Does Chu Chen not know how to fight? Of course not. He possesses divine-level military strategy and blue-level foresight in predicting enemy movements.
However, knowing how to fight and actually fighting are two different things. Military strategy, warfare, and tactics are all employed when both sides are roughly equal and the scale is immense. Chu Chen only utilizes them then.
For a mere Lian Shan County, Chu Chen could only offer his apologies. They were not worthy!
Chu Chen, leading the charge, was about to enter arrow range.
Suddenly, a beam of light erupted from behind him. Between his shoulder blades, a semi-transparent wing with beautiful patterns unfurled, flapping and lifting Chu Chen into the air, soaring towards the city walls.
"What is that! Shoot! There's no way we can let him get close!"
Elder Chi was shocked by the sudden display from Chu Chen. The elders of the Lian Shan Sect reacted, shouting orders.
Wings on his back, flying through the air, soaring in the sky – was this still human? Was this something a human could do?
This was utterly un-martial! What kind of martial arts allowed this?
The private soldiers and retainers, who had been relatively calm, were thrown into a panic by Chu Chen's god-like appearance.
With the order from above, and disregarding that Chu Chen was alone, hundreds of archers loosed their arrows simultaneously, while twenty crossbows were made ready.
As Chu Chen flew towards the city walls, he observed the enemy's bows. Due to their inconsistent quality, the arrow ranges varied greatly, some falling short, others flying too far. Chu Chen scoffed.
"With these shoddy things, you think you can hit me? Then I shall give you the chance to try!"
Chu Chen sneered and circulated the liquid spiritual energy within his body, forming a protective qi around his form.
The suddenly gusting protective qi formed a semicircle around Chu Chen, leaving only the area behind his wings exposed.
Seeing Chu Chen not dodging, Elder Chi and the others rejoiced.
Martial artists were incredibly powerful in one-on-one combat, but what could they do against an army raining arrows? Once their spiritual energy was depleted, wouldn't they die?
Hundreds, even thousands, of arrows, under the expectant gaze of Elder Chi and the others, and with Chu Chen showing no sign of evasion, struck him.
"Ding ding dong~"
The arrows collided with the protective qi, clattering against each other before falling to the ground below.
"This, a protective qi? I'd like to see how much spiritual energy your Qi Condensation realm has! Keep shooting!"
"Are the ballistae ready? Shoot them when that scoundrel gets close! Prepare the crossbows!"
The Lian Shan Sect elder shouted orders, a hint of panic in his voice.
As a martial artist, he had never commanded troops and was unfamiliar with the task, leading to his flustered commands. The county magistrate, who should have been in overall command, had already fled with his men.
A continuous barrage of arrows rained down. Many hit Chu Chen, but to no avail.
Chu Chen scoffed, "Is that all?"
"Don't be arrogant!"
Seeing Chu Chen approach within fifty meters, the Lian Shan Sect elder immediately yelled, "Ballistae, crossbows, shoot them all, quickly!"
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh~!"
The crossbow bolts were the first to break the sound barrier, streaking towards Chu Chen.
Chu Chen remained calm, continuing his flight. He temporarily set aside his Overlord Halberd, clenched his right fist, and a layer of frost instantly condensed on it.
Then, Chu Chen launched a punch into the air.
"Taste the power of my Frost Fist!"
Instantly, an incredibly powerful chilling aura spread out in a fan shape from the fist-shaped ice projection, freezing all the crossbow bolts in front of him, causing them to fall.
Only the three massive bolts fired by the ballistae resisted the chilling frost, still hurtling towards Chu Chen, though their power was significantly diminished. Nevertheless, they still posed a considerable threat to a human body.
"Interesting."
Chu Chen was slightly surprised, chuckling softly. He extended both hands.
Immediately, the water molecules in the surrounding air were rapidly condensed, and with immense propulsive force, they were densely blasted forward.
"Cloud Dispelling Palm!"
A palm strike formed of qi clouds, powerful and domineering, collided with the ballista bolts, immensely increasing their resistance, as if they were moving through water.
After holding on for only a moment and advancing a little over two meters, they weakly fell downwards.
"This is impossible!"
The Lian Shan elder cried out as if he had seen a ghost, "This is absolutely impossible! How can a martial artist resist heavy siege weapons! I don't believe it! I don't believe it!"
"That must have been an illusion just now, reload and fire again! Quickly, quickly!"
The Lian Shan elder shouted frantically.
Meanwhile, the others were ashen-faced.
"It's over, even the formidable ballistae are useless against Chu Chen!"
Elder Chi trembled, gripping his cane, his legs shaking.
The Qin, Wang, and Li family patriarchs had wet themselves and collapsed onto the city walls.
The elder of the Song Shan Sword Sect and the supervisor of the Lian Shan Buddhist Academy were stunned, staring blankly ahead, completely unresponsive.
On the Qingzhou Continent, martial arts reigned supreme, and martial arts were prevalent, with everyone practicing martial arts and martial sects flourishing. Yet, in such an environment, dynasties remained the primary rulers.
Why? Because dynasties could suppress these martial sects.
How did dynasties suppress them? At the lower level, soldiers formed formations and cooperated, using numbers, small formations, and armored shields to wear down the sect disciples.
At the middle level, various units would engage in group combat, wielding over a dozen hand crossbows, firing in unison to take down the core disciples of middle-tier strength.
At the higher level, heavy siege weapons were employed. Even a Foundation Establishment realm cultivator couldn't withstand several ballista shots, hundreds of continuously firing hand crossbows, or even heavier trebuchets.
Of course, this was before the Foundation Establishment realm could close the distance. If they did, several Body Refining realm cultivators would form a formation to counter, supplemented by sneak attacks from hand crossbows.
After annihilating the sect disciples, they would slowly grind them down, as sacrificing a few hundred more people would be enough to kill them.
Therefore, in a direct confrontation, martial artists were decisively no match for an army.
Even in the Qi Condensation realm, the spiritual energy within their bodies was not inexhaustible. Once the liquid spiritual energy in their dantian was depleted, they had to sit cross-legged and meditate to slowly recover.
Only in the Core Formation realm, where the spiritual energy in the dantian solidified, could they automatically absorb spiritual energy from heaven and earth without active effort, allowing their protective qi to be inexhaustible and continuous.
But what was this Qi Condensation realm cultivator, Chu Chen, doing? Arrows were useless, and even crossbow bolts had no effect. The ballistae were the closest, yet still ten meters away.
What was the point of fighting this? The opponent could unleash a punch from a hundred meters away, while their own bows and crossbows couldn't even touch his clothes. How could they fight?
The Lian Shan Sect elder shouted and raved, but he completely ignored the reality of the situation.
Around him, except for the few individuals Chu Chen had deliberately spared, were there any people still standing? They had already turned into ice sculptures.
If the ballistae had a longer range, and the weapons were placed on the tower, they would likely have suffered the same fate.
However, ballistae were troublesome to reload, and Lian Shan County only possessed one. They also lacked trebuchets.
Chu Chen quickly flew over the city walls but didn't stop, continuing directly towards the tower.
The private soldiers on the tower, who were in the process of reloading, saw him and immediately turned to flee. But with a flick of Chu Chen's fist, they were instantly turned into ice sculptures.