When the people from Tranquil Sun Manor were able to see clearly who it was in Miao Yi's embrace, they were all stupefied.
Chang Zijiu immediately froze in the middle of taking a sip of wine, and his eyes widened in shock. His gaze landed on Qi Xiuhong's fair face, then slowly shifted towards Miao Yi, where he suddenly felt a sense of foreboding coming from the killing intent that was faintly showing on the latter's face.
"Qi… Qi Xiuhong!" someone exclaimed.
Another person quickly turned to Zhao Fei and Sikong Wuwei. However, when he saw that one of them was just looking on expressionlessly, while the other was giving out a cold chuckle, the wine cup in his hand immediately dropped to the table. Evidently, this person also felt an imminent threat coming from these three guests.
Chang Zijiu glanced towards the man who dropped his cup sitting at the end of the row and noticed he was slowly getting up from his seat. Clearly, he was trying to get away. Chang Zijiu didn't say anything against this, and simply looked towards Miao Yi and asked, "Brother Miao, what is the meaning of this?"
Suddenly, Miao Yi held Qi Xiuhong with one hand, while the other readied the Mystic Yin Mirror. Sweeping it towards the back, a violent gust of cold Yin energy quickly burst out, before retreating back into the mirror the next instant. However, the cultivator who had reached the door was already covered in frost, and he fell to the ground like a statue.
The temperature within the hall fell rapidly, and the crowd was beginning to shiver from the cold. Many of them had looks of shock on their faces as they wondered, 'What sort of transcendent artifact is this?!' They were all so terrified that none of them dared to move a muscle. When had such a situation ever happened in their Tranquil Sun Manor before?!
Having experienced the terrible effects of the Mystic Yin Mirror himself, Sikong Wuwei seemed to be still rather traumatized by it, and couldn't help trembling a little as well. He brandished a hammer in his hand, which rapidly expanded to humongous proportions. With a powerful swing of his arms, the massive hammer cracked through the air with a sonorous boom and instantly smashed the front door wide open, before crashing onto the ground right outside.
The people in the hall shook with horror, utterly terrified by the scene they just witnessed. The massive hammer then shrunk back to miniature size and flew back into Sikong Wuwei's hands.
With the loud commotion coming from the Manor, the thunderous hoofbeats of dragon steeds quickly erupted forth from the outside. And soon, amidst the pouring rain, the sounds of people yelling and screaming could be heard as well.
"Have you all gone mad—!" Chang Zijiu shouted in horror.
'Splurt!' A person's head suddenly flew off. With a bloodied halberd in hand, Zhao Fei slowly rose from his seat. The person sitting beside him screamed and collapsed to the ground, and Chang Zijiu immediately fell silent.
"Nothing but a bunch of incompetent fools! Today is the day we shall avenge Miss Qi. Remember not to let any of them escape. Sikong, let's head outside!" Zhao Fei said disdainfully as he raised his halberd, then left the hall. Sikong Wuwei also had a look of mocking contempt on his face as he lifted his hammer and followed behind Zhao Fei.
The two of them proceeded to arrogantly walk out of the hall, where the rest of the crowd was so aghast that they didn't even have the strength to stand. Once outside, Zhao Fei and Sikong summoned their spiritual beasts and rode off, leaving Miao Yi to deal with the people remaining inside the hall. They weren't worried in the slightest about him.
"Brother Miao, there's no point going this far for a woman…"
Before Chang Zijiu could finish, Miao Yi barked out, "Kneel!"
The crowd looked at one another in fear. Miao Yi then raised his hand and shot out another wave of cold Yin energy, freezing one of the Advisors sitting on the side instantly and causing him to fall backward to the ground. Miao Yi then pointed the Mystic Yin Mirror towards Chang Zijiu.
"I'll kneel!" Chang Zijiu hurriedly shouted and rose to his feet, circling around his tray table to kneel on the ground.
Since their master was kneeling, the two handmaidens immediately prostrated themselves as well. After which, the rest of the crowd as well as their respective handmaidens anxiously stepped forward and knelt on the ground.
Miao Yi looked around him, but he felt no satisfaction at finally being able to avenge Qi Xiuhong. He turned to look at her, her eyes shut forevermore, and shook his head in sorrow as he said, "To think that even a bunch of useless idiots like you could commit such a heinous deed! Killing you will only dirty my hands!"
The crowd suddenly felt a glimmer of hope and thought that Miao Yi would spare their lives. Some of them were even planning to lodge a complaint to the top brass about this act of tyranny later on.
However, contrary to their expectations, the cold Yin energy suddenly erupted forth from the mirror in Miao Yi's hands, sweeping through the crowd encircling him. Soon, the crowd was frozen on their knees, their bodies covered entirely in frost.
As Miao Yi tucked away the Mystic Yin Mirror, he brandished the Inversed-Scales Spear and swept through the entire hall like a hurricane.
The sound of grating steel echoed through the hall as Miao Yi dragged the Inversed-Scales Spear across the floor. One hand held the spear, dragging it across the floor, as the other held onto Qi Xiuhong.
Within the hall, Miao Yi said softly, "We're leaving."
It seemed like he was talking to another person, but there was not a single living soul beside him left inside the hall. There was a slew of shattered remains of heads on the ground, along with the fallen corpses to which those heads previously belonged to. From start to finish, not a single one of them put up any resistance. They didn't even try to escape. They were all simply too intimidated, not just by the power of the Mystic Yin Mirror, but by the fame behind Miao Yi's name of being a Subjugation Crusade survivor!
Outside, under the looming, dark clouds, and braving the violent storm, one man stood atop a platform. He had one hand on the spear, while the other wrapped around a person's waist, as though he wished to let the dead woman in his arms witness the fruit of his labors!
Suddenly, from the mountains at the back, the hoarse sound of Sikong Wuwei's voice resounded, "Don't leave a single survivor! Anyone who disobeys will be beheaded! Like so!"
Following which was a wail of agony!
Sikong Wuwei continued, "Listen up, men! It's first come, first serve here! So take whatever you want!"
Not long after, the sounds of clashing steel in the rain subsided, and Zhao Fei and Sikong Wuwei led the rest of their troops towards the main hall.
The men were either pale with horror or suffering from battle wounds. They cast respectful gazes towards the man standing atop the platform, wondering at the identity of the woman in Miao Yi's embrace.
Zhao Fei and Sikong Wuwei leaped atop the platform. Zhao Fei coldly remarked, "To think that a group like this was able to peacefully enjoy their lives here… I could send any of my former subordinate Mountain Chieftains here and they would sweep the entire Tranquil Sun Manor clean!"
"These people deserve to die, but their treasures are not at fault. We shouldn't waste them!" As he said this, Sikong Wuwei rushed inside the hall and scoured the place clean. By the time he came out, he had ignited a Red Blaze Resin with the handle of his poleaxe and tossed it back inside the hall...
However, elsewhere things were not as simple as Zhao Fei had described. The scenario where a single Mountain Chieftain and his forces were enough to sweep through the entire Tranquil Sun Manor did not occur.
At the gathering place for the forces of Raincloud Manor, Thousand Lake Manor, and Mulberry Cloud Manor, the crowd was utterly shocked when they had received the decree. They never thought that they were actually here for battle! What a joke! Not a single one of them in all three Manors had ever even seen what an actual battle looked like from the moment they set foot in the cultivation realm!
The other two Manors aside, the two Advisors, six Deacons, and ten Mountain Chieftains from Raincloud Manor all voiced their disagreement with this plan and tried to advise against it!
Qian'Er immediately pulled out the decree that Miao Yi had prepared beforehand and read it to the crowd. There, he clearly stated: 'By the time you all receive this decree, the head of the Tranquil Sun Manor Head will have fallen to the ground. Chen Fei, the two Advisors, and six Deacons will each hold a Troop Inspector title. Qian'Er and Xue'Er will also share a single Troop Inspector title. Anyone who disobeys the order will be punished accordingly. If Cave Masters disobey, then off with their heads! If Mountain Chieftains disobey, then off with their heads! If Troop Inspectors disobey, then off with their heads! There will be no exceptions!'
'Those who fight valiantly in battle will not only be heavily rewarded, but the position of Cave Master and Mountain Chieftain is also up for the taking to those who deserve it! Trample Tranquil Sun Manor to the ground! Don't leave a single survivor!'
When they heard the decree, the crowd was utterly terrified and felt helpless at the same time. However, after Qian'Er and Xue'Er laid out the attack formations for the Mountain Chieftains and Troop Inspectors to see, they gasped in relief; they hadn't thought that all three Manors would be joining forces for this attack. In that case, things didn't seem so dangerous after all!
The ten Mountain Chieftains and their forces formed divisions of three, with the remaining group joining together with two other Mountain Chieftains' forces from Mulberry Cloud Manor. The army split into four and proceeded towards their designated routes.
Initially, in order to secure their own positions, the troops were very eager to prove themselves and marched onwards with zeal. After all, even if things went south, their superiors would be the one to take the blame.
However, after the battles began, even Qian'Er and Xue'Er began to realize things were not as simple as they thought it would be.
The two young ladies were in charge of one group of soldiers, along with another two Troop Inspectors and their respective groups, meaning they had three Mountains' worth of men. Their troops were tasked with attacking a single Mountain—Mount Hui Yan. And in order to cut off communications between Mount Hui Yan and its subordinate Caves, the two young ladies personally led the charge straight to its headquarters.
There weren't too many people within Mount Hui Yan's main forces. Logically speaking, the two young ladies should be able to triumph easily with the Mount Hongdong forces they led. However, much to their dismay, Mount Hongdong Mountain Chieftain Cheng Hailiang wanted to charge right through Mount Hui Yan with their overwhelming numbers. In the end, he was promptly stopped by Qian'Er and Xue'Er. Even though they hadn't participated in that many battles, the two young ladies could see that these people had no clue how to fight a war at all. It was precisely because they had overwhelming numbers on their side that Qian'Er and Xue'Er couldn't help wondering how these people didn't even think of surrounding the enemy at all, and instead wanted to plow right through them. Wouldn't that mean they would be allowing the enemy a path to retreat? How would they ensure that there would be no survivors then?
Before the two Aunties, Cheng Hailiang behaved very obediently, and quickly changed his attack strategy to that of surrounding the enemy force.
As soon as the battle began, the main troops of Mount Hui Yan crumbled before the opposition, completely horrified by the sudden assault. However, because they were completely surrounded on all sides, they soon realized that surrender was not an option, and quickly turned desperate in their retaliation.
"Brothers! Since we're going to die either way, then let us fight to our last breaths!" shouted the Mountain Chieftain of Mount Hui Yan, as he led what remained of his troops in a violent retaliation against their enemies.
A person is always most frightening when they're desperate. Even though there were only around a dozen of them left from Mount Hui Yan, they actually managed to cut open a path of blood from an encirclement of more than a hundred people. In the blink of an eye, over thirty had died from their counterattack, causing so much distress amongst the forces of Mount Hongdong that they even tried to avoid fighting the Mount Hui Yan troops altogether, thereby creating an opening in the formation.
As they witnessed the battle, Qian'Er and Xue'Er immediately grew anxious. Even though they were naturally nervous about fighting such a large battle for the first time, they were more worried about not being able to fulfill their Master's wishes. As the Manor Head's personal handmaidens, how could they look him in the eye if they failed in their task?!
"Attack!" the two young ladies shouted. Raising their spears, they quickly charged out on their Black-Scaled Drake Beasts. With the speed of their two spiritual beasts, they were able to fill the opening in the formation on time.
The two young ladies rode side by side as they faced the remnants of Mount Hui Yan's forces. However, once the battle erupted, they found that it wasn't as scary as they thought it would be. There was hardly anyone who could contend against their powerful spear art. Not to mention, they each had a set of Second Grade Armor Artifacts and the Black-Scaled Drake Beasts on their side. With the two young ladies working together, they were able to take down the Mount Hui Yan Mountain Chieftain in a single confrontation.
Like cleaving through a tidal wave, the two young ladies swept through the remaining Mount Hui Yan members with ease, killing most of them in the process. Almost none could fight against the two of them working together.
When they saw the two Aunties fighting so valiantly, the rest of the troops quickly regained their morale. They were no longer afraid of the remaining forces that had managed to escape Qian'Er and Xue'Er's combined attack, and quickly surrounded and decimated them into a bloody pulp. More importantly, they were also afraid of anything happening to the Manor Head's handmaidens.
That said, with Qian'Er's and Xue'Er's cultivation, it was truly difficult for them to properly utilize a set of Second Grade Armor Artifacts. In just a short while, the two of them were already running low on their transcendence energy reserves.
Qian'Er and Xue'Er ordered the rest of the troops to quickly clean up the battlefield. Even though they noticed that some of them were secretly taking the spoils of the battle for themselves, there was little the two young ladies could do but feign ignorance. One of the people they saw doing this was the Mountain Chieftain of Mount Hongdong himself.
After which, the two young ladies quickly led their troops to assist the other two groups. Along the way, they each tossed an Orb of Will into their mouths to speed up the recovery of their transcendence energy. Throughout the journey, Qian'Er and Xue'Er couldn't help worrying about the situation on the other side as they realized that these people behind them only seemed impressive in their formation. In truth, their strength was nothing but a shallow facade! They were practically as weak as tofu, causing Qian'Er and Xue'Er much distress!
When they finally got in contact with the other two groups, Qian'Er and Xue'Er couldn't help sighing in resignation at these Raincloud Manor troops. The forces of the other two Mountains were actually utilizing their overwhelming numbers to attack each Cave one by one. They had split their forces in two, with each group going after a single Cave at a time. It was fortunate that Qian'Er and Xue'Er had crippled Mount Hui Yan, the center of communication between these Caves. Otherwise, wouldn't the forces from the other Caves have made their escape by now?!
That said, dumb methods did have their uses, after all. It was precisely because they had such absolutely overwhelming numbers on their side that these otherwise useless troops could fight with such high morale. Not to mention, there wasn't much risk involved for them either. With their numbers, they could quite easily drown their enemies with their spit alone. As a result, the troops of Mount Hui Yan were completely eliminated.