Chapter 73 - Before the Storm
The wind-drawn carriage descended slowly through the jagged stone canyons, its simple wooden frame swaying slightly. Lent by the transport department of Spirit Beast Peak, the vehicle was far smaller than the Tempest Roc carriage Su Ming had arrived in, but it was light, maneuverable, and fast.
Inside the carriage, the atmosphere was quiet but focused. Su Ming sat at the head with his eyes closed, his breathing rhythmic. Beside him sat Lin Yao and Wang Tian, whose dark-steel blade was held tight, quietly settling into his new Foundation Establishment cultivation.
Opposite them sat Elder Han Chen, the Peak Master of Green Pine Peak, along with his personal disciples. Li Ye, a quiet young man with a long sword at his waist, and Zhuo Ying, an alert young woman with curious eyes.
Next to them sat Qing Luan from Azure Bamboo Peak, who had met Lin Yao on the staging ground outside the command tent. The two had quickly bonded over the close relationship of their peaks, whispering of the quiet ties between Azure Bamboo and White Lotus, and how Su Ming himself was close to Elder Qingya.
Su Ming had not minded adding the young woman from Azure Bamboo Peak to their carriage. Elder Qingya was his late master’s former dao companion, a cold but maternal figure who had quietly shielded White Lotus Peak during its darkest times.
Furthermore, because of this, Su Ming and Qing Luan were technically of the same generation, despite their current difference in standing as a Peak Master and a Disciple. Beyond that historical debt, this "Senior Sister" of Su Ming was quiet, sensible, and focused on her cultivation, lacking the arrogant posturing common among the disciples. Welcoming her into their small group was a natural choice, and a quiet way of returning a portion of the favor Su Ming owed to her master.
Trailing in a second carriage behind them was the Frost River Sect group, led by their Golden Core elder, Elder Xue, and a dozen inner disciples in deep blue robes.
"General Lu Zhen is a difficult man," Elder Han Chen noted, looking out at the dry draft. "He has commanded the Qi border fortress for forty years. He is a Stage 4 body cultivator. He has little patience for administration work. To him, unless a cultivator can hold a front, they are merely guests taking his resources."
Su Ming remained silent, keeping his breathing rhythmic. ’A body cultivator who has reached Marrow Inversion requires immense physical will. It is no wonder he lacks patience for the softer disciples of the inner peaks.’
"We are here," Qing Luan murmured, looking out the window.
The carriage broke through the low-hanging grey clouds to reveal the Qi border fortress. A massive stone wall, fifty feet high and twice as thick, bridged the narrow canyon gap, anchored by heavy iron braces bolted directly into the stone. On the battlements, defensive elders from Black Tortoise Peak and disciples from the Frost River Sect were already active. They stood at key array nodes, channeling their earth and water Qi to raise a massive, shimmering barrier of ice and runes to seal the canyon gaps.
Upon landing, they were met by General Lu Zhen. He walked with a heavy stride, dressed in scarred iron-and-leather armor that had seen decades of combat, carrying a heavy silver spear. He possessed no spiritual Qi, yet his body radiated a dense, beast-like physical pressure.
Lu Zhen stepped forward, his sharp, weathered eyes lingering once more on Su Ming’s youthful face. Even after the war council, the general still found it hard to believe a Peak Master could be so young. A subtle tightness formed around his jaw.
’A peak master barely past twenty,’ Lu Zhen thought, his hand tightening on his spear. He had seen too many high-status cultivators who spent centuries playing with herbs and ink in their mist-shrouded halls, only to freeze when they faced actual mud and blood. He expected this young elder to demand a grand command tent, warm meals, and hours of polite greetings before even looking at the defensive lines. Meanwhile, the garrison was dying on the stone.
"Elder Su. Elder Han," Lu Zhen said, offering a stiff salute. Behind him stood his two Stage 3 Bone Forging lieutenants, commanding a garrison of five thousand mortal soldiers. "The command tent is prepared in the lower fort. If you wish to rest—"
"Skip the tent," Su Ming interrupted, his voice calm and direct. "We will head straight to the battle fronts. Show me the scouting reports and the troop distribution along the defence barrier."
Lu Zhen paused, his spear tip lowering. He searched Su Ming’s relaxed face for any sarcasm or mock humility, but found only quiet pragmatism.
’No grand quarters? No request for tea?’ Lu Zhen’s brow twitched. He exchanged a quick glance with Elder Han Chen, who offered a knowing smile. "This way," the general said, his tone turning businesslike as he led them up the stone steps.
Atop the wall, the vast expanse of the southern wilderness stretched out a wasteland of barren gorges and jagged stone. Below them, the five thousand mortal soldiers, mostly Stage 1 and Stage 2 body cultivators, stood in tight shield-and-spear blocks, acting as a final physical backstop to catch and hold any beasts that managed to bypass the cultivators.
"This chaotic energy has driven the beasts mad," Lu Zhen explained, pointing his silver spear toward the ridges. "The scouts report a heavy movement down the eastern canyon. We have reinforced the lower gate with my two lieutenants, but it will not hold without your support."
"The Black Tortoise Peak’s array is stable, and the Frost River Sect is reinforcing the nodes," Elder Han Chen assured him.
Before Lu Zhen could reply, a heavy tolling echoed from the watchtower.
*Clang! Clang! Clang!*
"The vanguard wave is coming!" a sentry yelled.
Down the canyon, a thick cloud of red dust rose. The ground vibrated, a low rumble shaking the stone battlements. Thousands of demonic beasts, tailed hounds, rock-hides, and iron-clawed apes—charged down the gorge in a foaming mass, their eyes glowing with red.
"Shield walls!" Lu Zhen roared, his voice cutting through the rising thunder of the stampede. "Archers, prepare to shoot!"
Su Ming turned to Elder Han. "Elder Han, let us take the vanguard ourselves. We will deploy at the very front to blunt their momentum."
Elder Han’s eyes flickered with surprise, but he quickly nodded. "Very well."
With a sudden surge of Qi, both Su Ming and Elder Han Chen rose into the air, flying over the battlements to hover high above the absolute front line, with Su Ming taking the absolute lead in the sky.
"The disciples and vassal elders will hold the battlements and the gates!" Su Ming commanded from the air. "Do not let any stray beasts pass!"
On the battlements and gates, the disciples stepped forward. Wang Tian stood fully charged, his dark-steel blade humming. Beside him, Lin Yao’s hands moved in rapid gestures, her Nether Flames fully charged and pulsing within her sword, a dark fire glowing in her eyes. Qing Luan extended her hands, her wood-element spells ready, while Li Ye and Zhuo Ying began channeling their spiritual energy for a combined spell, Li Ye keeping his hand resting on his small sword, ready to intercept any stray beast that broke past.
Behind them stood a dozen disciples of the vassal sects, mostly from the Frost River Sect and the Iron Sword Sect. Dressed in their respective blue and grey robes, they drew their weapons with tense, trembling hands. Though they had faced minor beasts before, the sheer scale of the approaching vanguard was enough to make their breathing ragged. However, seeing the steady postures of the Heavenly Cloud Sect’s personal disciples, especially Wang Tian’s unyielding stance and Lin Yao’s quiet, dark flames, the vassal disciples swallowed their fear, channeling their own Qi to reinforce their weapons.
Below, the five thousand mortal soldiers locked their iron shields with a metallic crash, their spears thrusting forward to form a physical wall behind the gate, while the two lieutenants stood ready at the center.
The vanguard of the stampede slammed into the outer runic arrays, their claws tearing at the shimmering ice barrier of the Wall of Qi.
But then, the ground began to shake with a force ten times greater than before.
*BOOM!*
A deafening, world-shaking roar echoed from the deep canyons, cracking the granite battlements. The red dust cloud on the horizon swelled, rising like a colossal storm of dry earth and sand that swallowed the sky, blocking out the sun and plunging the gorge into a dark, blood-red twilight.
Through the red gloom, the true, massive beast tide appeared—a rolling mountain of flesh, claw, and bone stretching as far as the eye could see. Thousands of agitating beasts stampeded down the canyon in a dense, suffocating mass. The sheer volume of their collective roars was a physical wall of sound that forced the weaker mortal soldiers to lock their teeth to keep their jaws from shaking.
Flying in the air at the absolute front line, Su Ming’s robes whipped violently in the rising wind. His expression remained calm, his Void Dragon Soul stirring in his dantian as he prepared his first move. Beside him, Elder Han’s face went serious, his heavy, yellow earth Qi flaring to its absolute peak.
The massive, endless tide surged forward, the vanguard beasts leaping into the air, clawing at the shimmering defensive formation as the two forces were on the absolute brink of a world-shaking collision.