Chapter 99.2: Three Men, One City

Great Xia, at Duke Yuan Residence...

Despite being only sixteen years old, the king had already ruled Great Xia for four years. In all those years, he had worked tirelessly to balance the powers of the kingdom, along with gathering and training an army of cultivators. At last, he established the Song Battalion—led by General Yuan—and sent them to reclaim the City of No Return.

A hopeful light flickered across the young king's face. "Duke Yuan has not failed me. The flag of Great Xia has finally been raised upon the walls of the City of No Return."

The 108,000 cities weren’t merely cities, they were part of a vast array. Whenever the military flag of Great Xia was planted upon a city wall, the Dragon-Sealing Bell within the royal palace would toll nine times. If a flag fell, it would toll once.

Days ago, the Dragon-Sealing Bell had tolled nine times. The king had been so overjoyed that he ran barefoot toward the ancestral shrine. Now, the City of No Return had returned to Great Xia, a sign that the kingdom had been granted another twenty years of fortune.

For if a city remained lost for twenty years, Great Xia itself would perish and be absorbed into Great Sui. Though Great Sui also stood against the demon army, who wished to become their cannon fodder? Who wished to be bled dry for another's cause?

The king’s face glowed with excitement. Yet when his gaze fell upon General Yuan’s tearful wife, his joy slowly faded. Although the Great Xia’s flag fluttered proudly above the City of No Return, would their soldiers ever return home?

In just a few more days, the demon army would come for the city. How many more days could it possibly hold?

The young king clenched his fists. He couldn’t bear to let his people hear the toll that marked the fall of the City of No Return.

***

In the days that followed, Qi Yuan often saw Zhang Sheng and Chen Jue staggering about the ruined city, burying countless remains scattered through the streets. Their breaths grew weaker by the day, their bodies failing—yet some stubborn will kept them standing.

Chen Jue grumbled from atop the city wall, his tone half bitter, half mocking. "

Cough, cough

... if those damn demons don't show up soon, I'll die before they even get here."

Zhang Sheng gave a weary smile. "Before I die, I have to at least kill one of those demons. Otherwise, what's the point?"

As their strength waned, they stopped burying the dead. Instead, they sat beneath Great Xia's flag, guarding it in silence. They were saving what little life they had left.

No one knew how much time had passed before the earth began to tremble.

The two men on the wall straightened abruptly, their dull eyes suddenly alight. A yellow storm rose far in the distance. Within it were seven or eight hundred towering demons, charging forward like a herd of crazed war elephants. A lone demon could lay waste to an army of men. Hundreds heralded annihilation. The City of No Return was, by all reason, already lost.

However, Zhang Sheng was fearless. Raising his bowl, he shouted, "Drink with me!"

Chen Jue tilted his head back and drowned his wine. The bowl fell from his hand, shattering into seven or eight pieces upon the stone.

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"About time, you motherless bastards!" Chen Jue roared, his blood surging with defiance.

Zhang Sheng glanced toward Qi Yuan with regret. The young man had refused to leave, and now, there was no longer any chance of escape.

The demons drew near.

Chen Jue muttered, his voice breaking, "I just... want to go home. I left in such a hurry, I forgot to castrate the pig I gave to Widow Li next door..."

Meanwhile, Qi Yuan looked down from the battlements, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "So, you've finally come."

Standing tall upon the wall, he lifted his broken sword. He cried, loud and clear, "I am the Guardian of the City of No Return! Anyone who dares trespass must die!"

As his words echoed across the desert, the demon army surged forward without pause.

Qi Yuan's expression darkened. “None of you get what I’m saying,

huh?

You just love making me look bad.”

He tightened his grip on the sword and leaped from the wall. The thirty-foot height was no different from level ground to Qi Yuan.

Zhang Sheng and Chen Jue watched in awe, hearts pounding.

"If only we were cultivators..." Zhang Sheng swooned. "We'd jump down and fight beside him."

They were Unranked. A fall from that height would mean instant death.

"Go, Young Hero!" Zhang Sheng shouted hoarsely. "We'll follow you soon on the road to the underworld!"

Then he swayed, the cry seeming to drain the last of his strength.

"Three of us together, at least we won't be lonely!" Chen Jue bellowed in reply.

Qi Yuan heard them and sighed inwardly, saying softly, "Just sit there. Watch how I deal with these small fry."

Zhang Sheng forced his words. "To witness a young hero slay demons before we die... this life is not in vain."

Qi Yuan raised his sword. Surging before him was a tide of demons, roaring like thunder. The sky and earth were swallowed in yellow dust as they charged forward.

His long hair streamed behind him, sleeves snapping in the wind.

Heaven-Cleaving Sword!

The broken sword became divine. Although he was only level 49, the power of his techniques still lingered within him. Part of him wondered if he’d still awaken new abilities at the milestones.

Ten, thirty, fifty?

Still, he had no time for that. He cast all thought aside and threw himself into battle.

"Die!"

He leaped up, his sword descending like the wrath of heaven. The strike crashed down with a deafening roar, splitting the earth and sandstorm alike. Hundreds of demons were caught in the wave of sword qi, torn apart. They dissolved into blood and mist, then into nothingness.

With one strike, he killed ninety-seven demons.

Qi Yuan lowered his sword, his gaze cold. "Know your place, insects. Line up and die properly."

On the wall, Zhang Sheng and Chen Jue gaped in disbelief. Did he really wipe out nearly a hundred demons in one slash? This wasn’t the power of a mere guardian, but the might of an Overlord—one that’d be granted a marquisate in Great Xia!

They trembled in awe as Qi Yuan plunged into the demon army. His broken sword gleamed like the sharpest divine blade in the world. Every demon he passed fell with a single cut.

"Begone!"

From Heaven’s End to Earth’s End, his technique had been honed to perfection. No demon was spared. The demon army was far easier to defeat than the scattered demons from before. Where his sword flashed, demons fell.

He weaved through clouds of yellow dust, his figure a blur of motion and death. Alone, with a broken blade, he stood against the tide. He charged in and out of the demon army three times, leaving nothing but corpses and silence in his wake.

By dusk, the desert was still again.

Qi Yuan stood amid the ruins, his robes unsoiled and the broken sword steady in his grip. Only one demon remained—a wounded, bone-white one dragging itself through the sand.

"Don't run, face me properly," Qi Yuan called. Then, he tilted his head. "Oh, you're hurt? Don't want to fight anymore? Here, take a blood recovery pill.

Ah,

right. You're bones."

Sword light flashed and the last demon fell, cut clean through. Qi Yuan lifted his sword and blew gently across its edge, sending the final drops of blood scattering into the wind.

The desert wind swept past. He turned, standing alone beneath the fading sun. No lonely smoke rose on the horizon, no river shimmered beneath the round setting sun, only endless sands stretched into silence.