330 Thunderous Events in Tian Fa (1/2)

”You little brat! Stop talking such nonsense! How can we selfishly look out for ourselves under such circumstances? At least ten million Xuan Beasts will spill out to the inlands if we fail in this war! How many civilians do you think will suffer? At least tens of millions of innocent lives will be lost… by a conservative count! This can turn into a huge calamity!”

Jun Wu Yi sternly chimed-in, ”We need to put our personal grudges and gratitude behind us at this moment. And, we need to work together for our common good. Only then will we have any chance of hope.”

”Wu Yi is absolutely correct! This battle between man and Xuan Beast will decide the fate of our continent for the next hundred years! A man of Li Jue Tian's arrogance wouldn't have made the supreme summons after letting go of his pride if the situation was a minor one! He must've been constrained by the severity of the situation to forego his ego and make the supreme summons! In fact, he would've been condemned by history if he hadn't done that!”

Dongfang Wen Qing smiled bitterly, ”Several independent experts will be fighting for profits, and they will surely have a high morale at first. But, I guarantee that one-third of their numbers would sneak-off after the first defeat. After all, one has to conserve their strength for gaining superiority in society! However, we're done for if all of us hold the idea of profit in the 'supreme' position in such chaotic times!”

”The human nature is very evil… They want to fight with the wind, and attack the dogs that have fallen into the ditch. However, a majority of the people won't refrain from backing away when the winds become rough, and that dog in the ditch transforms into a tiger. Most people would wait for the others to fight, and die… they would then try to take advantage of the situation. Thereafter, they will slip away when no one is looking. These people would rather lose their face than their lives. They would say that —'the tide's higher than I can take… I'm not the only one to lose face in this situation… so, what difference does it make…' ”

Jun Mo Xie shook his head as he spoke these words in a very cynical tone. He found it a joy to speak in such a manner. However, he then saw the expressions of the other four men, and realized that they were turning increasingly darker. So, he gave a hollow laugh and spoke, ”Damn! I have to take a piss! I've been holding it in with such difficulty since early morning. But, you people speak so slowly!” he said this, turned away, and escaped.

The four men looked at each other in dismay. [This mischievous brat doesn't have any shame!]

”This matter isn't looking good. We will go and meet Li Jue Tian once we reach Tian Fa. Then, we'll come to your forces and protect you. Mo Xie's ideology is indeed dependable. We will get an opportunity to survive if we stick together. As Mo Xie said… saving others is a good deed, but putting ourselves in danger for them is meaningless. We have to be pragmatic…”

Jun Wu Yi nodded. Then, he looked up into the sky and sighed, ”I don't know the cause of this calamity… or where it came from… or what instigated such a huge disaster? But, it can be assumed that the Xuan Beasts wouldn't leave Tian Fa without any rhyme-or-reason. So, who instigated them? I would flay the man alive if I knew his identity! This person has taken the entire world for a joke!”

The other three men agreed.

The Young Master Jun had returned after he had initially slipped away. He was presently hiding in the corner of the tent, and was overhearing the conversation. He broke into a cold sweat after he heard their words. His heart was shouting his innocence… [My original intention was to teach the Xue Hun Manor a lesson. How did they dare to lay their eyes on the Jun Family's daughter-in-law? But, I never knew that it would turn into such a big issue!]

[I didn't deliberately bring this matter to such a state … so, you can't blame me!]

…. ….

The next day, Jun Wu Yi got to know that Guan Qing Han and Dugu Xiao Yi had also been travelling with his nephew in secret. Commander Jun almost went mad with anger when he saw the guilty expressions on the faces of those two women. He nearly scolded Jun Mo Xie to death. However, he didn't stop at 'just' the tongue-lashing like the previous time. In fact, he brandished a rod to beat-up Jun Mo Xie…

[This is such a dangerous place. How can these two come along?]

This resulted in a game of 'hide and seek' between Jun Mo Xie and Jun Wu Yi. The Young Master Jun would move far away from whichever place it was probable for his uncle to arrive at. He'd naturally do this in order to evade his uncle's rod. He would escape like a quick hare… so as to never come face-to-face with his uncle.

The army meandered forwards, and eventually reached the Southern Heaven City on the third day since the link-up. It had now been thirty-three days since they had left the Tian Xiang City. The army had been travelling at approximately 180kms-a-day the entire journey. This meant that they had covered over 5000kms after crossing many mountains and wading through many streams.

Everyone breathed-in the cold air after they reached the Southern Heaven City.

The area outside the Southern Heaven City was barren for almost 500kms. The Tian Fa forest was still fine, but the human habitations were all in ruins. Jun Mo Xie looked in the direction of the Southern Heaven City, and laughed at his foe's misfortune so wildly… that he pulled a muscle in his stomach.

The Xue Hun Manor's site had turned into a base camp for the Xuan Beasts' operations…

They had found large groups of Xuan Beasts on the road to the Southern Heaven City. These groups would swarm over to attack any experts they'd find in the vicinity. But, the Xuan beasts' discipline was incredible. They hadn't found any trace of a Xuan Beast in the 150km before they reached the Southern Heaven City.

Therefore, one could tell that the Xuan Beasts' temporary target was the population of the Southern Heaven City. Or perhaps… the people the Xuan Beasts harbored hatred towards. Like… the Xue Hun Manor's Li Jue Tian… or his son…

The scale of the Southern Heaven City was in no way lesser than the Tian Xiang City. It was the first southern city in the continent. However, the Xuan Beasts had already occupied the surrounding mountains, and had created a somewhat iron-bucket-like encirclement.

Jun Wu Yi's forces finally took security in their numbers, and advanced towards the Southern Heaven City. The experience was daunting even though they didn't run into any mishaps. But, they managed to enter the city.

And, the very moment they entered the city…

”ROAR!” a loud howl resounded from the northern end of Southern Heaven City. It split the air as it echoed into the distance. It seemed like it was conveying a message.

The ”ROAR!” sound resonated from the north to the south, and the west to the east. It echoed in all directions, and spread its message. It transmitted throughout the city as it travelled south.

”ROAR!” a sharp howl resounded from the southern end of the city in answer, and the message again resounded back and forth.

It seemed like two people were exchanging information. One of them had seemingly said, ”Here we go again. Ten-thousand troops have arrived; this time from Tian Xiang.”

And, the other one replied, ”I know…”

This interpretation may not be 'exact', but these howls must've meant more or less the same things.

”Wow, these Xuan Beasts are truly disciplined! They're even better than the army's troops. This is simply amazing; I love this,” Jun Mo Xie praised in a heartfelt manner. He then shook his head before he continued, ”The Xuan Beasts aren't that dreadful. I believe they are somewhat civilized.”

The sounds of two lovely laughs resounded from his side. Jun Mo Xie had dressed Guan Qing Han and Dugu Xiao Yi as two petite soldiers before they had entered the city. In fact, no one could tell that these two slim soldiers were women at one glance. This decision had obviously been met with strong and dissatisfactory appeals from the two beautiful women. However, Jun Mo Xie had insisted on it nevertheless, and had embodied his 'iron-blooded' stance to make them comply…

Dongfang Wen Qing helplessly looked at his 'incomparably useless' nephew. [This is astounding! This brat has decided to joke at such a juncture? He is genuinely stupid if he isn't afraid of them!]

Then, he sighed and spoke-up, ”The transmitting of these messages was done by Peak Eight Level Lion Beasts. The Tian Fa's Lord uses such high-level Xuan Beasts for the transmission of messages. This matter isn't a joke…”

”Damn! Wow! This is so awesome!” Jun Mo Xie smacked his lips and continued, ”Why didn't we see any of the flying beasts on the road? I wish we could catch them and saddle them like horses. They'd be so useful for 'picking up girls'! Any young woman would fall for me after they took one look at them!”

Dongfang Wen Qing stared at him wide-eyed, and started gasping in anger. This brat had become so unbearable that he would soon have brain-hemorrhage due to excessive anger.

Uncle Dongfang finally realized that his nephew's 'continent-shaking' reputation as a 'debauchee' wasn't without any reason…

He also realized that no normal person was capable of having any kind of a regular exchange with this degenerate and perverted youngster… It would end-up sounding like a chicken talking to a duck… The language itself would seem foreign…

The Southern Heaven City's troops showed no resentment towards the assistance-force that had just arrived from Tian Xiang. The several high-ranking officers stationed inside the wall respectfully welcomed Jun Wu Yi's army into the city.

Jun Wu Yi had been a bit doubtful on this aspect. The Southern Heaven City was as famous as the Tian Xiang City, and occupied an extremely wide area. However, many people resided in this city. Moreover, many reinforcements from different Empires, organizations, and other places from around the world had arrived there by now. Therefore, Jun Wu Yi had anticipated that the city would be overcrowded, and wouldn't have any space left to accommodate the arrival of his troops. [But, it would be too risky to station a majority of my troops outside the city walls.] He had been very worried about this point.

However, his 20,000 troops entered the city with ease. In fact, the troops that were already station inside the city remained silent, and even seemed a bit embarrassed. [This is very a puzzling marvel!]

But, his doubts were resolved by the time the entire army got stationed in the city…

Experts came-and-went on both side of the city's road… Some of them were bandaged; this was indicative of the injuries they had sustained. Some had a white cloth around their injured heads. There was a lot of clamor around the city, but it didn't feel that chaotic. However, they realized that the city was missing something as they travelled down the road…

The Young Master Jun thought for a while, and realized what was wrong, ”How come there aren't any local people in this city?” These words called everyone else into attention, and woke them from their reveries. However, it wasn't that there were no people there. It was just that… there were only a very small number of them. And surprisingly, the ones present… were at the prime of their lives. No one could spot any old and infirm men, or women and young children inside the city…

The highest-ranking officer in the city's garrison was a General named Wan Wu Yan. He smiled bitterly and said, ”The Xuan Beast's uprising is extremely huge. So, we couldn't dare to ignore it. We've migrated the women, children, old and infirm men about a 150kms away. We did this a fortnight ago in order to save them from this calamity. We've only retained men who are at the prime of their lives, and a few necessary stores. This general will personally go and recall all of them if we are able to defeat this Xuan Beast Uprising. We may not be able to live happily and work in peace… But, we can at least defend our families and homes…”

Jun Wu Yi felt a sense of great veneration for the man.

”General Wan, this Jun admires your feelings for your people in times like these!”

Wan Wu Yan looked pained. He then smiled bitterly, ”This Uprising is surely unprecedented. Powerful Xuan Beasts have infiltrated the city at least a dozen times in order to look for trouble. And, they've caused more casualties than I can count. So, why trouble the people? I've guarded this desolate post of the Southern Heaven City for the past twelve years… The people of this place aren't exactly the most civilized, but they're still like my parents, relatives, friends and younger siblings. So, I wouldn't leave this place even if had the chance to…”

The Southern Heaven City was his homeland; he had grown up here. So, he looked at it with extreme warmth and yearning…

The atmosphere had suddenly become heavy and stifling.

”To move so many people must've required a lot of effort?” Jun Mo Xie changed the subject.

”The Southern Heaven isn't like the interiors of the continent. So, the population here isn't that large even if the city is big. We've moved around 1,543,900 or so people out of the city and its surrounding areas,” Wan Wu Yan said in a somewhat gratified and proud manner. He then chuckled, ”The effort it took if of no concern… This was a matter of over 1,500,000 lives! The hard work was worth it!”

”Amazing!”

Jun Wu Yi looked at the ancient Southern Heaven City and said, ”General Wan, your painstaking work won't be in vain. This Jun promises that General Wan's tremendous efforts won't be wasted!”

”I hope so. I just… request Third Master Jun…” General Wan stayed quite for a while, and then stuttered those words.

They reorganized the army and made arrangements for the camp. Afterwards, they went with General Wan Wu Yan to the City Lord's official hall to discuss the pressing matters.

Jun Wu Yi suddenly jumped scared after they turned the bend.

[This is the official hall?]

[My God!]

[This discussion is at the public square?!]

The City Lord's hall had been torn down along with the other unnecessary constructions. All that was left was a large drill ground which could accommodate around ten thousand soldiers. The City Lord's original stage-platform was still present. It was around three meters in height, and was adorned with thick green cloth. Jun Mo Xie glanced at it, and felt that it looked like a stage from a drama-play.

Several luxurious tents had been set up on either side of stage. And, the grand banners fluttered in the fierce autumn wind in front of each of these luxurious tents. Around a hundred imposing banners fluttered together. The also had writings on them — ”Xue Hun manor”, ”Silver Blizzard City”, ”Ouyang”, ”Duanmu”, ”Baili”, ”Beigong”, ”Wenren”, ”Zuoqiu”, ”Shen Ci”, ”Yu Tang”, ”Soul Severing Palace” and so on…

Jun Mo Xie became exhilarated. His eyebrows shot up, and his eyes shone with happiness as he laughed and said, ”This is unexpected! I didn't know that this would become such a huge convention of all the great martial artists! This is fu*ing exciting! There are basically no ordinary tramps around here…”

However, the Third Master Jun Wu Yi didn't take this so lightly. He puckered his eyebrows…

It was very important to have a unified command if they were to have any chance of winning this war. Those independent tyrannical experts could perhaps lead a scuffle or a 'gang fight' with ten… or maybe a few more people. However, Jun Wu Yi knew that none of them were capable of leading a large and unified force of hundreds-of-thousands to war.

However, it was evident that the armies and troops of the Big Empires and the people from the Noble Martial Arts families were on equal-footing in the present circumstances. In fact, it could even be said that the army's status had been raised to the top.

Regular troops would never be held to any importance by powerful Xuan experts during regular times. But… were these regular times? Wouldn't it be the biggest joke in the world if these people looked through a slit in the door, and thought that they could do as they please, and fight as they liked against the terrible Xuan Beast Kings who had a unified command over the entire Xuan Beasts' uprising?

”Commander Jun, we have set-up the tent for the Tian Xiang Army's command over there,” General Wan Wu Yan smiled and pointed with his finger. He had pointed to a huge tent. It was pitched in the middle of a huge space, and was covered in green cloth. Two huge and sturdy poles had been dug into that ground on either side of it. They'd roll-up the entrance screen, and would find that the tent was very neat on the inside. It was also quite spacious. So much so that the tent could easily accommodate twenty people… with some room still to spare.

A red banner flew high in front of the tent. It had ”Tian Xiang — Jun” written on it. The three words fluttered as the banner flew high like a spiritual dragon, but they could easily be seen intermittently. This banner was taller than the ones of the other factions by at least three meters. It was also the only one which had the name of an individual family.

”Huh?” Jun Wu Yi looked at Wan Wu Yan with a questioning look; he was somewhat puzzled.

Wan Wu Yan laughed gently. His eyes were full of reverence. ”I have always revered the four Commanders of Tian Xiang's Jun Family. The great Marshall — Jun Zhan Tian; the White Commander — Jun Wu Hui; the Devine Iron-Blooded Battle Commander — Jun Wu Meng, and the Blood General — Jun Wu Yi! I'm proud to host the Tian Xiang Empire's Jun Family. Many extreme supreme experts have gathered here in the Southern Heaven City, but this is still my territory. This matter is related to my Southern Heaven City, and I won't allow Tian Xiang's hero to be beneath anyone here! So, I request you to grace the residence… Commander Jun!”

”Many thanks!” Jun Wu Yi remained silent for a while before he managed to solemnly utter those two words.

”I've been hearing many things these days, and many people seem to have opinions about the Jun Family. You need to be careful Commander Jun,” Wan Wu Yan lowered his voice as he cautioned. Jun Wu Yi nodded slowly as his eyes filled with unwavering determination. However, Jun Mo Xie's eyes flashed with a cold light.

Jun Mo Xie slowly pushed the wheelchair forward. Four deputy generals of the Tian Xiang Army followed him in formation. Their eyes were alert, and their hands were on the hilt of their swords. And, the three fearless Dongfang swords walked beside him.

People from every faction leisurely started to enter the wide space at once. If they paid attention… they would notice that Jun Mo Xie was pushing the wheelchair in the center of the field. He was neither an inch to the left of the field's center… nor to the right.

This was an extremely aggressive approach.

[This is my land! It's my territory! I'll do as I please! And, I'll move the way I want to!]

Their route was such that people from several factions were able to inspect them from both sides of the field. And, everyone shot arrows from their eyes!

The atmosphere had suddenly become very oppressive. It seemed that Jun Mo Xie and Jun Wu Yi had brought heavy weather and high pressure with them.

The six men moved calmly forward. But, the people on the sides could only feel as if these men were a powerful and invincible current of steel that was silently marching forward. Most people couldn't sigh as they watched these men walk forward in their firm and resolute stance.

The biting-cold wind suddenly started to whistle over the Southern Heaven City. The dark clouds of thunder started to rumble in the heavens above the city, and slowly started to converge over the field. A gale whistled in the field, and the dust started to roll. The numerous banners started to flutter in the wind, and started to make rustling sounds. However, even the rustling sounds of the banners seemed neatly organized in this moment.

The dust blew into their faces. This made the four deputy generals and the three Dongfang men squint, and their movements became a bit sluggish. However, Jun Wu Yi remained calm and tranquil. His expression was still stern; even his eyebrows didn't flinch.

Jun Mo Xie pushed the wheelchair easily and indifferently behind him. His eyebrows rested like vigorous dragons… dragons which would break out and fly into the air at any time. His elegant, desolate and demon-like face was completely still. It seemed like he hadn't even noticed the changes in the sky, or the multitudes of burning gazes around him. The speed of his movements was neither too fast, nor too slow. And, they remained unaffected still…

This uncle-nephew duo seemed a flashing divine sword that was freely cleaving through the storm to the eyes of the onlookers.

A long strip was cloven in the crowd by the two men as they moved forward.