"Hmph!!!"
Thud!
With a furious snarl, the red-haired Flame Elder hurled a grotesque wine cup, crafted from a polished infant's skull, at the kneeling middle-aged general's head. The general flinched as the macabre vessel whistled past his ear, but he didn't dare move an inch as it shattered against the rug behind him, spilling dark, pungent dregs across the fabric.
"Elder Brother, calm yourself!" The Earth Elder, cloaked in a steady, earthy yellow spiritual light that shimmered like a desert mirage, swiftly stepped between them. His voice was a low rumble that seemed to vibrate the very air of the tent, causing the candle flames to flicker and dance. "Over a hundred Body Refining experts and four early-stage Qi Refining cultivators... With a lineup like that, it's no surprise our vanguard was routed so decisively."
The Flame Elder's fiery eyes narrowed, his chest heaving with exertion, but he said nothing. He was clearly brooding over the humiliation, his fingers twitching toward the weapon at his side, but he knew his brother was right. Such a concentrated gathering of force was far beyond what a mere ten thousand strong vanguard could ever hope to handle. It was a sobering thought that even their own united tribe had no real answer to four Qi Refining cultivators aside from the two of them personally taking the field to restore order.
"No wonder the Queen was so insistent that we target Yongzhou," the Earth Elder mused. His frown deepened as he looked toward the flickering lantern. "The Queen's intentions weren't far from pure malice. She meant for us to bleed here against these walls."
"Even so," the Flame Elder growled, his voice like grinding stones. "We can't retreat. Not now. Our hand is forced." He gestured vaguely in the massive camp's direction, where thousands of campfires dotted the dark, rolling plain like a sea of fallen stars. "With an army of a million souls trailing us, even a small delay would cause chaos to spiral out of control. The logistics are a knife at our own throats, pressing deeper with every hour we wait."
"Enough," the Earth Elder said, his tone final. "Tomorrow, we attack together and breach Yongzhou's walls in one sweep. A million troops need constant supplies. If this siege drags on for a month or two, we will be the ones cornered and starving outside these very walls."
"Get out."
The Flame Elder waved a dismissive hand, and the relieved commander scrambled away into the night. Given the enemy's unexpected formation, the defeat wasn't truly the man's fault. Without elite cultivators of their own to counter the enemy's experts, such a group could run rampant through any conventional army. But now, the two of them would have to step in personally. If the entire invasion stalled here, their grand campaign could collapse into famine and mutiny before the winter arrived.
"Sigh. The Great Wei truly hides dragons and crouching tigers," the Earth Elder murmured once they were alone in the silence. "No wonder that boy of an Emperor struggles to maintain control from his palace."
The numbers alone were alarming to them. They had held the advantage of striking first with unity and surprise, yet it seemed if given just a few more decades of peace, the Great Wei's hidden strength might have become truly unstoppable.
"Elder Brother, our strategy must change," the Earth Elder continued, his expression grim. "Once we seize Prince Yong's Eight Prefectures, we need to avoid unnecessary slaughter. If the entire world turns against us as barbarians, we will never gain a stable foothold. We will be putting out fires for generations."
The elder in yellow frowned. They were personally powerful enough to stand unafraid even if surrounded by hundreds of warriors, but ruling a settled territory was another matter entirely. Relying on brute force and terror alone would only plant the seeds of endless rebellion in the hearts of the conquered.
What they didn't know was that if not for the Qi Inducing Pill in Prince Yong's possession, the number of cultivators he could have gathered would have been half that, at best. Most had come not only for the promised rewards but for the chance to curry favor with the legendary alchemist's reputation.
These were men of the martial world, and they understood the value of such pills better than anyone. In truth, Prince Yong had been right: if Su Min uttered a single command, half of them would have obeyed without question. This was also why the two old men didn't dare act too recklessly. They were powerful, yes, but there were only two of them. If they angered the entire cultivation world of Great Wei, a peaceful life would become nothing more than a dream.
The Next Morning. At Daybreak.
A long, deep warhorn echoed across the land, its mournful note signaling the beginning of the end. Outside Yongzhou, a sea of soldiers stretched all the way to the horizon, their synchronized march making the very earth beneath the city walls tremble with a rhythmic, heavy thudding.
"Black clouds loom, the city trembles," Su Min recited the old line softly from her perch on the wall. "The poetry doesn't do this justice."
She watched as the massive army advanced, a seemingly endless tide of men and steel under the morning sun. The sheer number of troops created an illusion of order, their formation looking less chaotic than it truly was; the quantity alone was enough to inspire primal dread in any mortal defender. The air grew heavy with the smell of dust, sweat, and the metallic tang of thousands of unsheathed blades.
She turned to the four men beside her, her voice sharp and clear. "You are carrying weapons I personally forged. Victory isn't the goal, but lasting a few moves against them will be enough. Leave the rest to me."
Across from her stood the four Qi Refining cultivators—Sect Leader Mo and the three under Prince Yong's command. Though each held high status and power in their own right, all stood as respectfully as students before a master.
The two elders had placed their command banners in plain sight at the army's forefront, as if daring the defenders to attack them. Just as Su Min suspected, both were at the peak of Qi Refining. She could feel the dense, stagnant spiritual energy radiating from them like a heavy fog. If they had possessed a single Foundation Establishment Pill between them, they might have already advanced to the next realm.
"Their command banners are right there for everyone to see. Bold, but predictable," she said quietly, more to herself than to the others. "Both are at the peak of Qi Refining. A single Foundation Establishment Pill could have pushed them over the next realm's threshold."
Hiss—
Her casual remark sent chills down their spines. The thought was terrifying to them. Had those two actually reached Foundation Establishment, this war would have been unwinnable from the start. The higher one cultivated, the more vast and insurmountable the gaps between stages became.
"Move out," Su Min commanded. "Stay alert. Remember, even at peak Qi Refining, they can't kill you instantly."
"Yes!" The four shouted in unison, then leapt from the high walls, their spiritual auras flaring in a brilliant display of power. They were followed by a wave of Body Refining cultivators, pouring out of the city gates like a torrent of steel.
-
Meanwhile, down on the battlefield, the two elders met each other's gaze. Both saw the same unease reflected in the other's eyes as the defenders approached.
"That Queen withheld critical intelligence," the Flame Elder muttered, his hand tightening on his weapon's hilt. "Something isn't right with these defenders."
"They aren't retreating even after sensing our auras," the Earth Elder agreed, his eyes fixed on the four figures leading the charge. "Do they really think four early-stage Qi Refiners can stop us?"
"No matter. We slaughter them first, then crush the gates. Charge!"
Boom!
Twin streaks of light, one crimson and one ochre, shot forward into the field's center. The oppressive, heavy aura that followed them rolled over the defending cultivators like a physical storm, causing many to stumble in their advance, their breath hitching in their chests.
"A formal duel before the walls?"
Su Min chuckled softly from her vantage point. Her amusement, however, wasn't shared by the four cultivators now trembling under that overwhelming pressure. For the first time, they truly felt the chasm between early and peak Qi Refining. They realized then that she had never gone all out against them. She had merely been toying with them during their spars.
"No chance for an ambush now," she noted, a hint of disappointment in her voice. Then her eyebrows shot up. "Wait, what?"
The four, instead of trying to flank or draw one elder away as she had suggested, were heading straight for the field's center, toward both elders at once.
"Idiots."
With a resigned sigh, Su Min took a step forward. In a chaotic melee, a stealthy approach might have worked, but in this formal, open confrontation, there was no room for such tricks.
"My lady, what are their odds?" Prince Yong called out nervously from behind her, his knuckles white as he gripped the stone battlement. "How likely are they to win?"
On the field below, the clash of elements and spiritual energy made it seem, at first glance, like a balanced fight to those without cultivation. Bright arcs of lightning and bursts of earth-shattering power lit up the dusty plain.
"Not a chance," Su Min said, her voice flat and certain. "Those two old foxes were startled by the spiritual weapons at first. They are testing their strength right now, being cautious. The moment they figure out the weapons' limits and the users' lack of experience, the result is already decided."
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Even as the words left her lips, four figures were sent flying backward as if swatted by an invisible giant. Arcs of blood sprayed through the air, glinting in the morning sun, as they slammed into the city wall's base with bone-jarring force.
"Time to intervene."
Su Min flicked a small porcelain vial from her sleeve into her hand and stepped off the battlement into the empty air. As she fell, her aura exploded outward, a raging tempest of spiritual pressure that instantly rivaled the combined might of the two elders below. The air around her shrieked as if torn apart by her sheer presence.
Then—
Whoosh!
She landed between the four fallen cultivators and the advancing elders, the impact sending a massive cloud of dust and grit billowing outwards in a perfect circle. The pressure radiating from her now perfectly matched the two old monsters, halting their advance in its tracks as the earth cracked beneath her boots. The entire battlefield seemed to hold its breath.