Wayfarer

Chapter 746: You Omen of Calamity

Zhao Yuanjiao's army of Taiqing disciples reached Bingxian. The Immortal city's gates were tightly shut and its defensive formations activated; it was ready for a siege.

Zhao Yuanjiao suddenly narrowed his eyes. "Li Qianjun!"

Above the city walls, Li Qianjun appeared bearing the Taiqing burial pagoda.

"Zhao Yuanjiao, you're nothing but a whelp. Do you really think you can take me on?"

Li Qianjun's voice was loud and bright. It echoed like thunder and bore the intensity of lightning. A wave of pressure emanated from him, causing Zhao Yuanjiao's army to quail.

"Li Qianjun, do you hear that? Someone's calling your name," Zhao Yuanjiao retorted.

"Oh? Who?" Li Qianjun smirked.

"The Taiqing elders and ancestors you killed—your senior brothers, uncles, masters, nephews. All of them are hovering around you, seeking vengeance for their lives!" Zhao Yuanjiao roared.

"Li Qianjun, return my life to me!" the Taiqing army roared.

Li Qianjun visibly shuddered. A wave of cold air surged up his body from his feet.

Li Qianjun shook his head and shouted, "Zhao Yuanjiao, your father wanted to join me, but I refused him for his lack of talent and spared your life. Even so, you dare turn against me? Come at me if you want the Taiqing Immortal Sect to die for good. None of you will survive the day!"

"Don't worry about us just yet. There's another debt you have to repay first," Zhao Yuanjiao said coolly.

From within the army's ranks, a youth walked out—none other than the Demon Child.

With his demon-subduing golden hoop in hand, the Demon Child glared at his erstwhile father with killing intent. "Traitor, you've insulted and hurt my mother for many years. Today, I'll claim your head to avenge her!"

The Demon Child soared into the air as he tossed out his golden hoop. The hoop split up into thousands, tens of thousands of copies, all of which fell toward Bingxian in a meteor shower.

The defensive formations around Bingxian quaked.

Li Qianjun narrowed his eyes. "Die, wayward son!"

With a wave of his hand, the Taiqing burial pagoda soared into the air and grew in size until it was as large as a small mountain. It attempted to suck in all the copies of the golden hoop.

"Dream on!" the Demon Child shouted. He threw a punch into the air, forcing the Taiqing burial pagoda to sputter as the suction abruptly stopped.

Li Qianjun strode forward and punched at the Demon Child in an explosion of fire and wind.

Many of the disciples blanched. "Li Qianjun's a Boundless Immortal now?!"

"Do you know what a wench your mother was? She did everything I told her to. When I beat her, she was glad to have my affection! Not only that, she even gave birth to a lowly mutant like you," Li Qianjun taunted.

The Demon Child immediately flared with rage. "I'll kill you!"

The fighting between the two Boundless Immortals grew more and more intense.

Afar, quite a few disciples began to frown. "Li Qianjun's deliberately trying to antagonize the Demon Child. With the support of the Taiqing burial pagoda and the Demon Child's single-minded attacks, Li Qianjun will quickly gain the upper hand."

"Ye Dafu, lead your troop forward to assist the Demon Child!" Zhao Yuanjiao commanded.

"Understood!" Ye Dafu replied.

The twelve golden cultivators shot into the air to stall Li Qianjun.

"Do you really think a group of Golden Immortals will suffice to stop me?" Li Qianjun demanded.

He sent the golden cultivators flying one after another, giving the Demon Child an opening to strike.

"Demon Child, we'll stall Li Qianjun for the time being. Destroy his Taiqing burial pagoda for now!" Ye Dafu shouted.

By then, however, the Demon Child was in a fit of rage. He attacked Li Qianjun madly, without the presence of mind to do anything else.

Above the walls of Bingxian were another group of cultivators, among them Tu Siniang, Tang Zhengqi, and one of the saint's four zombie king avatars.

"Li Qianjun's rather overconfident, isn't he? I warned him to slowly draw out the enemy, but he rushed right ahead only to be stopped by the enemy forces." Tang tutted.

"Silence! It's not your place to comment," Tu Siniang hissed.

"And why not? Don't you think it's appropriate for me to point out errors in the chain of command?" Tang retorted.

"Continue, Tang," the saint's avatar said.

When the saint interceded, Tu Siniang could only clamp her mouth shut with an air of great reluctance.

Tang took a deep breath. "Your Eminence, the goal of this battle is to help you scope out Xiao Nanfeng's strength. In principle, we ought to proceed in waves, drawing out the enemy's trump cards one after another. Li Qianjun, the maniac, jumped in straight from the start. How can we get a sense of Xiao Nanfeng's strength now? He's ruined the plan entirely and forced you into passivity, Your Eminence!"

Tu Siniang thundered, "Tang Zhengqi, the saint is asking you about the battle. It's not a free pass to criticize anyone you want!"

"My criticism is directly tied to the battle before us. You've created a mess for His Eminence to fix," Tang declared. "You're all up to no good!"

"Insolence!" Tu Siniang cried out.

The saint, however, was very satisfied with how thoughtful Tang was being. "Tang Zhengqi, what do you suggest?"

"Your Eminence, I believe we ought to head to a different battlefield. They've already made a mess of this one. A Boundless Immortal has already appeared from the enemy ranks; a second may well appear. Rather than take the risk, Your Eminence, we should head to one of the other cities. Li Qianjun instigated this attack: let him reap what he sows."

Tu Siniang roared, "Tang Zhengqi, do you want to die?!"

"Am I mistaken, Madam Tu? Why should His Eminence have to deal with your problems? You're only adding to his burdens!" Tang roared back.

"Silence!" Tu Siniang hissed. She turned to the saint's avatar. "Saint, my husband is simply probing at our enemies' defenses. At the very least, he managed to lure out a Boundless Immortal on the enemy side. If you were to attack, we would swiftly gain control of the situation."

"And how do you intend for me to strike?" the saint asked.

"Zhao Yuanjiao leads the enemy army. As long as we can take him down, this army will be done for."

"How dare you command His Eminence! Can't you send troops to deal with Zhao Yuanjiao yourself?" Tang exclaimed.

"Saint, Zhao Yuanjiao is being guarded by Golden Immortals. If we send our troops forward, he'll only hide behind his guards. Only with your aid can we take him down immediately with the element of surprise. Once we catch him, the enemy army is done for. Whatever their trump cards are will quickly be revealed."

"Your Eminence, you can't listen to her!" Tang knelt down and begged. "She's trying to trick you!"

"Saint, this is the fastest means of winning this battle!" Tu Siniang insisted.

The saint eyed the two cultivators. Though Tang Zhengqi was a good bootlicker, he believed that Tu Siniang was the more loyal. Tu Siniang was his pawn, after all, and would never hurt him. She wasn't wrong, either. Dealing with the enemy commander would quickly end this battle. Why drag things out?

As for Tang Zhengqi, though he seemed loyal to a fault, perhaps he wasn't a particularly good strategist.

"I shall do so once and once only," the saint declared coldly.

"Of course! Thank you, honored Saint!" Tu Siniang exclaimed.

"How dare you disturb His Eminence!" Tang fumed. "I won't spare you!"

The saint ignored the two cultivators' petty squabbles as he eyed Zhao Yuanjiao, who was watching the fight unfold. He smirked and leapt straight toward him in a beam of light.

"Protect the commander!" some cultivators suddenly cried out.

Zhao Yuanjiao immediately drew his sword and stepped back in an attempt to avoid the sudden blow, but the figure had shot toward him far too quickly.

"A Boundless Immortal?!"

"Be careful, Commander!"

The figure flashed right up to Zhao Yuanjiao, whose sword suddenly emitted with blinding light. A frightening attack infused within the sword immediately activated.

"A heart sword?!" the figure yelled out, startled.

However, the figure was simply too close to Zhao Yuanjiao to dodge the attack. The glowing slash cleaved the figure in two, then continued all the way into the heavens.

The purple sword in Zhao Yuanjiao's hands, already cracked, shattered after releasing the second of the stored techniques within it.

The soldiers formed ranks around their commander, Zhao Yuanjiao.

The moment the zombie king had been cleaved apart, a blood-red pillar of light formed between heaven and earth for the barest moment before it vanished. The slash had bisected the zombie king vertically, and the two halves of its body stood immobile before Zhao Yuanjiao.

"Seal this body!" Zhao Yuanjiao commanded.

A group of Taiqing disciples separately stored the two halves of the zombie king's body in two different relics after placing countless seals on them both.

Only then did Zhao Yuanjiao exhale in relief. "If Nanfeng hadn't handed me the heart sword, all of us would have died today..."

He shook his head. There was more work to be done just yet. "Everyone, take down the city!"

"Understood!" shouted countless soldiers and Taiqing disciples .

Afar, Tang Zhengqi cried out in pain as he witnessed the saint's avatar being bisected. "Your Eminence! It's all their fault!"

Then, he turned toward Tu Siniang. "You omen of calamity! You were the one who cursed His Eminence to death. He won't forgive you for this!"

Then, Tang fled from Bingxian.

Alone above the city walls, Tu Siniang was stunned. She still hadn't recovered from the shock of what had happened. "How could this be? It's not my fault. What do I do now?!"

"Die!" the invaders shouted. They charged toward the city.