Chapter 11: Different Paths Lead to Different Outcomes – Section 11: The Power of the Primordial Soul Race (Part I)

Section 11: The Power of the Original Spirit Clan (Part I)

His five hundred soldiers retreated upon his command, leaving Bu Jingxian alone before the mountain path, waiting for the red-armored enemy forces that blanketed the landscape to charge.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" The enemy’s horns blared. The charging soldiers trampled the earth until it shook, swarming toward Bu Jingxian.

Archers on the camp walls unleashed a volley of bolts, raining down across the sky and piercing through the red-armored ranks.

Bu Jingxian fought with fists and feet, toppling and overturning every cavalryman that charged at him. Occasionally, a spear would pierce his skin, drawing blood. This shocked him; he had not expected such formidable combat prowess and high-quality equipment from these soldiers, and he dared not be the least bit careless.

Bu Jingxian gave his all, refusing to let the enemy form an orderly encirclement. He snatched two spears, using them to impale the charging attackers and block the momentum of those behind. As the enemy pressed in, he discarded the spears, drew the Seven-Star Longyuan from his waist, and began cleaving the oncoming soldiers in two, row by row, denying them any chance to close in.

For a time, between his spear strikes and sword slashes, the dense mass of soldiers at the mountain path was completely blocked; they could not break through his solitary defense.

Behind him, his soldiers switched to longbows, helping to pick off the enemy, while the heavy crossbows on the city walls fired incessantly, arrows flying like locusts and claiming hundreds of lives in an instant.

During his battles with the Black Wolf Clan, Bu Jingxian had long ago abandoned the techniques he had imitated back at North Spirit Mountain. Those imitated moves were useless against formidable foes, and even when used to bully the weak, they consumed far too much stamina compared to the direct, brutal efficiency of relying on his own physical prowess.

Now, every enemy before him possessed a stamina level of a thousand, and they wielded divine weapons capable of terrifying lethality. He had to calculate the situation precisely, fighting with courage while minimizing injury. He could no longer afford to let the enemy strike him at will; his ability to sustain this battle relied on the extraordinary stamina recovery speed granted by the Soul Manual and his "Hundred Battles" talent.

In the heat of the fierce battle, he lost all sense of time. He felt as though the enemy were infinite. His entire body had been slashed by enemy weapons, drenched time and again in their blood. The sky seemed to shift from light to darkness, and back to light again.

On the plains below the mountain path, four massive, iron-reinforced siege towers slowly approached.

If those towers reached the mountain path, even if he could use his strength to halt their progress, countless enemies would leap from them, bypassing his blockade. If the camp gate behind him were breached, victory would be impossible.

"Hold them off for a moment! I am going to destroy those towers!"

The five hundred soldiers, bowstrings drawn, immediately pulled their long blades and rushed forward to take his place.

Seeing that the siege towers were still some distance away and that a frontal assault would be difficult to sustain for long, Bu Jingxian hurried to the city wall and ordered the soldiers to launch him using a trebuchet.

He soared through the air, covering a hundred zhang before crashing to the ground at high speed.

The immense shockwave sent his blood surging, and his feet shattered the earth upon landing, yet his bones remained unbroken. Before the soldiers dazed by the impact could swarm him, he wielded his sword and spear, charging toward the nearest siege tower eight zhang away.

The red-armored enemy was as dense as ants, yet they could not come within a chi of him. Where his spear passed, helmets and skulls were pierced with ease; where his sword struck, everything in its path was severed without resistance. The Seven-Star Longyuan was not as heavy as the King’s Sword, but it was far sharper. With a divine weapon in hand, Bu Jingxian realized how effortless killing could be.

The blades used by these soldiers were already incredible treasures, capable of increasing lethality fivefold, but against the ancient divine weapon Seven-Star Longyuan, they were nothing. Not one could withstand the blade without snapping. With his strength combined with the sharpness of the Seven-Star Longyuan, he shattered the iron axles of the siege towers with a single strike.

With all eight wheels of the siege towers destroyed, the heavy frames sank into the mud, posing no further threat.

Bu Jingxian was like a tiger, cutting down men like grass. He charged through the enemy formation alone, destroying the axles of all four siege towers.

As he turned to retreat, four war chariots emerged from the pursuing enemy ranks, pulled by four swift horses. Eight soldiers stood on the chariots, wielding long spears and bows, firing rapid, relentless volleys from afar. The arrowheads were terrifyingly sharp, piercing deep into Bu Jingxian's back. When they closed in, the soldiers used the momentum of the charging chariots to thrust their spears; as sixteen spears struck from left and right, Bu Jingxian found himself barely able to parry.

Bu Jingxian rolled to avoid the spear strikes, kicked an iron chariot that was rushing over him, sending it flying into the sky, and quickly scrambled to his feet to kick another chariot over. As he rolled, the arrows embedded in his back snapped, driving the heads deeper into his flesh. He severed the ropes of the horses pulling the chariot, leaped onto the beast, and rode low as he fought his way back to the mountain path.

On the way, he struck his own chest, using the force of his palm to vibrate the arrowheads out of his back. His wounds healed rapidly, returning to normal in an instant.

The chariots could not catch the swift horse, and large groups of infantry rushed to intercept him. Bu Jingxian fought with spear and sword, charging all the way back to the mountain path. Seeing the path blocked by the enemy, he knew his horse would be speared to death if he tried to ride through. He made a split-second decision to use the horse's momentum to leap into the air. As he landed, the enemy thrust their spears, but he swatted them away and used the Seven-Star Longyuan to clear a path, charging back onto the mountain path in one breath.

The five hundred black-armored soldiers had been fighting for over an hour, yet they had suffered only a hundred casualties.

Seeing him return, they retreated in an orderly fashion, transferring the pressure of the defense back to him and returning to their bows to pick off the enemy.

Thus, it became Bu Jingxian’s solitary battle once more. He fought until the sky turned dark again. Having suffered numerous wounds, his blood loss was significant, and his stamina recovery speed dropped sharply, gradually failing to keep up with his consumption. Finally, when he was being stabbed by a flurry of enemy blades, he triggered his spiritual energy. In a flash of light, all enemies within a chi were blasted to death.

His stamina instantly returned to its peak state, but he knew that the blood he had lost could not be replenished without rest; the disadvantage of his lowered stamina recovery was an irreversible reality. He was forced to adjust his tactics, no longer killing recklessly. He discarded his spear and seized a long blade to parry the enemy's attacks, avoiding further injury.

Since leaving North Spirit Mountain, he had fought many battles alone, but no soldier had ever been able to wound him, nor had he faced such vast numbers. Thus, he had always charged headlong without considering defense. However, he had studied the sword diligently at North Spirit Mountain. Now, he spun the Seven-Star Longyuan into a flurry of sword flowers; no matter how the enemy thrust their spears, they could not break through his sword net, and any weapon that touched the light of the Seven-Star Longyuan shattered instantly.

While he was no longer easily wounded, his kill count dropped. He relied entirely on the volleys of arrows from the camp behind him.

The longer they fought, the more skilled Bu Jingxian became with his sword. The enemy, unable to break through, would periodically retreat to send in cavalry or chariots, or rain down arrows. Yet, under his divine strength, the cavalry and chariots were useless; horses and carts were overturned with a single sweep, and no matter how persistent the arrow volleys were, they could not breach his sword net.

When the enemy charged in desperation, he used his divine strength to easily push back the masses, preventing them from forming a cohesive attack.

They fought like this for three days. The enemy had lost countless men to the arrows, yet they did not retreat. Bu Jingxian was so hungry his stamina was failing, yet the enemy seemed to know no fatigue.

Just as his support became increasingly difficult, the scene before his eyes suddenly turned pitch black.

When he could see again, he was back at the base of Prayer Cliff.

There was no one around, yet he was covered in blood, still clutching the Seven-Star Longyuan, and his body remained exhausted from the long, intense battle just moments before. He let out a long breath, his taut nerves gradually relaxing, and he slowly lay down on the ground, gasping for air.

After a while, he remembered his cultivation of the Bone-Cleansing Sutra. He hurriedly used his Divine Eye to inspect himself, discovering that the colorful light on his meridians was still there, and let out a sigh of relief. Then he noticed a brilliant red flame burning on his forehead and realized it must be his second talent, feeling a sense of joy and gratitude.

"Many thanks to the Ancestral Father and the英魂 of our path for their protection from the void."

"You had better not be thanking the wrong person."

Lady Li descended to the ground, laughing, "I didn't tell you yesterday, but your 'Hundred Battles' talent would never have vanished. It is because you are under the protection of the Black Dragon Soul."

"The Black Dragon Soul?"

"When any profound martial art is cultivated to a certain level, the power manifests as a soul. When your master's martial arts were crippled, the Black Dragon Soul born from his cultivation of the Soul Manual remained. You cannot wield it yet; you only receive its protection at certain times. In time, when your Soul Manual reaches a profound level, you will save much time and energy in soul cultivation compared to others. Of course, martial artists without a master's guidance might never even know what the 'soul' of their internal cultivation is."

Lady Li finished and asked him, "Do you have your second talent?"

"There is a mass of brilliant red fire on my forehead."

"Good fortune, indeed. That is the 'Undying' talent. It increases stamina recovery speed tenfold and resistance to damage by twofold. It truly suits the 'Hundred Battles' and the Soul Manual. However—"

"It seems Lady Li does not believe this is the best result?"

"Of course. The Soul Manual has a major flaw that can only be compensated for by talent. The best result would have been the 'Swift Wind' talent; that would have covered your shortcomings."

Although Bu Jingxian did not know the characteristics of the "Swift Wind" talent, he knew the greatest weakness of the Soul Manual was that it could not cultivate any techniques, nor could he learn light-body skills. In other words, he lacked the ability to chase down enemies or flee. When facing high-level masters, he could easily be exploited by their superior mobility.

"There is a heaven's will in all things. To possess two talents is a fortune I never dared to dream of."

"Contentment is a virtue. Go up first. That subordinate of yours, Zhao Ji, refuses to take orders without seeing you; she is truly loyal."

After Lady Li brought him up the cliff, Bu Jingxian saw that Zhao Ji was indeed still in Lady Li's courtyard. Knowing she was worried and could not trust a stranger's message, he felt a sense of helplessness, but it was precisely her loyalty and caution that made him trust her to reassure Baiyue.

Only after hearing his personal instructions did Zhao Ji apologize to Lady Li and take the copy to return to the Sunset Sect.

"It will take her at least a month to go and return. What are your plans?"

Bu Jingxian saw Lady Li packing her things, seemingly preparing to leave, and asked quickly, "Is Lady Li leaving?"

"Now that the documents have been obtained, there is no reason to remain. There are still a few other known treasure locations to seek. The documents from the Divine Soul Sect's treasury are very valuable; I believe many historical mysteries will be solved before long."

Bu Jingxian considered this, then said, "Lady Li, could you help me awaken the power of the Original Spirit Clan before you go?"

"Do you really expect me to take you to a great height and drop you to the ground?" Lady Li asked, utterly baffled.