The thirteen sects had all spread out around the city, and with the exception of the back of Flame Volcano, which was facing a huge river (from which the Incendiary Ifrit Sect launched their naval attack a couple of days ago), they were at the four main entrances of Tushan City.

Blood Blades martial artists, outer sect elders and disciples had all dispersed to these walls and gates to hold back the tide. Just a few moments ago, I was located along one of those gates, fighting beside Jing Wei and Tong Xue to fend off attacks from the Green Dragon Sect and Heavenly Way Sect. now, however, I was heading toward a different gate – the south gate, to be exact – even though my shift hadn't begun. There were still four hours for me to get some rest, but I had been assigned a heavy duty from Lang Xie.

At the south gate, the sect leader of Dark Fiend Valley Sect, Jiu Liu Yu, disembarked from her limousine. She stood in front of it and watched the battle coldly and arrogantly, showing no interest in joining combat with her subordinates.

Jiu Liu Yu looked as if she was about sixty, but with all these xianxia characters, you couldn't really tell her real age. She was wearing a long, gray dress, which was conservative, and had the emblems of the Dark Fiend Valley Sect sewn into its sleeves. Beside her was another sect leader, this time of the Light Valley Sect, Guang Song Lin.

Guang Song Lin's disciple was accompanying him, but obviously I was too lazy to remember his name. Not that he was going to be remembered much after this, anyway.

In any case, right now elements from both the Dark Fiend Valley Sect and the Light Valley Sect were assaulting the gate, having climbed up the fortress walls and were attempting to breach Blood Blades' defenses. Elder Zhao was leading the defense there, the martial artists under his command desperately battling against the enemy.

Under the shadowy, dark night sky, bright flashes of qi lit up the city as elemental techniques and arcane power streaked through the space between both sides, unleashed by martial artists and the Spirit Weapons they wielded. Torrents of qi howled as they wreaked a trail of destruction across the walls, blasting martial artists apart.

The indomitable maniple of battle puppets waded through the sea of death, their Mauler bolt cannons, Darkfire cannons and boltguns spitting explosive violence and razing yet more martial artists. For now, the line held.

"Elder Zhao, at this rate, they will bleed us dry before squad Ten comes to relieve us!" one of the outer sect disciples shouted.

"Even so, we are not allowed to retreat!" Elder Zhao bellowed. "We will not falter here, or everyone in the city will die if these bastards breach our defenses!"

The forces from the Two Valley Sects obviously outnumbered the beleaguered Nine-Tailed Fox Sect's defenders. Even without Jiu Liu Yu or Guang Song Lin, Nine-Tailed Fox Sect was on the brink of defeat. Elder Zhao considered recalling the spent Second squad and fresh Tenth squad to come bolster the forces of the currently embattled Sixth squad, but he knew that their defeat would be inevitable. The Two Valley Sects still had fresh reinforcements in reserves, and were augmented further by elements from the other four Valley Sects.

"Old Shi will be fine, won't he?" Guang Song Lin asked conversationally, as if he was merely spectating a soccer match instead of bloody carnage.

"What do you think?" Jiu Liu Yu sneered. "Do you really think Zi Shou De will have the guts to kill Old Shi?"

"Why not?" Guang Song Lin responded. "We've driven them into a corner."

"Hah!" Jiu Liu Yu snorted coldly. "In the end, they are just a sect comprising mostly of blacksmiths and Spirit Engravers. There's not a single true martial artist among them. Zi Shou De and the Great Elders aren't fully committed to a war, only knowing how to rely on the Royal Family and the Imperial Guard to bail them out. We will finish these weaklings off long before the Imperial Guard arrives." Her lips curled. "All they wanted to do was develop Nine-Tailed Fox Sect in peace. What fools they are!"

Guang Song Lin stared at her in shock.

"The development of any sect is always built upon bloody conflict. It is utterly unrealistic to build a sect without overcoming crises!" Jiu Liu Yu's eyes were filled with disdain. "Nine-Tailed Fox Sect actually had their chance to surpass the power of the eight major sects long ago. When Xue Jian was still around, no one dared to provoke the wrath of Blood Blades. However, the then sect leader and the current Great Elders weren't prepared to commit to the martial path and forestalled Blood Blades' growth. If they had only allowed Blood Blades to expand and recruit rapidly, continuing along their pace of development, then Nine-Tailed Fox Sect will undoubtedly be stronger than it is right now!"

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Guang Song Lin winced.

"Uh..what barbaric age are you living in, Sister? Bloody conflict? In this age of peace? We all had to pull together to fight off the Demonic Sects, but other than that, we've gone past the age where everyone has to kill each other to survive. I would like to think we're more civilized than that now."

"Then you are a fool!" Jiu Liu Yu snapped.

Guang Song Lin's jaw dropped, but before he could say anthing, Jiu Liu Yu went into a rant.

"All of you are short-sighted fools! Peace? What use is that nonsense?" Jiu Liu Yu's eyes flashed frostily. "The current leaders of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect only wanted Blood Blades to be the shield of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, to protect them and nothing else! They never thought of strengthening Blood Blades and improving the combat strength of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect through plundering and combat!"

"Plundering and combat? You do realize it's illegal, right?" Guang Song Lin pointed out, but inwardly he already knew that this invasion was illegal. If the Royal Family found out that they were lying and coming up with a false pretext to conquer Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, the Martial Arts Alliance would be in deep trouble.

"Strength is justice. The winners decide the law." Jiu Liu Yu carried on mocking with her twisted and hypocritical logic. "Blacksmiths will only ever be blacksmiths. They will never be true martial artists. By nature they don't have the fighting spirit and determination and discipline of a martial artist, nor will they ever have the ambition or resolve to draw the blood of others!"

"There's so many things wrong with what you said that I don't know where to begin." Guang Song Lin sighed and clutched his head as if he had a headache. "But you do realize that we martial artists rely heavily on blacksmiths and Spirit Engravers for our livelihood, right? Without them, we would never be able to fight as effectively, not when we aren't equipped with the Spirit Weapons they manufacture." He closed his eyes. "Never mind, I've already expressed my doubts. But I hardly think the blacksmiths and Spirit Engravers of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect will just roll over and allow us to enslave them like this. They are humans too, and they will want their rights."

"They don't deserve rights if they are weak!" Jiu Liu Yu scoffed.

"So if they don't listen to us, we kill them? Is that it?" Guang Song Lin narrowed his eyes. "If we kill all the blacksmiths, then who is going to forge Spirit Weapons for us?"

"We only need to threaten them," Jiu Liu Yu replied dismissively. "Or kill a few to set an example. Non-martial artists are cowards. They will submit just to preserve their pathetic lives, even if it means they have to obey the strong. That's how the world works. The weak submit to the strong, and nobody wants to die."

"I think you are all underestimating their tenacity, resolve and principles," Guang Song Lin muttered softly, but saw no point in arguing. It was a moot point, in any case. They were already in front of Tushan City, and there was no turning back.

"Nine-Tailed Fox Sect will be destroyed today," Jiu Liu Yu declared confidently.

Right at this moment, I showed up. Using my footwork to evade a gaggle of dueling martial artists while blasting apart a few assailants with Snow Aegis's mobile turrets, I made my way to the edge. Catching sight of the commanders, I sucked in a deep breath and yelled in their general direction as loudly as I could.

"This is Shi Jing Yun's left arm!"

I made sure my voice was loud enough to carry across the entire wall. As I anticipated, fighting ceased across the ramparts, and everyone turned to look at me. I unwrapped the severed appendage and threw it over the wall with dismissive flippancy, watching as it landed in front of Guang Song Lin and Jiu Liu Yu.

"If the Six Valley Sects do not stop their attack on Tushan City, then for every hour we'll cut off Shi Jing Yun's right arm, both his legs and eventually his head!" I smiled. "You're welcome to test us and see if we'll really do it."

Before the stunned commanders could respond, I spun around and departed. But not far enough so that I could continue listening to them.

"It's Old Shi's left arm! It really is Old Shi's left arm!" Guang Song Lin gasped in horror, recognizing the Spirit Rings and other accessories adorning the arm, even if the fleshtone and size didn't already give it away.

Jiu Liu Yu froze for a few seconds before she finally snapped out of her stupor. Turning around, she screamed.

"Stop the attack! Everyone, retreat this instant! Immediately!"

The fear in her eyes was visible.

"Sister? Are we really going to stop?" Guang Song Lin asked uncertainly.

"I have three disciples in Tushan City, and one of them has already been killed! If they are willing to hurt Old Shi, then why wouldn't they dare to lay their hands on my remaining disciples?!" Jiu Liu Yu was forcing her voice down to a calm she didn't feel, trembling in fear and fury. "These people have gone insane! How dare they touch Old Shi?! Do they really intend to die with us?!"

What fucking hypocrites. You and Shi Jing Yun dared to invade our sect and slaughter so many of our members, and you think we wouldn't have the guts to hurt him? These people really should get their heads checked. Their arrogance was beyond the roof!

"Every single one of you, stop and withdraw immediately!" Guang Song Lin shouted, repeating Jiu Liu Yu's order and knocking their subordinates out of their stunned stupor.

The two Valley Sects martial artists, who had almost cornered Elder Zhao and his group, spun around and jumped down from the fortress walls. Well, actually, Elder Zhao and the Blood Blades stationed there could hold out for a bit longer, considering that they still had plenty of battle puppets standing at attention, mowing down the invaders like grass on a lawn. Nonetheless, it was true that the enemy had the advantage, but now they were readily surrendering it at the single order from their commanders. Hah!

They returned to stand at attention by Jiu Liu Yu and Guang Song Lin's sides, watching the gate intensely.

At another gate, Cloud Sky Mountain's martial artists were fighting alongside Kun Lun Sect under Ji Liu's command.

Ji Liu, Wu Tuo and Fu Chang were known as the Three Stones of Cloud Sky Mountain, but honestly, they were going to just show up for this arc and disappear later as minor characters so you don't have to bother remembering their names. All you need to know was that they had high statuses and were recognized as very powerful. As the three guardians of Cloud Sky Mountain, their rank and power were just beneath that of their sect leader. Each of them led their own individual forces or private armies.

The Three Stones maintained a very cordial and brotherly relationship. They often hung out together, and despite not being biological brothers, they were closer to each other than even blood brothers.

Right now, the handsome Ji Liu was drinking wine from his flask and orderig his subordinates to hurry it up.

"Come on, you brats! Hurry up and conquer Tushan City quickly! Otherwise I won't be able to drink with Wu Tuo!"

"If Cloud Sky Mountain continues sto attack Tushan City, then you may only be able to drink wine with Wu Tuo's corpse." This time, it was Cheng Ping who appeared over the walls. He threw down Wu Tuo's left arm and yelled loudly. "If Cloud Sky Mountain continues to attack Tushan City, then for every hour, we'll cut off one of Wu Tuo's limbs! The next will be his right arm, then his legs, and if you continue to ignore our warning, we'll deliver you his head!"

Ji Liu's handsome face immediately distorted in fury and hatred. "How dare you harm Wu Tuo?!" he roared.

"How dare you attack our city and slaughter our members?" Cheng Ping retorted icily. "You have an hour. Remember, if you continue to attack, then I'll be bringing you Wu Tuo's right arm." Without waiting for another response, Cheng Ping turned around and left.

"Lord, what do we do?" one of Ji Liu's subordinates asked timidly.

Ji Liu turned on them, his expression monstrous. "Fucking brats! What do you think we should do?! Get down from the walls right now, all of you! If anyone dares to continue attacking, then I'll slaughter him with my own hands!"

None of his subordinates had the courage to challenge him or talk back when he was in such a foul mood, and they hurriedly obeyed, every single one of them jumping down from the walls and abandoning the assault.

"Old Wu, once the other gates have been breached, and you're safe, I will cut the heads off the people who harmed you and avenge you!" Ji Liu swore ferociously.

The northern gate was similarly battered by martial artists from the Snow Valley Sect.

This time, it was a beautiful woman who was leading them in the siege of the city gate and fortress walls.

She was Feng Ling, the wife of Snow Valley Sect leader. She maintained a good relationship with Su Bai Xue, the wife of her brother-in-law, and the two were as close as sisters. They often looked out for each other. They often looked out for each other.

As such, one of the subordinates couldn't help but ask Feng Ling.

"Um, will Second Lady be all right?"

"Don't worry," Feng Ling assured him. "Ze Shou De is a coward. He wouldn't dare touch Bai Xue. He should know Husband's temperament very well. If he dares to touch even a hair on Bai Xue's head, then both Husband and Brother-in-law will definitely kill every single member in Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, including the blacksmiths. As long as Zi Shou De retains his sanity, there's no way he will act so recklessly."

As if on cue, Cheng Ping showed up and threw down Su Bai Xue's arm down the walls, which landed in front of the astonished Feng Ling.

"This is Su Bai Xue's left arm!" he announced coldly. "If Snow Valley Sect continues to attack the city, then Si Bai Xue will lose her right arm in the next hour! And her leg in the hour after that! Once she has lost all of her limbs, and you still refuse to listen, then we will deliver her head right to you!"

With that, he turned away and departed from the scene.

Feng Ling studied the disembodied arm in shock, the color draining from her face when she recognized the Spirit Rings and other accessories adorning it. "This is Bai Xue's arm!"

All her subordinates immediately felt a chill as Feng Ling's frosty qi wafted over them. But she calmed herself down and refrained from lashing out at the Blood Blades on the wall, who were more than holding their own with their battle puppets.

"Stop the attack for now!" Feng Ling shrieked furiously. "Every one of you, get your asses down here right now!" she then turned toward the subordinate who had questioned her earlier. "Make a call to main HQ, and inform Husband and Brother-in-law of this. Tell them one of Bai Xue's arms has been cut off! Tell them both to get their asses over here right now!"

"Yes, ma'am!" the subordinate quickly complied and scampered off before he could incur more of her wrath.

Watching from a distance after leaving the south gate where Dark Fiend Valley Sect had assaulted, I managed to just catch this scene. Personally, I knew that Snow Valley Sect had yet to bring their full forces to bear. Once the sect leader of Snow Valley Sect and his brother arrived, they would be bringing the true elites of Snow Valley Sect to utterly annihilate Nine-Tailed Fox Sect.

Well, that was within my calculations. All the more I should hurry up and complete the construction of my Sunburst Bombs.

While I hastened back toward my workshop, I tapped my comn bead. Forgetting that Tian Yu Di didn't have one, I tapped my head irritably as punishment and reached for the Golden Dragon Medallion in my pocket.

"Ancestral Master, are you done?"

"Yeah."

*

A few minutes ago, Lang Xie was having trouble with Xie Zhi Zhang. The latter had beaten up the former with his weird skills, his qi glowing in many colors as it crushed the pillars between them. Lang Xie evaded them as best as he could, but Xie Zhi Zhang was persistent. One of the lights cut the flesh on Lang Xie's cheek, but the vice-commander of the Blood Blades refused to flinch.

"You can't hold out much longer." Xie Zhi Zhang studied the wounded Lang Xie, who refused to give up. "You're no match for me."

Lang Xie remained quiet, but he responded with a ferocious slash with his sword, forcing Xie Zhi Zhang to retreat.

Frowning, Xie Zhi Zhang countered with a riposte that Lang Xie barely avoided, only for the blade qi to cut a deep wound in the latter's shoulder. Blood spurted and Lang Xie was sent spinning, staggering as he clutched his injury.

"It'll be a waste to kill you." Xie Zhi Zhang sighed. Then he smiled and beckoned with a hand. "If you are willing to surrender, the Xie Clan will be happy to recruit you."

The Xie Clan, while being one of the chief families that ruled over the Martial Arts Alliance, was a little different from the other two clans and their subordinate sects. While the others desired Hai Mo, the Xie Clan was hoping to obtain Lang Xie.

That was why Xie Zhi Zhang had attacked today, in order to recruit Lang Xie into the Xie family as a subordinate.

"You can take that invitation and shove it up your ass," Lang Xie replied coolly.

Xie Zhi Zhang's eyes lost all friendliness. "You're making a big mistake," he snarled.

"No..you are the ones who are making the mistake."

"Hah!" Xie Zhi Zhang dismissed Lang Xie's words as those of a man who was being defiant to the very last. "You won't live much longer to regret it anyway.."

He never finished his sentence. The next thing he knew, Tian Yu Di descended behind him.

"?!"

Xie Zhi Zhang instantly twirled around, lashing out with his sword.

"Hah! Such a poor quality weapon..to think you sought to invade this sect with rubbish?"

Tian Yu Di caught the weapon with his bare hand. Xie Zhi Zhang's eyes bulged in shock. He had infused the blade with so much qi that he could probably cut apart a ten-inch thick steel wall with it, yet this old man had stopped his sword with his bare hand and remained unscathed?

The ground beneath Tian Yu Di's feet cracked, but my Ancestral Master remained standing in a stable manner. As if he looked almost bored, he wrapped his fingers around the blade and twisted them.

Crack.

In just one motion, he snapped the sword in half.

"Impossible?!"

Xie Zhi Zhang jumped back as far as possible. His Spirit Sword had been forged by Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, ironically enough, and was supposed to be high quality and extremely durable. Yet this man had broken it with his bare hand?

"Who are you?!"

"You don't need to know," Tian Yu Di replied with a chuckle. He suddenly disappeared from view and appeared in front of a perspiring Xie Zhi Zhang before the latter noticed his movements.

"Eh?"

"I would have killed you, but Sect Leader wants you alive. Perhaps you'll be useful as a hostage to negotiate with the Martial Arts Alliance."

Cackling, he flicked Xie Zhi Zhang's forehead with a finger. The ground behind Xie Zhi Zhang splintered with a roar, and the Xie Clan expert dropped like a rock, his eyes lolling in their sockets and leaking blood.

"You.." Lang Xie began. Tian Yu Di merely turned back to him.

"Don't worry. I just knocked him out. Right. Sect Leader says to inform you to go to the plaza to meet with all the higher-ups of the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect. They probably want your opinion on how to use the hostages."

"..I'll go right away." Lang Xie sighed and took off immediately.

Meanwhile Tian Yu Di paused and listened to the Golden Dragon Medallion.

"I've captured Xie Zhi Zhang as you've requested. Should I bring him over to the plaza too?"

"Not yet." On the other end, I was frowning. As this was a few minutes ago, before Lang Xie arrived on the plaza, I was still there with Sect Leader Zi Shou De and the rest. Glancing at the three hostages, I thought for a moment. "Bring him someplace else secure. I don't want Shi Jing Yun, Wu Tuo and Su Bai Xue to see this fella. At least not yet."

It was best not to let the enemies know we had taken Xie Zhi Zhang hostage. At least not yet. I wanted the Xie Clan to show themselves first. After Lang Xie had killed Tu Xi, I doubted the subordinate sects cared about the experts from the three ruling clans of the Martial Arts Alliance. They would be more worried about their own people, and I wanted them to focus on that instead of being hit by too much shock that it lost its effectiveness.

Knowledge was power, information could be used as a weapon. Unleashed at the right time, the news of Xie Zhi Zhang being captured as our hostage could be used to utterly destroy the morale of the invading forces.

Or it could be used as a trump card to bargain with the Xie Clan when they inevitably arrived here in all their blissful ignorance. If they learned this early, before they arrived in force, then they would be able to make their preparations.

I would rather not give them so much time to make preparations and organize a rescue mission for Xie Zhi Zhang.

Fortunately, at that time, I was hanging behind the inner sect elders and everyone, so none of them noticed my presence. A great benefit of keeping a low profile instead of hogging the limelight like every protagonist did. I wondered if I should share the knowledge, but with Shi Jing Yun, Wu Tuo and Su Bai Xue present, I didn't want to give anything away.

A few minutes later, Lang Xie arrived, and you probably know the rest of the story.

And thus we returned to the present.

After taking note of the reactions of the various sects, and taking comfort in the fact that we had bought ourselves a temporary reprieve with Lang Xie's bold strategy, I hurried toward my workshop. Already I saw a bunch of inner sect disciples gathered around it, led around by Tang Qi Hong and Lian Rou.

"Hey, guys!"

"Fei Wu! You're back!" Tang Qi Hong waved at me and smiled. "We were just transporting the Spirit Materials you need for the Sunburst!"

That made sense. Having helped me forge it, Tang Qi Hong was very familiar with the Spirit Materials and ingredients we needed, as well as the method.

"I wanted to get started right away, but you said you had a few plans for modifications? That you want to increase its firepower?"

"That's right!" I nodded, rolling up my sleeves and stepping into my workshop. As expected of Tang Qi Hong, she had already set everything up. All the Spirit Materials were organized neatly into piles, with the relevant tools laid out beside them.

"I'm going to need your help to build them again. Do you mind?"

"Of course not!" Tang Qi Hong chided me. "This is for protecting the sect! I'll definitely do my part!"

"As will we!" Lian Rou added, representing the fervently nodding inner sect disciples. "Let us know if you need anything else!"

"Will do!" I bowed gratefully, and then turned to confront the massive task in front of me. Picking up a pure spirit ore, I took a deep breath. "We don't have much time before the sects attack again, so let's get started immediately!"