Chapter 428 - Doom of the Sect

The forces of the Orthodox Path had been divided into three with Fenglan, Zi Mo and Qingfeng led one of the detachments towards the center of the Ridge where the fighting was the fiercest. Xiao Chen was attacking from the air with the Sword of the Vermilion Bird, sending jets of flames wherever he could with the versatility of the sword’s attacks, with Qingluan and Ziyun’er guarding his rear.

The battle had barely begun and the defenders of the Sect were beaten back with countless of their Corpse Puppets destroyed or torched and just as many acolytes and disciples dead or wounded. The Great Immortal beheld the catastrophe now befalling the stronghold of his order with a pained grimace on his face. He bit the tip of his lips and spit some Essence Blood on his palm, using it to cast some strange spells. Strange, unnatural winds began to blow and innumerable wraiths materialized, dashing towards Xiao Chen, deflecting the bolts and jets of fire that he cast.

With the Flames of the Vermilion Bird taken care for now, the Great Immortal joined the fray, dealing a pair of death rays that immediately killed two mages of the Nascent Soul Realm. The defenders were quick to notice the presence of their Grand Elder that rekindled their hopes and they fought back with all the vehemence they could rouse.

Qingfeng was caught up in a duel with some other Elders of the Sect and all around him, mages from various schools and sects were trading hexes and spells against the defenders of the Sect while Xiao Chen was desperately trying to prevent the meddling of the company of wraiths now trying to thwart his control of the Flames. It was a bloody and also chaotic sight indeed.

With the help of the Great Immortal from Hell, the defenders managed to regain more ground. The battle had been waging for less than an hour, but the air around the Ridge was already thick and brackish with the stench of blood and death. The raiders began to realize the uplifting effect of the Great Immortal on the battlefield and more of them surrounded him and attacked him. In mere minutes, fresh gashes and cuts appeared all over him and half of his robes were already badly sodden with blood.

He screamed to his men a roaring “Retreat,” knowing that the defenders were already at their limits. Then he felt pain in his side; someone had driven a sword with a rapid thrust into his flank. With a hand reaching to his side to feel the wound, his hand becoming oleaginous with his own bodily fluid, his other hand slapped a powerful blow at his attacker, reducing him to dust.

At his command, the defenders retreated quickly but not without an ensuing onslaught by the forces of the Orthodox Path. Zuoqiu Yang advanced victoriously, never failing to strike down one enemy each time his spear bared its tip while the Autumn Water never failed to shed blood whenever it escaped its sheath.

The Great Immortal grimaced as he watched his men falling like flies. Unlike Wu Fa and Wu Tian who would have long fled to safety, he wheeled around and covered the rear, defending the withdrawal of his men to prevent more deaths at the expense of his own life.

He has been in service of the Sect since he was a boy. For centuries he had toiled and endured until he finally achieved his present powers and authority. The Corpse Refinery Sect was home to him and its members his family. The destruction of it was something he would never be able to permit much less comprehend. He would never be like Wu Fa and Wu Tian, both conniving cravens who wished only to regain their freedom and flee. Instead, he ever wished for was the great expansion of the Sect and its influence.

The Great Immortal dove into the midst of the slaughter and partially turned the tables through sheer will. Evading one magic bolt after another with the agility and grace of a panther, he swiftly struck down a handful of mages, all of them of the Nascent Soul Realm, and forced back Xiaoyue and the others.

The mob of mages earlier who were swarming on the Great Immortal saw this and lunged at him again like a snarling pack of wolves advancing upon a lion, pursuing the retreating Grand Elder until the forces of the Orthodox Path once again reached the plaza atop the Ridge. There, they were synchronously rejoined by the rest of the two detachment of mages. The clamor was enough to draw out both Elders Wu Fa and Wu Tian and the siege of the Ridge was once again revived.

Xiao Chen landed at once; using the Flames of the Southern Vermilion Bird took so great a toll on his True Energy that he could barely stand. Qingluan and Ziyun’er quickly held him, keeping him steady while channeling their powers into him.

“So this is what you all want? The destruction of the Corpse Refinery Sect at the cost of your own lives?” The Great Immortal roared from the other side of the plaza. He was wounded in more than a dozen places all over him, being sustained only by his unalloyed will and resolve to defend the Sect to his very last breath. But his injuries hardly impeded his ability to summon two Corpse Puppets, both with more than five centuries of Malicious Grudge, to him and the two monster lumbered vigilantly beside him.

Xiao Chen thrust the Sword at the Great Immortal and he bellowed, “Give me back Muxue!”

He had only just finished when shadows appeared out of nowhere and danced before them, finally stopping and materialized into the twelve Corpse Puppets of the former High Chieftains of the Sect, accompanied by the hundred-man strong army of Blood Corpses. The blanket of pale glow cast by the receding daybreak moon only made the sight of the monsters look more macabre and ghastly and the mages of the Orthodox Path, especially those who had before witness their savagery, instinctively pulled back several yards.

Incensed by the twelve abominations that exemplified the might of the Sect, Xiao Chen brandished the Sword and summoned forth the Flames again. Furious jets of flames wreathed around him and every Elder of the Sect present, including Wu Fa, Wu Tian and the rest of the other leaders of the infernal order defending the Ridge, could not believe their eyes. So this is how the invaders plow through our defenses with hardly any difficulty! They have the Flame of the Vermilion Bird! Is this man the bane that would spell our doom? Has the end come for the Corpse Refinery Sect?

The army of Blood Corpses stirred in the face of the Flames as if they could feel its destructive power, groaning with fear and trepidation. Xiao Chen let loose a growl and channeled more of his True Energy into the Sword, pointing it at the center of the army. Immediately, a column of flames screamed into the sky, setting almost half a dozen Blood Corpses ablaze.

The Flames devoured the Blood Corpses with the voracity and fervor of a starving beast and the putrid fetor of burning flesh filled the air. Some of the monsters suffered damages that rendered them immobile while some were reduced into slabs of charred meat, eliciting screams and gasps of shock and dismay from the defenders. These were Blood Corpses with strength equal to mages of the Nirvana Realm, but they were so helpless before the great strength of the Flames that they could hardly put up a fight.

The plaza fell into chaos again as the forces of the Orthodox Path, the confidence fueled by Xiao Chen’s heroics, charged immediately and more of the defenders fell. Xiao Chen took up into the air once more, destroying more Corpse Puppets with the Flames while Qingluan and her girls circled around him in a protective ring to keep him from harm.

Koo-chee hid himself in the underbrush of the forest nearby. His eyes blinked wide as it gazed upwards at Xiao Chen, moaning softly.

The battle waged on for another half-hour with more Corpse Puppets being decimated. To the Great Immortal, it was no longer a battle but rather, the merciless slaughter of his men. Unable to take any more casualties, he thundered to his colleagues and underlings, “RETREAT! RETREAT TO THE ROCK!”

The Rock of the Fallen Drake, the choke point of the Summit of Mystics. It was a mountain pass that served as the main gauntlet of defense for the Sect with its treacherous landscape and the numerous traps laid around the route to impede the advance of any invaders. Heeding the Great Immortal’s orders, the defenders immediately withdrew back to the Rock.

Xiao Chen descended back to land, his chest heaving for breath. Koo-chee scampered to him, moaning worriedly incessantly. Xiao Chen glared at him, reprimanding him slightly, “You should be careful for coming out here, Koo-chee!”

“Koo-chee! Koo-chee!” Koo-chee nodded profusely.

Xiao Chen watched the retreat of the defenders and he yelled at once at Perfected Immortal Qingchen, “We have to stop them! The Rock is too perilous for any assault and can be easily defended!”

The mage pushed forth. With his patience utterly chafed, Xiao Chen paid no heed to his depleting True Energy and caught up with the main force, dishing out bolts after bolts of the Flames with a pure vengeance. Another wave of inferno surged forth and destroyed a platoon-full of Corpse Puppets and as many defenders, reducing them to blackened crisps.

Songs and historical entries would be written of this day’s battle. The congealing yolk of the dawn sun could already be seen from afar and Xiao Chen was still up in the air, casting more Flames with the Sword with hardly an ounce of mercy and hesitation. All thanks to him, the battlefield was littered with more than thousands of slain defenders much to the delight of any carrion lurking around. Even the forces of the Orthodox Path cringed with fear in the wake of the destruction and carnage he had callously wrought.

At last, the defenders of the Sect retreated to the mouth of the tunnel which housed the Rock, led by the Great Immortal and the Elders Wu Fa and Wu Tian. The forces of the Sect had suffered casualties so great that none of the Blood Corpses remained. Even a few from the twelve Corpse Puppets of the former High Chieftains were too gravely wounded to continue fighting. Less than three hundred defenders out of the original number of two thousand survived Xiao Chen’s annihilation and the survivors were all trembling with fear, their morale as low as the chilly temperature in that altitude.

The Great Immortal beheld the losses that his beloved Sect had incurred this day. Thank the gods that we have set up defensive measures in here… He mused, or we’d not even have three hundred men to spare… By the gods, we’d hold on. Once the Divine Corpse awakens at noon, we’d defeat them all! Then we’d relocate our stronghold to someplace else and rebuilt the order, restoring it to its former glory! For thousands of years the Sect has endured, and it will once again weather whatever storm we have to face!

He sighed, walking towards the tunnel door, a massive slab of rock sealing the entrance. He rapped on the cold, hard stone slab, crying, “Open this door, Elder Long!”

He heard a short series of clangor coming from the other side, then the stone door began to groan and rumble as it climbed. The doorway was half-opened when suddenly he glimpsed the cold glimmer of a sword slashing at him. Caught by surprise, the Great Immortal could only duck to his side but it was hardly enough; with a sickening crunch, blood fountained from where his left arm used to be and he saw his limb lying helplessly on the ground in a puddle of blood.

The miserable throng of disciples and acolytes behind him could not be any more distraught. Elders Wu Fa and Wu Tian even leaped tens of yards away to the back, fearful of any more surprises. Just then, something sailed through the stony doorway and fell to the ground, rolling for several inches before it finally stopped and everyone saw what it was: the severed head of Elder Long with his eyes livid.

“W-who goes there! Who’s there!?” The Great Immortal yelled frantically with the agonizing pain on his torso the last thing on his mind. Dread began to grow in him as the truth dawned upon him finally. How did the forces of the Orthodox Path penetrate our defenses with such ease? How did they know how to evade the traps and snares that we’ve set up as if like the back of their hand?

From the rear a horde of mages appeared, all of them of the Orthodox Path. The main force of the invaders! We’re surrounded! The defenders thought with fear. More slaughter followed as the invaders cut down one after another defender with scarcely any scruples. Before long, only less than a hundred survivors remained.

Is this really the end for us and the Sect? The Great Immortal brooded, feeling nauseous and dizzy as he fully grasped the situation. The defenders were utterly surrounded in a ring of steel with the main force of the invasion shutting off their exit and the unknown assailant at the front! Realizing the dismal circumstances were beyond any salvaging, Wu Fa and Wu Tian grabbed at him and flew into the air, fleeing as quickly as they could with the twelve Corpse Puppets of the former High Chieftains shadowing their escape.

The Elders and Grand Elder were given privileges; magical marks that allowed them to travel directly to the Summit of Mystics without passing through the Rock of the Fallen Drake. The rest of the main force formed up the rear and the forces of the Orthodox Path made short work of the remaining disciples. At long last, Perfected Immortal went to the stone doorway and called, “Brother Mo Xuan, are you there?”

The sun had yet to climb, but the sky was already a pale blue in the dawn. From the other side of the stone doorway, a proud man, clad in fluttering robes of green, appeared and stepped into the light. Moxuan Zi of the Jade Qing Seven who was also the Shen Qing that Xiao Chen had earlier encountered during his infiltration. It was he who had worked from behind enemy lines, helping the forces of the Orthodox Path to traverse whatever traps and snares that the Corpse Refinery Sects had set up as defenses.

Moxuan Zi surveyed the crowd and his gaze stopped on Xiao Chen. He tapped a finger on his head twice, as if searching for a long-distant memory then he jabbed a finger at Xiao Chen, bursting into a fit of guffaws, bellowing sardonically in jest, “Where’s your brother Han Yu, Han Yun?”

Despite being caught up in the thick of a battle, Moxuan Zi still found time for banter and jests. Xiao Chen chuckled and bowed. “My respects to you, Senior Mo Xuan. My name is Xiao Chen.”

There was no need for him to continue doubting Moxuan Zi. Perfected Immortal Fenglan came by to join them, wearing a broad grin, “Long have I heard of your prowess in divination, Moxuan Zi. I see your reputation is not misplaced.”

“You are too kind,” Moxuan Zi replied humbly, smiling.

The invasion continued without further ado; the forces of the Orthodox Path passed through the Rock and went on pushing up towards the peak of the Summit of Mystics. With all the detachment rejoining as one, the main force trampled past whatever obstacles with hardly any snag. By the time the sky was fully bright, the mages of the Orthodox Path had reached a gorge just behind the Summit of Mystics. By then, only barely a dozen of Elders and a hundred of Ye Wuxin’s own students remained of the three thousand members of the Sect, with hardly any Corpse Puppets surviving. All they had left was the twelve mangled and damaged Corpse Puppets of the former High Chieftains.

But Xiao Chen had also exhausted himself so greatly until now that he was beginning to feel a sharp pain in his chest. Yu Yifeng was quick to realize his condition and quickly held him to keep him steady. He spied the one-armed Great Immortal watching from afar and yelled to him, “Do you still refuse to yield? Release my Junior Sister at once and we’d show you mercy!”

“And I’d be damned before a young whelp like you can make demands of me!” The Great Immortal sneered coldly with defiance.

Just then, four young women, all of them dressed in red, emerged from the mouth of the cave behind him. One of them said to him softly, “You are to hold off these people.”

Wu Fa and Wu Tian rubbed and flexed their fingers. They lunged forward, filled with the resolve to die defending the Sect. The rest of the Elders and disciples, with the twelve Corpse Puppets of the former High Chieftains, were already in battle formations, ready for the final showdown.

Another clash began without Xiao Chen; he ducked to a side to quickly recuperate, saving himself for the final battle while Qingluan and her sisters maintained a guarded perimeter around him. The clangor of battle prevailed for a couple of hours, ending finally with the Corpse Refinery Sect hanging on a mere thread; the Great Immortal was so terribly wounded that he was on the brink of death. Yet, he still valiantly protected the students, preventing them from harm.

Only seven or eight Elders remained, all of them led by Wu Fa and Wu Tian who were similarly carrying grievous wounds themselves. Only five of the Corpse Puppets of the former High Chieftains were still standing, staunchly preventing the cave from being disturbed while the rest of their kind had been completely destroyed in the skirmishes before.

Moxuan Zi grimaced suddenly. He felt Yin energies swirling around, rushing into the yawning mouth of the cave. Immediately, he called, “There’s a magical field here amassing Yin energies! We must destroy it!”

No one knew where the weakness of the magical field was. But the forces of the Orthodox Path laid waste to the entire land and inadvertently disrupted the flow of the mystic energies, effectively thwarting Red Sleeve’s plan. Barely a half-hour later, the temperature around the entire Ridge quickly plummeted and no one failed to notice the winds seemed to grow colder, sweeping across the entire gorge like an unstoppable tide and he could sense a terrible but yet mysterious and bizarre aura pouring from inside the cave.

Everyone stopped and the mages of the Orthodox Path all withdrew, bracing themselves for any unknown terrors that might spill out of the cave. Everything went quiet; an eerie silence broken only by a sudden litany of footfalls echoing from inside the cave, coming closer and closer as everyone tensed with their hairs standing on their back and their breaths hard and fast.

At the same time, Xiao Chen was at one corner, still grimacing with the sudden pain in his heart. The agony seemed only more excruciating as the sound of the footsteps grew closer. Then he saw it: a silhouette that materialized at the threshold of the entrance of the cave, a shadow so familiar yet so distant.