Suppressing the North and Manifesting Might: Chapter 115 - The Siege (Part IV)

After two volleys of arrows, the entire army finally crossed the first perilous stretch of the battlefield, emerging unscathed.

Li Qiutong raised his battle staff, pointing toward the towering city walls, as if daring to challenge the renowned might of the Northern Martial Realm.

Though Li Qiutong could not see the soldiers atop the walls, those defenders clearly perceived his provocation. An officer immediately snapped in anger, “Release the rolling stones from above and crush them!”

No sooner had he spoken than a sudden burst of firelight caught his eye, and in astonishment, he realized it was a hail of arrows.

Li Qiutong’s gaze fixed on the flickering flames atop the walls. The city fortifications housed four command chambers, arranged from bottom to top. The lower three controlled distinct mechanisms, while the highest chamber commanded all the defenses and was the strongest hold.

“That’s the first volley, right?” Li Qiutong asked Zhu Yan’er behind him.

“Exactly. There won’t be another arrow volley for a while,” she confirmed.

“Good. Change formation—prepare to counter the rolling stones.”

No sooner had Li Qiutong spoken than the ground trembled as a dozen massive boulders hurtled down from above.

Instantly, the entire army altered its formation. Li Qiutong led the charge at the front. The soldiers behind swiftly split into pairs of ten, forming overlapping fish-scale formations, staggered with deliberate gaps left between them to let the rolling stones pass.

The boulders crashed into the foremost units. The soldiers raised their shields to block the stones, but the sheer mass and momentum of the rocks struck them like solid concrete walls. With the men spread out, their martial energy failed to connect, making it difficult to hold their shields steady. Under the crushing weight, the shields began to tilt backward.

However, nearby soldiers rushed forward to assist, collectively pushing against the stones. With the combined strength of more than ten men, they managed to hold firm and then redirect the boulders backward.

The stones bounced among the fish-scale formations, gradually rolling backward. Still, their force exceeded initial expectations. Some squads barely held the stones at bay, while weaker soldiers showed signs of fatigue.

The defending troops atop the walls sneered at the sight of their formation. Using fish-scale formations against rolling stones was clever, but only effective against ordinary stones. The boulders here were not man-driven; they came in rapid succession. Most armies would falter after two waves.

“I bet half of them will perish in the next wave,” one mocked.

“More than half, I’d say. Anyone daring to challenge the Northern Martial Realm must be reckless,” another scoffed.

While they chatted, Li Qiutong finally unleashed his power. His dark Xuanwu martial energy burst forth. The sheer strength of his martial prowess at the peak of the martial path astonished even Lin Xuan and the others behind him. Even when Lin Xuan had led the Vanguard Camp in full force, their power paled in comparison to Li Qiutong alone.

“Commander Lin, with my power, can we connect the martial energy of all the soldiers?” Li Qiutong asked.

Lin Xuan pondered, “It should be possible, but using the military martial formation now—”

“Don’t hesitate. The soldiers behind can’t hold much longer.”

“Very well, General Li. You channel your martial energy to everyone; I’ll connect their energies.”

“Agreed.” Li Qiutong poured all his martial energy into the soldiers behind.

“Northern Army Camp, military martial coalescence!”

Originally, his martial energy alone couldn’t connect everyone scattered so widely. But Lin Xuan used Li Qiutong’s energy as a bridge, transmitting his own martial energy to each soldier.

Instantly, the dark martial energies linked into a network. The soldiers felt relief and no longer scrambled helplessly against the incoming boulders. Shield pushes and angled parries flowed seamlessly. From above, the rolling stones bounced between the black scales but caused little disruption.

Two waves passed. The third was imminent, but Li Qiutong no longer wished to wait. Raising his staff, a streak of red light burst forth.

“Commander Zhu, activate Vermilion Bird coalescence—channel all your power to me,” Li Qiutong commanded.

Without hesitation, Zhu Yan’er followed suit, using Li Qiutong’s Vermilion Bird martial energy as a conduit to connect all the Southern Army Camp’s energies.

Flames of red ignited within the black scales. Then, fiery Vermilion Bird energy soared upward, descending upon Li Qiutong. This time, he truly felt the formidable strength of the military martial formation. His Vermilion Bird energy instantly multiplied dozens of times, continuously flowing into his body.

No matter how strong, military martial formations usually capped the density of martial energy at the four-star Saint Warrior level, due to natural limits of the world. But when this force reached a peak martial artist, the power expanded boundlessly, without ceiling. Only those who had experienced it firsthand knew this truth. Before Li Qiutong, only one man had combined peak martial prowess with the military martial formation.

Now, Li Qiutong was the second to do so.

With his staff pointing forward, a blazing fireball erupted into the air.

“Vermilion Bird’s Flight, incinerate the world!”

The blazing sphere unfurled radiant wings, scattering dazzling flames. The proud and beautiful head of the Vermilion Bird rose high, majestic as a divine beast.

Flames danced along Li Qiutong’s Yin-Yang Dragon Pattern staff. Lowering his stance, he swung in a sweeping arc. The explosive fire formed a magnificent curve, charging toward the final wave of rolling stones.

Amid the deafening explosions, Li Qiutong leapt onto the Vermilion Bird’s back, soaring upward. Amid the smoke and dust, the boulders turned to charred ashes.

“How is this possible? Over fifty boulders reduced to charcoal in an instant—how strong is that man?” the defenders atop the walls stared in shock.

Li Qiutong gave them no time to ponder. Riding the fiery wings, he ascended swiftly to the boulder control chamber.

“Surrender—no killings,” he commanded.

Facing the imposing flame war god and recalling the crushing blow moments before, the soldiers knelt without resistance.

“Sir, we surrender—please spare us!”

“Don’t kill us!”

Li Qiutong sighed helplessly and looked downward.

“Bi Luo and the others should be nearly done—why is there no sign of movement?” Deep in thought, he suddenly sensed a terrifying presence fixated on him.

Looking up, he saw a pinpoint rapidly approaching.

“That must be the Godslayer Crossbow they mentioned,” Li Qiutong tensed, alert twelvefold.

The bolt’s speed far exceeded his expectations. Moments ago it was over a hundred meters away; in an instant, it was mere meters from him. His staff barely raised when the bolt was before him.

With the power to burn all, Li Qiutong struck the crossbow bolt with his Yin-Yang Dragon patterned staff. The blow barely deflected it, and the devastating force whizzed past him.

Still reeling, he realized that if the arrow had struck him, he would have suffered grievous injury.

Before he could react further, the sensation returned. Li Qiutong instinctively swung his staff again, but having relaxed moments before, his energy was drained; his strength was insufficient.

“Qiutong, do you need our help?” a gentle female voice echoed in his mind.

“I’m fine. I can hold it,” he replied.

“Don’t be so confident. That thing packs a punch,” a deep male voice added.

As they spoke, a jade-green crescent flashed through the air, slicing the crossbow bolt clean in half. The green light surged forward, leaving a conspicuous slash on the wall.

Li Qiutong turned to see none other than General Guan Yu standing there. He wore deep green inner armor beneath his long robe; his long beard brushed his chest. His Green Dragon Crescent Blade seemed alive with fierce energy, exuding undeniable dominance. Beneath his feet, the Green Dragon coalesced, breathing softly with powerful presence.

“General Guan Yu, thank you,” Li Qiutong said gratefully.

Guan Yu did not reply but swung his blade again. Another crescent-shaped strike soared upward, severing a second Godslayer Crossbow bolt.

“General Li, we should descend. It’s too close for the crossbow bolts; we can’t dodge them well up here,” Guan Yu advised.

“Agreed.”

Together, they manipulated their military martial forms and descended into the formation below, eyes fixed upward. With the distance widened, Li Qiutong now had time to contend with the Godslayer Crossbows’ deadly power.

Had Guan Yu not intervened earlier, Li Qiutong might not have been able to block the terrifying triple shot.

“General Li, what now? If we fly too high, we can’t deal with those crossbow bolts.”

Li Qiutong was puzzled as well. Their original plan had Bi Luo and the others opening the city gate, yet it remained firmly shut, showing no sign of movement.

Moreover, arrow volleys and rolling stones would soon resume, leaving little time for thought.

“We can’t wait for them any longer. General Guan, channel all the Green Dragon’s martial energy to me.”

“What do you intend?” Guan Yu asked.

Li Qiutong looked up at the seemingly endless city walls and said grimly, “Break through the wall directly from above.”

“But if the arrows hit—” Guan Yu began to protest.

Suddenly, a voice echoed from within his blade: “Yunchang, give it to him.”

Li Qiutong stared in disbelief at Guan Yu’s blade. “Your sword can speak?”

The Green Dragon within replied, “Of course. This is one of the Four Sacred Divine Weapons, just like your Yin-Yang Dragon Pattern Staff.”

“And you are?”

“I am the Eastern Green Dragon. Pleased to meet you, Disciple of Wuji.”

At the mention of Wuji, Li Qiutong’s expression shifted. “You know my master?”

All this time, Li Qiutong had never told anyone about meeting Master Wuji in his dreams, nor revealed his master’s name.

“Of course. He and I are old friends. But time is urgent now; I shall explain later.”

“Yes, General Guan, channel the power of your military formation to me.”

With the Green Dragon’s words, Guan Yu no longer hesitated and poured all his jade-green martial energy into Li Qiutong’s body.