Nightfall

Countless arrows were sprawled on the metal canopy in a thick layer. They looked like dark dry straw, covering the canopy like a thatched roof.

The cool autumn wind blew on the edge of the thin metal canopy, making a rattling sound.

The disciples of the Academy were not worried that the canopy over their heads would be torn apart by the autumn wind. They trusted the skills the Sixth Brother had in material science, so they all did their own things silently.

Liu Yiqing’s mystic sword was burnt into a black, bladeless rod in the fire. The Sixth Brother continued to hammer at it. It was unknown what he intended to forge it into.

Beigong Weiyang tuned his zither and placed a layer of cotton cloth on his fingers. The tape Ximen Buhuo stuck to his fingers had already dried, forming a protective layer. He pressed his fingers onto the keys of his flute, testing them out.

The Fourth Brother frowned tightly as he stared at the changing lines on the Sandbox. Wisdom flashed through his calm eyes occasionally. It was unknown what he was calculating, whether it was their life and death or the outcome of the battle.

Only the Seventh Sister looked odd.

She was the only woman at the exit of the Verdant Canyon. She held an embroidery frame and needle with lifted wrists. She lowered her head and looked down at the mandarine ducks on the embroidery cloth. In actuality, she was looking into the distant land out of the corner of her eye.

The Second Brother stood there like a verdant mountain.

There was a worried look on her face. What worried her was not the current situation, nor the safety of her sect under the canopy, but the safety of her Second Brother. Earlier, when Liu Yiqing’s mystic sword had been bound by the tactical array, she was the only one who had noticed the pale white turbulence on his armor.

It was the result of contact between the sword style and Talisman Intent.

The shelter at the exit of the Verdant Canyon was an array designed by her and the Fourth Brother and then set up by her and the Sixth Brother. It displayed the highest level of studies that the three had partaken in at the Academy over the years.

This seemingly inconspicuous shelter array could shelter them from the autumn rain; the fierce sun; and could not be torn by the autumn wind.

Most importantly, the shelter array could shelter everyone under it and transfer the impact of the attacks that the shelter could not bear and the attacks against the disciples. All went to the Second Brother.

When Verdant Canyon collapsed, the assassins kept by the Tang Empire for thousands of years had struck and killed three West-Hill Divine Palace Divine Talisman Masters. The Second Brother had once said that if the Divine Hall allied troops wanted to cross the Verdant Canyon, they would first have to defeat him.

It was not that he thought his fellow disciples were not strong enough. He was being honest.

The Second Brother would bear the brunt of the attacks by the West-Hill Divine Palace on behalf of his Younger Brothers and Sisters. That was why the disciples of the Academy had to hold Verdant Canyon before he fell.

However, this meant that he had to suffer more.

Not many had pinned their hopes on the Sword Garret of South Jin Kingdom’s attack. After all, it would not be easy for the second generation disciples of the Sword Garret to defeat the people of the Academy. However, their rather pathetic ending did shock many.

All were silent in the West-Hill Divine Palace Coalition Army Camp.

“They are only in the Seethrough Realm… we all know that the disciples of the Academy are all in the Seethrough Realm… how did they set up such an amazing tactical array?”

An accomplished Array Tactical Master from the West-Hill Divine Palace looked at the shabby canopy array at the exit of the Verdant Canyon. He found it hard to disguise his admiration.

The voice of the Array Tactical Master traveled to the divine chariot.

Ye Hongyu frowned slightly; the red color on her Divine Robe of Judgement turned even darker.

She had lived in Chang’an City for a period of time and had many dealings with the Academy. However, it was only at this moment that she realized that the Academy’s potential was actually much higher than everyone had imagined.

The Academy had always kept a low profile in the decades between Ke Haoran and Ning Que, the two disciples of the Academy who had entered the human realm. Not many in the cultivation world knew what kind of people those in the back of the mountain of the Academy were.

Naturally, the West-Hill Divine Palace and Sword Garret of South Jin Kingdom knew more about it, but their focus had always been on Mr. First, Mr. Second, and the last two disciples who had entered the Academy, Chen Pipi and Ning Que. It was because these were the only four people who had for sure entered the Knowing Destiny State. The others had remained in the Seethrough Realm for many years.

The meeting at the exit of the Verdant Canyon today proved this speculation. The disciples at the back mountain of the Academy were indeed only at the Seethrough Realm. They were very powerful in the cultivation world, but in the current battle, with many powerhouses at all levels of the Knowing Destiny State, they did not seem powerful at all.

Even though they were the most talented people in certain fields over the past few years, who could remember their names after all these years? Furthermore, how did their intelligence aid in cultivation?

That was why nobody took notice of them.

The attention of the West-Hill Divine Palace remained on the Second Brother.

It was not until the armored cavalry began to charge, until Liu Yiqing’s mystic sword was smashed into scrap metal, that they realized they were wrong.

They were both second generation disciples, but the Academy was unlike the Sword Garret.

The Academy was unlike any other place.

There was not a single place that could hold a candle to the Academy.

The Seethrough Realm in the Academy was not the ordinary Seethrough Realm.

The disciples of the back of the mountain of the Academy could hold back a thousand men with just a Chinese zither and a vertical bamboo flute.

What was even more shocking to the bigwigs in the Coalition forces was that everyone in the back of the mountain of the Academy had his or her own field of expertise. And the combination of these people produced incredible results.

This was what happened when everything was taught without discrimination.

This was why the Academy accepted people from the Devil’s Doctrine and geniuses from Haotian Taoism. This was why people like Ke Haoran and Ning Que came from the Academy.

It was called individualized teaching.

No matter if it was those who played chess or chewed on flowers. Once they studied at the Academy, they would be able to forge their own world.

“Did the Headmaster accept those disciples knowing what would happen today?”

Ye Hongyu thought to herself. Her respect for the Headmaster raised another notch.

“We cannot be blocked outside the Verdant Canyon.”

The Great Divine Priest of Revelation looked up, his eyes resting on the cloudless blue sky through the top curtain of the divine chariot. He said, “The outcome of the battle between Haotian and the Headmaster, remains unknown. As such, the battle on the human realm seems extremely important. And Chang’an is the key to this battle.”

Cheng Lixue knelt beside him, handing him a cup of tea.

The Great Divine Priest of Revelation took a sip of tea to moisten his dry throat. He continued, “Now that the God-stunning Array has been temporarily destroyed under the Hierarch’s orders, the key to Chang’an is to watch the outcome of the battle between the Abbey Dean and Mr. First. As long as Mr. First is unable to hold the Abbey Dean back, he will be able to open Chang’an’s gates.”

Cheng Lixue’s fingers trembled slightly. He had only just found out the entire plan, and realized what kind of crisis Chang’an was in.

“Chang’an City will be opened after the 6th month, but even the Abbey Dean cannot break through the God-stunning Array completely. No one knows when the large city will be able to repair itself. The army needs to hurry to catch up.”

The Great Divine Priest of Revelation looked at the green hills that stretched through the northern wilderness. He looked at the Verdant Canyon’s narrow exit and said with a deadpanned expression, “Let’s continue. As long as they are human, they will get tired.”

The allied troops main camp had put up their flag.

Several military orders had passed from the Marshal Bai Haixin to Military camps.

Moments later, dense and thunderous hoofbeats rang in the air once more.

More than 2,000 armored cavalries marched out to the beat of battle drums. They got into formation and then divided into dozens of cavalry groups, keeping their distance from each other, like countless dark clouds. Then, they rushed toward the Verdant Canyon.

There were 300 seriously wounded war-horses lying at the exit of the Verdant Canyon. Some of the cavalries were helping each other return to their camps. This all proved that charging towards the Verdant Canyon was useless.

But the West-Hill Divine Palace Coalition Army had no other way.

If they abandoned their horses and battled on foot, or used their armored foot soldiers, they would likely become corpses under the Second Brother’s sword. The only thing they could do against the broad and straight sword was to charge forth forcefully.

This was the best and only way to break the Academy’s defense.

Just as the Great Divine Priest of Revelation had said, there would be a time when they tired, as long as they were human.

There were more than 200,000 soldiers in the West-Hill Divine Palace coalition army. If they charged forth in rotations, they would not tire.

Dense hoofbeats sounded and did not stop.

More than 2,000 cavalry troops maintained the most efficient position and charged towards the Verdant Canyon in batches. There were not many of them in each batch, but they ensured that the full efforts of the Academy’s disciples were needed to deal with it.

Most importantly, under the strict orders of the military, the cavalry had to ensure that their attack was incessant with no breaks between them. This was so that the disciples of the Academy would not have any chance to rest.

The dark waves formed by the cavalry kept beating against the exit of the Verdant Canyon. There seemed to be an invisible barrier and an invisible reef.

A dark cloud drifted past and crashed into the Verdant Canyon. The cloud shattered into pieces and dispersed. A dark wave crashed onto the Verdant Canyon. It dispelled into foam and fell silently.

The miserable screams of warhorses and the sounds of bone breaking rang clearly in everyone’s ears. They sounded even more clearly and denser than the thunderous hoofbeats.

But no matter how dire the situation in front was, the rear cavalry still charged forward with straight faces. Their mission today was to die, and their aim was to make the disciples of the Academy feel tired with their deaths.

Beigong Weiyang did not feel tired, or perhaps, one should say that he did not know what tiredness felt like at this point.

All his focus was directed on the Chinese zither before him. He looked down, focused on the slightest movements on his instrument, his scattered black hair waving wildly.

His clothes had long been drenched in sweat, and even his hair was damp. As he played his instrument, beads of sweat dripped from his hair.

There was a puff. As the sweat fell onto his zither, it instantly turned into a puff of green smoke.

He did not notice this at all as he continued playing the instrument.

His fingertips plucked and pressed on the strings without stopping. They moved at the speed of lighting, forming a soundless tune. The cotton wrapped around his fingers had long torn apart, and one could see traces of blood on his fingers.

Ximen Buhuo did not feel tired either, he only felt a slight throbbing pain.

His hands hurt a lot.

The tape stuck on his fingers earlier had long torn apart as he moved his fingers along the keys of the flute. It had flaked away, shredded into a powder-like substance that flew in the air beside the flute like tendrils of smoke.

Flecks of blood had appeared on the smooth shiny flute.

It blended beautifully with the hints of vermillion on the instrument.

These two were the most adept at tonality in the Academy. They were the happiest, most energetic pair at the back of the mountain of the Academy and they loved to joke. But once they were immersed in the world of tonality, they gained an elegant demeanor like that of flowing mountains and rivers.

However, there was no demeanor to speak of at this point, neither were they in the mood to joke around. Their faces were pale, and their lips were dry. Their hair was messy, and they looked haggard. They looked like music teachers who played on the streets.

Their expressions were grave, very grave and very solemn.

So grave that their auras grew heart-wrenching.