Bab 79: Chapter 79 - Rank two match-ups.
"Retreat behind the second blockade! Organized retreat! Organized!" A stern voice shouted from behind the enemy formation.
Xin was anxious about Lei getting shot by the few remnant soldiers on the right side of the wall, but his friend used the prisoner as a human shield and retreated. Good.
The young hunter scanned the battlefield again. For some reason, Rui Ming decided to jump up the left wall, and had already sliced two rank one masters like apples. He's so exposed down there, should I help him?
Xin decided to gamble and spend a few more moments looking around to gauge the situation. Two hundred steps above the battlefield, Master Xiaodan was throwing sharp rocks at the orange glowing monk, who was circling around him. Elemental Overseer Ting was moving closer to them, escorted by several rank one masters, including Murong Zhan.
Master Xiaodan is vulnerable to being attacked by a rank three, will anyone take the opportunity? Thoughts flashed rapidly in Xin's head as he ran towards the left wall. It was a position where he wouldn't get shot, as his own soldiers would shield him from the right, and the left side had no crossbowmen left.
"Argh!" Yao Nang smashed a guandao polearm into a white robed disciple's head, slicing it in half. She switched her choice of weapons after seeing how practical Xin's polearm was in combat. "Push inside! Push inside!"
She was younger and less experienced than most people here, but her physical prowess gave her enough presence to command the squad, despite not holding a formal rank. Xin noticed that his side was taking losses in melee. In terms of martial arts, Fist sect was rated higher than his own, so it made sense that their mortal cultivators would have an edge. But our qi active mortals have an elemental foundation, and some, like me, use dao shards! This can turn the tide!
"Accept my duel, or you'll be shot at from all sides!" A bald monk with two kama sickle weapons challenged Rui Ming. These sickles were made of the Divine Sword sect's meteoritic iron.
"They can try. The rules won't protect them once they do." The Windsplitter swiped the air and launched a cutting current towards his opponent.
Windstrider! He rode the wind and charged with an overhead swing, but stayed far enough to keep his reach advantage. The enemy deflected, his weapons crossed, and unleashed a flurry of slashes at Rui Ming, aiming to close the distance. Suddenly, he jumped back and glanced to the side.
He heard a sound nearby, but there was no one there! Even the crossbowmen were busy on the right side! Who made that sound, then? Rui Ming gave him no time to think, and slashed at his wrist with a wind qi infused attack. Luckily, his armor absorbed most of the damage.
A glowing arrow flew towards Rui Ming, but he deflected it with another wind current. The kama wielding opponent seized the opportunity and rushed him.
"Should I bail?", Rui Ming thought. I cut several people down already and my qi reserves are dwindling. This guy seems stronger than the two I killed, and I don't know his abilities. Rui Ming analysed calmly as he deflected the opponent's strikes, and dodged another arrow.
"Witness this!" The monk raised his kama weapons, and they started glowing along with his body. Rui Ming considered diving into him and using the remnants of his qi to finish him off before he unleashed whatever it was, but his instincts advised against it. Should just jump off!
Twang! Xin's crossbow launched a devastating attack of two paths, and the monk's neck was pierced from the side. Rui Ming seized the moment, sliced the opponent's hand off and stabbed him in the eye. He then dove under the palisade to avoid any ranged attacks coming his way.
Xin climbed up using wood qi, holding a crossbow in his arms, and a glaive in his teeth. He looked like an excited dog, showing off his long stick.
"Xin, what the fuck?" Rui Ming breathed heavily as he ate three spirit stones in one go, crossbow bolts whistling above his head.
"Wood path climbing. Problems?" Xin lied down near Rui Ming and reloaded, his armband was now glowing blue, as he attacked a rank one master unprovoked. "You have your answer now."
"What answer?" Rui Ming looked puzzled as he looked to the sides, scanning for potential attack angles. "Oh! I see!"
Is it better to have one overwhelming method, or many useful abilities? Xin used an opening created by his niche climbing ability to catch a higher ranked opponent off-guard and killed him mercilessly.
"Look, a bag of holding!" Xin quickly grabbed the monk's loot and put it into his pocket. The poor man released his bowels as he died, and there was a puddle of blood under him, getting on Xin's and Rui Ming's clothing.
"They are retreating from the gates! What do we do?" Windsplitter asked.
"It's a trap to bait us into overstretching! We should spread and advance with our ranged advantage! Our disciples are weaker in melee, we should play to our strengths! Flank control is key!"
***
Splash! Splash! The defensive formation was triggered two more times as the sword path master assaulted lady Ting, holding her and other masters in place, unable to leave. Since the rank one masters willingly stood in the way of his attacks, it wasn't considered a rule violation.
"Reinforce the others! Slaughter as many of them! I will endure!" Master Ting shouted. This opponent had a lot of smaller scale attacks, and trying to block them with the Torrential Rising method would be quite wasteful. She felt like the rank ones were holding her back.
Murong Zhan hesitated for a moment, but then ran away. He knew that his abilities could slaughter mortals in droves, and he was considering breaking the rules to give his side as much advantage as possible.
Ironically, at that exact moment, the sword path master considered killing Murong Zhan, but chose against it and let him leave. He then launched a swarm of a dozen spirit swords at master Ting. This attack was evenly spread, and despite not being very strong, it was energy effective and was hard to deflect using the Torrential formation. There were now a few cuts on lady Ting's hips and shoulders.
Healing bubble! Master Ting surrounded herself by a thin layer of glowing water, quickly mending her wounds. She wielded her enchanted jian sword, deflecting some ethereal swords away, but several more hit her. With each wound she mended, two took their place. The damage was adding up, and her personal qi reserves were getting drained. She felt that this master would soon swoop in for the kill, using that giant sword he manifested earlier to finish her.
Meanwhile, Xie Xiaodan was fighting the orange aura monk in melee, all while flying above the battlefield. He attached his rock to his foot, moving as if his body was a handle of a massive mallet, and kicked with it, spinning in the air, forcing the enemy master to block. This sent the monk twenty steps away.
The monk then mumbled a sutra under his nose and started slapping the air. Several ethereal palms have emerged, and slowly drifted towards master Xie Xiaodan. So far, master Xiaodan had an edge, but this changed things.
Curses. These will go through my armour, master Xiaodan thought. He disabled his rock and fell to the ground, landing safely with the aid from an earth path method. He took a quick glance at Yu Ting, and in just a few moments, he understood the severity of the situation.
Our rank two master is completely tied down, making our formation unusable. That means that our troops are free to slaughter, if they have any spare rank two masters willing to break the rules. That sword path master is just extraordinary! I could match him, but this monk is perfectly built to keep me away! He has strong defensive methods, and his physique and speed are enough to tie me down in combat. And there is always a risk of being sucker punched by a rank three, now that my immunity is gone. He felt like that black collar around his neck was suffocating him.
Is there any way of winning this? Yes, if master Zhi intervenes and uses his rare sun path methods! But then their rank three might also intervene, and we don't have the intel of which one it is.
There was some hope. If our land troops win the land fight, we can capture enough people to make them back down, giving us an edge!
Meanwhile, Xin jumped down the walls of Liao's homestead. The enemies were now defending twenty steps deeper, and were squeezed between the inn and one of the longhouses, having no line of sight on him. Rui Ming followed him down and used his technique to speed Xin up.
"You shouldn't have. Preserve some qi."
"It's clear to me that you'll be a key to this fight, brother. What next?" Rui Ming wasn't a prideful man, he long recognized Xin's competence and was willing to listen.
Xin raised his finger.
"Hush. Something is moving in the houses."
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone