Nameless Art

"Huh? Why is the sky getting bright?" "Squad Leader Wang, look up!" "Who's that? An enemy?" The dark crimson halo cascading from above prompted many of the Beifeng White Armors arrayed before the Barbarian Sacred City to glance up instinctively. As far as the eye could see, a bloody, ink-like shade manifested with nearly tangible substance, spreading silently and swiftly across the pitch-black sky. Under its glow, the vast Sacred City seemed draped in a thin, translucent veil of crystal blood. The crimson light was eerie, secluded, and strange. Had an ordinary army witnessed such an anomaly in the heavens, morale might have already begun to waver. But as Great Yan's battle-hardened elites, the White Armors beneath the city walls possessed formidable composure in the face of such spectacles. The lowest cultivation of any soldier in the Beifeng Army was the seventh-rank Bone Tempering Realm, and the vast majority were at the sixth-rank Iron Body Realm. To commoners, cultivators of this caliber were lofty immortals. Tempered by rigorous training and honed by a hundred battles, their inner resolve was far beyond anything a conventional force could muster. Before the murmurs among the soldiers could spread, their file leaders clamped down on them immediately. "Shut up!" "Che Junyi, you say one more word, and I'll tear your tongue right out!" "Anyone disrupting morale with chatter answers to military law!" "Her Highness is watching from the wall! Whichever of you embarrasses me, I'll deal with personally!" With the lower-ranking officers' harsh rebukes, the massive army fell back into deathly silence. Every man gripped the hilt of his saber, their presence grim and austere. Resting his hand on his weapon, Bai Jiaqi shuffled forward with small, sliding steps, inching his way alongside Li Yongliang. Staring expressionlessly toward the southwest, he sent a voice transmission: "Hey, Old Li, what's this about? That's a Transcendent mighty figure, right?" "..." Watching him sidle over, Li Yongliang wanted to curse. In a tight formation, such small movements might be harmless enough, but if a yajiang caught them, he would be dragged down too. After a brief pause, he snapped back in annoyance, "Are you out of your mind? Why ask me everything? I'm just a qujiang, same as you! Since Her Highness hasn't made a move, that means he's one of ours." "I remember the powerhouse garrisoned in the city was Old Qin, wasn't it? I've seen the old man's art before—this isn't it." Bai Jiaqi clicked his tongue softly, continuing his whisper while stealing a glance at the blood-robed figure suspended in midair. "Besides, look at the dragon-patterned muli veil on his head. That's Her Highness's personal possession." Li Yongliang took a deep breath, his curiosity piqued. "What are you getting at?" Bai Jiaqi sounded utterly certain. "Her Highness would never let anyone else touch her things, so that man has to be her lover." Li Yongliang blinked. "Lover? Doesn't Her Highness already have a prince consort?" Bai Jiaqi licked his lips and chuckled under his breath. "With Her Highness's temper, do you really think she'd fancy that playboy from the Prime Minister's Manor? The engagement's bound to be broken sooner or later. Do you think this Transcendent expert will storm the Jinluan Hall to snatch the bride when the time comes?" "Her Highness's wedding wouldn't be held in the Jinluan Hall..." Li Yongliang began with a laugh, but the words caught in his throat. He snapped his head up toward the sky. At the same time, numerous other qujiangs and captains looked up beside them. Through the connected resonance of the military array, they all sensed an oppressive aura descending from above, like a deity stepping into the mortal world. Silence swept over the entire formation. The gossip in Bai Jiaqi's eyes instantly morphed into a thrill of excitement. "Damn it... could we have a Saint on our side too?" A spark of excitement flared in Li Yongliang's gaze, but it dimmed just as fast. "Probably... probably not. If he were truly a Saint, Her Highness wouldn't have handed out so many Jinqi Pills." Bai Jiaqi stared at the swirling, blood-ink halo for several seconds, murmuring absentmindedly, "Old Li, you think... could he really crash the wedding to snatch her away?" Li Yongliang had no chance to reply, for a voice rang out across the entire battle line first—husky, chillingly lethal, yet captivatingly melodious. "Ingest the first Jinqi Pill! Activate the White Kite Slaughter Array!" *Crack—* *Crack—* *Crack—* A wave of shattering jade vials sounded across the ground. As the pills went down, an invisible tempest erupted across the White Armor ranks, sweeping outward in all directions! Several breaths later, amidst the whispering hum of resonating Source Qi, pale white runes began to etch themselves onto the void! These nearly invisible white markings traced complex patterns across the air, conjuring the towering phantom of a giant white kite that loomed over the earth. And the sharpest tip of its beak was the very section of the city wall where the crimson-armored woman stood. Flames danced in Li Qingyan's scarlet eyes as she gazed into the distance at the faint blue streak of light tearing across the horizon, covering thousands of miles in the blink of an eye. Military arrays came in countless variations: marching, defensive, field combat, and slaughtering formations were all distinct. The White Kite Array was a slaughter array. It abandoned all defense in an all-or-nothing gambit—the Beifeng Army's ultimate offensive formation, forged on the principle that true victory required shattering the old to build the new. Beneath the inky sky, the colossal white kite crouching on the ground seemed to answer the blood-ink halo high above, faint rumbles of wind and thunder echoing between them. Yet Xu Yuan, hovering in the void above, had no attention to spare for what was happening below. This was the first time he had ever used this particular art from the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art in reality. The art was nameless. Indeed, the skill had no name, at least not in *Cangyuan*. The final skill listed under the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art had been named simply '???'. Three crimson question marks. Compared to named skills, an anonymous killing move carried an unmatched air of prestige. And in *Cangyuan*, its power had lived up to that reputation. If it landed, it could strip more than half the health bar from the worldline's final boss. Now brought into reality, Xu Yuan finally realized just how terrifying it was once he channeled it. Thanks to the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art and his Innate Dao Body, his reserves of Source Qi were far greater than an ordinary cultivator's. Moreover, his aberrant ghost physique and the iterative enhancements his ancient adoptive sister had performed on him had doubled his life origin compared to an ordinary Transcendent. Even so, Xu Yuan could feel that he was in terrible shape. It was simply too violent. The Source Qi driving this art was wild to a point he could barely control. At the start, the technique had remained within his grasp. But as it kept running, its speed surged faster and faster, until it became an unbridled steed galloping wildly through his body. The instant he felt his control slip, Xu Yuan sensed disaster and tried to halt the art. Though no such warning was recorded in the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art, he knew all too well that letting this continue would likely cause his body to rupture and explode. He tried to rein in his life origin to brake the technique. Yet ideals were grand, while reality was harsh. Once this nameless art began running in earnest, it seemed impossible to stop. The increasingly frenzied life origin surged through his meridians, completing several heavenly circuits in practically the blink of an eye. With every circuit, it carved deep gashes into the inner walls of his meridians, inflicting agony that bored straight into his marrow. Had his willpower not been extraordinarily unyielding, and had he not possessed an aberrant ghost physique, his meridians would have ruptured, or his lost concentration would have left the chaotic life origin to blow him apart. Even so, Xu Yuan could still endure the pain. Pain was something he had long grown accustomed to. The real problem was that his reserves of life origin were insufficient to support the nameless art. The voracity with which the technique devoured his life origin chilled even a Transcendent aberrant ghost like him to the core. With just the opening stance, a full third of his vast life origin had already been drained. At this rate, before he even reached the halfway mark, he would run dry of life origin, lose balance, and explode. He had assumed that his current self could control the power of this nameless art just as he did with the Blood-Ink Jade Sword Art. But facts proved that he had overestimated himself—and underestimated the art. This grand nameless art seemed to be a technique meant exclusively for Saints. As these thoughts raced through his mind, the blood-ink halo covering half the heavens entered its second phase, beginning to contract and converge around him. This shift caused the consumption of his life origin to spike even higher. Sensing this, Xu Yuan did not panic. A flicker of contemplation crossed his narrow eyes. Although his Sumeru ring held plenty of medicinal pills and Source Crystals, even disregarding the damage to his body, they obviously could not keep up with the art's consumption. He needed a rapid way to replenish his life origin. As for how... Thinking this, Xu Yuan lowered his gaze toward the woman standing on the wall below. She happened to be looking up at him as well. Their eyes met in midair. Then, he gave her a pleading wink. "..." Li Qingyan's gallant willow brows furrowed slightly the moment their eyes met. Drawing on the power of the military array, she could tell something was amiss, but the thick, impenetrable blood-ink halo prevented her from discerning his exact state. Even so, seeing his look, she grasped his meaning. She let out a soft huff. "Always showing off... Senior, it seems something went wrong with Changtian. He needs your help." "I can see that. The brat clearly didn't understand the power of his own art," Luo Xiran's gentle voice sighed. "Still trying to play the elder brother, yet even with power, his head is still stuck in Soul Condensation. Truly foolish to death." With that, the crimson armor peeled away from Li Qingyan's body, revealing the red robes beneath. In the next breath, the shedding armor coalesced on the wall into an elegant figure clad in lake-blue robes. Standing shoulder to shoulder with Li Qingyan atop the battlements, Luo Xiran looked up at the blood-ink halo. An inky crystal hovered at her fingertips, glittering with an alluring, eerie light, and she remarked with a smile, "It seems plans never keep up with changes. If the brat manages to form this technique, Your Highness will only need to use the military array to land the finishing blow from behind." She paused, her tone turning slightly hesitant before adding, "Of course, Your Highness must also prepare for the worst." Hearing this, Li Qingyan sighed inward. "This princess understands." She truly could never tell whether this wretched man was genuinely confident or bluffing. When you doubted him, his information always proved true. When you trusted him, he wasn't just unreliable—he could be downright absurd. Just like now, when everyone was braced to fight the Barbarian King to the death, and he suddenly dropped the ball. Li Qingyan gritted her pearly teeth. Once they were married and back in the barracks, she would thoroughly drill this unreliable scoundrel. The corners of Luo Xiran's crimson lips curved up slightly into a soft smile. "Then I shall head up first, Your Highness." "Wait." Li Qingyan called out abruptly. Luo Xiran paused, looking back with a hint of puzzlement. A helpless smile touched Li Qingyan's lips. Reversing her grip on her saber, she offered a crisp military salute. "Senior, if things become untenable, please protect Changtian and take him away." "..." Luo Xiran's lovely eyes flickered. She glanced at Li Qingyan without speaking. "Changtian does not belong to the military, nor does he bear any duty to protect the soldiers of Beifeng," Li Qingyan murmured calmly. "This princess will do everything in her power to slay the Barbarian King. If I cannot, I will do my utmost to delay him. When that time comes, I hope Senior will take Changtian away." Upon the freezing, wind-swept battlements, Luo Xiran exhaled a breath of white mist and let out a soft laugh. "Very well. I promise you." Her gaze lowered, a faint smile gracing her lips. "Though in truth, Your Highness can afford to place a little more trust in that brat. Unreliable as he seems, he is a genuinely good man. "His comprehension may not be stellar, but his willpower is firmer than many of your so-called geniuses. A man like that is unlikely to be as cynical as he appears on the surface." Li Qingyan's eyes filled with confusion. "What do you mean?" Luo Xiran gave her a deep look, then blurred, shooting straight toward the sky. Only her melodious voice drifted lightly into Li Qingyan's ears: "He knew where to find the Fate-Reversing Liquid for aberrant ghost transformations, so naturally, he also knew the agony one must endure to reverse it. Even knowing that, he still chose to become an aberrant ghost himself, bearing that torment in your stead." "..." Li Qingyan's phoenix eyes narrowed slightly. After a brief pause, the corners of her lips curled upward, and she murmured in a voice no one else could hear: "Hah... why do I feel like he was... Whatever. I'll play the fool just this once and pretend that was his intention. "Thinking of it that way does feel rather nice, after all." At the center of the intensely dense blood-ink halo, Luo Xiran used the fungal armor's innate affinity with aberrant ghosts to glide straight to Xu Yuan's side. Watching his slightly twitching body, her lips curved into an amused smile. "A brat is still a brat. Can't you be a little more reliable?" "..." Xu Yuan did not make a sound. He heard the older woman's teasing, but he couldn't even manage a retort. His nearly depleted life origin carried the tangible stench of death. He had to exert all his strength to govern the flow of life origin within him; the slightest slip would result in his body blowing apart. Seeing his disheveled state, Luo Xiran poked his marked, handsome cheek with a slender jade finger. "In the end, it falls to me, your younger sister, to rescue you, my elder brother. Please ensure you don't commit such a rookie mistake next time, dear Brother." With that, she pinched open Xu Yuan's tightly shut lips and fed the demon crystal of Qi into his mouth. The moment the demon crystal entered his body, his aberrant ghost flesh rapidly broke it down, flooding it into his nearly parched dantian. With his life origin replenished, the blood-ink halo in the sky dissolved completely into Xu Yuan's body within breaths. In the ensuing silence, Xu Yuan raised a finger, pointing it toward the faint blue streak in the southwestern sky. *Hum...* With a subtle hum, countless crimson particles of light converged. Moments later, an inky orb of light barely an inch across formed at the tip of his finger. Ripples shuddered outward, radiating a horrifying qi that practically warped space itself. Taking a deep breath, Xu Yuan looked back at Luo Xiran and grinned. "All right. Your brother will be careful next time. You can head down now." With those words, the sphere of light on his fingertip vanished instantly.