The unrestrained force contained within the waterspout made Xu Qi’an clearly realise that, once he was dragged into it, his body would suffer the torment of being sliced to pieces.
Moreover, being enveloped inside such a mass of water was tantamount to handing his life over to Baidi.
Without the slightest hesitation, the ring of fire at the back of his head burst open with a boom, like the flash of an exploding shell.
After the Vajra Divine Art had reached great completion, this ring of fire had formed behind his head. It might usually have hung there looking none too useful, but in truth it was supremely hard and supremely yang, especially effective against yin, cold, evil things, as well as water-element spells.
Sizzle!
The “tentacles” wrapped around his ankles were steamed dry, turning into mist. At that moment, the waterspout was already upon him, leaving no room for him to use shadow jump.
Xu Qi’an did indeed retreat, widening the distance by relying on his own speed being greater than the waterspout’s. At the same time, he gripped the Sovereign Sword, collapsed all his qi, reined in every emotion… and suddenly slashed behind him.
A martial artist’s danger sense issued a warning, forming an image, Baidi appeared behind him, baring its fangs as it lunged to bite.
The yellow sword light destroyed the enemy behind him with irresistible force, scattering it into tons of rainwater.
No, it had been formed from rainwater to begin with.
A fake? Xu Qi’an’s pupils contracted slightly.
The next second, he was swallowed by the howling waterspout.
Baidi gave a “heh”. This was one of the more advanced spells within its innate divine powers, one that could simulate a clone with exactly the same aura as the main body to join the battle.
It had not used it before because of environmental constraints. Even though it could draw water-spirit from the air, to condense a powerful clone still required a fair amount of time. And that certainly would not have escaped Xu Qi’an’s notice.
Now, things were different. Rain was pouring down, water-spirit saturated this stretch of heaven and earth, this was its home ground.
The waterspout spun with a whistling roar. Xu Qi’an’s body disintegrated inch by inch, like ice tossed into boiling water. Flesh and blood peeled away at terrifying speed, and in many places white bone was exposed.
The Stupa tower was drawn in as well. As it spun with the waterspout, the tower spirit tried to flare up with golden light, but it was firmly suppressed by the water-spirit.
The Sovereign Sword flew against the direction of the waterspout, trying to break Baidi’s spell through by its own strength alone.
Xu Qi’an’s body alternated between turning into shadow and returning to normal, making it impossible for him to use shadow jump to escape.
He was trapped within Baidi’s spell domain. After all, the Dark Gu had yet to reach the beyond-mortal realm. The precondition for appearing and vanishing unpredictably was that it not be suppressed by a higher-order spell.
A chill ran through al-Asura and the others. They had already been walking along a cliff edge, unable to lean left or right, carefully maintaining the balance between both sides.
But the water-thunder tribulation had created a home ground advantageous to Baidi, breaking the balance they had worked so hard to maintain.
Bzzzt…
Bright, flaunting arcs of lightning burst forth from Baidi’s horns. Between the two horns, a sphere of lightning quickly condensed.
Zhao Shou’s expression darkened slightly. He flicked his Confucian cap with a bent finger, gazed at Baidi, and said in a deep voice:
“Retreat three thousand feet!”
The air around Baidi distorted, seeming as though it were about to exchange places with space elsewhere.
But in the very next moment, the distorted space was smoothed flat, utterly unmoving.
Baidi remained where it was.
Agaruka Bodhisattva formed a seal with both hands, and the Immovable Lord Dharma Aspect behind him mirrored the motion, sealing off the space around Baidi.
Bzzzt!
Baidi suddenly thrust its head forward, and violent lightning shot out, illuminating the surroundings in a blaze.
A thick bolt of lightning no weaker than the heavenly tribulation crashed into the waterspout. The muddy torrent within was instantly lit up, and the shadows of Xu Qi’an, the Sovereign Sword, and the Stupa tower were all cast into view.
Scorch marks instantly covered the surfaces of the two artefacts, and their radiance dimmed. They could not scream, but from the rapidly declining aura one could tell they were in very poor condition.
Xu Qi’an’s body suddenly went rigid, then rapidly carbonised. His charred, brittle flesh became even less capable of resisting the “cutting” of the waterspout.
In the distance, Xu Pingfeng said nothing. If the puppet had had eyes, they would certainly have flickered with ecstatic coldness, and… relief.
If one had to name the greatest mistake and flaw in Xu Pingfeng’s life of schemes, it would be his eldest legitimate son, Xu Qi’an.
His growth had truly been somewhat terrifying. From the tax silver case until now, only two years had passed. In those two years, Xu Qi’an had risen from a mere bailiff of Changle County, a trivial ninth-rank martial artist, to a second-rank martial artist, entering the ranks of the top experts of the age.
And all of this had been brought about by the augmentation of national fortune and all manner of opportunities.
Xu Pingfeng’s miscalculation lay in this, throughout the ages, no one had ever truly condensed half of a nation’s fortune into a single body. Therefore, not even Xu Pingfeng knew what sort of “consequences” this would produce.
Within the Arcanist system, although a first-rank Arcanist lived and died with the nation, that was different from someone like Xu Qi’an containing half the nation’s fortune.
The former shared life and death with national fortune, an equal relationship. The latter directly absorbed national fortune into his body, making it private property.
Xu Pingfeng had not cared about Xu Qi’an’s various performances before he stepped into the beyond-mortal realm. When he stepped into third rank and killed Zhende, Xu Pingfeng had been surprised, but had still not thought much of it.
Only after the battle of Jianzhou did he truly adjust his attitude and regard this eldest legitimate son as a dangerous figure.
Yet even then, Xu Pingfeng had still looked down on him, not considering his eldest legitimate son an existence that could stand on equal footing with him.
And the facts had indeed seemed so. After the Jianzheng had been sealed, the Great Feng had all but been doomed to defeat.
What waves could a mere third rank martial artist possibly stir up?
That mentality had lasted until the beyond-mortal battle outside Xunzhou City, when Xu Qi’an had broken free “overnight”, advanced to second rank, and drawn allies such as al-Asura and Daoist Jinlian to his side, confronting him on equal terms.
He had vaguely become the number one figure of the Great Feng, becoming one of the players in the war for the Central Plains.
Xu Pingfeng had no choice but to admit that his eldest legitimate son had become the greatest obstacle on his path to seizing the Central Plains and advancing to become a Master of Heaven’s Mandate.
He had become a peak figure capable of competing with him on the same stage.
At that moment, Luo Yuheng gave a long cry. The earth aspect, having just completed the tribulation, burst out of her body and, in an act like suicide, smashed itself apart inside the waterspout, causing the furiously spinning vortex to stall.
Earth beats water!
Immediately after, the wind aspect dragged the divine sword along as it whistled away, charged into the stalled waterspout, pierced Xu Qi’an’s lower abdomen, and without losing momentum, carried him out of the waterspout.
“Hmph!”
Baidi’s azure pupils narrowed. Lightning raged from its horns, and bolt after bolt chased after the flying sword and Xu Qi’an.
At the same time, its four hooves flew as it moved to cut off the sword’s path.
Heavenly tribulation and torrential rain struck her body one after another. Blood flowed from Luo Yuheng’s seven orifices, her water aspect was on the verge of collapse, yet she seemed not to notice at all, controlling the flying sword to wheel around and return.
Since they could not escape, then they would enter the domain of the heavenly tribulation, seeking life through death.
Seeing this, Baidi came to a halt and gave a dismissive snort:
“Seeking your own death.”
Even it did not dare enter this heavenly tribulation carelessly. The tribulation of advancing from second rank to first rank might not kill it, but it would certainly deal it grievous injury.
Given Xu Qi’an’s current state, entering the tribulation meant certain death.
Hah… Xu Pingfeng let out a breath inwardly, then gathered in all emotion and returned to calm composure, sending a divine thought transmission:
“Still too green.”
Agaruka Bodhisattva’s expression relaxed slightly as he said:
“Seize the chance!”
Kill the two of them outright within the heavenly tribulation.
At that moment, the churning tribulation clouds in the sky suddenly stalled. They no longer struck down thunder tribulation, and the overwhelming rain slowly began to recede.
The pitch-black clouds were rapidly dyed with a layer of golden glow that spread at once, turning the entire tribulation cloud into a crimson, magnificent sea of burning clouds.
The final tribulation, the fire thunder tribulation!
…
Outside the capital, the Yunzhou army pressed in. Each camp was arranged into blocks of formations. At the vanguard were infantry carrying all kinds of siege equipment, the second line was artillery and crossbowmen, and the cavalry stood at the rear.
Upon the lofty and majestic city wall, Wei Yuan stood outside the gatehouse, gazing at the Yunzhou army on the plain. He confidently ignored the rabble and looked to the rear, at the four thousand cavalry of the Xuanwu Army.
“Yang Gong was defeated by this iron cavalry force?”
Beside him, Zhang Shen nodded with a grave expression:
“This army is unmatched when charging formations. Even a fourth-rank martial artist would meet a bitter end.”
One of the sect masters of the Wulin Alliance had been forced into the enemy formation to cover his fellows’ retreat, and had ultimately been ground to death alive.
It had to be known that there were also many experts within the Xuanwu Army, with no lack of fourth rank fighters.
If ordinary cavalry encountered this invincible force, they would be finished in a single exchange. And as for siege warfare, they were equally formidable. Once they abandoned their warhorses, this heavy cavalry became heavy infantry, their armour impervious to blades and spears.
Neither muskets nor crossbow bolts could pierce it.
The individual physical qualities of the Xuanwu Army were extremely strong, fully enough to bear the weight of the armour.
“Not bad!”
Wei Yuan gave this brief assessment, then lifted his gaze to a certain point in the sky. In the next moment, clear light rose, and a white-robed figure with fluttering sleeves appeared.
“Wei Yuan!”
Xu Pingfeng looked down at the city wall from upon high.
The instant he appeared, the experts among the city defenders, such as Zhang Shen and Li Mubai, all tensed from head to toe as though faced with a great enemy.
This was a second-rank Arcanist.
“Many years since we last met, and your bearing is as elegant as ever!”
Wei Yuan smiled gently.
He did know Xu Pingfeng. It was just that back then he had still been an obscure eunuch, while the other man had already been a powerful minister dominating court and country. At the time, the Xu Clique had been what the Wei Clique later became.
Later still, when he had just begun to emerge, crushing the Yao and barbarians in the northern frontier and becoming a rising star of the court, the Xu Clique had already been in decline.
Back then, Emperor Yuanjing had supported Wei Yuan precisely to fill the vacuum left by the disappearance of the Xu Clique.
Xu Pingfeng smiled faintly:
“I know the formations within the capital walls like the back of my hand. At most, I need a quarter of an hour to break them all.
“Though you have resurrected, you are still a mortal body of flesh and blood. Are you not afraid that I will kill you?”
Wei Yuan was silent for a moment, then said with feeling:
“For more than twenty years, you schemed endlessly, secretly fanning the flames to put me to death, before you finally rebelled.
“Were you that afraid of me?”
Xu Pingfeng was not angered. He smiled and said:
“Of course I was afraid. In deceit and schemes, you were no match for me. In leading troops and waging war, I am inferior to you.
“If you did not die, the Yunzhou army would not even have been able to take Qingzhou.
“When you rose to prominence, I had already resolved to withdraw from court. You and I never crossed swords in court politics, and that has always remained a regret in my heart. Since you have now returned to life, let us properly test ourselves against each other today, and count it as fulfilling that wish.”
Wei Yuan looked towards the Yunzhou army and shook his head with a sigh:
“It is over!
“Today is the thirteenth day of Luo Yuheng’s tribulation. This battle is already over. I revived too late, and only caught the tail end.”
The corner of Xu Pingfeng’s mouth lifted:
“I forgot to tell you, the northern frontier war is over. Xu Qi’an is certain to die. The capital is already in my grasp.”
Wei Yuan’s gaze shifted away from the Yunzhou army and rested on Xu Pingfeng. Enunciating each word, he said:
“You’ve lost!”
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