Chapter 428 - Doom of the Sect (1/2)
The forces of the Orthodox Path had been divided into three with Fenglan, Zi Mo and Qingfeng led one of the detachments towards the center of the Ridge where the fighting was the fiercest. Xiao Chen was attacking from the air with the Sword of the Vermilion Bird, sending jets of flames wherever he could with the versatility of the sword’s attacks, with Qingluan and Ziyun’er guarding his rear.
The battle had barely begun and the defenders of the Sect were beaten back with countless of their Corpse Puppets destroyed or torched and just as many acolytes and disciples dead or wounded. The Great Immortal beheld the catastrophe now befalling the stronghold of his order with a pained grimace on his face. He bit the tip of his lips and spit some Essence Blood on his palm, using it to cast some strange spells. Strange, unnatural winds began to blow and innumerable wraiths materialized, dashing towards Xiao Chen, deflecting the bolts and jets of fire that he cast.
With the Flames of the Vermilion Bird taken care for now, the Great Immortal joined the fray, dealing a pair of death rays that immediately killed two mages of the Nascent Soul Realm. The defenders were quick to notice the presence of their Grand Elder that rekindled their hopes and they fought back with all the vehemence they could rouse.
Qingfeng was caught up in a duel with some other Elders of the Sect and all around him, mages from various schools and sects were trading hexes and spells against the defenders of the Sect while Xiao Chen was desperately trying to prevent the meddling of the company of wraiths now trying to thwart his control of the Flames. It was a bloody and also chaotic sight indeed.
With the help of the Great Immortal from Hell, the defenders managed to regain more ground. The battle had been waging for less than an hour, but the air around the Ridge was already thick and brackish with the stench of blood and death. The raiders began to realize the uplifting effect of the Great Immortal on the battlefield and more of them surrounded him and attacked him. In mere minutes, fresh gashes and cuts appeared all over him and half of his robes were already badly sodden with blood.
He screamed to his men a roaring “Retreat,” knowing that the defenders were already at their limits. Then he felt pain in his side; someone had driven a sword with a rapid thrust into his flank. With a hand reaching to his side to feel the wound, his hand becoming oleaginous with his own bodily fluid, his other hand slapped a powerful blow at his attacker, reducing him to dust.
At his command, the defenders retreated quickly but not without an ensuing onslaught by the forces of the Orthodox Path. Zuoqiu Yang advanced victoriously, never failing to strike down one enemy each time his spear bared its tip while the Autumn Water never failed to shed blood whenever it escaped its sheath.
The Great Immortal grimaced as he watched his men falling like flies. Unlike Wu Fa and Wu Tian who would have long fled to safety, he wheeled around and covered the rear, defending the withdrawal of his men to prevent more deaths at the expense of his own life.
He has been in service of the Sect since he was a boy. For centuries he had toiled and endured until he finally achieved his present powers and authority. The Corpse Refinery Sect was home to him and its members his family. The destruction of it was something he would never be able to permit much less comprehend. He would never be like Wu Fa and Wu Tian, both conniving cravens who wished only to regain their freedom and flee. Instead, he ever wished for was the great expansion of the Sect and its influence.
The Great Immortal dove into the midst of the slaughter and partially turned the tables through sheer will. Evading one magic bolt after another with the agility and grace of a panther, he swiftly struck down a handful of mages, all of them of the Nascent Soul Realm, and forced back Xiaoyue and the others.
The mob of mages earlier who were swarming on the Great Immortal saw this and lunged at him again like a snarling pack of wolves advancing upon a lion, pursuing the retreating Grand Elder until the forces of the Orthodox Path once again reached the plaza atop the Ridge. There, they were synchronously rejoined by the rest of the two detachment of mages. The clamor was enough to draw out both Elders Wu Fa and Wu Tian and the siege of the Ridge was once again revived.
Xiao Chen landed at once; using the Flames of the Southern Vermilion Bird took so great a toll on his True Energy that he could barely stand. Qingluan and Ziyun’er quickly held him, keeping him steady while channeling their powers into him.
“So this is what you all want? The destruction of the Corpse Refinery Sect at the cost of your own lives?” The Great Immortal roared from the other side of the plaza. He was wounded in more than a dozen places all over him, being sustained only by his unalloyed will and resolve to defend the Sect to his very last breath. But his injuries hardly impeded his ability to summon two Corpse Puppets, both with more than five centuries of Malicious Grudge, to him and the two monster lumbered vigilantly beside him.
Xiao Chen thrust the Sword at the Great Immortal and he bellowed, “Give me back Muxue!”
He had only just finished when shadows appeared out of nowhere and danced before them, finally stopping and materialized into the twelve Corpse Puppets of the former High Chieftains of the Sect, accompanied by the hundred-man strong army of Blood Corpses. The blanket of pale glow cast by the receding daybreak moon only made the sight of the monsters look more macabre and ghastly and the mages of the Orthodox Path, especially those who had before witness their savagery, instinctively pulled back several yards.
Incensed by the twelve abominations that exemplified the might of the Sect, Xiao Chen brandished the Sword and summoned forth the Flames again. Furious jets of flames wreathed around him and every Elder of the Sect present, including Wu Fa, Wu Tian and the rest of the other leaders of the infernal order defending the Ridge, could not believe their eyes. So this is how the invaders plow through our defenses with hardly any difficulty! They have the Flame of the Vermilion Bird! Is this man the bane that would spell our doom? Has the end come for the Corpse Refinery Sect?
The army of Blood Corpses stirred in the face of the Flames as if they could feel its destructive power, groaning with fear and trepidation. Xiao Chen let loose a growl and channeled more of his True Energy into the Sword, pointing it at the center of the army. Immediately, a column of flames screamed into the sky, setting almost half a dozen Blood Corpses ablaze.
The Flames devoured the Blood Corpses with the voracity and fervor of a starving beast and the putrid fetor of burning flesh filled the air. Some of the monsters suffered damages that rendered them immobile while some were reduced into slabs of charred meat, eliciting screams and gasps of shock and dismay from the defenders. These were Blood Corpses with strength equal to mages of the Nirvana Realm, but they were so helpless before the great strength of the Flames that they could hardly put up a fight.
The plaza fell into chaos again as the forces of the Orthodox Path, the confidence fueled by Xiao Chen’s heroics, charged immediately and more of the defenders fell. Xiao Chen took up into the air once more, destroying more Corpse Puppets with the Flames while Qingluan and her girls circled around him in a protective ring to keep him from harm.
Koo-chee hid himself in the underbrush of the forest nearby. His eyes blinked wide as it gazed upwards at Xiao Chen, moaning softly.
The battle waged on for another half-hour with more Corpse Puppets being decimated. To the Great Immortal, it was no longer a battle but rather, the merciless slaughter of his men. Unable to take any more casualties, he thundered to his colleagues and underlings, “RETREAT! RETREAT TO THE ROCK!”
The Rock of the Fallen Drake, the choke point of the Summit of Mystics. It was a mountain pass that served as the main gauntlet of defense for the Sect with its treacherous landscape and the numerous traps laid around the route to impede the advance of any invaders. Heeding the Great Immortal’s orders, the defenders immediately withdrew back to the Rock.
Xiao Chen descended back to land, his chest heaving for breath. Koo-chee scampered to him, moaning worriedly incessantly. Xiao Chen glared at him, reprimanding him slightly, “You should be careful for coming out here, Koo-chee!”
“Koo-chee! Koo-chee!” Koo-chee nodded profusely.
Xiao Chen watched the retreat of the defenders and he yelled at once at Perfected Immortal Qingchen, “We have to stop them! The Rock is too perilous for any assault and can be easily defended!”
The mage pushed forth. With his patience utterly chafed, Xiao Chen paid no heed to his depleting True Energy and caught up with the main force, dishing out bolts after bolts of the Flames with a pure vengeance. Another wave of inferno surged forth and destroyed a platoon-full of Corpse Puppets and as many defenders, reducing them to blackened crisps.