Victory Over Many with Few: Meridian Courage

Lu Xingshi moved his body, warming up.

Though the Martial Arts Game Character was not a real person, it still possessed the corresponding physiological structures.

However, after his Physical Constitution reached 100 points and gained the Attribute Trait Immortal Fetus Immortal Bone, those physiological structures underwent some kind of change.

Judging from the data, it had undergone a certain evolution.

"Kill..." Shouts of battle came from outside.

Lu Xingshi muttered softly, "How much of my strength I can bring out next will depend entirely on you, Mental Fortitude."

From the very beginning, he had merely been an ordinary person with cheats enabled. His temperament truly was lacking, but Mental Fortitude supported him, allowing him to remain calm and composed, his face unchanged even if Mount Tai collapsed before him.

That was why he was in such excellent condition.

He had actually figured it out: Physical Constitution was the foundation of the body, Comprehension was the ability to think, and Mental Fortitude seemed the most inconspicuous, yet it was equally important. It let him remain unruffled in the face of events and bring the other two attributes to their fullest potential.

Otherwise, if one feared trouble and shrank back whenever something happened, how could one ever accomplish anything?

He opened the door and saw numerous battered, defeated soldiers retreating without pause. Only around a hundred remained, all guards of Tiange Pass. The front line had essentially collapsed.

With a light leap, Lu Xingshi sprang from the ground into the air like a great bird.

"Have you ever heard the cry of a Golden Crow?" Lu Xingshi asked.

A Barbarian Squad Leader understood Lu Xingshi's words. After all, Lu Xingshi had a language translation function on him. Yet he had no idea what a Golden Crow was.

But there was no need to know. He immediately ordered his men to fire arrows.

They had plenty of experience dealing with martial artists. Bows and crossbows would ensure every one of them became a porcupine.

Yet as the Barbarians raised their bows, Lu Xingshi moved faster. A shell smashed into their ranks in an instant.

Boom! The explosion erupted, its shockwave mixed with blazing heat, firelight, and shrapnel, clearing out the entire area.

Under Lu Xingshi's precise calculations, that group of pass defenders was saved, and a buffer zone was cleared out as well.

Seeing this, Lu Xingshi loaded the second round at tremendous speed and fired once more.

Another spray of blood exploded.

Unfortunately, before he could load a third round, a Barbarian Expert interrupted him.

"Warrior of Great Song's martial world!"

The man was a burly, bald fellow, his face tattooed with vicious markings.

"An External Refinement expert?" Lu Xingshi saw at a glance that the other man cultivated an External Refinement technique. Among the Barbarians, most cultivated External Refinement.

Anyone who could train to such a level was certainly no ordinary figure.

Compared to other types of techniques, External Refinement techniques were not only harder to cultivate, but also required greater resources and had shorter prime years.

Yet they possessed one overwhelming advantage: most experts who had mastered External Refinement were practically invincible in their prime. They could even fight ten opponents of the same level alone—though after such a battle, even if they did not die, they would be crippled.

"Die!" The man's attack was plain and unadorned. He simply charged over and threw a fist at Lu Xingshi's chest.

He needed neither technique nor footwork. The physical qualities granted by External Refinement made his strength and agility far superior to most Fist and Foot Techniques.

Lu Xingshi revealed a savage grin as Inner Force and blood vitality surged wildly through his body.

"I'll only use ten percent of my strength!" Lu Xingshi's right fist slammed into the sandbag-sized fist hurtling toward him.

The sound of cracking bones rang out. That Barbarian Expert's right hand was smashed into a bloody pulp by Lu Xingshi's punch, tearing apart more than half his body along with it.

He truly had used only ten percent of his strength, but he possessed far too many Innate Traits and technique effects.

As the Barbarian Expert fell from above, confusion filled his expression. He had never imagined that he would lose so quickly.

One punch. The opponent had ended his life with a single punch.

Naturally, the soldiers of both Great Song and the Barbarians witnessed this sight.

"Run, run!"

In an instant, the Barbarians present scattered in all directions.

At the same time, he completed the hidden achievement of defeating many with few. His original Blood Courage advanced into Meridian Courage.

Meridian Courage: Critical Hit +10, Blood Vitality +10, Constitution +10

Not only had the original attributes increased by 10 points, but a Constitution attribute had appeared as well.

"Leave? Not one of you is leaving today!" Lu Xingshi had already offended the Barbarians. One point of hatred and one thousand points of hatred made no difference at all. He might as well beat them until they were terrified.

He crashed directly into the Barbarian ranks and began striking left and right.

If he wanted to take Tiange Pass, there was only one way: kill the Barbarians until their courage shattered.

To repay his master's kindness, he had to repay it cleanly, leaving the other side with no loose ends to seize.

Opening the gates to bring in an army and using a city to repay a debt—the latter was certainly worth more.

The Golden Crow Hand Cannon on his left hand transformed into an iron fist. With his strength fully unleashed, every punch sent Inner Force bursting out through his body. Any Barbarian caught in its range died if touched and was wounded if grazed. One man relentlessly pursued several hundred Barbarians.

"Guard the gates properly. Don't let a single one out today." Lu Xingshi glanced back at the pass defenders and deliberately gave them this instruction.

"Yes!" They were startled by Lu Xingshi's blood-covered appearance. Especially when he turned back, even these veteran soldiers were badly frightened.

"What kind of ferocious beast is this Golden Crow, for a single cry to be so terrifying?" one soldier muttered softly.

"Could it be that the Golden Crow he mentioned was the bird gun... er, cannon in his hand?" another soldier pointed out.

Murong Xuan also heard the commotion within Tiange Pass, and his expression suddenly changed.

"That brat wouldn't just attack outright, would he?" The commotion was simply far too great.

Prince of Liao's camp was sixty li from Tiange Pass. Even if he spared no cost and pushed his lightness skill at full force, it would still take him half an hour to reach it.

But the truly difficult part was not informing them. From assembling to setting out, Prince of Liao's army would need until tomorrow at the earliest.

It was already dusk. No matter how fast a forced march was, they could not keep it up for long.

"Do all that man can and leave the rest to the Heavenly Mandate. That brat won't foolishly face the Barbarians head-on."

When Murong Xuan thought of how Lu Xingshi had repeatedly emphasized running away before, it showed that Lu Xingshi still valued his life.

Normally, that would be a weakness. But in Murong Xuan's eyes, it was a strength. So long as he survived, nothing else mattered.

"I hope Prince of Liao can see the bigger picture. If he is willing to force-march to save... I could pledge allegiance to him as well." Murong Xuan thought to himself. As for whether they would be going to save Lu Xingshi or Tiange Pass, he had once believed it was the latter. Now, he was no longer so sure.

His disciple had come from thousands of miles away to save him, though perhaps he had overestimated himself...

"But after this, Late Emperor, Your Majesty, we will be even."

If he could return alive, he no longer intended to serve the Imperial Court. Instead, he planned to pave the way for Lu Xingshi.