M49S Vol 1 Chapter 14. Cultivators Joined Forces

“Brother Wang! The beasts are rioting again!”

A startled cry shattered the brief peace of the night. It came from Tu Youqiong, who had been standing guard. He leapt from the treetop and rushed straight toward Wang Zi’an, waking everyone in the makeshift camp within seconds.

Moments later, all of them had climbed up into the trees. Staring out at the distant valley, mouths agape, they were struck speechless by what they saw.

In the darkness, the surge of beasts resembled a tide of black water, wave after wave pouring into the valley and charging uphill. Amid the flashes of blades and arcs of sword qi, the cultivators looked like mere fireflies flickering against the night. They seemed insignificant, but each time the beast tide collided with them, it unleashed a force that shook the heavens.

It was now the third watch, with still an hour left before dawn.

Wang Zi’an looked up. The sky was clear, with only a few stars beside the bright moon. No sign of impending rain. That was a good omen.

He tightened his grip on his sword, thoughts flashing rapidly through his mind. Before long, the same familiar resolve that Tu Youqiong knew all too well had settled once more in his gaze.

“Youqiong.” Wang Zi’an’s eyes were fixed on a faint glimmer of swordlight up the mountain. If his guess was right, that had to be Chen Boyan.

“I’m here, Brother Wang,” Tu Youqiong responded, already standing behind him.

“Take to the skies on your sword right now and deliver a message to the mountaintop. Tell them about our encirclement plan. Your Gushan Sword’s movement technique and sword-riding skill are second to none unmatched among the orthodox sects. This task suits you best.”

Wang Zi’an turned to him and laid a heavy hand on his shoulder, voice low and steady. “But be careful. Winged beasts crowd the skies. You’ll be alone out there.”

“Don’t worry, Brother Wang. I’ll do it.” Tu Youqiong’s eyes were bright with a mix of excitement and caution, stirred by the hot-blooded fervor of youth.

Wang Zi’an nodded, then turned to face the two or three dozen scattered cultivators he had managed to rally. Hands clasped, he addressed them solemnly.

“Everyone, the situation has changed. We’ll have to act ahead of schedule. If you’re willing to place your trust in me, follow me into the valley. Whether we win or lose, we will only know once we fight.”

At the same time, the battle atop the mountain was reaching its peak.

Xu Mengyin danced through the battlefield in a flurry of sword robes and silver-white sleeves, wielding twin swords with grace and precision. She looked like a moon goddess walking among men. Yet between one step and the next, she had already taken the heads of several beasts. The twin swords only needed to cross lightly at a beast’s throat, and its head, large as a platter, would spin cleanly from its neck, sending blood and brain matter splashing across the ground.

Behind Xu Mengyin, several other female cultivators moved with the same sharp elegance.

Not far away, Master Yinian fought alone. He carried no sword and no blade, only a string of one hundred and eight Bodhi beads, each carved from the sacred tree.

Shen Qingya happened to pass by. Clad in simple green robes with a three-foot sword in hand, he remained spotless even in the heart of the slaughter. When he saw the master, he halted. Even in such a killing field, his bearing was gentle and refined. He pressed his palms together and bowed.

“Master, would you care to travel with me?”

“Thank you for your kind offer, Brother Shen, but I am fine on my own.” Master Yinian nodded in gratitude. From the corner of his eye, he caught a beast lunging from the side. He clenched his fist and struck. The creature’s skull shattered under the blow, its body crashing into a tree behind it. Leaves rained down in a steady shower.

Shen Qingya saw this and said nothing more. He gave a respectful nod and departed with sword in hand.

After Shen Qingya left, Master Yinian raised one palm before him and spoke a soft “Amitabha.” The compassion on his face deepened. Then long, profound verses of scripture flowed from his lips. The carvings on the Bodhi beads began to glow with faint golden light, casting a sacred luster over his features.

The beads slowly grew in size until each one was as large as a clenched fist. Bathed in golden light, they hovered around Master Yinian, encircling him in silence.

By now, the area around Master Yinian had already filled with beasts. They circled him warily, bloodstained jaws parted in low growls, claws scraping the earth as they wore down what little patience and caution they had left.

At last, one of them lost control. Then all of them did. Over a dozen beasts lunged at Master Yinian from all directions at once, blotting out even the moonlight.

At that moment, Master Yinian finally opened his eyes.

There was a trace of sorrow in his gaze. His face, however, held only the serene compassion of a true monk. The golden light glowing from the carvings on the Bodhi beads grew even brighter. As rancid saliva dripped from the gaping maws of the beasts, carried by the wind, the one hundred and eight Bodhi beads suddenly exploded outward. They shot through the beasts like golden streaks of light, slicing through flesh and bone. Each bead carved an elegant arc through the air under the moonlight. Then, as Master Yinian bowed his head and murmured a chant of mercy, they returned to his hand.

Thud. Thud. Only after all one hundred and eight beads had returned to him did the beasts’ bodies begin to fall.

The scene seared itself into the mind of Wang Ziling, who had only just found his resolve to fight.

In the instant Mu Guinian had dragged him by the collar and thrown him from the pile of beasts, he had looked up and caught sight of the beads shooting out, then circling back. Each of those glowing trails had left an afterimage in the air like a blooming lotus. The path of every bead looked like a petal.

Beautiful. And merciless.

Thump. Wang Ziling hit the ground at Qing Gu’s feet. She yanked him upright with one hand.

“Keep moving.”

There was no time to marvel at what he had just seen. Wang Ziling could only swear to himself that he would never, ever cross a monk again. Then he was dragged back into the sea of beasts.

Ahead, he saw Shen Qingya of Tianlao landed lightly on a jutting rock and look down upon the battlefield. Bathed in moonlight, he truly did resemble a reclusive immortal in the mountains.

Tianlao sect. Wang Ziling vaguely remembered hearing that its disciples, like the white deer they raised, never ate meat.

Terrifying. Just the fact that they didn’t eat meat made these so-called recluses seem utterly fearsome.

Anyone who could resist eating meat had to be something more than human.

Chen Boyan stood on a different rock not far from Shen Qingya. Two great orthodox sects, the most outstanding senior disciples of their generation, both standing with swords in hand, gazing down at the battlefield below.

Wang Ziling’s heart began to pound. He didn’t know why, but the sight stirred something in him. No matter how much Gushan Sword had declined, the only one that could still be mentioned in the same breath as Tianlao was the Sword Sect.

Between these two senior disciples, who truly stood above the other?

Was it the well-known Chen Boyan? Or the unfathomable Shen Qingya?

Wang Ziling found himself growing nervous. Then Shen Qingya suddenly turned to Chen Boyan and said, “The beasts are pressing too hard. If we keep fighting at this pace, I doubt we’ll be able to drive most of them back into the valley by dawn.”

“You have a plan?” Chen Boyan asked.

Shen Qingya shook his head. His manner was gentle, but his bearing was far from soft. “I have no plan, but my sword is still here. You take the right, I’ll take the left. Let us both go all out and drive the beasts back before daybreak. What do you say?”

“Agreed.”

The pact made, Shen Qingya saluted with his sword. “Then allow me to go first.”

As soon as the words left his lips, he leapt from the rock, drifting down into the horde of beasts like a green leaf. But this leaf was the sharpest blade.

The sword in Shen Qingya’s hand was named Qingfeng. Its edge was impossibly keen, yet it was a soft sword.

Wang Ziling watched as that sword drove straight down into the back of a beast. The blade bent under the weight of the strike, but in the very next moment, Shen Qingya twisted and drew it out again. The once-curved edge straightened into a sharp, gleaming sword, sweeping wide in a clean arc.

A surge of powerful qi burst from the blade, and in that instant, dust exploded outward at Shen Qingya’s feet. The stones and broken branches torn up by the forceful gusts became part of his arsenal, caught up in his sword qi and scattered outward in a wide fan.

Countless beasts howled as they were struck and flung down the mountainside. One beast crashed into another, and within seconds, Shen Qingya had cleared a wide space.

Wang Ziling stared in shock. This Shen Qingya, who didn’t even eat meat, truly possessed terrifying cultivation. Qing Gu, on the other hand, silently praised him in her heart, ‘my Qingya-ge is amazing’ and then smacked Wang Ziling hard on the back of the head.

“Stop gawking. Keep up with Senior Brother.”

Chen Boyan had already descended with sword in hand. Few people knew the name of the sword he carried, because it was not a famed weapon passed down through the generations.

But in Chen Boyan’s hands, it was clearly no ordinary blade. Thanks to the old ties between the Wang and Chen families, Wang Ziling happened to know the sword’s name.

It was called Wuwang.

The blade gleamed silver like fresh snow, mirroring the sword-shaped scar between Chen Boyan’s brows.

Mu Guinian, Song Ru, and Dai Xiaoshan followed after Chen Boyan into the fray, but did not remain directly behind him. Instead, the three of them spaced themselves out and formed a formation.

Beyond its exquisite sword arts, Gushan Sword’s other strength lay in its sword formations. They were both strictly orthodox and immensely powerful.

This time, the one leading the formation was not Senior Sister Song Ru, but Dai Xiaoshan. Mu Guinian and Song Ru stood behind him, each channeling qi through the prescribed circulation route of the Gushan sword method. The force flowed through their bodies in a small cycle before entering their swords through the palms.

All three longswords extended outward in unison, emitting a faint hum under the flow of qi guided by the sword technique.

This was the distinctive sword hum of the Gushan Sword Method, and it was the foundation that allowed their sword formations to unleash their full power.

The senior and junior disciples moved with perfect coordination. Without exchanging a word, the three of them charged forward in a triangle formation, tearing open a path through the horde like an arrow loosed from a bow.

The instant that gap was opened, the formation shifted. The three began to rotate positions, weaving intricate footwork into constant movement. This set the sword formation into motion. When the sword resonance reached a critical pitch, the tips of their swords converged midair and came slashing down together.

A blast tore through the beasts with force no weaker than Shen Qingya’s earlier strike. The impact rang out loud and deep.

But this time, Wang Ziling was not surprised. He had already been stunned into silence by Chen Boyan.

So fast. Too fast.

That figure in sky-blue had only just appeared here, and in the blink of an eye, was already on the far side of the battlefield. One devastating sword technique after another poured from his hands. Wuwang hummed with relentless force, its cold light interlacing with the moonlight, moving so quickly that the eye could hardly keep up.

All Wang Ziling could hear was the repeated thud of beasts crashing to the ground. Chen Boyan advanced without pause. Every beast that stood in his way fell, not one left breathing.

In no time, he had already reached the mountainside.

Wang Ziling swallowed hard, throat dry. He seriously reconsidered the possibility of just staying alive and being a coward.

Dai Xiaoshan, even while locked in combat, managed to spare some attention to his senior brother. He could keenly sense that something was different today. The senior brother was especially ruthless. Judging by the dumbstruck expressions on the faces of disciples from other sects nearby, this was downright terrifying.

But he had never been like this before. At the very least, he would have held back a little.

Could it be because of that agreement with Shen Qingya?

But that couldn’t be it, right? Dai Xiaoshan’s mind was once again clouded like the mist of Gushan, and he couldn’t find his way out of it.

Suddenly, a loud boom echoed from the mountainside. It sounded almost like a landslide. When everyone turned to look, they saw a plume of dust rising somewhere in the forest. It wasn’t large, but it was definitely there.

The moment he saw the location, Jiang Xie’s face darkened. Others might not know what was over there, but how could he not?

Cultivators were deep in battle by now, scattered across the battlefield. No one noticed whether someone had come or gone in the dark. Jiang Xie gave orders for the other disciples to keep killing the beasts, then slipped quietly into the forest, heading straight toward the source of the disturbance.

Xiao Yu’er, who had been hiding along the way and never joined the fight, saw this and crept out of the bushes, crouching low and following behind him.

He was going to find his master. That sound just now had to be something his master did.

And he wasn’t wrong.

Although Meng Qiqi’s Lotus Bloom had stopped most of the beasts, the bell’s toll had driven them into a frenzy. Trapped in the cave, Meng Qiqi found it hard to move freely, and after several rounds of struggle, he simply brought the whole cave down, burying all the beasts inside.

But there were still more beasts outside.

The ones arriving now were no fewer in number. And with the cave collapsed, they would surely turn around and charge toward the other cultivators.

The problem was, the cultivators had already descended the mountain. If these beasts were allowed to escape, the disciples below would be caught between enemies from both front and rear.

Meng Qiqi paused in thought, then decided to stay behind and block them.

But the beasts were scattered. It would be difficult to stop them all on his own.

He needed a plan.

Meng Qiqi’s gaze quickly landed on the tall trees in the forest. He suddenly recalled the battle atop Hangu Pass between the Lu Yunting and Jin Man. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

The beasts were tearing through the forest, darting left and right with alarming speed.

Meng Qiqi raced through the forest, sending streaks of sword qi flying from Xiujian. They weren’t aimed at the beasts. He was cutting down trees. Using Treading Snow, he leapt ahead of the beasts, then brought down tree after tree to block their path.

The key was making as much noise as possible. That diligent junior nephew and close friend of his would surely notice.

No, someone was already coming.

Meng Qiqi’s ears twitched. His guard went up. Someone coming was good, but not this quickly. Unless that person already knew about the hidden cave here.

“Meng Qiqi!”

The shout came as the person arrived, calling him by name.

Meng Qiqi stood atop a tree trunk and turned his head. “Jiang Xie. That was fast.”

Jiang Xie was on high alert. He didn’t recognize the man’s face, but he knew this unremarkable rogue cultivator was supposed to use a sabre. Yet now the man wielded a sword, and he was using techniques from Gushan Sword. If this wasn’t the elusive Meng Qiqi, who else could it be?

The disciples of Beidou might have mocked Meng Qiqi for only ever unleashing forty-nine strikes, but Jiang Xie was not about to take him lightly. The title “Little Martial Uncle of Gushan” was enough on its own to make him cautious.

Meng Qiqi gave Xiujian a flick and said lazily, “Nephew Jiang Xie, do you know what happens when you recklessly expose an identity someone has gone out of their way to conceal?”

Jiang Xie looked at that half-smiling face and his expression darkened. “You’re going to kill me?”

“You really think too highly of yourself,” Meng Qiqi said with a laugh. But as that wicked smile curved his lips, Jiang Xie suddenly sensed the rush of air behind him.

Someone was coming.

He immediately dodged to the side. In the blink of an eye, an arrow grazed his shoulder and buried itself deep in the tree ahead.

At the same time, a clear youthful voice rang out through the forest. “Master, I’m here!”

Meng Qiqi jumped down from the tree, strolling up to Jiang Xie, who now stood fully alert, eyes nearly spitting fire.

“That was just a warning,” Meng Qiqi said calmly. “If you go and tell those old bastards from the Wang clan about my identity, next time, that arrow will go straight through your throat and pin you to the wall of that cave. I’m not as kind as my senior nephew. Understand?”

“Meng Qiqi, do you even know what you’re saying?” Jiang Xie gave a furious laugh, pointing his sword directly at him. Was Meng Qiqi out of his mind? Did he really not care about the face of his so-called righteous sect?

“You think Beidou can expose the cave’s secret right in front of me, and the Wang clan will just let you off?” Meng Qiqi gently brushed the sword aside. “Or maybe even the Wang clan doesn’t know what you’ve been up to here. That would be even more interesting, don’t you think?”

As the words fell, Jiang Xie’s hand stiffened around his sword. His deep-set eyes locked onto Meng Qiqi. “What are you trying to do?”

“I’m offering you a deal,” Meng Qiqi said. “As long as you keep your mouth shut until we leave the secret realm, I’ll keep what happened in the cave to myself.”

“And why should I trust you?” Jiang Xie asked coldly.

Meng Qiqi glanced at the beasts that had already broken through the blockade and were moving forward again. His tone chilled. “I’m not negotiating.”

Jiang Xie fell silent. “And if I refuse?”

Meng Qiqi turned his gaze back on him, lips curling into a cruel smile.

“Then I’ll just have to kill you.”