The crossbow bolt came flying and embedded itself in the collapsed building.
Then more people rushed into the ruined Lingfeng Tower.
The scene quickly descended into chaos.
"Kill!" Cries of battle and shouts with all kinds of aims became tangled together.
"Go save Old Master Lin Haixian!"
"Kill Lu Bai!"
"Stop them!"
"Kill the bandits from Lianwu Mountain! Make them pay for their atrocities!"
"Son, don't get involved. Let's get out of here first!"
"No! I'm going to kill the bandits!"
Every facet of life was laid bare in that moment, making the surrounding scene all the more chaotic.
Swords, spears, blades, halberds, axes, battle-axes, hooks, and forks clashed with one another, and blood splattered across the ground.
Of course, far more people from Lianwu Mountain were being killed. They were vastly outnumbered, and at this moment, the people of the Hundred Flower Grave had also begun settling their score with Lianwu Mountain.
If the Martial Forest fighters hadn't been divided in their opinions, and if the chaos hadn't made it difficult to move, Lianwu Mountain probably wouldn't have held out long before being slaughtered to the last.
"An army of mourners must prevail" wasn't necessarily true, but it was a fairly accurate description of Lianwu Mountain's state at that moment.
With the conviction that they would die, these people were doing everything they could to wreak havoc.
Lianwu Mountain was a product of its time. The Martial Forest's sects were extremely traditional, strictly forbidding the spread of Martial Arts knowledge. The major sects held a monopoly over it.
Once you joined a sect, you were its person in life and its ghost in death.
It was incredibly difficult for a small family to produce a master. And even if one did, they still had to look to the major sects for approval.
After becoming a master, you had to submit a calling card to the major sects, pay your respects to the elders, present gifts, and demonstrate your skills.
Only when the elders gave their approval could your school make a living in the Martial Forest with its techniques.
Even after earning a living, you had to pay off the elders first, then split the remaining money with the major sects, seven parts to three!
And the major sects took the seven parts. You got the three, and even then, you still had to watch the elders' expressions.
This wasn't making your way in Jianghu. It was begging on your knees.
Some people thought, I train through the coldest days of winter and the hottest days of summer, working hard to master my family's inherited Martial Arts. Then I have to pay my respects, give gifts, and put on a monkey show for the elders by demonstrating my skills before they'll approve.
Then I use the little skill I've learned to earn a living, but I still have to hand most of the money to the elders first, and split what's left with their disciples.
I might as well stand tall and earn this money myself.
So some people began robbing the major sects, then hiding away in the deep mountains and forests.
Their actions inspired others to follow suit. They gathered together and shared the Martial Arts knowledge they'd stolen, and thus Lianwu Mountain was born.
Over time, Lianwu Mountain grew into a sizable organization and became an assassin group. Ordinary people and martial artists with nowhere else to turn would join them.
Those who still had a way out and a future wouldn't be accepted into Lianwu Mountain just to make a living.
Only those who had no choice but to go all the way down a dead-end road, and who had completed several assassination missions in a row, would be accepted.
Because by then, Lianwu Mountain would be their home.
This was what made Lianwu Mountain so fierce toward outsiders and so united within.
So at that moment, few people from Lianwu Mountain were running for their lives. Far more were fighting to the death.
Lu Bai fell into Lingfeng Tower, and a gust of wind whistled past his ear.
He instinctively dodged to the side, and an arrow buried itself in the spot where he'd been.
The arrow had pierced the restaurant wall, shot straight in from outside, and accurately predicted where Lu Bai would land.
If Lu Bai hadn't reacted quickly, it would have run him through.
When the first arrow missed, another soon came flying, just as precise and incredibly powerful.
"That's Lianwu Mountain's Heaven-Patrolling Arrow!"
Lin Haixian immediately called out from the other side.
Although Lianwu Mountain had originally been formed by people from small families who had nowhere else to turn and banded together, years of development—and later doing the dirty work for Tianwu Holy Land—had left them with no shortage of high-level Martial Arts.
The Heaven-Patrolling Arrow was one such technique.
Once practitioners developed Internal Force, they had to begin nurturing their arrows.
They needed to identify a target, then gather every scrap of information about them.
After that, they had to find a way to obtain things connected to the target, including hair, blood, or clothing.
They would imbue these things with their own Internal Force, then attach that force to an arrow and shoot at the target.
The process had to be repeated without a single mistake. If any abnormal aura other than their own or the target's got mixed in, their cultivation of the technique would fail.
Once they had mastered it, an archer only needed to obtain something related to the target to lock onto their location through a resonance of energies.
After the Martial Path had brought Lu Bai to Lifeforms, Momentum Cultivation, and Object Perception, a new branch had appeared before him.
People called it "Strange Arts": by using Internal Force to resonate with certain things and establishing various rules and taboos, one could give certain techniques special powers.
For example, the people of the Hundred Flower Grave coexisted with Life-Eroding Flowers, causing their bodies to mutate. They could even turn Internal Force into roots, drive them into a person's body, and absorb Nutrients. That, too, could be called a Strange Art.
Only this "strange" was somewhat inhuman.
Generally speaking, the best-known Strange Art was Gu Art. People in West Province used their Internal Force or Flesh and Blood to raise gu, creating a resonance with the insects.
The Heaven-Patrolling Arrow simply fixed the object of its resonance as the category of "target."
Lu Bai had bled quite a bit in his earlier fight with Lin Haixian, so it wouldn't be difficult for the other side to lock onto his aura.
Just then, quite a few people rushed into Lingfeng Tower through the collapsed roof.
Some shouted as they charged toward Lin Haixian, while another group stared at Lu Bai as soon as they entered.
Lu Bai recognized that group immediately.
"Bandit brother, how've you been? You dare charge in here and oppose me at a time like this? You really are skilled enough to be bold—but watch out, or you'll end up losing everything!"
Lu Bai deliberately emphasized several of the words.
The leader's face turned pale, then flushed, a remarkably colorful sight.
When these people had robbed Lu Bai earlier, they'd all worn standard bandit masks.
Lu Bai recognized them not only because their bearing and appearance differed noticeably from the Martial Forest locals, but also because of the guns in their hands.
At Lu Bai's words, delivered with that pointed emphasis, the bandit leader's face turned livid.
This wasn't a figure of speech or an exaggeration. The man's face really had turned a dark bluish-green.
He fixed his bloodshot eyes on Lu Bai and said, each word clenched between his teeth, "I'll kill you!"
Gunfire rang out right afterward.
Here's the second update. It's a little late—sorry about that.
Also, Xu Ming has to catch a high-speed train tomorrow morning, so the morning update will be postponed until the afternoon or evening. Just letting everyone know in advance.
Before you continue