Soaring the Heavens

Chapter 40: Decisive Battle of South Edict (3)

WIth a bow in her hand, Qin Weiwei led the troops of Hundred Blossoms Cave, who were following closely behind. She drew back the bow with five arrows nocked on the string before instilling transcendence energy into them. Quickly charging forward, her slender jade fingers relaxed and with a whoosh, five sharp arrows shot out rapidly. They whizzed right past Miao Yi and Yan Xiu, causing them to jump in fright.

In an instant, the five deadly-sharp arrows, carrying a gentle glow, hit three cultivators in total, causing them to fall from their dragon steeds. The other two arrows were struck away by a higher ranked cultivator brandishing his spear.

Miao Yi quickly glanced behind him. He had a faint feeling that if he didn’t fight like his life depended on it, this woman would use her role of overseeing the battle to shoot him dead with an arrow!

Nevertheless, the instant when both sides were about to vigorously close in on one another, a sudden change happened.

Yang Qing was closing in to kill Lu Yu, and as a result he had ventured close to the opposing side’s camp. At that moment, the nine great Mountain Chieftains immediately joined forces with Lu Yu, starting to attack him from different sides.

Yang Qing was in a perilous situation, and yet his eyes were brimming with joy, hinting that his plan had succeeded.

“Great timing!” Yang Qing thundered at the nine great Mountain Chieftains who came to corner him.

Suddenly, the beast head on his helmet exploded into a vast cloud of silver mist, swiftly congealing into a gigantic ape suffused with a glowing red light.

“Third Grade Yao Core!”

Lu Yu cried out in surprise, giving off a faint feeling that he’d been frightened out of his wits. Even the nine Mountain Chieftains surrounding him also jumped in shock.

Before they could even turn to run, the gigantic ape, suffused with red light amidst silver, struck out with a punch, eliciting a terrible scream from Lu Yu, as a deep hole was hollowed out directly into the ground. Lu Yu and the other calvaries were instantly smashed into meat patty.

“Surrender!”

One of the Mountain Chieftains yelled loudly, but it appeared to be too late. Earlier they refused to surrender when they wanted Yang Qing’s life, and now they themselves wanted to surrender? Where were they when the first offer of surrender was given? Why didn’t they take it then?

How could Yang Qing let them get away with it? Above him, the gigantic ape spread its arms and started to swing them around, violently sweeping everything in sight.

A series of ‘bangs’ loudly resounded and the nine Mountain Chieftains who couldn’t manage to dodge in time were flung backwards, spitting out blood as they went. Even their mounts suffered a similar fate.

The sudden change in situation stupefied the others. Lu Yu’s underlings who had charged out recovered from the shock before immediately turning their heads and running madly away to make their escape!

The men ranked highest in strength had all been beheaded by Yang Qing. After they lost all those who could have stood their ground against the enemies, Lu Yu’s group simply couldn’t engage in the fight anymore. What’s more, the guy who had shouted ‘surrender’ had also been killed regardless, so it would be weird if the others didn’t run away.

Miao Yi, who was being forced to charge ahead by Qin Weiwei, stopped to stare at Yan Xiu, both of them speechless. Just now Miao Yi had said it would be great if Yang Qing had a Third Grade Yao Core at his disposal, but Yan Xiu had replied that it was impossible, but who would have predicted that Yang Qing had really gotten a hold of a Third Grade transcendence artifact. With one battle, the victor had been decided!

“Yang Qing is ruthless. He was afraid of Lu Yu and his trusted aides escaping so he deliberately didn’t reveal the Third Grade transcendence artifact right at the beginning. Then he eliminated all their forces in one move, ridding himself of future trouble!”

Yan Xiu quietly transmitted his voice to explain.

Once Yang Qing wiped out Lu Yu and his strongest forces, he immediately led his approaching troops to charge in the enemy’s direction!

More than a hundred men rushed forward, until the cultivators who couldn’t escape in time were all killed by the assaulting men of Mount Shaotai charging towards them. And those at the front who had already fallen in battle were all practically South Edict Manor’s core cultivators, as the majority of them were Cave Masters or the like.

For all the people who had charged down on this side, none of them would be shown mercy. The more empty seats there were, the higher chances one would get. It was a bloody clash all along the way.

Miao Yi and Yan Xiu worked together to give chase and kill a White Lotus Fourth Grade cultivator. Abruptly, three sharp arrows came whooshing down on them. In the midst of being terrified, the man revolved his spear to knock the arrows away with great speed.

But Yan Xiu let out a snarl, he swung the broad axe in his hand, hitting the man right in the middle of his back.

The madly approaching Yan Xiu struck out with his broad axe, until blood splattered up high into the sky. The strike of his axe cut down his head and as he brushed past the man, he speedily pulled out the other broad axe from the man’s body into his hand, once again continuing to dash forward as he screamed ‘Attack!’.

Miao Yi was amazed, realization dawning on him that Yan Xiu was like a different man, looking as though he had become valiant and fearless of death. Was this the same Shi Xiang who had told him the principle of surrendering?

After madly chasing their opponents for a long distance, Yang Qing saw that he could no longer catch up to the remaining forces. He put away the transcendence artifacts he wore on his head and shoulders. His voice resounded like a sudden clap of thunder as he waved his spear and shouted, “Victory has been decided! Distribute the forces! Clear and occupy the respective mountains!”

Judging by his complexion, it was clear that he had heavily depleted his transcendence energy. After all, he had simultaneously handled multiple transcendence artifacts, all while engaging in the fierce battle. He needed to find a place to recover his transcendence energy.

Clearly, the crowd of Mount Shaotai had planned properly in advance before deciding to revolt. It was for this reason that they were now promptly dividing the forces into multiple lines without hesitation. Evidently, they all knew their roles and assigned destinations, and proceeded to charge ahead on their journey forth.

Then Qin Weiwei led her troops from Hundred Blossoms Cave, following Yang Qing all the way as they headed straight to the nearby East Arrival Cave.

Inclusive of Yang Qing’s personal men, the party was made up of around twenty people. In less than half a day, they rushed upon East Arrival Cave and practically did not encounter any resistance. They were also unable to withstand anymore attacks.

The moment they occupied East Arrival Cave, Yang Qing immediately went to find a place to recover his transcendence energy. At a time like this, the general must constantly be at his best condition to deal with any mishaps!

Qin Weiwei again ordered three White Lotus Third Grade cultivators to make haste to East Arrival City to keep watch. This was to ensure they could guard against the cultivators from the former East Arrival Cave who had fled in disarray, and to prevent them seizing the opportunity to take off with their belongings in the city.

During night fall, one of Qin Weiwei’s underlings came hurrying to Qin Weiwei, reporting, “The surviving members of East Arrival Cave have supposedly already made their escape. They have not disturbed the peace in the city. All the survivor’s family members were sent into the Manor of Sincere Hope. We’ve placed our men inside to lie in wait, to see whether we can capture the survivors who might come forward to rescue them.”

“Very good!” Qin Weiwei nodded her head in praise.

On the side, Yan Xiu discreetly transmitted his voice to Miao Yi, “A change of sovereign brings a change of ministers. In the blink of an eye, South Edict Manor has switched skies. The cultivators who ran away will be safe, but their family members are doomed. I’m afraid in this lifetime, they will spend their last years inside the Manor of Sincere Hope. The Manor of Sincere Hope isn’t exactly a proper place for people to live in.”

Miao Yi abruptly froze in place. It wasn’t clear what he’d just recalled, he cupped his fists at Qin Weiwei to apologize before quickly darting out of East Arrival Grand Hall. He found Charcoal and leapt onto it, directly rushing out of the main gate and wildly galloping away.

Qin Weiwei strolled slowly to the doorway of the grand hall and stood with her hands clasped behind her back as she frowned, “What is he planning to do?”

At present, she didn’t believe that Miao Yi planned to escape. Since the whole of South Edict Manor had been conquered, if he ran now then he’d be an idiot. What’s more, if he had wanted to run in the first place, he would have done it ages ago. That fatty dragon steed’s speed was fast.

Startled, Yan Xiu suddenly cried out unexpectedly, “Not good!”

Qin Weiwei turned her head and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Yan Xiu was also afraid Miao Yi would stir up trouble, so he reported at once, “Miao Yi has a good friend at East Arrival Cave. He’s the one who recommended Miao Yi to go to Transient Light Cave. I’m afraid he’s going to see whether his friend’s family is still there or not.”

As he expected, Miao Yi went alone to charge straight into East Arrival City, arriving outside of the residence of Chen Fei’s niece, Ji Xiufang, only to be greeted by the sight of a seal on the residence’s main gate.

Miao Yi, for the sake of verifying the conjecture in his heart, immediately returned to his house and asked a commoner by the roadside who held a look of admiration, “Where has the master of this residence gone to?”

An old man boldly replied, “Reporting to Immortal, I’m not sure what kind of crime the master of this residence committed. I heard they’ve already been carted off to the Manor of Sincere Hope by the officials. It’s a pity the workers were implicated. They were dutiful people from the East Arrival City, and all of them came from good families.”

Miao Yi asked again, “Where is this city’s Manor of Sincere Hope located?”

The old man replied, “Answering the Immortal, it’s in the city central beside the temple. It’s very easy to find.”

“Thank you very much, sir!” Miao Yi thanked him, quickly turned and went off, making a beeline for the temple.