Breaking Through the Encirclement

To save the Wang brothers, Li Xuancang had missed his best chance to escape. The barbarian cultivators quickly closed in around him.

"Xuancang, go!"

Zhao Changlin fought his way to Li Xuancang's side, and together they carved a bloody path through the enemy ranks.

"Attack together! We must not let them leave alive!"

More than a hundred barbarian soldiers in armor formed a tight battle formation. Armed with spears and battle-axes, they pressed forward step by step.

A dozen or so Body Tempering Realm cultivators stood among them, their blood and qi surging as they watched like tigers waiting to pounce.

At the very front stood two burly barbarian leaders in the Late Body Tempering Stage, blades in hand. Their killing intent soared as they fixed their gazes on the pair, vowing to cut them down.

Zhao Changlin held his blade at an angle and swept his gaze over the enemies surrounding them. He said in a low voice,

"We'll join forces and fight our way out, then flee into the mountains of Blackwind Ridge ahead. We can use the terrain to shake them off."

Before he had finished speaking, the two barbarian leaders in the Late Body Tempering Stage had already charged forward, swinging their blades.

"Kill!"

A dozen or so barbarian cultivators surged at them, while more than a hundred barbarian soldiers closed in formation. Spearpoints formed a forest, and blades flashed like snow, sealing off every possible escape route.

"Protect the flank. I'll break through the front."

With a furious roar, Zhao Changlin unleashed the full power of his Late Body Tempering Stage blood and qi and charged straight into the enemy formation. His blade swept across, knocking two barbarian soldiers to the ground as he confronted the two leaders of the same stage.

Li Xuancang tightened his grip on his spear and relied on his far stronger-than-average body and terrifying stamina to hold Zhao Changlin's flank.

More than a dozen Body Tempering Realm cultivators attacked him. He neither dodged nor retreated, sticking to his ruthless style of trading wounds for lives.

His spearpoint thrust forward, his shaft swept across, and every strike poured out all the strength he could muster, forcibly holding back the assault on the flank.

"Clang!"

A barbarian cultivator in the Mid Body Tempering Stage swung his blade down. The old wound in Li Xuancang's shoulder split open, and blood gushed out.

He gritted his teeth against the pain, thrust his spear back through the opponent's lower abdomen, and hurled him away.

Zhao Changlin fought two enemies alone. The two leaders in the Late Body Tempering Stage used vicious moves, each one aimed to kill, and he gradually fell onto the back foot.

More wounds appeared on Zhao Changlin, but he fought to the death without retreating, holding the enemy's strongest fighters at bay.

The two relied on each other as they withstood attacks from every direction. Each step forward came at the price of blood.

"Kill!"

The barbarian soldiers surged forward like a tidal wave, while the Body Tempering Realm cultivators launched one attack after another. More and more wounds opened on the pair, and their strength drained away fast.

At a terrible cost, the two gradually drew closer to Blackwind Ridge.

Zhang Changlin gathered his strength and forced back two powerful foes. "Go! Charge toward Blackwind Ridge!" he roared.

Li Xuancang swept his spear across, driving back the cultivators closing in on them. Shoulder to shoulder, they fought their way forward, ignoring the blades and spears striking their bodies as they made straight for the rolling, densely forested Blackwind Ridge ahead.

As they fought their way out of the encirclement, both sustained grievous injuries.

Zhao Changlin bore the two barbarian leaders' relentless, storm-like killing attacks head-on. He was covered in wounds, several of them pierced right through, and blood streamed down his body.

Surrounded by several Body Tempering cultivators, Li Xuancang had more than a dozen deep wounds on his chest, abdomen, and legs. His body was on the verge of collapse.

Summoning every last ounce of strength, the two broke through the enemy army's final line of defense and stumbled into the deep forests of Blackwind Ridge.

Daring not to stop, they endured the pain and fled desperately deeper into the mountains.

Ancient trees towered overhead, vines crisscrossed, and weeds grew thick in the depths of the mountains.

The terrain was rugged and complex, their vision obstructed. Demonic Beasts roamed freely, and the land was treacherous.

"Go that way!"

Relying on his keen senses, Li Xuancang steered clear of places where Demonic Beasts made their lairs.

Using the dense canopy and rugged ravines for cover, they changed their route again and again, erased their tracks, and struggled to shake off the pursuing barbarians.

They fled for an unknown length of time. Only after the sounds of pursuit had completely faded did they finally know they had escaped danger.

"Thud!"

The two could hold on no longer. They collapsed in the grass, panting heavily, drenched in blood, their breathing weak.

After resting for a while, they forced themselves to their feet and began tending to their wounds.

Zhao Changlin took out the last half-bottle of Golden Wound Medicine from his clothes, his eyes filled with reluctance.

This was a high-grade healing medicine, exceedingly precious. He usually couldn't bear to use it even when injured, but with their situation so dire, he could only grit his teeth and take it out.

After applying the medicine to his own wounds, Zhao Changlin held it out to Li Xuancang.

"Use this first to stop the bleeding. It'll stabilize your wounds and keep them from getting worse."

Li Xuancang didn't refuse. He took the bottle and applied the ointment. Its effects soon took hold, and a searing pain pierced his wounds.

Both men clenched their teeth and didn't make a sound. They had spent years living by the blade; they were used to this little pain.

Then the two tore clean strips of cloth from their clothes and bandaged their wounds tightly.

After briefly wiping the blood from their bodies, they leaned against a thick tree trunk to rest.

"The barbarians won't give up easily. They may still be searching around the outskirts of the mountains. We can't stay here long. We have to get back to Azure Cloud Ridge as soon as possible and rejoin the main army."

Zhao Changlin's expression was grave as he considered the situation.

"Lakeside Station has fallen completely. Only a handful of our scattered troops remain. We'll survive only if we make it back to Azure Cloud Ridge."

Li Xuancang nodded, agreeing with Zhao Changlin's plan.

His family back home weighed on his mind. He also wanted to return to the army as soon as possible, continue earning military merit, grow stronger, and rise in rank. He couldn't let himself be trapped in these mountains.

"Blackwind Ridge's terrain is complex. If we follow the mountains southeast, we can skirt the area where the main barbarian forces are searching and quietly reach Azure Cloud Ridge."

Zhao Changlin paused before continuing, "But the mountain paths are hard to travel, and there are monsters about. We're badly injured, so we'll have to be cautious every step of the way."

The mountain path ahead would be anything but peaceful. For the two of them, danger lurked everywhere.

After resting and recovering a little strength, the two helped each other to their feet. They picked up their weapons and headed southeast, one careful step at a time.

The forest was dim, and thorns grew everywhere. Strange cries from birds and beasts sounded now and then, keeping them tense to the limit.

Watching each other's backs and staying alert to their surroundings, they dragged their wounded bodies through the vast mountains, struggling toward Azure Cloud Ridge.