Internal Breath-forged arrows streaked like jets of comets.
Spearheading the charge, Lei Bao summoned his magic. Strands of electricity coiled around him as if he was a lightning rod as he raised a hand and fired a blast of lightning at the shining-white arrow.
Boom!
The glowing white arrow-like energy bolt easily defeated his lightning blast and pierced through his protective aura and pummeled into his chest with a dull but sonorous thud.
With a caterwauling scream, Lei Bao tumbled backward.
Bang!
Waves of winds and dust billowed furiously. Another energy-forged arrow exploded mere inches away from Long Ao’s chest and the blast tossed him into the air, shrieking in agony.
Having tasted the power of the arrows before, Yan Chong knew better; he quickly drew his greatsword and held it in front of himself like a shield.
Clang!
The arrow struck hard on the blade of the sword, eliciting angry, crackling sparks as the ring of steel on steel reverberated across the parade square. The brunt threw Yan Chong more than a dozen steps backward. He was able to remain on his feet, his arms throbbing with soreness, but the flagstones of the square were left worse for wear, for he smashed many of them when he staggered backward.
Lei Bao and Long Ao clambered to their feet, each rubbing their heavily-bruised chest now still throbbing with enough pain to keep their teeth gritted.
“Dammit, Yan!” Lei Bao glowered loudly.
They had finally realized that Yan Chong was only putting up a straight face just now while lying about the strength of the energy-forged arrow.
Yan Chong could only grin sheepishly in return. With the whole Palace now watching this contest, he only wanted to save some face.
“Heavens be damned, I don’t believe it!” hissed Lei Bao, producing his sword breaker. He activated it and stormed forward, and the weapon crackled with electricity.
Lifting his huge greatsword, Yan Chong followed at his heels.
Long Ao took out his octagonal bronze mirror and activated its magic. Peals of dragon roars echoed overhead the parade square and the silhouettes of eight golden dragons shimmered into appearance, swooping down at Long Shi.
Long Shi fired two more arrows in quick succession that swiftly vanished out of sight.
Bang! Bang!
Two loud bursts saw Yan Chong and Lei Bao crashing to the ground, both shaken and dazed.
But instead of retaliating against the silhouette of the golden dragons, Long Shi opted to evade and leaped to safety instead.
Boom! Boom!
All eight images in forms of long and scaly dragons of gold dove as one right into the spot where Long Shi had been standing on, and the eruption shook the earth and a long gaping crack split the parade square, leaving a huge crater in its wake.
As a native of Silver Dragonsville who grew up all his life worshipping the Dragon Deity Emperor Ao, Long Shi refrained from attacking the dragons to prevent showing disrespect. Hence he chose to employ evasive maneuvers instead.
But this caused Long Ao to misunderstand, thinking that the magic of his bronze mirror was working against Long Shi. He activated it again, readying himself to launch another attack.
Long Shi acted quickly, letting loose one arrow after another as quickly as he could pull the bowstring. Barrages of arrows made of energy, shining brightly with white luminescence, rained down on Long Ao, battering him in such relentless an onslaught that he crashed to the ground with his bronze mirror falling out of his grasp.
“Cough! Cough!”
All three captains of the squads of the Fire Dragon Palace writhed with pain, clutching at their contused chests, feeling their breaths racing unsteadily as they began coughing.
“One more time?” Yan Chong peered at Lei Bao.
Lei Bao swiveled his head in turn towards Long Ao, “How about you? Again?”
Long Ao stole a quick look around to see the eyes of the whole of the Palace now boring into them and growled, “We need to. It’d be shameful if we just give up now.”
“Me too. We’re being shot down even before we can barely touch him. What a disgrace!”
“We need a plan. That brat’s bow and arrows make him a powerful ranged threat and we can’t get close without painting a target on our own chests.”
“Yan’s right. How’s this, Lei Bao’s physical endurance is the highest among all three of us. He can help shield and get us closer to get back at that brat.”
Lei Bao glared at Long Ao, “And I have to eat all the bullets?!”
“Do you have any better ideas?” Yan Chong narrowed his eyes at him.
Lei Bao would have given anything to object to the plan but he could not. He just did not have any better ideas. “What makes you think getting closer will do the trick?” he grumbled, “Something tells me he’s more than meets the eye.”
“I’m sure it’ll do the trick. He’s like the sniper infantries in the army. They’re only good at long-range skirmishes and abysmally vulnerable in close-quarters combat,” said Long Ao confidently.
“Oh, all right!” muttered Lei Bao sourly, “But be quick at it. I can’t take more than a few hits.”
Yan Chong and Long Ao nodded profusely.
“ARGGHH!”
Lei Bao thundered, waving his sword breaker as he led at the front.
“COME! GIVE ME ALL YOU’VE GOT, YOU BRAT!”
Yan Chong and Long Ao split up, flanking around Long Shi as quickly as they could.
“Long Shi,” said Chu Xun suddenly, “Stop using your arrows.”
“Understood,” Long Shi put away his iron bow.
That filled Yan Chong and the others with joy and relief. Thinking that Chu Xun had grown soft on them, they thought Chu Xun was giving them a chance at victory!
Embolden and invigorated at what looked like their chance for victory, all three of them channeled their powers. Their auras burgeoned and they threw themselves in unison at Long Shi.
Boom!
Just when they thought victory was within grasp, a powerful and incredible burst of Internal Breath erupted from inside Long Shi.
The sudden eruption of Long Shi’s overwhelming powers defeated all three of them in one fell stroke, throwing them back like fallen leaves being swept by winds.
Everyone was flabbergasted.
The students and acolytes of the Palace all stared with bewilderment. “Are our captains all so weak?!”
“Eighth-grade Human King!?”
Yan Chong, Lei Bao, and Long Ao all uttered in unison with shock. Only when Long Shi sent forth the eruption of his powers, did they finally realize Long Shi’s true powers.
All three of them laid prone on the ground, pretending to be unconscious. They could not bear to stand up now and endure the stares by all of the Palace.
“All right, get up,” said Chu Xun when he strode over to the “dead carcasses”. “That’s your busted flush down the drains.”
With their ruse exposed, they got up, each looking more awkwardly embarrassed than another.
“What a disgrace,” Chu Xun scowled at them, “That’s about six hundred years old between the three of you, and yet you can’t even defeat Long Shi’s who’s barely half your age!”
“I’d be looking for a hole to bury myself inside if I’m in your shoes. You of all people have all the supplies you’ll ever need! And yet your powers hardly justify the benefits I’ve been showering upon you! Aren’t you ashamed of yourselves!?”
“If you refuse to admit defeat, feel free to pick again from their number.”
“Heavens, no, please, Master,” said Yan Chong, whose face turned as red as a tomato. Hanging his head with shame, “Please, no more, Master. I’m just so embarrassed.”
Lei Bao retrieved all his supplies and left them in a heap of more than several hundreds of magical herbs and shrubs on the ground
“Busted flush it is,” said Lei Bao sheepishly to Chu Xun, “I’m off into solitary training, and I shall not come out till I’ve achieved a breakthrough!”
On that note, he trotted off quickly.
“So am I! I won’t come out until I’ve ascended a new grade!” cried Long Ao, surrendering his supplies before he cantered off quickly too with his face covered in shame.
Yan Chong did the same and raced after them.
“New grade? Try Eighth-grade instead, you weaklings!” jeered Chu Xun at their backs, “How dare you try to slack off even when you’re making vows!”
Yan Chong and the others bolted away as if they had not heard a word. None of them could bear to vow to not leave solitary training before they reached Eighth-grade. They just lacked the patience for such an undertaking.
Chu Xun could only glare and sigh as the three captains slipped away. Yan Chong and the others had been doing good enough. They had managed to reach Fourth-grade since their First-grade a year or two ago and their progress would have been exemplary by usual standards.
But usual standards just won’t cut it. Not when Earth was still experiencing anomalies that were still ongoing everywhere. They needed some stimulation to always strive their utmost.
At last, Chu Xun turned around to look at the students and acolytes of the Palace. “All right, the show’s over! Your weakling captains have all gone off to solitary training, so see Yu Cheng if you need anything.”
He left the Silver Dragon Guard into the hands of Jade Rabbit and had her procure them some clothing.
He needed to see the Chief Official.
Knowing that he would be some time away from the capital, Chu Xun thought it best to settle the score about the ammunition he promised the Chief Official.
The commander-in-chief of Huaxia had long been waiting for him. Chu Xun’s arrival could not have been any more welcomed and it was all because of the ammunition.
Later that afternoon, Zhong Ren brought Chu Xun to their war factory.
Chu Xun erected an enchantment and stored more than hundreds of millions of trillion Reincarnation Lines inside it.
Freshly-stoned ammunition could easily be placed inside the enchantment and they would automatically be bewitched with Reincarnation Lines.
Even so, the erection of the enchantment took Chu Xun three days.
Imbued with Reincarnation Lines, the new ammunition could easily cause lethal damage to any Human King below Fifth-grade.
Chu Xun thought of bewitching some jade pendants too, so that they could become amulets to keep its bearer safe, but there was little he could do with hardly enough ancient jade pieces available. Ordinary jade pendants did not have enough strength to carry any spells.
The Chief Official personally named the new ammunition Reincarnation Rounds.
The production of this new ammunition would be rushed and shipped as quickly as possible to every garrison and detachment all over the country.
As a gesture of thanks, the Chief Official initially invited Chu Xun to a meal although the latter quickly declined. Knowing how miserly a person the Chief Official was, Chu Xun could still remember the last meal he was treated to: a couple of buns with some stir-fried vegetables.
…
Chu Xun traveled back to the Fire Dragon Palace and summoned Long Yi and the Silver Dragon Guard.
Donning combat apparel and fitted with light, flexible mail, Long Yi and his men now looked smart and magnificent.
“How do they look?” asked Jade Rabbit, looking visibly pleased with herself.
Chu Xun bobbed his head with tremendous approval. Stroking her hair, he said, “Good. Very good. Clothes maketh the man indeed.”
Chu Xun then summoned Yu Cheng and left the Palace in his charge.
“Are you going somewhere, Master?” asked the Lord of Healing.
Chu Xun nodded, “The Tianwu Sect is one of us. But their stronghold was destroyed and Wu Busi is missing. I need to find out what happened.”
The next morning at daybreak.
Chu Xun took Long Yi and his men with him. They left the Fire Dragon Palace and headed for Wujin Mountain of Pingshun.
They arrived at the city by evening.
It was here where Chu Xun first met Jing Hong, he reminisced.
But he did not stay; instead, they sped straight up Wujin Mountain.
The place was now a barren and desolate place fraught with death and despair since the stronghold of the Tianwu Sect had been overrun and conquered. Specks of dried blood mottled the rubbles and debris of the fallen stronghold, indicating that the siege of the Tianwu Sect and its eventual downfall must have been a bloody affair.
But no one knew what actually happened here and there was not even a trace of clue they could find.
Chu Xun and his men combed every inch of Wujin Mountain and found nothing. Whoever or whatever behind the invasion must have done thorough sanitized the area of any proofs or clues that might give them away.
“Damn, it’s as clean as a freshly-washed toilet,” cursed Chu Xun darkly under his breath.
Later that evening, they adjourned back to Pingshun where they found a hotel to stay the night.
Chu Xun sent them off to refresh themselves before regrouping at the cafeteria of the hotel.
If only he had brought Yan Chong, he mused sourly. Long Yi and his men knew nothing about normal lives and he had had a terrible time babysitting them.
Through the whole journey, he has had to manage everything from the most intricate detail to the most trivial, including making orders for their meals.
To top it off, he made the mistake of ordering steaks for them and he was now regretting it with a bitter frown. Now he would have to give them a walkthrough on using forks and knives.
If there was anything of consolation to Chu Xun the entire trip, it was that Long Yi and his men were all quick learners.
“Hey, Zhou. I heard you were there at the scene when the stronghold of the Tianwu Sect was overrun? Is that true?”
The voices of a few warriors sharing a chat caught Chu Xun’s attention.
Chu Xun followed the origin of the voice and saw it came from a table occupied by four warriors, all of whom were Fifth-grade Human Kings.
“That’s true. I was just nearby, hunting a tiger.”
And before the others could pepper him with questions, he embarked on a lengthy account of what happened on his own.
“I saw it with my own eyes. A bunch of hooded men, all cloaked in black, killing everyone that came into their paths.”
“Who could that be? I heard the stronghold was destroyed and no one survived.”
“No one knows. The Tianwu Sect is but only a minor order. The hooded men were not so powerful themselves; I reckon the leader’s only at Fourth-grade at most.”
“Shhh! Watch yourself, Zhou! The Tianwu Sect might be a small organization, but have you forgotten who their true benefactor is?”
“You’re right! I almost forgot about that. They’re one of the forces of Chu Mansion. The very same Chu Mansion that belonged to Chu Xun, the Devil. Well, he’s back now and I’m sure he’d come here to Wujin Mountain to find out what happened. We should keep this to ourselves. I’d be dead if word slips out. They say the Devil is a dangerous man of little words and if he gets wind of this, I’d die a painful death.”
The men steered their subject away from the massacre of Wujin Mountain and talked about something else instead.
