Chapter 1040: Baptized by the Stormy Rain

“Damn!”
“Meng Yun is going crazy!!”
“Noprobingary attacks at all—she just sent everyone at us head-on… Does she really think Xifeng Tower is that weak?” Wu Kuo and several elders of Xifeng Tower immediately noticed the movements from Yipin Hall. Their faces darkened as anger and cruelty flashed in their eyes.
Wu Kuo raised his voice to rally them:
“Brothers!!”
His loud voice spread throughout Xifeng Tower’s main hall, clearly reaching the ears of tens of thousands of its disciples: “This is a moment of life or death!”
“That woman, Meng Yun, sent all her elite forces at us from the start. Good… Do you know what that means?! Disdain, arrogance! She thinks her strength is enough to wipe out Xifeng Tower in one strike. She underestimates us! She believes we have no chance to resist or fight back against their swords!”
His thunderous cry stirred the hearts of the countless disciples present, turning their eyes red and filling them with fury.
People of the Central Plains martial world could unleash their greatest strength when defending their homes and countries, and they were equally resolute when defending their honor. Anyone who defiled their honor would be met with action and swords to prove their point.
Seeing his brothers’ anger ignited, Wu Kuo raised his arms loudly:
“Meng Yun and Yipin Hall are arrogant. Brothers, what should we do!!”
“What should we do?!”
The repeated question was shouted even more fiercely.
Before he could finish speaking, an elder beside Wu Kuo stepped forward immediately, drawing the sword at his waist without hesitation.
Swish!!
The long sword pointed into the air—Cold Blade Inviting the Moon!
This action immediately inspired everyone present…
Swish! Swish swish swish!!!
Inside the main hall, countless people drew their weapons!
Numerous blades merged together, creating a fierce momentum that soared into the sky, mixed with an unstoppable murderous aura that turned the world around them.
“Kill!!”
“Kill those bastards from Yipin Hall!!!”
“If they underestimate us, we’ll give them a thorough beating!!” Countless disciples of Xifeng Tower roared hysterically, their voices surging like an ocean.
“Interesting.”
On the streets and rooftops outside Xifeng Tower, Meng Yun watched the fierce fighting spirit inside the main hall from above. She frowned slightly before sneering.

“I never expected Wu Kuo to be such a guy—seemingly reckless like an ox in everyday life, yet capable of inspiring and boosting morale at critical moments.”
“Should we withdraw for now?” asked a gang leader nearby, frowning with concern.
Under the fierce encirclement by Yipin Hall and their relentless pressure, and without Shadow in charge or the Emperor present, the morale of Xifeng Tower had already dropped to its lowest point, making combat extremely difficult.
Yet unexpectedly, Wu Kuo’s pre-battle speech managed to pull Xifeng Tower’s morale back from the brink in time.
After all, Xifeng Tower had a solid foundation—its defense line, manned by tens of thousands, was strong enough to overwhelm many times more enemies and elite forces; it certainly couldn’t be underestimated.
“No need,” said Meng Yun, waving his hand. “Even if Wu Kuo temporarily rallies Xifeng Tower’s forces into a makeshift united front, he can’t achieve much. After all, he’s just the deputy leader of Xifeng Tower, not Shadow. He can’t cover everything. While Shadow is away and Xifeng Tower is leaderless, this is the perfect chance to break through.”
Meng Yun knew that charging in all at once would surely result in heavy casualties, but delaying things until Shadow returned and the regions of the Central Plains reacted would only cause even greater trouble. It was better to seize the opportunity now and take control of Xifeng Tower’s main hall…
“Kill!”
At that command, people surged in from all directions like a tide.
Xifeng Tower’s main hall instantly became an island surrounded by a raging crowd, appearing utterly isolated and on the verge of collapse amid the deafening shouts.
Swish! Swish swish…
Yipin Hall launched their attack, and Xifeng Tower responded without hesitation. A continuous stream of piercing sounds came from inside the main hall.
There was no need for any targeting!
The disciples of Xifeng Tower shot arrows in large numbers—any arrow thrown outward quickly formed a seamless rain of arrows once it crossed the wall, acting like a dark iron plate that crashed head-on against the experts of Yipin Hall.
The people of Xifeng Tower moved swiftly and efficiently, with the second wave of attacks following the first with no delay. As arrows left the bows, new arrows were already nocked on the fully drawn bows.
Bang! Bang bang!!
The sound of vibrating bows echoed throughout Xifeng Tower’s main hall.
Tens of thousands of warriors, unleashing an extremely fierce barrage of arrows, turned the 100-meter area outside the main hall into a storm of arrows!
Crackling sounds and the sound of arrows piercing flesh echoed continuously outside the main hall.

Although the members of Yipin Hall and the twelve major gangs were prepared in advance, bringing shields and similar defenses, they were subjected to attacks at an astonishing frequency. One moment they were within striking range, and the next, their shields were covered with countless arrows, while the ground was littered with so many arrows that it became impossible to move. The continuous sound of arrows piercing the air only added to the chaos, leaving many people terrified. Under the onslaught of countless forces, the shields were overturned; although the sturdy war shields allowed them to hold their ground, only a few people could hide behind them, with hardly any chance to shoot back! In the blink of an eye, Yipin Hall lost the lives of over a thousand elite fighters…

Facing the dense sea of arrows on the ground and the relentless rain of arrows, Yipin Hall’s momentum was greatly weakened. Of course! Only three of their attacks failed! On the side of the more than two hundred top fighters, led by a few individuals with exceptional strength and equipment, only a hundred or so ordinary fighters were killed or injured. With astonishing speed, they managed to break through and climb over the walls of the Xifeng Tower’s main hall! The arrival of just one top fighter posed a significant threat to the main hall, let alone two hundred of them together—a such formidable force had never been seen in the war history of the Central Plains before.

Just as Meng Yun was about to enjoy the sight of her troops tearing through the defenses of Xifeng Tower’s main hall, a remarkably passionate and stirring sound of a zither suddenly came from the roof of the tower. As soon as the music started, Meng Yun’s expression, which had been filled with contemptuous sneers, stiffened involuntarily. Staring at the blurred figure on the opposite roof, her expression changed drastically. She took a deep, serious breath and gritted her teeth as she spat out three words: “Bai Xiaosheng!” She never expected that in this seemingly hopeless battle, Bai Xiaosheng would send his most precious disciple to Xifeng Tower—a place where death meant having to start over from scratch. Logically, in such a dangerous environment, Bai Xiaosheng would avoid it at all costs—how could he possibly send Feng Ling there? But! The one playing the zither on the roof, causing chaos among the group of top fighters who had broken through the defenses, could only be Feng Ling. “You’re seeking your own death!” Meng Yun’s expression changed briefly before returning to its usual cold smirk, now even more triumphant.

If it were just a confrontation between the members of Yipin Tang and Xi Feng Lou, the appearance of Wind Bell might be able to fundamentally change the current situation…
But this time, in order to completely destroy Xi Feng Lou in one battle and utterly crush the confidence of the Shadow Clan as well as the morale of Xi Feng Lou, Meng Yun mobilized almost all the top experts from Yipin Tang, Blood Alliance, Assassin Hall, and the Twelve Gangs—over 200 top experts and a large number of elite warriors.
The advantage Meng Yun had built up was so vast that no single person could reverse it.
If Wind Bell went all out, she might be able to affect a few top experts, perhaps a dozen or so…
But affecting over 200 top experts at once was pure delusion, because affecting one person required a certain amount of internal energy and effort.
An individual’s strength determined the amount of energy they could exert.
Wind Bell’s limit was to affect at most a dozen top experts, and that was just affecting them, not trapping them…
Xi Feng Lou’s main headquarters had only about forty experts who were between super-first-class and top-tier levels—far too few to withstand the assault of such a large number of top experts.
Bai Xiaosheng might have placed Wind Bell at Xi Feng Lou’s main headquarters in the hope that she would help stabilize the situation and catch them off guard, but unfortunately, his cleverness backfired this time.
“I’ve taken Wind Bell’s life.”
Watching as the force of over 200 top experts, after a brief moment of chaos, relentlessly broke through the defenses and rushed into Xi Feng Lou’s main headquarters, Meng Yun said to himself with a smile.
Being able to destroy Xi Feng Lou’s main headquarters while eliminating a major threat was undoubtedly an unexpected bonus…
…
“Damn!”
“We can’t hold them off!!” On the side of Xi Feng Lou, those facing the assault of the group of top experts cried out in despair, watching helplessly as skilled and cunning experts used various tactics to break through their defenses, leaving them powerless to stop them.
Roar!!!!!!
With a fierce lion’s roar, dozens of Xi Feng Lou disciples in one direction were instantly knocked down; a barrage of hidden weapons sent by a “heavenly maiden scattering flowers” injured all the archers, throwing their defenses into chaos; like successive heavy punches, hundreds of Xi Feng Lou experts were brought down.
“Hold on!”
“We’re here!!”
Wu Kuo and a group of top experts rushed to the aid quickly. With equal equipment and skills, they finally managed to stop the relentless advance of the enemy and reverse Xi Feng Lou’s crushing defeat.
Not daring to delay, Wind Bell changed the tune of her instrument, sending countless sound blades flying to intercept the reinforcements from Yipin Tang behind them.
“It’s not enough; there are too many.”

“I can’t stop too many people.” Wind Chime quickly felt the pressure and had to focus her musical energy on dealing with a dozen or so people. Before she could finish speaking, several people in the crowd broke through the defense from the side, easily surging past the wall of hundreds of people and rushing toward the rooftop. The group protecting Wind Chime became panicked! Wu Kuo’s eyes turned red with anger! But being surrounded, he couldn’t escape at all! He could only watch as a few experts swiftly reached the rooftop.