"Find Second Master Zhou Wu first, by whatever means you can!"
G: Taiwan Novel Network, come here to read Taiwanese novels! t͜͜͡͡w͜͜͡͡k͜͜͜͡͡a͜͜͡͡n͜͜͡͡.c͜͜͡͡o͜͜͡͡m͜͜͡͡—it's amazing!
Huang Hui, locked in a stalemate with Zuo Kui, the First Chieftain of the Black Cloud Stronghold, turned to glance at Cao Yang, who was gradually being pushed onto the back foot. Then he shouted to Lu Yuan, Wang Chao, Chen Zheng, and the others behind him.
As long as they found where Second Master Zhou Wu was being held, they would not need to keep fighting. They could simply throw everything they had into rescuing him.
After all, they had come to save someone, not wipe out bandits.
"All right!"
The others answered and scattered.
They continued fighting their way deeper into the stronghold while searching for the place where Zhou Wu was being held.
Lu Yuan did not hesitate either. He kept his long saber in hand and fought his way forward.
To find Zhou Wu faster, he even activated Gale Steps.
In an instant, his speed more than doubled.
The bandits he encountered could not even make out his figure before their throats were slashed.
Even the bandit leaders at the Bright Energy and Hidden Energy realms could see only a blur before his icy blade was already at their throats.
They had no time to react before collapsing limply to the ground.
Lu Yuan searched nearly the entire stronghold, but still could not find where Zhou Wu was being held.
Could they have already killed him?
Lu Yuan furrowed his brow.
If that was the case, then they might have come all this way for nothing.
Just then, another group of dozens of bandits suddenly burst out from a secluded corner.
At their head was a burly man of exceptionally massive build.
His entire body was covered in thick iron armor.
He even wore an iron helmet, leaving only his eyes and mouth exposed.
He looked like a man made of iron.
"Kill him!"
A low, gravelly voice slowly came from the armored man's mouth.
At once, more than ten bandits charged straight at Lu Yuan.
"Thwip! Thwip! Thwip..."
Lu Yuan flicked his fingers, and iron pellets shot through the bandits' foreheads like bullets.
"All of you, attack! Take his head, and you'll be handsomely rewarded!"
The armored man let out a low growl.
"Kill!"
The dozens of remaining bandits showed no fear. They charged at Lu Yuan even more fiercely.
No matter how powerful this man was, he was still only at the Hidden Energy Realm, and his qi and blood were limited. Once they wore him down, he would be at their mercy.
In the martial world, the saying that enough ants could bring down an elephant had never been mere legend.
"Thwip! Thwip! Thwip..."
More iron pellets flew out, wrapped in fearsome bursts of force. They pierced either the bandits' brows or their throats, killing them with a single strike.
Even the few who slipped through and reached Lu Yuan were easily dispatched, one by one, with his saber.
Blood ran everywhere, and corpses littered the ground.
Lu Yuan looked up at the armored man again and flicked an iron pellet at him.
"Clang!"
But the armored man simply raised his hand and knocked the pellet away.
As expected, he is the Black Cloud Stronghold's third great Transformation Realm expert—and its Third Chieftain, Liu Chao.
Lu Yuan's gaze sharpened. This was the first time he had faced a true Transformation Realm martial artist.
Though he had many trump cards, fighting a Transformation Realm expert head-on would still be no easy feat.
"Such petty tricks, and you dare show them off before a master!"
Liu Chao snorted, then charged straight at Lu Yuan.
He was already a hulking man, and with his iron armor on, he came crashing toward Lu Yuan like a moving hill.
The earth seemed to tremble faintly beneath each step.
Lu Yuan had no intention of meeting him head-on. The man might have no weapon in his hands, but those iron fists in gauntlets, combined with his Transformation Realm cultivation, were probably more fearsome than real weapons.
Just as Liu Chao was about to reach him, Lu Yuan activated Gale Steps and instantly opened up some distance.
At the same time, he flicked his fingers, sending three iron pellets flying at Liu Chao.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
As expected, Liu Chao casually waved his hand and knocked all three pellets aside.
"Trash! If you've got the guts, stop and fight me!"
Unable to catch up with Lu Yuan, Liu Chao could only roar in fury.
Lu Yuan paid him no heed and kept using Gale Steps to dodge.
"Let's see how long you can keep running!"
Liu Chao sneered.
Movement techniques consumed qi and blood even faster than ordinary techniques. It would not be long before the boy exhausted himself and fell into Liu Chao's hands.
Lu Yuan remained silent and flicked out another iron pellet.
This one looked slightly larger than the others.
"Fool!"
Liu Chao scoffed. Did Lu Yuan really think a larger pellet could hurt him?
He raised his hand again and struck the iron pellet head-on.
"Boom!"
But the instant they collided, the pellet suddenly burst apart.
Red-and-white powder, mixed with fragments of iron, covered Liu Chao's eyes and mouth.
"Ah... my eyes... you coward..."
Liu Chao roared in pain, then charged at Lu Yuan like a madman.
Though he could no longer see, his keen hearing still let him roughly pinpoint Lu Yuan's location.
"Boom... rumble..."
Liu Chao charged like a savage beast, smashing blindly through everything in his path.
His iron fists swept wildly, reducing everything to rubble.
Even a brick wall was smashed open with a huge hole.
Lu Yuan could only keep using Gale Steps to dodge left and right.
That was the terror of the Transformation Realm. Even without his sight, Liu Chao could still unleash horrifying destruction.
In that regard, he was even better suited to a demolition crew than Master Huang.
If Lu Yuan had acted rashly and chosen to meet him head-on, one blow from Liu Chao might have left him badly injured, if not dead.
Fortunately, before coming to the Black Cloud Stronghold, he had gone to a blacksmith and commissioned some special iron pellets to use in emergencies.
The result did not disappoint. The pellets seemed even more effective than he had imagined.
Just one iron pellet had nearly crippled a true Transformation Realm expert.
"Thud!"
At that moment, a muffled thump rang out.
Liu Chao seemed to have run into a stone pillar, and for a moment he stood there, dazed.
This is my chance!
A cold glint flashed in Lu Yuan's eyes as he pushed Gale Steps to its limit.
In the span of a breath, he was behind Liu Chao, his long saber slashing out.
The first move of the Wind-Breaking Blade Technique, Wind-Slaying!
The blade flashed like a ribbon of light, heading straight for the back of Liu Chao's neck.
This was one of the weakest—and deadliest—parts of the human body.
Though it was covered in iron armor too, the inch-long blade aura slipped through it as easily as a knife through tofu.
"Thud!"
The head encased in the iron helmet crashed heavily to the ground.
The hill-sized body toppled with it.
"Phew..."
Lu Yuan let out a long breath.
This was probably the most exhausting and dangerous battle he had fought since entering the martial path.
If he had not mastered Gale Steps, commissioned those special iron pellets, and cultivated blade aura, then facing a Transformation Realm expert clad in iron armor would have meant certain death.
Fortunately, he had managed all of it.
And so, he had won!
He had not only emerged completely unharmed, but had also defeated a Transformation Realm expert while only at the Hidden Energy Realm!
Without wasting time, Lu Yuan headed toward the corner from which the bandits had just emerged. There, he found a rather well-hidden little door, its interior pitch-black.
"Click... creak... creeeak..."
A grating scraping sound came faintly from within.
Before long, a hand smeared with blood suddenly reached out from the darkness.
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