Chapter 37: Quality and Quantity

Despite blowing a good number of the Qin Emperor's troops, Yue Fei was still inevitably surrounded by hundreds of terracotta soldiers. He continued to hack and slash relentlessly at those foolish enough to throw themselves at him, but it appeared for a time that he might eventually be overwhelmed by their sheer numbers.

However, this was Yue Fei, the legendary invincible hero.

Spinning around, he knocked the surrounding teerracotta soldiers back with his spear before he slammed the bladed part of it against the ground. A violent tremor burst out from his weapon and blasted the army of terracotta soldiers back, shattering many of them. Flames licked the edges of the crater he had created, scorched remains of shattered clay warriors scattered around the rim.

Unfortunately, despite the immense power of that move, it only served to buy Yue Fei a little reprieve.

Before he could recover, the terracotta soldiers not caught in the blast were already on the move. At the back, several rows of them took aim, pulling their bowstrings as far back as they could before unleashing a volley of arrows upon Yue Fei's location. The skies – already black from night – darkened once more as the rain of arrows came pouring down on the valiant heroic spirit. The stars were blotted out by the sheer volume of projectiles, and even the brightly gleaming moon was hardly visible.

Undaunted, Yue Fei responded by standing his ground. Flicking his spear up, he began to spin it around and cut down the arrows that rained upon him. Several at a time, he cleaved the arrows or parried them, twirling his spear without rest and moving at superhuman speed. Even I couldn't follow his movements, his arms, spear and legs turning into a shadowy blur that appeared to dance across the city square in a zigzagged or whirlwind motion. Broken arrows thudded against the ground, futilely venting their rage against an invisible barrier created solely through movements of a spear.

"The E Mei Da Peng Qi Gong technique," Huang Hong Lin breathed in disbelief, her eyes wide in amazement. "The signature marital art of Yue Fei! I never thought I would be able to see it in the present period!"

I nodded distractedly, in total agreement. Once again, I was reminded of how different spirits were from humans, including regular cultivators. While the whole goal of cultivators was to indeed attain such superhuman power and transcend mortality, these heroic (or villainous) spirits of legend had risen above the common cultivator by virtue of their myths, which often exaggerated their feats and achievements to a level beyond those possible by even regular cultivators.

They were essentially a different breed apart. They might look human, but they were definitely far from being human. I couldn't forget that.

The Qin Emperor wasn't without his strengths, though. Even though he initially appeared to be throwing bodies of soldiers at Yue Fei in what seemed like an attempt to drown him in sheer numbers, I couldn't forget that he was a ruthless and shrewd tactician. After all, the Qin Emperor was famous for unifying China under one rule, subjugating six other states and assimilating them into his own Qin State.

While Yue Fei was busily dealing with the archers, the rest of the army of terracotta soldiers had spread out, dividing themselves into seven formations. They then attacked Yue Fei from seven different directions.

As skilled as Yue Fei was, even the legendary hero was hard-pressed to defend himself from seven different attacks.

Before the terracotta soldiers could crush him within the trap they had designed for him, nine gigantic fireballs raked their lines, incinerating dozens of them into ash. The rest fell back in disciplined, orderly ranks, turning around to face the new threat.

Su Da Ji stood beside the still sitting Hu Li Jing, her delicate-looking hand raised. Ruby flames blazed in her palm, esoteric embers dancing about in the soft moonlight. Furthermore, at the tip of each of her bristling tails, ignited immense fireballs.

"You should let us join the fun too," Hu Li Jing said with a mischievous smile. She then nodded at her summoned spirit. "Go ahead, Su Da Ji."

The legendary nine-tailed fox didn't hesitate, darting forward and landing in the midst of the retreating terracotta soldiers in a single bound. Her tails twitched and sent the nine fireballs flying in nine different directions, burning huge holes into their ranks and opening up gaps in their formation.

Yet, for all of Yue Fei and Su Da Ji's efforts, the terracotta soldiers were near uncountable. Barely had they wiped out a good portion before they were replaced by yet more clay warriors emerging from nowhere. Yue Fei continued to hack and send many flying while Su Da Ji incinerated swathes of advancing terracotta soldiers, but their numbers remained undiminished.

"This is getting nowhere," Hu Li Jing sighed. "Su Da Ji, you know what to do."

The nine-tailed fox spirit smiled and nodded before she agilely weaved through the press of bodies. Leaping into the air, she deftly landed on the helmeted heads of several terracotta soldiers, and then she jumped from one warrior to the next before they could stab her with their weapons.

It didn't take long before her intention became clear. She was heading right for the Qin Emperor, who had remained unmoving within his chariot.

"That's right!" one of the eight ladies who accompanied Hu Li Jing said excitedly. "It doesn't matter how many soldiers the Qin Emperor can summon. Even if he can conjure an unlimited number of them, it means nothing if we eliminate the root cause itself! As long as we destroy the Qin Emperor himself, the terracotta soldiers will naturally disappear with him!"

If Wang Ni Tian or the Qin Emperor heard her, they gave no sign. Indeed, the majestic spirit simply sat calmly and waited for Su Da Ji to approach him. His loyal soldiers didn't remain idle, however. An elite praetorian guard moved rapidly to impose themselves between him and the rapidly advancing Su Da Ji, their spears raised to impale her. Another row stood behind them, their shields raised to protect the chariot and their emperor from any frontal assault.

However, Su Da Ji never had the intention to engage the Qin Emperor in close combat. Why would she?

Instead, she raised her nine tails. Nine enormous fireballs ignited at their tips and blazed to life before launching toward the Qin Emperor. They bypassed the shield bearers, who raised their shields to no avail and could only watch the fiery projectiles blazed past overhead. The massive fireballs arced downward to crash upon the Qin Emperor and incinerate his chariot.

They never reached him.

The earth shook suddenly and gargantuan walls rose, enveloping the Qin Emperor in a formidable aegis. The fireballs struck the solid walls and exploded harmlessly, leaving little more than charred traces on their surfaces. Otherwise there wasn't any damage.

"No way…" Another of Hu Li Jing's female cronies gasped in dsbelief, her eyes wide. "That's…the Great Wall!"

Oh, yeah. That was another thing that the Qin Emperor was famous for. Building the Great Wall.

I should have expected him to have a whole bag of tricks. This was one of the most famous and notorious legends of all. A ruthless emperor who sought victory at any cost, one who inflicted brutal punishment upon his subjects, but was also capable of achieving great deeds. Unification at any cost.

How scary.

Su Da Ji clicked her tongue as she landed, only to find herself surrounded by soldiers. They mercilessly ran her through…or tried to, only to be cremated when she unleashed an expanding ring of flame from nine directions.

"How annoying," she muttered. She then glanced up at her summoner and the other eight ladies. "A little help here might be appreciated."

"Done." Hu Li Jing dropped down, flames wreathing her before she landed in the center of a few soldiers, causing them to combust spontaneously. Her comrades joined her on the ground, various elemental spells raging about them.

One of them froze an entire cluster of terracotta soldiers before shattering them to bits. Another conjured a whirlwind that swept a platoon of terracotta soldiers off their feet before tearing them apart. A third summoned vines and wood to help her entangle the relentless terracotta soldiers, incapacitating rather than destroying them.

"Are you not going to help us?" Hu Li Jing called out to the various cultivators who had gathered around the edges of the city square, but chose to keep their distance and not intervene.

"Cowards," Liang Cai Gui growled. He had joined Yue Fei in fighting off wave after wave of terracotta soldiers.

"If there's enough of us to disrract the damned terracotta army, then maybe at least one of us will have the chance to attack the Qin Emperor himself!" one of Hu Li Jing's entourage shouted.

She was being disingenuous. For one thing, the damned emperor just pulled out the Great Wall to defend himself. How were we supposed to get past that formidable defense?

"What do you think?" Huang Hong Lin asked. Mu Rong and I glanced at each other, unsure of what to make of the situation. We originally didn't intend to interfere, but…

This was our chance. On the other hand, we would be exposing ourselves to danger and revealing our abilities to the others. Not that they wouldn't know who we were, given how famous the Zhao and Huang families were, but still…the lower the profile we could keep, the better.

However, it was clear that Wang Ni Tian and his Qin Emperor presented a clear threat. I doubted Liang Cai Gui, Yue Fei, Hu Li Jing and Su Da Ji would fall here – in the worst case scenario, they would extricate themselves from the dire circumstances and withdraw with nothing worse than a bruised ego and frustration. That would render any strategy to wait for the three summoners to exhaust each other ultimately pointless. They were way too smart for that, and they would pull out before matters could reach that point. Moreover, Wang Ni Tian literally had fifty bodyguards to pull him out of the proverbial fire even if he was somehow defeated.

We didn't know when we would have the chance to work with them against the Qin Emperor again. He had proven himself to be the formidable foe. Clearly none of us was going to prevail against him if we challenged him one at a time. Additionally, we wouldn't be able to get past Wang Ni Tian's fifty bodyguards. Not unless we all worked together right now. Not just Hu Li Jing's group and Liang Cai Gui, but also all the people waiting on the edges.

I understood what they were waiting for. They were all waiting for someone else to make the first move. Otherwise none of them dared to join the fray. I knew because I shared that feeling.

Taking a deep breath, I summoned Lu Bu. Mu Rong Shu and Huang Hong Lin turned to stare at me in astonishment.

"I'm going in," I told them flatly. "This is too big a chance to pass up on. Are you with me?"

"I'm always with you." Mu Rong Shu smiled and reached out to squeeze my hand. "Let's go."

"Huh? What!? Really?!" Huang Hong Lin spluttered, taken aback. She gaped at us when we jumped off the small building and dropped right into the square. With a single stroke of his spear, Lu Bu decimated a line of terracotta soldiers.

"What took you so long?" Liang Cai Gui laughed when he spotted me. Clearly he recognized me from that night, but if he held any grudge against me for leaving an injury on him back then, he showed no sign. "It's about time you showed up!"

"Sorry. It just looked to me like you had the situation well in hand at first."

"Heh, I'm flattered, but too bad it was a little too much. Glad to have you here with us."

"Ugh!" Huang Hong Lin clutched her head as she watched me banter with Liang Cai Gui, our spirits linking up to mow down rows of terracotta soldiers. She shook her head in despair before she steeled her resolve and leaped down to join us. Before she landed, she already summoned Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, the husband and wife swordsmith lashing out with their respective blue and red weapons to cut through the ranks of terracotta soldier. "Fine! I'll go along with you guys for now! Don't blame me when everything goes wrong later!"

That appeared to set off a chain reaction. One by one, cultivators who had been sitting on the fence thus far decided to throw off their hesitation and joined in, bringing their spirits with them to battle against the numberless legions of the Qin Emperor.