the statue of Dingguo's founding emperor.
He gave it a hard tug. The statue's hand shattered, and the enormous stone sword tore free. He swung it through the air, whipping up a howling gale.
Zuo Yanfei stepped forward, joining the two short spears in her hands into a long spear.
"You've all guessed wrong. I lured you here not because I'm exhausted, nor because I'm begging for mercy, but because—"
"Burning the boats!"
Without True Essence, he couldn't perform some of the most basic feats expected of a cultivator, such as flying on a sword or casting spells.
Bai Qiuran lowered his head, his face dark as ink. Then he looked up again and smiled coldly at the Baiyue Temple disciples.
Bai Qiuran poured a vast torrent of True Qi into the stone sword. It blazed with magnificent light. With a furious shout, he swung it at the Baiyue Temple disciples.
Bai Qiuran had always had one great ache in his heart.
"Haha, what's wrong? Can't do it?"
The sword swept through the air, its blade surging with True Qi like a stone wall bearing down on the Baiyue Temple disciples. They were so frightened they didn't know what to do. Only the Golden Core old Daoist managed to form several Magic Incantations, a golden glow bursting from his body as he thrust both palms against the stone sword.
Based on this principle, the Divine Martial Heavenly Army's generals and staff had developed a secret art. Those who activated it gained a power boost when using the army's techniques. The more grievously wounded they were, the greater the power they could unleash. And once their injuries reached a certain severity, the art would even stir up True Essence to heal their bodies on its own, allowing them to fight on for a long time without stopping.
"For example... members of the Divine Martial Heavenly Army can overcome attribute disadvantages and cross realms to fight two enemies at once!"
Deep in the forest outside Ding Jiangshan, Zuo Yanfei raced along, using the Divine Martial Heavenly Army's footwork and her familiarity with the terrain to weave through the trees. Every so often, she launched a harrying attack at Pei Shan and Pei Dao, who were following close behind.
Seeing this, Bai Qiuran snorted. He tugged the Immortal Rope, putting the stone sword back exactly where it had been.
"Hmph. Who says I don't have a Flying Sword? Don't regret it."
"Ha! How's my Flying Sword? Not bad, right?"
A thunderous boom rang out. A deep sword scar appeared beside the stone statue of Ding Jiangshan. The Baiyue Temple disciples, like their master, spat blood as they were sent flying.
As an army built to cultivate warriors, the Divine Martial Heavenly Army excelled not only at using all kinds of equipment and hand-to-hand combat, but also at growing more valiant the longer they fought.
On the battlefield, a warrior could be outnumbered several times over or face an enemy far stronger than himself. But a worthy warrior had to drag his enemy to hell with him, even if it cost him his life.
"This is going too far! A whole pack of Foundation Establishment cultivators ganging up on me, one Qi Refining cultivator! Is there no justice left in the Cultivation World?"
"Just surrender quietly... Senior Brother Pei Qing may have said that, but after you've put us through so much trouble, it'd be a shame not to collect a little interest from you."
The silver spear in her hand darted and coiled like a silver dragon. The heroic female general held it in one hand and pointed at Pei Shan and Pei Dao with the other, shouting, "No! I'm going to defeat you here and turn the tide!"
The supreme secret art that made the Divine Martial Heavenly Army so terrifying was called—
Pei Shan also tried to reassure her. "Don't worry. We won't put your life in danger or sully your innocence."
After pursuing her all the way, the two followed Zuo Yanfei to a deep ravine so narrow that only one person could pass through at a time.
"Young friend... No, fellow Daoist!"
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