Blood Song

Wanyan Xiong moved.

He thrust his halberd forward, like a blood eagle swooping to prey. Before the tip even arrived, the gale wind already sliced his face, causing pain.

Li Xuan sidestepped to evade, his long saber slashing upwards.

Blade and halberd clashed, sending sparks flying.

Both men retreated simultaneously.

Wanyan Xiong took three steps back, Li Xuan took five.

"Gang Qi?" Surprise flashed in Wanyan Xiong's eyes. "The first I've seen condense Gang Qi in the Body Tempering Realm."

"And the one who will kill you."

Li Xuan advanced again.

This time, he didn't use his saber.

It was his fist.

Blood Fiend Gang Qi condensed on his fist's edge, and he threw a punch.

Wanyan Xiong swept his halberd horizontally.

Fist and halberd collided.

BOOM!!!

A wave of energy exploded, sending the barbarian soldiers within ten feet flying.

The Gang Qi on Li Xuan's fist shattered, and the skin on the back of his hand split open.

Wanyan Xiong's halberd vibrated violently, and the skin on his hand between his thumb and forefinger cracked.

But neither of them stopped.

The second punch, the third punch, the fourth punch...

Li Xuan was like a maddened tiger, each punch a life-or-death struggle.

Wanyan Xiong's halberd was like a dragon, each sweep snatching souls.

Ten moves.

Twenty moves.

Thirty moves.

Li Xuan now had three halberd wounds, deep enough to see bone.

Wanyan Xiong had taken two punches to the chest, with at least three broken ribs.

But their auras didn't decrease; they rose instead.

They fought more ferociously.

"Satisfying!" Wanyan Xiong roared with laughter. "Southern martial artist, you are worthy of dying by my halberd!"

He suddenly bit his tongue, spitting a mouthful of vital blood onto his halberd.

The Blood Eagle Halberd flared with brilliant red light, and a bloody eagle shadow appeared on its blade.

"Blood Eagle—God Slayer!"

The halberd chopped down, the eagle shadow shrieking.

This strike had already surpassed the scope of the Body Tempering Realm, touching the threshold of the True Qi Realm!

Li Xuan's pupils constricted.

He couldn't dodge.

He could only block.

He circulated all his Gang Qi, concentrating it on his right fist.

The third layer of the Blood Fiend Bone Forging Technique's mental cultivation method whirled madly, absorbing all the malevolent energy on the battlefield.

His bones crackled like thunder.

A certain bottleneck within his body loosened.

[Blood Fiend Bone Forging Technique Third Layer: Great Accomplishment → Perfection] [Condense Gang into Fiend, Transform Fiend into Weapon]

On Li Xuan's right fist, the Gang Qi was no longer a mere light film; it had condensed into a bloody fist-sword, three feet long, shaped like a fang.

He swung his fist.

Fist-sword met blood halberd.

RUMBLE—!!!

The explosion shook heaven and earth.

With the two of them at the center, the ground collapsed by three feet, and the blast wave overturned all living beings within fifty feet.

Dust and smoke filled the air.

When the dust settled.

Li Xuan stood, his right fist mangled, bone visible.

Wanyan Xiong also stood, but his Blood Eagle Halberd... was broken.

Snapped in two.

The halberd tip was stuck in the ground, the shaft held in his hand.

He looked down at his chest.

A bloodline stretched from his brow to his abdomen.

"You..." he opened his mouth, blood pouring out.

Wanyan Xiong, the deputy commander of the Blood Eagle Tribe, was dead.

Li Xuan staggered back, leaning against a broken siege engine, gasping for air.

His right fist was ruined, the wound on his left shoulder burst open, and his right leg bled profusely.

His internal True Qi was depleted, and the backlash from the demonic energy felt like being flayed alive.

The Barbarian army formation was deathly silent.

Forty thousand troops, awed into stillness by one man.

But Li Xuan knew this was only temporary.

He looked towards the center of the army.

Beneath the Blood Eagle Tribe's great banner, another figure stood.

A person in a black robe, wearing a bronze mask.

That person had been standing quietly, as if the battle just fought had nothing to do with them.

At this moment, they slowly raised their head.

Beneath the mask, a pair of eerie green eyes looked at Li Xuan.

Then, they raised a hand and pointed towards Iron Wall City.

Following that, the Barbarian army surged forward like a tide towards the city walls.

There were no commanders, no formation changes, just pure human wave tactics.

Li Xuan knew Iron Wall City wouldn't hold.

But he turned and walked back towards the city walls, step by step.

On the ramparts, fewer than three hundred defenders remained.

Chen Feng was covered in blood, his left arm severed at the elbow, crudely bandaged with strips of cloth.

"Li Xuan..." he rasped.

"Take your people and retreat," Li Xuan said. "Go through the south gate. Save as many as you can."

"Then you--"

"I'll cover your retreat."

"You're crazy! You look like this--"

"That's an order." Li Xuan looked down at the Barbarians beginning to climb the walls. "Half an incense stick's worth of time. Save as many as you can."

Chen Feng gritted his teeth and finally nodded.

He turned and roared hoarsely, "Retreat! Gather at the south gate!"

The defenders began to withdraw in an orderly fashion.

Li Xuan walked to the edge of the city wall, watching the Barbarians climb like ants.

He sat down cross-legged.

He circulated the Blood Fiend Bone Forging Technique.

Absorbing the last trace of demonic energy.

To heal his injuries.

On the bone of his right fist, flesh began to grow.

The first Barbarian reached the rampart.

Li Xuan opened his eyes, picked up a broken spear from the ground with his left hand, and threw it.

Spltch.

The Barbarian's throat was pierced by the spear, and he fell.

The second, the third...

Li Xuan stood like a reef, blocking the breach in the city wall.

All the Barbarians who climbed the city wall were killed by him.

Piles of corpses accumulated at his feet.

But there were too many Barbarians.

They couldn't be killed fast enough.

Half an incense stick later.

Li Xuan got up.

His right fist could barely move.

He glanced in the direction of the south gate. Smoke and dust billowed, clearly indicating that the retreat was far enough.

He turned around, preparing to leave.

But just then—

Beneath the city wall, the black-robed masked man suddenly spoke.

His voice was hoarse, like metal grinding.

"Li Xuan."

The black-robed man strode forward, drifting over like a phantom.

"To have such combat power in the Body Tempering Realm, you must have a secret. Hand it over, and I can take you as my servant."

Li Xuan propped himself up and grinned, his mouth full of blood.

"You think you're worthy?!"

He charged at the black-robed man.

His fist struck like a dragon, his qi like blood.

The black-robed man casually raised his hand and unleashed a palm strike.

The palm wind was chilling, like the frigid wind from the Nine Netherworlds.

Fist and palm collided.

Li Xuan flew out like a kite with a broken string, crashing through three dead trees before falling to the ground.

At least ten of his bones were broken.

The black-robed man drifted before him and looked down.

"One last time, are you handing it over?"

Li Xuan lay on the ground, gazing at the sky.

Dawn had arrived.

The horizon was tinged with the white of fish belly.

He smiled.

"Hand over your... grandpa."

A flicker of rage flashed in the black-robed man's eyes. He raised his hand and struck Li Xuan's skull with his palm.

But at that moment—

From the sky, a streak of crimson light descended like a meteor!

BOOM!!!

The crimson light struck where the black-robed man had been standing, creating a three-zhang-deep pit in the ground.

From the dust, a figure slowly stood up.

A green robe, a crimson sword, and a cold, clear face.

Yun Qingxuan.

She glanced at Li Xuan, a hint of complexity flashing in her eyes, then looked at the black-robed man.

"Ghost Face, you've crossed the line."

Ghost Face was silent for a moment. "Is the Crimson Firmament Sect going to interfere in this war?"

"We of the Crimson Firmament Sect want this person." Yun Qingxuan pointed her sword at Ghost Face. "Either retreat, or die."

Ghost Face stared at her for a long time, then suddenly laughed. "Fine, I'll give the Crimson Firmament Sect face today."

He turned and vanished into the army like a phantom.

The Barbarian army began to slowly retreat.

Yun Qingxuan walked to Li Xuan's side, crouched down, and checked his injuries.

"Still alive?"

"Can't die," Li Xuan grinned. "Why did you come back?"

Yun Qingxuan said calmly, "It would be a pity for someone like you to die in the Northern Territory."

She took a pill from her pocket and put it into Li Xuan's mouth.

The pill slid down his throat, transforming into a gentle stream of energy that nourished his shattered meridians.

"This is a Nine Revolutions Returning Yang Pill. It'll save your life," Yun Qingxuan said. "But your injuries are too severe. You'll need at least three months to recover."

Li Xuan swallowed the pill, feeling vitality stir within him.

He looked towards Iron Wall City.

The city gates were wide open, and flames soared into the sky within.

The city had fallen.

Fortunately, most people had evacuated.

"Where is General Wang?" he asked.

Yun Qingxuan was silent for a moment.

"Not a trace left."

Li Xuan closed his eyes.

After a long pause, he spoke.

"The Barbarians... why did they retreat now?"

Yun Qingxuan looked towards the distant Barbarian camp.

"Something happened within the Blood Eagle Tribe. The royal court urgently summoned them back," she said. "I don't know the specific reason."

She paused. "But that Ghost Face... he's not one of the Barbarians."

"Then who is he?"

"I don't know his specific identity either," Yun Qingxuan shook her head. "But the aura he carries... it's very strange. It's neither like martial arts nor like Barbarian sorcery."

Li Xuan noted the name.

Ghost Face.

One day, he would find out.

Yun Qingxuan helped Li Xuan up.

"Let's go. Back to Crimson Firmament Sect."

"What about Chen Feng and the others—"

"They've safely evacuated and are waiting a hundred miles to the south."

Li Xuan nodded, casting one last glance at Iron Wall City.

The city walls were broken, and the smoke of war still smoldered.

The city, which had held for ten days, had finally fallen.

He clenched his left fist, a flash of crimson in his eyes.

"Let's go."

Their figures disappeared into the pre-dawn mist.

Behind them, Iron Wall City slowly collapsed in the flames.