A Desperate Battle of Life and Death!

Above the stockade gate, several hundred bandits were still drawing their bows and firing arrows. Wave after wave of arrow rain inflicted heavy casualties on the Taiping Sect followers. Blood flowed into rivers, and screams rang out without end.

"Charge! Don't stop! The first to climb up will be rewarded with a thousand gold and ten beautiful women!!"

Taiping Sect experts moved through the crowd, blocking arrows while shouting encouragement to the cannon fodder.

They whipped the cannon fodder into charging while hiding in the rear themselves.

Although the entrance to the Iron Chain Bridge was nearly a pass where one man could hold off ten thousand, there were simply too many Taiping Sect followers. Tempted by the lavish rewards, they charged in wave after wave. Their skilled fighters also seized opportunities, and in the end, they forced their way through.

Unable to hold them back, Iron Dragon Stockade could only retreat to the fortress gate within the stockade and continue resisting the Taiping Sect's assault.

"Kill!!"

A bald man roared as he charged onto the stockade wall. With two slashes, he killed two bandits, then laughed wildly. "I am the first to climb up!!"

But in the next instant, his expression changed drastically.

A sharp whistling sound tore through the air, and the bald man's roar came to an abrupt stop.

Yi Zheng's spear had pierced through his chest, shredding his heart to pieces. The spearhead continued without losing momentum, piercing two more Taiping Sect followers attempting to climb up.

That bald man was a Second Blood Change expert, yet before Yi Zheng, he died in a single exchange.

"Want to climb up? Wishful thinking!!"

Li Jing threw back his head and laughed, his horse-chopping saber unstoppable in his hand.

Sshk! Sshk!!

Amid the sound of flesh being sliced apart, two Taiping Sect followers were cut cleanly in half. Their four severed pieces sprayed blood as they fell.

"A Blood Qi Like an Ox expert!"

At the sight, the Taiping Sect followers all avoided the area where Li Jing stood.

"Kill every last one of them!! Don't let them climb up!"

Led by Li Jing, the bandits were all fired up. They had dominated the Lingbao County region for so long, yet this was the first time anyone other than government troops had come knocking at their gates.

"Yi Zheng, do you truly intend to oppose our Taiping Sect?"

From afar, Li Zongming shouted with an icy expression.

"What a joke. Can a mere branch Helm Master like you represent the entire Taiping Sect? Besides, things have come to this—cut the nonsense. Let's settle it with our hands!"

Yi Zheng answered tit for tat, his words dripping with mockery. His long spear pointed straight at Li Zongming, the muscles in his arm knotted tight, his oppressive presence at its peak.

"Good! Good!"

Li Zongming's gaze grew colder and colder. He wished he could immediately slice Yi Zheng, the man who had frustrated him at every turn, into a thousand pieces.

Under his command, the Taiping Sect followers surged against the stockade pass in wave after wave like the tide. Though they outnumbered the bandits ten to one, they were largely disorganized and undisciplined. The bandits, on the other hand, were quite well-trained. Under Yi Zheng's command, even as an endless stream of Taiping Sect followers rushed onto the pass, Iron Dragon Stockade's defensive formation remained as unbreakable as a fortress, impossible to breach.

Since he had to command the defense, Yi Zheng rarely acted himself. Li Jing, however, rampaged across the battlefield, his horse-chopping saber having already claimed dozens of enemies.

"Gao Han, go deal with Li Jing!"

"By your command!"

A sallow-faced man lunged straight at Li Jing, shouting, "Li Jing, you scoundrel! Gao has come to test you!!"

In the blink of an eye, Gao Han had charged onto the wall and attacked Li Jing.

Their blades collided like thunder exploding on level ground.

Both men shuddered. Li Jing grinned. "Take another strike from me!"

Clang clang clang clang clang clang!

Their feet shifted and turned as their bodies crossed in rapid flashes. Blades came and went, while fierce winds churned around them.

Gao Han's gold-backed ring saber flashed like golden light streaking across the earth. Its rolling blade light was terrifyingly sharp, like the blazing sun blooming with rosy radiance.

Li Jing's horse-chopping saber was as steady as the sky-propping white jade, its fierce winds gusting in bursts. It was truly like a flood dragon emerging from the abyss, enough to make hearts tremble in fear.

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"Not bad. What is your name? I do not kill nameless men beneath my blade!"

Li Jing remained calm and composed, asking with unhurried ease.

"Gao Han!!"

The veins on Gao Han's forehead bulged as he drove the saber techniques he had painstakingly cultivated for over a decade to their fullest, forcefully meeting Li Jing's heavy blade. Anyone who practiced martial arts could see that he was at a disadvantage.

"Damn it, why is Iron Dragon Stockade so difficult to take?! Who would have thought that aside from Yi Zheng, this Li Jing would also be someone formidable!"

Watching the two fight from afar, Li Zongming's heart grew grave.

Gao Han was his trusted confidant. He had achieved Blood Qi Like an Ox three years ago and was no weakling, yet he had been suppressed from beginning to end by Li Jing, the bandit chief.

"Should I use the City Breaking Crossbow?"

Li Zongming fell into a dilemma.

The City Breaking Crossbow was a heavy weapon of the Great Sheng Empire's army. Within eight hundred paces, it could pierce straight through armor, and its power was immense.

The Great Sheng Empire did not prohibit martial arts, nor did it ban sabers, spears, swords, or halberds.

Armor was forbidden. Crossbows were forbidden.

Privately hoarding armor, bows, or crossbows was a grave crime, tantamount to treason—your household would be confiscated and your head would roll.

Like the free United States of America: guns were allowed, but bulletproof vests were banned.

Through his connections, Li Zongming had acquired two City Breaking Crossbows, intended as trump cards for the day he rose in revolt.

If he exposed the siege crossbows too soon, he would very likely draw the authorities' attention.

No matter how far Great Sheng had declined, it had not yet fallen. It was still a colossal entity. If a military weapon as formidable as a City Breaking Crossbow appeared outside the imperial court, they would certainly send people to investigate.

"No. I can't expose the City Breaking Crossbows yet. If I don't expose them, I can barely cover up mobilizing men to attack Iron Dragon Stockade. As long as I grease a few palms above and below, it won't be a major problem."

"But if I use the City Breaking Crossbows and draw the authorities' attention, there's no way I'll be able to cover it up."

Li Zongming drew a deep breath and decided to do it himself.

This bunch of useless drunks under him could not be relied upon.

No one noticed a figure fishing in murky waters, disguised as a Taiping Sect follower, rushing across the Iron Chain Bridge. Without slowing down, he swiftly climbed toward the stockade's pass.

"Li Jing! Are you ready? I'm here to kill you!"

After awakening the memories of his past life, Lu Yuan's first small goal had been to destroy Iron Dragon Stockade. His current strength was not enough to wipe it out, but that did not stop him from fishing in murky waters and cutting off Yi Zheng's claws.

By a twist of fate, he had already removed Long Ying, one of those claws. Now it was time to remove Li Jing.

In truth, Lu Yuan knew perfectly well that with his talent, if he endured for another year or two and cultivated until he had sufficient strength, he could wipe out Iron Dragon Stockade in one stroke.

A gentleman does not stand beneath a crumbling wall. Coming here to fish in murky waters was a risk.

But he was not a machine. He could not be absolutely rational.

Since there was an opportunity, Lu Yuan did not want to keep waiting like a turtle hiding its head in its shell.

If he got the chance, he would kill Yi Zheng as well.

If not, he would first cut off his claws and slaughter a good number of bandits to vent his hatred.

"Charge! Kill the enemy and earn merit! Helm Master will never be stingy with his rewards! Gold and silver! Beautiful women! Martial arts!"

Li Zongming's confidants whipped the followers into attacking, constantly firing them up with all manner of promised rewards.

Splat!

A massive axe cleanly chopped off a Taiping Sect follower's head. The head flew high into the air before crashing down, while blood spurted more than a meter from the severed neck.

"A rabble of motley fools!!"

A burly man wielded a great axe atop the pass's walls, slaughtering freely, his eyes brimming with contempt.

In his eyes, aside from their numbers, the Taiping Sect followers had nothing commendable about them.

"Hm? Another one who doesn't know the meaning of death?"

Suddenly, the burly man saw a Taiping Sect follower in a strange mask swiftly climb up, actually taking the initiative to charge at him. He gave a contemptuous sneer.