First to Scale!

First to scale?

Even if Ding Hao was terrible at history, he knew that the merit of being first to scale the walls was not something earned merely by climbing onto the enemy battlements!

After reaching the wall, one had to hold that stretch of battlement securely, allowing one's own soldiers to pour through the breach in rapid succession!

That was what was called—the merit of being first to scale!

So Ding Hao had known from the very beginning that getting onto the wall was only the start of claiming his merit!

Sure enough.

The moment Ding Hao leaped onto the battlements, the barbarian soldiers defending the city roared at once. "A Great Zhou monkey has climbed up! Kill him!"

In an instant.

Five or six Northern Barbarian soldiers raised the curved blades unique to barbarian troops and hacked at Ding Hao, their edges flashing with cold light beneath the sun!

"Kill!"

Ding Hao's blood was already boiling. After all, he wanted to cast off his death-row prisoner status.

Only by claiming the merit of being first to scale could he do so. Anyone who stood in the way of his merit was his mortal enemy!

He swept out with his blade. As a third-rank martial warrior with Natural Barbarian Strength, the force behind this slash was astonishing!

Not only did it send the barbarian soldiers' curved blades flying at once, but his whistling blade flashed past, cutting the oncoming barbarians cleanly in half at the waist!

Splat! Splat!

Blood and intestines sprayed through the air as an entire squad of barbarian soldiers was instantly slaughtered!

As the barbarian soldiers died, numerous orbs of light immediately dropped from their corpses.

But at this moment, Ding Hao had no time to collect them. He began fighting and slaughtering the barbarian soldiers charging in from all around him!

Though every Northern Barbarian soldier was tall, broad, savage, and ferocious, standing a full head taller than Ding Hao's seven-foot frame—

Ding Hao relied on his third-rank martial warrior cultivation and his two special talents, Natural Barbarian Strength and Light as a Swallow, and feared nothing!

As his blade rose and fell, the charging barbarian soldiers were either cut in half at the waist or beheaded with a single stroke. It was brutally bloody!

In the span of barely a dozen breaths.

The Death Row Camp soldiers below the pass discovered the breach where Ding Hao stood.

"Someone has scaled the wall first!"

"Someone's scaled the wall first!"

"Charge! Kill!"

At once, every surviving Death Row Camp soldier grew excited.

Though the merit of being first to scale was not theirs, at least they could use this chance to stay alive. And if they truly managed to breach the city because of it—

Even if they could not shed their death-row prisoner status, they would surely receive some reward!

In mere moments, numerous death-row prisoners climbed onto the wall through Ding Hao's section. Chaos immediately erupted atop the walls of Duan Yun Pass.

"Good!!"

At the rear.

Ding Yishan's eyes widened in shock when he witnessed this scene!

Before this, even he had never imagined that someone among the Death Row Camp soldiers could actually be the first to scale the walls!

Now that a breach had opened on the battlements, it would grant them an enormous advantage in breaking through Duan Yun Pass!

"Divine Phoenix Army, charge with me!"

Without hesitation, Ding Yishan immediately led more than ten thousand Divine Phoenix Army soldiers into the attack!

At that moment, atop the battlements.

Man Poqi, the Northern Barbarian general responsible for guarding Duan Yun Pass, immediately noticed the chaos caused by Ding Hao's first ascent!

"Damn it!

"Aren't these Great Zhou death-row prisoners? How could such a powerful third-rank martial warrior have slipped in among them?!"

It had to be known.

Whether in Great Zhou or among the Northern Barbarians, third-rank martial warriors were relatively rare. Ordinary soldiers were mostly only first or second rank!

Ding Hao's performance in particular was enough to rival that of a fourth- or fifth-rank martial warrior!

"You two, go kill him!"

Man Poqi immediately ordered two of his personal guards to attack.

The two guards, a man and a woman, were both fifth-rank martial warriors. With only a few swift flashes, they reached the section of battlement where Ding Hao stood!

The instant they arrived, they casually slaughtered quite a few death-row prisoners nearby. Then, joining forces, they raised blade and sword and charged at Ding Hao.

"Great Zhou monkey, don't you dare run wild!"

"Die!"

There were experts!

Ding Hao immediately sensed that the two enemies possessed considerable martial prowess!

Sure enough, the instant their blades clashed, Ding Hao was knocked back. Yet the two attacking enemies did not have it easy either; both staggered back several steps, their blood and qi churning from the impact!

"What?!"

"How is this possible?!"

The two enemies were utterly shocked. They had never expected that, despite being two ranks above Ding Hao and joining forces, they would fail to gain even the slightest advantage!

Ding Hao's expression turned grave as well. He knew he had benefited from his Natural Barbarian Strength!

Without that brute strength, he would absolutely have been no match for the two of them!

"Kill!"

Those thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, and both sides had already tangled together once more!

Metal rang against metal, blades collided with swords. The two enemies still had technique, while Ding Hao relied purely on brute force, hacking out blow after explosive blow!

For a time, the battle was evenly matched!

"Damn it! Pick them up, pick them up, pick them up! Fuse all the attributes!"

But one must not forget—Ding Hao could pick up drops from corpses!

By now, he had killed quite a few Northern Barbarian soldiers nearby, along with the dead convicts. In an instant, a massive amount of attributes flowed into his body once more!

Suddenly, a surge of heat rushed through him, and Ding Hao advanced directly from the third rank to the fourth rank.

Though it was only a difference of one rank, it marked a transformation from the early stage to the middle stage!

In that instant, Ding Hao felt the strength in his entire body multiply several times over!

"Haha!"

"Die for me!!"

Ding Hao burst into laughter and immediately swung his blade, hacking furiously at the two enemies!

A Fourth-rank Martial Artist combined with Natural Barbarian Strength—the two enemies were completely unable to withstand him!

Amid screams of disbelief, the two were cleaved apart on the spot. Before their two clusters of light could even fall, Ding Hao had already picked them up.

Ding! Congratulations, Host, for picking up 20 points of Vitality, 10 points of Comprehension, and 3 points of Spirit!

Ding! Congratulations, Host, for picking up 20 points of Vitality, 8 points of Comprehension, and 4 points of Spirit!

After they fused, Ding Hao's strength immediately rose another notch!

From then on, no one atop this stretch of wall could stand against Ding Hao. More and more convicts poured up, beginning to expand outward!

"Damn it!"

This scene thoroughly enraged Man Poqi. No longer bothering with anything else, he seized a sharp broadsword and charged straight at Ding Hao!

"Another expert!!"

Ding Hao was startled, clearly sensing the terrifying aura emanating from Man Poqi.

He was absolutely no ordinary martial artist. Even if Ding Hao became several times stronger, he likely still would not be able to take a single slash from him. They were not on the same level!

Fortunately, at that moment, a tall figure clad in silver armor and wielding a war blade leaped up from below the wall. It was none other than Ding Yishan!

"Man Poqi!"

"A dignified Northern Barbarian general, an expert of the True Martial Realm—are you going to bully a mere soldier?"

"Come, come, come! Soldiers against soldiers, generals against generals. Today, I, Ding Yishan, will seek your instruction!"

The moment Ding Yishan arrived, he blocked Man Poqi for Ding Hao!

The two commanding generals were immensely powerful. At once, they fought atop the wall with thunderous clangs of metal, terrifying astral force sweeping through several meters around them!

Not a single soldier could approach the battlefield between them!

"Hiss!"

"So strong!"

Even Ding Hao could not help drawing in a sharp breath at the sight!

Whether it was Ding Yishan or Man Poqi, their martial prowess was no different from the martial arts masters he had seen portrayed in his previous life!

"But a realm like that has little to do with me right now!"

Ding Hao promptly snapped back to his senses, hurriedly raising his blade and charging about the wall with loud howls, slaughtering as he went while picking up whatever dropped.

After all, if he wanted to firmly secure the merit of being first to ascend, he had to win first!

Gradually, as large numbers of Divine Phoenix Army soldiers climbed up Duan Yun Pass—especially after they opened Duan Yun Pass's gates from within—

In less than half an hour, all of Duan Yun Pass was completely declared breached!

Of the five thousand barbarian soldiers, some died, while others were captured!

At last, accompanied by a shrill scream, even Man Poqi, the Northern Barbarian commander, was cleaved to death atop the wall by Ding Yishan!

Seeing this—

Ding Hao was the first to rush over. The moment Man Poqi died, countless light orbs came clattering down, their multicolored radiance flashing before his eyes!!