Two hours into the battle, I learned what real exhaustion felt like.
My arms burned. My lungs screamed. Blood, most of it not mine, covered my armor and sword. The Infinite Tide Scripture kept my movements efficient, but even automated perfection couldn't overcome the simple reality that I was one person fighting dozens.
[STAMINA: 67%]
[QI RESERVES: 81%]
[KILLS: 23 PERSONAL, 67 TEAM ASSISTS]
[TEAM STATUS: DETERIORATING]
Another Blood Moon cultivator climbed over the wall, a woman with Stage 6 cultivation and claws that dripped with corrosive venom. She moved like a predator, eyes locked on Li Feng who was barely holding her own against a Stage 4 opponent.
"Li Feng, duck!" I shouted.
She dropped instantly. My sword swept over her head, meeting the clawed woman mid-leap. The Infinite Tide Scripture channeled my Qi into the blade, and the impact created a visible shockwave that sent the woman tumbling backward.
[ENEMY NEUTRALIZED]
[LI FENG SURVIVAL: +1]
"Thanks," Li Feng gasped, her face pale and splattered with blood. Her spear shook in her hands.
"Stay behind Zhao Min," I told her. "You're more useful alive than trying to be a hero."
She nodded gratefully and retreated to the center of our formation where the massive hammer-wielder stood like an immovable boulder, crushing anything that got close.
"Lin Tian! Right flank!" Yun Xia's voice cut through the chaos.
I spun to see three Blood Moon disciples coordinating an attack on Wang Lei. The dual-sword wielder was good, but three-on-one was overwhelming even for him. One of the enemies had already scored a deep gash across his shoulder.
[WANG LEI: CRITICAL CONDITION]
[RECOMMENDATION: INTERVENE IMMEDIATELY]
I launched myself across the wall section, the Infinite Tide Scripture making my movements fluid despite my exhaustion. My sword traced a wide arc, Qi spiraling around the blade like water forming a whirlpool.
"Tide Breaker!" I shouted, executing one of the technique's named attacks.
The Qi wave crashed into the three Blood Moon disciples, breaking their formation. Wang Lei used the opening to eliminate one while I engaged the other two. Yun Xia arrived a heartbeat later, her Flowing Water Palm deflecting their counterattacks while I pressed the assault.
Within thirty seconds, all three were down.
"I had them," Wang Lei panted, clutching his wounded shoulder.
"Sure you did," I replied. "Fall back and get that shoulder treated before you bleed out."
He looked like he wanted to argue, but Chen Wu's voice overrode him: "Do what he says, Wang! You're useless with one arm!"
Wang Lei stumbled toward the medical station, supported by one of our remaining team members.
[TEAM STATUS: 8/10 ACTIVE]
[UNNAMED MEMBER #5: DECEASED]
[WANG LEI: INJURED, WITHDRAWN]
[EFFECTIVENESS DROPPING]
"How much longer can we hold?" I asked Chen Wu during a brief lull as the Blood Moon forces regrouped for another push.
"As long as we have to," he growled, but I could see the strain in his face. Even at Stage 7, he was tiring. His guandao moved slower than before, and his breathing came heavy.
The truth was obvious: we were losing.
Not quickly, not dramatically, but steadily. Inch by inch, the Blood Moon Sect was gaining ground. I could see other sections of the wall where defenders had been overrun entirely, forcing inner sect disciples to plug the gaps.
Above us, the battle between sect leaders raged. Sect Master Liang fought brilliantly, but Blood Patriarch Xu had been joined by two other Nascent Soul cultivators. Three against one. Even our sect master couldn't hold indefinitely.
[SECT MASTER LIANG: HOLDING, BUT BARELY]
[IF HE FALLS, THE SECT FALLS]
[ESTIMATED TIME UNTIL DEFEAT: 4 HOURS]
'Four hours,' I thought grimly. 'We need to survive four more hours.'
[ACTUALLY, THAT'S OPTIMISTIC]
[COULD BE THREE]
[COULD BE TWO IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG]
"Incoming!" someone screamed.
The second major assault wave hit like a tsunami.
Hundreds of Blood Moon cultivators surged up the walls simultaneously, coordinated and brutal. They'd learned from the first wave, adapted their tactics. Now they moved in tight squads, supporting each other, targeting weak points.
Our section of wall became a meat grinder.
I lost myself in the rhythm of combat. Strike, deflect, counter. The Infinite Tide Scripture flowed through every movement, making my exhausted body move with precision it shouldn't have had. Enemies fell, but more kept coming.
Beside me, Yun Xia fought with desperate grace. Her Flowing Water Palm technique saved my life three times in as many minutes, deflecting killing blows I hadn't seen coming.
"We can't hold!" Li Feng cried out from behind Zhao Min.
"We don't have a choice!" Chen Wu roared back, his guandao carving through two enemies at once.
Then everything went wrong.
A Blood Moon elite, Stage 8 cultivation, wearing crimson armor decorated with bones, vaulted onto our section of wall. His aura radiated power that made my Stage 5 cultivation feel insignificant.
[WARNING: ELITE ENEMY DETECTED]
[BLOOD REAVER CAPTAIN - STAGE 8]
[YOU CANNOT DEFEAT HIM ALONE]
[PROBABLY CAN'T DEFEAT HIM TOGETHER]
[RECOMMENDATION: RUN]
"Team Three, fall back!" Chen Wu commanded, recognizing the threat.
But the Blood Reaver Captain was faster. He moved in a blur, his clawed gauntlet driving toward Chen Wu's chest with killing intent.
Chen Wu barely blocked with his guandao, but the force of the impact sent him stumbling backward. The Captain pressed his advantage, his attacks coming faster than should have been possible.
"Help him!" Yun Xia shouted.
Zhao Min charged, hammer raised. The Captain's backhand sent him flying off the wall.
[ZHAO MIN: INCAPACITATED OR DEAD]
[TEAM STATUS: CRITICAL]
I moved without thinking, the Infinite Tide Scripture pushing my body to its limits. My sword intercepted the Captain's next strike, and for a moment, we locked weapons.
His eyes, visible through his skull-decorated helmet, widened in surprise. "Stage 5? You dare?"
"Yeah," I gasped. "I dare."
[BOSS, YOU'RE BEING STUPID]
[HE'S GOING TO KILL YOU]
I knew that. But if I didn't buy time, he'd kill everyone else first.
The Captain's Qi erupted, and suddenly I was flying backward, slammed into the wall's parapet hard enough to crack stone. Pain exploded through my ribs.
[DAMAGE SUSTAINED: SEVERE]
[RIBS: 3 CRACKED]
[INTERNAL BLEEDING: MINOR]
[YOU NEED TO ACTIVATE THE PROTECTION TALISMAN]
My hand went to Elder Hu's jade talisman around my neck, but before I could activate it, Yun Xia was there. She placed herself between me and the Captain, her hands glowing with Qi.
"Don't," I croaked.
"Shut up," she said, fear and determination warring in her voice.
The Blood Reaver Captain laughed. "Two children? The Azure Peak really is desperate." He raised his clawed gauntlet, Qi condensing into a visible blood-red sphere.
[FATAL ATTACK CHARGING]
[ACTIVATE TALISMAN NOW]
But Chen Wu was back on his feet. "Get down!"
He threw himself forward, guandao spinning in a desperate technique that burned his own life force for power. The massive blade caught the Captain mid-attack, and both of them went over the edge of the wall.
"Chen Wu!" Yun Xia screamed.
We rushed to the edge and looked down. Chen Wu and the Blood Reaver Captain were locked in combat on the ground below, surrounded by enemy forces. Chen Wu was holding his own, but he was alone against dozens.
[CHEN WU SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: 12%]
"We have to help him!" Li Feng said.
"How?" I demanded, coughing blood. "Jump down into the middle of their army?"
"Lin Tian's right," Yun Xia said, her voice breaking. "We can't... we can't help him. We'd just die too."
As we watched, Chen Wu's guandao carved through three more enemies before a Blood Moon blade found his back. Then another. Then three more.
He fell.
[CHEN WU: DECEASED]
[TEAM THREE LEADER: ELIMINATED]
[REMAINING TEAM: 6 MEMBERS]
[COMMAND STRUCTURE: COLLAPSED]
For a moment, we all just stood there, stunned. Chen Wu, our unshakeable leader, the Stage 7 cultivator who'd seemed invincible, was dead.
"What do we do?" Li Feng asked, her voice small and terrified.
Everyone looked at me. I was the next strongest, the default leader now.
[CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR PROMOTION]
[IT COMES WITH A 300% INCREASED CHANCE OF DYING]
I forced myself to stand despite the agony in my ribs. "We hold. That's what Chen Wu would want. We hold until relieved or until we can't anymore."
"And if we can't?" one of the remaining members asked.
I met their eyes, all of them young, scared, exhausted. "Then we hold anyway."
[INSPIRING SPEECH: 6/10]
[COULD USE MORE MOTIVATIONAL CONTENT]
[BUT UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES, NOT BAD]
Yun Xia gripped her weapon tighter and nodded. "Together."
"Together," the others echoed.
The Blood Moon forces were regrouping for another push. I could see more elites moving toward our section, drawn by Chen Wu's death like sharks to blood.
I checked my Qi reserves and stamina. Both dangerously low. The protection talisman around my neck felt heavy with unused potential.
[STAMINA: 34%]
[QI RESERVES: 52%]
[ESTIMATED TIME YOU CAN MAINTAIN COMBAT EFFECTIVENESS: 45 MINUTES]
[ESTIMATED TIME UNTIL NEXT ASSAULT: 30 SECONDS]
"Yun Xia," I said quietly. "If things go bad, really bad, I want you to run. Don't argue, just promise me."
She looked at me with an expression I couldn't read. "Only if you promise the same."
"That's not—"
"Promise, Lin Tian."
I sighed. "Fine. I promise."
[YOU'RE BOTH LYING]
[HOW ROMANTIC]
The Blood Moon forces charged again.
And we met them, six exhausted disciples against an army, holding a wall that should have already fallen.
[BATTLE DURATION: 2 HOURS, 47 MINUTES]
[AZURE PEAK CASUALTIES: 234 KILLED, 189 WOUNDED]
[BLOOD MOON CASUALTIES: 687 KILLED, UNKNOWN WOUNDED]
[SECT MASTER LIANG: SEVERELY INJURED]
[EASTERN WALL INTEGRITY: 61%]
[YOUR SECTION HOLDING: BARELY]
[SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: DROPPING]
[BOSS, I'M RUNNING OUT OF OPTIMISTIC THINGS TO SAY]
The Blood Moon was rising higher in the sky.
And the killing continued.