My Golden Core is a Star, do you call this cultivating?

Chapter 99: Three Men Defending One City

Zhang Sheng and Chen Jiao climbed up the city wall, already gasping for breath.

Both had many questions in their hearts.

"Are you the one defending this place?" Zhang Sheng asked, his face full of excitement.

This was the land of death in the Central Plains!
Of the 108,000 cities, a third had long become dead zones.

Wugui City was considered half a dead zone.

For over ten years, the Great Xia Dynasty had been unable to gather an army to send here.

Qi Yuan, holding a broken sword, sighed, "It's been a while, but unfortunately... no fiends have appeared."

"You're not from Great Xia, you're a wandering hero?" Zhang Sheng noticed the absence of Great Xia’s flag on the wall and instantly understood.

There were still many wandering heroes who bravely fought in the Central Plains.

Most of these heroes were cultivators.

Zhang Sheng and Chen Jiao were not truly considered cultivators, merely unranked ones.

Half of those who came with them were cultivators.

Unfortunately, all of them died at the hands of the fiends.

"Consider me a wandering hero," Qi Yuan didn't deny it.

"May I place the Great Xia’s flag here?

This represents that Wugui City is still under Great Xia’s control." Zhang Sheng looked at Qi Yuan expectantly.

"Go ahead," Qi Yuan looked at the two NPCs with a complex expression.

Despite their weak and near-death states, the two had no fear of dying but were instead excited.

Beside him, Chen Jiao, with his one arm, pulled out the blood-stained, crumpled flag from his chest and carefully smoothed it out.

Zhang Sheng helped him, both acting as if performing a solemn task.

Even though it was just placing the flag on the city wall, they were panting heavily.

The wind blew, dust flew, and the flag flapped loudly.

The two looked at the flag, eyes full of longing, "I wonder how long this flag will stand."

"It's a pity General Yuan can't see the flag flying over Wugui City," Zhang Sheng sighed.

General Yuan was the one leading the Song Battalion.

Facing hundreds of fiends, he killed dozens before dying of exhaustion, his eyes still open, looking towards Wugui City.

Zhang Sheng knew General Yuan was a noble who had met the emperor.

Before leaving, General Yuan had said that if the flag couldn't be planted on Wugui City's wall, Great Xia would cease to exist within twenty years.

Great Xia would be completely integrated into Da Sui and defend the Galan City together.

The two sighed and then looked at Qi Yuan, "Hero, where are the fiends in Wugui City?"

"Many were wandering around, and I killed them," Qi Yuan sat on the wall, seemingly bored.

In reality, he was revisiting and deeply comprehending the techniques he learned in Azure World.

One day in Azure World equaled ten years here. He needed to make good use of this time.

His newly compiled "Qi Yuan Sutra" could be practiced, but it was full of issues.

It would not only worsen memory but also cause mental derangement.

He was deepening his understanding to reduce the flaws in the "Qi Yuan Sutra."

Only when fiends appeared did he take action. Most of the time, he sat on the wall.

"There must have been over a hundred fiends wandering in Wugui City, right? Are you a cultivator?" Chen Jiao couldn't help but ask, "What realm are you in?"

Zhang Sheng quickly glared at Chen Jiao.

Chen Jiao realized he was being rude, as one shouldn't ask a cultivator's realm.

"Level 49, quite weak," Qi Yuan didn't hide it.

Chen Jiao was stunned for a moment.

Zhang Sheng thought Qi Yuan was unwilling to reveal his true strength.

Night fell quickly.

The whole world was about to be shrouded in darkness.

Qi Yuan looked up at the sky, pitch black.

"Hey, why aren't there any stars in the sky in your world?"

After coming to Wugui City, Qi Yuan discovered that at night, the entire world was as black as ink.

No stars, no starlight.

"Stars in the sky? What do you mean?" Zhang Sheng was confused, not understanding what Qi Yuan meant.

Qi Yuan understood roughly.

This world had no stars in the sky.

Could it be that someone had eaten all the stars?

Thinking of this, Qi Yuan became excited.

"Nothing, it's dark now. You're not cultivators, so you can't see well. Find a place to sleep." Qi Yuan kindly reminded them.

"Alright," Zhang Sheng and Chen Jiao got off the wall.

As they walked down the last step, they both turned in unison, looking deeply at the Great Xia flag in the night.

...

The next day, at dawn.

Qi Yuan still sat on the wall, comprehending the techniques from Azure World.

Sometimes, he glanced at Wugui City and saw two panting men moving white bones, burying them.

The two were gravely injured and didn't have many days to live.

Yet they kept moving the corpses.

By evening, Zhang Sheng and Chen Jiao brought up a large wooden box, panting.

"Hero, would you like a drink?" The box was filled with wine.

Opening the jars, a mix of sour and fragrant alcohol filled the air.

Back on Blue Star, Qi Yuan, due to his illness, never drank.

He also didn't have the habit of drinking.

"Thank you, but I don't drink. I go mad when I do," Qi Yuan declined.

"This is our unique daughter’s fragrance wine of Great Xia.

When a daughter is born, the family buries a few jars of this wine.

When she gets married, they dig it up.

Usually, you can't drink it. Only soldiers heading to Wugui City get some as a send-off," Chen Jiao said, gulping the wine, "If we don't drink it now, no one will."

Zhang Sheng also drank deeply from a jar, "If we don't drink now, no one will."

The whole wall was filled with the scent of alcohol.

After drinking, Zhang Sheng walked to Qi Yuan's side, "Hero, I found many good things in the city.

This is a blood-activating pill, a blood-nourishing pill, and some healing medicine. They should be useful to you. I brought some."

Qi Yuan looked at the bottles and jars Zhang Sheng brought and said, "You're both gravely injured. Use these healing medicines to live a few more days."

"Thank you for your kindness," Zhang Sheng smiled shyly, "But our lives are cheap, maybe worth a couple of fiends. These medicines are better used by you."

Qi Yuan took the blood-nourishing pill, "Keep the rest. I don't need them."

"Hero..." Zhang Sheng tried to persuade him.

"Humph, are you cursing me to get hurt by giving me healing medicine?

Do you think these fiends can harm me?" Qi Yuan scoffed at the fiends, "You fear fiends, but I find them lovely, full of experience points."

Zhang Sheng and Chen Jiao found Qi Yuan's words hard to understand and didn't force the medicine on him.

They could only cough and say, "Hero indeed lives up to the name."

They sat on the wall, drinking and chatting.

"I wonder when the fiend army will arrive."

"Too bad the Great Xia flag may not stay long."

"Hero, why don't you leave while there are no fiends?

With your strength, you could be a high-ranking leader, leave Wugui City, and maybe survive."

In Liufeng World.

Cultivators were simply classified as unranked, first, second, third, fourth, and fifth realms.

The first realm was called a commander;
The second realm was called a lord;
The third realm was called a nation-keeper, capable of defending a country alone;
The fourth realm was called a land myth, a godlike figure;

The fifth realm was called a supreme, the most powerful existence in the world.

It was said that among the 108,000 cities, some had supreme beings defending them.

Those cities were impregnable, and fiends couldn't enter.

"I am the defender of Wugui City, I won't leave."

Of course, Qi Yuan wouldn't leave.

The longer he defended, the higher the rewards.

In Moonwatching Continent, killing monsters gave him experience.

But to get high-level items like Heavenly Dao fragments, he needed to clear dungeons.

These fiends were rich in experience, but Qi Yuan wanted better rewards by defending Wugui City.

"If the Great Xia flag is raised, the fiends will know within a day, and the fiend army will arrive within five days," Zhang Sheng said.

Without the flag, fiends would still know the situation, just slower.

Qi Yuan was stunned, "Without the flag, new fiends won't come?"

He had waited so long for fiends, in vain because there was no flag?

"They will come, just slower," Zhang Sheng explained, detailing more.

"So, with the flag, the fiend army arrives within five days?" Qi Yuan muttered.

He could use the flag to control the fiend army's timing.

"Yes, more or less," Zhang Sheng answered.

Qi Yuan looked at the two, eyes gleaming.

Their hearts raced as Qi Yuan said, "Do you have more flags? The more, the better."

"We do," Zhang Sheng, puzzled, handed over several flags found in the city.

"Hero, why do you need so many flags?" Zhang Sheng asked.

"One flag isn't enough. I plan to defend here for a long time," Qi Yuan replied honestly.

One day outside equaled nearly ten years in the game.

He needed to use this time to train and grow stronger.

Zhang Sheng was silent.

He wanted to persuade Qi Yuan to leave but couldn't.

Chen Jiao didn't think much, drinking heavily, "I didn't expect to die in this city with a hero like you."

For him, the fiend army meant death in this city.

Qi Yuan glanced at Chen Jiao, "You two will die, but I won't.

Players don't die permanently in the game."

But NPCs… too bad they don't respawn.

Zhang Sheng quickly praised, "Hero's skills are unmatched, you'll make the fiend army flee!"

Chen Jiao joined in, flattering.

Zhang Sheng admired Qi Yuan deeply.

The fiend army was approaching, yet the hero had no intention of leaving.

Such courage was admirable.

...

Great Xia.

Yuan's Mansion.

The emperor was only sixteen, yet he had ruled for four years.

In these four years, he balanced power, forming a cultivator army, finally creating the Song Battalion led by General Yuan, and sent them to Wugui City.

The emperor's young face showed hope, "Marquis Yuan fulfilled my trust, the Great Xia flag finally flies over Wugui City."

The 108,000 cities were also arrays.

If the flag was raised on the wall, the Dragon Bell in the Great Xia palace would ring nine times.

If the flag fell, it would ring once.

Recently, the Dragon Bell rang nine times.

The emperor ran to the ancestral hall barefoot.

Now, Wugui City returned to Great Xia.

It signified another twenty years of Great Xia's fate.

If not, losing a city for twenty years would mean Great Xia's end, merging into Da Sui.

Merging into Da Sui meant defending against the fiend army.

But who wanted to be cannon fodder? Who wanted to be completely exploited?

The emperor's excitement faded when he saw the tears in the eyes of the Marquis's wife.

The flag flew over Wugui City, but when would the soldiers return?

In a few days, the fiend army would attack again. How long could Wugui City hold?
The emperor didn't want his people to hear the bell tolling for Wugui City's fall again.

...

In the following days, Qi Yuan often saw Zhang Sheng and Chen Jiao weakly moving and burying bones in the city.

Their breath grew weaker, almost hanging by a thread.

But they kept going, driven by sheer will.

"Cough, cough, if the fiend army doesn't come soon, I'll die," Chen Jiao cursed on the wall.

Zhang Sheng knew his end was near, "Before I die, I must kill at least one fiend!"

So it wouldn't be a loss.

In the last days, they stopped burying bones, keeping a breath to guard the Great Xia flag.

After some time, the ground began to tremble.

On the wall, the two were suddenly invigorated.

They struggled up, watching the distant yellow sand.

Amid the sand, about seven to eight hundred massive fiends charged.

Like giant elephants, dust flying.

Such a powerful fiend army would tear through mortal troops in an instant.

Such fiends made Wugui City indefensible.

Zhang Sheng showed no fear, raising his bowl, "Drink with me!"

Chen Jiao drank deeply.

The bowls shattered on the ground.

"Damn fiends finally came!"

Zhang Sheng looked at Qi Yuan, feeling regret.

This hero hadn't left and now had no chance to escape.

Chen Jiao cursed, looking at the charging fiends, tears in his voice, "I want to go home. In a hurry, I forgot to castrate the pig I gave Widow Li..."

Qi Yuan looked at the fiends, smiling.

"Finally here?"

He looked at the fiend army, holding his broken sword, standing on the wall.

He shouted, "I am the defender of Wugui City. Trespassers will die!"

The loud voice reached the fiend army.

The fiends ignored it, charging at Qi Yuan.

Qi Yuan's face turned cold, "You don't respect me, making it difficult for me."

He held the broken sword, jumping off the wall.

The thirty-foot-high wall was like flat ground to Qi Yuan.

Zhang Sheng and Chen Jiao were stirred.

"Too bad we're not cultivators. Otherwise, we'd jump down and fight with the hero!" Zhang Sheng sighed.

They were unranked cultivators with little training.

Jumping off the wall meant death.

"Hero, please kill the enemies. We'll accompany you on the yellow springs road!" Zhang Sheng shouted.

The voice used all his strength, leaving him weak.

"Three companions, not lonely!" Chen Jiao yelled.

Qi Yuan felt helpless, "You two sit on the wall and watch me kill these small monsters!"

"Before dying, seeing a hero kill fiends, this life... is not in vain!" Zhang Sheng's voice broke.

Qi Yuan, holding his sword.

Seven to eight hundred fiends, like charging elephants, came.

Dust flying, a sea of yellow sand.

Qi Yuan, standing on the sand, hair flowing, sleeves fluttering.

He performed the Sky-Splitting Sword Technique!

At that moment, Qi Yuan used a great skill.

Though only level 49, his skills from before remained.

He wondered if he could still awaken new skills every ten or thirty levels?

Putting aside the thought, Qi Yuan focused on killing.

"Kill!"

He leaped, the broken sword descending like a mighty statue.

Boom!

Sword energy surged, splitting the sand, hundreds of fiends shattered.

Ninety-seven fiends died in one strike.

Qi Yuan, holding the broken sword, walked towards the fiend army, "Small monsters should line up to be cut."

On the wall, Zhang Sheng and Chen Jiao were wide-eyed.

What did they see?
One strike killed nearly a hundred fiends?
Such... power... terrifying.

This wasn't a mere commander, it was a lord!
A lord could be a marquis in Great Xia!

Zhang Sheng and Chen Jiao were in awe.

They never expected this strange hero to be a legendary lord.

They watched Qi Yuan enter the fiend army.

The broken sword was like the sharpest weapon.

Passing fiends, each got a strike.

"Kill!"

In Tianjue, Qi Yuan slaughtered thousands.

In Dique, he fought three thousand outer-world fiends.

His techniques were honed to perfection.

Especially monster-killing techniques.

The fiend army was easier to kill than scattered fiends.

The sword moved like a dragon, killing all fiends.

Kill, kill, kill!

The yellow sand blinded Qi Yuan.

He, with his broken sword, defended the lone city.

Entering and exiting the fiend army thrice.

Seeing, hearing, touching fiends, all killed.

The mighty fiend army was slaughtered by him alone.

At dusk, Qi Yuan held the broken sword, clothes unblemished, looking at the last wounded bone fiend.

"Don't run, fight me fair!"

"Oh, you're hurt, don't want to fight?"

"Blood-activating pill for you."

"Forgot, you're bones, can't revive blood."

A flash of the sword, the last bone fiend died.

Qi Yuan blew the blood off the sword.

Wind and sand blew, Qi Yuan stood in the vast desert, turning back.

Sadly, there was only desert, no smoke, no sunset over the river.