On the fifteenth day of Li Jinshui leading a patrol, at Eagle Beak Ravine.
This was a rugged ravine thirty li northwest of North-Rejecting City. Sheer cliffs rose on either side, studded with jagged rocks, while a stream wound through the middle. In winter, the water ran shallow, exposing broad, pebble-strewn riverbanks.
This was a route often used by small Northern Di cavalry units to infiltrate the area, so the Third Battalion had been ordered to patrol it regularly.
By now, after constant training, Li Jinshui had brought the Army-Breaking Saber Technique to the greater mastery stage.
As usual, the squad spread out to search. Li Jinshui led five men from Squad Jia across a stretch of rocky riverbank on the right flank. The five advanced carefully in a fan formation, loose stones shifting beneath their feet with faint, scattered clicks.
"Squad Leader, it's a little too quiet around here," Er Gou muttered from behind Li Jinshui. He was a lean young man of eighteen or nineteen, but his eyes were sharp and alert.
Li Jinshui nodded, his right hand never leaving the hilt of his saber as his keen gaze swept the surroundings.
Aside from the wind and the burbling stream, the ravine was indeed unnaturally quiet. They couldn't even hear the birds.
"Stay sharp. There may be an ambush," he ordered in a low voice.
The words had barely left his mouth when a shrill, piercing bone whistle suddenly sounded from behind a massive boulder several dozen paces ahead!
"Enemy attack—!"
Almost the instant the whistle sounded, dozens of dark figures leaped down from the towering cliffs on either side like apes. They hit the ground, rolled, and sprang back up—Barbarian Soldiers of the Northern Di!
They had clearly been lying in wait, waiting for the patrol to enter their encirclement.
"Form a circle! Quickly!" Squad Leader Sun, in charge of the patrol, bellowed hoarsely, his voice cracking with fear.
But the Barbarian Soldiers were faster. As soon as they landed, they scattered and surged forward in a half-circle. There were more than thirty of them!
The man at their head stood out at once. Nine feet tall, he had a bare, heavily muscled torso covered in fearsome blue tattoos. In his hands was a battle axe as huge as a cartwheel, its blade gleaming coldly as a wave of killing intent washed over them.
"A Squad Leader!" Squad Leader Sun cried in despair.
The giant Squad Leader grinned savagely, showing teeth stained yellow and black. Without a word, he swung his battle axe in a sweeping arc!
"Pfft! Pfft!"
Two Zhou Army soldiers who failed to dodge in time were cut in half at the waist, shields and all. Blood and entrails splattered across the ground, and their screams cut off abruptly.
Li Jinshui's pupils contracted.
The Squad Leader's presence was as imposing as a mountain, far beyond any Di Person he had faced before!
That fierce, violent surge of blood and qi was undoubtedly at the peak of the sixth Body Forging level!
"Squad Jia, with me! Seal the gap on the right flank!" Li Jinshui shouted, forcing down his shock as he charged forward. If the Barbarian Soldiers completed their encirclement, everyone would die here.
Er Gou and the other four men turned pale, but gritted their teeth and followed.
Over the past three months, Li Jinshui's fearless performance on the battlefield and the times he had led them out of seemingly certain death had earned their trust—an instinctive, unshakable faith in him.
The giant Squad Leader's gaze shifted to Li Jinshui charging at him, and a cruel, mocking glint appeared in his eyes. "Zhou dog, looking to die!"
Before the words had even faded, his battle axe came crashing down, accompanied by a terrifying whistle!
The blow was simple, but as fast as lightning and as heavy as a collapsing mountain. Before the axe even reached him, its fierce wind had already choked Li Jinshui's breath.
Li Jinshui didn't dare meet it head-on. At the last possible instant, he slid sideways. The battle axe skimmed past his leather armor, and the blade of wind it raised sliced a gash through it.
He twisted his waist with the motion, and the military saber in his hand flashed like a streak of cold light, slashing upward at the wrist gripping the axe!
"Clang!"
The giant reacted with astonishing speed. He flipped his wrist and deflected the saber with the heavy axe haft.
Metal rang against metal, sparks flying. A tremendous force struck Li Jinshui; his arm went numb, and his palm shuddered from the impact.
The giant grinned and kicked out with his enormous left foot, aiming straight for Li Jinshui's chest.
Li Jinshui had no time to pull back his saber. He crossed his left arm over his chest to shield himself and drove the fifth level of his Iron Shirt to its utmost.
"Thump!"
With a dull boom, Li Jinshui flew backward like a kite with its string cut and slammed hard into a jutting rock. His throat turned sweet, and his blood and qi surged wildly.
[Iron Shirt fifth level protection, minor injury]
The panel notification flashed. Li Jinshui forced down the blood rising in his throat, then sprang to his feet with a flip, his expression grave.
The difference in strength was too great! That Barbarian's raw power must have been close to a thousand jin, and he was incredibly swift—not some ordinary brute.
"Squad Leader!" Er Gou cried, about to lead the others forward.
"Stay back! Form a circle and defend yourselves! Don't come here to die!" Li Jinshui shouted. The Squad Leader was too powerful. If Er Gou and the others came forward, they would only be throwing their lives away.
He drew a deep breath, suppressed his surging blood and qi, and charged again.
This time, he didn't try to meet strength with strength. Instead, he moved in a circle around the giant, engaging him with swift, darting attacks.
The Army-Breaking Saber Technique, now at the greater mastery stage, swept forth in a flurry of snow-bright blade flashes, targeting the giant's lower-body joints—his ankles, knees, and other weak points.
Yet the giant was not only strong; his defenses were formidable as well.
His blood and qi surged through his body, and his skin shimmered faintly with a bronze hue. He had clearly trained in a body-hardening art, too. Li Jinshui's blade usually left no more than a pale scratch, doing little real damage.
The giant's battle axe whirled in an impenetrable storm, its terrifying pressure forcing Li Jinshui to keep dodging, each moment more perilous than the last.
"Die!" After failing to bring Li Jinshui down with a flurry of attacks, the giant seemed to grow impatient. He let out a sudden roar and brought his battle axe down with even greater force.
Li Jinshui dodged sharply to the side. The axe edge skimmed past his ribs, its blade of wind slicing through his leather armor and leaving a cut an inch deep in his side. Blood welled out at once.
The giant pressed his advantage, turning the downward chop into a horizontal sweep at Li Jinshui's waist and abdomen!
The axe covered a wide area and moved fast. Li Jinshui had spent all his strength on his last move, and his new strength had yet to rise. He couldn't dodge in time!
At the critical moment, a ruthless glint flashed in Li Jinshui's eyes. He stopped trying to evade. He pushed his Iron Shirt to an unprecedented extreme, his skin shimmering faintly bronze, and gripped his saber with both hands, raising it to meet the blow that could split mountains and shatter stone—
"Clang—!!! Crack!!!"
Amid the deafening crash, Li Jinshui's standard military saber, forged from refined iron, snapped in two.
The battle axe's momentum barely slowed. It slammed into his crossed arms and chest!
"Ugh—!"
Li Jinshui was struck as if by a giant hammer. Blood sprayed from his mouth, and he heard the distinct crack of bone in his chest. At least three ribs had broken!
His body flew backward like a battered sack and crashed into a pile of rocks seven or eight paces away, sending shards scattering.
Pain swept over him like a mountain collapsing. His vision darkened in waves, and it felt as if all his internal organs had been knocked out of place.
[Severe injury! Iron Shirt on the verge of collapse, ribs fractured, internal organs injured]
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