Eight hundred enemy soldiers closed in like an iron barrel.
Ahead, Elder Zhao's three hundred private soldiers drew their bows and nocked arrows, the arrowheads shimmering with a sinister blue glow in the setting sun, clearly poisoned.
Behind them, five hundred wolf cavalrymen raised their curved sabers, the fangs of the snow wolves still stained with bits of flesh and blood.
In the middle were six hundred Crimson Firmament Sect disciples.
Senior Sister Yun stood at the front of the formation, her green robes snapping in the wind.
She slowly drew her longsword, the blade as crimson as blood, reflecting the afterglow of sunset like something burning.
"Zhao Jinglong," she said in an icy voice, "you colluded with the barbarians and ambushed your fellow disciples. Today, as an Enforcement Disciple of the Crimson Firmament Sect, I sentence you to death."
"Death?" Elder Zhao looked up to the sky and laughed. "Yun Qingxuan, who do you think you are? This is the Northern Territory, not Crimson Firmament Mountain! If I kill all of you and pin it on the barbarians, who will ever know?"
His smile vanished abruptly as he waved his hand. "Release arrows!"
Swish, swish, swish!
The poisoned arrows rained down like locusts!
"Defend!" Senior Sister Yun swept her longsword in an arc.
Five hundred Crimson Firmament disciples swung their swords in unison, their sword light weaving into a net that shattered the majority of the arrows.
Yet dozens still slipped through, shooting into the formation and drawing a chorus of muffled groans.
Three disciples were struck and collapsed to the ground, their wounds rapidly turning black.
"The arrows are heavily poisoned!" someone cried out in alarm.
"Don't pull them out!" Li Xuan barked. "The poison has entered the bloodstream, pulling the arrows will only make you die faster!"
He ripped a piece from his collar and rapidly bandaged the area above the wound of the nearest disciple, slowing the spread of the toxic blood.
However, Elder Zhao would not afford them any breathing room.
"Wolf cavalry! Charge!"
Tuoba Shan sneered viciously, pointing his curved saber forward. "Kill every last southerner!"
Five hundred wolf cavalrymen surged forward like a black torrent with a thunderous roar!
The ground shook, and a monstrous killing intent soared into the skies!
"Change formation! Crimson Flames Burn the Heavens!"
Senior Sister Yun raised her longsword high, and the five hundred disciples quickly shifted their formation. The sword light surged like fire, forming a crimson barrier at the very front.
The wolf cavalry crashed into the barrier!
Boom!!!
Shockwaves exploded outward, sending the front rank of wolf cavalry tumbling into the dust!
Yet there were simply too many wolf cavalrymen.
Wave after wave rushed forward, utterly fearless of death.
The Crimson Flame Sword Formation began to waver.
"Hold your ground!" Senior Sister Yun cleaved three wolf cavalrymen in a single stroke, but the recoil forced her back three steps, blood spilling from the corner of her mouth.
She was at the seventh layer of Body Tempering, but consecutive battles coupled with uncleared poison left her with only six tenths of her strength remaining.
"Senior Sister Yun!" Li Xuan dashed to the front of the formation, sweeping his Black Scale Saber to cleave open the throats of two snow wolves. "Go direct the formation, I'll hold this spot!"
"You..."
"Stop talking nonsense!" Li Xuan forced a barbarian centurion back with a single strike. "If this drags on any longer, we'll all die!"
Gritting her teeth, Senior Sister Yun retreated into the formation.
Li Xuan stood alone at the front of the line.
Facing five hundred wolf cavalrymen.
And... Elder Zhao's three hundred private soldiers.
"Kid, you've certainly got courage." Tuoba Shan urged his mount forward, pointing his curved saber at Li Xuan. "But courage can't save you. Today, I'm going to avenge the young chieftain!"
He moved.
The full pressure of the seventh layer of Body Tempering burst forth as his curved saber cleaved toward Li Xuan's head like a waning moon!
Fast! Fierce!
Daring not to meet it head-on, Li Xuan unleashed his Shadow Step and sidestepped to evade.
The blade edge grazed his lapel, carving a three-zhang-long trench into the ground.
"Dodge?" Tuoba Shan sneered. "Let's see how many strikes you can dodge!"
The curved saber slashed down once more, its blade light cascading like a waterfall to seal off all paths of retreat.
Gritting his teeth, Li Xuan brought the Black Scale Saber up in an upward slash.
Clang!!!
The two blades collided.
Li Xuan's webbing split open, and the Black Scale Saber nearly slipped from his grip. His entire body went flying backward, crashing into and overturning three Crimson Firmament disciples before he managed to steady himself.
At that moment, Tuoba Shan's second strike had already arrived.
This time, Li Xuan did not dodge.
He circulated the Blood Fiend Bone Forging Technique, guiding the battlefield's killing intent into his body.
His bones emitted a series of explosive pops.
His strength surged violently!
"Slash—!"
The Black Scale Saber met the curved saber head-on!
Boom!!!
This time, Li Xuan retreated only two steps.
Tuoba Shan also fell back half a step, a flash of astonishment crossing his eyes.
"Not bad at all." He licked his lips. "But it's still not enough!"
The curved saber rose again, its momentum resembling a violent storm.
Li Xuan could only struggle desperately to hold his ground.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
Thirteen strikes in rapid succession, each heavier than the last.
Three more wounds were added to Li Xuan's body.
His left arm was slashed open, deep to the bone. His right leg took a blow, bleeding profusely...
Yet with every strike he took, the killing intent poured into him by another fraction.
The Blood Fiend Bone Forging Technique operated frantically.
[Blood Fiend Bone Forging Technique Layer One: Great Accomplishment → Perfection] [Effects: Bone Hardness +100%, Strength +50%]
It succeeded!
The first layer had reached perfection!
Li Xuan felt as though every bone in his body had been reforged anew, becoming as hard as dark iron.
His strength surged by a full fifty percent, and his single-arm strength now reached at least a thousand catties!
"Come again!"
He took the initiative to attack!
The Black Scale Saber struck out like an angry dragon leaving the sea, chopping straight for Tuoba Shan's face!
Tuoba Shan's expression shifted slightly as he crossed his blade to parry.
Clang!!!
This time, Tuoba Shan was forced back three steps, horse and rider together!
"How is that possible?!" he cried out in shock.
Li Xuan gave him no breathing room whatsoever.
The blade light surged like a tide, continuous and unbroken.
Wind Breaking Style! Stream Breaking Style!
Though it lacked the explosive power of the Mountain Slaying Style, its strengths lay in speed and endless continuity.
Tuoba Shan found himself suppressed for a moment!
Setting his jaw at the sight, Elder Zhao's expression turned gloomy. "General Tuoba, do you need assistance?"
"No need!" Tuoba Shan roared. "I can kill him!"
He bit the tip of his tongue, spraying a mouthful of vital essence onto the curved saber.
The blade flushed with a bloody light.
"Blood Wolf Slash!"
The curved saber swept down, its blade light resembling a bloody moon accompanied by the mournful howling of wolves!
This was the secret saber technique of the Blood Wolf Tribe, burning vital essence to multiply its destructive power!
Li Xuan's pupils contracted.
He couldn't dodge it!
He had to take it head-on!
channeling his entire reservoir of vital energy and blood, Li Xuan thrust the Black Scale Saber upward!
Clang—!!!
The deafening crash was like thunder!
Li Xuan was sent blasting away, snapping a bowl-thick tree in half before crashing to the ground and vomiting a mouthful of blood.
The Black Scale Saber slipped from his grasp, embedding itself into the earth ten paces away.
"Hahahaha!" Tuoba Shan laughed wildly. "Kid, let's see you..."
Before he could finish his sentence.
Li Xuan stood up.
Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, his gaze was as cold as iron.
"Is that all?"
Tuoba Shan's smile froze.
That strike of his should have been enough to kill someone at the seventh layer of Body Tempering. Yet Li Xuan had taken it head-on and was actually able to stand back up?
Monster!
"My turn."
Li Xuan walked step by step toward the Black Scale Saber.
With every step he took, the killing intent surrounding him grew a fraction denser.
The aura of death, the scent of blood, and the lingering resentment upon the battlefield rushed into his body like a hundred rivers returning to the sea.
His bones were undergoing a transformation.
[Blood Fiend Bone Forging Technique Layer Two: Novice] [Effects: Bone Hardness +150%, Strength +80%]
The second layer of the Blood Fiend Bone Forging Technique—broken through!
Li Xuan grasped the hilt.
Drew the blade.
Turned around.
And looked at Tuoba Shan.
"Round two."
He moved.
This time, there were no flashy moves.
There was only a single strike.
A simple, straightforward strike.
A direct cleave.
Yet this strike was as fast as lightning and as heavy as a collapsing mountain!
Tuoba Shan had no time to react at all, able only to instinctively raise his blade in a parry.
Clang—!!!
The curved saber shattered!
The momentum of the Black Scale Saber did not wane, cleaving inward from Tuoba Shan's left shoulder and bursting out through his right ribs!
Sawn clean in half!
Blood spouted like a fountain!
Tuoba Shan stared with wide eyes at his own splitting body, disbelief filling his gaze.
"You... you..."
He collapsed.
Dead!
Li Xuan turned around and looked at Elder Zhao.
"Your turn."
Elder Zhao's face turned ashen.
He had never expected that Tuoba Shan would actually die.
Slain in a single stroke by a kid at the fifth layer of Body Tempering!
"D-don't come closer!" Elder Zhao retreated. "I am an elder of the Iron Fist martial arts school. If you kill me, the martial arts school will not let you off!"
"The martial arts school?" Li Xuan smiled. "If the master knew you colluded with the enemy, he'd be the first to kill you."
He pressed forward step by step.
Elder Zhao's three hundred private soldiers wanted to block him, but a single glare from Li Xuan drove them back in fright.
That was a gaze forged in a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
Like a fiend god.
No one dared to block his path.
"Li Xuan!" Senior Sister Yun shouted from within the formation. "Leave a live captive! We need evidence!"
"Evidence isn't needed," Li Xuan said.
He had already walked up to Elder Zhao.
Elder Zhao gritted his teeth and thrust out his sword.
He was at Body Tempering Layer Six, and his swordsmanship was seasoned.
But Li Xuan merely raised a hand.
He caught the blade with his bare left hand.
Crack.
The fine steel longsword was crushed to pieces by his bare hands!
"Impossible..." Elder Zhao was horrified.
Li Xuan gripped his saber in his right hand and slashed down with a single stroke.
Elder Zhao wanted to dodge, but his body felt as though it were nailed to the spot, unable to move at all.
Squelch.
His head flew into the air.
Blood sprayed three feet high.
Elder Zhao's headless corpse wavered and collapsed.
The three hundred private soldiers saw this and instantly scattered in panic.
"Kill!" Senior Sister Yun seized the opportunity to give the order.
The Scarlet Firmament disciples descended like tigers upon a flock of sheep, pursuing the routed soldiers.
As for the wolf cavalry, seeing that their commanding general was already dead, they lost their fighting spirit as well and began to retreat.
A battle of desperate straits was reversed just like that.
Yet Li Xuan did not lower his guard.
He looked toward the north.
Billows of dust were rolling across the horizon over there.
A greater trouble was coming.
Before you continue