Evil Warriors could also control strange power, because this ability had been granted to them by sorcerers.
Sorcerers not only developed strange power themselves; they even implanted it into their martial warrior subordinates, granting them formidable strength.
The threshold for using strange power was extremely high. The slightest carelessness could make it run wild and endanger the user. It was not something those crude martial artists could easily master. Thus, almost every Evil Warrior had a sorcerer standing behind them, and wild Evil Warriors were rare.
These Evil Warriors attacking the city came from Blood Shadow Hall. The sorcerers behind them had given them a Blood Refining Bottle and ordered them to collect and refine a colossal amount of blood.
Their target was Meishan County. The city lay at the junction of two commanderies, in a remote location with relatively weak defenses, making it easy to take.
However, things did not go as smoothly as they had imagined.
After their first surprise attack failed to take Meishan County, the city's defenses were rapidly strengthened. It became even harder to capture afterward.
Meishan lay at the border of Yangxing and Jiujiang. Martial artists and Spirit Masters from both commanderies had rushed over, and even people from the more distant Qingpu Commandery had come to reinforce them.
Meishan County was now practically the hardest city in the entire region to conquer.
"This makes things very difficult for us."
Several Evil Warriors who were driving Evil Creatures to attack the city stood on a distant mountaintop, looking toward Meishan County as a trace of irritation welled up inside them.
"These damn mortals."
"Why can't they just accept death?"
As they watched large numbers of zombies and evil ghosts scorched by the city's formation and slain by its defending martial artists and Spirit Masters, they felt no heartache. There were as many low-level Evil Creatures as one wanted in the wilderness, and gathering a huge swarm was easy.
The greatest use of these low-level Evil Creatures was to deplete the formation's power and exhaust the martial artists and Spirit Masters.
Driven by the Evil Warriors, several hundred evil ghosts transformed into a long dragon, winding upward along the protective barrier of Meishan City's formation!
There were too many people beneath the formation. It would not take long for the evil ghosts to be slaughtered, so they planned to have them break through from above!
After all, those capable of flying were few and far between.
When they saw a streak of sword light flash past and several hundred evil ghosts cleaved apart by a single sword strike, all the Evil Warriors froze.
"Meishan... seems to have gained quite a formidable figure."
The sword Li Yuan had just unleashed made their hearts tremble despite being several miles away!
"What kind of swordsmanship is that?"
The Evil Warriors' gazes shifted toward the figure atop the city wall. Although the distance was too great for them to see Li Yuan's face, they still found him amid the crowd.
After destroying the long dragon of evil ghosts, Li Yuan did not stop. He unleashed more than twenty sword strikes in one breath, Sword Qi crisscrossing the air and directly slaughtering all the zombies and evil ghosts in the area south of the city!
Such a fierce display shocked everyone.
Taking Meishan County seemed even more difficult now. The several Evil Warriors exchanged glances, uncertain what to do for a moment.
One of the more quick-witted Evil Warriors seemed to think of something, and his eyes lit up. "Perhaps the situation isn't as bad as we imagined."
"Granted, this fellow's swordsmanship is extraordinary, but unleashing so many terrifying streams of Sword Qi has to come at a cost."
"He must have expended a great deal of energy by now!"
"Surely he's exhausted to the point of collapse, perhaps even struggling to move a finger."
That made sense!
The eyes of several Evil Warriors lit up, feeling that this had to be the truth!
Since this fellow was no longer a threat, all they had to do was deal with everyone else!
If they handled things properly, the city could be breached.
At that moment, a low voice came from behind them.
"You... continue driving the Evil Creatures to attack the southern wall."
"Don't let... that swordsman... leave."
"I'll go to the north..."
The speaker was a bald Evil Warrior.
His eyes were blood-red. The expression on his face alternated between madness and lucidity, and he spoke in broken phrases, as if he might plunge completely into insanity at any moment.
His name was Wu Haoqian. He was the strongest among these Evil Warriors, and the Blood Refining Bottle was on his person.
Too much strange power had been implanted into Wu Haoqian's body, eroding his brain and pushing him to the very edge of total madness.
The bodies of Evil Warriors contained dangerous strange power. Once it ran out of control, they could die at any moment. Moreover, they were tools of the sorcerers and did work that invited death. This made Evil Warriors extremely unstable and difficult to control. Saying that every one of them was rebellious would not be an exaggeration.
But Wu Haoqian was one of the few exceptions.
Even with his mind clouded, he remained incomparably loyal to the sorcerer behind him.
"My lord's orders are absolute!"
When that lord had placed the Blood Refining Bottle in his hands, he had been overwhelmed with excitement.
No matter what, he had to fulfill his lord's command!
A trace of madness flashed through Wu Haoqian's eyes. His gaze toward the other Evil Warriors was filled with malice. "You... dare hold us back... and I'll kill you."
A fierce killing intent swept over them, turning the faces of the several Evil Warriors pale. They did not dare speak.
As soon as his words fell, Wu Haoqian vanished from the spot.
The several Evil Warriors left behind exchanged looks without saying a word, then departed one after another.
On the city wall, Li Yuan opened his eyes. Through his senses, he detected more zombies and evil ghosts charging toward the southern part of the city.
Although these Evil Creatures kept emerging without end, there were not many at a time. Only a dozen or so rushed out each wave, and they could be dealt with easily.
Very few managed to charge onto the city wall. The defenders could dispatch these Evil Creatures with ease.
A zombie leaped onto the city wall and pounced toward Mi Lan. Mi Lan used her sword technique to strike it in the chest.
She also wielded a Rune Soldier Longsword. Although she had not mastered Inner Force, the runic spell power inherent in the longsword still scorched the wound on the zombie's chest, burning it until it shrieked.
Mi Lan spun her longsword and pierced through the zombie's head from a treacherous angle. The zombie's entire body stiffened before it collapsed dead.
Resting her hand on her sword, Mi Lan let out a long breath.
She had already killed several zombies and evil ghosts that had charged onto the wall, and the exertion was beginning to weigh on her.
Li Yuan stood nearby and witnessed Mi Lan's performance. He nodded slightly.
"Mi Lan."
Hearing Li Yuan call her, Mi Lan's spirits lifted, and she immediately ran over. "Captain, did you need me?"
Li Yuan smiled faintly. "Your swordsmanship is good, but it has a few flaws."
Mi Lan was a promising talent. She had completed body tempering and could step into the Inner Force Realm at any time. Li Yuan valued her character especially highly. Even though she had yet to break through into the Inner Force Realm, she had insisted on joining the Special Capture Division, and she had not retreated in the slightest when faced with dangerous Evil Creatures.
Since that was the case, Li Yuan did not begrudge her some cultivation.
During a lull in the Evil Creatures' assault, Li Yuan pointed out several flaws in Mi Lan's swordsmanship and explained a few sword-wielding principles to her. Mi Lan felt as though enlightenment had been poured into her mind; many questions she had never been able to understand suddenly became clear.
Mi Lan was extremely grateful for Li Yuan's guidance and thanked him repeatedly.
When she attacked the enemy again, she felt her movements become incomparably smooth, and her power increase by thirty percent.
As fortune brought inspiration, Mi Lan's body suddenly trembled. A warm current appeared from nowhere within her and continuously circulated through her limbs and bones.
Mi Lan's eyes widened in disbelief. "Is this Inner Force?!"
The Inner Force Realm... breakthrough!
Before you continue