Martial Cultivator

With Yu Xiyi engaged in a life-and-death battle with Autumn in the sky, the Dean was able to return to the top of the city wall, but after only catching his breath briefly, this Confucian Saint had no choice but to rejoin the battlefield, separating the great demons that were besieging Liu Banbi.

Of his seventy-two disciples, not many remained alive now, could he really just stand by and watch those before him die here?

However, with the Dean joining the battle, Liu Banbi’s pressure was indeed greatly reduced. This young sword immortal who was only a hair’s breadth away from the great sword immortal realm, would almost certainly have died at Pine Pavilion Pass if not for the Dean’s intervention.

With the Dean present, Liu Banbi forced back a great demon in front of him with a single sword strike, finally able to stretch his limbs. The young sword immortal smiled, raised his brows, and said, “Alright, let me see, who’s going to die first?”

Sword intent flickered within his eyes as he looked at one of the great demons present, causing that demon’s entire body to turn cold.

The matter of attacking the city had long been thoroughly prepared. Scouts had gathered intelligence and learned of the situation here, and with the demon princess Autumn personally overseeing the battle, it should have been a foolproof plan. But who could have expected that a great sword immortal like Yu Xiyi would suddenly appear out of nowhere?

With his arrival on the battlefield, he had cleanly and decisively slain a great demon at the very start, causing the situation here to undergo a subtle shift.

After all, the human side had gone from having only one cultivator at the end of Nepenthe to now having two.

What that difference meant was something everyone understood clearly.

Even if Autumn’s combat strength was astonishing and she could eventually kill Yu Xiyi, that would still take time. By the time her battle concluded, most of the demon race’s top powerhouses here would likely already be dead.

This was a reality no one could avoid.

A shadow fell over the hearts of the great demons.

Like a dark cloud, it gradually gathered within them.

But at this moment, the commander of the demon army outside the city, Liu Xiang, had not ordered a retreat. If they tried to flee the battlefield, they would be branded as deserters. Even a great demon at the Nepenthe realm would not meet a good end if labeled as such.

On the battlefield, it was always like this. No matter how great one’s abilities, once one disobeyed military orders, they could be executed without question.

Although the demon race differed from human armies in many ways, in this regard they were the same. In other words, without this, the demon race would likely not possess such formidable combat strength.

Since ancient times, it had always been so, without strict discipline, an army’s combat power could not be maintained.

In truth, Liu Xiang was also in a difficult position at this moment. The battle atop the city wall had faltered, making the assault even more difficult. As he watched the effort to scale the walls turn into a piecemeal tactic, Liu Xiang was already somewhat inclined to withdraw.

But the princess was still locked in fierce battle within the cloud sea, and the woman on the city wall was within reach, Liu Xiang found it hard to make a decision.

“General, if we don’t retreat, we’ll have to commit the entire army. Otherwise, if this continues, we’ll be expended till we die.”

A demon deputy general, his face smeared with blood, spoke with some urgency, but more than anything, he was confused: “It seems the Great Liang frontier army has upgraded their weapons. Their lethality is far greater than before. Even the flesh of the Giant Elephant clan can’t withstand more than a few strikes before being pierced. This never happened in the past!”

Liu Xiang looked at the deputy general and nodded. As the commander of the army, he had eyes on all sides and could clearly see the situation on the battlefield. The Great Liang soldiers atop the city walls were still wielding the same swords as before, but each strike to pierce armor was now much easier than it had been previously.

Merely piercing armor wouldn’t be a huge issue, since the demon race’s forging techniques were generally ordinary. Over the years, the soldiers hadn’t relied solely on armor in battle. In fact, their armor was sometimes even less durable than their own flesh. The Giant Elephant clan, for instance, was naturally thick-skinned and tough. Without seven or eight soldiers working together, ordinary soldiers could hardly injure them.

But now, the sabers and swords in the hands of the Great Liang border army were clearly superior to before. With just a few strikes, their soldiers could tear through the flesh of the demon soldiers.

Liu Xiang narrowed his eyes. What the High Priest had said before, many demons had still not taken seriously until now. But after real close combat, it was clear they had spoken the truth.

The current Great Liang was the weakest it had ever been, but each day, it would grow stronger and become more difficult to contend with.

“Let the army charge once more. Since they’ve come, at least we have to kill that woman.”

Liu Xiang made a decision very quickly. As the main commander, he had always been decisive and knew well that hesitation on the battlefield inevitably harmed the army.

The deputy general wasted no words. After clasping his fists, he went to organize the army for a full-strength charge. Whether this attempt succeeded or failed would determine the course of the battle.

......

......

Once again, the demon army surged against the city walls like a tide, while countless arrows from the walls shot in unison to resist the assault.

However, as the demons increased the number of attackers, in a very short time, Pine Pavilion Pass began to tremble under the assault. Amidst the clamor of battle, the demons’ determination was palpable. Their bloodlust had been fully awakened; their ferocity in combat now far surpassed before.

Liu Xiang nodded in satisfaction. At this rate, it would only be a matter of time before Pine Pavilion Pass fell.

But at that moment, Liu Xiang suddenly looked up. In the sky, countless sword lights appeared in the distance, accompanied by innumerable sword-singing sounds.

A dense group of sword cultivators had arrived on the battlefield at this critical moment.

Seeing this, Liu Xiang sighed and waved his hand. “Retreat. We can’t take it.”

Earlier, victory had seemed within reach, but with this group of sword cultivators appearing now, the battlefield was destined to be reversed. Sword cultivators among human cultivators were the hardest to deal with. On the plains, with proper army coordination, it might have been possible to grind down a hundred of them. But with over a hundred sword cultivators defending the city walls, holding the city by themselves, it was no longer simple.

To continue the siege now would require the demon army to have a significant number of additional strong fighters.

Unfortunately, in this assault on Pine Pavilion Pass, Liu Xiang had not brought that many demon powerhouses. In fact, before setting out, even he had not expected there to be so many sword cultivators at Pine Pavilion Pass.

That deputy general gritted his teeth. Watching the demon soldiers who had finally managed to climb onto the city wall be cut apart by the arriving sword cultivators and fall, his eyes immediately showed several traces of helplessness.

As he issued the command, the demon army began to slowly withdraw. The long, echoing sound of horns rang out continuously. The bloodlust in the eyes of the demon soldiers faded, and many regained clarity, beginning their retreat.

On the city wall, half of the great demons had already fallen. The remaining three broke free from the battlefield. One of them moved a bit slower and ended up taking a strike from Liu Banbi. That great demon turned back with a furious glare. Liu Banbi himself was already heavily injured, but he still sneered, “Come on?”

In the end, that great demon did not dare to stay, instead turning into a mass of dense demonic qi and leaving.

The great battle had begun ordinarily, and it ended just as ordinarily.

The soldiers on the city wall began to clean up the battlefield. Xie Nandu stood on the wall with a pale face, looking up at the sky. The battle within the sea of clouds was also nearing its end.

Autumn gave up the intention of continuing the fierce battle here and retreated toward the distant sky.

Yu Xiyi controlled hundreds and thousands of swords to pursue Autumn, but in the end they were all knocked down with a wave of her sleeve. Only then did Yu Xiyi turn and land on the city wall, saying to himself, “Ran pretty fast. Otherwise, she would’ve died under Your Father’s sword.”

Though it sounded like he was talking to himself, in truth Yu Xiyi’s voice was not quiet.

The academy dean turned his head away, too lazy to pay attention to this seemingly foolish junior.

But Liu Banbi, played along very well and laughed, “Indeed. If not for Great Sword Immortal Yu showing mercy, that demon princess would have surely died on the city wall today.”

Yu Xiyi scratched his head in embarrassment. “Senior Liu, it was just in jest...”

Before he could finish speaking, this great sword immortal lost his footing and spat out a large mouthful of blood.

”This...”

Liu Banbi was stunned.

The atmosphere suddenly became a bit awkward.

Yu Xiyi wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth as if no one else were around, then waved his hand and said, “Haha, minor injury, minor injury!”

Liu Banbi held back his laughter and, giving him face, turned to look at Xie Nandu and asked, “Are we just going to let them leave like this?”

Xie Nandu shook her head and said calmly, “I already said it, we’re going to swallow them whole. They won’t be able to leave.”