At first, it was only a rumble that seemed to come from beyond the horizon.
But the unbroken roar soon swept closer, like towering waves surging toward Wang Ping with an indescribably terrifying force.
Rumble!
The air shook. The ground trembled. Blazing blood qi turned all of Longxing County into a furnace, and even the gusts striking his face were scalding.
Everywhere he looked, a dark mass filled his vision.
All hundred-odd constables from the county yamen had turned out in force. Gone were their usual light clothes and sabers; in their place was an outfit that made scalps prickle.
"Beast-faced armor, crescent blades... My heavens."
"How is this possible? There are no rebels attacking the city, and no decree has come from the prefectural government... The county magistrate dared open the armory on his own? Is he planning a rebellion?"
"They've gone mad! Every last one!"
For a time, the law-abiding households of the town shut their doors tight. From behind them came wary looks, some tinged with fear.
To Great Shun's martial artists, skill with fists and feet was not the foundation of victory.
In the end, weapons decided the outcome. Even an external arts martial artist wielding a Divine Artifact could slaughter Inner Force practitioners like dogs.
That was precisely the situation now. Among the hundred-odd constables, the External Arts Perfection martial artists who had broken through all six gates could be counted on one hand. Most had cleared only two or three. But once they donned full heavy armor and took up horse-cleaving blades, the situation changed completely.
What was more, they could form a battle array.
The constables had trained in the imperial court's standard martial arts. With the court's standard weapons in hand and a battle array to bind them together, the amplification reached the very pinnacle.
Wang Ping felt that most keenly.
In his Spirit Sense, what stood before him was no hundred-man column. It was a breathing, moving mountain.
Every constable's breathing, heartbeat, and pulse had fallen into rhythm. Their weapons resonated too. For an instant, Wang Ping even saw an armored giant standing above the array, watching him as coldly as the Golden-Winged Roc huddled within the county yamen.
"Strength in numbers..."
Wang Ping narrowed his eyes and instantly understood why Shouchong had not pressed his advantage and stormed the county yamen after ambushing and gravely wounding Xu Bingzheng that day.
The imperial court's rule had never rested on any one person.
The chief constable dead? The county magistrate gravely wounded? That would certainly shake the court's hold on Longxing County, but no more than that. The chaos would pass.
The court's true foundation was the hundred-odd county constables supported by the grain of an entire county. As long as they remained, Longxing County would not descend into chaos.
"An army of external arts martial artists, equipped with the court's finest weapons and mounts, then joined in a battle array, can manifest a Divine Intent much like a Titled Martial Master's. And that's with Chen Haoyan dead and no chief constable to lead the array. Otherwise, it would be even stronger..."
Wang Ping slowly exhaled.
"Spirit Sense intimidation... It won't work. Perhaps one-on-one, but I can't shake an array like this. I'll have to meet them head-on."
One man charging the array to break an army?
"He's seeking death!"
Watching the battle about to erupt at the center of the county town, an old man gave his verdict without hesitation:
"There's no way he'll survive."
"Even if he's a Titled Martial Master, against an army array like that he's no different from an ordinary Inner Force Martial Master. His Inner Force will run dry before long."
"If he kills more than ten, that alone will be impressive."
In this flourishing age of the Martial Dao, the warriors who possessed true privilege and could match an army single-handedly were called Grandmasters.
In other words, unless one became a Martial Grandmaster, facing an army of martial artists meant a bitter fight, even against the smallest hundred-man unit a county town could field. And once an army numbered over ten thousand, even a Martial Grandmaster risked death!
"By order of the county magistrate!"
At the front of the array, every constable spoke as one, their voices shaking like thunder. "The rebel Wang Ping serves demonic powers, gathers a seditious faction, and plots treason..."
"He must die!"
Whoosh!
Their voices, perfectly in unison, raised a visible wave through the air. At almost the same instant, the array moved, every constable charging Wang Ping together.
They moved like a collapsing mountain.
More than a hundred great blades rose high, their cold gleam a forest of steel, then came down in sweeping cuts. In an instant, Wang Ping could see nothing but glittering edges!
And this was only the first wave. Though the attackers drew on the strength of the entire array, only a dozen or so had actually swung. Scores more waited behind them. Even if Wang Ping unleashed everything he had and blocked this first wave, the next would follow at once, giving him no chance to breathe.
It would continue for roughly ten rounds.
By then, the men who had struck first would have recovered their strength and could attack again, creating an endless cycle.
"The first blow alone will decide life or death."
Pain prickled across Wang Ping's entire body in warning, yet his mind grew calmer still. Even his breathing became steady and deep.
"The longer this rotating blade array lasts, the worse it is for me."
"They have numbers. They can keep rotating without losing any power in their strikes. I'm alone, and my stamina and Inner Force will eventually run out."
"So the only way to break the array is to unleash more power than it can withstand on the first blow, so their rotation falls apart."
With that thought, Wang Ping raised his foot and stamped it heavily into the ground.
The earth shook like mountains were falling!
With Wang Ping at its center, great sheets of soil flew up. As his foot rose and fell, the ground itself heaved like waves!
The constables closing in around him had plainly not expected the ground to lurch. Their steps faltered, and their once-unified formation wavered. The forest of blade light scattered. Though it quickly drew together again, it had exposed an opening for one fleeting instant.
"Heavenly Demon Disintegration Art!"
Wang Ping strode forward. As the long saber left its sheath, a bloody hue spread across his brow, and the cultivation he had only recently completed shattered with a roar!
Then the blade flashed.
Military art, Yama's Death Writ!
The demon blade moved beyond the limit of sight. Its light became a dazzling streak of fire.
Within the spreading flames, a heaven-shaking blade cry rang without end. It stirred the clouds and mist into the shapes of ghostly soldiers and generals, then slammed into the opening in the yamen's army array. The whole movement flowed like clouds and water, cutting with startling ease through a formation that had seemed as solid as a mountain!
Every onlooker fell silent.
The sight before them looked nothing like a martial artist charging an army array. It looked like two evenly matched armies meeting on a narrow road!
Heaven and earth fell still.
Only after a moment did the onlookers realize the silence was no ordinary silence. The blade's cry had been so immense that it had passed beyond hearing!
Another moment later, sounds began to emerge from that strange quiet: bodies hitting the ground, screams, metal striking metal... The once-unified array collapsed with a crash. Its Divine Intent, once as immovable as Mount Tai, broke apart. Only one figure still moved freely through it.
"Im-impossible..."
The old man who had just declared Wang Ping doomed nearly held his breath. His fists clenched without his realizing it as he stared at that figure.
Who is he, to be so fierce?
"Could he be a Martial Grandmaster...? No, impossible. A Martial Grandmaster could subdue a mere hundred-man unit without spilling a drop of blood."
"What a ferocious warrior!"
Excitement spread among the onlookers. After all, what martial artist had never dreamed of standing against a thousand and breaking an army with a single charge?
But they soon calmed down.
For Wang Ping was far from unhurt.
Quite the opposite. Every step he took left a great splash of blood behind, while another deep, bone-baring gash appeared on his body.
Killing on a battlefield was different from a duel between martial artists.
In a duel, one could dodge or evade. On a battlefield, there was no room to do either. One could only endure the blows until one could endure no more, and then die. It was that simple.
Slash!
One constable pushed through Wang Ping's blade light. Half his heavy armor shattered and he flew backward coughing blood, but his crescent blade opened a gash across Wang Ping's chest.
A wound for a wound.
That was the advantage their equipment gave them. Clad in heavy armor, even a mere external arts martial artist dared trade wounds with him and might not die for it.
Wang Ping had no chance to finish him off. As the constable flew away coughing blood, more rushed in like wolves and tigers. Relying on sturdy armor and sheer numbers, they steadily drained his Inner Force and stamina, while four veteran constables at External Arts Perfection watched from afar.
Waiting for my Inner Force to run dry before coming in to finish the job?
He had to admit it was a sound tactic. He could heal his wounds with Qi Suppression, but every bit of Inner Force he spent was gone.
Wang Ping's gaze darted about. He could almost see the eaves of the county yamen, yet they had pinned him at the last street crossing, unable to advance.
Even if he somehow broke through, the four veteran constables at External Arts Perfection would surround him. And beyond them waited County Magistrate Xu Bingzheng, watching like a tiger eyeing its prey.
Danger on every side.
Wang Ping remained calm. In the end, he even stopped using Qi Suppression to heal himself, for he had realized that his grievous wounds were his chance to win.
Not his chance to live.
Once he came here, he had never intended to leave alive. From the start, he had come for victory. Now he saw a slender hope of achieving it.
Because he was close to death.
At this point, the difference in strength mattered less. What mattered was that he was dying, while the others still had long lives ahead of them. Who would dare risk his life against him now?
Why hadn't the veteran constables at External Arts Perfection joined the fight? If they had ignored their own safety and led the charge, he might already be dead. But they had stayed back, willing to watch their comrades fall wounded or dead while they waited for his Inner Force and stamina to run out.
"Heh."
Wang Ping sneered and swept his gaze over them all. The array he had punched through had already closed again, ring upon ring trapping him at its center.
"The outcome is settled!"
Inside the county yamen, Xu Bingzheng sat up abruptly from the bed where he had lain on his side, surrounded by the scent of medicine. His eyes were cold, and a faint smile tugged at his lips.
"A brute's courage will take him no further."
"I was wondering how to catch you and bring you back. Instead, you walked straight into the net. You've saved me a great deal of effort and time."
Then Xu Bingzheng's voice rose sharply:
"Cut him to pieces!"
At his command, the army array moved again. But unlike at the start, its once mountain-solid presence had grown thin, and its men were far more hesitant.
For one thing, Wang Ping's strength had surpassed every expectation. The Heavenly Demon Disintegration Art had multiplied his Inner Force several times over. After breaking the array, he had slaughtered his way through it. The hundred-odd constables had lost nearly thirty men, many grievously wounded. Their cries still echoed outside the formation.
That alone was a powerful deterrent.
For another, just as Wang Ping had expected, there was not a patch of unbroken flesh left on his body. Blood poured from him, and he plainly had little time left. Why risk their lives fighting him?
They could wait patiently for him to die, then collect their reward in peace.
Even a rotten ship still had a few nails left in it. If they attacked now and he dragged one of them to death with him, what a bitterly unfair way to die.
I earn so little each month. What am I risking my life for?
And so, though Wang Ping was trapped on death's doorstep, no one pressed the attack. They surrounded him without striking, giving him the crucial breath he needed.
The next instant, Wang Ping finally discarded his saber. He took the Black Chi Bow from his back and gripped it, then drew a long arrow with his other hand and set it to the string.
"Hah..."
With that breath, the last of Wang Ping's cultivation shattered. In exchange, his Inner Force surged to its peak—and beyond it!
He drew the bow and nocked the arrow.
The Inner Force wrung from him by the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Art had taken on the color of blood. Now every bit of it gathered at the arrowhead.
No words were needed. The final barrier in the Cloud-Piercing Heaven-Shaking Bow, which he and Madam Su had studied for days, broke. Wang Ping finally understood the archery art's essence: once an arrow was on the string, it had to be loosed. What the art sought was the resolute state of mind of an arrow leaving the bow.
An arrow loosed from the string should never return!
Cloud-Piercing Heaven-Shaking Bow: perfected!
Heat surged through both arms as Wang Ping held bow and arrow. The Inner Force at the arrowhead grew brighter and more dazzling.
Military art, One Arrow Frost Chill.
Military art, Heavenly Dipper Breaks the Formation.
Wang Ping drew the bowstring with calm deliberation. Only when the Black Chi Bow itself gave a dragon's cry under the strain did he aim toward the distant county yamen.
Not one person stepped forward to stop him.
Everyone could see that this was his final strike. Anyone who stood before that arrow would die in his place.
So as Wang Ping took aim, the array surrounding him made no move to interfere. Instead, it opened a path for him. The onlookers stared, dumbfounded. Even Xu Bingzheng, so confident a moment ago, went pale and sat bolt upright!
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