By the time he left the secluded inn, there was no sign of any other Descenders on the main street.
Without caring whether his actions would shock the world, he unleashed his exquisite Lightness Skill and vaulted straight over the city wall. He pulled out the map, opened it, fixed his bearings, and swiftly dashed off in one direction.
That was precisely why he had bought the map. He had never been beyond the Pass—how else would he know where that so-called ancestral mountain's Longtan Gully was? Without a map, he would not even know which way to go.
According to the map, the ancestral mountain was a range north of Shanhaiguan Pass. The Great Wall crossed through this ancestral mountain, while Longtan Gully lay in its northern region, conveniently north of the Great Wall. The Thirteen Riders of Saibei were probably planning to cross the Great Wall here and enter the Pass.
Longtan Gully already led deep into the mountains. It was a dried-up riverbed and one of the few routes nearby suitable for crossing the Great Wall on a large scale. It was said that a section of the Great Wall nearby happened to lie within a valley, where the terrain was lower and easier to cross.
However, the General of Shanhaiguan Pass would certainly think of this as well. That place would definitely be heavily guarded. The Thirteen Riders of Saibei wanted to transport the treasure back to the Central Plains, so the difficulty would be immense. Lin Xiao had no idea what method they could use to get through.
Relying on his marvelous Lightness Skill and profound inner power, Lin Xiao traveled entirely by lightness skill, following a straight line on the map over mountains and ridges toward his destination. He reached Longtan Gully in barely half an hour.
From the top of a mountain, he looked down. Beneath a huge slope lay a dried-up river channel. A massive convoy was currently passing through it. The procession, consisting of fifty or sixty horse-drawn carts, stretched for several hundred meters, and there were several hundred guards alone, including quite a few experts.
"This is a little ridiculous!"
With so many people and so many experts, how was he supposed to rob them?
He raised his head and surveyed the surroundings but saw no other Descenders. They probably had not arrived yet. He did vaguely spot some people trailing behind the enormous convoy, likely other martial artists hoping to fish in troubled waters.
"Let's wait for now."
Lin Xiao found a tree and sat down beneath it. Although he considered himself highly skilled, he was not yet at the point where he could charge alone into a convoy of so many people.
More importantly, this was no ordinary convoy. Not only was it packed with experts, it also carried military equipment. Several of the carts had sturdy roofs with a few bed crossbows openly mounted on top. Those things were specifically designed to pierce an expert's inner power. Even he... could barely withstand them. And he could only barely withstand them—he certainly could not hold out for long. With so many experts watching like tigers surrounding their prey, if he charged in alone, he would surely end up dead, pierced by ten thousand arrows.
In this low-martial world, the upper limit of martial strength was restricted, but military weapons could still threaten martial arts experts.
He did not have to wait long before several Descender teams he had seen earlier at the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion gradually arrived. But just like him, none dared to act at once, and they hid themselves.
Before long, however, as the convoy slowly approached the distant Great Wall, several Descender teams began making contact with each other before joining together. They were probably planning to cooperate and strike as one.
At the same time, the many martial artists trailing behind the convoy also began forming an alliance. More and more martial artists gathered until they actually formed a group of nearly a hundred people.
Although the martial artists and Descenders combined were still fewer than the people of the Thirteen Riders of Saibei, everyone who had come was an expert. At the very least, they were second- or third-rate martial artists, and their individual fighting power far exceeded that of the Thirteen Riders of Saibei.
The two groups gradually took shape and stopped hiding. They openly trailed behind the convoy. An old man whose name was unknown sent two groups of people around from the left and right, while the main group continued following behind. He was probably planning to surround and wipe out the entire convoy.
Just then, the Thirteen Riders of Saibei's convoy suddenly stopped. The formation split apart, and a group of imposing-looking experts emerged. Among them were more than a dozen burly men dressed alike, each with a fierce face. They surrounded several middle-aged men and old men who exuded the bearing of true experts.
Lin Xiao had excellent eyesight. He clearly saw that when the surrounded figures appeared, the martial artists' group behind them seemed to recognize them. Many of them actually stopped involuntarily.
At that moment, an old man wearing a brocade robe embroidered with a golden eagle stepped out from among those surrounded. His voice rang across the land. Even Lin Xiao, more than a thousand meters away, could hear him as clearly as if he were speaking beside his ear:
"I am Wang Zhen, the Golden Eagle Envoy of Dushan Fortress. The Thirteen Riders of Saibei have already presented this tribute to King Dushan. If you have the courage, come and take it. This old man will be waiting here."
His voice rang out like iron striking stone. After he finished speaking, the many martial artists behind him fell silent. For quite some time, no one answered.
Even Lin Xiao was rather astonished that Dushan Fortress had moved so quickly and had even dispatched the Golden Eagle Envoy. Looking again at the several people surrounding the Thirteen Riders of Saibei, he guessed that they were all experts from Dushan Fortress. If so, taking the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng would be difficult.
One had to understand that Dushan Fortress, which had dominated the northern lands for decades, possessed more than just its lord, King Dushan. Whether it was the Twin Envoys, the Four Symbols Dharma Kings, or the Twelve Dushan Emissaries, all were top-tier experts of the upper-middle second star rank.
The Twin Envoys were even top-tier super-first-rate experts second only to Grandmasters. In terms of inner-power cultivation alone, they were no weaker than Lin Xiao now, and their martial skills went without saying. After fifty or sixty years of dedicated practice, even training only the Eagle Claw Technique would let them reach perfection, let alone the fact that, given their status, they could not possibly have trained only the Eagle Claw Technique. They certainly knew one or two ultimate arts, and with fifty or sixty years of experience roaming the martial world...
Thus, although Lin Xiao's inner-power cultivation was not much weaker than that of these famous experts of decades, if they truly fought, he would certainly be utterly crushed.
So when he saw the Golden Eagle Envoy appear, along with several others who were either Dharma Kings or Dushan Emissaries, Lin Xiao knew that even if the three sides joined forces, they still could not seize the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng.
"Damn it, what the hell is this? I wasted twenty Spirit Coins."
Lin Xiao was speechless. Looking again at the riverbed, he saw that the martial artists seemed to have started arguing. Some probably wanted to continue, while others wanted to withdraw. Since they were arguing, there was even less chance now.
He looked toward the Descenders who had joined forces on the other side. They also seemed to be hesitating over whether to continue.
Descenders were generally bolder. None of them seemed to want to withdraw, but they had no way to continue either. If the martial artists had not turned on each other, they would even have dared to attack Dushan Fortress. But now that the martial artists were quarreling, the Descenders could not move without them sharing the pressure.
After all, being bold did not mean being stupid. No one would knowingly throw their life away when there was clearly no chance.
The argument lasted nearly the time it took to burn a stick of incense. More and more martial artists wavered and wanted to withdraw. Over a hundred people split into two sides, facing each other across the riverbed.
The people from Dushan Fortress did not hurry them. They merely smiled and watched the arguing martial artists.
Seeing this, Lin Xiao knew that this operation was probably doomed. Until a top expert capable of fighting the Golden Eagle Envoy of Dushan Fortress appeared, no one would have the courage to attack.
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