Origin-Opening Realm Descends

On the third day, before the sky had even fully brightened, the war drums of the Di People began to thunder, shaking the very heavens.

Li Jinshui stood upon the city wall, watching the dark, surging mass of the Di Army in the distance, his pupils constricting slightly.

It was different.

Today's formation was completely unlike the previous two days.

The front ranks of the Di soldiers were no longer in loose charging formations, but in orderly phalanxes. Behind the phalanxes stood a dozen siege towers that loomed higher than the city walls. Further back, a dense sea of cavalry stood in formation, their war banners blotting out the sun.

At least fifty thousand.

"This is..." a new recruit beside him stammered, "this is a full-scale assault..."

Li Jinshui did not speak; he merely tightened his grip on his blade.

He glanced at his panel:

The points were finally enough.

The Di Army began their advance.

Five thousand paces, three thousand paces, one thousand paces—

"Loose arrows!!!"

A rain of arrows poured down from the city walls, but the Di Army's shield wall was impenetrable, the arrows clattering against the shields in a continuous, metallic din.

The siege towers drew ever closer.

"BOOM—!!!"

The first siege tower slammed against the city wall, its gate dropped, and Di soldiers swarmed out like a hive of bees.

Li Jinshui charged forward, cleaving the first, the second, the third—

But this time, there were simply too many Di soldiers.

Enemies were everywhere, on all sides; there was no end to them, absolutely no end.

As he fought, he suddenly heard a thunderous, earth-shaking roar:

"Zhao Zheng!!!"

A figure soared into the sky from the ranks of the Di Army, stepping through the air as he lunged straight for the city wall!

Pulse-Opening Realm!

Another one!

Immediately following, a second figure burst from the ranks, likewise stepping through the air in hot pursuit!

Two Pulse-Opening Realm experts!

Li Jinshui's pupils shrank to pinpricks.

At that very moment, a figure also shot out from within the city, clad in black robes, his presence as imposing as a mountain—

Governor Zhao Zheng!

He rose into the air, slashing his blade toward the two Pulse-Opening Realm experts!

"CLANG—!!!"

The three collided in mid-air, and a violent shockwave swept outward, knocking the men on the city wall off their feet!

Zhao Zheng fought two against one, not yielding an inch.

But the two were clearly prepared; they fought while retreating, drawing Zhao Zheng toward the north.

"Governor!" someone cried out in alarm.

Li Jinshui watched the three figures battle further and further away, a sudden, ominous premonition welling up in his heart.

Something was wrong.

Why were they trying to lure the Governor away?

Just then, in the far north, three more figures suddenly shot into the sky!

Pulse-Opening Realm!

Three more Pulse-Opening Realm experts!

They closed in on Zhao Zheng from three directions, sealing off all his paths of retreat!

"Despicable!!!"

Zhao Zheng's roar echoed from miles away, filled with fury and resentment.

Five Pulse-Opening Realm experts!

To kill him, the Di People had actually deployed five Pulse-Opening Realm experts!

Li Jinshui's heart sank to the bottom of an abyss.

The Governor was finished.

North-Rejecting City was finished.

Just at this moment—

A streak of white light shot over from the southern horizon!

Fast!

So fast that the naked eye could not even track it!

In the blink of an eye, the white light reached the sky above the battlefield and hovered in mid-air.

It was a middle-aged man, in his early forties, with a face as handsome as polished jade, dressed in a moon-white robe, standing with his hands behind his back.

He was not relying on anything for support.

He simply stood there in the air, suspended by his own power.

His robe snapped in the wind, and his entire body radiated a faint, glowing light; that was his protective true qi, condensed and unyielding, enveloping him completely.

Origin-Opening Realm!

A true Origin-Opening Realm expert!

Everyone on the battlefield stopped their movements and looked up at that figure.

It was a form of oppression stemming from the instincts of life.

Just like a rabbit seeing a tiger, or a flock of sheep seeing a lion.

There was no need for him to strike; merely standing there was enough to make one unable to even conceive of the thought of resistance.

The middle-aged man looked down at the battlefield below, his gaze landing on the five Di People in the Pulse-Opening Realm who were besieging Zhao Zheng.

His eyes were calm, as if he were looking at five ants.

Then, he raised his hand.

He did not draw his blade.

Although a blade hung at his waist, he did not draw it.

He simply pressed his fingers together like a blade and swung them casually.

With just that swing.

A streak of white light shot out from his fingertips!

The white light was so fast that its trajectory was impossible to see; one only heard a "pfft" sound—

A massive hole exploded through the chest of one of the Di People in the Pulse-Opening Realm!

The man looked down at the bloody hole in his chest, blood gushing from his mouth, his eyes filled with disbelief. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but only a rattling sound emerged before he plummeted from the sky.

One blade.

No, one finger.

A single finger to kill a Pulse-Opening Realm expert.

The battlefield fell into a deathly silence.

The remaining four Di People in the Pulse-Opening Realm turned pale and fled!

The middle-aged man swung his hand again.

A second streak of white light!

One of the slower Di People in the Pulse-Opening Realm had his right arm severed at the shoulder; he let out a miserable scream and fell from the sky, his fate unknown.

The other three did not look back, fleeing for their lives, and vanished into the distance in the blink of an eye.

The middle-aged man did not pursue.

He simply stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at the tens of thousands of Di Army soldiers below.

Then he spoke, his voice not loud, yet every person heard it clearly, as if he were whispering directly into their ears:

"Scram."

A single word.

The tens of thousands of Di Army soldiers retreated like a receding tide.

Li Jinshui stood on the city wall, frozen as if struck by lightning, unable to move.

Origin-Opening Realm.

This was the Origin-Opening Realm.

He had seen Inner Strength Realm experts, he had seen Pulse-Opening Realm experts, and he had thought those were the limits of the strong.

But now he knew he was wrong.

Before an Origin-Opening Realm expert, those in the Pulse-Opening Realm were nothing but ants.

With a flick of a finger, he killed one, wounded one, and scared off three.

He hadn't even drawn his blade.

Li Jinshui's hands were trembling slightly.

It was not fear, but excitement.

So, there were realms like this in the world.

So, a person could become this strong.

He wanted to become stronger.

He wanted to become even stronger.

Strong enough that one day, he too could stand in mid-air and, with a single flick of his finger, scatter an army of ten thousand.

The middle-aged man withdrew his gaze, glanced at Zhao Zheng, who was covered in blood atop the city wall, and nodded slightly.

"Zhao Zheng, you have worked hard."

Zhao Zheng knelt on one knee and cupped his fists in salute: "Greetings, Seventh Prince!"

Seventh Prince?

Li Jinshui was stunned for a moment.

A member of the royal family.

That royal expert who had come from the capital.

The Seventh Prince descended, landing on the city wall. He looked at Zhao Zheng, then at the devastated wall, and finally swept his gaze over the soldiers who were covered in blood yet still standing.

His gaze paused on Li Jinshui for a fleeting moment.

Li Jinshui felt that gaze and his entire body went rigid.

The look was indifferent, yet it felt as if it could see through every one of his thoughts.

After only an instant, the gaze shifted away.

"A good defense," the Seventh Prince said. "The main army from the capital will arrive in two days. For these two days, I will be here."

He paused, looking toward the direction where the Di People had retreated, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly:

"I would like to see if the Di People still dare to come."

Li Jinshui stood where he was, his heart pounding violently.

Not because of fear, but because of that glance just now.

In that look, there was scrutiny, assessment, and a tiny bit of—

Satisfaction?

He did not know.

He only knew that from this moment on, his goal had changed.

Inner Strength Realm was not enough.

Pulse-Opening Realm was not enough either.

He wanted the Origin-Opening Realm.

He wanted to stand at that height.

In the distance, the banners of the Di People were still waving, but they dared not advance another step.

This battle, North-Rejecting City had held.

But Li Jinshui knew that this was only the beginning.

The path of the true powerhouse had only just begun.