The Deadly Trap

Inside a hidden passage off the Seventh Corridor's corner hall, three guardians from the branch altar stood on watch with their weapons ready.

"They're here." A tall guardian suddenly lowered his voice.

Rumble~~~~

A series of booming sounds came from outside, and the ground trembled.

The short, thin guardian stepped forward and peered outside through a viewing slit. Two giant ice serpents had reached the area, their enormous bodies slamming into the walls of the corner hall. The ground caved in, and the walls cracked...

"Two ice serpents. They really went all out. So many mechanisms and arrays have been destroyed. Good thing the mechanisms in the Seventh Corridor were affected the least," the short guardian muttered. There were many different kinds of mechanisms and traps, and the ice serpents couldn't destroy them all.

"Get ready. Once those intruders enter the hall, we'll activate the mechanism," the tall guardian said.

"They're coming in. Wait for my signal." The short guardian watched through the viewing slit.

Dongbo Xueying and the others followed the two ice serpents through the Inner Castle, searching for Lu Huairu. The Inner Castle was octagonal, with a total of eight corner halls.

Now they were entering one of them.

Si Borong, holding a two-handed sword, and the black-haired elder Liang Yong led the way. Yu Jingqiu held a staff and walked in the middle. She had already cast an ice spell on herself, and a layer of ice had formed into armor over her body.

Dongbo Xueying and Tang Xiong brought up the rear, one on either side behind Yu Jingqiu.

"This Inner Castle is pretty big. Where on earth is Lu Huairu hiding?" Si Borong said impatiently.

"Don't rush," Yu Jingqiu replied. "We're checking every area carefully. The Inner Castle is octagonal, and we've already searched six of them. This is the seventh. Once we've searched all eight, if we still haven't found him... then he must be underground. We'll search below next! We'll check every place, one by one. The Dragon Mountain Tower's Flying Boat is watching outside. He can't escape!"

"Right." Si Borong nodded.

"Rumble—" The floor of the corner hall suddenly shifted, opening up to reveal a series of pits beneath it, each filled with sharp spear points! The tips were tinged dark green, clearly coated with a potent poison. Dongbo Xueying and the others quickly dodged. Fortunately, the ice serpents had already damaged the floor, and most of the moving panels had jammed, leaving only a few able to slide open.

So with a small sidestep, Dongbo Xueying and the others reached safety.

"Rumble—" The cracked, warped walls on all four sides suddenly collapsed, sending stones tumbling to the ground and exposing rows of mechanical crossbows behind them.

Huge mechanical crossbows, linked by gears.

Countless bolts filled the space behind every wall, each one as thick as a thigh! Seeing them, Si Borong, Tang Xiong, and Yu Jingqiu all felt a chill. Bolts this thick, pulled back and locked into place by mechanical gears, must have been under tremendous tension. Their force when fired would surely exceed that of the Star-Breaking Crossbow!

"Not good!" Yu Jingqiu's face changed dramatically.

"Cover all four sides, one each!" the experienced Tang Xiong and Liang Yong shouted almost simultaneously. They both knew this was a matter of life and death.

Thrum! Thrum! Thrum! Thrum! Thrum! Thrum!!!!!!

The vibrations of each bolt launching rang clear. Bolts came from the front, behind, and both sides... They were surrounded, and the five of them were all inside the hall. The farthest bolts were only a few dozen meters away, and the nearest were just ten meters. Far too close!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

The air ripped apart!

Hundreds of massive bolts crossed paths in an instant, almost completely filling the corner hall!

Fortunately, this was only a mechanism, and the bolts were aimed at nearly every part of the hall. Only a few dozen of the massive bolts were actually targeting Dongbo Xueying and the others.

"Block them!"

"Hold them off!"

Tang Xiong and Liang Yong shouted.

Bang! The black-haired elder Liang Yong held a shield in one hand and a saber in the other. He used his shield to deflect a bolt, angling it slightly to absorb eight or nine tenths of its force before knocking it aside. Even so, he could still feel the impact. If he took a direct hit, even his armor wouldn't prevent him from being badly wounded and coughing up blood. Two or three hits would likely kill him.

Clang, clang, clang! The white-haired Tang Xiong, already over a hundred and sixty years old, held a short sword in each hand. He blocked every bolt coming at him with perfect precision. These old veterans had far too much experience.

"Damn it! Damn it!" Si Borong, also a Silver Moon Knight, was far more flustered. He gripped his two-handed greatsword and struggled to fend off the attack.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The bolts came hurtling straight at him, one after another. As a Silver Moon Knight, he had quick reactions and fast movements, but his swordsmanship was clearly inadequate. He struggled to block them.

A knight's rank had no absolute connection to his combat skills.

Becoming a Silver Moon Knight only meant that his Battle Qi had reached the Silver Moon Rank. As for his two-handed greatsword technique, he practiced every day and sparred with the experts in his family, but he hadn't even reached the level of "sword and man as one." His foundation was solid enough for ordinary battles, but at this moment, with his life on the line and bolts flying at tremendous speed, there was no time to think about how to block each one. He had to rely entirely on reflexes!

"No!" Sweat beaded on Si Borong's forehead. Suddenly, he cried out—he had finally made a mistake and missed a block.

Whoosh. At the critical moment, a shield suddenly thrust out and barely struck the massive bolt, knocking it off course before it could hit Si Borong.

The one who had intervened was Si Borong's guard, Liang Yong.

The black-haired elder had been keeping half his attention on Si Borong. After all, he had come to protect him. But the bolts were simply too fast. Liang Yong had barely managed to intervene, and the effort had thrown off his footing and disrupted his ability to absorb their force. In an instant, he stumbled, leaving him in disarray as he faced the bolts coming straight at him. He desperately deflected two with his saber, but the third came too fast.

"Ah!" Liang Yong let out a low cry and tried with all his might to dodge.

A bolt whistled past, tearing through his right arm. The arm holding his saber was ripped clean off and sent flying, blood spraying everywhere.

Whoosh.

Before long, the bolts had all stopped.

The barrage had lasted only a few seconds.

"Sigh. Against such terrifying mechanical bolts at this range, Liang Yong didn't focus on defending himself and actually risked helping that young master Borong. He was lucky not to lose his life," Tang Xiong thought with a quiet sigh.

"Old Liang, Old Liang!" Si Borong, who had narrowly escaped, hurried to help the black-haired elder. Blood poured from Liang Yong's severed right arm, but he quickly pulled out a strip of cloth, clenched his teeth, and tied it around the stump. The muscles and blood vessels constricted, slowing the flow of blood.

"I'm fine. I've only lost an arm," Liang Yong said. It wasn't that he was especially loyal. The Si Family had raised him, and his own family depended on them. If Si Borong died this time... then he and his family would be finished, too. He had to protect Si Borong. If Si Borong truly died, Liang Yong would have to die fighting first, to prove he had done his duty!

"This Dongbo Xueying is impressive. I had to give everything I had just to deflect those bolts. I didn't expect this young man to block them all with such ease." The white-haired Tang Xiong glanced at Dongbo Xueying. He had been concentrating on his own defense and hadn't seen exactly how Dongbo Xueying had fared, but Xueying looked calm and composed.

What a pity.

Dongbo Xueying stood at the back and shook his head. He had some murderous intent toward Si Borong, but he held no grudge against the black-haired guard. If it had been convenient, he could have helped him. But Xueying was at the back of the group, while Liang Yong was at the front! He simply couldn't reach Liang Yong in time. If he had rushed over at top speed to save him... Yu Jingqiu would have been left in mortal danger.

Yu Jingqiu was in the very center of the group, and as a mage, she could only endure an attack like this passively.

"Look out!" Yu Jingqiu suddenly cried. She had been calmly observing everything.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Three figures suddenly darted out from behind one of the mechanical crossbow racks. They were only a dozen or so meters from the group, and each had the strength of a Silver Moon Knight. They moved at an astonishing speed, covering the distance in a flash.

"Look out!"

"Liang Yong!" Tang Xiong shouted.

"Young master!" Liang Yong roared as he raised his shield to block. Two guardians were attacking them. They had clearly realized that of the Silver Moon Knights, Si Borong was the weakest, while the black-haired elder had just lost an arm. Those two would be the easiest to deal with, so naturally they would take them out first, then handle the rest.

Another guardian charged at the mage Yu Jingqiu. Take out the powerful mage first!

"Stop!" Tang Xiong, wielding a short sword in each hand, intercepted that guardian midway.

Dongbo Xueying was at the back of the group, and now he charged forward with his spear.

"Young master, let's fight together!" Liang Yong, his shield in his remaining hand, held his ground.

Si Borong was pale with shock. He hurriedly raised his two-handed greatsword to defend. Clang, clang, clang! The guardian attacking him wielded two Curved Blades and moved as fast as lightning, closing in at once! His technique was clearly superior, and he forced Si Borong to retreat almost immediately. At that moment, Si Borong couldn't care less about his guard's life, or even Yu Jingqiu's.

He retreated to the back of the group, leaving the others to hold the line!

If Si Borong had kept his cool, he and Liang Yong could have fought together and held out for a while. Dongbo Xueying and the others would soon have come to their aid.

But Si Borong cared more about his own life. He chose to retreat! The guardian immediately turned and slashed at Liang Yong instead.

With only one arm and a shield, Liang Yong had already been struggling against one guardian. He had no chance against two attacking him at once.

Pfft. A Curved Blade flashed behind him, slicing across Liang Yong's throat. His eyes widened in dismay, then a glimmer of hope appeared in them. He had died in battle, at least. He hoped his descendants would be treated kindly by the Si Family. His body slumped to the side and fell.

Liang Yong, the guard, was dead!

He was also the first person in the group to die!

Silver Moon Rank experts fought incredibly fast.

A swordsman could strike over a hundred times in a second! That showed just how quickly they fought. Three guardians had rushed out, and Si Borong had retreated as soon as he engaged them! Liang Yong had blocked two attacks before he was killed!

Whoosh. Whoosh.

Two streaks of spear light cut through the air, with snowflakes drifting around them.

Pfft! Pfft!

The two guardians who had just killed Liang Yong hadn't even recovered when they saw the spear light coming straight at them. Their throats stung, and they clutched them with wide eyes as blood poured out.

"You... You..." They couldn't believe it. It had happened too fast. That spear technique was too fast.

In a single exchange, both of them were dead.

Everyone nearby changed expression!

Dongbo Xueying had learned the Mystic Ice Spear Technique from Senior Gu Yuanhan, a style renowned for its speed. When he had been at Meteor Rank, his spear technique had already been fast enough to kill a fifth-rank demonic beast, the Shadow Leopard! Even now, although he was using only a little power, roughly Silver Moon Rank strength, his mastery of the spear and his Transcendent Knight's skills still made him terrifyingly fast. He slaughtered the two with ease.

After all, aside from himself, Dongbo Xueying had never seen anyone else reach the master level. Perfectly uniting one's strength was extremely difficult.

Very few people could train as hard as Dongbo Xueying. His father, Zong Ling, and the others couldn't do it! Training that hard sounded simple when put into words, but how many could actually manage it? And beyond hard work, it also took brains. Dongbo Xueying had the guidance of a Transcendent master's spear technique, and he was clever enough to constantly review his experience and refine his technique. With that solid foundation, he had achieved unity between man and spear and stepped into the realm of a Spear Technique Master.

Daily medicinal baths, relentless training, guidance from a Transcendent spear technique, countless knights in the castle to spar with, and a sharp mind... All of it had made Dongbo Xueying who he was now!