Terran Guardian

Hearing the noise as well as the roars, both Zhong Chi and Nie Xu's expressions drastically changed.

The Barbarians were here!

The two immediately reacted.

However, before they could speak, the defenders on the city wall had already sent out the first signal.

[Swoosh]!

A firework soared into the sky, before exploding mid-air. The brilliant colors made it seem as though they City was holding some kind of celebration.

When the fireworks bloomed, the Black Tiger Army troops in Jin City looked up at the sky.

"Enemy attack!"

"The Barbarians are coming, everyone be ready!"

"Set up the crossbow and stand against the City gate!"

Orders were issued in an orderly manner, and all of the Black Tiger Army troops moved.

First, those with shields stepped forward, while those with longbows took two steps back.

In the tent.

The moment when the signal was sent, Chu Ding walked out.

The others in the tent followed behind. 

"The roars mark arrival of the Barbarians. Judging from the source of the sound, they are indeed coming from the South Gate. However, they will definitely not only attack the South Gate. You quickly go to the other three city gates and do a good job in defense."

"Do seek merit, but seek no fault. You must not let the Barbarians break into the city."

"Understood!"

The Commanders took orders and went directly to the other three city gates.

——

Outside the city, the Barbarian army was less than twenty miles away from Jin City, and the city wall was already in sight.

"Lord Merba, do we attack directly, or do we set up camp first?"

A Barbarian Commander stepped forward with his tiger and lowered his head as he asked Merba.

Merba looked ahead, with a fierce glint in his eyes.

"The Qin people once said that momentum is like riding a tiger. Once you're on it, you have to finish the rodeo. There are only 12,000 defenders in Jin City. How can they be qualified to stop our army?"

"If even a small Jin City could stop our clan, then how would be able to occupy the Great Qin's land!?"

"Therefore–"

"Heed my order. The army will not stop. We will immediately start a full force offensive on the city. We play along the momentum as soon as possible. Even if we can't break through Jin City, we will destroy their morale!"

Hearing this, the Barbarian Commander immediately took order.

"This one shall obey!"

As the Commander was leaving, Merba took out an unknown animal horn from his waist and blew into it.

Woo-

A melodious and heavy whistle sounded more than ten miles in range, completely overshadowed all other sounds.

Upon hearing the horn, the Barbarians felt the blood in their bodies boil. The tigers and leopards were also greatly stimulated.

Ow!

Roar!

The group of beasts roared together. The momentum shook the Heavens and Earth.

Immediately after, the beasts sped up and rushed forward, galloping towards Jin City.

When they were about to approach Jin City, the Barbarians, riding on the backs of the tigers and leopards, took out their bows, then shot towards the city wall.

"Raise your shield!"

Wen Ce roared.

The Black Tiger Army troops accordingly raised their shields  They stood in place like a steel barricade.

Swish!

Swish! Swish!

Arrows landing on the iron shield would only create some sparks, before falling powerlessly.

After several rounds of arrow rain, the Barbarians have arrived less than ten feet from Jin City.

Seeing this, while the shield troops still held up their shields, another group of troops stood behind then and shot arrows.

A dense cluster of arrow rained from the sky, and fell towards the ground at a fast speed.

Not only were the arrows sharp, they were also quite heavy, so their power was not much worse than being shot directly.

In an instant, many Barbarians were shot by arrows. They fell down screaming, before getting trampled into patties by the iron cavalry behind them.

In the clash between the rain of arrows, occasionally, some arrows would slip pass the shield and hit a Black Tiger Army troop. 

Swah——

Drawing the long sword from his waist, Wen Ce made a lightning-like strike, sending several oncoming arrows flying away in less than a breath of time.

Looking at the Barbarian army that was approaching below, his face was cold.

"Fire the arrows!"

At his command, another round of arrows flew up.

The Black Tiger Army occupied the advantage of the city wall, and at the same time, as elites, they were not comparable to ordinary soldiers. Hence, although the Barbarians were not weak and had a great advantage in number, they were evenly matched.

After several rounds of arrow rain, this exchange was more or less even. 

Soon, the Barbarian tiger and leopard cavalry at the front had spread out. Many Barbarians, clad in armor, carried ladders forward, and placed them against the city wall.

One by one, Barbarians began climbing up.

Removing their shield and stowing their bows, the Black Tiger Army troops gripped their spears, stabbing at the Barbarians who were trying to climb up the city wall.

At the same time, some people picked up the big stones they had prepared beforehand and smashed it down, cracking the skulls of the Barbarians.

There were also people who were pushing the ladders off the wall. However, since there were many Barbarians holding the ladder still below, there was no easy way to actually do so.

Though, there were some successful attempts and ladders were knocked down. With it, it injured many Barbarians.

Some Barbarians with bad luck were directly killed.

The battle unfolded quickly.

It was almost a face-to-face battle.

The Barbarians' offensive was fierce.

But the Black Tiger Army was also not weak.

In a short period of time, neither side had any obvious advantages.

Swah——

A Barbarian was lucky enough to get on the city wall. Alas, he didn't have time to catch his breath before he saw a cold light flashing in his eyes. In the next breath, he felt a chill in his throat.

It was Nie Xu clad in armor.

The current Nie Xu didn't have the usual scholarly aura he had. Although the armor on his body was not stained with blood, the long sword he held in his hand was dripping with it.

"The third one!"

"To think I would really use Martial Arts!"

The Jin City Governor shook his head and chuckled.

He was not an ordinary scholar. When he traveled around the world in the past, he had practiced some Martial Arts, and he could be regarded to had possessed some means.

It was just that his talent in Martial Arts was not good, and he didn't have much achievement in it.

With that said, Nie Xu was still in the Body Forging Realm.

He also had his own unique understanding in swordsmanship.

Ordinary Barbarians were not his opponents.

At this time, an arrow suddenly pierced through the air.

Nie Xu's heart skipped a beat, but just when he raised his hand to block the arrow, a powerful force shook the long sword, and the arrow fell on him.

[Bang~]! 

The arrow collided with his armor, causing sparks.

Nie Xu was shocked by this powerful force and took two steps back. He had some difficulty in breathing.

After a while, he barely managed to recover. Looking down at the slightly sunken armor on his chest, he was full of joy.

He felt fortunate!

Before the war, he borrowed a suit of armor from the Black Tiger Army.

Otherwise, the arrow just now would have kill him.

The armor of the Black Tiger Army was different from the armor of other armies. The iron armor could protect most of the vital parts of the body. In this way, the armor of the Black Tiger Army was much heavier than the average armor.

That ess to say, the elites of the Black Tiger Army, each soldier must have a high physical fitness to just be able to wear such an armor.

Otherwise, not to mention fighting, just wearing the armor would make an average soldier practically immobile. 

"Governor Nie, are you alright?"

Concerned words suddenly sounded in his ears.

Nie Xu looked sideways and saw Zhong Chi beheading a Barbarian.

"I'm fine, I won't go down easily."

"It's best if you don't die. After all, Lord Nie is still a scholar. The city walls are dangerous, so I suggest to retreat first."

"These mere Barbarians is not worthy of making this Official retreat!"

Nie Xu sneered, and suddenly stepped forward. His sword slashed in an arc and instantly beheaded a Barbarian, who had just exposed his head. Blood splattered all over, and a lot of it fell on his armor.

"Good swordsmanship!"

Zhong Chi saw what had just transpired.

"If Governor Nie is not an Official, he will be, without a doubt, famous in the Martial Community."

As his voice sounded, another Barbarian climbed the city wall. Zhong Chi didn't talk nonsense, and directly killed the Barbarian.

He was at the Qi Circulation Realm, and his strength was not comparable to that of ordinary people.

Currently, his identity as the Heavenly Inspection Guard Branch Head was no longer important.

In this Barbarian siege, there were only two endings. 

First was that they successfully defended the city, until the day of the arrival of reinforcements from the Imperial Court. Second was that the city would be destroyed.

No one wanted to die, and Zhong Chi was the same.

Hence, he must assist the Black Tiger Army in defending the city together.

[Boom-]!

The earth shook.

A giant ape, up to two or three meters tall, suddenly appeared from the darkness and walked towards the city wall, step by step.

"That's a Mighty Ape, ready the crossbow!"

When he saw the giant ape appearing, Wen Ce's expression suddenly changed.

He was no stranger to the Mighty Ape. It was the most powerful siege method of the Barbarians. When it comes to comprehensive strength, it generally was only able to compete with Cultivators at the Qi Circulation Realm. But based on raw power alone, it was almost comparable to an Innate Realm Cultivator.

What's more, with its thick skin and flesh, it was not afraid of ordinary attacks.

The appearance of such a behemoth on the battlefield stirred up a bloody storm.

As the order was issued, the crossbow, that had been placed on the city wall, was aimed at the Mighty Ape that appeared. After loading it with a specially-made arrow, it was shot. 

[Bang~]!

The bowstring bounced back with a loud bang.

The sturdy arrow pierced the air instantly and shot towards the Mighty Ape.

[Puff-]

The Mighty Ape stretched out its palm and wanted to grab the arrow, but it could only grab empty air. The arrow passed through its hand and sank into its chest.

The sharp arrow, combined with the fierce projectile force, pierced the tough skin of the Mighty Ape in an instant.

Blood splashed and the Mighty Ape let out an unwilling roar, before falling to the ground.

As its two to 3 meter high body fell to the ground, it squished many Barbarians to death.

Despite the death of the Mighty Ape, Wen Ce was not happy, because more Mighty Apes were appearing in the Barbarian's camp and were rushing towards the city wall.

Immediately, the intensity of the battle had risen to a new level.