Volume One: The Dragon Rises from the Wilds Chapter Ninety-Seven: Better to Die Than Be Humiliated

Better to die than to be humiliated.

That was Tao Feng’s choice.

Nan Shan’s face darkened, and he was about to strike.

Who could have foreseen the sudden thunderous blast, like a bolt from heaven crashing to earth, shaking the whole mountain range into a faint tremor.

Nan Shan froze.

Tao Feng himself, the disciples of the Azure Marsh Sect present, and the many wandering martial men all stood dumbly in place, looking around in confusion.

Yet the sound had not faded before another roar rose up.

The rumbling rolled on like thunder from the sky, pealing again and again, near and far at once, impossible to tell its true source.

Nan Shan barked, “What is happening?”

The light of the array that shrouded the surroundings flickered faintly, then gradually grew translucent. Through it, one could see frantic figures moving outside, while clamorous shouts drifted in:

“The caves and lodgings have all been destroyed, and the woods are on fire. It seems to have been caused by thunder…”

“Hmph!”

Nan Shan snorted and snapped, “What nonsense about clear-sky thunderbolts? Someone must be meddling. Brother Bu, go deal with it!”

Bu Yi turned and left at once.

Nan Shan swept his gaze over the people present, murder in his eyes. “You are nothing but a rabble of roughnecks and ants. To be able to enter the immortal gate in this lifetime is already the greatest blessing. If any of you dare fail to know your place…” He turned toward Tao Feng below the steps and enunciated, word by word, “Kill. Without. Mercy.”

He meant to kill to establish his authority.

Tao Feng still stood straight and proud, fearless as ever, yet he looked to his companions; in their expressions there was a faint struggle, a wavering uncertainty.

The many martial men likewise did not wish to see blood spilled where they stood, and could only watch in anxious silence.

Yu Ye, meanwhile, was staring fixedly at every move Bu Yi made.

Bu Yi came this way, then stopped several zhang away, turned, and headed back out. His figure actually began to fade within the glow of the array.

Yu Ye had agonized for a long time, worried for a long time. When this moment finally came, he did not hesitate in the slightest. In an instant his body vanished from where he stood, while behind him a clatter rang out as blades and swords fell to the ground. In the space of a single breath, he was already at Bu Yi’s back. Bu Yi sensed danger and, taking it for an ambush, hurried forward; Yu Ye took advantage of the moment and burst out of the array in pursuit.

Zhong Quan, Zhong Yi, and the other brothers seized the moment to grab up swords and blades, shouting at the top of their lungs: “Better to die than to be humiliated! Kill!”

At once the blood of all present surged hot, and one after another they roared madly, “Better to die than to be humiliated! Kill!”

Tao Feng and the others could not help but steel their hearts and rush straight at Nan Shan.

Better to die than to be humiliated.

That was the choice of the Azure Marsh, and the choice of all gathered there.

Nan Shan had not anticipated this. He drove his cultivation to protect his body, reached out to summon his flying sword, and was about to punish this lot of ungrateful disciples of the Dao. Yet before he could even unleash the sword, more than thirty people swarmed him at once and tightly encircled him, while several streaks of sword-light slashed down upon his head...

At the same time, Bu Yi rushed out of the array, flying sword in hand, and spun around to cleave out a beam of sword-light. Yet there was no one behind him. Instead, the sword-light struck the array; light flared violently, the force rebounded, and the immense power drove him back several steps. He looked left and right, about to continue searching, when several muffled booms sounded and the ground beneath his feet shook once more.

Several hundred zhang away, pillars of black smoke rose in succession, as though houses were burning, or mountain woods were set alight.

Bu Yi raised his hand and sent out a streak of sword-light, then stepped on its edge and shot up into the air, swiftly climbing a hundred zhang.

From above, the scene all around was laid bare at a glance.

The Black Tortoise Pavilion and the mountain terrace before it were still shrouded by the glow of the array, with many cultivators and disciples encircling the area. On the ridge west of the pavilion lay two or three dozen corpses; the blood that flowed across the stones had dyed them red, vivid beneath the sunlight.

And several hundred zhang away, the houses and towers scattered across the summit had been swallowed entirely by fierce fire and thick smoke. The raging blaze had ignited the mountain’s grass and trees, spreading everywhere and beginning to sweep the slopes.

“Put out the fire!”

Bu Yi made an immediate decision and shouted once, then rode his sword toward the fiercest flames.

He knew very well that if the blaze consumed North Qi Mountain, the immortal sect would become a laughingstock. Only two cultivators answered his cry; the rest of the cultivators and disciples still remained at the Black Tortoise Pavilion. Perhaps in Nan Shan’s eyes, the array there must not be abandoned.

And the moment he departed, another explosion rang out.

A roar came from the cliff where the Black Tortoise Pavilion stood, and in an instant the earth shook, rocks flew, and dust billowed everywhere.

The cultivators and disciples guarding the array all changed color in terror and stumbled backward. Yet the array’s light flickered violently, crackled apart with a tearing sound, and the three-story Black Tortoise Pavilion suddenly collapsed, issuing another deafening crash.

The instant the pavilion fell, the stone pillars around it snapped one after another with sharp cracks. Immediately afterward, jars flew out of nowhere, fire oil splashed everywhere, and raging flames surged up. The wavering light of the array shattered at once.

Amid the sky-filled dust and firelight, two figures riding swords shot into the air. They were the two cultivators who had been hiding within the pavilion and controlling the array. At this point they had no choice but to abandon it and reveal themselves together.

And what emerged was not only the two Foundation Establishment cultivators, but also many martial men, as well as a group of disciples of the Dao who were locked in frantic struggle, fighting to the death.

“Kill!”

Six or seven hundred martial men, led by Zhong Quan and Zhong Yi, surged out from the mountain terrace like ferocious beasts breaking from the forest, unstoppable.

The sect disciples had no time to evade; in the blink of an eye they were swallowed by the angry crowd. Flesh and blood flew everywhere, and screams rose one after another. Faced with such a band of madmen prepared to die, even the cultivators present could only stare helplessly in shock.

Before the collapsed Black Tortoise Pavilion, the chaos was even worse.

More than thirty people had surrounded Nan Shan—some clutching his legs, some wrapping around his waist, some seizing his arms, some wildly hacking at him with swords—so that he could not keep his footing and could not break free in time, forced to rely solely on the force protecting his body. In his misery and rage, he shouted, “Kill these wretches for me!”

The two cultivators, having shot up into the air, were still in disbelief.

The great array had been carefully laid out. The Black Tortoise Pavilion, where its core lay, had been guarded by layer upon layer of protection. Who could have imagined that the cliff would fracture, the pavilion would collapse, and both the core and the foundation would be ruined, bringing the supposedly impregnable array to total ruin? This was by no means an accident; someone had been secretly interfering.

Still suspecting one another, the two heard Nan Shan’s cry and hastily dove down on their swords, each sending out a beam of sword-light with a sweep of the hand.

Tao Feng and more than a dozen disciples of the Dao had tangled Nan Shan up, and despite fists and kicks, and flying swords slashing and hacking, they still could not break through the protective force around him. His eyes red with fury, Tao Feng once again gripped his sword with both hands, poured out all his strength, and brought it down hard toward Nan Shan’s neck. Nan Shan’s right hand, the one holding the sword, had been firmly seized, and both his legs were trapped; he could not dodge at all, and could only brace his neck to meet the sword-light. With a dull thud, the strike rebounded and his neck was unharmed. He said bitterly, “What can you do to me? Just wait to die...”

Tao Feng’s short sword nearly flew from his grasp. Humiliated and enraged, he became even more frenzied, and once again swung his sword down regardless of everything, roaring, “If I die, so be it, only let there be no regret...”

With so many people unable to kill a single Foundation Establishment cultivator, the outcome could be imagined. Since escape from this calamity was impossible, they could only fight to the end!

The dozen or so other disciples of the Dao ringed the area. Their cultivation was even weaker, so they could not join the fight and could only shout support. Just as the crowd’s blood was surging hot, two fierce beams of sword-light descended from the sky. Everyone’s faces changed in terror, and despair seized them one and all.

One Foundation Establishment expert had already been more than they could handle; now two had joined the assault at once!

A bloody massacre was no longer avoidable.

Then suddenly there came a crack, and Nan Shan’s protective force collapsed. Tao Feng’s sword actually struck his shoulder, sending blood spraying at once. Then several others in succession stabbed his arm, thigh, and abdomen, and he cried out in agony again and again.

“Ha ha!”

Yet Tao Feng laughed aloud.

Once Nan Shan’s protective force had been broken, killing him was no longer difficult. And for the Azure Marsh disciples who had suffered so much, slaying a Foundation Establishment expert was nothing short of defying the heavens—a feat enough to wash away old disgrace in one stroke!

Tao Feng was just about to rush toward Nan Shan when a fierce force suddenly struck. Before he could dodge, he was blasted flying with a bang.

Someone urgently shouted, “If you don’t want to die, run!”

At the same time, two beams of sword-light came screaming in. With two soft thuds, blood flashed, and two disciples of the Dao were already dead on the spot.

Terrified beyond endurance, the crowd turned and fled.

At last Nan Shan broke free from the entanglement. He stood swaying, his body covered in blood and a sight too miserable to behold. Looking at the scattering crowd, he grimly summoned the flying sword in his hand. With a flash of light, the sword plunged with a hiss into the back of one disciple of the Dao’s heart, yet did not slow, carrying the still-breathing man up into the air.

“Heh heh!”

Nan Shan let out a cruel laugh and pointed with his hand.

The disciple of the Dao screamed as he fell from the cliff, while the sword-light swept in an arc through the crowd, cutting across them. Flesh and blood flew everywhere in an instant, and one after another disciples of the Dao and wandering martial men became corpses.

Though gravely wounded, and though his protective force could no longer hold, his cultivation was still enough to sustain him. He intended to kill every last one of the thirty-two disciples of the Azure Marsh Sect.

Just as he was slaughtering with abandon, he suddenly sensed an even fiercer killing intent behind him.

Nan Shan was abruptly enlightened.

He knew that behind those disciples of the Dao lurked another person, though he had had no time to care. He had never imagined that the other party had not fled at all, but had been hiding behind him amid the chaos all along.

With two soft thrusts, a blood hole burst open in his abdomen and another in the center of his brow.

He only felt a chill sweep through his whole body. His life force withdrew in an instant, his soul grew faint and distant, as though it might depart at any moment. Then he saw a blurred figure arrive before him, eagerly snatching at the ring on his finger. He felt somewhat angry, somewhat helpless, somewhat desolate, and a little unwilling.

“You are...”

“Yu Ye of Yu Family Village!”

“Heh... I never imagined I would die at the hands of some tiny Qi Refinement wretch...”

“Mm, even I could hardly have imagined it. You should count yourself fortunate—I have used the Seven Slaughter Sword Qi four times in all...”

“Sword qi... Seven Slaughter...”

Nan Shan closed his eyes and slowly collapsed to the ground. His soul, together with all his confusion, drifted away. The once proud Foundation Establishment expert had first been besieged by more than thirty disciples of the Dao, then, in utter bewilderment, been assassinated from the shadows. It was a truly stifling death.

Yet the chaos still raged, and the killing did not cease.

The various martial groups, led by Zhong Quan and Zhong Yi, were the first to burst out from the mountain terrace and flood downhill in a swarm. The cultivators and sect disciples could not stop them at all, and could only pursue from behind and intercept them. Yet more than half of the six or seven hundred people had already escaped, while the rest scattered in all directions. With the flames and smoke blocking the way, they became even harder to pursue, and even harder to intercept.

And by the time Tao Feng and the others fled, it was already too late.

High above, the two Foundation Establishment cultivators fixed their gaze fiercely on those disciples of the Dao, while four or five Qi Refinement cultivators continued to cut them off and kill them. Tao Feng’s companions grew fewer and fewer, and their situation grew ever more perilous...