Peak of Body Forging, Level 7

The month of patrols had finally reached its last day.

By the time Li Jinshui led his squad back to camp, night had fallen.

Er Gou and the other two followed behind him, their steps unsteady, their faces ashen, as if every last drop of strength had been drained from them. But Li Jinshui strode ahead with a steady gait and even breathing, still with enough energy to glance back before entering the camp.

In the direction of Eagle Beak Ravine, the dark mountains loomed like crouching beasts.

"Go get some rest. Roll call tomorrow morning," he said.

Er Gou opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, he only nodded and dragged his legs toward the barracks.

For the past month, the three remaining members of Squad Jia had followed him out of camp every day, wandering through the mountain gullies and encountering Di soldiers six times. They had fought five battles, large and small.

A fresh scar had appeared on Er Gou's left arm. Zhang Shuan'er had been replaced by his younger brother, Zhang Yishuan—Zhang Shuan'er had died in a skirmish on the eighth day, an arrow from the Di People piercing his throat.

Li Jinshui stood there watching them walk away. Only then did he turn and return to his cramped barracks room.

The door closed.

He did not light a lamp. Sitting cross-legged on his bed in the darkness, he brought up the panel:

[Name: Li Jinshui]

[Realm: Body Forging, Level 7 (Peak)]

[Techniques: Iron Shirt (Level 7, 20/40), Wolf Killing Seven Forms (Beginner, 48/50), Tiger Walk (Minor Achievement, 7/30)]

[Points: 1]

He was two points short of breaking through to the eighth level of Iron Shirt.

He was two points short of reaching minor achievement in Wolf Killing Seven Forms.

Tiger Walk had already reached minor achievement. His footwork let him dodge and weave over short distances, and the power of his seven forms of blade techniques had increased by at least thirty percent.

He had not endured this month for nothing.

Across five skirmishes, he had slain twenty-three enemies, including two squad leaders at Body Forging, Level 6, and a hundred-man commander at Body Forging, Level 7. He had poured every point into his techniques and blade skills, forcing his way to the peak of the seventh level.

He closed his eyes and circulated Iron Shirt, feeling the surging force within him course through his meridians.

At the peak of Body Forging, Level 7, he was only one step away from Level 8.

And only two levels away from Level 9.

Only two levels away from that man—

He opened his eyes. Though he could see nothing in the darkness, he knew that man lived in a nearby barracks room and came to stand at his door every night to glance over this way.

Wang Tiezhu.

For the past month, Wang Tiezhu had sent people to watch Li Jinshui from the shadows every day.

Li Jinshui knew, but pretended not to. He left camp, patrolled, killed enemies, returned to camp, trained, and slept—every step methodical, every step beyond reproach.

He was like a rock, letting others squeeze him, size him up, and trample him beneath their feet.

But only the rock knew what lay hidden underneath.

The next day, at the hour of the Dragon.

Drums thundered across the training ground as the entire Third Battalion assembled.

Li Jinshui appeared in the ranks right on time. The three remaining members of Squad Jia stood behind him. Though exhausted, they all held their backs straight.

On the raised platform stood Camp Commander Zhou Kui, clad in iron armor with his hands clasped behind his back.

He was in his early forties, dark-faced, with a saber scar slashing diagonally from his left eyebrow to the corner of his mouth. Even without speaking, he seemed like a mountain bearing down on the entire training ground.

Above Body Forging was the Inner Strength Realm. Above that came the Pulse-Opening Realm, whose experts were already among the strongest in North-Rejecting City.

Next came the Origin-Opening Realm, where one could release true qi beyond the body, and the Mystic-Penetration Realm, where one could fly through the air. As for what lay beyond, he had no idea.

Li Jinshui had not learned much about the world.

As its name suggested, the Inner Strength Realm tempered the internal organs, sinews, and bones. With blood and qi brimming like a furnace, one could wield a thousand catties with every gesture. Ten warriors at the ninth level of Body Forging surrounding someone in the early stage of Inner Strength might not be able to win.

Zhou Kui was in the Inner Strength Realm.

And he was said to have reached the middle stage of Inner Strength, able to kill warriors at the ninth level of Body Forging as easily as chickens.

"Listen up." Zhou Kui's voice was not loud, but everyone heard it clearly, as if he were speaking right into their ears. "The scouts reported last night that a force of roughly three hundred Di soldiers bypassed North-Rejecting City and headed west."

The training ground fell utterly silent.

They had bypassed North-Rejecting City?

There were more than a dozen villages to the west, home to thousands of people—

"Here's the latest news from this morning." Zhou Kui paused. The saber scar on his face seemed to deepen. "West River Village, Willow Ditch, and Blue Stone Ridge. All three villages are gone."

Gone.

The word struck every heart like a dull hammer.

Everyone knew what it meant for a village to be gone.

Li Jinshui stood still, his fingers curling slightly.

He remembered a fragment of the original owner's memories: a place called Blue Stone Ridge. After his parents died, he had considered going there to seek help from a distant relative, but later heard that the relative had moved away long ago and gave up on the idea.

What if he had gone?

What if that relative had never moved away?

Would he have ended up like those villagers, nothing but a charred corpse?

"By the general's order," Zhou Kui said, pulling him back to the present, "the entire Third Battalion will deploy to pursue this force of Di soldiers. We want them alive if possible, dead if not. Don't let a single one escape."

"Yes!" The training ground answered as one.

Zhou Kui's gaze swept over the crowd. "This pursuit will be fraught with danger. The Di soldiers may not be numerous, but anyone who dares bypass North-Rejecting City must be an elite. I won't force anyone to go. Those willing, take one step forward."

Silence hung over the training ground for a moment.

Then one man stepped out of the ranks.

Li Jinshui.

He did not hesitate or even think about it.

He had endured a month of patrols. He had reached the peak of Body Forging, Level 7. His blade skills were close to minor achievement. He needed more points and a faster breakthrough. The heads of Di soldiers were the best source of points.

What was more—

The corner of his eye swept toward someone in the crowd.

Wang Tiezhu was standing there, watching him, surprise flashing in his eyes.

Surprised about what?

Surprised that the man who had been bullied for a month would still dare to throw himself into the line of fire?

Li Jinshui expressionlessly turned his gaze away and took his place at the front.

Another man stepped out of the ranks.

Wang Tiezhu.

He strode forward and stood shoulder to shoulder with Li Jinshui, looking straight ahead as if he did not know him.

One soldier after another followed. Warriors at the ninth level of Body Forging, the eighth, the seventh... Soon, more than half the Third Battalion had stepped forward.

Zhou Kui nodded. "Good. Muster the troops. We leave in fifteen minutes."

Fifteen minutes later, nearly five hundred men of the Third Battalion marched out of camp and hurried west.

Li Jinshui walked in the middle of the column, with the three members of Squad Jia close behind him. Er Gou came up beside him and whispered, "Squad Leader, that Wang fellow's going too... Is he after you?"

Li Jinshui did not answer.

He did not know whether Wang Tiezhu was after him.

But he knew this was an opportunity.

Wang Tiezhu was at the peak of Body Forging, Level 9, only one step away from entering the Inner Strength Realm. In a head-on fight, Li Jinshui had no chance.

But a battlefield was chaos, and blades had no eyes. Who could say for sure whose hand had killed whom?

He remembered the morning of that day in Chapter 12, when Wang Tiezhu had blocked the entrance to his barracks room, looking at him as if he wanted to kill him.

And those words: "One month. Not a day less."

Li Jinshui lowered his head, the corner of his mouth lifting in the faintest smile before smoothing out again.

It was time to settle the score for that month.

The troops hurried on for two hours, crossed two mountain ridges, and finally reached their first destination—West River Village.

Li Jinshui stopped at the entrance to the village.

The wind brought a choking wave of burnt stench.

The village was gone.

It had not been burned down. It had been wiped away.

The remains of the houses still gave off wisps of smoke. Corpses lay haphazardly across the road, in the courtyards, and beside the well. There were old people, women, and children. The smallest child lay facedown, an arrow lodged in his back, its shaft thicker than his arm.

The blood had dried in dark brown patches, like filthy water splashed across the ground.

Someone began retching.

Someone else clenched their sword hilt until their knuckles turned white.

Li Jinshui stood motionless, staring at the child lying facedown.

He remembered his previous life, the truck that had hit him on his way home from working overtime.

He also remembered this life, and Li Jinbao's smiling face as he was dragged out of his home.

How far could a person go in killing another person?

He did not know.

But he knew that the child lying facedown would never have to find out.

"Search," Zhou Kui called from up ahead, his voice as cold as iron in winter. "See if there are any survivors."

The soldiers spread out, searching among the ruins and corpses.

Li Jinshui stepped into the village.

Something soft squished beneath his foot. He looked down. It was a severed hand, its fingers curled as if it had been trying to grasp something before it died.

He stepped around it and kept walking.

When he reached the center of the village, he saw the old pagoda tree.

Seven or eight people hung from its branches, men and women, old and young. Ropes dug into their necks, and their faces were swollen beyond recognition. The youngest looked less than twenty. His clothes had not yet burned away, leaving swathes of charred flesh exposed.

Li Jinshui stood beneath the tree and looked up.

The wind blew from the west. The corpses swayed gently, as if they were still struggling.

His fingers curled again.

"Squad Leader..." Er Gou's voice came from behind him, trembling. "Let's... let's go..."

Li Jinshui did not move.

He stood there, staring at the swaying corpses for a long time.

Then he turned around, his face expressionless.

"Let's go."

The troops stayed in West River Village for fifteen minutes but did not find a single survivor.

Zhou Kui gave the order to keep pursuing.

As they left the village, Li Jinshui glanced back.

The old pagoda tree was still there. The corpses were still there. The smoke was still rising.

He carved the scene into his mind like an inscription on a stone stele.

Then he turned around and strode on.

Ahead lay Willow Ditch, Blue Stone Ridge, and three hundred Di soldiers.

Ahead lay points, breakthroughs, the eighth and ninth levels of Body Forging, and—

He looked at Wang Tiezhu's back up ahead.

The man walked steadily, like a moving iron tower, every step firm.

Li Jinshui looked away, the same faint smile tugging at his lips.

It was time to settle the score for that month.

Whether you were at the ninth level of Body Forging or in the Inner Strength Realm, if he got a chance—

He would not let it slip away.

The troops vanished among the mountains.

Behind them, smoke still rose from West River Village, tendril after tendril, like countless hands pointing in the same direction.

That direction was the one they were headed.