Outside the blockhouse, a dark mass of several hundred people had gathered, surrounding it so tightly that not a drop of water could pass through, like a pack of ravenous wolves.
At the very front stood four or five hundred raggedly dressed rogue cultivators and cultivators from minor factions;
A considerable number of them did not even have Dharma Artifacts or armor.
Some held Dharma Blades high, some carried Dharma Swords on their shoulders, and some held Greenwood Shields. Others had cut slabs from the dark iron ore used for artifact forging and taken them to use as shields, bracing them firmly before their bodies for protection.
Although their positions were somewhat disorganized, they had barely managed to form a crooked square formation, hoping to withstand the enemy's attacks with it.
The Second-in-Command of the Iron Saber Society on Mysterious Mountain Island stood in one of the formation's rear ranks, having attended Qing Chen's Golden Core Ceremony and offered a substantial gift of spirit stones.
The high-grade Iron Blade in his hand, once shimmering with spiritual light, had now grown somewhat dull.
Among the disciples behind him, one had been unfortunate enough to have his arm grazed by a "spiritual power arrow." Blood streamed down his sleeve, staining a patch of his clothing red.
Clang!
Dozens of crossbow bolts conjured from magic power suddenly emerged from the blockhouse's arrow slits;
Among them were even several Dharma Artifact crossbow bolts. They shot down with sharp whistles like venomous snakes flicking out their tongues, aiming straight for the lives of the cultivators below.
Seeing this, the cultivators in the front ranks hurriedly joined forces to activate their spiritual power barriers again or deploy their "Dharma Artifact shields" to block them.
The "arrowheads" struck the barriers and shields like raindrops, producing dull thuds