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099 - Unprepared for the Battlefield
🕑 Added 2024-10-09 15:33:07 +0000 UTCQin Yun's body was bathed in the blue flame, yet his clothes remained intact despite the heat. He only felt a slight tingling sensation as the flame clung to his flesh, while golden characters appeared on his skin, pulsing with a slight energy as if to resist the heat. He felt a soothing warmth as if he had returned to the womb. There was a peacefulness to be found within the inferno akin to the eye of a storm.
Qin Yun closed his eyes, letting the light wash over him as he let his consciousness wander. He could feel the world around him from a bird' s-eye view, minute details clear in his mind. This flame was more than a physical manifestation of the world's essence. It was also a conduit through which it could exercise its will.
Throughout the underground chamber, countless runes appeared on the walls, leaving no stone unclaimed. The darkness receded, leaving only a bright blue light flickering in the middle, its glow slowly spreading outward.
The runes were unlike those Qin Yun was familiar with. They felt ancient, probably originating from an archaic language lost to the endless flow of time. The meaning left in those strokes was profound and intricate but also esoteric. Trying to uncover their essence, even with Qin Yun's depth of knowledge, would be arduous, especially without a frame of reference.
At least, he could infer its function with the flow of qi from the flame and the transformation that happened as those runes were empowered. If the flame could be likened to the roots of a giant tree, slowly siphoning away the underground river flowing below it, then the runes were the branches splitting from the trunk as they spread in all directions like invisible tendrils rising to the sky, only to end up high above the city in a blanket of leaves, silently protecting the city.
This was the guardian formation's foundation. Without one of these factors working in unison, the city would have long been reduced to dust. The fact that it could maintain itself without outside intervention was a testament to the perfection of this design. Qin Yun highly doubted anyone alive today would be able to replicate it.
Still, this type of autonomous formation wasn’t without dangers. While bathed in flames, Qin Yun could feel the minute changes within. He could feel the remnants of the old man’s will slowly empower the flame as it burned, breaking the balance that had lasted until now.
The runes began to burn brighter, flickering slightly. The qi pathways even became visible to the naked eye, bright enough that they might even burn a man's retina. Qin Yun's eyes remained closed, yet he frowned. The old man's intentions were clear: to burn his own life to shatter all that threatened the city.
The flame had already been destabilized by the advent of grey corruption. It would have collapsed had nothing been done. The old man's solution to this conundrum was simple yet effective. He simply used his body and his connection with the flame to open the floodgates, hoping the increased flow would shatter the remnants of corruption within.
A good idea... in theory. Doing so is akin to an engine working at 200%. The formation may sustain this output for a while, even pushing back the hordes attacking the city. However, the formation will collapse sooner or later and all that pent-up energy will have to go somewhere...
Qin Yun sighed, knowing this outcome was within the old man’s expectations. The city would be razed to the ground, and all lives above would be lost, allies and enemies alike. While the four sects protecting the city were almost trivial for the Western Region, the same couldn't be said for the outsiders attacking it. While Qin Yun had no way of estimating their actual numbers, he couldn't help but feel that most of their able-bodied warriors had been called upon for this assault. Objectively speaking, the old man's intentions were correct—at least in the short term.
However, what happens after that once the barrier is breached? The formation does more than just keep the outsiders away from the inner realm, but also the corruption. With nothing barring their path, it would only need to use those sandworms to spread its filth. If he gambled on the Heavenly Dao closing the breach, he was mistaken about its intentions...
Feeling the increased flow within the flame, Qin Yun even began to feel the flame overwhelm what his skin could resist. While all he felt at the start was a slight tingling sensation, it became a dull ache. Nothing too alarming, yet it seemed to grow without end. Sooner or later, he would be wholly consumed by the energy flowing through it.
With time running out, Qin Yun made up his mind. While he could have let the old man’s plan go through and even profit from it, absorbing the leftover force of the Dragon Vein to forge his body further, maybe even increasing its rank, he chose against it as doing so would mean the fall of the frontier—something he couldn't allow to happen.
The world needed a bulwark against the spread of corruption, something to slow down its advent until Qin Yun could implement his plan. Although he knew it was reckless, he wouldn't settle for half-measures. He refused to become some unknown force's pawn in all this. The world wouldn't always have its way with him.
Qin Yun took a deep breath, letting all tension flow away as he let go of the reins of his consciousness. It spread all around, even diving within the runes as it was transmitted to every part of the city.
Qin Yun saw sandworms diving from the sky as they opened their maws, spilling out the countless creatures that hid within like a flood on dry land, destroying everything they touched. The scarce defenders tried to stand against them, only for most to fail. The difference in both party's zeal was plain to see.
Most of the four sects’ disciples stood at the back, letting the rogue cultivators in their ranks weather the brunt of the assault. Men and women died in droves, their blood soaking into the sand that now covered the city. Their cries of anguish and the madness of war resonated in the air, drowning the battlefield in mass hysteria as steel clashed against bone and the sturdy carapaces of the creatures unleashed upon them.
Qin Yun couldn't help but sigh as he watched the bloodbath, knowing the battle was already lost. Three of the four sects had already pulled out most of their core forces, leaving only their outer disciples and elders to hold back the tide. Only the Moonlight Sword Palace remained, fighting with all their might, yet their quest was doomed to fail. They were completely outnumbered and would soon be surrounded, only to die a pointless death.
Xu Weizhe stood at the front line, his blade carving a path forward through untold numbers of creatures that looked like giant scorpions. Their bodies were as large as a human male but also covered by an armour of stone, making their flesh strong enough to deflect most weaponry. Only by aiming for the gap between each rock plate were the disciples of the Moonlight Sword Palace able to inflict any damage on these creatures.
On the other hand, Xu Weizhe's sword sliced into the stone as if it didn't even exist, severing everything that stood in its path. Nothing could stop his blade as stone limbs and giant claws flew away as they were severed before exploding into dust, then rained on the battlefield.
Still, their numbers were unending, and their stamina was limited. Although they could catch their breaths between each assault, their respite was growing shorter every time, owing to the fact the barrier was weakening, allowing even more sandworms to get through than the last time. It was only a matter of time until the city fell, and they would all be buried under the sand tsunami.
Yao Ruolan's blade carved into another creature. Her white robe was now stained a dark red colour from the blood and entrails of her enemies. Her limbs were slightly numb, and the familiar sword in her hand felt much heavier than she remembered. Still, she swung it regardless, as her life depended on it. Yet it had lost its lustre and some of its edge. She needed to use ever-increasing amounts of qi only to slay the foes before her.
A slight smile remained on her lips, even in this pit of despair, as she was surrounded by those she loved: her fellow disciples, her beloved master, and the man she cherished above all else. Despite his injuries, He Zihao stood next to her, his own sword in hand. His movement was sluggish, and he winced in pain at every strike, yet he remained steadfast as he watched her back, allowing her to make the most of her limited means.
“Why did you come? You could have chosen to leave. There is no reason for you to do this!” she asked over the cacophony of the battlefield, yet her expression betrayed how she really felt. She couldn’t mask the smile that appeared on her lips.
“What would have been the point of that?” he replied as he parried the blow from a stone scorpion’s claw.
He sliced away at the joint, severing the limb. A slight trace of blood appeared on the corner of his lips, yet he masked it almost immediately, hoping she wouldn't have noticed, but of course, she did. She struggled with her own thoughts before being attacked by another two beasts.
She swiftly dispatched them, yet one of their tails lightly grazed her sleeve. The poison contained within slowly crept up the fabric. She deftly ripped the cloth before throwing it away, revealing the naked arm beneath, yet the sight only made He Zihao frown.
Unlike the pristine skin he remembered, Yao Ruolan's arms were full of cuts and bruises. While minor, her injuries were numerous, but also a reflection of what she had endured in this conflict. She could only lament that training was a far cry from actual battle. Nothing she had ever experienced in the sect, even during the countless competitions she took part in, could ever prepare her for the insanity she was now part of, nor the grief she would feel afterwards, were they to survive.
After all, there were already countless casualties among the rogue cultivators and some of their own. Two of her fellow disciples had already fallen within the melee, their bodies devoured by the endless creatures raining from the sky, lost to them all.
Her body felt like it moved on auto-pilot, only reacting to outside threats as it deflected blow after blow and cutting where she could. Ironically, her mind felt free, letting her blade dance wherever it wished to. Her swordsmanship felt natural as if the blade had a mind of its own and her body only followed its will. Whether she had reached a new height in her swordsmanship or was slowly losing her mind, she didn't know. All she truly knew was that this was the only edge she had in this battle and that it was temporary. Sooner or later, she would collapse from exhaustion and be devoured by hordes swarming them.
The end came sooner than she expected. She saw the body of her master fly through the air before colliding with a nearby building, shattering it as the rubble flew high into the sky before raining down on the battlefield. She evaded the most she could; she needed to use her sword for a few of them, which gave a scorpion the opening it sought.
Its tail sought to pierce her chest with its needle. She couldn't hope to dodge in time. She resolved herself for the end through a split-second decision and swung downward. If she was to perish, she wouldn't go alone. Fortunately, her time wasn't now.
She felt a tug on her clothes, which dragged her out of the way. The tail ripped through the air, missing her. Even as she fell, Yao Ruolan exerted herself to change the path of her sword, which sliced away at the scorpion's tail, severing it in two before she fell on her back, feeling someone under her. It was He Zihao, his hand around her waist as they both rolled on the soft sand, evading the subsequent attacks aimed at them, only to be saved by their fellow disciples.
The wave was at its end. They grouped up to slay the last remaining insects. Once they were out of danger, the fellow disciples looked to where Elder Xu was propelled, only to see no movement. They turned in unison to where he had been just a moment ago, only to see a man much larger than them, wielding two large clubs, standing in the distance, looking at them with an eerie smile on his face. His killing intent was almost tangible.
