Return to the City

Immediately, Lu Yuan felt a surge of power erupting within his body. His muscles grew more compact, his wounds began to heal, and his exhausted frame regained its vigor.

At this moment, if one were to look closely, they would notice a pale golden light flickering across Lu Yuan's body.

His sturdy physique seemed as if it had been forged from steel.

[Golden Bell Cover(134/50000 Entering the Momentum)]

Once this technique reached the stage of Entering the Momentum, a faint, pale golden bell appeared around Lu Yuan's body, shielding him within.

Runes were constantly circulating upon it.

Beyond the Golden Bell Cover, his other techniques had also made significant progress.

[Arrowhead Formation(30181/30000 (Perfected, breakthrough available?)]

Lu Yuan naturally did not hesitate.

He immediately chose to break through.

Following this, a vast amount of insight regarding military formations flooded his mind, and it was visible to the naked eye.

The few men following behind him also began to recover rapidly; although not as quickly as Lu Yuan, the speed was still quite remarkable.

[Arrowhead Formation(181/50000 (Entering the Momentum)]

The entry of the military formation into the Momentum stage made Lu Yuan and Wei Yong and the others behind him appear as if they were shrouded by a black arrowhead.

A mere handful of men now seemed to transform into a sharp, feathered arrow capable of piercing through anything.

The Centurion of the Iron Sparrowhawks opposite them watched this scene, his expression changing drastically. He had been observing Lu Yuan and his men, and upon discovering the change in their military formation, he understood.

Lu Yuan's comprehension of military formations had grown once again.

This man's aptitude was far too formidable.

After glancing at the few men behind him, he immediately ordered, "Retreat!"

Then, he actually turned his horse around and headed toward the distance.

Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow. Having fought to this point, he certainly would not let the opponent leave so easily.

He drew his Iron-Core Bow.

He took out a feathered arrow and fired it toward the Northern Barbarian Iron Sparrowhawks.

"Swish! Swish!"

The arrows tore through the air, and men fell in response.

After firing several arrows in succession, the remaining Iron Sparrowhawks were all shot down, with only the leading Centurion managing to escape.

The opponent was not weak in his own right and was proficient in mounted archery.

Although Lu Yuan's archery skills were superb, the distance was too great, and he ultimately failed to keep the man.

However, this was already a great victory.

With a mere dozen or so men, they had killed so many Iron Sparrowhawks; upon returning, if nothing else, becoming famous throughout Sai City was a certainty.

"Thud!"

Seeing that they were safe, Wei Yong and the others collapsed from their horses.

The hands gripping their weapons were trembling.

Lu Yuan did not blame them; after experiencing this battle, these men could already be considered elites.

As long as they broke through to the Entry Realm, they would be no worse than those Iron Sparrowhawks.

By then, it would be much easier for him to leave the city and earn military merit.

"Rest in place for one hour."

With the Iron Sparrowhawks shot down, no one would come for a short while.

After Lu Yuan finished speaking, he also dismounted, took out a wineskin, and took a fierce gulp. The strong liquor went down his throat, dispelling the chill from his body.

He then tossed it to Wei Yong.

The group took turns drinking until the flask was empty, then ate some food.

They began to gather their spoils.

There were forty-three Iron Sparrowhawks in total, and Lu Yuan alone had killed twenty-eight of them; this time, they had struck it rich.

The silver found on their bodies alone amounted to several hundred taels.

These men had clearly done no shortage of pillaging in the vicinity.

Their leather armor was stripped off.

The horses captured earlier from the Northern Barbarian scouts had been mostly killed while blocking the Iron Sparrowhawks' arrows.

However, the horses belonging to these Iron Sparrowhawks were better—they were all fine steeds of the Northern Barbarians.

They were worth quite a lot.

There were also various weapons; the Iron Sparrowhawks were well-equipped, lacking neither long nor short weapons, and they all used high-quality Iron-Core Bows.

After clearing everything out, everyone's faces were filled with excitement.

After this battle, everyone's pockets could be considered well-lined.

Lu Yuan couldn't help but curl the corners of his lips upward.

Returning this time, he could purchase some cultivation resources to train properly; it would be best if he could break through to the Bone Forging stage.

By then, facing someone at the Tendon Refining stage would be no problem at all.

At the main gate of Ice Plain City, there were far fewer people coming and going than usual. Clearly, the arrival of the Iron Sparrowhawks had made the City Defense Battalion soldiers afraid to leave the city to take on missions.

Only a few merchant caravans were passing through.

More than twenty city guards were huddled together, warming themselves by a fire.

The sky was just beginning to brighten, and it was still quite cold.

An old soldier had just finished a bowl of hot soup when his brows suddenly furrowed.

He caught a scent of blood, and it was incredibly thick.

He couldn't help but tighten his grip on his weapon as he looked up.

Then, a scene that shocked him unfolded.

A mere four or five men, looking disheveled and battered, were driving dozens of warhorses behind them. On the horses' backs were corpses, bundled weapons, and stacked armor.

Most eye-catching of all were the heads hanging from both sides of the horses.

As they drew closer, the smell of blood grew even stronger.

The squad leader guarding the gate was a bearded man. He was initially full of vigilance, but then he shouted, "Lu Yuan?"

Since they were both under the same Centurion, it was clear they knew each other.

"It's me."

"Good lad, did you raid the Northern Barbarian royal court? You actually brought back so many heads," Li the Bearded said with envy.

"Haha, we were lucky to survive. I'll treat you to a drink another day." After exchanging greetings, Lu Yuan headed straight for the Merit Pavilion.

When they arrived outside the main gate, it hadn't opened yet because it was too early.

However, they didn't mind and found a place to rest.

By the time the sun rose and the gates of the City Defense Battalion opened, quite a few people had arrived one after another, all gathering to stare at Lu Yuan and his group.

They pointed and whispered from time to time.

"These aren't just ordinary Northern Barbarian cavalry. Look at the refined copper plates inlaid on their leather armor, and their weapons—they're actually using Iron-Core Bows."

"They must have slaughtered an elite Northern Barbarian unit. The leader is Lu Yuan, right? I've heard of him; he has great talent and was appointed as a squad leader as soon as he arrived."

Discussions erupted all around them.

At this moment, Lu Yuan and his group stood up and walked inside.

He was quite expectant, wondering if these heads would be enough to promote him to Centurion.

It would be great if he could become a Centurion; not only would his benefits and treatment improve, but he wouldn't have to stand guard duty anymore either.

With these thoughts in mind, he arrived outside the Merit Pavilion.

The official on duty was also surprised to see so many Northern Barbarian heads and asked Lu Yuan, "How many heads did you take?"

"Clatter!"

Hearing the inquiry, Lu Yuan stepped forward, took out a cloth bag, and dumped a pile of identity tags directly onto the table.

"I haven't counted them carefully; please take a look."

As soon as he finished speaking, the man opposite him widened his eyes.

"This... these are the identity tags of the Iron Sparrowhawks! So many!"

By the end of his sentence, his voice had risen in pitch.

He wasn't surprised by the number of heads Lu Yuan's group had brought back—after all, he did this for a living, and even if a hundred heads were laid out before him, it would only be considered a good haul.

But the Iron Sparrowhawks were a different story.

As his voice fell, an uproar broke out all around.

The official no longer cared about Lu Yuan's attitude and began picking up the tags to count them carefully.

He didn't dare miss a single one.

At the same time, a soldier behind him hurriedly retreated and headed toward the neighboring Captain's Mansion.

At that moment, Zhou Hongling and Zhou Ming were eating breakfast.

They had barely taken a few bites when a figure hurried inside.

"My Lord, a scouting party just returned, bringing back a large number of heads and identity tokens from the Iron Sparrowhawks. They are currently at the Merit Pavilion exchanging them for military merit."

As the voice rang out, Zhou Hongling and her third uncle set down their bowls and chopsticks almost simultaneously.

Though they were skeptical, they still rose and headed toward the Merit Pavilion.

Zhou Hongling, in particular, seemed quite anxious; if this news were true, Ice Plain City would certainly be making a name for itself.