"Where did these four come from?" the Earth Elder muttered, his eyes fixed on the glowing weapons in their hands. "Their blades and spears are all genuine spirit artifacts!"
"Not sure," the Flame Elder growled back, his own gaze wary. "But be careful. Even at our level, we are not invincible against weapons of that grade."
That was the terrifying truth about spiritual weapons. The raw power boost they granted was enormous. Without the artifacts Su Min had forged for them, these four early stage cultivators would have stood no chance against the two peak Qi Refining elders. But now, armed with mid Yellow tier weapons, they posed a real, if temporary, threat. The two old monsters had to be cautious, testing the weapons' limits rather than crushing their wielders outright.
Still, no matter how refined the weapons were, the fundamental gap in cultivation and experience could not be ignored forever. Just as Su Min had crushed the four of them in training with only a fraction of her strength, they were still far too weak to face such seasoned experts. The elders soon found an opening, and with a single, clean, coordinated strike of overwhelming force, they sent all four flying back to slam against the city wall.
"Ha ha ha ha!!!"
Triumphant cheers erupted from the grassland army behind the two elders. The sight of their leaders single-handedly repelling four enemy experts was the stuff of legends, a moment to rally the entire tide of war. Su Min had not expected to witness such a classic military trope herself, but here it was, playing out right before her eyes. Hearing the triumphant roars below, she could not help but allow a faint, cold smile to touch her lips.
"You like duels? Fine," she murmured to herself. "Let me give you a surprise."
As if responding to her thought, the expressions of the two elders below suddenly darkened. Unlike the cheering soldiers, they sensed something new—an intense, scorching aura erupting from the city walls, one so fierce and pure it made their own spiritual energy tremble in response. That aura did not scatter to intimidate the army. It focused with laser-like precision, pressing down solely upon the two of them.
"Peak Qi Refining…" the Flame Elder said, his voice low and grim. "So you are the one the imperial court fears so much?"
The royal family had been deliberately vague, revealing little about Su Min beyond cryptic warnings.
"No wonder even the Emperor treads so carefully," the Earth Elder added, his eyes wide with dawning realization as the heat around her intensified. "This purity of flame… You are an alchemist, are you not?"
The Flame Elder frowned deeply. Their cultivations were on paper equal, yet her spiritual aura alone made his own fire attributed energy waver and feel inferior. That could only mean one thing: she wielded one of the legendary Heaven and Earth Strange Fires. Such flames were unimaginably rare, merging with their host and only re-forming elsewhere in the world upon the user's death.
But what truly unsettled the two elders was the sheer implication of those four Qi Refining cultivators. Four, appearing at once, was unthinkable without external aid. And none of them felt artificially boosted; their foundations were solid, reached through genuine cultivation. There was only one logical explanation: the woman before them was a master alchemist capable of mass producing the pills needed for such breakthroughs. For the first time, a sliver of genuine dread crept into their hearts. They truly did not want to make a permanent enemy of someone like her. But with the lives and futures of a million people depending on this campaign, retreat was not an option. Exchanging a single, grim glance, the Flame Elder raised his hand and shouted the order.
"All forces—CHARGE!!!"
"KILL!!!"
In the next instant, the sea of grassland soldiers surged forward. Shields were lifted, siege ladders rose like a forest, and the air filled with battle cries. No matter how fearsome their cavalry was on the open plains, they were helpless against towering stone walls without these tools. A deafening storm of clashing metal, roaring flames, and whistling projectiles lit up the battlefield. Yet, as the wave of soldiers broke against the city defenses, not a single attacker dared approach the path between the walls and Su Min. Instinctively, like a river parting around a rock, they veered away from her.
"Now."
Seeing this, the two elders understood the complete truth. The real guardian of Yongzhou, the linchpin of its defense, was this one young woman. Her apparent youth meant she was a cultivator of this new generation, yet she had already reached the peak of Qi Refining.
It was monstrous.
If there had been any chance for negotiation before the first blow was struck, they would have done anything to avoid provoking her. Someone with her talent and profession was worth bowing to. But since they were already enemies, she had to die. If she survived this battle, she could bring endless trouble down upon them with nothing more than a word and a few promised pills. Their thoughts, in that moment, mirrored the Emperor's exactly. Even now, he had not dared to issue an imperial warrant for her arrest. No one in power wanted to push a master alchemist into open, total war.
With that grim resolution settling in their hearts, the two elders summoned their most prized treasures. The Earth Elder raised a shield that seemed carved from living mountain rock, and the Flame Elder gripped a gnarled, blazing root that pulsed with contained fire.
"So those are the two rare treasures I need for Foundation Establishment," Su Min murmured, her eyes gleaming with recognition. It was clear they lacked true, forged spirit treasures of their own. The Flame Elder's fire was potent, but nowhere near hot or controlled enough to smelt spiritual ore, much less forge a proper weapon.
"Perfect."
She had no reason to hold back any longer. This was a war of annihilation, and neither side could afford to retreat. If either one faltered, everyone behind them would be doomed. In the next heartbeat, Su Min surged forward, a blur of azure and crimson.
At the same moment, the two elders charged to meet her. The strange relics in their hands glowed with radiant, ancient light. Though not formal spirit weapons, these artifacts from a lost age could serve as powerful substitutes. For them, it would have to be enough.
"Earthen Rock Spear!!!"
"Blazing Ember Slash!!!"
Twin streaks of elemental power, one ochre and one crimson, erupted as their relics transformed into massive, projected weapons. They lunged at Su Min from both sides, aiming to crush her in a flawless pincer strike.
"Tch. Not even combining your attacks? Do you look down on me that much?" Su Min sneered, not breaking her stride. "Fine, then do not expect your precious fusion technique to work later."
She almost laughed. She had been wondering how to cripple one of them first to prevent their combination, and they had handed her the perfect chance on a silver platter by splitting up. Just before impact, light burst around her. Her Glazed Ice Azure Armor materialized in an instant, plates clicking into place, and a faint, golden bell-shaped shadow shimmered into existence around her body—the Golden Bell Shield.
Then came the explosion.
BOOM!!!
The two elders were stunned.
Su Min had not even tried to dodge. She charged straight through their attacks, fully intent on trading blows directly. The critical difference was that she was clad in head to toe in priceless protective gear, while they relied on their raw cultivation and simple relics. And from the sound and feel of the spiritual pressure alone, they could tell the sword in her hand was no ordinary weapon either. Forced to adapt at the last possible second, they twisted their strikes mid swing, desperately trying to redirect their own blows to avoid a fatal trade.
Clang!
Pfft!
A sharp, earsplitting metallic crash rang through the air, followed immediately by the wet, sickening sound of flesh tearing. The impact sent a visible shockwave of force surging outward, toppling nearby soldiers and shaking the very foundations of nearby siege engines. The entire section of the battlefield directly around them was cleared in an instant.
"What happened?!"
On the wall, Prince Yong shot to his feet, his fingers digging into the stone parapet as he strained to see. Before he could lean too far over, the two Body Refining guards beside him pulled him back from the edge. It was not just them. The four wounded cultivators resting nearby against the wall also widened their eyes, frozen in disbelief at the raw power on display.
The dust and displaced spiritual energy slowly cleared. At the center of the devastation stood a tall, graceful figure clad in shimmering, pristine glass like armor. She had not moved an inch from where she landed. On the opposite side came the sound of a violent, ragged cough. As the haze faded, everyone finally saw the truth.
The Earth Elder, clutching a grievous wound in his abdomen, had fallen to his knees and was vomiting dark blood onto the churned earth.