Enemy Attack

Wang Hong directly tossed a thousand of his remaining Spirit Stones into the spatial field. The area of the space increased by one-tenth of its original size. It seemed that expanding it by one mu required ten thousand Spirit Stones.

In the days that followed, Wang Hong devoted himself to cultivation. The five squads earned him a sum of Spirit Stones every day.

Setting up stalls had never yielded much profit to begin with. After costs, each stall also had to pay the management office two Spirit Stones a day in stall fees.

But Wang Hong had plenty of hands and plenty of stalls, and selling spatial spirit herbs came with no other costs.

Of course, Wang Hong was not in the habit of mistreating his subordinates. Each person received two Spirit Stones every month, along with five Dragon Tiger Elixirs. Squad leaders received double.

This was already several times the treatment ordinary people received in Qingxu Immortal City. Not to mention Dragon Tiger Elixirs, pills that increased one's cultivation.

At dusk, Xu Lun and Zhang Chunfeng led sixteen men back from Qingxu City. Quite a few people lived outside the city, and they often encountered other passersby on the road.

"Brother Zhang, have you already broken through to become a Xiantian Realm Martial Artist?" Xu Lun asked.

"Mm. I broke through a few days ago, all thanks to the pills the general rewarded me with. You should be close too, right?" Zhang Chunfeng replied, somewhat pleased with himself.

"Almost. I should break through after taking another two or three pills. I wonder whether we have spirit roots. I want to save up some more Spirit Stones and get mine tested. I heard several places can test spirit roots, and it only costs a few Spirit Stones." His eyes lit up as he spoke.

"Whether we have spirit roots or not, we should first train our martial arts well."

"That's true. People with spirit roots are too rare. The greater the hope, the harder the fall."

As the two chatted, they had no idea that a fat and a thin cultivator were following them from afar. The pair were notorious street thugs in Qingxu City.

Neither had much cultivation, only Qi Refining Layer Three or Four. They drifted through every corner of Qingxu City and often made their living by robbing people outside the city.

There were too many people stronger than them, so they never provoked those people. They also never touched anyone with a background.

Instead, they set their sights on people weaker than themselves, or on ordinary mortals. That was why the two had lived so comfortably until now.

"This bunch of mortals are definitely fat sheep. I've been watching them for days. Their daily turnover is over a hundred Spirit Stones," the thin man said excitedly.

"Hmph! A few mere mortals think they deserve to possess that many Spirit Stones? After this job, us brothers will have enough to enjoy ourselves for a long while. When the time comes, keep your hands quick and clean. Don't waste time." The fat man knew this fellow always liked to slowly torture people to death, as if he took great pleasure in tormenting them.

The thin man stuck out his tongue and licked his lips. "Brother Fat, I've already investigated these mortals thoroughly. They only came to Qingxu City three months ago and have no backers here. Even if someone finds out, no one will stand up for them."

"Just be as quick as you can. The fewer people who know, the better."

"..."

Inside the tent, Xu Lun and Zhang Chunfeng were reporting the accounts to Wang Hong and handing over Spirit Stones and spirit herbs.

Suddenly, Wang Hong's expression changed. A pearly white glow spread from his palm as he struck Xu Lun and Zhang Chunfeng with a palm.

Neither of them resisted, allowing the palm strike to land on them.

With a bang, the two were sent flying out of the tent. The moment they hit the ground, they rolled up onto their feet. They seemed uninjured.

They only heard the clash of metal coming from where they had originally been standing. When they turned back, they saw Wang Hong gripping his five-hundred-jin refined steel spear, facing a fat and a thin Daoist as though confronting great enemies. Each Daoist held a black shortsword pointed at Wang Hong.

Xu Lun and Zhang Chunfeng shouted at the top of their lungs.

"Enemy attack!"

"Enemy attack!"

The thin Daoist spoke. "A mere Qi Refining Layer One cultivator still wants to resist? I advise you to obediently hand over everything you have, then kowtow loudly to this lord a few times. Perhaps I'll spare your life."

Qi Refining Layer One cultivators had feeble spiritual power and almost no experience in magical combat. He had killed plenty of them; it was as joyless as crushing an ant. So every time, he preferred to slowly torment his opponents, adding a little amusement to his dull cultivation life.

Yet Wang Hong answered with a spear thrust at his chest. Spiritual power flooded into the spear, and a faint azure gleam shone from its tip. The thin Daoist hurriedly raised his sword to block.

With a clang, the thin Daoist felt a tremendous force travel through the spear, numbing his fingers slightly. He was baffled. Could this brat possess inborn divine strength? With such paltry three-legged-cat skills, he still dared fight back? He felt his dignity had been challenged and slashed at Wang Hong with his sword.

Cultivators generally focused on cultivating the Primordial Spirit. During the Qi Refining realm, their physical strength was not much greater than that of ordinary mortals.

The two soon clashed with a flurry of clanging blows. By then, all the soldiers had arrived and surrounded the fat Daoist in a battle formation.

There were no fancy techniques in the army's fighting methods, only spears thrust straight ahead. More than a dozen spears simultaneously emitted a hazy white radiance and stabbed at the fat Daoist from every direction, leaving no blind spot.

The fat Daoist slapped a small cloth pouch at his waist. A sheet of yellow paper flew out, light rippling across its surface. He formed a hand seal, and the yellow paper swiftly fell onto him, forming a layer of golden light.

"A few mere mortals actually dared make this Daoist waste a Golden Light Talisman. Killing every last one of you still wouldn't make up for it." The fat Daoist was furious. A Golden Light Talisman was worth more than ten Spirit Stones, yet a few mortals had forced him to use one.

Whenever he had robbed mortals before, hadn't they all obediently offered up their possessions and kowtowed like pounding garlic? These damned mortals actually dared resist.

More than a dozen spears struck the light screen, leaving only deep dents in it. As the spears withdrew, the dents quickly sprang back into shape. However, the color of the light screen had dimmed considerably.

The first wave of attacks had barely ended when the second wave of spears struck, dimming the light screen even further. As soon as the second wave ended, a third would follow. Divided into three echelons, they came one after another like unbroken waves. The army had once used this move on the battlefield to trap and kill many peerless masters.

The fat Daoist swung his sword to hack at the thrusting spears. Though the sword in his hand was among the lowest of low-grade magical artifacts, it could still cut iron like mud when used against ordinary steel.

Though Internal Energy infused the spears, the Internal Energy of Houtian Realm Martial Artists was still far inferior to the spiritual power of a Qi Refining Layer Four cultivator. Several spearheads were immediately sliced off.

On the other side, the thin Daoist was no match for Wang Hong in close combat. Wang Hong had spent the past several years fighting bloody battles on the battlefield; he was not someone an ordinary novice cultivator could compare to. Several times, the thin Daoist tried to take talismans from the storage pouch at his waist, but Wang Hong's savage attacks interrupted him each time.

The thin Daoist was incomparably frustrated. He was a Qi Refining Layer Three cultivator, yet a Qi Refining Layer One cultivator was using mortal martial arts to press him into a beating. If word got out, people would laugh their teeth out.

He still had many methods at his disposal, but he had never gotten the chance to use them. Whether casting spells or using talismans, he needed a little time. But the man before him gave him no chance to catch his breath.

Wang Hong pressed forward relentlessly, beating the thin Daoist back step by step. Suddenly, he unleashed more than a dozen rapid thrusts at his face. While the thin Daoist was thrown into a panic, one spear pierced through his chest. Another swept across, cutting him into two halves.

The fat Daoist had not been too anxious despite being surrounded. He still had a Fireball Talisman unused, but the enemy was too close. If the Fireball Talisman erupted at close range, he himself would inevitably be caught in it. Besides, a single Fireball Talisman could at most burn a few people to death. Using it on these ants was truly not worth it. His Spirit Stones had not fallen from the sky; he had earned every one through hard robbery.

He believed that in a short while, his companion would kill that young man. Then the two of them could join forces and wipe out these ants.

Yet at that moment, he heard the thin Daoist's scream. Turning his head, he saw that the thin Daoist had already been cut into two halves. His upper body had not died immediately and was struggling to crawl toward his lower half. The young man took a single stride after him and swept his spear, severing the thin Daoist's head.

The fat Daoist was terrified. His right hand reached once more for the storage pouch at his waist. Everyone knew this man was likely about to use another one of the cultivators' bizarre methods.

"Raise the formation!" came a thunderous shout. The first wave of soldiers crouched, and more than a dozen spears attacked upward at his waist and abdomen. The second wave of more than a dozen spears advanced together, striking at his chest and back. The third group of more than a dozen men leaped into the air, their spears all aimed at his head and face.

The original rotating echelon attacks transformed in an instant into simultaneous assaults from multiple directions. Forty-five spears stabbed at the fat Daoist's vital points all at once.

With a soft pop, the golden light screen was finally pierced. But at that same moment, another yellow talisman flew out and stopped above the crowd, glowing red and radiating waves of scorching heat.

Just as it was about to erupt, a bolt of lightning shot out and pinned the talisman, carrying it several zhang away. Then, with a boom, it transformed into a one-foot fireball and burned fiercely.

Wang Hong had seen the danger and hurled the spear from his hand, knocking the talisman two zhang off course.

As the fat Daoist activated the talisman, dozens of spears pierced through his body at the same time. Staring unwillingly at the fireball that had been knocked aside, he died.