Chapter 61: Peerless General

The moment the demonic force appeared, absolute chaos descended upon everyone, regardless of friend or foe. Team members caught in the fierce battle knelt, clutching their throats. The Glowing Crows froze like puppets out of control. They couldn't breathe. The entire city's air surged upward, surging into the face of the storm monster.

"Not enough! Not enough!" Its roar turned into real thunder, dancing wildly in the rain.

The demonic beast hadn't yet fully formed; this mere rift was too small for it. So it breathed frantically, using the city's gas to expand its size. Its face doubled in size in a single breath, completely covering the sky. The rift was stretched open again, nearly half of the water curtain collapsing. It snorted with satisfaction, its plasma-filled eyes gazing at the tiny creatures in the ruins.

Its gaze was a deadly spot of light, and all life within its sight became corpses dominated by the light; its huge body cast a shadow like the night sky, and countless killer ghosts grew from the shadow, extending their claws as sharp as knives; its emotions were revealed in its breathing, turning into rain of fire, hail and sandstorms, and huge demons were born from its breath, searching for flesh and blood in the city according to its tyrannical nature.

The killer ghosts, glowing corpses, and the like are merely the dregs that accompany its activities; the demonic storm itself is the epitome of natural disaster.

"That's nothing." Ji Huaisu smiled bitterly. "It's already hard enough. Can you please stop being so crazy?"

She gripped the shrunken shadow blade in one hand, burying it in the demon's head. Her right leg was dripping with blood, barely an inch from being severed by the demon's bite. This creature, naturally endowed with the ability to devour light, was the ultimate nemesis of the light shield. If she didn't fight it with her life, she would be the one to die.

Ji Huaisu had no idea she had just performed a miracle. She had single-handedly defeated two homogeneous heretics, notably the renowned demon-slayers. Even in the ancient days when knights still roamed the land, this feat was revered. People would weave this story into poetry, sung in castles and villages for eternity. But even if she knew, she would only smile wryly. What significance did a single miracle have on the situation?

She could defeat two demon-killers, but the monsters in the sky could create hundreds of the same enemies in just one breath.

Ji Huaisu took out a bandage she'd kept as a first aid bandage and bandaged the wound. Suddenly, she felt a little tired. It seemed like it had always been like this since she was little. She'd trained hard, but her elders had still passed away one by one. She'd always wanted to help her father, but could only watch him age. They'd finally won a few games, but they still meant nothing in the grand scheme of things.

In front of a powerful high-quality opponent, one's willpower is extremely fragile. No matter how much you win, you can't touch the enemy in the sky.

She forced herself to shut off her thoughts, propping herself up with her shadow blade. Broken glass and metal reflected a glaring light. Amidst the torrential rain, wind, and raging flames, the dilapidated city resembled a castle within a glass bead, a fragile beauty poised to collapse. Scourge and demons wandered according to their instincts, and desperate cries echoed from the ruins.

There was actually someone still on the battlefield, a hunchbacked old man who had unfortunately not been taken into a shelter, but had luckily survived the chaos. He lay on the ground, looking up at the sky and crying.

"They're coming... There's no escaping them...! We're going to die!"

Ji Huaisu forced herself to walk over and help the old man up. Seeing his dry and desperate eyes, she felt very uncomfortable. At this moment, she found that she was not afraid, but she was particularly unwilling to hear people's cries of grief.

"Can you hear me?"

The old man looked as lost as she was. Then a voice, a familiar one, echoed in her mind.

·

Ji Qiufeng sat in the water curtain room. The water curtains around him had turned into a chaotic color, tainted by foreign forces and no longer clear.

This was actually the central control room for the entire city of Huilong. The city lord relied on the water curtain to control this unprecedented city. When the Huilong water curtain was damaged, it lost its purpose. The surrounding light gradually dimmed, and only he and Youyou were left in the room.

Ji Qiufeng slowly closed his eyes.

Suddenly, he saw what the control room once looked like. That was the city's early days, a whole team of pioneers poring over blueprints. That was when Huilong was rising, everyone gathered here to drink, sing, and tell irresponsible jokes. That was when the first war broke out, warnings flashed in the water curtain, and people chatted and offered advice, each taking orders and rushing to the front. They wore fearless smiles on their faces, unafraid of pain or death, confident that they would win.

He opened his eyes, and the room was pitch black, devoid of light or shadow. Yet Ji Qiufeng felt they were all there, standing in this deserted room, watching him and Youyou with illusory eyes, silently entrusting him with sincere trust. "I believe you can do this, I believe you won't lose."

I believe you will win.

"That's enough." Youyou said softly, "We've done everything we can."

Ji Qiufeng stroked the golden pill and took a deep breath.

"Can you hear me?" he asked.

He heard Huaisu's response, Xiaoan's response, Hengkong's response. They were all still alive. Although the war was difficult, they had never despaired. Those voices and the invisible gazes sank into his heart, and he felt a little more strength in his body.

"Now let's arrange the final mission," Ji Qiufeng said, "Defend the Huilongcheng headquarters and survive!"

Ji Qiufeng finished. As the city lord and father, he had nothing more to say. He stepped into the murky water curtain, where Youyou was waiting. The small snake body glowed brightly, transforming into the long dragon that stretched like a ladder to heaven. They instantly appeared above the ruined city. The dragon roared loudly, and the city lord stood atop it, facing the typhoon-like monster.

Mo Biao noticed their presence. Compared to its size, Huilong was just a larger insect. Its lips curled in surprise, and it extended its hand, thick with cloud. "Huilong, you're still alive...you?!"

Mo Biao's covetous sigh turned into a cry of surprise halfway through, because it saw the man on the head of the whirlwind dragon and saw his face clearly. But it didn't even see the man make a move, because the violent whirlwind dragon had already taken the lead.

Its body shone brightly, emitting a myriad of majestic divine lights. That light was like a blazing dragon-shaped sun, dispersing the thick clouds and thunderstorms, and annihilating the demons that claimed to have suffered natural disasters.

All the natural disasters within Huilong City were instantly annihilated, and the relentless storm subsided. A long dragon, like the blazing sun, broke through the storm, its divine light carving a path to the outside world. It soared into the sky with majesty and pride. The people on earth were stunned, vaguely remembering that this was the city of the Dragon God, and they lived under the protection of the righteous deity.

Some, however, thought more deeply, understanding everything simply by seeing that radiance. Ji Huaisu wept silently, finally realizing why she hadn't been afraid. It was because she had always believed in her father, in the dragon, like a child's faith in the heroes in fairy tales. Even if they were weakened to the point of collapse, she still believed they would rise like heroes, turning the tide.

She felt ashamed, yet also proud. Complex, unspeakable thoughts burned through her chest and abdomen. Ji Huaisu picked up the communicator and spoke with all her might.

"The City Lord is going to fight! The City Lord is going to fight!!"

·

Huilong and Ji Qiufeng rushed towards the sky together. The moment they left the water curtain, the real world that had been isolated for twenty years appeared in their eyes.

Thunderclouds loomed, a violent storm howled. Behind the inky clouds lay a malevolent rainbow. Beneath the thunderbolts, a boundless ocean surged and roared, its phantoms of countless demons swirling like foam on the tide.

Their Huilong City lies deep within the ocean, nestled within a massive vortex that revolves endlessly like an ocean eye. Previously, the top of the ocean eye was sealed by a curtain of water. When that curtain collapsed, they leaped from the city to confront the demonic outsiders.

The relentless winds carried a sense of fear, each a demonic storm, hidden behind the clouds, afraid to rush forth and follow their kind. The demons of the sea were no different; even the most rampant illusions dared not flaunt themselves before this man and dragon. Before Ji Qiufeng and Huilong, these creatures were but weaklings; only the strong could stand before them.

"Long time no see, General Wushuang." A low laugh came from the light.

A ray of rainbow light pierced the clouds, rising from a spiraling tower in the infinite distance. Guided by the Moon Mirror, it took the form of a human figure as tall as the storm. Its body was crystal clear, like colored glass, every inch of its flesh radiating a rainbow of light. Its face was beautiful and compassionate, surpassing any statue carved by skilled hands. Yet, within this colorful colored glass, a black mist wriggled, like the poisonous pus within the body of a bodhisattva. Anyone who beheld it would wail and go mad, becoming the plaything of natural disasters.

The fifth outer dharma point, the natural disaster seed, Rainbow Sin. A mobile natural disaster that ravages the continent, the source of all suffering.

Ji Qiufeng didn't say anything, just stared at it silently. Hong Nie seemed to sense something and couldn't help but smile.

"You martial cultivators are truly fascinating creatures. Even when your lives hang by a thread, you still persevere, as if you could pierce me with your divine eyes." The black mist within Hong Nie's body trembled. "But can you still speak, Ji Qiufeng? How much strength do you have left?"

"The law of the jungle is the unchangeable law of the world. The old beast deserves to be food for the newborn!"

Another roar echoed with the rainbow's sin, and a startlingly colossal figure emerged from the depths of the sea of ​​illusions. Its appearance arose with a vast tornado, engulfing countless illusions. Their wailing transformed them into colorless masks. The masks, sometimes joyful and sometimes angry, merged within the waterspout, transforming into a majestic, furious expression.

A giant creature in the sea shattered its mask and emerged. It had a bird's head and a snake's body, with wings growing from behind its head. Atop its snake's body, nine eyeless snake heads emerged. Its massive body churned in the sea, carrying both the ferocity of a monster and the alluring beauty of a bewitching creature.

The demon of ambition, Arik Ferda Besson. A great demon with a true name, a fantasy beyond imagination.

The Demon of Ambition and the Rainbow Sin appeared, their terrifying presence dwarfing even the ocean. This battle could no longer contain many more, but the world's malice was not limited to this. A gray scar opened in the center of the battlefield, and from within it emanated the quiet sound of a bell. The sound was infinitely ancient, carrying a sorrow that lingered for countless millennia.

As the bell rang, the light between heaven and earth faded, and everything lost its color, transforming into a monotonous, lifeless gray. The sound of horse hooves pierced the gray silence. A skeletal horse emerged from ancient times, bearing a knight clad in animal hair and black armor on its back.

It looked at the city lord and the dragon with pity, ash and fire flickering in its fleshless eye sockets. It was the heretic who single-handedly provoked the Third Great War and was the culprit behind Ji Qiufeng's decline to this day.

Funeral procession. Priest announcing his death. The embodiment of Providence.

"After twenty years of suffering, you should know the law of nature." The Skeleton Knight's voice was resounding. "Fate has determined that all things must die."

Huilong raised his head, looking down at the three outsiders with pride, disdaining to speak to them. Ji Qiufeng, on the other hand, smiled, his mouth filled with blood foam, but his eyes showed no fear.

"Twenty years. I've thought a lot," Ji Qiufeng said. "So-called natural disasters are nothing more than tyranny that oppresses the weak. So-called demons are nothing more than delusions that take advantage of opportunities. Death lies about fate, only daring to reveal itself when old and seriously ill. How cowardly."

"Outsiders are nothing but lowly creatures, just like you who have been guarding the city for twenty years and only dared to show yourself to me today!"

The black mist within Hong Nie trembled. It saw something in the man's eyes that shouldn't be there: hatred and determination, as intense as a fire ignited from his blood. A dying martial artist shouldn't have such will, and under such pressure, he shouldn't have the strength to speak.

It discovered the source of the abnormality. The blood that Ji Qiufeng coughed up was tinged with golden light. He had just swallowed a pill...

The elixir of Master Jingzang!

Instantly, his thoughts raced, and his emotions radiated forth in a flash of light. A foul light shone from Hong Xie's eyes, like a rainbow bridge spanning the sky. In an instant, the rainbow stream crossed thousands of miles, weaving across the clouds. From higher in the sky, one could see a fine, bright "line" piercing the clouds, parting the sea like a wave and illuminating the continent beyond the shore as bright as day.

That was the "Anti-Law Rainbow" controlled by Hong Nie, a synonym for absolute power. Its brilliance could destroy all magic weapons and defile the flesh and blood of gods.

But the rainbow light dissipated, all because of a mere paper fan. Ji Qiufeng tapped his fingers on the fan, his eyes blazing with fighting spirit like stars. He didn't need to use any strength, just a hint of willpower to defeat the anti-law light. Because he could see the flow of light, the trajectory of the flow of power, and simply touching the key point could cut off any force.

Sephiroth Five, Secret Heavenly Eye, a mortal cultivator. The "mind's eye" he cultivates can see thousands of secrets and break through all kinds of methods!

Seeing the situation was dire, the ambitious demon attacked immediately, spewing poisonous fire that could boil the ocean. From Huilong's claws flashed a needle-like light, amplified by the dragon's roar, transforming into a bright yellow divine needle. At Huilong's will, it pierced the sea, sealing off the battlefield. It was the Xuanji Divine Needle, a magical weapon Huilong had personally crafted. Its power was enough to calm the sea and anchor time and space.

Ji Qiufeng casually slashed his fingertip, and a drop of blood seeped into the paper fan, staining the wooden ribs blood-red. The fan trembled as if alive, extending as the blood flowed, transforming into a straight steel pole, sprouting a sharp curved blade. A red tassel on the tip fluttered in the wind. It was a halberd, a halberd as red as blood.

The boundless dark clouds settled, the raging winds and waves subsided, and all was silent as the halberd appeared. Blue fire and rainbow light followed, carrying with them the vile fear of the outsiders. The man took up his weapon, and a blood-red light emerged at his side, forging into a full set of majestic battle armor, transforming into a godlike and majestic figure behind him.

He roared, brandishing his halberd, slashing with unparalleled valor and unrivaled bravery. That single blow forced the outsiders to tear through the thick clouds, shattering the sky of despair with unparalleled bravery!

The secret of Longquan Township is shocking!

Amidst the earth-shattering might, the Skeleton Knight indifferently drew his sword. Its blade was formless, a mere gray shadow. It was the Holy Sword of Apocalypse, the "Ash Decay" bestowed upon it by the gods themselves. As the knight drew his sword, it had already appeared before Ji Qiufeng. There was no process, only a predetermined outcome. The Holy Sword of Apocalypse slashed silently, foreshadowing the fate that was about to come.

It was the same sword strike that had severely wounded Ji Qiufeng twenty years earlier, severing the last hope of Huilong City. But the invisible blade met with raging fire, slicing through the fiery halberd. Ji Qiufeng held the halberd in one hand, blocking the holy sword. The vision of the human and the skeleton intersected in an instant.

"Everything in the universe has its destiny. Are you determined to defy fate, Ji Qiufeng?"

"In my entire life..." the man paused, "I don't believe in fate!"

Behind Ji Qiufeng, a blood-red figure raised his arms and shouted. Countless tiny cracks appeared at the point where the halberd and the holy sword intersected. Sounds emerged from the silent world, a subtle, chaotic cacophony, like young sprouts breaking through hard soil.

He exerted his strength, roaring in anger, pushing back the corpse's holy sword, repelling so-called fate and death. The deadly grayness shattered instantly, and color returned to the world. The might of this shocking blow was unstoppable, and that single blow caused golden light to pour down from the sky!

Sunlight pierced through the shattered clouds, illuminating the man's iron-hard profile. He was a peerless general, undefeated throughout his life, his prowess feared even by outsiders. The twenty-year siege wasn't just a game of cat and mouse; it was a predator's siege, waiting for Ji Qiufeng to succumb to his wounds. But the man didn't die. He persevered through twenty years of agony, waiting for this unique opportunity to confront his enemy to the death.

Ji Qiufeng leaped from the dragon's head and advanced alone, roaring and swinging his halberd at the outsiders. His weapon was the fateful flame of war, and his companion was the godlike ancient dragon.

This is the real Ji Qiufeng. He is a man that even ghosts and gods fear. When he swings his spear, the sky opens up!

(End of this chapter)