Bloodstained First Battle

Atop Eagle Beak Cliff, the first ray of dawn pierced the clouds, yet it brought not the slightest warmth.

Instead, an endless black tide spread in from the far horizon.

"Boom—boom—boom—"

Great Qin's War Drums thundered, their heavy, powerful beats like the heartbeat of a giant, pounding against every soldier's heart.

"The Xiongnu are coming!"

On the city wall, a lookout shouted himself hoarse.

Wei Zhe stood behind the battlements, looking down upon the scene below.

Tens of thousands of Xiongnu cavalry swept across the land like a plague of locusts, kicking up Smoke and dust that filled the skies. Rather than charging the walls directly, they split into groups beyond bow range, galloping back and forth with piercing cries, howling like wild beasts as they used the most primitive means to heap psychological pressure upon the defenders.

The faces of several recruits beside Wei Zhe had gone white as paper, and the hands gripping their long ge were trembling uncontrollably.

"Don't panic! Follow my orders!" Wei Zhe's voice rang through his squad like a boulder. "Remember what we practiced! Hu Lei, you and Qian Hu's five brothers will handle the first line of defense! Everyone else, second line—prepare to thrust!"

His composure was like a dose of heart-strengthening medicine, calming his panicked men somewhat.

Just then, the Xiongnu moved!

There was no demand for surrender, no challenge—only the most direct attack.

"Buzzz—!"

Thousands of Xiongnu mounted archers drew their bows and nocked their arrows. A Rain of arrows like a dark cloud, shrieking sharply through the air, arced toward the city walls and blotted out the sky.

"Raise your shields!"

"Take cover!"

Across the walls, the furious roars of officers at every rank rose and fell.

Wei Zhe shoved Hu Lei beside him down beneath the battlements. "Everyone crouch! Hold your shields over your heads!"

Arrows hammered down like raindrops, producing a dense chorus of thud, thud, thud. Cries of agony erupted all across the walls as soldiers were struck by stray arrows and fell into pools of blood.

"Ah!"

Within Wei Zhe's squad, a recruit was hit squarely in the chest by an arrow that shot through a gap in his shield.

He cried out and instinctively looked down, only to discover that the tip of the Wolf Tooth Arrow had lodged fast against the black armor plate over his chest, unable to penetrate even an inch!

"I... I'm not dead?" The recruit froze, then erupted in wild joy at having survived disaster. "The Heart Guard Armor! The Squad Leader's Heart Guard Armor saved me!"

"Thank you, Squad Leader, for saving my life!"

With that shout, the entire squad's morale was instantly ignited!

Everyone instinctively touched the cold armor plate on their chests. The fear in their eyes was swiftly replaced by a light called trust and gratitude. As they looked at Wei Zhe's back, it was as though they were looking upon a guardian deity!

After the rain of arrows, the Xiongnu's true offensive began.

Countless Xiongnu infantrymen carrying crude wooden ladders surged toward the base of the walls like a tide under the cover of the cavalry.

"Archers, loose!"

"Rolling stones! Logs! Smash them all down!"

Upon the city walls, the Qin Army launched a frenzied counterattack.

Yet the Xiongnu feared death not at all. Treading upon their companions' corpses, they set ladder after ladder against the wall.

Very soon, the first Xiongnu soldier—wearing a vicious horned helmet and covered in tattoos—climbed up the ladder into the section Wei Zhe and his men were defending!

He let out a beastlike roar, brandishing the curved saber in his hand as he prepared to vault onto the wall.

"Kill!"

A cold gleam flashed through Wei Zhe's eyes. He did not hesitate in the slightest.

The long ge in his hand moved.

There was no flourish, only the simplest thrust—a thrust he had practiced hundreds, thousands of times!

He fused the essence of the Wind Piercing Spear Technique into this most basic strike.

The long ge was like a bolt of black lightning, striking after yet arriving first, leaving an afterimage in the air.

The Xiongnu soldier's roar came to an abrupt halt. His eyes bulged wide as he stared in disbelief at his own throat.

A frigid ge tip had pierced through it, blood gurgling down the blade.

With a flick of his wrist, Wei Zhe sent the corpse flying from the wall, where it crashed heavily to the ground below.

Clean and decisive—one strike, one kill!

"Ding!"

"Killed one Xiongnu soldier. Obtained 10 Tempering Points."

The cold system notification sounded in Wei Zhe's mind.

A strange feeling rose within him. It was not the thrill of killing, but a confirmation—confirmation that this was the path by which he would grow stronger, confirmation that he possessed the ability to protect those he wished to protect on this brutal battlefield!

"Kill—!"

Wei Zhe's strike completely ignited the bloodlust of the new recruits around him.

"Kill!"

Hu Lei was the first to roar and charge forward, smashing a Xiongnu man who had just climbed up back down with his sturdy shield.

"Thrust! Thrust!"

Qian Hu also howled as he directed the Veteran Soldiers under him and the recruits into a simple offensive-defensive formation, ruthlessly stabbing their long ge at the enemies continuously surging up.

The bloody battle for the city wall had officially begun!

Wei Zhe no longer held his ground. Like a prowling hunter, he charged back and forth through the twenty-pace sector under his command.

His figure was swift as a ghost, while the long ge in his hand became Death's scythe.

A Xiongnu soldier had just climbed over the wall and had yet to steady himself when Wei Zhe pierced his heart with a single thrust.

Tempering Points +10.

Squelch!

Another Xiongnu soldier swung his blade at him. Wei Zhe shifted sideways, and his long ge swept along with the motion, its sharp blade slashing straight across the man's throat.

Tempering Points +10.

Every time he struck, a life was inevitably taken. His efficiency was outrageously terrifying!

The soldiers around him, recruits and Veteran Soldiers alike, were dumbstruck. They had never seen such a horrifying killing machine. Every one of Wei Zhe's attacks possessed a violent aesthetic—precise, efficient, without a single superfluous movement.

Shi Meng stood atop an arrow tower not far away, taking in Wei Zhe's performance in its entirety.

At last, unconcealable excitement appeared on his usually impassive face.

"Uncut jade... no, this is a fucking peerless treasure!"

He had thought Wei Zhe was merely a promising talent.

Yet he had never expected this "promising talent," on his very first battlefield, to shine even more brilliantly than an Old General tempered by countless battles!

He knew he had made the right bet!

On Great Qin's northern frontier, a military star that no one could stop was about to rise!

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