Another Day of Killing
Tang Yuan and his party of eight raced north for five days before arriving at a hill.
Seeing the beacon smoke rising high in the distance, Qi Mingfei shouted excitedly, "Junior brothers and sisters, once we cross the hill ahead, we'll reach our destination.
"When we encounter the orc chieftain, don't kill him just yet. Leave him alive so I can ask him a few questions."
The others nodded in agreement and charged forward, shouting.
Zhao Xiaode, inside the Myriad Ghost Banner, also sent Tang Yuan a voice transmission. "From what I remember of my last visit, the purple jade huang is just ahead."
Tang Yuan ran forward without a change in expression, casually surveying his surroundings.
When the group reached the top of the hill and looked ahead, they were dumbfounded. Thousands of thatched huts and stone houses stood packed together in the valley ahead. It seemed to be an orc camp with a population of over ten thousand.
But in front of the camp, several thousand orc soldiers stood in neat ranks.
Sabers, spears, swords, halberds, axes, battle-axes, hooks, and forks.
All manner of weapons gleamed brilliantly in the sunlight.
The corner of Qi Feiming's mouth twitched, and he sent out his Divine Sense to scout ahead.
A few breaths later, Qi Feiming laughed loudly. "Fellow disciples, don't panic. Though there are only eight of us and more than five thousand of them,
"I've just checked, and they're all elite orc soldiers. Their combat strength is only equivalent to the Meridian Opening Realm.
"All eight of us are at the Middle Stage of Qi Refinement. Never mind a mere five thousand-even if there were fifty thousand, the eight of us could cut them all down in less than half an hour."
The others also sent out their Divine Sense to investigate, and their faces lit up with smiles.
Clang!
Qi Mingfei drew his demonic saber, raised his arm, and shouted, "Whoever captures that orc chieftain wearing the seven-colored feather headdress for me first gets ten thousand spirit coins!
"Kill!"
A hefty reward always brought forth brave men. Before Qi Mingfei had taken two steps, Gao Rui, the body cultivator, had already charged several zhang ahead.
Although they couldn't travel through the air in the Barbarian Di Secret Realm, they could use mystic arts freely.
With the aid of their mystic arts, they covered the three or four li and charged to the front of the orc formation in less than half an incense stick's time.
All of a sudden, Tang Yuan, who was running at the back of the group, sensed a fluctuation of Spiritual Qi and stopped.
Before Qi Mingfei, his brow slightly furrowed, could shout "Be careful," Gao Rui, who was leading the charge, had already thrown a punch at an orc soldier.
Bang!
The dull sound of flesh striking metal armor rang out.
"Strange, how come the orc was sent flying by my punch..."
Before the puzzled Gao Rui could finish speaking, the orc soldier chopped off his head with a saber.
"Uraagh!" The orc soldier picked up Gao Rui's head and tossed it into the air, letting out an excited shout.
"This is bad! There's an array here. Our cultivation has all been suppressed to the Early Stage of Meridian Opening.
"Retreat first!..." Qi Mingfei roared, throwing out an explosive talisman and forming a hand seal as he quickly withdrew.
But the talisman Qi Mingfei had thrown showed no reaction at all, fluttering lightly to the ground.
"Awoo!" The orc chieftain gave a great shout, and the thousands of orc soldiers, their blood surging, quickly surrounded Tang Yuan and the other six.
"Kill!" Tang Yuan shouted, swinging the demonic saber in his hand at the orc soldiers...
...After more than two hours of bitter fighting, Tang Yuan and the other six finally broke through the orc soldiers' encirclement and fled in a sorry state beyond the array.
The thousands of orc soldiers promptly sounded the retreat and returned to formation.
Tang Yuan and the other six unleashed all kinds of talismans and arrays against the translucent Spiritual Qi array, but it remained completely undamaged.
"This defensive array should be at the Foundation Establishment Realm. Inside it, all our cultivation was suppressed to the Early Stage of Meridian Opening,
"and all Law Techniques, talismans, and arrays failed completely," Tang Yuan concluded as he sat on the ground, meditating to heal his injuries.
"Senior Brother Qi, why didn't you warn us beforehand that these orcs had a defensive array? Gao Rui lost his life for nothing.
"Without the array, killing these orcs would be like chopping melons and vegetables.
"But inside this defensive array, although our combat strength is a little greater,
"there are only seven of us, while they have five thousand. We simply can't beat them.
"Today is already the twenty-sixth day. The sect's teleportation array will close in fourteen days.
"I think we should go back to the teleportation point." Looking at Gao Rui, whose body had already been cut to pieces, Huang Jie couldn't help sounding a little aggrieved.
Qi Feiming frowned, looked at the orc chieftain in the distance, and said in a tone that brooked no argument, "I've already worked it out. Apart from brief rests, it will take only seven days to return to the sect's teleportation array from here.
"Although the orcs' defensive array is indestructible, I think it must be like our cultivators' arrays and need Spirit Stones or something similar to power it.
"I'll be responsible for attacking the array from outside it. I don't think it can hold out for long.
"As for the six of you, split into three groups and take turns entering the array from the east and south to kill the orc soldiers.
"You only need to hold on for seven days. After seven days, whether or not the array has been broken or the orc chieftain captured, we'll return to the sect's teleportation point immediately.
"Once we're back at the sect, I'll give each of you two thousand spirit coins."
Seeing the mad, ruthless look in Qi Feiming's eyes, Tang Yuan and the other five could only nod in agreement.
"Junior Brother Tang Yuan, bring out all your talismans and arrays. I'll use them to attack the orcs' array.
"I'll buy them at twice their price." Qi Feiming frowned slightly.
"Of course.
"But you'll need to write me an IOU now, Senior Brother Qi." Tang Yuan looked completely unconcerned...
...Over the following days, Tang Yuan and the other five took turns charging into the array and cutting down orc soldiers.
Meanwhile, Qi Feiming used both hands and feet outside the array, hacking with saber and axe and throwing every kind of Law Technique, talisman, and array at the orcs' defensive array, attacking it without pause.
At last, seven days passed. Tang Yuan and the other five were wounded all over, their bodies and minds exhausted. Qi Feiming had also exhausted his True Qi and looked as though he had aged more than ten years in an instant, but the orcs' defensive array remained completely unscathed, glowing brightly.
As for the orc soldiers, Tang Yuan and the other five had killed less than thirty percent of them.
Seeing how exhausted Tang Yuan and the others were, some of the bolder orc soldiers even charged straight out of the array to fight them.
"Senior Brother Qi, we've been fighting for seven days, but not only is there no sign of the orcs' array dissipating, even those thousands of orc soldiers are growing fiercer the longer they fight.
"If we keep fighting like this, we might capsize in a ditch and get killed by the orc soldiers.
"The sect's teleportation array will close in seven days. Let's rest a little now, then head south," Huang Jie said, looking utterly exhausted.
Frowning, Qi Feiming held up one finger. "Just one day. Junior brothers and sisters, hold on for one more day.
"At noon tomorrow, when the sun is at its height, you can head south. I won't stop you."
"No. All of you are at the Qi Refinement Sixth Layer, while I'm at the Qi Refinement Fifth Layer.
"Even if everything goes smoothly on the way back, seven days will barely be enough for me to make it.
"I have to head south right now." Huang Jie sprang up in a rage and ran south.
Whoosh!
Qi Feiming, his eyes scarlet, suddenly shot out a streak of mystic light and severed Huang Jie's head. Looking at Tang Yuan and the other four, he said with a touch of madness, "One more day of killing!
"I said it already. Tomorrow at noon, when the sun is at its height, we'll head south!"
After all, Qi Mingfei was already over ninety years old and had extremely rich combat experience. He was also an inner disciple. Who knew whether he had any powerful Law Artifacts left?
"As you command, Senior Brother Qi. I'll go kill the orcs right now." The corner of Tang Yuan's mouth twitched. He rose and was the first to charge back into the array.
Qian Xiaobao and the other three also got reluctantly to their feet and charged at the orcs...