The Battle Begins

Nanyuan City. No one here knew what was transpiring far away in Great Xia Prefecture. Atop a tall building outside the academy. The woman was nowhere to be seen. Instead, the middle-aged man stood beside a white-haired elder, both gazing toward Nanyuan Secondary Academy. "Hall Master Chen, I didn't expect you to come in person..." The middle-aged man wore a flattering smile, his tone slightly fawning. "Mm." The elder did not say much. Gazing below, his brow furrowed slightly, and only after a long silence did he ask, "Wuheng, do you sense a trap?" "A trap?" The man paused for a moment before speaking slowly. "I'm not sure. But Nanyuan truly only has two in the Tengkong Realm right now. As for the City Guards, their chiliarch hasn't broken through to Tengkong—of that I am certain." "Is that so?" The elder said nothing more, though his brow remained knit tight. This mission left him feeling uneasy. First, the commotion was far too vast. Second, Nanyuan was already prepared. In the past, missions would have been aborted under such circumstances. Yet this time, it was not called off. The higher-ups insisted on pressing forward! As for Great Xia Prefecture, there would be no reinforcements. That was the definitive answer handed down from above—they were positive no reinforcements would come. And third, they were unfamiliar with Great Xia Prefecture. Historically, Great Xia Prefecture had never been the primary operational hub of the All-Races Sect. Though they possessed some influence here, their grasp of the region was shallow. Launching a scheme so rashly was quite a gamble. Given the typical caution of the sect's high command, deploying Tengkong Realm experts—and multiple ones at that—usually warranted thorough advance preparations. "Wuheng, you've lived in Nanyuan for years. Are there any Wanshi experts here capable of fighting beyond their realm?" "None that I know of," the middle-aged man replied. "I've certainly never heard of one. If there were, they would have headed to the All-Heavens Battlefield or Great Xia Prefecture. No one like that would remain in Nanyuan. As for the Qianjun Realm, there was one—Su Long of the Demon Suppression Army could fight above his realm against Wanshi cultivators, but that was only against Wanshi." "Su Long?" "A veteran of the Demon Suppression Army. He has already departed for the All-Heavens Battlefield." "Ah, the Demon Suppression Army... Troops once led by Xia Longwu. They've built quite a reputation on the All-Heavens Battlefield over the years, fighting their way from a second-tier force into the first tier. They have no shortage of experts." The elder knew quite a bit about the frontline. After a moment's thought, he asked, "Are there many veterans of frontline legions retired here in the city?" "Not many, and most are advanced in age. Very few are in their prime—fewer than three hundred in total, scattered all across Nanyuan." "We must stay on guard against them as well!" the elder said in a heavy voice. "Veterans who survived the All-Heavens Battlefield and lived to retire are ruthless men who have licked blood from blade tips. Tell our people below to stay vigilant and proceed with caution." "Understood!" The elder glanced at the sky and fell silent. A short while later, flashes of fire appeared outside the city. Within Nanyuan, a company of one hundred City Guards rapidly marched out toward the city gates. The middle-aged man smiled with delight. "Another hundred-man company has left! Fewer than five hundred City Guards remain in the city!" The elder's brow remained knit. "Stay cautious!" Even knowing this was a tactic to lure the tiger from the mountain, Nanyuan still dispatched large numbers of City Guards outside to hunt down sect members. Was it confidence, or... were they truly backed into a corner? "Less than half the City Guards remain. Over three hundred are guarding the City Lord Manor, while almost all the rest are gathered near Nanyuan Academy. The streets are crawling with Wind Arrest Hall personnel..." The elder surveyed their surroundings and made a quick assessment. Around Nanyuan Academy, there were roughly two hundred City Guards, fewer than one hundred from the Wind Arrest Hall, and two hundred and sixty academy instructors and guards combined. The Longwu Guards had not left either. Added together, there were fewer than six hundred combatants at or above the Qianjun Realm. As for the students, they were disregarded entirely. Not a single one could possibly have reached the Qianjun Realm. Among the defenders, only two were in the Tengkong Realm. Between the local forces and the Longwu Guards, there were fewer than fifteen Wanshi cultivators, with the rest in the Qianjun Realm. In truth, only one Tengkong expert was currently present. City Lord Wu Wenhai was still at the City Lord Manor and would take time to arrive, though the elder factored him in regardless since the distance was not great. "Are all our forces gathered?" "All present!" the man replied hurriedly. "A hall master went to receive them. Every one of them is an elite: thirty full Wanshi experts, and the remaining three hundred are all high-layer Qianjun cultivators! Those below the high layers of Qianjun are causing chaos outside the city." Three hundred elite cultivators at the Qianjun Seventh Layer or above, plus thirty in the Wanshi Realm! The elder calculated in his head. Today, attacks were being launched across six cities simultaneously, and other locations had even larger deployments. That meant across the operation, more than two thousand Qianjun Seventh Layer or higher cultivators, over two hundred Wanshi experts, and likely upwards of twenty Tengkong Realm masters were mobilized! A force of this scale was sufficient to form an entire legion of ten thousand. "They've deployed their entire strength... The Tianyi God Sect has wagered years of accumulated foundations on this single strike!" The elder felt a tremor of unease and dread. The All-Races Sect was divided into many branches, and the Tianyi God Sect was among the more powerful factions, as they served a branch of the God Race. Even so, committing such overwhelming strength at once—on top of dispatching forces to intercept Great Xia Prefecture's reinforcements—represented virtually all of the Tianyi God Sect's assets. Risking it all in one blow... Were they not afraid of the Tianyi God Sect being wiped out entirely? Those creating slaughter along the perimeter were mere cannon fodder from lesser factions whose deaths mattered little. But the forces mobilized today were genuine elite disciples. The two were worlds apart. "The merit points for this mission are immense, yet launching such a massive offensive just to slaughter students hardly seems worth the cost. What are the higher-ups really thinking?" The elder furrowed his brow, feeling that the costs vastly outweighed the gains. Unfortunately, he lacked the clearance to access that tier of secrets. "Never mind. We can only hope everything goes smoothly, followed by a swift withdrawal to cover our tracks." Gathering over three hundred disciples still required a bit more time. In a small city like Nanyuan, assembling that many people had to be done in trickles. This was not the capital of Great Xia Prefecture, where hundreds of people could stroll in openly without anyone batting an eye. "We strike in half an hour. Pass down the order: conclude the battle within three minutes. After five minutes, everyone must withdraw. Once outside the city, scatter and flee. Do you understand?" "Yes!" The man acknowledged hurriedly and vanished, setting off to notify the various squads. Once the man had gone, the elder looked toward Nanyuan Secondary Academy once more, murmuring, "Great Xia Prefecture... Can they truly not spare even a few Tengkong experts?" *** "Yu!" At that moment, Chen Hao was crouched beside Su Yu by the cafeteria entrance, glancing nervously left and right as he whispered, "What are we waiting here for? An instructor just shouted for all classes to assemble for an academy meeting after class. Shouldn't we go?" "No." Gripping his training saber, Su Yu whispered, "Fewer people means greater safety. Where there are crowds... it's dangerous." "Huh?" Chen Hao looked bewildered. Su Yu kept his voice low. "Stop rambling. Something bad might happen today. The All-Races Sect might come! We're staying right here. There are fewer people around..." "Wait, Yu, you're saying... the All-Races Sect is coming? Then we should hurry and regroup with the instructors! We're only in the Kaiyuan Realm, not Qianjun..." Panic surged through Chen Hao. Fear? It was not overwhelming terror. The academy had conducted drills before; they had run through scenarios concerning attacks by the All-Races Sect and deployment to the All-Heavens Battlefield. At a time like this, standard procedure was to regroup with the instructors. The instructors would protect them. "There are too few instructors. Most will have to fight, and the remaining few will have to protect the students. At most, three to five instructors will stay behind per class. With so many students, if real danger strikes, they won't be able to protect everyone..." Su Yu said softly, "If they have two fewer people to look after, that's one less burden on them." "But... what if we run into them? Yu... let's just go back!" Chen Hao was growing genuinely anxious. Su Yu smiled. "Don't worry. Two students wandering around, both merely in the Kaiyuan Realm—the true experts won't spare us a second glance." "Even a Qianjun cultivator could kill us..." "That's why we hide as best we can. If we truly run into an enemy..." Su Yu looked up at Chen Hao. "Do you trust me?" "I do." "If we encounter one, start cursing. Curse him with everything you've got so he goes after you first. We won't stand together—one on the left, one on the right. When he lunges to kill you, he won't be on guard against a minor student like me..." Chen Hao stared blankly. *You vicious bastard!* *You want me to die before you do? That's ruthless!* "Then I'll kill him!" "..." Chen Hao's face fell completely. What kind of joke was this? A Kaiyuan Third Layer cultivator could barely break an enemy's defense, and he was talking about killing them? Had he lost his mind? "If you trust me, do as I say! We can't go to the headmaster's group right now—that would only cause trouble. We can't go to our class either; that would just get in the way. We're too weak; in a crowd, we'd be living targets..." "Then the other classmates are targets too! Shouldn't we tell them to hide with us..." "Idiot, how could that many people hide? If they run around blindly, they'll really get killed. We stand a chance." Su Yu was not overly terrified. His father had told him countless stories of slaughtering myriad races, and the academy's ultimate purpose was to train them to slay the myriad races. There was nothing to be paralyzed over. He felt some trepidation, of course. This was his first genuine encounter with an enemy, and he worried his legs might go weak when the moment arrived. What if Chen Hao cursed the man, the enemy charged him, and Su Yu's legs locked up? And what if they ran into two enemies? Or three? *It'll be fine. Strong enemies will certainly target our experts. Searching the academy for scattered students is a task for the weak, because students are too weak—none have reached Qianjun, so they won't need to search in squads.* *Why send three or five men for a job one person can do?* *The academy isn't small. If they moved in squads, they would need thousands of men to sweep it, and there's no way thousands infiltrated the city. Nanyuan isn't that incompetent.* *Besides, if they really brought that many people, staying with the teachers would still mean certain death. Things shouldn't come to that.* Weighing the odds in his head, Su Yu dragged Chen Hao into the cafeteria, found a corner, and whispered, "Hide right here. Huddle down and pretend to tremble. If only one person comes, make a little noise to draw him over. If two come... run! Run for your life!" There was a side door nearby they could flee through. Chen Hao nodded hastily. "What about you?" Su Yu pointed toward an adjacent corner. "I'll hide there. Don't look in my direction, or you'll get me killed. Got it?" "Got it!" Chen Hao nodded at once, then whimpered with a fallen expression, "Yu, why don't we... why don't we just find my dad?" "Cut the crap! Going out alone right now is suicide!" Su Yu cursed under his breath. "I don't know the full battle plan, but your father and the others surely have their own orders. Stop daydreaming. Just pray my legs don't freeze up in a moment, or you're done for!" "Yu, are you really planning to kill someone?" Chen Hao said miserably, "You can't pull that off. Why don't I hide and ambush them instead?" "You?" Too impatient to argue, Su Yu took a deep breath. "You can barely pierce their defenses. Leave it to me! Besides, by the rules, if you can actually kill a member of the All-Races Sect, Haozi, your hopes for a war academy are alive!" At those words, Chen Hao's eyes lit up instantly! Fear had made him forget. Right! The academy had regulations: if a student killed a confirmed member of the All-Races Sect, bonus points would be awarded on the examinations. Of course, that rule had gone unused for years because students were only in the Kaiyuan Realm. How was a Kaiyuan student supposed to kill an operative of the All-Races Sect? Even poison rarely succeeded. Genius students had pulled it off in the past, but would a genius ever worry about bonus points? "Yu... could it be... you're doing this for me..." Chen Hao was profoundly moved! To help him get into a war academy, Su Yu was willing to risk his life! He was so touched tears nearly welled in his eyes. Su Yu rolled his eyes. *What is he thinking?* He simply believed the two of them were safer hiding here. In a crowd, they would be far larger targets. As for actually killing someone, they would cross that bridge when they came to it. Su Yu was not even sure he would dare take credit for a kill. How would a Kaiyuan student explain slaying an enemy? *Still, if the opportunity arises and we manage to drop one, fabricating the scene to let Haozi get the bonus points for a war academy isn't out of the question.* A Kaiyuan cultivator killing a Qianjun expert was nearly impossible. But "nearly" meant there was still a chance. Qianjun cultivators were not immortal. Caught off guard, a blade across the neck would end them just the same. As for why a Qianjun cultist would be so careless... let the corpse answer that. How would Su Yu know? *It's best not to use the Tear ability. I'll just hack him down with the blade!* Su Yu gripped the saber tightly. When the time came, he would channel all his strength into both hands and strike down with everything he had. As long as the enemy didn't flee, his chances were solid. Would a Qianjun expert flee when ambushed by a Kaiyuan student? Nine times out of ten, they would not! Just as the thought crossed his mind, a booming roar shattered the air outside: "Students, assemble! Those unable to regroup, hide in place!" "Enemy attack! The beasts of the All-Races Sect are here!" "Do not panic! Follow the instructors' orders and form the Locking Ring Formation to defend yourselves!" "Bar the doors! All instructors, prepare to engage!" "Academy guard, assemble!" "City Guards, Wind Arrest Hall, charge!" "Kill!" A chorus of furious roars erupted, and in an instant, the entire Nanyuan Academy surged into motion. At that moment, Su Yu felt no terror. There was tension, and a rush of boiling blood, but no fear. He believed the instructors would triumph. An uncontrollable urge rose within him to step outside and witness how the teachers cut down the enemy. When his father was home, he often spoke of those glorious years—clashes of legions ten thousand or even a hundred thousand strong, leaving the plains carpeted in corpses, rivers flowing with blood, striking terror into the myriad races of the heavens! On the All-Heavens Battlefield, wherever humanity's blades pointed, nothing could stand in their way! "I really want... to go see!" Su Yu felt the impulse surge. Chen Hao was even more keyed up, gripping his saber and nearly charging out, though he quickly suppressed the thought, terrified of getting Su Yu killed. "Kill!" Blades clashed, and the ringing din of metal resounded through the academy grounds. Aside from battle cries, scarcely another sound could be heard. In war, nothing else mattered; one followed orders and fought. *** Outside the classroom buildings of Nanyuan Academy. Hundreds of combatants clashed, slaughter erupting the instant they met, without a word wasted. The ten-man squad of Longwu Guards, led by Decurion Xia Bing, instantly surrounded the white-haired elder at the Tengkong Fourth Layer. Clad in a golden helm and gripping a long saber, Xia Bing—at the Tengkong Second Layer—showed not an ounce of fear. A low shout rumbled from his chest: "Form the array! Kill!" The ten guards circled the elder in an instant, ten blades cleaving through the air as the battle commenced! A heartbeat later, City Lord Wu Wenhai—who had supposedly been stationed at the City Lord Manor—leaped into the sky from a nearby rooftop. Long saber in hand, he plunged toward the woman in the blink of an eye. "Wu Wenhai, you've come to deliver yourself to death!" The woman shrieked. Wu Wenhai was truly here, though they had anticipated this possibility. Seeing both Tengkong experts tied down and even the Longwu Guards engaged, the middle-aged man named Wuheng was overjoyed. Ignoring everyone else, he bolted straight toward Liu Wenyan in the distance. "Your opponent is me!" "And me!" In an instant, two men lunged forward to intercept him, one wielding a saber and the other a sword. "Zhang Yun, Zeng Hua!" The middle-aged man barked their names with a cold sneer. He recognized them: the chiliarch of the City Guards and the master of the Wind Arrest Hall, both at the Wanshi Ninth Layer. Yet how could mere Wanshi cultivators stand against the Tengkong Realm! "Kill!" Neither defender wasted breath. There was nothing to discuss with these beasts of the All-Races Sect—slay them first! *Clang!* The crisp clash of weapons rang out. In the next breath, Wuheng soared into the air, leaping clear over the pair and diving straight toward Liu Wenyan behind them, where numerous Qianjun Realm instructors were stationed. Today's objective was neither the city lord nor the local Tengkong experts, nor even these two commanders of Nanyuan. It was the academy's geniuses, and sparks of civilization like Liu Wenyan. They were the ones worth a fortune! Before Liu Wenyan, several Qianjun instructors raised their blades to meet the assault. Behind them, the two Wanshi Ninth Layer commanders reacted with blistering speed, tearing through the air in pursuit. Stamping hard against the earth, Zhang Yun launched himself upward, cleaving his saber toward the airborne Wuheng. "Over our dead bodies!" With a furious roar, the two encircled Wuheng once more. "Courting death!" Confronted by two Wanshi Ninth Layer experts risking their lives, Wuheng—who was only at the Tengkong Second Layer—could not sustain flight high enough to stay out of reach. He had no choice but to drop to the ground and trade blows with the pair. Remaining airborne would have made him an easy target. *** "Instructor Liu, you must leave first..." Several Qianjun cultivators shielding Liu Wenyan urgently tried to pull the old man away, but Liu Wenyan refused to budge. Surveying the battlefield where clashes raged in every direction, he could not help cursing, "They certainly think highly of Nanyuan! Those bastards in Great Xia Prefecture must have known there would be multiple Tengkong experts here, yet they chose to reinforce the other cities instead of us!" The surrounding guards were baffled, but there was no time to ask. Liu Wenyan continued to swear. "Do they really have that much faith in me succeeding? What if I fail? Isn't this toying with human lives? If I ever find out who issued this order, I'll skin him alive!" Certain figures in Great Xia Prefecture believed he could achieve will manifestation today. But what if he failed? Liu Wenyan rambled and cursed under his breath, shedding every trace of a scholar's refined grace. "I'm the biggest failure around! Why would I be guaranteed to succeed? They trust me far too much. I'm just a piece of trash, and they know it—otherwise, why would I have been expelled..." He grumbled softly, a hint of sorrow in his voice. If he weren't such a failure, how could he have reached this age without ever manifesting his will? He wanted to succeed, but... it was simply too difficult. "You ruthless bastards, wagering the lives of the academy to force my hand..." "I knew you lacked all humanity. If I truly manifest my will, you'll be the first ones I settle scores with..." As Liu Wenyan muttered, a golden radiance began to emanate from the crown of his head. His body trembled, and his feet slowly drifted off the ground. The expressions of those around him shifted in astonishment. Farther away, the academy head—locked in fierce combat—cracked a grin. "Old man, without someone pushing you to the brink, you really never would have pulled it off. From this day forth... we have one more in the Tengkong Realm!" "All Wanshi cultivators, halt your pursuit and come here at once!" Wuheng let out a thunderous roar. Catching sight of the phenomenon, shock warped his features, and he shouted in fury, "Get over here and kill these two bastards!" At his command, several Wanshi experts broke away and surged toward the scene. Wuheng broke free of his opponents in an instant, hurtling straight toward Liu Wenyan. He could not allow this old man to achieve will manifestation and step into the Tengkong Realm. Otherwise, even if they slaughtered a portion of the students today, the mission's success would be drastically undercut.