Chapter 17: Day 5 – The Storm Breaks

  The rustling of the forest had ceased. Even the wind held its breath.

  High above the Southern Ridge, Lady Chan-Chan exhaled slowly, her silver-threaded robes fluttering as she hovered in the stillness of the early dawn. Below, the fog-soaked forest glistened with dew, unaware that a calamity was about to unfold.

  Behind her, Steward Gu hovered midair, lightning-etched sword gripped in one hand, his presence unbound. With the instructors and weaker cultivators now out of range, both of them could finally release their true cultivation.

  Boom.

  The spiritual pressure they emitted stirred the clouds above.

  Lady Chan-Chan turned to him with a rare seriousness. “We’ll do it as planned. You keep it busy. I’ll retrieve Kong Tian.”

  Steward Gu didn’t speak. He nodded, his sword humming faintly with flickering arcs of azure lightning.

  Below, at the stream’s edge, the sacred beast sat like a silent warden beside the unconscious Kong Tian. Its silver-striped fur shimmered in the twilight as ripples drifted through the water behind it. Its tail curled protectively around the boy.

  Lady Chan-Chan’s gaze softened for the briefest moment.

  Why are you guarding him? Did you save him… or hurt him?

  But there was no time for sentiment.

  With a clap of thunder, Steward Gu descended.

  He didn’t roar. Didn’t announce himself.

  Instead, a titanic bolt of sword-shaped qi, forged from lightning essence and condensed will, surged down from the sky. The air cracked with force as it split the clouds, the arc of the blade nearly a hundred meters long.

  “Thunder Dragon Fang.”

  BOOOOOOM!!

  The earth split, and the stream exploded into mist. Trees snapped like twigs as Steward Gu landed, the ground quaking beneath his boots. The sacred beast’s eyes flared, and in an instant, it met the attack head-on, leaping into the air, claws glowing with spatial qi.

  CLASH!!

  The shockwave uprooted boulders. The entire southern quadrant of the forest trembled.

  Taking her chance, Lady Chan-Chan dove.

  Her whip extended mid-flight, curving in a beautiful spiral of spiritual energy as she swooped low like a shadow, heart pounding. Kong Tian’s body lay limp, bloodied, but whole. As she reached him, she knelt swiftly and swept him into her arms, her cultivation flaring to create a protective barrier.

  “Come on, Kong Tian… stay with me.”

  Behind her, the sacred beast twisted mid-air. It had deflected Steward Gu’s slash, but he noticed the girl now holding Kong Tian. Its pupils dilated. A sound, half-roar, half-cry-echoed across the sky.

  But it wasn’t a threat.

  It was grief.

  A desperate voice rang directly into their minds through divine sense, its tone broken and childlike.

  “Don’t… take he’s Mine…”

  Lady Chan-Chan’s flight halted midair. Even Steward Gu paused.

  That voice… wasn’t cold or violent. It was confused.

  Steward Gu’s brows furrowed. “A juvenile sacred beast?”

  Lady Chan-Chan gritted her teeth. “We can’t trust it. We don’t know what it did to him.”

  “No! I…Please… bring him back…”

  But she didn’t stop. And neither did the beast.

  In desperation, it let out a cry so powerful it split the clouds above and rang across the Iron Forest like a mournful bell.

  Then, something shifted.

  The atmosphere dropped. The air turned heavy and wrong.

  All across the forest, from root to ridge, demon beasts howled as one. Birds burst from the trees, serpents slithered madly, and packs of beasts began to stir from their dens.

  A wave of violent spiritual pressure burst outward from the sacred beast, no longer directed at them, but at the entire forest.

  The bloodline aura of a sacred beast had been fully released.

  The call of a monarch.

  And the horde heard.

  Lady Chan-Chan’s eyes widened as she rose higher into the sky, clutching Kong Tian against her chest.

  Below her, the world shifted.

  Thousands of demon beasts, once scattered, now moved as one. Packs of wolves surged across the hills. Serpents coiled from the rivers. The trees themselves seemed to bow in fear as stronger beasts appeared, eyes glowing with qi, and joined the fray.

  “Oh no…” she whispered. “It's called the whole forest.”

  She didn’t stop flying.

  She couldn’t.

  ?

  Moments later, over the northern camp

  The sky above Iron Root’s spectator camp rippled as a streak of silver-blue light tore through the clouds. Dozens of instructors and elders looked up in shock.

  “Is that… is she flying?!”

  “Is that little girl…a Spirit Master?!?

  “That’s impossible!”

  Lady Lady Chan-Chan, in her urgency, didn’t have time to care about concealing her cultivation.

  From the heavens, Lady Chan-Chan descended like a falling star, landing in the central area of the spectators' camp with a gust of wind that shook the tents. Kong Tian lay unconscious in her arms, protected by a layer of faint spiritual light.

  The three clan patriarchs all ran out of their tents, sensing the powerful spiritual aura. It felt like a heaven-defying fairy descended from the sky and graced the mortals with her presence.

  “Instructors!” she barked, her voice sharp and commanding.

  “The forest is rising. A horde of demon beasts is coming, led by an Enlightened beast! We need to evacuate all students immediately!”

  For a second, no one moved.

  Then her voice shattered their trance. “Now!”

  Chaos erupted. Instructors scrambled. Emergency talismans were fired into the air, sending glowing signals that shimmered above the tree line. Spiritual horns were sounded. Cries echoed from the mess hall and the outer tents as students woke to the alarm.

  Fang Duan appeared moments later, his face stone.

  “You brought the boy back?” he asked, glancing down at Kong Tian.

  “Yes,” she nodded. “But that powerful beast is no longer idle. It triggered a forest-wide stampede. The nearest horde is approaching from the southern part of the forest. We don’t have much time.”

  Fang Duan clenched his fists. “Then we buy time.”

  He turned to the assembled cultivators.

  “I want three defense squads positioned at the outer gates of the Southern Iron Forest. The remaining instructors will evacuate the students to other parts of the forest. One in the north, one east, and one south.

  The strongest among you will form the defensive vanguard. The rest begin emergency student extractions. Move!”

  Spiritual energy flared as cultivators leapt into motion. Defensive formations were activated. War banners unfurled. Elders and inner-circle disciples of the three great families formed units like seasoned soldiers.

  And as the sun began to rise behind the eastern ridge, the shadows of the first stampeding beasts crested the horizon.

  The war had begun.

  __________________

  NORTHERN IRON ROOT FOREST.

  The flickering light of a small campfire cast dim shadows along the walls of a hollowed tree, far from the chaos erupting elsewhere in the Iron Forest.

  Chen Kai stirred.

  A dull ache throbbed behind his eyes, and his body felt strangely… whole. He tried to sit up, only for pain to spike in his leg where he was stabbed. A hand gently pushed him back down.

  “Relax, idiot. You’re still healing.”

  Chen Kai blinked, vision swimming, until a familiar face came into focus. Bai Yuyin knelt beside him, her arms folded, expression calm as ever.

  “You…?” he murmured.

  She raised an eyebrow. “You sound disappointed.”

  “I’m….not.” He looked around. “Where are we?”

  “Old burrow den I found. Demon bears used to live here.” She shrugged. “They moved out. Figured it’d make a decent hiding spot until you stopped bleeding.”

  Chen Kai glanced down. His wounds were dressed with strips of clean cloth. A faint medicinal scent clung to him, bitter herbs, and something floral.

  “You… treated me?”

  Bai Yuyin looked away. “Tch. Don’t flatter yourself. I didn’t feel like dragging your body back in pieces.”

  And….she blushed slightly. “I owe you a favor for saving my life from the rank nine bear a few days ago.”

  Chen Kai chuckled weakly, then winced. “Fair.”

  Silence settled between them. Outside, the rustle of the forest seemed oddly distant, like the world itself had paused to catch its breath.

  After a while, Chen Kai broke the silence.

  “I should’ve won.”

  Bai Yuyin didn’t answer.

  “I fought well despite being ambushed by the trash of the Fang Clan. Took down more than half of them. If we weren’t in the body tempering realm, my combat options wouldn’t have been so limited…”

  He trailed off, frustrated. “In the greater world of cultivation, one elite cultivator can slaughter an entire village. But here… numbers mattered. But once we break through to higher realms, I won’t be trounced because of numbers.”

  Bai Yuyin continued to listen to Chen Kai mutter as she cleaned her sword.

  “I wouldn’t be so sure that numbers won’t matter later.” She said.

  “That’s how war works,” Bai Yuyin said softly. “Even a god dies when they’re exhausted.”

  Chen Kai stared at the fire, face shadowed. “I never wanted to rely on anyone. Attachments are weaknesses.”

  An unbeatable warrior is easily defeated if they can kidnap their loved one or companion. Those worldly attachments can shackle genius warriors to the schemes of talentless individuals.

  I thought firmly that numbers would never be useful in the pursuit of true strength.

  Bai Yuyin tilted her head, studying him. “And now?”

  “I don’t know,” he admitted. “Maybe it’s still a weakness. Or maybe… I’ve just been weak all along.”

  She leaned back against the tree trunk, arms resting across her knees. “You’re not weak, Chen Kai. You’re just… young. There’s a difference.”

  He scoffed. “Thanks.”

  “No, I mean it.” She turned to him, eyes glinting faintly. “You trained harder than anyone I know.

  “The others may dismiss your achievements as inherited talent, but I've seen you push past pain as if it were nothing.”

  Bai Yuyin glanced at the reflection of her face of her sword.

  “I admit that you’re strong, Chen Kai.”

  Yuyin sighed.

  “But you shut everyone out.”

  “ Like you were trying to prove something.”

  Chen Kai looked at the sky with longing but didn’t answer.

  “I used to think like that, too,” she added. “Until I realized you can’t carry everything alone. Sometimes… letting someone help you is the stronger choice.”

  A deep growl interrupted them.

  A demon beast burst through the undergrowth, a jagged-clawed forest ape, fur streaked with battle scars. It roared, charging.

  Chen Kai struggled to move, but his body refused.

  Bai Yuyin didn’t blink.

  She stepped in front of him, raising a short blade wrapped in black leather.

  Her aura flared, 8th level of Body Tempering.

  “So she has been improving her strength rapidly, too.” Chen Kai's eyes widened.

  The forest ape lunged.

  Bai Yuyin dodged with a dancer’s grace, slicing across its leg in a clean, controlled strike. The beast turned with a roar, but she was already behind it, driving her blade into its spine.

  A final shriek, then silence.

  She exhaled, wiping her blade clean on the grass before turning to him. “See? You’re not the only genius pushing past their limits to grow.”

  Chen Kai blinked; he maintained his aloof bearing.

  “You’ve gotten a lot stronger.”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  She grinned. “Took you long enough.”

  Then, rumbling.

  Faint tremors rippled through the ground, subtle but growing. Chen Kai’s winced from pain as he turned in the direction of the sound.

  “Do you feel that?”

  Bai Yuyin nodded, expression tightening.

  In the distance, a talisman of red light shot into the sky like a rose blooming in the ocean.

  A moment later, a faint voice echoed through the trees, amplified by spiritual energy projection.

  “All students in the outer forest, return to the central camp immediately!

  Emergency evacuation! A demon beast horde is incoming!”

  A moment of silence.

  Demon beast horde?! Several students in the surrounding area panicked!

  Chen Kai’s jaw clenched.

  “Demon beast horde, how is that possible?”

  A moment of stillness passed.

  Bai Yuyin moved beside him, crouching. “You can’t walk.”

  “I’ll manage,” Chen Kai replied firmly.

  He attempted to get up, knees shaking, and healed wounds reopened as he fell back down.

  Bai Yuyin shook her head.

  “Shut up and get on my back.”

  With surprising ease, she slung his arm over her shoulder and rose, lifting him onto her back. He protested once, but she didn’t listen.

  “You’ve lost the fight and fought to your limit. You’ve done enough,” she muttered.

  “Let someone else carry you this time.”

  He blinked against her shoulder, stunned into silence.

  The warmth of her back pressed against him. The scent of spirit pine and sweat clung to her hair. His pride flared, then faded, replaced by something unfamiliar.

  Gratitude.

  “…Thanks,” he murmured.

  She smirked. “Told you. I’m more than just a pretty face.”

  And with that, the two disappeared into the forest, headed toward the spectators' camp, unaware of the approaching storm.

  ?

  A cold wind slipped into the medical tent, rustling the corners of a pale linen sheet.

  Kong Tian lay motionless beneath it.

  His breathing was steady but shallow, and his black-and-silver robes, torn and stained with blood, hung from his body like a ghost’s shroud. The bruises along his ribs had faded slightly, thanks to a concoction of low-grade pills administered by one of Iron Root’s instructors.

  Kong Ming sat at his side, arms folded and brows furrowed, his gaze fixed on his unconscious brother.

  Outside, the faint murmurs of instructors and townsfolk as they moved to evacuate the camp buzzed like distant thunder. Lady Chan-Chan had long since taken off again, her whip gleaming like a comet in the sky. But Kong Ming remained, unmoving. Watching. Waiting.

  The boy who was always thinking now had no solution.

  And that silence was deafening.

  “Why did you go off and get yourself hurt again…?” he murmured. “Why didn’t you rely on me for once?”

  He gripped the edge of the cot so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

  Gu Bi slipped in quietly behind him, cradling a small box of medicine.

  “No change?” he whispered.

  Kong Ming shook his head.

  Kong Ming slowly turned, taking the box. Inside were basic medicinal ointments for shallow cuts.

  “Why didn’t he use his rescue talisman?” Kong Ming asked, his voice bitter.

  Gu Bi looked down. “Maybe… he didn’t want to fail you as a big brother.”

  Kong Ming didn’t respond.

  Then, without warning,

  Kong Tian stirred.

  His fingers twitched beneath the sheet. His eyelids trembled.

  Then… darkness.

  ?

  In his mind, Kong Tian stood alone in a grey world.

  Ash fell from a sky with no sun. The ground cracked beneath his feet, echoing like brittle glass. Fog crept through the ruins of a shattered home, the same wooden manor where he’d once lived with his parents, now broken and still smoldering.

  He turned slowly, surrounded by memories.

  A woman’s scream echoed.

  A blade slicing flesh.

  The sound of men laughing. Of fire crackling.

  And in the middle of it all… a younger version of himself, kneeling before a pile of bodies.

  His mother’s face.

  The loyal servant who played with him and taught him the basics of martial arts.

  The guards who died protecting him.

  His father’s robes…torn, discarded in the mud.

  Kong Tian turned away, trembling.

  But the memory shifted, now he stood in the Iron Forest, watching Kong Ming fall into a pit of spears. Again. And again. And again. No matter how many times he reached out, he was always too slow.

  Always too late.

  A ghostly image of Kong Ming appeared.

  “You didn't protect me, brother. Because you're weak, I had to protect you!”

  “I became a cripple because of you!”

  “Uncle Lao suffered because of you!”

  “I killed those people because of you!”

  Kong Tian covered his ears in denial.

  “Nooo! That’s not true, I'll protect you, Ming, I can protect everyone! I’ll be able to keep our family safe!”

  “You can’t protect them,” a voice whispered.

  Kong Tian turned.

  A figure stood in the shadows of the ruins. Shapeless. Boundless. The voice had no face, only weight.

  “You speak of duty. Of strength. But what do you truly desire?”

  Kong Tian clenched his fists. “To protect them.”

  “Why?”

  “…Because I failed before.”

  “Then is it duty, or guilt?”

  Kong Tian hesitated.

  The voice echoed louder, now in his mind, his bones, his blood.

  “You fear being weak. But what you fear more… is being powerless to stop loss.”

  “You fear the loss because you’re afraid of being alone.”

  “Because once you’re alone, you’ll have to face who you really are!”

  “You blame yourself for their deaths.”

  “You hate the blood on your hands, but you can’t stop fighting.”

  Kong Tian, teary-eyed, knelt on his knees, weighed down by the mysterious figure’s words. “Why?” He asked.

  The figure swirled around Kong Tian and whispered in his ears.

  “Deep down, you know you yearn for combat, the blood, the screams, the chaos of battle!”

  “You act like a fair and righteous person, but I see who you really are.”

  “You’re a tiger acting as a sheep!”

  “You use protecting your family as a way to avoid the void in your heart.”

  Kong Tian cried as tears fell into the dark abyss.

  His voice cracked, desperate. “Because if I stop protecting him, I’ll fall apart.”

  “Because I’m scared of what I’ll become if I lose more people.”

  The fog thickened.

  “Then run your attachments,” the voice whispered. “Let the pain fade.”

  Images of peace flashed, Kong Ming laughing with Gu Bi. Bai Yuyin, training beside a river. Iron Root Town is quiet and safe.

  He could walk away.

  He could sleep.

  He could leave it all behind.

  He isn’t needed. He isn’t wanted.

  But,

  “No.”

  The fog recoiled.

  “I won’t run,” he growled. “Even if I fail again… even if I die… I won’t run.”

  The fog hissed, burning away as a faint light sparked in the distance.

  “I want to protect them. I want to protect him. Not because I must, but because I choose to.”

  “For their sake.”

  “No.”

  “For my own.”

  Back in the tent, Kong Tian’s body remained still.

  His brow twitched faintly, a single tear escaping the corner of one eye.

  But he did not wake.

  Kong Ming noticed the tear, but said nothing.

  He just reached forward and gently wiped it away.

  “Whatever you saw there… come back with an answer,” he whispered.

  Outside, the evacuation horns wailed again.

  ?

  Before they could process their emotions, the tent flaps opened, and Fang Duan stepped in with two instructors. They saluted Kong Ming.

  “The Chen or Fang clan may be responsible for the recent incidents that happened to you boys,” Fang Duan said bluntly.

  “We’re assigning two personal guards until the situation becomes less chaotic. You’ll return to Iron Root Town under escort.”

  A demon beast horde is approaching, and I need to stay behind at this camp to secure the evacuation of you students.

  “Given the situation, it isn’t wise to stir internal conflict with the 3 great families, but I promise I won’t let these old foxes continue their schemes.” “For now, get going!” He Shouted.

  Make sure you listen to the instructors.

  Kong Ming nodded. “We’ll go.”

  Gu Bi helped pack the supplies, and the instructor picked up Kong Tian; they then made their way to town, returning to their quiet courtyard home. But peace was already slipping away.

  Inside the meeting hall of Iron Root’s command pavilion, the town’s leaders gathered in tense silence.

  An elderly man stood at the table, pointing to three large markers on a map.

  “Our scouts reported. Two Spirit Lord–level beasts have been identified among the horde. Their movements seem still for now.”

  We still haven’t completed evacuating the students in the forest and the external personnel of Iron Root Town.

  Chen Wei and Bai Huang sat across from him, along with senior elders from each of their clans.

  “We’ll split our forces,” Fang Zhen said. “Each clan sends its strongest to intercept one of the Spirit Lords before they reach the gates.”

  Fang Duan is at the forest entrance with a small vanguard unit, buying us time to complete the evacuation of the students in the forest and to coordinate a defensive line.

  Our strongest combatant will form teams to engage the beast lords.

  Our spirit warrior captains will organize the fighters of the rest of the horde.

  “Our Spirit Warriors will hold the walls and form teams.”A guard captain said, saluting the clan heads.

  “And the noncombatants?” Bai Huang asked.

  “We’ll evacuate them to the town center,” Fang Zhen replied. “There’s a minor defensive formation there. It should hold… for a time.”

  In case the walls are breached.

  Outside the walls, the drums of war had not yet begun.

  But everyone could feel it.

  The storm was coming.

  ????

  The eastern sky was still dark when Fang Duan stepped onto the southern gate of Iron Root Forest.

  A young Chen family cultivator appeared next to Senior Duan.

  “Sir, almost all of the students in the forest have been evacuated. Most have evacuated the spectators' camp and are on route to Iron Root Town. We are performing a few more forest searches for any missing students. Soon, the evacuation of the forest will be considered completed.”

  Fang Duan nodded. “Good, since most have been evacuated from the most dangerous zones, all we have to do is hold this initial wave until they can secure Iron Root Town.”

  A cold wind blew from the direction of the Iron Forest, carrying with it the faint rustle of disturbed foliage and an ominous chorus of distant howls. The first hints of dusk painted the horizon in blood-red streaks, as if the heavens themselves knew war approached.

  Below the gate, rows of cultivators gathered. They wore the colors of the three great clans, Bai, Fang, and Chen, with their clan colors white, blue, and orange, respectively. There was no room for rivalries. They stood united, weapons in hand, breath misting in the chill air.

  The instructors who had stayed behind to fight grew nervous. Sweat covered their bodies despite not moving an inch.

  Fang Duan exhaled slowly, his arms folded behind his back. His armor bore the Fang Clan insignia, but its shoulder plates had been reinforced with jade-threaded qi guards, gifts.

  Gifts from the cloud-seeking sect.

  He glanced to his side.

  There stood the vanguard: young cultivators and junior elders from all three clans who had volunteered to stay behind and delay the beast tide, knowing full well that they might not survive. Among them were Fang Jin, Bai Lian, and even Chen Yuan, each one solemn but defiant.

  “Make peace with your fear,” Fang Duan said, his voice carrying across the blockade. “You’ll need to bury it soon.”

  From the edge of the forest came the sound of something large… crashing.

  Then another.

  Then a roar so deep it made the ground tremble.

  Fang Jin muttered under his breath. “They’re coming…”

  Fang Duan didn’t flinch. He turned to his vanguard and raised a single hand, two fingers extended.

  A gust of spiritual energy erupted around him, blasting outward like a rising storm.

  “This is where you show your true worth as cultivators!”

  The sheer weight of it nearly knocked back those who stood near.

  The atmosphere thickened.

  From his dantian surged power, refined, controlled, and absolute.

  3rd Stage Spirit Lord Realm.

  And now unrestrained.

  The air warped around his body, forming jagged halos of fire and wind. His qi flared in a cyclone, laced with a red-and-gold sheen that crackled like a lightning storm in orbit.

  He raised his spirit grade spear, a long, jagged polearm bound with dragon hair, and pointed it toward the forest.

  “Brace yourselves.”

  Then the first wave broke through the tree line.

  Dozens, no, hundreds of demon beasts poured from the forest like a flood. Wolves the size of horses, bears clad in armor-like scales, vipers slithering with poison so thick it steamed. And behind them, larger shapes. A boar demon with molten tusks. A twin-headed panther.

  And a dozen more trailing behind them.

  The sky lit with the fire of talismans and spell arrays.

  The clash began.

  Boom!

  A wolf-beast leapt toward the wall and was skewered mid-air by Fang Duan’s spear. He spun it with a growl, twisting the weapon until the beast burst in a flash of red mist.

  “Push forward!” he shouted, leaping down into the front ranks.

  The cultivators followed, surging into battle.

  Fang Duan became a tempest.

  Where he moved, beasts fell. His spear danced like a dragon’s tail, coiling, striking, shattering limbs, and severing necks. He channeled his qi into the weapon, forming massive arcs of force with each swing.

  At one point, a pack of armored beasts tried to encircle him.

  “Too slow.”

  He planted his foot, drew his spear back, and unleashed a roaring burst of energy.

  A fiery crescent, like the blade of a falling sun, erupted from the tip and tore through the ground, exploding beneath the pack.

  BOOM!

  Beast corpses flew into the air like broken dolls.

  The cultivators roared behind him, their morale blazing like torches in a blizzard.

  From behind the battlements, Liu Ren clutched his short sword tighter, knuckles pale as bone. He was barely 18, a junior disciple from the Bai Clan, pressed into the evacuation escort detail, but now the beasts were here, and there was no retreat. He’d never seen a real battle, only sparring matches and distant tales. But then Fang Duan stepped forward, and the world shifted. The air itself bowed as the Spirit Lord’s spear carved arcs through monsters like wind parting grass. Every swing burst with thunder. Every motion scattered demons. The stories hadn’t lied. This wasn’t a man, this was a storm wearing skin. And suddenly, Liu Ren wasn’t just afraid. He was burning with the urge to live long enough to follow that kind of strength.

  Even among Spirit Apprentices and Spirit warriors, his presence was like a wall of hope.

  Instructor Han Fei stood just beyond the second defensive line, wind howling past his cloak as talismans lit up the evening sky. He was a newly promoted instructor, Spirit Apprentice of the 7th Realm, trained to teach and protect, but this wasn’t a classroom. This was a slaughter.

  The beasts came like tidal waves, and for a moment, Han Fei doubted everything. Then Fang Duan descended. Not with elegance, but with wrath. His spear moved like a divine judgment, cleaving a path so wide it made the impossible seem routine. Han Fei swallowed hard. He wasn’t a student anymore. And yet, as he watched beasts fall beneath Fang Duan’s roar, part of him still felt like one. This is the weight of real battle, he thought. This is what we are meant to become.

  They pressed forward. Resisting the fear in their hearts.

  “Aahh!”... “Crack!”

  The screams of some soldiers being torn in half by a demon beast can be heard.

  The cry of a woman shrilled.

  “Noo!….please don’t!”!

  It was a spirit apprentice woman of the Bai Clan, who could be seen getting dragged across the floor by her hair by a spirit ape.

  As other demon beasts begin to pull her apart.

  But the humans continued to press the attack.

  Fang Jin struck down a leaping mantis-beast with a scything arc of wind qi. Bai Lian and Chen Yuan fought side by side, launching formation-bound chains to trap and crush larger enemies.

  The beasts were relentless, but the vanguard was unwavering.

  Hour after hour, they held the line.

  The night wore on.

  And still… they stood.

  By dawn’s first light, Fang Duan’s spear was coated in blood, and the battlefield lay thick with bodies.

  A scout reported. All external civilians are secured behind the walls of Iron Root Town. We confirmed that no students remain in the forest, and we are clear to retreat to Iron Root Town.

  Hearing the report, a soldier's eyes lit up with excitement.

  “We did it! We can fall back!” The soldiers, exhausted from the battle, began to celebrate.

  Fang Duan stretched his back, yawning.

  He stood atop a mound of broken beasts, shoulders heaving, eyes burning.

  “We’re not done yet,” he muttered.

  The vanguard celebratory cheers quickly faded.

  From the forest, more shadows stirred.

  Stronger ones are coming soon..

  Fang Duan's grip on his blood-covered spear tightened.

  “Let them come.”

  Iron Root Town Kong Estate.

  The dull throb of pain stirred Kong Tian from unconsciousness. He blinked slowly, the ceiling above him familiar, though the scent of old wood and medicinal herbs told him he was somewhere safe; he still felt disoriented.

  Voices murmured nearby.

  “He’s waking up!” Gu Bi whispered.

  Kong Tian turned his head slightly. Kong Ming sat at his bedside, visibly relieved, though his silver eyes shimmered with restrained anger. Gu Bi hovered at the foot of the bed, clutching a jar of warm water and a handful of spirit-soaked clothes.

  “You’re finally back,” Kong Ming said, voice low. “Idiot.”

  Kong Tian tried to sit up but groaned as pain lanced through his ribs.

  “Don’t move too fast,” Gu Bi warned, setting the water down. “You burned yourself out. Again.”

  Kong Tian exhaled. “What happened… after?”

  Kong Ming leaned forward. “Lady Chan-Chan found you beside a powerful beast, unconscious. You’re lucky to be alive. She brought you back just before the beast incited a horde response.”

  At the mention of a beast, Kong Tian’s face twisted in thought. “It… wasn’t hostile. I remember pain, then warmth… then silence.”

  He paused.

  “It carried me to safety.”

  Kong Ming’s brows furrowed, but before he could speak, the door to their courtyard slid open.

  Instructor Shen entered with two guards and bowed slightly. “Orders from Fang Duan. Two of us will be stationed here to ensure your safety. There are concerns… the Chen Clan may try something.”

  Kong Ming’s expression darkened. “Of course there are.”

  “Chen Kai exposed their plan to the school,” Gu Bi added, voice sharp. “He said his family lured you out to the eastern ridge.”

  Why would Chen Kai reveal the schemes of his own family? Kong Ming pondered.

  Kong Tian shook his head. “They tried to make it look like a random ambush. If not for activating my bloodline strength, I might’ve, ”

  He didn’t finish.

  Kong Ming stood abruptly and stormed out the door.

  Gu Bi moved to stop him, but Kong Tian raised a hand. “Let him go. He needs space.”

  Kong Tian’s eyes widened.

  “My cultivation!!…. It’s fallen… I’m back in the 9th realm of body tempering.”

  Gu Bi pondered a moment before leaving.

  Moments later, Gu Bi returned with a small pouch. “Look what I found.”

  He poured out clear, pearl-sized pills that glowed faintly with golden mist.

  Kong Tian blinked. “Those are the Meridian Cleansing Pills Steward Gu gave me… I forgot I stashed them.”

  Gu Bi grinned. “You’re welcome.”

  Within the hour, Kong Tian’s color began to return. His qi circulated more cleanly. His damaged meridians, though weakened, had not ruptured beyond repair. The pills had saved him from possible permanent regression.

  His cultivation was still at the 9th Level of Body Tempering, but the bottleneck had begun to loosen.

  “If I rest another day,” he murmured, “I can step into the Spirit Apprentice Realm again.”

  “You might not have another day,” Kong Ming said grimly, stepping back into the room.

  He held a folded map and several scrolls under his arm.

  “There’s a town defense meeting. The beasts are coming.”

  In the Iron Root Town assembly hall, tension pulsed in the air like a drawn bowstring.

  Patriarchs Chen Wei, Bai Huang, and Fang Zhen stood at the head of a long table flanked by Iron Root’s senior instructors, military strategists, and cultivators of Spirit Warrior rank and above.

  On the table were maps of the town, formation cores, and spiritual beast movement markers.

  “The enlightened beast’s call has stirred the entire forest,” said Instructor Lei grimly. “We estimate over 30 thousand beasts, and at least three Beast Lords among them.”

  “There are three now?!” Chen Wei asked, face pale.

  “They’re advancing toward the outer ridges now,” Fang Zhen confirmed. “They’ll be at our gates by sunset.”

  Kong Ming, Kong Tian, Gu Bi, Bai Yuyin, Xing Cai, and even a limping Chen Kai stood near the back of the room, listening quietly. Though they were students, they had all survived the forest, bloodied by it.

  Kong Tian exchanged glances with Chen Kai.

  Chen Kai noticed Kong Tian's gaze and nodded.

  Gu Bi walked towards Xing Cai. “Where did you disappear to earlier?”

  Xing Cai hesitated to respond. She then said meekly. I….had…to report things to my father.

  She pushed down her sleeves to cover her arms.

  Gu Bi noticed the strange adjustments Xing Cai made

  To her clothes, but said nothing.

  Bai Huang, patriarch of the Bai Clan, stroked his beard in thought.

  “We’ll split our elite forces across the four gates,” Bai Huang declared. “Each patriarch and their top elders will engage one of the Beast Lords directly.”

  “Agreed,” Fang Zhen said. “I’ll take the North Gate.”

  “I’ll defend the West,” said Bai Huang.

  “Then the East will fall to me,” Chen Wei concluded.

  “And the South?” someone asked.

  The room turned silent.

  Lady Chan-Chan hadn’t returned.

  Steward Gu’s whereabouts were unknown.

  “We’ll assign our strongest instructors and Sect-affiliated mercenaries to the south until reinforcements arrive,” Fang Duan said, entering with his spear over his shoulder, his armor charred and blood-streaked. “We held it last night, and it will hold again.”

  The strategists nodded.

  Another instructor rose. “We’ve activated the inner city’s protective formation. All civilians will be relocated to the Central District, where spirit seals and minor barriers are already in place.”

  “Good,” Fang Duan said. Then he turned to the younger cultivators. “All who are Body Tempering or below will join the evacuation efforts, guiding and defending the civilians. Only Spirit Apprentices and above may join combat.”

  Kong Ming stepped forward. “Understood.”

  Gu Bi swallowed. “Evacuation duty, huh?”

  Kong Tian, still pale but steady, turned to Kong Ming.

  “I need to rest a bit more. But once I can stand, I’m joining the defense.”

  Kong Ming gripped his shoulder. “Then I’ll hold the town until you get there.”

  Outside the hall, the first warning horn echoed over Iron Root.

  The beast horde had reached the horizon.

  And the walls would soon be tested.

  End of chapter 17.