Can You Conquer The World With Martial Arts?

Almost like birds they soared over the walls and continued their approach along the rooftops. Their feet never touched the streets below.

The guards watched them blur by, helpless to stop them. Attempts at pursuit were nothing more than an empty gesture. Alarm bells rang out all throughout the city.

The attackers formed a lengthy and sparse line, each martial artist moving at their own pace. Huang Huoyu was in the lead as the fastest among them all. Then was Qin Yan, with his superior lightness techniques.

Trailing behind him was Light Qingge. Though quick, she could hardly be considered the third strongest in the group when it came to an earnest battle.

Liao Lan and Sun Jia lingered near the end, competing against each other.

The rest of the van was a competitive and ever-shifting environment, with each runner vying for a spot closer to their golden haired leader.

In hardly any time at all they crossed half the city and arrived before Wu Rong's palace.

When Huang Huoyu stopped, so did the others.

"Why are we stopping?" Xiang Ru bellowed. "The whole city's going crazy. Wu Rong's elites will be upon us any moment. Let's go in and take it while we still have time!"

"Why exactly do you think we've come here?" Huang Huoyu asked. "Relax. Take in the sights. There's no rush."

True to her word, she began a leisurely stroll along the paved paths. Her entourage gawked at her departing figure.

"You mean you WANT to battle them?" Xiang Ru hesitantly followed.

"Seems to me like lady Huang intends to turn this affair into another one of her tests of skill." Qin Yan pondered aloud. "Though the scale of this one will be... well, a little larger."

"So lady Huang wants us to fight them? But haven't we proven ourselves already?"

"Hmm." Qin Yan smiled. "Well, perhaps we aren't the subjects of today's test."

"Lady Wu..." Sun Jia seemed dejected.

Huang Huoyu let them chatter amongst themselves. Their idle talk persisted, accompanied by the distant ringing of alarm bells.

They walked for a time, and Liao Lan noticed something suspicious.

"I don't see any troops approaching this place. Could it be that they already got here before us? Are they waiting for us further down the palace?"

"If they spring an ambush on us," Guo Xiu muttered, "Considering their numbers, we'll lose control of the situation immediately. Bloodshed will be inevitable."

"That's a revelation to you?" Mo Xiabo asked. "We came here to do battle."

Guo Xiu exchanged silent glances with Qin Yan and the Ming couple.

"What I'm trying to say is, we must be ready to spring into action at any moment."

Mo Xiabo shook his head. "Where would we all be without your sage advice?"

They walked on and on.

"Just how big is this place?" Liao Lan wondered.

"It isn't the size of it." Ouyang Chen replied. "We've walked down the same street twice now. This is a formation."

"What is that?" Qin Yan asked. The other leaders seemed to share his confusion.

"Unless we go down an exact sequence of paths," she explained, "we'll be wandering this palace forever. Your carelessness delivered us right into Wu Rong's trap, Huang Huoyu."

The Silver Blade offered a suggestion. "If it's just about finding a sequence, then let's split up and look for it. We're all quick, we'll crack this in no time."

Ouyang Chen shook her head. "Even if one of us were to find their way out of this formation, how would the rest of us know which paths that person took? Moreover, have you already forgotten about the thousand elites? Do you want to stumble into that force all by yourself? You'd be playing right into Wu Rong's hands."

Huang Huoyu remained silent.

Ouyang Chen continued. "But of course, what other choice do we have but for each man to fend for himself? If we traverse this maze as a group, there's no telling how long it would take to find our way out. Depending on how complicated the sequence, it could take us days even if we explore at full speed. It would be quite ironic, to get starved out in our own siege."

The rest of them could no longer bear their leader's silence. "Lady Huang, what do we do?"

"That's not her ploy." Huang Huoyu finally spoke. "This formation isn't here to hold us. She knows it won't work on me."

Ouyang Chen quirked an eyebrow. "Since when do you know anything about formations? It's unlike you to learn about something that you can't swing or stab with."

"Just follow me. You'll see."

Qin Yan asked, "Then what would be the point of having this so-called 'formation' in place if not to hold us?"

"She knows that we're more mobile than whatever force she could muster. Perhaps this is her attempt to iron out this flaw. You see, when it comes to formations, the route that leads one further in does not neccessarily need to be the same as the way out. And I can't navigate through this quickly, either. Our speed wouldn't help us escape."

"So this is all solely to cut off our escape route? How bold. Lady Wu certainly has high hopes for this army of hers. Moreover, all of this preparation means that she was able to predict our early arrival."

Gradually they began to come upon sights they had not yet seen. This signified that they were indeed making progress through the formation.

Ouyang Chen kept her eyes on Huang Huoyu as she led them through the intangible maze, but couldn't uncover any rhyme or reason to her movements. Every once in a while they all looped back to the start, but she remained undeterred. Huang Huoyu left notches in the walls and trees. It appeared almost like simple trial and error, but somehow they continued to make steady progress after every repetition.

They eventually arrived before a closed gate.

"There they are." Huang Huoyu said.

She smashed the great doors with the back of her hand.

On the other side, stretching across a vast courtyard, they found rows of men clad in green. Spearheading the troop was a massive wooden contraption that resembled a crossbow.

Before the intruders had time to take in the sights, the ballista loosened a massive bolt.

Panic flashed among the martial artists. They scattered, leaving Huang Huoyu standing in the gate.

"What is that thing?!" The young Pan Mingli seemed shaken.

"A siege engine from the olden days." The Silver Blade explained. "They must be really desperate to bring out an antique like that."

The masked girl stretched out her arm. Her wrist slithered under the steel point and seized the projectile. In that instant it had ceased its grand momentum.

Huang Huoyu heaved the inert bolt onto her shoulder. She turned her waist and flung it like an oversized javelin.

Wu Rong's soldiers jumped out of the way. The ballista was smashed into pieces.

The monarchs regrouped. The two opposing forces stared each other down.

Suddenly, neither side seemed willing to approach. They lingered on the cusp of combat as though frozen in time.

"Now's our chance!" Guo Xiu erupted into a triumphant roar, twirling his glaive. "A thousand witnesses to our glory! A thousand swords for our cause! Now is the moment where we wrest back our freedom! With me, friends!"

He was the first to charge. But all present could see that his advance steered way off course. Huang Huoyu twirled around to face him and spread her arms out as if to welcome him.

Guo Xiu brought his glaive down upon her head. The edge snagged on the eye slit of her mask.

Blood dripped down onto the paved stones. Guo Xiu struck with such fervor that he tore the skin on his palms.

His all-out strike left only a slight crack on her mask.

The entire scene froze. Guo Xiu drew back his weapon. The golden eye peered at him past the miniscule opening he had given his all to make.

"She's... invincible...?" The Gallant Glaive staggered back. They gawked at what had just unfolded. Instead of putting up a defense, Huang Huoyu let him strike her, goaded him into it.

"Judging by his words, I take it the rest of you are in agreement?" Huang Huoyu looked over the others.

Her question sent a tremor throughout the group.

Suddenly, a needle flew out. It dug into Guo Xiu's side. The merchant glared at the old woman, hatred in his eyes.

Ouyang Chen's action snapped everyone out of their stupor.

The monarchs levied their weapons and all rushed to cut down the traitor. They desperately wished to prove that they, too, were uninvolved.

Guo Xiu was sliced to ribbons.

With blood in the air, all restraint, all hesitation, disappeared.

Wu Rong's forces belted out their battlecries and charged.

Huang Huoyu's eye faced the valiant charge with something resembling bitterness. But as she held her still sheathed sword in her hands, her mind wandered.

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She thought back to her disciple, wondered where he was now. What he would think of what she was about to do.

But of course, she knew. What was about to unfold must have been that young man's greatest fear. She had told him that he could always return, but how hollow were those words? Why would he ever come back to her after this?

In turn, that made it her greatest fear too. And it was the only thing staying her hand now, in these final moments.

As long as thoughts of him lingered on her mind, how could she ever hope to fulfill her father's dream?

As long as there was any hope for his return, how could she go through with what needed to be done?

She knew she should have never said those words.

To cast him away, she had to immerse herself in blood. She had to become that to which he would never wish to return. To sever their bond once and for all like so much flesh.

Huang Huoyu drew a deep breath.

She laid the steel bare. The sword glimmered in the sunlight.

This is where it ends.

What followed was a crescendo of violence.

Wu Rong's force was highly coordinated. They enveloped their enemies like water, a whirlpool of steel that never ceased, never offering a moment of respite. They attacked and covered for each other, darted in and out as a collective whole.

The monarchs suddenly found themselves hard pressed. Though not a single weapon had managed to so much as graze any of them yet, they could neither advance nor levy an attack in turn. Mere self-defense required complete and total concentration, leaving little to no opportunity for offense. None of them expected to see such fierce resistance at the hands of those they considered their lessers, numerous as they might have been.

They all felt like they were getting swept up by a tide.

All of them except one.

Huang Huoyu's blade was unstoppable. No matter how Wu Rong's forces would surround her, no matter what angle they attacked from, they could not even slow her down. No matter how one ventured to approach her, without fail they would lose at least a limb if not their head.

Her dance of death made it look easy. Her advance emboldened the monarchs behind her, and they followed her example.

Skewered by spears, slashed by swords, cut by sabers, pulverized by whips, dispatched by poison, crippled from the inside by meridian sealing strikes...

Within minutes their numbers had been cut down by a tenth.

Blood pooled into a miniature lake. Flowing through the stone tiles, it branched out into countless rivers.

They had nothing to show for their sacrifice except a few close calls on the most careless members of Huang Huoyu's entourage.

Even in their most pessimistic presumptions they had never considered that the battle would turn into such a one sided affair.

Though they still outnumbered the intruders almost eight to one, after witnessing such carnage, they could not find solace in their numbers any longer.

Yet they held the line.

Finally, when the strongest among them joined the battle in earnest, Huang Huoyu's advance was brought to a halt. Though they could not harm her still, her hesitation lifted their spirits.

But she was just one of many. Ouyang Chen flung out a pellet that erupted into a poisonous white cloud. The soldiers had to give up their superior position lest they end up swallowed up by her toxins. All knew of the old woman's reputation; none dared to brave the horrors of her craft.

And once the pressure on Huang Huoyu had lessened, the slaughter began anew.

They desperately held on, praying that another opportunity would come.

But their losses became unbearable sooner than they had hoped.

One in three had perished.

There was still not a scratch on any of their foes.

Wu Rong's forces finally broke and scattered, fleeing every which way.

Huang Huoyu did not pursue. She flicked some of the blood off her blade and strolled past the carpet of mutilated corpses.

She found Wu Rong lingering in the throne room, just as she had been the first time they met. Wu Rong knew that her presence here could have only meant one thing.

Wu Rong was pale, stood on shaky feet. But nevertheless, her gaze was resolute.

Cao Lai stepped forward, heaving his halberd.

Huang Huoyu spoke. "Your techniques don't interest me anymore. If you lay down your weapon, the two of you can resume your arrangement as-"

"Save your breath." Cao Lai cut her off.

Her golden eye narrowed with derision.

Cao Lai charged. Self-preservation had very evidently not crossed his mind. He swung with wild abandon, unleashing his fiercest attack.

Huang Huoyu shared his sentiment. She met his lunge with a single step.

The sword in her hand made a terrifying sound. It was as though the metal itself shrieked out in protest, unable to endure the strength behind her blow. The noise startled the onlookers, even those seasoned martial artists that made up Huang Huoyu's retinue.

Her sword traced a path right through Cao Lai's halberd and deep into his shoulder. It stripped his charge of all momentum, left a gruesome cut across his chest. That his arm remained attached at all was nothing short of miraculous.

But a hollow miracle it was. The severed head of his halberd crashed against the floor. Then so did Cao Lai.

"Cao Lai!" Wu Rong's composure finally broke. Tears streamed down her face. She meant to run out towards him, but the sight of the approaching Huang Huoyu held her still.

Sheathing her sword, she walked right past Wu Rong.

Huang Huoyu seated herself upon the throne.

"Wu Rong. Come here."

Though she had heard the order, Wu Rong remained in her stupor.

"Now!"

Her sharp exclamation echoed throughout the hall. It shook Wu Rong to her core. Finally, the lady consort turned, her frail figure swaying like a leaf on the wind. She walked towards the golden haired woman.

Wu Rong slowed as she neared, fearful of those long arms. But still she had managed to underestimate their reach, and they suddenly lunged for her and reeled her in.

Wu Rong choked down a scream behind gritted teeth. Huang Huoyu sat the older woman down on her lap and grabbed her by the head. She forced her to look down upon the bloodied hall, her shellshocked retinue. The retainers stepped forward before the throne.

Sitting as she had been, with the giant Huang Huoyu as her backdrop, Wu Rong's diminutive form appeared smaller than ever. She burned with such shame that even the terror could not numb her to it.

But when she tried to wring out of her grasp, Huang Huoyu's hand squeezed her head as though trying to crush it. Wu Rong knew that it was not an idle threat; that golden eyed monster could easily dispatch her in this gruesome manner with just an errant twitch. The pain quickly culled her resistance.

Huang Huoyu whispered, "Stop squirming. Take a good look. Isn't this just a marvelous sight? The world's greatest heroes are all here, ready to serve. Be honest, wouldn't you rather govern over this than the measly little domain you've been calling your own? I must say, I am impressed by what you managed to cobble together to stand up to me. It was clever. I like it. I did not misjudge you. My offer to you still stands. Do you remember? Serve me, and I'll forgive your transgressions. All of them. Not only will I grant you amnesty, but I'll let you keep living in the same luxury that you've been used to. Well? What did you think of my little show so far? Impressive, isn't it? They'd even kill each other if I asked. I saw them do it. You can see that we're a man short, right? ...Still not convinced, are you? Then let me show you something even better..."

To the monarchs below, she issued a proclamation.

"Henceforth, We shall be known as the Jade Empress. Kneel before Us!"

The warlords fell to their knees.

"Receive the decree!" Huang Huoyu declared. "Henceforth, all under heaven is the domain of Our Qi dynasty. Here is your first task: pacify the provinces! Unite the Central Plains! Sweep the lands clean of rebels! And when the world is united as one, We shall reign as its empress. Forevermore!"

"Long live the empress!" Her subjects cried out.

The lone golden eye peering through the mask gaped wide. Huang Huoyu stared up at the heavens.

Her grip on Wu Rong's head slackened. She leaned back in her throne. Relief washed over her.

"Can you see me now, father? I have finished what you started! Are you proud of me now? Does it please you?"

Huang Huoyu's shoulders shook. She laughed and laughed.

It was finally over.

...