Chapter 1027: The Legendary... First Grade!

"Their stupidity has exceeded our imagination."

The Blind Man stood beside Zheng Fan as he spoke.

Their plan had combined "inviting the gentleman into the urn" with "the willing fish takes the hook." Now that the trap had worked, what should have followed was obvious: throw everything in, use a lion's full strength even to hunt a rabbit, and kill the bait that had willingly delivered itself to their doorstep.

Whether the followers Great Yan's Regent Prince had brought could rise from Fourth Grade to Third Grade, or Third Grade to Second Grade, should never have mattered.

Because the people inside the Gate had already paid an enormous price for this "grand design."

No matter how old each of them had originally been, when they chose to enter the Gate they had abandoned the finest years of their lives and turned themselves into sleeping living corpses simply to slow the drain of their remaining lifespan. By the time they woke again, every one of them had effectively entered the final countdown of life.

And this awakening had come early.

These were figures who, in their own eras, could have founded sects and established schools. They had given up their "careers." The enormous cost had been paid long ago.

For them, it should already have been a matter of succeeding or dying for the cause. There was nothing left worth hesitating over, nothing left worth hoarding.

Their only opportunity was to kill Great Yan's Regent Prince and exchange his death for the faintest possibility that All Under Heaven might descend into chaos again.

Put Zheng Fan and the Demon Kings in their position and, the instant the two sides met, every last person would have surged forward together. Strength would not matter. Status would not matter. Even the old granny whose only job was sweeping floors would be dragged along. Kill the target first. Finish the objective first. Everything else could wait.

Yet under circumstances this clear, the group inside the Gate had somehow turned the whole affair into an absurd display of lowered intelligence and piecemeal commitment.

Most importantly, when two armies fought and the vanguard was cut down again and again, the army became increasingly difficult to lead.

It was just like when Siniang attacked the two black-robed women earlier, or when A'Ming went after the remaining Xu brothers. Once Third Grade experts lost their will to fight and their courage, all it took was one opening to take their lives. It was no different from pursuing a routed army and harvesting heads with easy saber strokes from behind.

The terror on the faces of the people inside the formation was equally obvious. Once the Demon Kings charged in, those people would inevitably revert to the old saying: better a fellow Daoist die than this poor Daoist.

The Brocade-Clad personal guards could form ranks and kill high-Grade experts because they willingly sacrificed themselves for the final result. Take away that spirit, that willingness to die, and there was no victory to be had.

"They're not... stupid..." Zheng Fan said with difficulty. "They're just... too normal..."

Speaking was already hard for him now, but some things still needed saying.

Sometimes stupidity was not an exception.

Stupidity was the norm.

History praised those rare moments when people abandoned old grudges and crossed the same river in the same boat to face an external threat together. But far more common were the moments when an outside danger arrived and everyone inside continued tearing at one another anyway.

The people inside the Gate were all "great figures."

But precisely because every one of them was a great figure, with no ordinary people around to dilute the mixture, the ordinary stupidity of human beings had become concentrated within them instead.

The Blind Man said, "Master, this subordinate thinks the worst possibility we originally prepared for... may be avoidable."

"Too... early... to say that... No... gambling on luck... Give it everything... Learn from them..."

"Yes. This subordinate understands."

The Blind Man swept his gaze around them.

"From this moment onward, command belongs to me."

Zheng Fan managed a small nod.

"Listen to him."

Liang Cheng, A'Ming, and Fan Li all stepped half a pace back.

"This subordinate obeys!"

"Siniang, stay here and guard Master."

Siniang nodded and moved behind Zheng Fan.

"Ah Li, you're the tank."

Fan Li scratched his head and nodded.

He had long since grown used to being the tank.

"Ah Cheng, you're the diver."

"Mm." Liang Cheng nodded.

"A'Ming, fill whatever gap appears."

"Mm." A'Ming nodded.

"We establish a mental link. I command and control."

At that point, the Blind Man seemed to remember something.

"San'er, stay with Siniang and protect Master."

Xue San shifted to Zheng Fan's side and took up position.

Then Fan Li, twin axes raised, walked to the front and stopped before the formation.

Liang Cheng stood half a body behind Fan Li on the flank.

The Blind Man took position directly behind Fan Li.

A'Ming stood nearby with his usual casual posture.

The Blind Man's voice sounded inside everyone's mind.

"We have a chance. But only if we act as though we have no chance whatsoever can we seize that sliver of possibility.

"Master is fused with the Demon Child right now, and in order to raise us through the Grades, he's enduring tremendous pain.

"The longer this drags on, the greater the damage to Master's body.

"The enemy's stupidity has bought us breathing room. Perhaps we will not need to take that final step.

"But since we already decided to come here, we put everything else down before we came.

"After the meal earlier, Master said what needed saying and everyone nodded.

"That was our second confirmation.

"I know all of you are free-spirited people. I also know there is nothing distracting any of you now.

"Even so, we still need to lay down our three rules.

"From this moment onward, all of you restrain your natures.

"I know regaining your strength excites you. But now you must suppress that excitement.

"What happened earlier was the final carnival. That was fine. But now that we can see a real chance, why wouldn't we give it everything we have?

"Especially you...

"A'Ming."

"I know," A'Ming's voice answered through the mental link.

"Once we enter the formation, everyone follows my commands. No mistakes. There will certainly be more Second Grade experts inside. It doesn't matter. We are not ordinary Second Grades to begin with.

"So long as we coordinate properly, we can turn the inside into a slaughterhouse. One wave through them, and we can overturn the whole damned table.

"They're strong.

"But they're still nothing more than a rabble.

"Coordinate.

"Don't overextend.

"Don't overextend.

"Don't... fucking overextend!"

Under ordinary circumstances, if the Blind Man nagged this much, the others would long since have grown irritated. Of course, under ordinary circumstances the Blind Man was hardly someone who liked nagging.

Right now, not one Demon King showed the slightest impatience.

"I can use my mental power to forcibly pry open the barrier of this formation. That means we'll enter far faster than they expect.

"Ah Cheng. A'Ming.

"The moment you're inside, launch the first killing rush. One strike to kill or one strike to cripple. No wasted motion.

"Ah Li, prepare to receive them and give them room to recover.

"Everyone to your positions.

"We're going in!"

...

"So they didn't come here to die. They didn't come because they'd given up and decided to smash the jar after breaking it. They came because they were completely confident."

Huang Lang sighed helplessly.

"But I still can't understand it. All the intelligence we gathered before this, from both Qian and Chu, whether through the Phoenix Nest Internal Guard or the Silver-Armored Guards, never discovered anything like this.

"The gentlemen of the Prince Residence... were actually concealed Second Grade experts?"

The Emperor of Chu reached up and arranged the long hair at his temples, now half white.

"What meaning does discussing that have anymore?"

He was an Emperor.

The art of managing men was almost instinctive to him.

So the Emperor of Chu could already see that after the situation outside fundamentally reversed, the people inside might still possess greater numbers and greater total strength, but they no longer had either the time or opportunity to sit down and hold some elder-level council to unify their thinking.

No organized command.

No will transmitted from above to below.

What was unfolding might be a clash among some of the strongest people alive, the pinnacle of personal combat beneath Heaven.

But in essence... it was not all that different from two villages brawling over the water at a shared well.

The side with more people did not necessarily win.

What mattered was which side was fiercer, more united, and less afraid of death.

At that thought, the Emperor of Chu laughed again.

He laughed freely.

A village brawl.

Interesting.

Amusing.

Heaven had treated him rather well after all.

He had taken this final step in complete despair, willingly turning his entire cultivation into karmic blessing and giving it to his niece.

Yet at the very end... he could still personally watch this spectacle.

A mortal Emperor at the end of his road, watching the ridiculous antics of the world's true great experts.

What a fitting pairing of actors and audience.

Granny Qian spoke.

"They've entered."

Wine Elder raised his flask and released a long sigh.

"Prepare the formation. Once they..."

Boom!

A hole was torn open in the formation.

For a very long time, the Blind Man's role had mostly been that of strategist.

Perhaps because he was blind, everyone naturally wrapped him in the image of a dog-headed military adviser. It suited his appearance.

But there had always been an objective reason for that.

Before his strength reached a sufficient level, the Blind Man's abilities could seem rather awkward.

Back when everyone had only just entered the Grades, or was lingering around Ninth, Eighth, Seventh, or Sixth Grade, Fan Li could serve as the fierce general—one man guarding the pass, ten thousand unable to break through.

Liang Cheng's body was hard enough to charge at the front.

A'Ming had a massive health bar and could absorb more damage.

San'er could assassinate, trading a small investment for a large return.

Even Siniang could stitch wounds and save the injured.

The Blind Man's abilities, by contrast, looked constrained.

Later, when everyone's strength finally rose, the circumstances changed again. Their faction became enormous. They commanded vast armies and resources. Situations requiring them to stake their lives personally became extremely rare.

Yet in truth... the Blind Man's abilities were the ones that became truly terrifying in the late game.

Tian Wujing used to say he only "slightly understood" occult arts.

In much the same way, the Blind Man had spent spare time studying Qi Refiner methods for entertainment, just as Fan Li could swing an axe and somehow reproduce the Sword Saint's sword intent.

The Blind Man said he had opened the formation.

So... the formation opened.

Before, when people inside the formation came out, they suffered a period of sluggishness, like men forcing their bodies through thick glue.

This time, when the Demon Kings entered... the road was perfectly smooth.

Which meant the powerful figures originally stationed along the formation's first line of defense were caught completely unprepared.

A'Ming transformed into a streak of blood-red light and shot into the crowd.

His opening move was a Forbidden Blood Art.

"Forbidden Blood Art—River of Death!"

A pool of blood appeared beneath A'Ming's feet.

It spread.

In an instant, it expanded to the size of a pond.

One arm after another reached from within, like the gates of hell had opened, tearing at and binding everyone above.

Area-of-effect forbidden arts consumed enormous power to begin with.

Even for the present A'Ming, this was no small burden.

Meanwhile, after forcing open the entrance to the formation, the Blind Man propelled himself inside on mental power.

Something like two flames now flickered inside his empty eye sockets.

"Psychic... Storm!"

Another wide-area attack.

It placed an equally enormous burden on the caster.

After all, the Blind Man was not attacking ordinary people.

He was attacking experts.

The wills of experts were far firmer than those of normal men and far more difficult to shake.

But one vampiric forbidden art, followed by the Blind Man's psychic storm, attacked flesh and spirit from opposite directions. Swordsmen, Qi Refiners, Martial Artists—everyone before them suffered.

After all, there was always one flavor suited to you.

And if both flavors suited you... then congratulations.

Liang Cheng entered just as quickly.

The opening his companions had created for him would last only a short time.

Black light wrapped his fingernails.

The terrifying corpse poison coating them seemed almost alive, boiling with excitement.

He darted from one bound opponent to another.

One strike.

Move on.

Another strike.

Move again.

Even if a single blow failed to kill, the corpse poison left behind was enough to make the victim wish it had.

The battlefield became chaotic.

Utterly chaotic.

But although the other side was a rabble, the quality of each individual was still extraordinarily high.

Under Wine Elder's guidance, the power of the formation finally filled the gap again. The Four Directions Grand Formation began exerting its suppression once more, locking onto the unfamiliar auras inside it.

Several more Second Grade experts joined the battle from behind.

The surrounding black-robed figures also began retaliating with whatever methods each possessed.

They had never assembled into proper units and had never drilled together.

Ironically, that loose and scattered organization prevented them from being wiped out in one net at the beginning and preserved some ability to fight back.

"ROAR!"

Fan Li suddenly roared.

Both fists slammed into the ground.

An earthy-yellow light began flickering around his body.

With Fan Li at the center, it expanded into a large yellow qi barrier.

The instant the barrier formed... the Blind Man dropped behind it.

Ignoring the exhaustion of his mental power, he immediately reorganized his strength and began resisting the formation's influence again.

A'Ming and Liang Cheng rapidly disengaged from the chaotic melee and withdrew behind Fan Li.

The left half of A'Ming's body had been smashed apart.

His regeneration was clearly being obstructed.

He reached into the mangled flesh of his own side, pulled out a Bagua mirror, and tossed it onto the ground.

Then he forcibly regenerated.

The purification power remaining in the wound continued hissing and sizzling, but at least A'Ming became whole again.

Six of Liang Cheng's fingernails had broken and were slowly growing back.

A sword wound and a saber wound crossed his chest.

Both were horrifyingly deep.

People often spoke of a high-Grade Martial Artist "bathing in a sea of soldiers."

But that expression only applied when a Third Grade Martial Artist faced a rabble of ordinary troops.

Years ago, Xiong Tingshan had been surrounded by Brocade-Clad personal guards and very quickly reduced to cutting off an arm merely to survive.

The opponents the Demon Kings faced now were vastly more dangerous still.

Even so... their results had been excellent.

The battlefield ahead was a wreck of dead and wounded bodies.

Then some of the remaining experts seized the moment and began attacking.

Powers of every attribute and every kind of ritual implement crashed into the earthy-yellow barrier.

Fan Li's huge body trembled again and again.

Yet somehow he held.

He did not even think about counterattacking.

He simply absorbed the blows and bought his companions time to breathe.

After all... both A'Ming and Liang Cheng had excellent endurance once a fight stretched long enough.

A'Ming turned toward the Blind Man, who was still wrestling against the formation's power.

Through the mental link, he said:

"We should've brought Master inside first and broken the formation."

The Blind Man had already explained that since this formation was built on national fortune, national fortune was also the proper way to destroy it.

If Master entered carrying Great Yan's national fortune and broke it... there should have been little difficulty.

And whether Master or the Blind Man, neither had ever doubted that the Emperor of Great Yan would lend that national fortune when the moment came.

Once the formation broke, the Blind Man would be freed to devote more attention to commanding the battle.

Everyone else would fight more easily too.

The original plan had indeed been for Master to enter with everyone, break the formation first, and then raise everyone's Grade.

Unfortunately, the nonsense performed by the people inside the Gate had forced the Demon Kings to complete their advancement outside the formation ahead of schedule.

Liang Cheng's voice entered the mental link.

"You need to consider what happens if Master comes in first to break the formation and his body is damaged before the rest.

"What if, under those circumstances, Master and the Demon Child can't reach Second Grade?

"What if they do reach it but can't maintain it long enough?"

The Blind Man's voice followed.

"There are benefits and drawbacks.

"This formation is strong, but the four accumulations of national fortune forming it are too weak. I can still hold against it for a while.

"With Master remaining outside, that actually looks safer now.

"This formation doesn't merely suppress power. It can forcibly press down a person's Grade and cultivation realm.

"The two of you can use your bloodlines, together with my support, to resist that effect.

"But if Master comes in and has his Grade suppressed, then fails to reach Second Grade... we can all stop playing and prepare to die."

Fan Li's furious roar exploded through the mental link:

"Quit fucking chatting!"

Cracks had already appeared all across Fan Li's massive body.

Blood seeped from every one of them.

"One more round!" the Blind Man shouted. "Kill the people hammering the barrier first. They're the bravest. Remove them!"

The Blind Man's empty eyes lifted.

Once again, he forcibly pried open gaps in the formation's suppression and gave his companions room to move.

A'Ming and Liang Cheng charged again.

Fan Li withdrew the barrier at the same time.

He curled into himself and crouched, continuing to absorb attacks while using the brief interval to recover.

Another savage rush followed.

A'Ming killed one Second Grade expert and four Third Grades.

Liang Cheng killed one Second Grade expert and three Third Grades.

For Demon Kings... either do not let them rise in Grade at all... or once they rise... they are nearly invincible among peers.

Their battle experience, their understanding of power, the might of their bloodlines... all of it was already there, waiting.

Ordinary Second Grade experts, even those borrowing Second Grade power, simply could not survive for long before them.

"Recall!" the Blind Man shouted.

A'Ming immediately withdrew.

Liang Cheng followed close behind.

Fan Li, still crouched, rose again.

His arms spread.

The earthy-yellow barrier returned.

This time, several new holes had been punched through A'Ming's body.

For the moment, they refused to heal.

Half of Liang Cheng's face had been burned away by something, exposing bone beneath.

An enormous wound split his back.

Even the baleful qi around him had begun showing signs of disorder.

Yet after the killings outside the formation and the two rushes after entering it... the rats inside the Gate had already lost more than half their number.

By now, they could barely even mount an organized attack.

They simply clustered together instinctively.

"Pure Yang Gang Qi hurts them more!"

"Use orthodox Qi Refiner arts! Draw Yang Fire and suppress them!"

"Wine Elder, why isn't the formation affecting them?!"

Granny Qian and Wine Elder had already left the raised platform.

They were responsible for maintaining the formation's current operation.

In other words, the two of them were now using the formation itself to wrestle against the Blind Man.

Technically, the people inside the Gate still held the advantage.

But the momentum that should have carried them into another attack had been forcibly halted.

Because during the Demon Kings' second charge, the experts who died were precisely those who had struck Fan Li's barrier hardest and stood farthest forward.

The first group to die had likewise been those who instinctively blocked the formation's entrance.

Against a rabble, one had to use the methods suited to a rabble.

Kill the men willing to stand in front first.

Once only those unwilling to stand in front remained... the rest became easy.

A'Ming recovered as quickly as possible.

Liang Cheng used baleful qi to heal.

Fan Li had an easier time this round.

The other side now mostly shouted.

Very few still dared truly come forward and attack.

The Blind Man's rhythm had always been simple.

Exploit the Demon Kings' unique traits to the greatest degree possible.

Open with ultimates.

Withdraw immediately.

Regenerate HP, regenerate mana, wait for the cooldown.

Then go again.

Huang Lang's eyes were full of anxiety.

He could already sense that this battle was approaching a complete reversal.

The enemy needed only one more charge like the previous two.

Kill another group.

Then the people remaining would very likely scatter like birds and beasts.

Their lifespans might already be pitifully short.

But even so, few people were willing to die right now.

They might choose instead to spend whatever scraps of life remained wandering the mundane world, taking disciples, leaving inheritances.

That was human nature.

And often... the higher a person stood, the more fiercely he treasured his life.

Granny Qian and Wine Elder had both gone pale from the struggle.

Yet even with the power of the formation, they could not suppress that Blind Man.

His mental power seemed bottomless.

Inside the earthy-yellow barrier, the two "killing gods" who had charged out earlier slowly rose again.

Everyone understood.

The next rush was about to begin.

Huang Lang stopped hesitating.

He pulled out a dagger.

Then knelt, pressed the blade against his own throat, and shouted:

"If this is how it ends, then I'll kill myself here first!

"Better that than suffer humiliation later.

"At least I won't have wasted all these years dreaming this beautiful dream!

"Once I die, all of you can scatter too and finally arrange the remaining years and inheritances you've delayed for so long!"

He did not want to die.

This was coercion.

He knew how important he was.

So did everyone else.

He was using his own life to force hidden experts to reveal themselves... if any still remained.

In a certain sense, the method resembled that other man outside the formation whom his own followers also called "Master."

Unfortunately... the helpers Huang Lang had seen in his dream had never appeared.

That was why he had been reduced to sitting on the raised platform playing Go and chatting with the self-exiled Emperor of Chu.

Imagine if Xie Yu'an, Tian Tian, and the other destined Demon Kings had all been gathered at Huang Lang's side.

There would be a central strategist.

There would be fierce generals willing to charge first.

Add the people inside the Gate, organize them properly, give Huang Lang greater authority... forget the State of Yan.

Even if Zheng Fan came personally with a group of Second Grade Demon Kings, they could have met him calmly.

Unfortunately... everything had been broken too early.

Breaking things early was not inherently fatal.

A mess could still be patched together, repaired, adjusted.

The problem lay in those two words: too early.

Too early had erased everything.

There had not even been room to adjust.

It had reduced this so-called "Master" into a commander with no army at all.

Every gaze now fell upon Huang Lang.

Everyone understood that if he died... everything ended.

There would be no reason to remain here.

No reason to continue fighting.

The Emperor of Chu slowly shifted his gaze away.

He looked toward the deepest point of Dongming Stockade.

At the very center stood an earthen mound.

If the people inside the Gate still intended to restore morale and overturn the battle... then a true expert had to appear now.

Yet almost immediately, the Emperor of Chu smiled again.

He understood why, if such a figure truly existed, that person had not appeared earlier.

Or rather... why there had been no hurry.

There was no need.

If a legendary First Grade existence truly remained here... then barring some unexpected accident, that person should be capable of crushing everything.

In that case, how many people died below would hardly matter.

It could simply be treated as entertainment.

An Emperor reading disaster memorials behaved much the same way.

After seeing enough casualty numbers, it became difficult to feel anything. The only question that mattered was whether the disaster would produce bandits and rebels capable of shaking the foundations of imperial rule.

But if Huang Lang threatened to die... the Emperor of Chu knew that this young man carried a deep resentment in his heart.

A resentment both heavy and profound.

At that moment... the earthen mound began to tremble.

Then... a coffin burst from the ground!

In an instant, the entire Dongming Stockade began shaking.

A terrifying pressure descended directly upon them.

This power.

This aura.

This presence...

The remaining people inside the Gate immediately showed ecstatic expressions.

"The Gate Master? Is that the Gate Master?"

"He's come out!"

"As expected! A true expert was still sleeping!"

No one complained that he had not appeared earlier.

First, there was no time.

Second... everyone understood very clearly that they did not possess the qualification to complain.

"Why such impatience? Isn't it better if there are fewer people left to divide the spoils?"

An androgynous voice came from within the coffin.

Then the coffin lid floated upward.

A pale-faced man dressed in a long white gown slowly sat up inside.

When he opened his eyes... pressure so dense it seemed almost tangible poured outward.

He was like a sun appearing from nowhere.

Second Grade experts borrowed power from Heaven.

He... seemed to be a small piece of Heaven himself.

First Grade.

This was unquestionably... the realm of First Grade!

Behind Fan Li...

A'Ming, who had already prepared for the next rush, shook his head.

"Cliché."

Liang Cheng said:

"They really did manage to play their piecemeal reinforcement tactic all the way through."

Fan Li, still holding up the earthy-yellow barrier, cursed:

"Fuck your immortal ancestors!"

The Blind Man looked somewhat helpless.

He turned his head... toward the direction outside the formation.

The appearance of the androgynous man inside the coffin not only restored confidence and morale among the remaining people inside the Gate.

His own strength alone was also enough to transform the entire battlefield in an instant.

In the minds of almost everyone present... this bizarre, twisting, bloody slaughter... was finally about to reach its conclusion.

Inside the coffin, the man's gaze settled on Huang Lang.

"Don't rush me. I'm getting up, aren't I?"

He placed both hands on the edges of the coffin.

Once he fully stood... perhaps not merely Dongming Stockade... but the entire surrounding marshland would tremble with him.

And yet... at that exact moment... while every eye was fixed upon the coffin... a tiny, wildly discordant figure appeared on its edge.

No one knew when he had arrived.

No one had expected him to appear there.

But he appeared.

And he did not merely appear.

The black dagger in his hand... slid with extraordinary harmony and smoothness... straight into the man's chest.

Then Xue San added:

"Be good.

"Lie back down for Grandpa."

[End of Chapter 1027]