Chapter 361: Falling Axe

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Rumbling Thunder City is by far the most populous of all the cities in the Storm Dragon Empire. As countless died in Murang Bang’s territory and the nobles indulged in empty decadence under He Bin, Rumbling Thunder City only grew. It became a bastion of order and safety in an otherwise wartorn land. From the foot of Rumbling Thunder Mountain to its summit, there is not a square foot that is not being put to use in some way.

It is the domain of General Nie Dan.

The Heavenly General soars high above the skies. When he passes over Rumbling Thunder City, the people stop what they are doing to point at his glowing form. He feels their presence, the many millions of people whose lives are under his command, and clenches his fist. His face is one of absolute resolve.

A single breath passes. Multiple miles go by.

General Nie Dan stops above a vast, empty plain and allows his Qi to flow out in a giant wave. His senses expand. There are none who can escape the touch of his Qi.

He finds them.

In the blink of an eye, General Nie Dan slams into the ground, and the earth is torn asunder. People in Rumbling Thunder City are shocked by the sudden and violent earthquake. Even those in Grand Storm City feel a sudden tremor that afternoon. As the land collapses into an empty abyss, thousands of shapes rise from under it. They are all covered in tattered cloaks, yet General Nie Dan can see their wooden limbs and metal joints. An army of puppets is suddenly lined up in front of him, ready to do battle.

“Kneel,” he commands.

At once, the knees of every puppet hit the ground. He feels their owners attempt to reassert their control, but there is nothing they can do. Their puppets are nothing more than contraptions made to do the bidding of others.

They cannot possibly resist his commands.

“Be crushed.”

As if an invisible fist suddenly fell on top of the entire army, the puppets are abruptly squashed into rubble. Of the whole giant army, only two people remain standing.

“I must admit that I did not expect this,” Firm Shadow says. He tries to sound calm, but Nie Dan can sense his fear. His companion, Alarming Shadow, hisses at him like an angry dog. “I did not think one as esteemed as you would bother with the likes of us.”

“You are invaders,” Nie Dan states with blunt simplicity. “You have been hiding near my city with your army of puppets, ready to do harm to my people. Did you believe such brazenness would not merit a response?”

The two disciples do not bother with words. Instead, two large ogres rise from their shadows, a blue and a red one. The red ogre rushes at General Nie Dan. The blue ogre melts away like water and surges behind him. A blade appears in its hands.

Nie Dan raises a hand to block. The blue ogre’s sword breaks on it.

“Stop your insolent legs.”

The command is given. The red ogre trips as its legs stop working. Alarming Shadows looks at him with rage.

“You dare command what is my own soul?!” Alarming Shadow roars.

His Qi rises, and his ogre disperses into red mist. It swirls around him and seeps into his body. Immediately, his muscles bulge dramatically, and his skin grows red. His body grows in size, and yellow fills his eyes. A white horn sprouts from his forehead as his brow becomes more pronounced, his lower jaw enlarges, and his teeth become fangs. Red shadows swirl in his hand and turn into a large mace.

That is the true form of a disciple of the Temple of the Thousand Shadows, one completely overshadowed by their Heart Demon. When Alarming Shadow runs, his speed is a magnitude greater. The mere strength of his stomps sends tremors throughout the land. It is impressive. There can be no doubt about that.

Nie Dan brings down a single fist against Alarming Shadow’s mace.

[Break]

The mace shatters, and the ensuing shockwave blows away every piece of rubble in the area. As Alarming Shadow is blown back, Nie Dan takes a step that carries him right in front of his foe. His fist is about to slam into his face.

Firm Shadow intercepts him. Just like his ally, his appearance has changed. His hair has turned white, and his skin has become blue and rugged. He wields twin swords against him.

They shatter against Nie Dan’s skin.

The general turns around and grabs Firm Shadow by the face.

[Lose]

Another tremor is felt over the whole country as General Nie Dan smashes the two into the ground. Their transformation fades away, leaving behind their broken and bruised bodies. General Nie Dan’s Qi pins them down, rendering them immobile.

Alarming Shadows manages to bring himself to chuckle. It’s a very weak sound that leaves his mouth through broken teeth and blood. Still, the man glares defiantly at him.

“What’s…the matter…? Not strong enough to kill us?”

“Every breath you take is an affront to the Emperor’s rule. Few things would please me more than to end that affront,” Nie Dan says, each of his words slamming into his defeated foes with the weight of his resolve. “However, I have been given an order. The Emperor wishes for you to draw breath, so that your ignorant ears may hear his words. You breathe at his leisure. Be thankful.”

As he speaks, a white snake slithers out from under his pauldron.

“That was a little harsh,” the snake says with the voice of Emperor Qing Jin. It is a soul fragment, a normal one without a body. For this matter, the Emperor wisely decided that the physical presence of a Heavenly General would be all that was needed.

“I was exactly as harsh as I wanted to be,” General Nie Dan says.

“Are you here to gloat?” Alarming Shadow asks. “I never took you for the type to hide while sending others to do his dirty job.”

Words like that would usually merit having his head crushed, but that is not what he has been ordered to do. Thus, Nie Dan remains silent and watches his liege handle the situation.

“Why do you want to die?”

The softly hissed words are not a taunt but a genuine question. However, the disciples of the Temple of the Thousand Shadows refuse to answer it. They just look down, waiting for a punishment that has not yet been ordered.

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“You will not admit it?” the Emperor asks them. “Do you take me for a fool? You knew I had an Emperor Realm cultivator under my command, yet you chose to stay in my lands? Right next to General Nie Dan’s city? The representative of the Death Fashioning Scripture has been acting through bodies because she understood the risks. Will you honestly claim that you did not?”

Again, they refuse to answer. The Emperor sighs.

“General,” he says. Nie Dan obeys the command.

“Answer,” Nie Dan orders, and his words strike the souls of the cowardly shadows.

“Damn you…” Alarming Shadows hisses at him. He grits his teeth and tries to bite his tongue. The muscles and veins on his neck bulge as he struggles not to obey. Besides him, Firm Shadow’s body quivers from the strain of trying to keep his body still.

It’s pointless. People who have given up on living cannot match his resolve.

“You can shout your feeble insults after you have answered His Majesty’s questions,” Nie Dan says. “Speak. Now.”

Another order. Another blow. Their spirits cannot keep resisting.

“It is… as you say,” Firm Shadows says. “We knew…death was likely.”