Evil Ghost in Smoke, Blood Refining Wolf Marrow

The canyon was filled with thick smoke, the pungent smell of pine resin and burnt wood making it suffocating.

Ji Ye landed, his feet finding purchase on the corpse of a warhorse crushed by a giant boulder. Slippery blood splattered his pant legs.

"Cough, cough... Kill!!"

A roar in the barbarian tongue echoed from the smoke. As expected of Hulei's personal guards, even in such a desperate situation, these Wolf Cavalry had not scattered. They formed small, back-to-back formations, their sabers drawing cold light through the smoke as they cut down the attacking death row convicts.

"Ah! My arm!"

A death row convict who had just charged forward had his arm severed. Before his scream had even died down, his head was sliced off by another saber strike.

This was the difference between a regular army and a mob.

"Dodge!"

Ji Ye roared, his iron spear, using the momentum from charging down the slope, acted like a black viper, stabbing fiercely into the small barbarian formation that was slaughtering.

"Puchi!"

The spear tip pierced a barbarian soldier's leather armor without obstruction, passing straight through his chest.

"Lift!"

Ji Ye strained his arms, his Triple Brute Force erupting. He actually lifted the corpse and swept it outwards.

"Bang! Bang!"

Two barbarian soldiers were struck by the corpse and staggered back. Before they could steady themselves, Ji Ye had already dropped his spear, drawn his saber, and closed in like a ghost.

The Wild Goose Feather Saber cut through the air in two mournful arcs.

Two heads flew into the sky, hot blood spraying onto Ji Ye's face, making him look even more ferocious.

"Boss is mighty!"

Pockmarked charged forward with the private soldiers from Black Stone County, using their numerical advantage to surround and divide the remaining barbarian soldiers.

The battle devolved into the most primitive kind of brawl.

Although the death row convicts were outmatched in skill, they had the advantage of numbers and desperation. Black Bear, that hulking brute, was even more ferocious. He picked up a large barbarian axe and swung it wildly like a madman. Although he sustained several cuts, he also felled two barbarian soldiers.

"Over there!"

Ji Ye's gaze was like lightning. Through the thinning smoke, he locked onto a few supply carts.

Beside the carts stood a tall barbarian leader. He wore no helmet, his dreadlocks braided with copper coins. In his hand, he held a serrated wolf-tooth saber, and he watched the charging Ji Ye with cold eyes.

That was the aura of the Bone Forging Realm.

"Southerner, die!"

The leader roared, advancing instead of retreating. The serrated saber, carrying a bloody wind, cleaved directly towards Ji Ye's face.

This saber strike was powerful and heavy, and its angle was tricky, sealing off all of Ji Ye's escape routes.

Ji Ye's eyes narrowed.

If he were at his peak, he could have met the attack head-on. But his chest wound hadn't healed properly yet, and every exertion was accompanied by sharp pain.

He couldn't clash directly.

The moment the saber blade was upon him, Ji Ye suddenly went limp, falling backward.

A flicker of contempt flashed in the leader's eyes. He pressed the saber down, preparing to gut Ji Ye.

However, the instant Ji Ye's back was about to touch the ground, his right leg suddenly sprang up, like a scorpion's tail sting. His toes fiercely kicked the leader's wrist.

"Pa!"

This kick was fast, accurate, and ruthless, striking the "Shenmen acupoint" precisely.

The leader's wrist went numb, and the saber's trajectory shifted slightly.

The serrated saber grazed Ji Ye's ribs and slashed into the ground, sending sparks flying.

An opportunity!

Using the recoil from the kick, Ji Ye sprang up like a coiled spring. His left hand scooped up a handful of dirt mixed with lime from the ground and flung it towards the leader's eyes.

A low-class trick, but on the battlefield, it was a killing move.

"Roar!"

The leader instinctively closed his eyes and retreated.

Ji Ye didn't hesitate. He reversed his grip on the Wild Goose Feather Saber, charged forward, and thrust the blade fiercely upwards from below into the leader's jaw.

"Puchi!"

The tip of the saber pierced through the mouth and directly into the brain.

The leader's massive body stiffened, and the ferocity in his eyes quickly dissipated.

Ji Ye pulled out his saber and kicked the corpse away.

"This is an elite?"

He spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva. The wound on his chest split open, seeping a patch of crimson.

With their leader dead, the remaining barbarian soldiers completely lost the will to resist and were quickly slaughtered.

The canyon gradually fell silent, leaving only the groans of the wounded and the crackling of burning flames.

"Boss, we're rich!"

Black Bear ran over, his face covered in blood, holding a delicate leather pouch in his hands, trembling with excitement. "This cart is full of good stuff! There are gold ingots, and this thing too!"

Ji Ye took the leather pouch and opened the stopper, sniffing it.

A pungent, dizzying scent of blood and medicine hit him. Inside was a viscous, dark red liquid, like concentrated blood.

"Blood Wolf Marrow."

A glint flashed in Ji Ye's eyes.

This was a secret Barbarian medicine, brewed from the bone marrow of an alien wolf king and dozens of herbs. It was a sacred product specifically used to replenish Blood Essence and strengthen muscles and bones for Bone Forging Realm martial artists. In the Da Liang black market, this small pouch could fetch a thousand taels of silver, and it was priceless.

Did Hulei bring his entire fortune?

Ji Ye walked over to the supply cart again and lifted the oilcloth.

Besides several boxes of gold and jewelry, there was a black iron chest. Upon opening it, ten sets of exquisite Barbarian iron armor were neatly stacked inside. This type of armor had more than double the defensive power of Da Liang's standard leather armor.

"Put on all this armor," Ji Ye decided instantly. "We'll split the gold and silver. But this Blood Wolf Marrow..."

He shook the leather pouch in his hand, his gaze sweeping over everyone.

Everyone swallowed, their eyes filled with greed.

"This belongs to me," Ji Ye said calmly, but with unquestionable authority. "Does anyone have an opinion?"

No one dared to have an opinion.

The scene of Ji Ye slaughtering enemies like flies in the previous battle had been deeply imprinted in their minds.

"No opinion! No opinion!" Black Bear was the first to declare, grinning foolishly. "As long as we follow the boss, we'll have meat to eat, and that's enough."

"Very good."

Ji Ye tied the leather pouch to his waist and pointed at the corpses of the barbarian soldiers on the ground.

"Chop off all their heads and hang them on your horses' necks."

"Let's go back."

At sunset.

At the entrance of the Assault Camp.

Qin Wuji's adjutant was on horseback, looking at the sky with a cold smile.

"The time has come. It seems that fellow named Ji won't be coming back."

He waved his hand at the enforcement team behind him and said, "Prepare to report that Assault Camp Centurion Ji Ye fled from battle. According to the law..."

"According to the law, he should be rewarded?"

A hoarse voice interrupted him.

The adjutant froze, then turned to look.

Under the afterglow of the setting sun, a team that looked like it had crawled out of hell was slowly approaching.

Each of them was clad in tattered Barbarian iron armor, covered in blood. And beside their warhorses hung strings of gruesome human heads.

Ji Ye, walking at the front, carried the blood-stained iron spear in his hand, the leather pouch at his waist, his eyes redder than the setting sun.

He walked up to the adjutant's horse and threw a head with messy dreadlocks at its hooves.

"One hundred and seven barbarians, all here."

Ji Ye looked up at the adjutant, whose face had stiffened, and grinned.

"Sir, does this count as military merit?"

The adjutant looked at the severed head. It was the head of a Barbarian elite guard captain; he recognized the unique hairstyle.

These death row inmates... actually did it?

"It... it counts." The adjutant swallowed, his imposing aura instantly deflating.

"That's good."

Ji Ye ignored him and led his team straight into the camp.

Back in the tent, Ji Ye immediately ordered Pockmarked to guard the entrance.

He couldn't wait to open the leather pouch and took a large gulp of Blood Wolf Marrow.

"Boom!"

A scorching hot current instantly exploded in his stomach, ten times more potent than the Tiger Bone Paste before.

Ji Ye sat down cross-legged and began circulating the breathing technique of Tiger Demon Bone Forging Fist, combined with the Tiger Roar Golden Bell Shield from Qin Wuji.

Triple Brute Force was unleashed again, frantically squeezing the medicinal power.

He could feel the broken bones in his chest healing at a terrifying speed, the new bones even harder and denser than before.

And his skin, nourished by the medicinal power, began to take on a faint metallic sheen.

This was the sign of entering the Golden Bell Shield — Iron Skin.

"Qin Wuji..."

Ji Ye closed his eyes, feeling the power surging within him.

"Your saber... it's about to be revealed."