The Qi Arts Master Chapter 81
Seol Eom first loosed an arrow at each of the warriors scaling the side walls.
Thwip—!
Boom!
Due to the inner energy in his dantian that hadn't fully recovered, Seol Eom's arrows lacked their initial power. Still, they were more than enough to hurl the climbers from the battlements.
"Still not moving, huh..."
Seol Eom glanced at the Black Wind Corps, which remained utterly still.
"Everyone, fall back to the village!"
At Seol Eom's command, the Ice Palace warriors descended the walls in unison and retreated into the village with perfect discipline, ready for street fighting. Seol Eom himself leaped down from the watchtower and slipped into the shadows between the buildings.
A brief silence fell.
The enemy's assault on the walls quieted, then shifted entirely to the main gate. With no interference, the gate quickly splintered and buckled. It creaked open just a crack before finally shattering wide.
Enemies soon poured through. Warriors on foot, having dismounted to widen the breach, led the way, followed by the cavalry.
"Hoo."
Seol Eom took a short breath, steadily gathering his inner energy before focusing it on his arrow.
Wooong!
The ominous vibrations of qi gathered at the arrowhead. Drawing on his briefly recovered energy, Seol Eom fired at the main gate where the foes were flooding in. He followed with his last two arrows in rapid succession.
Screeeee—!
A ferocious whoosh cut the air, followed by a massive explosion.
"Argh!"
"Aaaack!"
"Take cover!"
Boom!
Some warriors tried to block Seol Eom's arrows with their swords, but they couldn't deflect shots infused with the subtleties of strong qi.
"Fire!"
The chaos didn't end there. At Seol Eom's order, Ice Palace warriors hidden throughout the buildings unleashed their final arrows like dying breaths. In an instant, the gate area became a hellscape.
As corpses of men and horses piled up before the gate and scattered around, the cavalry's mobility plummeted. The Demonic Cult warriors dismounted and scattered into nearby buildings, taking cover. True street fighting had begun.
The Ice Palace warriors darted nimbly between structures, striking and fading. Seol Eom, in a narrow alley, set aside his obstructing bow and met the enemy bare-handed.
"Die!"
Endless foes meant each Ice Palace warrior faced at least four or five without respite.
"Bring them down!"
Seol Eom commanded, toppling buildings. The other warriors joined in, collapsing structures together, sowing fresh chaos on the battlefield.
Rumble—
"Fall back!"
Having pre-weakened the buildings, they crumbled easily. Seol Eom and his warriors retreated slightly toward the inner citadel.
Arrow barrages, geographic maneuvering, and building collapses slowed the Demonic Cult warriors further. After a lull, they pressed on again. Seol Eom and the Ice Palace warriors repeated their tactic: isolate and destroy, then collapse more buildings.
Seol Eom smiled at the drawn-out street battle. It was steadily achieving their goal of buying time. The narrow gate prevented the horde from entering en masse; the terrain negated cavalry advantages; and without mounts, the foot soldiers were generally inferior in cultivation to the Ice Palace warriors. These factors made the situation possible.
The problem was that few buildings remained to topple, and the inner citadel loomed close. Moreover, despite the enemies reaching this far, there was no movement from the citadel—suggesting trouble there too.
'Maybe blocking a rear infiltration.'
Seol Eom's thoughts couldn't linger. The Black Wind Corps, tired of the stalemate, finally entered through the ruined gate.
As the black-clad warriors appeared, the struggling vanguard bowed their heads and cleared a path in unison. Their rigid hierarchy was palpable. So was the gap in cultivation.
Ignoring the imposingly advancing Black Wind leader at the center, even his close subordinates seemed at least at the pinnacle realm. Several exuded auras hinting at the supreme pinnacle.
They were surely the core forces that made the Black Wind Corps legendary.
"Hmmm..."
Seol Eom let out a low groan, pondering tactics in a scenario where they were outnumbered and outclassed.
Then the Black Wind leader's voice boomed across the ruined village.
"Called wolves, yet pulling some sly fox tricks."
North Sea Ice Palace Lord Seol Eom knew the Black Wind leader addressed him. He stepped out from behind his hiding building.
Before emerging, however, he sent a transmission ordering nearby warriors to retreat. Casualties from street fighting had whittled their numbers to fewer than forty. Each death pained him like losing a child—he'd trained and lived with them as family.
The Ice Palace Lord wanted to minimize further sacrifices. While he drew attention, the warriors could withdraw, and he'd escape to the citadel.
The revealed Ice Palace Lord was streaked with blood and dirt. His white fur cloak was filthy. The Black Wind leader regarded him coolly—no mockery, but eyes close to respect.
"Most martial artists are full of vanity. 'Hand-to-hand is shameful, swords supreme, hidden weapons cowardly, armor for cowards, bows weak. Process matters more than results. Forces beyond the Central Plains are ignorant barbarians.' They spout such nonsense."
Seol Eom listened quietly. Needing to stall, he had no reason to interrupt.
The Black Wind leader gazed at his beloved spear.
"All who dared say such things before me died."
He turned back to the Ice Palace Lord.
"In war, foolish notions have no place. Only life and death exist. The only method is killing—no room for beautiful processes. If hand-to-hand saves your life or slays the foe, do it. Right, Ice Palace Lord?"
The Ice Palace Lord bared his teeth in a grin.
"Heh. Never thought I'd meet another martial artist with such mad ideas. But you're right."
The Black Wind leader nodded in satisfaction.
"Weapons are the same. Use any kind or style—as long as you kill the enemy and survive."
"True enough."
The Ice Palace Lord nodded.
"And forces beyond the plains."
The Black Wind leader's voice hardened.
"Others dismiss them as ignoramuses too weak to matter for conquering the Central Plains. I don't. They're like cancer—leave them, and they'll eventually kill the host. Better to cut them out early."
Seol Eom realized why this war had come now, why the Black Wind leader brought such overwhelming force. And that their future, in these foes' eyes, was only death.
"Grateful you think us so important, but it's hardly welcome."
Seol Eom shot back coldly.
The corner of Black Wind leader Choe Yeo-un's perpetually icy lips twitched upward.
"Pity the Demonic Cult's grand scheme blind fools can't see this. That the North Sea Ice Palace—dismissed as barbarians—is no ignorant weakling, but true warriors who know life's war with death."
His eyes gleamed with thick killing intent.
"And that leaving you alive endangers our plans."
With those words, the Black Wind leader hurled his spear. His Black Wind Corps flung theirs in unison with mighty force.
Screeeeeeeee—!
"Damn it! Dodge!"
Seol Eom barely deflected the Black Wind leader's spear with his Ice White Divine Palm.
"Urk!"
Ignoring his bloodied hand from the recoil, Seol Eom scanned around.
Boom!
Clang!
"Gah!"
"Argh!"
Boom!
"Keurk!"
The North Sea Ice Palace Lord saw it: surrounding buildings half-destroyed by Black Wind spears. Like the shattered structures, the Ice Palace warriors who'd shielded him lay pierced and dead.
The Ice Palace Lord mourned his fallen with sad eyes. North Sea ice might be cold, but these family-like comrades' deaths weighed heavy.
He embraced his hot rage with icy calm. Freezing qi surged around him.
Whoooosh—
Sudden extreme chill swept through the breached gate, goading the Black Wind Corps and Demonic Cult warriors.
"Still had that much left in you? But it's reckless. Thought you knew war for once, yet not free from death."
The Black Wind leader coolly responded to the bloodshot-eyed Ice Palace Lord rampaging his energy.
"Still, that nature-dominating technique is top-class."
Chilling qi birthed frigid winds, then snow. Suddenly, fine sleet fell over the Ice Palace Lord.
"Father!"
Then Seol Hwa rushed from the citadel. She gaped at the abrupt sleet.
"Why are you here?"
Seol Hwa quickly assessed from her coldly furious father: annihilated Ice Palace warriors, the Black Wind Corps. She grasped the situation—and why enemy rear probes had suddenly stopped.
"Black Wind Corps..."
Seol Hwa groaned. Their collective presence up close exceeded imagination.
"Father, fall back to the citadel."
Seol Hwa restrained her father preparing his ultimate Ice White Divine Palm. His innate qi buildup was risky, but the Black Wind leader and Corps calmly awaiting it were worse. Father's desperate strike might fell lesser foes, but not them.
"Father! Buying time is the goal, right? Reinforcements are coming!"
Seol Eom sighed inwardly at his daughter's words. No reinforcements, dying warriors, his weary body—it bred doubt in the Hao Clan Lord's letter.
"...Daughter. They might not come. I'll aim for mutual destruction here. Take the villagers and flee if needed. If even that's impossible, you survive. Uphold North Sea's pride."
Seol Hwa scowled at her father readying his end.
"Don't talk weak, Father. North Sea wolves don't abandon family. Not just parents forsaking children."
Shing.
Seol Hwa stood beside him, drawing her sword.
"Hell, even in death, let's show how sharp our fangs are."
The Black Wind leader eyed her spirited resolve with interest, nodding.
"No bad seed from a good stock. Respect to a foe—I'll kill you all honorably. Black Wind Corps!"
"Black Wind Corps!"
At his call, three hundred roared in unison. The resonating inner energy boosted their morale, shaking the earth.
Rumble rumble rumble...
Feeling their signature aura, the Black Wind leader commanded.
"Annihilate them!"
The Corps charged with a shout at his order. Cavalry behind drew swords and followed.
The Blood Cult horsemen, once of the Blood Cult, now resonated with the Black Wind's overwhelming might and leadership. They bellowed like lifelong Demonic Cult warriors.
"Annihilate them all!"
"For demonic supremacy!"
"Raaaaah!"
Facing the mad roar and rapid advance, Seol Eom and Seol Hwa steeled for death.
At the Ice Palace Lord and princess's desperate last stand outside the inner palace, citadel warriors burst out to aid.
In the swirling sleet, silver and black auras clashed fiercely.
That was when it happened.
A golden flash plummeted from the sky between them at tremendous speed.
Rumble!
Thunder cracked after the blinding light registered.
Both charging formations halted at the sudden event.
And amid them stood a lone figure.