Chapter 418: Siege Quarrel!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
A short while later, a few silhouettes emerged from thin air. Their imposing aura was distinctly different from an ordinary soldier's attacking mode; it was obviously an operation from Ziyou's expert base. Yun Yang scoffed in derision and sprung up, his saber light dazzlingly brilliant – the Merciless Saber greeted the world!
With Yun Yang's current cultivation base, a slight flick of Saber Truth, the Destiny Blade could annihilate any cultivator below the level of heaven realm. As red, vibrant blood splashed, the three shadows grunted and fell; it was uncertain if they had died before or after hitting the ground.
Yun Yang spun like a whirlwind and executed Merciless Dao. Another two people grunted in pain and they were forced to an impasse, facing imminent death.
It was at this moment that the area turned eerily silent. The creaking sound of a machine being reeled could be heard amidst the stillness. Yun Yang's eyes squinted in focus, seeing a huge arrow flying towards him.
Siege Quarrel1!
A Siege Quarrel?
A Siege Quarrel was a special arrow used specifically in a city siege. The entire arrow was basically a mystical steel arrowhead attached to the trunk of a Steel Tree. To release this special quarrel, at least eight cultivators of the fourth peak or higher were needed to pull the bow and another two people to install the quarrel before the shooting could begin.
In other words, the strength of at least ten cultivators was needed, working in tandem to operate this quarrel's bow.
The Siege Quarrel's impact was massive. If it hit a city gate directly, it would leave a large hole behind. Even if it hit the city's thick defensive wall, it would bury itself halfway through, leaving half the quarrel outside so that the soldiers could use it as a stepping stone in attacking the city.
This quarrel's impact was truly indomitable!
Such a quarrel was never meant to target a single person – the target would certainly feel honored!
Facing the swiftly speeding Siege Quarrel, Yun Yang dared not meet it head on despite reaching the heaven realm in his cultivation base. He twisted away in an evasive manoeuvre, the Siege Quarrel barely passing him by. However, the friction it brought along with it slightly hindered Yun Yang's movement. In a split second, the two experts who were forced into an impasse managed to escape the saber energy's trap and came close to Yun Yang, hacking away furiously with their swords and sabers.
Yun Yang shifted continuously; as he avoided their fatal blows, he executed Destiny Blade's Saber Laic.
The two men who had just cheated death felt the glimmer of saber light again but could not see where the saber nor its wielder was. A chill snaked into their hearts as hopelessness crept into them once again. The sound of a piercing wind could be heard. Yun Yang snorted in anger, he had to retract his saber style despite only executing half of the technique. With a shift of his body, two more Siege Quarrels missed him once again.
Yun Yang had avoided a total of three Siege Quarrels, but the giant python beneath him was not as agile. It was unable to avoid all three consecutive arrows as they impaled themselves into the Moire Python's body.
The three wounds on the giant python could not be helped. Blood gushed out like rivers while the serpent hissed, twitching in agony.
Further away, Bolt Bows were everywhere.
Each Bolt Bow's angle was different, set up to cut off Yun Yang's escape from various directions.
With a holler, Yun Yang patted the python on the ground as a sign for it to shrink in size so he could treat it. However, the python was too severely injured; it could no longer shrink into its tiny size while innumerable people had charged forth from their hiding places.
The soldiers had been unable to defend themselves against the python's berserk ravage earlier, but now that it was in a critical state, the soldiers had lost their initial fear.
With a cry, Yun Yang sprung up, rushing out like an arrow. His feet kicked out continuously and the three Siege Quarrels were forcefully extracted from the python.
He then sent a big ball of air of vitality into the python's mouth. The Niello Bear that had recovered its combat power decimated Ziyou's soldiers with a growl, acting as the Moire Python's personal guard until the latter's injury had recovered from the air of vitality and it could shrink into the tiny snake it had been. They then sprinted forward to reunite with Yun Yang.
Yun Yang estimated in his mind that the Niello Bear and Moire Python would not be of a big help to him since the enemy had supplemented their battle with divine weapons like the Bolt Bows.
The best tactic was to unleash the beasts' combat power, letting them revert to their true size. Unfortunately, being gigantic meant that they were obvious targets that even a blind man could hit.
Even though Blackie and Little Green were top-level mystical beasts, they would be doomed if they were shot at a dozen times consecutively.
Therefore, he would first fight as the main combatant and see how it went from there.
The Siege Quarrels were still being fired continuously without a care for the cost, while the entire area was tightly packed with enemies and obstacles. It slowed down Yun Yang considerably compared to his previous advancement.
The Four Seasons Tower's experts, who were lurking among the crows, finally made their move. Time and time again, the saber light and sword light flashed like lightning bolts streaking through the sky.
These people were well aware of Yun Yang's capability, so they left with each strike like they were dipping their toes in the water, never getting themselves wet. It was this set of techniques that troubled Yun Yang the most.
He had thought that the remaining enemies would not be his match in individual combat after Jun Moyan had wiped out the Four Seasons Tower's four heaven realm ace cultivators. Even when the rest had attacked in a horde and besieged him, he had the confidence to defeat them all. However, it was a huge headache since they were always hidden in the crowd, leaving after a strike, opting to be safe than risking their lives.
This was what Yun Yang was most reluctant to face.
Now, the Empire of Ziyou's experts had also realized the advantages of such a tactic. With that epiphany, they followed suit.
While Yun Yang's saber light spread and cleared the surrounding area to push forward tens of feet, those experts had stayed concealed in the fresh wave of soldiers. They did not care for the lives of the ordinary army, merely concealing the traces behind these people to remain stealthy.
Despite being tasteless and forgoing the possibility of comradeship, it was indeed the most effective tactic that they could come up with.
Yun Yang grew more impatient. Old Dugu's lean frame was on his back. Yun Yang could almost feel Old Dugu's eyes open, watching everything unfold.
His emotions calmed down immediately, like gently falling snow.
Father is still waiting for me to bring him out and take him home. I can't be agitated, I can't be impatient. I can't lose my cool.
I can be enraged, I can vent, I can fight – but I can't lose my focus!
Another Siege Quarrel flew at him with unstoppable momentum. As Yun Yang avoided it, his eyes brightened.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh…
Those were the sounds of innumerable Deicide arrows being shot from the high wall on both sides. Yun Yang avoided them, moving rapidly like a ghost and advanced another five hundred feet.
Then, the unique noise that belonged to the Siege Quarrel could be heard again. This time, three quarrels were released simultaneously in a triangular pattern that securely inhibited Yun Yang's room to avoid the deadly missiles.
Yun Yang let out a long cry that expelled the agitation pooling in his chest; he bowed low and twirled wide – as the Siege Quarrel flew above his face, he stretched his hand out to tweak the tail of the arrow.
It was only a tweak, but the violent quake that resulted from the touch shook Yun Yang's fingers like they had been electrocuted.
In spite of the pain, it was worth it. The Siege Quarrel that Yun Yang had touched did not slow down; instead, it made an inexplicable about-turn. With a slap against its rear end, the Siege Quarrel flew back the way it came.
Yun Yang had leveraged upon his position to counter the attack, using the quarrel's own momentum as it had been released by the enemy!
Now, the Siege Quarrel flew even faster than when it came, catapulting back with a shrill cry.
Translator Note:
1Quarrel: a short, heavy square-headed arrow or bolt.