Chapter 27: Three Consorts Executed in Succession

A thunderous boom resounded just as Chen Longshi was quietly savoring the changes brought by his increased spiritual power—the entire city wall suddenly shook. He hurriedly stopped what he was doing and rushed out to find that the outer wall had been breached in several places. Massive skeletal crocodiles, each carrying battering rams on their backs like venomous dragons, smashed into the city gate. With a deafening crash, the gate was left gaping open. Countless arrows rained down upon the skeletal beasts, but thick armor and the battering rams shielded them from harm.

The soldiers of King Zhen’s city formed a living bulwark, fighting to the death to repel the vicious enemies pouring through the breach, staining the ground with their blood to reclaim every inch of lost land.

“It’s that green crocodile controlling the bone beasts!” someone shouted.

In the distance, the skeletal overlord, the green crocodile, and the four monstrous consorts—Spider, Serpent, Eagle, and Leopard—who had so far been mere onlookers, began to stir, advancing menacingly.

“The bosses are finally making their move. Perfect, I’ll test my skills on you,” Chen Longshi thought.

Though it was tempting to leave the fighting to others, in this secret trial realm, taking action himself would yield a better evaluation. While the others fought fiercely, Chen Longshi stepped forward without hesitation and flung his flying axe.

With a blast like a comet crashing to earth, the massive skeletal crocodile battering the gate had its skull smashed flat by the axe.

Soul Provisions +265

A pitiful gulp sounded in his mind—Tun Tun, his spirit companion, bemoaned the loss of its hard-earned winter stores, cruelly forced out by its heartless master.

What am I to you? A cormorant, perhaps? Isn’t this hard enough for me already? Boohoo, you never have any pity for me. Hmph, I’m never saving food again—I’ll eat it all myself!

Chen Longshi smiled quietly. Look at you, so stingy—have I ever let you go hungry? Go ahead, eat more and evolve faster. My only worry is you don’t eat enough.

While teasing his little companion inwardly, his hands showed no mercy. Wielding his flying axe, he kept the bone crocodiles at bay with ease.

Seeing this, Zhi Jiang, watching from afar with a pale face, finally breathed a sigh of relief, gratitude shining in her eyes. The soldiers, too, found their morale bolstered; under Ji Bu’s command, they quickly blocked the breach with logs and boulders.

The battle raged on, Tun Tun feasting happily. Before long, the numbers for Soul Provisions began to soar again, soon surpassing a hundred thousand. Clearly, his attributes were perfectly suited for the chaos of war.

But the prolonged battle was taking its toll: the human defenders suffered heavy losses, and the wall had already been manned by several exhausted, wounded rotations.

Chen Longshi, a top cadet of the military academy, could hardly be ignorant of strategy. Scanning the war-torn field, he quickly perceived the problem and approached Lord Qu, speaking bluntly: “This can’t go on. We need a way to draw out the enemy leaders.”

“How?” Qu asked.

“They’re wearing down our living strength. So, let’s feign weakness—let some monsters into the city.”

Lord Qu was taken aback, hesitant. Letting even a single monster in could spell disaster for hundreds or even thousands of citizens—how could that be acceptable?

Chen Longshi replied, “If we open a breach, the monsters will surge in eagerly; then we lure them into a trap and annihilate them. As long as we control the area, we can kill the monsters inside the city.”

Lord Qu still wavered, but Chen Longshi grew impatient, barking, “This must be done now! The King of Chu’s tomb is already fully committed. Are you still hoping for a perfect solution? In war, sacrifices must be made.”

“…Very well!”

Despite his age, Lord Qu still possessed the decisiveness required of a ruler. He understood what this decision would mean for the people inside the city, but if it meant winning this battle, he would bear the infamy.

He turned and bowed deeply to Chen Longshi. “I leave everything in your hands, sir.”

Chen Longshi breathed a sigh of relief. If he’d had to ask Zhi Jiang, it might not have passed at all—thank goodness for Lord Qu. He nodded, signaling his assurance.

With Lord Qu’s banner raised, Ji Bu, defending the southeastern corner, was stunned. “Retreat inside?”

“What’s going on?” Confused, Ji Bu nonetheless quickly ordered his troops to open a gap.

Outside the walls, the enemy commanders had grown anxious as their undead minions dwindled and failed to resurrect. Now, seeing their forces streaming through the opening, satisfaction gleamed in their hollow eyes as soul-fires flickered—a silent, wordless exchange.

No longer content to simply watch, the four monstrous consorts were the first to act.

With demonic auras swirling, they instantly transformed into monstrous forms: a giant spider-woman, a human with a serpent’s tail, a woman’s head atop an eagle’s body, and an upright leopard-beast. The skeletal overlord and green crocodile roared in concert, leading the monstrous horde in attack.

The first to make contact was the Eagle Consort, who seized the Serpent and Leopard Consorts in her talons, her wings slicing the air as she soared skyward.

“Watch for aerial attacks!” someone cried.

At that moment, Zhi Jiang was desperately loosing flaming arrows into the sky, a dozen fire-tipped shafts streaking toward the three descending consorts. Chen Longshi saw clearly: the flames were instantly snuffed by the cold demonic aura upon striking the monsters, and their wounds healed swiftly. Yet the Eagle Consort only laughed shrilly, unfazed.

As the monsters flew into the inner city, Chen Longshi pursued without hesitation.

Zhi Jiang tried to rush in as well, but Lord Qu stopped her. “With Mr. Chen inside, your duty is to hold the walls.”

The minor bosses had entered the city. Many had feared they’d cause enormous casualties, but all across the city’s rooftops, deadly arrows whistled out. From windows and chimneys, from dense treetops and even wellheads, arrows struck with deadly precision—it was as if the entire populace had become soldiers.

“This… this is tunnel warfare!” Chen Longshi thought.

Caught off guard, the Eagle Consort was soon bristling with arrows. Undaunted, she shrieked and dove from the sky, tossing the Serpent and Leopard Consorts down onto the roof of a house. They crashed through the roof into an empty room—the unarmed residents had long since been evacuated underground, and those who remained could all fight.

With a sharp turn, the Eagle Consort dodged a hail of arrows, gliding low to the ground and snatching a militia member from a tree. With a scream, she tore him in half in midair, his blood staining the snow a ghastly red.

The Leopard and Serpent Consorts also sprang into action, slaughtering wantonly.

In truth, these “consorts” were not individually powerful, but each possessed formidable abilities. The Eagle Consort’s strengths were obvious; the Leopard Consort was peerless in agility, while the Serpent Consort moved with sinister, unpredictable grace and deadly cunning, even able to conceal herself. To kill such foes, a single fatal blow was needed—but landing one was no easy feat. These three agile undead monsters were hard to catch, let alone engage directly.

They slaughtered the townsfolk at will, their triumphant laughter echoing. The Eagle Consort, in particular, seized one militia member after another, soaring hundreds of meters high and cackling wildly, impervious to the rain of arrows.

Just as her arrogance peaked, Chen Longshi arrived at last. With a flick, he hurled his flying axe straight into the sky. With a tearing sound, it shattered half her wing. Screeching, she spiraled out of control, crashing into the distance.

Ignoring her, Chen Longshi turned toward the Leopard Consort.

The upright leopard-beast ran with such speed that phantom images blurred around it. Unfortunately, its greatest strength was precisely what Chen Longshi countered best. His powerful spiritual sense tracked her every move; with a wave, he placed nine “Counter Shields” in the air around him.

The Leopard Consort lunged, claws shredding the first shield. Unslowed, she charged like lightning.

Chen Longshi flung nine flying knives, weaving a web of death. Steel rang against claw—several knives struck aside—but the Leopard Consort could not outpace the knives guided by his mind. Two blades pierced her torso, gouging bloody holes.

Unlike the other undead, the Leopard Consort bled black blood, more like a barbarian than a skeleton.

“This is nothing!” she snarled, not even glancing at her wounds. With a howl, her body blurred as she lunged at Chen Longshi. She failed to notice a flying axe whistling down from above until it was too late; it tore open her back, ripping apart most of her body.

With a shrill, desperate cry, she crashed to the ground. The soul-fire in her skull blazed, her wounds healing rapidly—yet the damage was too great. Again and again she tried to knit her body together, but failed.

She gave up on regeneration. Fury flared in her eyes as she glared at Chen Longshi. Her razor-sharp claws suddenly extended several meters, glowing with crimson light, aimed straight at Chen Longshi’s heart.

“Leopard Soul Demon Claw: Possesses immense attack power and speed, bypassing some defenses and even reducing the target’s protection. When striking a living body, it absorbs blood and converts it to the Leopard Consort’s death power.”

A star skill with armor-piercing properties—the nemesis of the “Counter Shield.”

Her strike was as swift as it was savage. As the claws flashed toward his chest, Chen Longshi made his move—he holstered his spear, clenched his fist, and focused his telekinetic power into his hand. He did not dodge; instead, he punched straight out.

A thunderous blast—the Leopard Soul Demon Claw shattered on impact. His punch hit like a sledgehammer, crushing the Leopard Consort’s upper body, her half-shattered head left dangling from her neck.

Reeling from the blow, she could not recover before Chen Longshi was upon her, his hand transformed into a claw, telekinetic force crackling as he gripped her head and crushed it to pulp.

She collapsed, and Tun Tun appeared, greedily devouring her soul-fire.

Soul Provisions +688