Developing combat systems

Martial Energy condensed inside Benedict's body as he stomped down. Boom! He blasted through the battlefield at a monstrous speed, appearing deep within the enemy lines in an instant. A huge shockwave followed as the bodies of dozens of soldiers were blown backwards. It was his new technique, Autumn Hawk! Since the insight from his master months ago, he further refined this technique. He could now perform it without any major adverse effects! Similarly, Shirley propelled herself using Martial Energy at a speed faster than Benedict. She practically vanished from everyone's sight! She then materialized in front of a soldier, strengthened her strike with Martial Energy, and slashed! A fully armored soldier was instantly cut in half without resistance! Before anyone could realize what happened, she had attacked dozens of people already in the same way. This was her new offensive technique, Energy Acceleration, and she could use it to gain a huge instantaneous burst in speed or power.

Moonlight flickered underneath Benedict's feet while he outmaneuvered the surrounding enemies. Cloud Sea Style: Moon Flash! No one could catch him! Shirley did the same with her Energy Acceleration, moving at speeds that defied common sense. Their movement techniques were beyond what normal Perception Realms could handle, much less normal soldiers. Between attacking and moving, they wove in time for their recovery methods. The Sword King once emphasized the importance of a recovery method, so their efforts were focused here. Benedict opened his mouth and took a deep breath. Thin tendrils of World Energy were sucked in and absorbed. Cloud Sea Style: Sipping Cloud! It might be a far cry from his master's version, but the energy it replenished was considerable. Shirley circulated Martial Energy inside her body to quickly replenish her stamina. She was not using energy to create energy so to speak, but to increase her natural recovery rate. Since it was akin to breathing, she dubbed it Inner Breath!

Their performance far surpassed everyone else as even Perception Realms were dumbfounded. They churned through enemy lines like nothing! In the blink of an eye, they had defeated over a hundred people by themselves! To think two people, barely twenty years old, who were not Perception Realms themselves, could manage such a feat was incredible. Everything went to show how powerful they had become. Their Martial Energy and combat system placed them thoroughly in a league of their own. The enemies were eventually defeated with Benedict and Shirley's contributions. Naturally, General Petra remained unharmed. The repairs on the bridge continued with hardly a pause as the brief battle was forgotten.

On the Featherwind Sect's flying ship, Elizabeth gestured to Freon and the other Arcanists to begin their counterattack. Minister Keigon believed they had used up all their strength in the previous attacks, but that was a misdirection. They had intentionally restrained themselves to lure the Jun Family into a false sense of security! A vast Magic Aura erupted from the culminated power of all the Arcanists onboard as Elizabeth, Freon, the Ten Dawns, and everyone else funnelled their energy into spells.

Elizabeth created a shimmering arrow of magic and loosed it into the sky. Everyone saw it and looked up. The arrow sailed higher and higher until… Boom! The entire battlefield was immediately bathed in a scorching white light, brighter than the suns, which rendered everyone blind! This was her new defensive spell, Luminous Sky! While everyone was dazed, Freon manifested a white fireball above his wand, blew on it, and scattered thousands of tiny flames throughout the sky. As they drifted down, they resembled snow on a winter's eve. They looked harmless. However, when they touched something, be it earth, metal, or flesh, their temperatures would increase by tenfold, incinerating everything they touched! Freon's new spell, Cleansing Snow, wrecked havoc on his enemies.

Yet, that was not all they did because Elizabeth immediately loosed another arrow. This time, it did not transform into a crescent moon like her Eclipsing Theatre would. It travelled as any other arrow would and harmlessly impaled the ground. Her spell activated a second later, generating a humongous vortex of wind that pulled everything towards the epicenter! Its force so strong that even carriages were dragged in! She affected several hundred people in its wake! This was another one of her new spells, inspired by Yin-Yang Arrow, Gale Inversion! 

The spell lacked killing potential, but when combined with Freon's Cleansing Snow, the flames incinerated their enemies as they spiralled towards the center. Harrowing screams could be heard, which depicted the immense pain they suffered. Elizabeth almost wondered if she went too far. When her spell finally expired, it released an earthshattering explosion outward, the force of which obliterated everything nearby, with a shockwave strong enough to shake the battlefield! A crater was all that remained of their two spells. Freon then erected a towering wall of flames to close off the gap and ward off anyone from approaching. Another defensive spell, Infernal Gate, activated! Just like Benedict and Shirley, they displayed prowess far surpassing the norms of the world, leaving even the Ten Dawns amazed. Their rate of growth was monstrous!

Under the Arcanists' renewed assault, the Jun Family's counterattack crumbled under the pressure. Pushing the bridge meant bundling up and that meant making themselves an easy target for spells. After seeing what Gale Inversion, Cleansing Snow, and Yin-Yang Arrow could do, they were too scared to make the first step forward. No one wanted to die! Their morale plummeted. General Petra took advantage of the momentary lull to hasten the repairs. With the combined efforts of the reserve Arcanists, engineers, and architects, logs were shaved down, moved into position, and nailed down. The bridge was rapidly regaining its form! At the same time, they proceeded to transport more soldiers across the river to reinforce their position. Their momentum seemed unstoppable! 

Minister Keigon weighed his options and decided to retreat. The Alzar Kingdom's army outnumbered and outpowered them with an overwhelming morale. Now that they secured control of the bridge, it was only a matter of time before the Jun Family was defeated. This fight became a lost cause. That said, it was not as though they did not accomplish anything. By burning the lands, destroying the bridges, and skirmishing here, the Alzar Kingdom had lost almost two days of valuable time. They spent just two days to conquer the Wu-Lin Province, so to delay them here for the same amount was worthy of praise. Minister Keigon planned to retreat, allow the kingdom to advance, and then flank them from behind. Ambushes and quick skirmishes were his only options now. He had to whittle away at their forces for a chance to win! He prayed that the Imperial Council's preparations were ready.

Five days after leaving the Quiton Gates, the Alzar Kingdom successfully breached the Shinzhu river and entered the second half of the Zhujin Province! It would not be long before they reached the Zhongjing Province and began their siege on Yongtein. On the Imperial Princesses' side, they wrapped up their siege on Denmai Yi Fortress. Since the bulk of the Jun Family's forces went to support Minister Keigon, the defenses here were unsurprisingly weak. That was relatively speaking, of course. There were still around ten thousand soldiers remaining and with many more citizens taking up arms, their total fighting force exceeded twenty thousand. Conversely, the Alzar Kingdom's sieging army had less than forty thousand. A two-to-one attacker ratio was usually insufficient for sieging, but in this case, the Featherwind Sect played a key role because… Elder Argo and Crus used their powers to directly destroy the gates! This allowed the kingdom's army to storm in and seize the fortress. After half a day of fighting, Denmai Yi Fortress finally fell. The Alzar Kingdom had captured the Qianxian Province!

Admiral Aura's fleet came at the perfect time to deliver a crucial injection of supplies and reinforcements, including Ten Dawn Runenda and Lorth. It was a huge blessing for their army as they began their final march to Yongtein. There was no telling what surprises awaited them at the capital! They had little time to rest before they departed to regroup with the main army. The original plan was to defeat Minister Keigon and the Jun Family, thus removing this potential thorn from their sides, but that seemed unlikely. The Li Family's army in the north would be concluding their business in the Samfeng Province soon, while the Imperial Council's army in Yongtein would continue to grow in strength. They could not delay any further to hunt down the Jun Family's forces. Exactly one week after the Quiton Gates fell, both armies converged on Yongtein for the final battle!