Thick smoke billowed through the canyon, the pungent stench of pine resin and burnt flesh making it hard to breathe.
Ji Ye landed on both feet atop the corpse of a warhorse smashed to pieces by a boulder, slick blood splattering all over his trouser legs.
"Cough, cough... Kill!!"
Furious roars in the Barbarian tongue came from within the smoke. Worthy of being Hulei's personal guards—even in such a desperate situation, these Wolf Cavalry had not collapsed. Back-to-back, they formed small formations, their curved blades carving streaks of cold light through the smoke as they cut down the charging death-row prisoners.
"Ah! My hand!"
A death-row prisoner had barely rushed forward before his arm was severed. Before his scream had even faded, another slash sent his head flying.
That was the difference between regular troops and a rabble.
"Move!"
Ji Ye let out a thunderous roar. Borrowing the momentum of his charge down the slope, the iron spear in his hand became a black venomous python, viciously stabbing into the Barbarian formation that was still slaughtering men.
"Pfft!"
The spearhead pierced straight through a Barbarian soldier's leather armor and chest without resistance.
"Up!"
Ji Ye exerted both arms, and Triple Brute Force erupted. He actually lifted the corpse and swept it sideways.
"Bang! Bang!"
Two Barbarian soldiers were struck by the corpse and staggered back. Before they could steady themselves, Ji Ye had already abandoned his spear and drawn his saber, closing in like a phantom.
The Wild Goose Feather Saber traced two miserable arcs.
Two heads soared into the sky, hot blood spraying across Ji Ye's face and making him look even more ferocious.
"Boss is mighty!"
Pockmarked charged in with Black Stone County's private soldiers, using their numerical advantage to divide and surround the remaining Barbarian soldiers.
The battle became the most primitive kind of brawl.
Though the death-row prisoners were less skilled, they had numbers and were fighting with their lives on the line. Black Bear, that hulking man, was especially savage. He had picked up a Barbarian battle-axe and swung it around like a madman. Though several more cuts appeared on his body, he also hacked down two Barbarian soldiers.
"Over there!"
Ji Ye's gaze was like lightning. Through the thinning smoke, he locked onto those supply carts.
Beside the carts stood a tall Barbarian leader. He wore no helmet, his dirty braids threaded with copper coins. A serrated wolf-tooth saber hung in his hand as he coldly watched Ji Ye charge toward him.
That was the aura of the Bone Forging Realm.
"Southern man, die!"
The leader roared and, rather than retreating, advanced. His serrated blade carried a bloody wind as it hacked straight at Ji Ye's face.
The strike was powerful and heavy, and its angle was vicious, sealing off every route of retreat.
Ji Ye's eyes narrowed.
At his peak, he could have met it head-on. But the wound in his chest had not fully healed, and every exertion of strength came with piercing pain.
He could not clash with him directly.
The instant the blade reached him, Ji Ye's legs suddenly gave way, and his whole body fell backward.
A trace of contempt flashed through the leader's eyes. He pressed the blade down, intending to gut Ji Ye open.
Yet just as Ji Ye's back was about to hit the ground, his right leg snapped upward like a scorpion's tail, the tip of his foot viciously striking the leader's wrist.
"Smack!"
The kick was swift, accurate, and ruthless, landing squarely on the Shenmen Acupoint.
The leader's wrist went numb, and his blade inevitably veered off by a fraction.
The serrated saber grazed beneath Ji Ye's ribs and slashed into the ground, scattering sparks.
An opportunity!
Using the recoil from that kick, Ji Ye sprang up like a compressed spring. With his left hand, he grabbed a fistful of dirt mixed with lime from the ground and flung it at the leader's eyes.
A lowly trick, but on the battlefield, it was a killing blow.
"Roar!"
The leader instinctively shut his eyes and retreated.
Ji Ye did not pause in the slightest. Holding the Wild Goose Feather Saber in a reverse grip, he lunged forward and drove the blade upward, viciously stabbing it beneath the leader's jaw.
"Pfft!"
The blade pierced through his mouth and straight into his brain.
The leader's huge body froze, and the vicious light in his eyes swiftly scattered.
Ji Ye pulled out the saber and kicked the corpse away.
"This is what you call elite?"
He spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm. The wound on his chest split open again, staining his clothes crimson.
With the leader's death, the remaining Barbarian soldiers completely lost the will to resist and were soon slaughtered to the last man.
The canyon gradually fell quiet, leaving only the groans of the wounded and the crackling of flames.
"Boss, we've struck it rich!"
Black Bear ran over with blood all over his face, holding an exquisite leather pouch in his hands and trembling with excitement. "These carts are full of good stuff! There are gold ingots, and this thing too!"
Ji Ye took the pouch, pulled out its stopper, and gave it a sniff.
An intense, dizzying scent of blood and medicine rushed into his nose. Inside was a thick, dark-red liquid, like condensed blood.
"Blood Wolf Marrow."
A sharp glint flashed through Ji Ye's eyes.
This was a secret Barbarian medicine, brewed from the marrow of an exotic wolf king and dozens of herbs. It was a sacred remedy specially used by Bone Forging Realm martial artists to replenish blood and qi and strengthen their muscles and bones. On Great Liang's black market, one small pouch could fetch a thousand taels of silver—and even then, it was something money could not buy.
Had Hulei brought along his entire fortune?
Ji Ye walked to the supply carts and pulled aside the oilcloth.
Besides several chests of gold, silver, and jewels, there was also a black iron chest. When he opened it, ten sets of Barbarian refined-iron armor were stacked neatly inside. This armor was more than twice as protective as Great Liang's standard leather armor.
"Put all this armor on."
Ji Ye made the decision without hesitation. "Split the gold and silver among yourselves. But this Blood Wolf Marrow..."
He shook the leather pouch in his hand, his gaze sweeping over everyone.
Everyone swallowed, greed filling their eyes.
"This belongs to me." Ji Ye's tone was calm, but it carried an unquestionable pressure. "Who has any objections?"
No one dared object.
In that battle just now, Ji Ye's figure—slaughtering men like cutting hemp—had already been branded deep into their minds.
"No objections! No objections!" Black Bear was the first to speak up. He grinned foolishly. "As long as there's meat to eat following the boss, that's enough."
"Very good."
Ji Ye tied the pouch around his waist, then pointed at the Barbarian corpses on the ground.
"Cut off all their heads and hang them from the horses' necks."
"We're going back."
At sunset.
Outside the gates of Assault Camp.
Qin Wuji's adjutant sat on horseback, watching the sky with a cold smile on his lips.
"The time is up. Looks like that Ji fellow won't be coming back."
He waved a hand and said to the disciplinary squad behind him, "Prepare the report. Assault Camp's centurion Ji Ye fled in fear of battle. According to military law..."
"According to military law, should we be rewarded?"
A hoarse voice interrupted him.
The adjutant froze and turned around.
Under the lingering light of the setting sun, a group that looked as though it had crawled out of hell slowly approached.
Every one of them wore tattered Barbarian iron armor and was drenched in blood. Beside their warhorses hung strings of grotesque heads.
At the very front, Ji Ye carried the bloodstained iron spear in his hand, the leather pouch hanging at his waist. His eyes were redder than the sunset.
He walked up to the adjutant's horse and tossed down a head covered in dirty braids beneath its hooves.
"One hundred and seven Barbarians. They're all here."
Ji Ye raised his head, looked at the adjutant's stiff expression, and bared his teeth in a smile.
"Sir, does this count as military merit?"
The adjutant stared at the head. It belonged to the captain of the Barbarian personal guard; he recognized that distinctive hairstyle.
These death-row prisoners... had really done it?
"It... it counts." The adjutant swallowed, his momentum instantly wilting.
"That's good."
Ji Ye ignored him and led the group straight through the camp gates.
Back in the tent, Ji Ye immediately ordered Pockmarked to guard the entrance.
He impatiently opened the leather pouch and tilted his head back, gulping down a large mouthful of Blood Wolf Marrow.
"Boom!"
A scalding torrent instantly exploded in his stomach, ten times fiercer than the Tiger Bone Paste from before.
Ji Ye sat cross-legged and circulated the breathing method of the Tiger Demon Bone Forging Fist, coordinating it with the Tiger Roar Golden Bell Shield manual Qin Wuji had given him.
Triple Brute Force erupted at full power once more, crazily squeezing every last drop of medicinal potency from it.
He could feel the broken bones in his chest healing at a terrifying rate. The newly formed bones were harder and denser than before.
And under the nourishment of the medicine, his skin began to take on a faint metallic sheen.
That was the sign of the Golden Bell Shield's entry stage—Iron Skin.
"Qin Wuji..."
Ji Ye closed his eyes, feeling the power within him continuously climb.
"Your knife is about to be impossible to hide."
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