The Heavenly Wandering Sword

Chapter 49

The way to the tent was shown by the messenger who escorted them along until the entrance to the tent flap. Clearly there was no delay when the General of the Royal Army summons. “General, the requested personnel are here to see you.” One of the guards at the tent called out. After a few seconds, a loud “Come in” was heard, and the guard gestured for them to enter. Li Jian ensured that the students entered in first before coming in behind them with Qin. They all bowed towards the General who’s eyes had a spark of recollection as she noticed their professor. She very clearly remembered the flash of rose petals..

“So you are the new unit that has been attached to the Lancers. Good, this will be a good learning opportunity. Ensure you listen to your professor, he is a very capable individual.” Qin noticed that the General recognized the master that travelled with them and knew that he was quite right; this was a true master in every sense. He could tell by the masterful way that scallion pancake was prepared that the master had much more tricks up his sleeve. Li Jian was bored out of his mind at the moment. The General spoke more about the importance of following orders but he had mostly drowned it out as he thought about the next food menu idea that he had.

“Don’t you agree Master Li?” General Shing directed a question at him, noticing in his eyes a look of intense focus. She had no idea he was focusing on whether or not a noodle soup would be better with salted meat to make the broth or fresh meat. “I think General, it will all depend on the students themselves. A river will always flow down the mountains, but it is not the mountains who decide how it flows.” This was a skill he had picked up in his previous mortal experience. When he was surrounded by people who wished for his knowledge, he would come up with something that sounded wise to placate them.

General Shing contemplated those words carefully as Li Jian went back to thoughts of using chives or scallions for a noodle soup broth. “This Master Li is terrifying, not only did he make an allegory towards unchangeable forces but he also hinted at the flow of spiritual essence in both the world and the body.” These words alone helped Shing Yong gain a much deeper understanding of cultivation. Qin nodded slightly with understanding. He too saw just how deep the knowledge of this master went. “All of you, your professor is wise beyond understanding. Follow him and you will achieve a greatness that none of us have dared to imagine before.”

The students all looked at him now with a wide-eyed wonder. As students of the Academy, philosophical understanding had been part of their curriculum since day one. The challenges of cultivation often resulted from a deeper understanding of the Dao as well as of the nature of spiritual essence. A single line said by the professor was enough to help all of them achieve s more profound understanding.

In the morning, the army packed up camp and went on the march. This time, the six students were forced to actually march. Qin sat on the wagon while Li Jian walked beside them, his pace casual as if he was out sightseeing. The night before, he had purposely woke up the students at midnight and made them pack up the wagon with various supplies they would need and to stand watch as well so today, the students were quite miserable. After another day of marching in the colder weather, the Royal Lancers finally got to the border town of Ciao.

When they got to the town, they could see that the town itself was indeed empties. Formerly structures that were built from wood left only smouldering debris while there wasn’t a single corpse or living person to be found. General Shing ordered a halt and scouts were sent to check out the rest of the town carefully. Li Jian frowned as he stepped into the threshold of the town, he could detect in the air a thick hint of evil essence that seemed to circulate all around the town. This was a town where a mass act of murder was carried out.

“Students, be on your guard. Ensure your spiritual essence shield around yourself is not broken, if you lose focus the results will be disastrous.” Too much evil essence being absorbed by the body would act as a slow but lethal toxin. It seemed that General Shing seemed to have reached the same consensus. After the scouts came back and reported a completely empty town, the Lancers were ordered further up north. A suitable location was found to set up camp, and the soldiers cautiously put out sentries as well. After a few hours, scouts that had been sent out earlier finally came back with news. The enemy camp had been located only an hours march further north. When the General heard that, she quickly ordered an attack.

“Stay together. Advance together, retreat together and attack together.” Li Jian said, the students nervously following them in the column that was leaving the camp. At the head of the column was General Shing who seemed to glance over at Li Jian every so often from her horse. When the camp was spotted, the column moved into formation. On the left side was Li Jian and the students. “This is going to be a real battle. All of you must listen to me. Wu Shan and Wu Shenbao, the two of you will be up front with your swords. Shing Hai, you will hold the line with them. Behind them will be Qin and Su Lan. The two of you will use bursts of spiritual energy for longer range attacks. Han Tian, your bow will be used to attack any enemy range fighters. Su Hao, you have the strongest ranged attack. Assist Han Tian.” The group of them nodded nervously as they advanced forward.

Qin approved of this plan to form a triangle formation that can be used to defend and attack at the same time. It also meant that an attack from any direction can be defended against easily. This Master Li was truly wise. Li Jian of course only made that formation because he wanted the loud-mouthed demon brothers as far from him as possible. When the attack was launched, the enemy fought back ferociously. The Oyrat martial artists were experts at launching ranged attacks, one of them powerful enough to send the powerful spiritual aura of a herd of horses towards them. The attack was stopped through the combination of a large amount of the Lancers firing their signature move at them, almost one hundred Lancers combining their spiritual force to fire a long golden spear made up of a flaming spiritual force that soared through the air and impacted the charging rampage of horses.

The explosion was massive, creating a large cloud of dust and snow that obscured everyone's vision. “Ignore it, advance forward!” The General ordered, her longsword pointing towards the enemy. The Royal Lancers would advance through the obstruction calmly, a unit of veteran soldiers that did not let their blood rise until the last minute. The enemy camp opened their gates and out came their famed berserkers. The Oyrat tribes had martial artists that infused their own spirit with medical herbs that induced a trance like rage state that rendered them almost immune to pain. The only way to stop them was to kill them. When they advanced, the Lancers halted at the command of General Shing and prepared their defenses.

“Front line, swords ready. Han, you fire first. Qin and Su Lan, prepare to break enemy charges. Han and Su Hao, I want you to overwhelm any who charges.” Li Jian gave his orders precisely, waiting for the moment of impact. The Oyrat berserkers came, roaring out their bloodlust as their martial auras raged around them. Han Tian began firing his bow, the bow using his spiritual essence as arrows. He fired crystal blue energy bolts from his bow that would spear through enemy torsos and limbs, while Su Hao summoned a small green orb from his palm and launched it at the enemy. The orb would explode where it went, sending a corrosive splash of its energy onto the limbs and bodies of the enemy.

The two of them kept this barrage up relentlessly, but they were still students. They still began slowing down bit by bit, Li Jian keeping an eye on them. “Two of you, stop and recover spiritual energy. First and second line, advance and engage.” Both Shing Hai and Qin had similar thoughts; where had this mysterious teacher learned military tactics? This was a classic tactic used by elite raider troops of the Royal Army.

Berserkers finally made it to the battle line itself. The sound of swords and steel clamoured over the battlefield. It was here that the students began truly polishing their own sword skills. Blades were used to stab through necks and chests while limbs were hacked with the finely honed edges. Li Jian stayed beside the two students who were replenishing their spiritual energy, having given them each a replenishment pill. He now stood guard over there, not needing to make any gestures. He knew that in front of such a large group of soldiers, he had to keep his actions subtle. Occasionally, an overly powerful berserker would get a bit too close to the students. Once he saw that the students would be unable to handle them, he would just stare at the berserker to use one of the most subtle assassination skills of the Void Sword Arts. Void Sword Arts: Sigh of Death. With a single glance he would let his sword intent itself suppress the more powerful cultivation of the stronger berserkers, the students not seeing the difference and simply slaughtering them with a combination of sword art and martial arts.

The battle raged on for longer, the berserkers losing their ground as they were mercilessly cut down by the much more disciplined Lancers in front of them but the berserkers were only the opening move. Li Jian had sensed something wrong as the Lancers stepped over the bodies of the various dead; he could sense that amongst the dead berserkers were souls that had been tainted by the hint of yokai. They were not true yokais, their appearances still human but there was a hint of darkness that no mortal cultivator should be able to have.

When the Lancers finally advanced over towards the open gate, the trap was sprung. The Lancers re-arranged their positions quickly, creating a defensive square as they carefully advanced into the camp. In the middle of the camp, they found where all the bodies of the citizens had been. Over two hundred citizens were hung upside down, their bodies cut up and bled into a massive pool of blood that drained into an artifact glowing with an evil malevolence. The artifact was made up of bronze with a large yokai claw carving on top of a solid square base. The claw clenched a few times and then the portal opened. A large round portal opened in front of them and the scene through it was not of this world. They could see black mountains and a dark horizon. There was no sun nor moon. Li Jian recognized it instantly; this was the underworld.