Bone Courage Against a Stronger Foe

"Golden Crow Ghost God? He even killed our foremost warrior, Chahar, with one punch?" Aha Chu's expression darkened. He was the Barbarian Chieftain, and mobilizing ten thousand troops this time meant gambling the fate of his entire tribe. Chahar in particular, their foremost warrior, possessed the strongest External Refinement among the barbarian tribes.

He had once punched three Great Song martial arts masters to death by himself. That was utterly unparalleled.

"He's only one man. No matter how strong he is, can he really be stronger than bows, crossbows, armor, and weapons?" It was not that Aha Chu did not believe it; the matter was simply too absurd.

"Chieftain, he has killed at least five hundred warriors by himself. The army's morale has collapsed, and everyone is afraid of this Golden Crow Ghost God."

"We should retreat at once," a slave said shakily.

Five hundred was no small number. Though they had ten thousand barbarians, barbarians were still human. They were not fearless machines; witnessing such slaughter would terrify anyone.

"Impossible. We've already taken... Wait? What's that sound?" Aha Chu could not possibly retreat. He had paid an enormous price to seize Tiange Pass. Once they passed through the gate, the barbarians would gain a fertile stretch of grassland.

They would finally escape the impoverished Gobi. After recuperating for a few years, they could even march south and conquer Great Song.

"It sounds like... the Golden Crow Ghost God has broken in???" The slave listened carefully. Many barbarians were wailing and crying out, while thunderous booms occasionally rang out, somewhat like Great Song's Cannons.

"That's impossible. There are..." Aha Chu's first instinct was to deny it.

Then a voice rang out.

"Finally found you. You must be the Barbarian Chieftain." Lu Xingshi forcibly tore away the tent they had set up with brute force.

A great number of barbarians gathered around them. These were all the chieftain's Guards, each an expert who had mastered External Refinement.

In the martial world, they would all have been renowned experts. However, such fighters had short peaks and did not live long. Only harsh, frigid lands could temper people like them.

"You're the Golden Crow Ghost God warrior?" Aha Chu narrowed his eyes as he assessed Lu Xingshi. He had expected a burly man, but Lu Xingshi instead looked somewhat like a scholar. "What conditions did Great Song offer you? Join my command, and I'll offer ten times as much!"

"That won't do. I'm here to repay someone's kindness." Before Lu Xingshi had even finished speaking, he attacked.

These barbarian warriors who had mastered External Refinement were like paper mache in his hands. With a single punch, more than half of a body would turn into a bloody pulp.

The sight made Aha Chu's eyes nearly split with rage. He had thought the reports exaggerated, but after witnessing it himself, he understood why the army's morale had crumbled so quickly.

Martial artists had no such methods. Even Chahar, their foremost warrior, could not turn most of a person's body into such a state.

After a dozen or so Guards died to Lu Xingshi's fighting style, no one dared charge forward again.

"I'll give you two choices now." Lu Xingshi casually wiped his hands, then gripped the head of Aha Chu, the Barbarian Chieftain.

"Either I send you on your way, or I send all of you out of Tiange Pass."

In truth, Lu Xingshi did not want to commit too much slaughter. Killing was bad in the end. His Mental Fortitude was high, so he felt nothing toward killing, but that did not mean he was bloodthirsty.

His goal was simply to reclaim Tiange Pass. As long as the Barbarian Chieftain took his barbarians and withdrew, Lu Xingshi would not make things too difficult for them.

"Fine... We're willing to leave Tiange Pass." In the end, Aha Chu lowered his head.

Between the tribe and himself, he chose himself.

Besides, given the current situation, if Lu Xingshi continued killing, things would only get worse. With their morale and fighting spirit shattered, they would be completely unable to resist.

"I'm pleased with your choice. Go on, take your people and leave."

"Don't try anything clever. If I can kill my way in and give you one choice, then I can kill my way in again and send you on your way." Lu Xingshi was not worried that Aha Chu would go back on his word.

After killing his way from the rear gate of Tiange Pass to its front gate, he had roughly grasped his own strength, though he still did not know exactly how strong he was.

He truly could kill all ten thousand barbarians, provided he had enough time.

And that was only the most basic method. There were other methods as well. If he called for their surrender now, many barbarians would certainly surrender.

Of the ten thousand barbarians, he had killed around seven hundred, nearly one-tenth. They had long since been scared out of their wits.

Seven hundred had never been a small number.

Aha Chu agreed with Lu Xingshi's words. The other party truly possessed that kind of strength.

Although Lu Xingshi was covered in blood, none of it was his own. Aha Chu had seen him from up close. There was not a single wound on Lu Xingshi's body, proving that he had crushed everything in his path.

"Golden Crow warrior, rest assured. I will certainly honor our agreement," Aha Chu said meekly.

Forbearance had always been one of his talents.

With that, Aha Chu walked out of the tent and began gathering the remaining barbarians. Before long, they withdrew from Tiange Pass in an orderly fashion.

It was not that he was especially efficient. The barbarians had simply been frightened badly.

As for having over nine thousand men launch another counterattack? Aha Chu still wanted to live. Lu Xingshi had forcibly pierced through the barbarian army formation and killed his way to the tent. If they had ninety thousand men, perhaps he might try it, but nine thousand? Forget it. "At least they kept their word. I thought that once they gathered together, I'd have to clash with them head-on to scare them out of their wits." Lu Xingshi felt that things had gone rather well.

At the same time, the hidden mission for his Acquired Trait, Meridian Courage, had somehow been completed, promoting it to Bone Courage.

"This counts too? So they were actually stronger than me?" Lu Xingshi was utterly baffled.

Then he quickly realized that the stronger foe he had defeated might not have been Aha Chu, the Barbarian Chieftain, but the entire barbarian race. One person opposing an entire faction truly put him at a disadvantage. If they had stood united, Lu Xingshi might really have been overwhelmed and killed.

Human strength had its limits.

Bone Courage: Critical Hit +50, Vitality +50, Constitution +50, Strength +50

"My lord, what should we do with Tiange Pass next..." A soldier guarding the pass approached him.

Though he had no idea where Lu Xingshi had come from, given the strength of an Enemy of Ten Thousand, it would not be unacceptable to let him take control of Tiange Pass.

Lu Xingshi had only killed a little over seven hundred barbarians, but he had driven back the barbarian army. Naturally, he was worthy of being called an Enemy of Ten Thousand.

"As for that, you can decide among yourselves. I don't really understand such matters." Lu Xingshi did not care about what came next. He was not actually here to conquer the world. Still, he added, "Oh, make sure to shut the gates properly. Don't let anyone else in."

His success this time had relied on capturing the ringleader first. Otherwise, it would not have been so easy to make the barbarians withdraw.

"Yes, my lord. We guarantee that no one will be allowed in," the pass-guarding soldier hurriedly replied.