New Blood and Old Blade

When he returned to the open ground in front of the garrison barracks, Commander Chen was standing there, with four new faces huddled beside him. Their heads hung low, their faces pale with fright, and each wore an ill-fitting, tattered convict-soldier uniform. Their eyes were dull. Wei Dayong was leaning off to one side, his complexion still poor.

Hearing footsteps, Commander Chen turned his head. His dark face showed no expression. "Back? Good timing." He jerked his chin toward the four newcomers. "The squad's short-handed. You know the rules. Tonight, you lead one team and patrol the western section of the city. Wei Dayong will lead the other team and guard the north."

As he spoke, he pulled a small cloth pouch from his robes and shook out several dark-red pills. He pinched one out and gave it to Wang Quan, then gave another to Wei Dayong. He tucked the rest away.

"Exploding Pills. Get a good look at them." Commander Chen's voice was hoarse and left no room for argument. "If you run into an obstacle you absolutely can't get past, swallow one. It can forcibly raise your breath to the level of the Martial Realm and should last about half an hour. But remember this: once the effect wears off, you'll be half-crippled. Damage to your meridians will be the least of it. You might even lose your life. Don't use it unless you're at a dead end! If you use it, report everything clearly when you get back. If you don't, return it tomorrow morning exactly as it is. Understood?"

"Understood, Commander Chen." Wang Quan accepted the pill. It was slightly warm in his hand and carried a pungent smell. He carefully put it away. This thing was for gambling with one's life—and for sending one to an early grave.

Wei Dayong accepted his in silence and nodded.

"The men are yours." After speaking, Commander Chen glanced at the four newcomers, his gaze as sharp as a blade. "He's your commander. If you don't listen to him and die, you'll deserve it. If you come back alive, I'll deal with you myself!" With that, he turned and left, his footsteps thudding loudly.

Wang Quan walked up to the four men and looked them over one by one. One was thin and wiry, his eyes darting evasively. Another was somewhat sturdier, but his calves were trembling. A half-grown boy stood there with his lips pressed tightly together. The last was a middle-aged man with a dark face and rough hands, seemingly from a background of hard labor. He looked relatively steady, but panic was hidden in his eyes as well.

"My name is Wang Quan. Like you, I'm also a convict soldier. I only arrived yesterday." Wang Quan's voice was not loud, but it pressed down heavily. "What you did before or why you came here is none of my concern. Once you're here and wearing this uniform, you're all the same—consumables for the garrison, lives meant to fill the trenches. If you want to live a few more days, you'll listen to me."

The four men's faces grew even paler.

"Starting tonight, you'll follow me and patrol the western section of the city." Wang Quan paused, his gaze sweeping over them. "The rules are simple: obey orders, don't make a sound, keep your eyes sharp, and move quickly. No whispering during patrols, no running around. Watch my signals. Whoever breaks the rules—"

"Clang!" He drew his saber. Its edge gleamed with a cold radiance in the evening light, its tip slanting toward the ground. "This blade in my hand will send him on his way. There's no need to wait for military law. Understood?"

"Understood, understood..." the thin man stammered. The others hurriedly nodded as well.

"Louder! Haven't you eaten your fill?" Wang Quan shouted.

"Understood!" The few men yelled at the tops of their lungs, though their voices still trembled.

Wang Quan said no more. He took out the Exploding Pill and pinched it between his fingers. "Recognize this?"

Some shook their heads, while others stared blankly.

"An Exploding Pill. It can save your life, but it can also take it." Wang Quan's tone was flat, yet it made them shiver. "Swallow it, and your strength will surge temporarily. Your power and speed will both rise, giving you the bearing of someone in the Martial Realm. But only for half an hour. Once the force fades, you'll be like someone whose tendons have been pulled out, damaging both body and foundation. Don't touch it unless you're facing certain death. If you use it, you'll have to give an account when you return. Look carefully and remember it to the death. Understood?"

The four men's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets as they stared fixedly at the dark-red pill.

"All right. Follow me to collect your weapons and get something to eat. We'll set out once it's dark." Wang Quan stopped wasting words and turned away. Wei Dayong nodded at him, then led the other group of newcomers in the opposite direction.

Night had fallen completely.

Wang Quan led the four trembling recruits along the base of the old wall in the western section of the city. Outside the wall was a field of scattered rocks and sparse dead trees. Beyond that stretched a wilderness so black it seemed bottomless. Wind whimpered through the cracks in the wall like Ghost Cry. The moon gave off little light, so they could only rely on the qi-death lantern in hand to barely illuminate the uneven road beneath their feet.

It was quiet—so quiet it made their hearts race. Apart from the wind, there was only their own heavy breathing and the sound of their trembling footsteps. Wang Quan kept his ears pricked and his right hand pressed to his saber hilt. After mastering Bronze Armor Technique, his ears and eyes had grown somewhat sharper, but who knew what might be hiding in the darkness?

After walking for roughly half an hour, they were nearing an old watchtower that had collapsed on one side when Wang Quan suddenly raised his hand and clenched it into a fist.

The four behind him instantly froze, not daring to breathe loudly.

Wang Quan tilted his head to listen and sniffed. The wind carried a smell. Besides the earthy scent, there was also a faint trace of... decay.

He slowly drew his saber, then raised the lantern in his left hand and shone it into the shadows of the ruins.

The light swept over a figure. It had its back to them and moved stiffly as it rummaged through the rubble. Its clothes were rotten beyond recognition, and the exposed flesh was a bluish-grayish white.

The figure paused, then turned around extremely slowly.

Half its face had rotted away. Its eye sockets were black hollows, its flesh hung in tatters, and its mouth was half-open. A hoarse, rattling sound came from its throat. Its movements were slow, but the Death Qi in its stare, fixed upon living prey, drilled straight into their bones.

"Z-zombie!" the thin man shrieked and spun around to run.

"Shut up! Stand still!" Wang Quan barked quietly, but his voice was like a nail pinning the thin man in place. The man trembled like a sieve.

The other three were petrified as well. The sturdy one's face was pale as paper, and the half-grown boy clapped both hands over his mouth. Only the dark-faced middle-aged man, despite the sweat on his brow, still gripped the ill-fitting saber he had just received. His eyes remained fixed on the thing slowly shuffling toward them.

Wang Quan quickly assessed it. Slow, stiff, and not carrying a particularly strong odor. It did not even qualify as the lowest-grade Purple Corpse. It was merely an ordinary Walking Corpse, newly formed.

"What are you panicking for?" he said heavily, sweeping his eyes over the four men. "See it clearly? This is the sort of thing you'll be dealing with regularly. This is the weakest kind—a newly transformed Walking Corpse. It moves slowly, has a little more strength than an ordinary person, fears fire, and will die if you chop off its head or pierce its heart."

He pointed at the Walking Corpse. "The four of you will take turns going up to test it. I'll watch from here. Whoever loses his nerve or disobeys an order..." He did not finish, but his eyes made his meaning perfectly clear.

"B-boss, I-I really can't. My stomach hurts..." The thin man pulled a miserable face, and his legs went limp as he began to kneel.

"If you don't go up, you'll die right now." Wang Quan rotated the tip of his saber and pointed it at him, leaving no room for negotiation.

The thin man shuddered in fright and nearly wet himself.

"I'll do it!" Unexpectedly, it was the half-grown boy. His face was deathly pale, but there was a ruthless glint in his eyes, as though he had forcibly crushed his fear down. He gripped his saber with both hands, inhaled, then charged forward with a yell.

His movements were clumsy, and his steps floated. He was relying entirely on a reckless burst of courage. When he reached the Walking Corpse, it happened to reach out to grab him. The boy squeezed his eyes shut in fright and swung his saber down.

Crack!

The saber struck the Walking Corpse's shoulder and sank in slightly, leaking some blackish-red, viscous fluid. The Walking Corpse swayed, but its claws remained outstretched.

"Fall back!" Wang Quan shouted.

The boy scrambled backward, breathing heavily. His face held both fear and an abnormal excitement. At least he had struck it.

"Next." Wang Quan looked toward the sturdier man.

The man's lips trembled. He glanced at Wang Quan's icy eyes, then at the approaching ghostly thing. Gritting his teeth, he charged as well. He had a little more strength and aimed for the neck, bringing his saber down in a slash!

The saber cleaved halfway through the neck before getting stuck. The Walking Corpse let out a rasp and swung its other hand. The man's soul nearly flew out of his body. He released the saber, turned, and ran, hiding behind Wang Quan before collapsing onto the ground. A patch of his trousers was wet.

"Useless." Wang Quan spat out the two words coldly and stopped looking at him. His gaze fell on the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man spat onto the ground, gripped his saber with both hands, and planted his feet more steadily than the previous two. He circled to the Walking Corpse's side, dodged a claw, let out a muffled roar, and hacked viciously at the back of its knee!

The Walking Corpse's leg buckled, and it dropped to its knees. The middle-aged man did not stop. Reversing his grip, he hacked fiercely into the back of its neck!

The blade sank in more than halfway. The neck was almost severed, and the head hung to one side, yet the thing still struggled to crawl back up.

"That's enough. Fall back." Wang Quan nodded. This man was decent. He knew to strike vital points and dared to commit to the blow.

The middle-aged man immediately retreated, panting heavily as sweat rolled down his face. Yet something more had appeared in his eyes.

At last, it was the thin man's turn. He was already paralyzed with fear. Forced forward by Wang Quan's gaze, he charged with a wail, eyes shut tight, wildly waving the saber in his hand.

The Walking Corpse's neck was nearly severed, and its movements had slowed considerably, but its claws still groped about. The thin man charged too close. His foot caught on a stone, and he fell straight into the Walking Corpse's arms!

The Walking Corpse's empty eye sockets "looked" toward him, and its bluish-gray claws reached for his neck!

"Idiot!" Wang Quan cursed and suddenly drove off with his feet! The force brought by his minor mastery of Bronze Armor Technique made him a notch faster than before, and he shot out like an arrow loosed from a bow!

Wind Slaying Saber Technique—Shadow Sweep!

The saber light flashed beneath the dim yellow lantern. A cold gleam swept across the Walking Corpse's outstretched arm and crooked neck.

Puff! Puff!

Two muffled sounds rang out almost simultaneously. A section of bluish-gray arm flew into the air, followed by the already-loose rotten head spinning away and rolling off to the side with a rumble.

The headless corpse swayed, then fell face-first to the ground and stopped moving. Only a little black blood seeped from the severed neck. Nothing else happened.

[Slain low-grade Walking Corpse, obtained Skill Points: 2]

A cold notification sounded in Wang Quan's mind.

Wang Quan sheathed his saber. Without even glancing at the thin man sprawled on the ground with his trousers soaked through, he swept his gaze over the other three, who were still shaken, then fixed it on the middle-aged man. "You. What's your name?"

The middle-aged man panted and wiped away his sweat. "R-reporting to you, Boss. Shi Zhu. I used to be a stonemason."

"Mm." Wang Quan acknowledged him without asking anything more. He walked over to the Walking Corpse and prodded it with the tip of his saber to confirm it was truly dead. Then he crouched down and felt around inside its tattered clothes—there was nothing. This lowest-grade thing was useless apart from giving him two Skill Points.

"Continue the patrol." Wang Quan rose, his tone as casual as if he had just stepped on an ant.

He walked ahead, sinking his mind into his consciousness. Two Skill Points were exactly enough to max out Bronze Armor Technique. Without hesitation, he added them.

[Would you like to consume 2 Skill Points to raise Bronze Armor Technique to "Perfection"?]

"Yes!"

A surging stream of heat exploded even more violently than before! This time, it did not merely wash through his skin, flesh, tendons, and bones. Even his internal organs seemed wrapped in something thick and resilient, scoured from within! His flesh tightened until it was rigid and hard, as though he had truly gained another layer of bronze skin. An itch and swelling sensation spread through the gaps between his bones, making him feel sturdier. The strength in his body grew as well, and even his breathing seemed to flow more smoothly.

Everything about Bronze Armor Technique became clear in his mind—how to use clever force to unload power when taking a hit, how to concentrate his breath in one place to withstand an impact, and even how to use the hardness of his body to rebound force back at an enemy. All of it became instinctive, built into his body.

[Current realm of Bronze Armor Technique: Perfection]

[Notice: This technique has reached the limit of its current level. You may attempt to derive a new path and explore the possibility of breaking through the Mortal Grade and entering a higher tier. Skill Points required: 5.]

"Perfection... I can derive a new path?" Wang Quan felt the considerably more solid strength in his body and pondered. This crude technique, trained to its limit, only made him tougher and stronger than ordinary people. He was still far from being able to deal with truly formidable demons and monsters. Derivation required five points. He would have to kill two and a half more Walking Corpses like this—or...

He suppressed the thought and restrained his aura. His perfected Bronze Armor Technique was somewhat stronger, but he was still nowhere near the point of being able to swagger wherever he pleased. In this pitch-black night, deadly things lurked everywhere. He could not afford to be careless.

Behind him, Shi Zhu pulled the limp thin man to his feet. The half-grown boy and the other man also struggled to keep up. The four men watched Wang Quan's back as he walked ahead, their expressions complicated. They were terrified to the point of death, yet they also felt an indescribable respect. This new commander was not very old, but his hand was truly ruthless, and his blade was fast. When he saw that ghostly thing, he had not even blinked...