However, Ren Baqian had interrupted her twice, causing her to fall slightly short of this perfect state.

Ren Baqian was blissfully ignorant of these mysterious things and happily fiddling with his erhu in one corner. Even though he wasn't left-handed himself, he held the bow in his left hand just like his left-handed grandfather had taught him.

Ren Baqian played two long notes to get in the groove. After that, he began playing "Pomp and Circ.u.mstance." The song's odd notes flowed as the erhu moaned while Ren Baqian played.The empress felt a sudden urge and abandoned all thoughts of waiting for the enemy to strike first. She silently blurred into a red shadow as she sprang forward at one of the 18 Spirit Wheel experts below.

She moved so quickly that the others only saw a red streak.

Tie Feng of the North Alliance!

The empress said she would kill him first and was going to make good on her word.

"That's right! Come!" Tie Feng guffawed. He brandished a longsword that had an extremely hot blade, singeing even the air around it.

Clang! The empress's figure shook slightly, sending Tie Feng flying away like a cannonball.

Tie Feng was adept at leading a.s.sault charges and was considered one of the stronger Spirit Wheel experts. Compared to the empress, however, his strength was nothing.

"Umbrella!" As Chang Tian pointed up into the sky, a paper umbrella about 30 meters long appeared.

"Open!" Chang Tian called out again. This time, the giant umbrella abruptly opened, covering a span of 20 over meters. The empress noticed a looming darkness, and it was as if the umbrella had blocked out half the sky.

"Descend!"

Countless steel needles rained down from the umbrella.

Looking closely, one could see that there were actually ribs in the umbrella's frame!

Qingyun Sword pointed forward, sending his longsword flying out of the sheath on his back. It flew into the air, scattering a vast number of sword rays all around.

The ribbon in Shan Rou's hand extended forward as if it had a life of its own. It grew to about ten meters and wound itself around the empress's legs.

Liu Xiangdong turned into a black shadow, moving deftly among the giants around him. The small-statured Liu Xiangdong was like a monkey, grabbing at the empress's head in a few agile movements.

These four had the fastest reactions. They kept the empress's initial words in mind and understood that those in positions of high power and status tended to speak their minds.

The empress raised her fist and forced Liu Xiangdong back. It seemed as though the dwarf managed to dodge in time since her fist failed to connect. Liu Xiangdong rode the force of her punch and flew a short distance away before rus.h.i.+ng toward her again upon landing.

Following their attacks, the rest of the Spirit Wheel experts began to stir.

One of them was wielding a fis.h.i.+ng rod that had dozens of fis.h.i.+ng lines. This likely possessed some sort of binding ability.

Another had a chessboard that sent chess pieces flying like bullets. As if that wasn't enough, the chess pieces morphed into beasts as they flew through the air.

Of the 18 Spirit Wheel experts, eight of them possessed Heaven-grade weapons. Even though the other ten were using common weapons, the speed and strength they displayed were still far beyond that of any Earth Wheel expert.

The empress was surrounded by rays of light as the 18 Spirit Wheel experts launched their attacks. Those on the outside could only hear the sounds of collision coming from inside without being able to see anything.

The entire sequence of events from the empress's first strike to the retaliation of the 18 experts happened in the blink of an eye.

Ren Baqian had barely played eight notes into the song. The haunting melody drilled into the combatants' heads.

The groans and moans coming out of his erhu pierced their very hearts and souls…

Everyone was clearly affected by the music. Even the empress missed a slash against Liu Xiangdong.

The old man's fis.h.i.+ng rod twitched, sending dozens of its lines digging into the ground around the empress.

The perimeter set up by the chess pieces that came to life revealed weaknesses as two of the beasts fell behind.

The rest of the 18 Spirit Wheel experts were disturbed as well. All of them wanted to turn and find the source of these sounds, but they held fast and resisted this urge. Despite exercising restraint, the song had disrupted their coordination and created holes in their formation.

Fighting against a peak expert like the empress required precision. This slight lapse allowed her to attack several of the 18 Spirit Wheel experts in a flurry of movement. After blasting a number of them backward with a couple of good hits, red traces could be seen lingering in the air that tracked the path she took as she attacked the chess master before swiftly pouncing on Qingyun Sword.

Qingyun Sword felt the empress pull him into a lock. A powerful force overwhelmed him, forcing him into submission like a giant beast. A strong primal fear arose from deep inside him.

"Fifth most powerful expert in the world indeed!" Qingyun Sword shouted. He bit down on the tip of his tongue to draw blood, spraying it in front of him while he broke free from the empress's grip.

He raised two fingers up and drew an arc in front of him.

Following his movement, the sword floating a meter above his head burst into a thousand light shards. They surrounded the empress, all ready to grind her into mincemeat.

"Scram!" the empress roared. Clinging and clanging sounds could be heard as she fended off the attack with her hands.

Even though these light shards couldn't hurt her, she didn't want her clothes to get damaged.

The empress spun a 180 degrees in the air before stomping down toward Qingyun Sword. He desperately summoned his longsword before him, which shattered into flakes of light upon getting kicked by the empress.

Qingyun Sword spat out a mouthful of blood as his feet sank a meter into the ground.

A paper umbrella appeared between the empress and Qingyun Sword before she could use the momentum from the first attack to launch another.

The Spirit Wheel experts managed to regroup and surround the empress once again.

A scornful sound continued to play in the background, constantly plaguing their minds. It was both seductive and mournful, finding a sweet spot between a pretty lady's teasing moans and the groaning sounds made by a bed. This sound was unlike anything they had ever heard before, making it hard to completely ignore.

In general, pract.i.tioners already had senses that were much more attuned than ordinary people. Spirit Wheel experts, who focused on honing their souls, definitely had even keener senses, and their souls were much more affected that the empress's due to their poorer physical control.

"Shut it!" one of the Spirit Wheel expert shouted in Ren Baqian's direction. He would have gone over and hacked the musician to bits long ago if not for the opponent standing before them.

Ren Baqian pressed his lips tightly together while nodding resentfully.

It's not as if I can't play with my mouth shut.

He then continued to play his erhu with satisfaction.

Qing Yuan and Hong Luan anxiously watched the battle unfolding below. They couldn't see anything clearly and were frequently distracted by Ren Baqian's erhu. Drawn by its sound, yet also repulsed by it, they badly wanted to smack him hard.

The Earth Wheel experts at the base of the mountain desperately needed to plug their ears. The erhu sounds agitated them and urged them into a state of bloodl.u.s.t.

Bang! A figure flew out of the encirclement. It was a lady who wielded a pair of large shears, and she spat out mouthfuls of blood as the bones in her body broke one by one.

She had been momentarily distracted by Ren Baqian's erhu, allowing the empress to break her guard and land a dozen blows directly on her body. She would have been killed if not for the fact that the empress wanted to kill Tie Feng first.

Nevertheless, recovering from such severe injuries would definitely take a long time.

"I'm here. Please don't forget me, Your Majesty," Tie Feng announced. He had finally returned after being punched off the mountain at the beginning of the fight.

Everyone now understood why Liu Xiangdong, Chang Tian, and Shan Rou had stuck close to Tie Feng and were ready to defend him at a moment's notice.

Since Qi Zixiao had declared him as the first to die, she would only severely injure the others before she managed to kill him.

This was Qi Zixiao's self-imposed restriction.

The haunting erhu sounds continued, tugging on their heartstrings. If not for the empress's fearsome presence, the lot of them would have gone up to beat that fellow to death.

Ren Baqian beamed with satisfaction. This was the first time he had the opportunity to play for an audience of this size. Reluctant to stop, he started counting to himself…

A one, two, three, four, once more!