On the battlefield, a cold glint flickered in Lu Yuan's eyes.
If anyone could have seen it, they would have noticed that the men behind him were faintly glowing with a transparent sheen, their radiance flowing toward him in formation with the Arrowhead Formation.
At that moment, Lu Yuan and his men became an arrow, with him as its keenest point. His strength, defense, and speed all surged dramatically.
As soon as he closed in on the Iron Sparrowhawks' Centurion, Lu Yuan, who could already match a Tendon-Refining expert, unleashed a powerful attack.
"Whoosh!"
His blade tore through the air and came crashing down toward the man, its cold gleam flashing beneath the moonlight.
The sound of its passage made their eardrums tremble.
The Iron Sparrowhawks' Centurion tilted his head aside, dodging the fatal blow.
"Riiip!"
But the blade caught his shoulder as it slid past, splitting his bronze armor and shearing away a chunk of flesh.
With only one exchange, he had already fallen to the disadvantage.
As they passed one another, shock flashed in the Centurion's eyes. Lu Yuan paid it no heed and kept his blade moving. The other Iron Sparrowhawks riding toward him weren't as lucky as their Centurion.
By now, Lu Yuan had grown increasingly proficient with the Arrowhead Formation, and it could grant him even greater power.
Just as an Iron Sparrowhawk across from him raised his weapon, Lu Yuan moved with blinding speed and drove his blade through the man's neck. Blood sprayed into the air, landing squarely on Wei Yong's face as he followed behind.
But Wei Yong didn't dare let himself be distracted for even an instant.
He swung the Jujube Spike Hammer in a wide arc, drawing on the formation's strength to smash it into an Iron Sparrowhawk's eye socket.
The man's eyeball burst, and his skull caved in.
He toppled stiffly onto his horse's back.
As the two groups of cavalry crossed, one of Lu Yuan's wounded men fell from his saddle, pierced by a spear.
On the Iron Sparrowhawks' side, five men had been cut down.
The Centurion didn't even glance at his own injuries. He merely fixed a grave stare on Lu Yuan and his men. "A perfected military formation. It's been a long time since I've seen one."
His voice was low, and the contempt had vanished.
Military formations played a tremendous role in battle, sometimes proving more decisive than individual strength.
He hadn't seen a perfected formation in a long time.
The Great Yong Centurion he'd encountered earlier today hadn't been weak, but in his eyes, he was nowhere near as troublesome as the man in front of him.
If the boy across from him had a force equal in numbers to his own, he would have turned tail and run without a second thought. He wouldn't have risked getting entangled with him.
Lu Yuan licked his cracked lips, his eyes unwavering. There was no way back. If he wanted to return safely today, he could only fight to the death.
In Ice Plain City, Zhou Hongling and Zhou Ming sat together, eating.
Candlelight fell across their faces, flickering and casting a grave air over them.
"How is Yun Mo's injury?"
Zhou Hongling pushed the food around on her plate as she spoke in a low voice.
Though she was a woman, she was no small thing, standing nearly six feet three. She was still a young woman, yet exceptionally buxom, with a mature air about her.
Add to that her delicate yet slightly martial-looking features.
The contrast was striking, but no one could deny she was beautiful. She was simply a little rugged in build, and that was no flaw.
"Pretty bad, but he should recover after resting for a while," Zhou Ming said with a helpless sigh after taking a sip of wine.
He had placed great hopes in his disciple.
They were lucky Yun Mo had made it back. If he'd died out there, it would have broken Zhou Ming's heart.
"Third Uncle, I want to assemble a hundred-man force and send them out to wipe out these Iron Sparrowhawks. Do you think there's any chance?"
"No chance. Even Yun Mo was defeated. Who in Ice Plain City do you think could match them? Unless the Night Scouts step in—but you know that at a time like this, the family can't spare them. They have more important duties. They're always out deep in Northern Barbarian territory, gathering intelligence."
Zhou Ming didn't mince words.
He refilled his cup and downed it in one gulp.
Then he continued, "Don't post any missions for a while. Have your men stop going out for a time. The Iron Sparrowhawks will probably leave before long. They came here to earn merit, and if there's no merit to be won, there's no point in staying."
"But that would crush morale. We have a whole border city, and now dozens of Iron Sparrowhawks have scared us into staying indoors. If word gets out, we'll be a laughingstock. How am I supposed to lead troops after that?" Zhou Hongling's voice rose despite herself.
The mountains of her chest rose and fell.
She wasn't wearing armor today, just a red dress and a white bearskin cloak. She was full-figured and carried an air of nobility.
"We're locked in a standoff with the Northern Barbarians. Don't act rashly. We can only afford small-scale clashes. Anything involving more than a hundred men could spark a full-scale war. That's more than you can handle, and even the whole family couldn't bail you out." Zhou Ming's voice turned stern.
He looked at his niece with an unprecedentedly serious expression.
Zhou Hongling didn't argue. She obediently poured her uncle another cup of wine, then said, "Third Uncle, the real problem is that I have too few capable people under me. Why don't you pick someone and teach him?
"That Lu Yuan I mentioned last time is really good. Won't you reconsider?"
Having such a big beauty sitting in front of him and acting coy made Zhou Ming's scalp tingle. He waved his hands at his niece again and again. "You know what your Third Uncle is like. Once I've made up my mind, I won't bring it up again.
"Besides, didn't you already add him to your roster a couple of days ago? Then he's your man now. How would it make sense for him to become my disciple? Let's leave it at that.
"You've already made it to Captain, too. You can recruit talent into your own ranks now. I won't compete with you for people."
Hearing Zhou Ming say that, Zhou Hongling could only give up.
But her frustration grew.
She had no idea when the Iron Sparrowhawks would finally leave.
While the uncle and niece fretted over the matter,
Lu Yuan had already been fighting the Iron Sparrowhawks for over two hours.
Despite his tremendous stamina, he was drenched in sweat, and the warhorse beneath him was panting heavily.
His leather armor was badly damaged in many places, some slashed by blades, others scraped by Wolf-Tooth Maces.
He was covered in blood—his own and the enemy's.
His blade now had two notches in its edge.
If not for his perfected Golden Bell Cover, he would likely have been gravely wounded by now.
Only five of the soldiers behind him remained. Wei Yong had been run through the abdomen, his entrails spilling out. A strip of cloth had been wrapped around his clothes to hold them in place, but blood kept seeping through.
Old Huang was in a sorry state, but one had to admit that the old soldiers of the Northern Frontier each had their own way of staying alive. He was wounded, too, but not fatally.
Zhang Gun was in better shape. During the recent fighting, Wei Yong had taken a blow for him.
The last soldier was named Zhang He. He had good talent, about on par with Zhang Gun's, and was close to reaching the Entry Realm. He'd taken a slash to the shoulder, but he could still hold on.
The Iron Sparrowhawks across from them were in equally wretched shape. Their Centurion had three long gashes across his body from Lu Yuan's blade, deep enough to expose bone. If he hadn't reached the Tendon-Refining Realm, he probably wouldn't have been able to keep going.
Behind him stood seven or eight elite Iron Sparrowhawks. Some were still in the Bone-Forging Realm, but every one of them was wounded.
That was the terror of a military formation. As long as Lu Yuan stood, he could protect the soldiers behind him and make a tremendous difference.
At that moment, both sides seemed to have reached the end of their strength.
They were holding on through sheer willpower.
Neither side made the first move. They seemed to have reached an unspoken agreement to recover their strength as best they could.
Just then, a message appeared in Lu Yuan's mind.
[Golden Bell Cover (30134/30000) has reached perfection. Break through?
The continuous, grueling battle had greatly improved Lu Yuan's cultivation techniques.
Golden Bell Cover, in particular, had grown more than ever before.
Now, it had reached the point of breakthrough.
"Break through."
Lu Yuan glanced across at the Iron Sparrowhawks. Seeing that they had no intention of attacking again anytime soon, he immediately chose to break through.
As long as his strength improved, he'd have this fight in the bag.