1069 First Planar War (V)
The faces of the martial artists contorted as this was an irrefutable truth. What they had done was the ultimate form of disrespect to their people, elders, ancestors, and worlds.
"Men, desperate time calls for desperate measures," said Qian Heng, his voice echoing in everybody's mind. "What we have done is a shame that we must bear for the rest of our lives, but remember, we did it out of necessity for survival and because we are weak. We may have wronged the dead, but the living are counting on us.
"So raise your head and face the enemy. Used this shame and anger as fuel to protect the people not burdened by our choices."
"For the people, for the world, for our shame."
"For the people, for the world, for our shame."
"For the people, for the world, for our shame."
They rushed to meet head-on with the origin cultivators, and the formation was instantly activated, isolating everyone into layers. The martial artists were momentarily disoriented until they figured things out. Qian Heng quickly ordered them to change tactics, sending people or legions to different layers.
Tie Gang calmly watched the enemy's response before contacting some people. "Top 15 Heaven Chosens- do not reveal your full strength yet, especially you, Li Jun. Wait for the right time to sweep the Mortal Combatant Layer."
"As you wish," replied Li Jun, and Tie Gang flew to the first layer, which was the most complicated, Although this was the Legion Layer, the commanders of these legions were of different tiers and included many Immortals.
He soon noticed something and frowned, "This might be a problem."
The legions from the Myriad Emperor World were objectively better than those from the Martial Hegemony World. They had better weapons and armor and more variety (Talisman Weapons). They were trained to be a real army or unit, while it was obvious that many of these martial artists' legions were put together very recently. Additionally, martial artists (at least these ones) are more individualistic, making them not prone to working in groups as they favor personal power more.
Lastly, the martial artists were surprised to discover they lost the advantage of a powerful body with high defense and regenerative capabilities. This fact was one of the primary contributing factors in their victory against the Taoists, who were more known for their spiritual practice than their bodies.
However, the origin cultivators tempered their bodies to a high degree, especially with the new Origin System that places heavy emphasis on this. And even if they did not use the new system to its full potential, bathing in constant Innate Qi has nourished and strengthened them.
Their only advantage in this scrimmage was their regenerative ability. With immense life energy, no origin cultivator would be on par with them on healing except for the geniuses. More importantly, they have linked their life energy to help each other heal from injuries; in other words, all their legions are versions of Tie Gang's Undead Legion created from his Innate Ability.
'A lot of them are not in sync, thus affecting the life energy sharing process,' thought Tie Gang. 'But the perfectly in-synch ones are even better than my Undead Legion. The worst part is they do not have one person as the main link; their abilities come from their cultivation system.'
If something happens to Tie Gang, his Undead Legion will drastically weaken. However, the martial artist legions do not have such a weakness.
'We can't use the previous tactic since consciousnesses control the Life Energy, so the formation is useless.'
Tie Gang looked to his left, observing Li Jun's Slaughter Legion led by Jun Menyao had no issue with their enemies as they could [kill] the Life Energy or replace it [Death Qi] to throw them out of balance. However, this tactic only worked the first time since the Martial Hegemony World's cultivators are masters of control of Life and Death Qi.
The situation was similar in one of the Ancient Clan's legions, most likely trained by the Sacred Beast Empress.
Tie Gang ignored the explosions around him, the shouts, the blood, gore, and wailing souls; his mind was only analyzing the battlefield and coming up with the best countermeasure.
His eyes moved to Great Talisman City's legions, which he found unique. A few talented Talisman Makers served as the core of the legion. Everyone else allows them to borrow their collective strength through formation, and they can make any talisman they wish to fight or support.
They used a Life Qi Suppressing Talisman created for this battle, thus suppressing the martial artists' ability and rendering them easier to kill.
"Talisman Legion: move to the center and bless all legions with your talisman," ordered Tie Gang, who also called two Dao Ancestors to fuse with the Talisman Legion's formation and give them a greater strength boost.
With this subtle change, all other legions were now provided with Life Qi Suppressing Talisman, making their battles easier. The casualties on the opposing side dramatically increased as their only advantage was weakened or useless.
Tie Gang received a few praises from the War Room, but his focus remained on the war.
"AAARGGGHHH." A visceral roar as if from a creature who had suffered until pain in the depths of Hell and had escaped, now consumed by an incomprehensible anger. Everyone's eyes were on this martial artist whose white could only be distinguished by the few spots on his red sleeve.
His body turned golden as he burned his Golden Body for extra strength. Then, with madness in his eyes, he rushed toward Tie Gang. He was unstoppable, destroying anyone on his way and breaking countless formations.
An Immortal Venerable tried to stop him, but the martial artist ignored him, advancing forward toward one man only-Tie Gang.
'Interesting,' thought Tie Gang. 'Anger, hatred, and desperation sublimated his spirit, allowing him to achieve a temporary Will Manifestation. His majesty was correct when he said this cultivation system made it easier to manifest Willpower.'
Tie Gang sent an order, and a Dao Ancestor acted. A colossal palm descended on this little Quasi-Emperor, annihilating his body and soul. However, Tie Gang's happiness did not even have an opportunity to manifest as he detected a black shadow continuing toward him.
'Has killing me turned into your obsession?' he analyzed. He ordered everyone to let him pass, and he blew to it once the thing reached less than two meters away. His mouth generated a terrifying vibration backed by the Strings of Fate. The obsession resisted for less than a second before dissipating.
"How...could...this...be," said a hoarse voice.
"It's because you're weak, so even the power of obsession cannot change your fate," said Tie Gang indifferently.
The martial artist looked at him with red eyes; he wanted to look at the people responsible for taking everything from him. Before the last of him disappeared, his life flashed before his eyes.
His name was Shao Ning, but the people in the martial world knew him as the White Cloth Flute Asura. In his early years, he had no interest in martial arts despite his master's best efforts; his only love was music, the flute, to be specific. Then, on that fateful night, he returned home to see his master slain.
He remembered the pain and guilt he felt. On that day, he changed as he buried his master. He focused on martial arts, combined it with his flute, and eventually acquired the Heaven Martial Art called Sound of Murder.
After his martial art was accomplished, Shao Ning went on a rampage in the world, trying to avenge his master. The countless bodies he left in his wake garnered him the nickname White Cloth Flute Asura.
Shao Ning thought his life would be filled with blood, vengeance, and darkness-until he found the last man on his revenge list. He remembered that day on the mountain vividly. His long hair flowed with the wind, the beautiful mountain in the background, and the zither sound, indicating he had accepted his fate.
Out of instinct, Shao Ning took his flute to play an accompanying piece, and when he woke up, they'd been playing together for three days. More importantly, all his anger and hatred had dissipated. Without hesitation, Shao Ning made a bold decision - to forgive, and he never regretted it.
That day, he found a companion. They secluded themselves from the world, focusing on their music. They did not care about the rocky martial path or the ruthless Emperor Path; they had each other and music, which was more than enough.
Things were well for a long time until this war. Shao Ning wanted to stay out of it - at least in the early stages. But his companion felt compelled to participate. So, he followed him.
Alas, as soon as the fight started, he had to watch the person he loved dearly eradicated from him. The anger and grief overwhelmed his mind, so he decided to do something for his homeworld in memory of his companion's patriotism. Sadly, his effort was futile.
"Lai Chang, don't worry, I will come see you now. See? I didn't make you wait long, so you can't complain."
