Traces of the Enemy

The autumn wind was grim and biting, whipping up gusts of bone-scraping cold.

After autumn arrived, temperatures at Wild Goose Pass plummeted. Deep in the desert, snow was already drifting over some of the mountains.

Yet more grim than the autumn wind were greedy men.

"The enemy is attacking the city!"

As smoke rose from the beacon towers, bugle calls rang out through the military camp.

Chen Kingdom soldiers stationed atop the walls, under the command of their respective officers, braved the cold wind as they resisted the Qing Kingdom army's assault.

At that moment, General Guan's command tent was packed with officers from every branch. Li Yi and Song Jie stood together in a corner, chatting in low voices.

"Reporting to the General, the northern wall requests reinforcements!"

A messenger rushed into the main tent and reported to General Guan.

After hearing the military intelligence brought by the messenger, General Guan's swordlike brows rose as he looked over the many officers in the tent.

"Who is willing to reinforce the northern wall?"

The northern wall was under attack by a vanguard captain at the fifth level of Body Tempering, leading Qing Kingdom troops. Under his command were also several rather formidable junior commanders.

This was a tough nut to crack!

For a moment, everyone in the tent kept silent, afraid they would be chosen.

Seeing this, Li Yi strode through the crowd with his head held high and came to the center of the tent.

"Reporting to the General, this subordinate requests battle!"

General Guan was overjoyed to see Li Yi volunteer and handed him a command token.

"I order you to lead your own troops to reinforce the northern wall. I specially grant you the authority to act according to circumstances!"

With this authority to act according to circumstances, Li Yi would be the highest commander of the northern wall!

Li Yi hurriedly accepted the token, then returned to his camp with his personal guards and directly led the more than two hundred men of the Archer Battalion to the northern wall.

Climbing the stone steps, Li Yi mounted the wall and looked out. He saw over a thousand enemy soldiers continuously swarming up siege ladders, while many Qing Kingdom elites held shields aloft to protect the siege engines.

"First Company and Second Company, alternate volleys! Third Company, stay mobile at all times! Fourth Company, provide cover!"

Under Li Yi's command, more than a hundred archers took turns raining down arrows.

After Li Yi's months of rigorous special training, the archers' skills had improved by leaps and bounds. Not only were their arrows far more powerful, but their accuracy had also greatly increased.

As the rain of arrows poured down, many Qing Kingdom soldiers were killed or wounded, and the Qing Kingdom offensive slowed at once.

With Li Yi and the others' reinforcements, the soldiers defending the northern wall finally had a chance to catch their breath.

But one of the Qing Kingdom's greatest strengths in daring to invade the prosperous Chen Kingdom was its advanced Heavenly Craft secret techniques.

For instance, the Soul-Devouring Thunder that had appeared in Blackstone Town was a product of the Qing Kingdom's Heavenly Craft secret techniques!

Several Qing Kingdom centurions led their elite men forward and hurled out black objects. At once, thick smoke spread out, shrouding the northern wall.

"Not good!"

Li Yi's face changed in alarm.

The smoke could impair the archers' vision and hinder their rain of arrows!

And without the archers' support, the northern wall's defenders would be completely unable to withstand the Qing Kingdom vanguard's assault!

They couldn't be allowed to keep releasing smoke!

"Han Jia, take men and disperse the smoke!"

After ordering Han Jia to lead men in dispersing the smoke, Li Yi directly drew the Seven Killings Bow from his back!

At this point, only by killing those centurions could he stop them from releasing more smoke!

Li Yi saw it clearly: those centurions possessed Body Tempering cultivation, which was why they could evade the Archer Battalion's arrow rain and release the smoke.

In an instant, five iron arrows were nocked upon the Seven Killings Bow. With several sharp whistles, they shot straight toward the Qing Kingdom formation.

Five Stars in a Row!

Gale Arrow!

With the two archery skills combined, the five iron arrows arrived in an instant—swift and fierce!

Clang!

A hundred paces away, a Qing Kingdom centurion who was about to throw a smoke canister was struck by several arrows and fell dead. The smoke canister in his hand dropped and shattered, and a plume of smoke rose from within the Qing Kingdom army.

The sight greatly alarmed the remaining Qing Kingdom centurions.

"Shield formation! Cover us!"

The Qing Kingdom vanguard troops holding shields hurriedly raised them, protecting the centurions behind them.

With their subordinates' protection, the centurions picked up more smoke canisters, preparing to throw them onto the northern wall again.

Did they think that meant I had no way to deal with them?

Looking at the centurion blocked behind the shield, Li Yi remained calm and drew his bow again.

At present, the Seven Killings Bow could perfectly unleash Li Yi's seven-stone draw strength. Combined with the Gale Arrow, the arrows he fired were several times more powerful than those of the soldiers under his command.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Li Yi unleashed Five Stars in a Row and the Gale Arrow once more, but compared to last time, he had added the Arrow-Fighting Art to this attack!

Five arrows flew out in succession, charging toward the shield formation raised by the Qing Kingdom soldiers like a long serpent.

Clang!

The first arrow cracked the shield in the Qing Kingdom soldier's hand!

Crack!

The second arrow shattered the Qing Kingdom soldier's shield outright. The remaining three arrows followed the crack and instantly bored into the shield formation.

The next moment, the shield formation stalled for several breaths before completely falling apart.

The centurion within the shield formation had already been nailed to death by Li Yi's arrows!

After the centurion died, the Qing Kingdom vanguard fell into brief chaos.

A good opportunity!

Seeing the Qing Kingdom vanguard begin to descend into disorder, Li Yi unleashed Five Stars in a Row again, continuously picking off those Qing Kingdom centurions.

In less than the time it took to burn an incense stick, four centurions had died by Li Yi's hand.

Looking at the two or three centurions who no longer dared show themselves, a trace of bewilderment surfaced in Li Yi's eyes.

As he killed those centurions, he vaguely sensed that some inexplicable aura had merged into the Seven Killings Bow.

Suddenly, Li Yi recalled the warning from the blacksmith Tang Yiping.

"Could this be the Sha Qi Master Tang spoke of—the Sha Qi the Seven Killings Bow can store?"

With that thought, Li Yi focused his mind and held his breath, placing all his attention on the Seven Killings Bow as he fired another arrow at the Qing Kingdom vanguard.

"Its power has indeed increased by the slightest bit compared to before!"

After recalling the first arrow he had fired with the Seven Killings Bow, Li Yi discovered that the power of his arrows had increased by an almost imperceptible amount.

It seemed this Sha Qi was quietly increasing the Seven Killings Bow's power. Though the increase was extremely small, accumulated over time, it would become an aid not to be underestimated!

With that, Li Yi drew his bow again and continued shooting down Qing Kingdom soldiers.

After several Qing Kingdom centurions were picked off by Li Yi, the Qing Kingdom vanguard could no longer throw smoke canisters. The thick smoke that had previously blanketed the northern city wall was also dispersed by Han Jia and his men.

For a time, the archer battalion regained its fighting strength!

Wave after wave of arrow rain poured down, once again hindering the Qing Kingdom vanguard's offensive.

Without reinforcements to sustain them, the Qing Kingdom vanguard that had climbed onto the northern city wall was gradually cleared away by Han Jia and his men.

If this continued, the crisis at the northern city wall could be resolved!

After observing the battle at the northern city wall, Li Yi nodded and hurriedly directed the three archer units under his command to rotate and rest.

Boom!

Suddenly, a deep drumbeat sounded, weighing heavily upon everyone's hearts.

Li Yi abruptly looked up and saw a massive military banner slowly approaching the northern city wall from behind the Qing Kingdom vanguard.

"That is the banner of a Qing Kingdom commandant!"

"The Qing Kingdom commandant is taking action personally!"