When the mine tunnel on the west side of Golden Radiance Ridge was retaken, the battle at Cloud Marsh Valley was still raging.
Cloud Marsh Valley was the Luochen Sect's most important source of spirit herbs. After years of cultivation, vast herb gardens covered both slopes. Many of the spirit herbs needed for the sect's annual pill refining came from here, so it could hardly be abandoned lightly.
But the herb gardens were spread too widely. The Black Peak Sect attacked from the east, while the Scarlet Firmament Sect kept harassing the other side. However capable the elders guarding the valley were, they could not protect every location. After several clashes, the outer positions fell one after another, leaving the remaining disciples to harvest the spirit herbs in haste and retreat to the main valley.
Shen Ningshuang and Xiao Yue had been ordered to come and escort them back.
By the time the two arrived, the group of just over a dozen had already been intercepted. Had they come any later, not only would the spirit herbs have been lost, but the disciples might never have made it back alive.
"Senior Brother Xiao, everyone's pulled out!"
Below, a deacon shouted at the top of his voice.
Xiao Yue had no time to answer. Facing the iron hammer crashing down toward his head, he unleashed a fierce punch. His powerful fist force compressed the air into rolling layers. Before it even struck the hammer's shadow, a string of muffled, thunderous explosions rang out ahead.
Boom!
The fist force and hammer shadow exploded together.
Xiao Yue retreated, with the surging shock wave sweeping down after him. It uprooted several old trees on the slope, sending their thick trunks tumbling through the air. Before they could hit the ground, they were shredded to