Ambush

"Boom, boom, rumble..."

Dust billowed into the air as the earth shook and the mountains swayed. The Barbarian army charged forward at high speed.

"Charge through them! Kill them all!"

The Barbarians came charging in with bloodshot eyes and feral grins.

"Meet the enemy!"

With a sweep of Zhou Xingzhan's hand, the Battle Soldier Camp immediately formed a defensive formation.

The Conscripts' Camp was trembling all over, shaking like sieves. Their bodies seemed frozen stiff, completely beyond their control.

"Don't panic."

"Form up quickly."

"What are you doing? Hurry up and kill the enemy!"

"..."

Under the furious roars of several officers, the men of the Conscripts' Camp slowly began to move.

Though they still couldn't overcome the fear in their hearts, they were no longer completely unable to move.

"If you want to live, then fight with everything you've got!"

"Whoever kills three Barbarians can become a Battle Soldier and change his standing!"

"If you don't want to die, then kill! Retreating will only make you die faster!"

"..."

The voices of Human Race officers rang continuously through the Conscripts' Camp, making promise after promise.

"Ah! I'll risk it all!"

"I want to become a Battle Soldier! No one can stop me!"

"At worst, it's death. What is there to fear?"

"..."

Where there were rich rewards, brave men would surely emerge.

With the temptation of becoming Battle Soldiers before them, not a single conscript could resist.

The morale of the Conscripts' Camp soared, and the fear in their eyes gradually turned to determination.

"Come on! Come on!"

"So these are the Barbarians? They don't have three heads and six arms either!"

"These are all government bounties. I'm going on a killing spree!"

"..."

Compared with the Human Race army, the several hundred gang members were already growing impatient.

"Kill!"

Before Zhou Xingzhan's words had even faded, he had already taken the lead and charged out.

Bang!

Boom!

"Ah!"

"..."

Astral Qi swirled around Zhou Xingzhan's body. His spear swept out in a broad arc, and a casual strike could kill more than a dozen Barbarians. He was terrifying beyond measure.

"Zhou Xingzhan, don't be so arrogant!"

Gu Shuo suddenly charged out. The aura he released was no weaker than Zhou Xingzhan's as he rushed toward him.

"Move aside!"

As two Astral Qi Realm experts fought, even Blood Condensation Realm cultivators dared not interfere. Both sides consciously moved away from the two men's battlefield.

Gu Shuo gripped his saber in both hands, raised it over his head, and viciously chopped down at Zhou Xingzhan.

Zhou Xingzhan's gaze was resolute. He held his spear crosswise and blocked the descending saber.

Clang!

The violent collision produced an ear-splitting metallic crash, sparks scattering in every direction.

"Kill!"

The two were old rivals. After that exchange, an even more savage bloody battle began.

Within the army, two pairs of cold eyes watched the battlefield between Zhou Xingzhan and Gu Shuo.

"Should we make a move?"

One of them, an old man in a black Daoist robe, asked softly.

"No rush. We absolutely can't let Gu Shuo escape."

The middle-aged man dressed like a scholar wasn't in any hurry to act.

The purpose of their arrival was Gu Shuo. They were determined to capture him, and nothing could be allowed to go wrong.

"Ah!"

"Pfft!"

"Urgh!"

"..."

The great battle erupted in full, and the armies of both sides began a brutal slaughter.

The Barbarians had more than eight thousand men, their numbers suppressing the Human Race side.

Yet as the battle continued, the Barbarians gradually fell into a disadvantage instead.

"This isn't right. Where did the Human Race get so many experts?"

"Damn it, we've been tricked."

"The Human Race is too despicable."

"..."

Among the several hundred gang members, the weakest were all in the Body Tempering Realm, while there were also quite a few in the Bone Forging Realm and Blood Condensation Realm.

They were enough to rival several thousand elite soldiers, and were even harder to deal with. They slaughtered the Barbarians until they retreated step by step.

"Hahaha, the Barbarians are nothing special after all."

The gang members slaughtered freely. Some were fighting Barbarians for the first time and discovered that the Barbarians weren't as terrifying as the rumors claimed.

"Kill!"

The tide of battle changed. The Human Race army's morale soared as they fought the enemy with all their strength.

"Just one more, only one more..."

"I'll become a Battle Soldier and protect my family."

"No one can stop me from killing the enemy."

"..."

The Conscripts' Camp had gone completely mad. Their previous fear was gone, and only enemies remained in their eyes.

They had been forcibly conscripted and had deeply felt the gulf between social classes.

The chance to change their fate was right before them. They would fight with their lives on the line.

Bang!

Zhou Xingzhan and Gu Shuo's powerful moves collided, sending both men staggering backward.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a sharp streak of Sword Qi came hurtling toward Gu Shuo from behind.

Gu Shuo had just exchanged a hard blow with Zhou Xingzhan and hadn't yet recovered his strength. Sensing the danger, his expression immediately changed.

He hurriedly turned around and narrowly dodged the sneak attack of Sword Qi.

Pfft!

He had just avoided the Sword Qi, but couldn't avoid the palm force that had been waiting to strike.

The palm force descended. Its immense energy pierced through Gu Shuo's chest and blasted his entire body away.

"Kill!"

Without giving Gu Shuo a chance to catch his breath, the black-robed old Daoist, the middle-aged scholar, and Zhou Xingzhan all pounced on him, intent on killing him.

"Despicable."

Gu Shuo had battled Zhou Xingzhan for a long time and had already sustained several injuries. Then he was heavily wounded by the palm force. Facing the siege of three Astral Qi Realm experts, he had entered a dead end, with little chance of breaking out.

"This is bad, my lord is in danger."

"Quick, support my lord immediately!"

"Follow me and kill!"

"..."

Seeing Gu Shuo in danger, the Barbarian generals were horrified and immediately tried to rush to his aid.

"You should worry about yourselves first!"

"You aren't going anywhere."

"Stay right where you are!"

"..."

The experts and gang members within the Human Race army firmly blocked the Barbarian experts, giving them no chance to assist.

"Damn it!"

Entangled by Human Race experts, the Barbarian generals could barely protect themselves and had no strength to support Gu Shuo.

Under the combined assault of Zhou Xingzhan and the other two, Gu Shuo's injuries continued to worsen. He was like a spent arrow at the end of its flight, at the end of the road.

"Entire army, retreat."

Knowing there was no way to turn the situation around, Gu Shuo ordered the army to withdraw.

"Kill him."

Zhou Xingzhan and the other two no longer held back. Killing intent boiled over as they sought to kill Gu Shuo beyond all doubt.

"Retreat! Retreat quickly!"

The Barbarian army collapsed like a mountain sliding down. They threw away their helmets and armor as they fled in panic.

"Chase them down! Wipe them all out!"

The Human Race side beat the drowning dogs and pursued without mercy.

Whether gang members, Battle Soldiers, or conscripts, all wanted to kill enemies and earn merit. None would allow the Barbarians to escape.

The Barbarians fled all the way in a sorry state, quickly arriving at the unavoidable route of their escape—Black Wind Valley.

"They're here. Prepare for battle. Don't let a single Barbarian escape."

After hearing the commotion, Zhou Xiong and the others, who had been lying in ambush for a long time, all gripped their weapons tightly and stared ahead with full concentration.

"Kill!"

The moment he saw the fleeing Barbarians, Zhou Xiong took the lead and charged out.

"Kill!"

Li Xuancang pointed his spear forward and led his hundred-man squad charging out close behind.

"This is bad, it's an ambush!"

The sudden attack caught the Barbarians completely off guard, sending them into panicked confusion.

They had already been frightened out of their wits. Faced with more than a thousand Battle Soldiers suddenly charging out, they had no power to resist at all.

Pfft!

"Ah!"

"Urgh!"

"..."

This wasn't a battle. It was more like a massacre.

The Barbarians, who had always thought highly of themselves and looked down on the Human Race, were now utterly vulnerable, falling one after another.

"Hahaha, satisfying! This is satisfying!"

"Once I kill you, I can become a Five-Man Leader."

"All of you, die!"

"..."

The eyes of the thousand-plus Battle Soldiers burned with excitement. This was practically merit being delivered to their doorstep.

In less than an hour, two thousand Barbarians had been slain by the crowd.

As more and more fleeing Barbarians poured in, the pressure on everyone grew greater, and casualties began to rise.