Iron Furnace Stronghold

After spending two days in the small courtyard consolidating his realm, Shen Che had completely familiarized himself with the wild, tyrannical Horizontal Training True Qi within his body.

He felt that his current condition had never been better.

It was time to visit the mission hall.

Demon Suppression Division, side hall.

When Yan Xiu saw Shen Che push open the door and enter, the teacup in his hand trembled.

How many days had it been?

Hadn't this kid said he was borrowing demonic qi to enter seclusion and break through?

And he was already out?

"Lord Yan." Shen Che cupped his hands.

"You... broke through?" Yan Xiu set down his teacup and examined Shen Che carefully.

From Shen Che, he sensed an aura completely different from before.

More condensed, more profound—like a mountain, like a prison.

This aura was clearly the hallmark of a True Meridian Realm martial artist.

"Fortunately, I succeeded," Shen Che answered.

The corner of Yan Xiu's mouth twitched.

Fortunately?

You called this fortunate?

Others entered deathly seclusion, risking their lives nine times out of ten, spending years of their lives, and still might not open even a single true meridian.

Yet you brat took a stroll through the Demon Suppressing Prison for half a day and came out having broken through?

Comparing people really could make one die of anger.

"What brings you here this time?" Yan Xiu rubbed his brow, deciding not to dwell any longer on this monster.

"I want to take on a mission."

"A mission?" Yan Xiu paused, then understood. "Right. You've just broken through, so you need resources to consolidate your cultivation."

He had assumed Shen Che had come to exchange for cultivation techniques or medicinal pills.

"What kind of mission do you want? Slaying demons and devils, or something else?"

"One with high Contribution Points," Shen Che said succinctly.

Yan Xiu gave him a deep look, pulled a scroll from a pile, and pushed it over.

"This mission has the highest Contribution Points."

Shen Che picked up the scroll and unfolded it.

[Mission: Exterminate Iron Furnace Stronghold.]

[Location: Iron Furnace Mountain, Ping'an County.]

[Details: Iron Furnace Stronghold is a bandit stronghold that has occupied Iron Furnace Mountain for many years. It has over two thousand vicious bandits, who have claimed the mountain as their king and frequently descend to plunder villages and towns, burning, killing, looting, and committing every evil imaginable. Ping'an County's government has repeatedly attempted to suppress them, but every attempt has ended in failure, and the bandit scourge has only worsened.]

[Reward: 300 Contribution Points.]

Three hundred Contribution Points.

Shen Che remembered that one Meridian Opening Pill cost one hundred Contribution Points to exchange for within the Division.

Three hundred points meant three Meridian Opening Pills.

The reward was quite generous.

The only drawback was that the targets were not demons or devils, but mountain bandits.

That meant no Time Value would be gained.

Still, three Meridian Opening Pills would save him a great deal of Time Value expenditure.

This deal was worth it.

"I'll take it." Shen Che closed the scroll.

"Have you thought it through? Those bandits of Iron Furnace Stronghold are no pushovers." Yan Xiu reminded him, "They've occupied Iron Furnace Mountain for years. The terrain is easy to defend and hard to attack, and they have over two thousand men. Even an elite squad from our Demon Suppression Division would have to think twice before going."

"Though you've entered the True Meridian Realm, you're alone in the end."

"Rest assured, my lord." Shen Che tucked the scroll into his robes. "I know my limits."

"If you need help, go to Ping'an County's government office and have them send troops to assist you." Yan Xiu offered one final instruction.

Shen Che nodded and turned to leave.

Watching his retreating back, Yan Xiu picked up his teacup and blew on the steam.

This kid truly couldn't sit still for even a moment.

Still, it was a good thing for young people to have drive.

Shen Che did not delay. That very day, he took a fast horse from the Demon Suppression Division and headed straight for Ping'an County.

Three days later.

A county city shrouded in dark clouds and bleak mist appeared on the horizon.

Ping'an County.

Its name meant peace and safety, yet the atmosphere within the city was anything but peaceful.

There were few pedestrians on the streets. Every one of them hurried along, their faces filled with worry and fear.

Most of the shops had their doors shut, leaving the city desolate.

Shen Che casually stopped a passerby to ask for information.

"Little brother, you're from out of town, aren't you?" The passerby looked terrified. "You should leave quickly. Don't stay here—it isn't safe!"

"Those damned bastards from Iron Furnace Stronghold massacred Fengxi Village outside the city just two days ago! More than a hundred people—none of them survived!"

"Now word has spread throughout the city that their next target is our Ping'an County!"

Shen Che thanked the passerby and headed straight for the county government office.

Outside the government office, several yamen runners leaned weakly against stone lions, seemingly without even the strength to stand straight.

Only after hearing that Shen Che had been sent by the Demon Suppression Division of Cangyun City to deal with Iron Furnace Stronghold did one yamen runner slowly go inside to report.

Before long, Shen Che was led into the rear hall.

A middle-aged man in official robes, his temples streaked with gray, sat in the seat of honor sighing heavily. He was Wang Changshou, the prefect of Ping'an County.

Wang Changshou raised his head, and when he saw Shen Che entering, he froze.

Too young.

And he was alone?

The last trace of hope on his face instantly guttered out, turning into deep disappointment and bitterness.

"The Demon Suppression Division... sent only you?" Wang Changshou's voice was dry.

He had thought Cangyun City would send an elite team of Demon Queller Envoys.

Instead, all they had received was a youth who looked no older than seventeen or eighteen.

Was Ping'an County being left to fend for itself?

"That will be enough." Shen Che went straight to the point. "Prefect Wang, I need your assistance."

"Assistance?" Wang Changshou gave a bitter laugh, his whole body sagging. "Lord Shen, to be frank, two years ago I organized over ten thousand Prefectural Guards and personally led them to surround and suppress Iron Furnace Stronghold."

"The result... we lost nearly three thousand men, yet never even reached their mountain gate."

"Iron Furnace Mountain's terrain is treacherous. There is only one path up, and with one man guarding the pass, ten thousand cannot get through. We simply can't attack it!"

"I don't need you to attack it." Shen Che cut off his complaints.

"What I need you to do is bring all your troops and wait outside Iron Furnace Mountain for my signal."

Wang Changshou looked utterly confused. "Wait for a signal? What signal?"

"I will infiltrate Iron Furnace Stronghold alone and kill the bandit chiefs." Shen Che's tone was calm.

"To capture bandits, first capture their king. Once the bandit chiefs die, those two thousand rabble will collapse on their own."

"When that happens, you need only lead your troops in pursuit and slaughter."

Wang Changshou's eyes widened, as though he were meeting the youth before him for the first time.

Infiltrate alone?

Kill the bandit chiefs?

Was he talking in his sleep?

"Lord Shen, you... do you know that Iron Furnace Stronghold has three chiefs, each a martial arts expert who kills without batting an eye? The stronghold is even more heavily guarded. How could you possibly..."

"That is my business." Shen Che cut him off again.

"You only need to tell me whether you will do it or not."

"If I fail, you need not concern yourself with me. Withdraw your troops at once."

Wang Changshou stared fixedly at Shen Che.

He could not see the slightest trace of frivolity or arrogance on the youth's face.

There was only calmness and absolute confidence.

A mad thought began to grow in his heart.

Take a gamble?

If he lost, things would merely return to how they were. His time as prefect would be over, and Ping'an County might even be massacred.

But if he won...

Wang Changshou suddenly slammed his hand on the table and stood up. A fierce resolve burst forth across his flushed face.

"Alright!"

"I'll gamble!"

"This official will gather all the county's troops at once. At midnight tonight, all shall await your orders, my lord!"

Midnight.

At the foot of Iron Furnace Mountain, a vast army assembled in the darkness. Torches stretched without end, yet not a sound could be heard.

Over ten thousand Prefectural Guards had morale that had sunk to the bottom.

The shadow of their disastrous defeat last time still lingered on many faces.

The mountain wind swept past, carrying a chill.

Shen Che stood before the army, looking up at the great mountain before him, crouching in the night like a gigantic beast.

The entire mountain resembled an enormous iron furnace turned upside down. Its slopes were steep, its cliffs sheer and towering.

The stronghold had been built atop the "iron furnace." Only a winding stone stairway led up to it.

That path was brightly lit at the moment, with a sentry post every ten paces. Its defenses were airtight.

A frontal assault truly would be courting death.

Shen Che's figure flashed and vanished into the night, swiftly circling the foot of the mountain to scout it out.

After the time it took for an incense stick to burn, he returned to Wang Changshou's side.

"There is a cliff at the rear of the mountain, about a hundred zhang high and nearly vertical. No one is guarding it."

Wang Changshou was startled. "My lord, no one can climb that place!"

A hundred-zhang cliff, slick beyond belief—even monkeys would fall to their deaths.

"I can climb it."

Leaving behind those words, Shen Che's figure melded into the darkness once more.