In this troubled age, battle qi techniques had always been the closely guarded possessions of nobles and major powers. Ordinary commoners never had a chance to glimpse even a fragment, let alone begin cultivating one. Shiheng had had no one to rely on since childhood. All along, he had depended on tempering his body day after day, honing his physique in the crudest, most arduous way, forcibly carving out a place for himself in a world teeming with the strong.
Now, however, he possessed the exceedingly rare Destruction Battle Qi Technique and the vast resources remaining in the ring. If he could not turn every one of these exceptional advantages into tangible combat strength, it would be an immense waste of his good fortune.
Shiheng held his breath and focused, immersing himself completely in the mysteries of the Destruction Battle Qi Technique. Within moments, he had grasped its core essence: use rage as the catalyst and evil as the foundation, ignite body and mind with the utmost fury, and temper the flesh through endless slaughter, thereby condensing domineering, ruthless destruction battle qi.
The technique's central principles actually aligned perfectly with the latent power of berserk within him; they could even be called a match made in heaven. Berserk was itself a loss of control over one's power following an eruption of extreme emotion, while destruction battle qi required precisely rage and killing intent as nourishment. Combined, the two did not clash in the slightest, instead reinforcing one another. He had already tempered his body until it was exceptionally tough. Now, washed over by rage and thoughts of slaughter, he condensed battle qi at an astonishing speed, his aura climbing steadily. Every inch of his sinews and bones, every meridian, frantically absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and the cultivation resources in his hands, converting them into his own destruction battle qi. His cultivation proceeded without obstruction, and his strength grew rapidly at a visible rate.
Three days passed in a flash as Shiheng lost himself in cultivation.
He was immersed in the wondrous state of his battle qi melding with his flesh when earth-shaking battle cries suddenly erupted outside the camp. The clash of metal, the thunder of magic, and the roars of warriors intertwined, instantly turning the once relatively peaceful camp into a fiery purgatory of war.
"The Shadow Alliance is attacking again!"
Panicked cries rose one after another. The soldiers of the Radiant camp fell into disarray, hastily taking up their weapons to meet the enemy, but the overwhelming assault had already driven the front lines into a steady retreat.
Shiheng's eyes snapped open, a trace of condensed destruction battle qi flashing in their depths. With his rage still lingering and the fierce aura of his newly attained cultivation about him, he strode out of his temporary quarters and went straight to the Laiyang garrison commander.
The Laiyang garrison commander was now drenched in blood, his armor covered in sword and saber marks, his face filled with anxiety and despair. Seeing Shiheng arrive, he glanced around and, while no one was paying attention amid the chaos, swiftly slipped a tightly folded letter into Shiheng's hand. Lowering his voice, he spoke urgently and gravely. "Shiheng, over the past few days, I've sent out several groups of messengers to request reinforcements. Every one of them was intercepted and killed along the way. Not one survived! This is military intelligence I wrote out myself. You must do everything you can to deliver it personally to Grand Duke Kelin or get it to the Radiant Church's headquarters!"
He paused, his voice carrying fear he could scarcely conceal. "This time, the Shadow Alliance is determined to seize the Magic Crystal Vein. They've openly deployed ten sixth-level warriors and sixth-level mages between them. Against that kind of strength, our handful of men can't possibly hold them off. We won't last long! You're the strongest fighter left in the camp. Only you have a chance of breaking out. Don't get caught up in fighting. Leave as soon as you see an opening. You must get this intelligence out!"
Shiheng tightened his grip on the still-warm letter, his fingertips pressing slightly harder. He listened to every word the commander said and instantly understood the desperate situation they faced.
Ten sixth-level experts-what terrifying combat strength! Before this, Shiheng had never seen the Shadow Alliance assemble so many high-level fighters, and no one could say for certain whether the enemy still had seventh-level or even higher-level experts hidden in reserve. Perhaps, as Shiheng's strength increased, the enemies he encountered grew stronger as well.
Even though he had just cultivated destruction battle qi and greatly increased his strength, he alone could do nothing against such an enormous disparity in combat power. He had no way to reverse a battle they were certain to lose.
Without the slightest hesitation, Shiheng gave the Laiyang garrison commander a small nod, signaling that he understood what mattered. He did not rashly charge to the front to fight. Instead, using the chaotic fighting within the camp as cover, he quietly withdrew behind the crowd. His gaze was as sharp as an eagle's as he watched the battlefield closely, destruction battle qi secretly surging around him while he silently searched for the best moment to break out.
The fighting grew fiercer. The Radiant camp's defensive lines kept shrinking, and casualties mounted. The Shadow Alliance's experts were pressing closer, fighting their way toward the heart of the camp. Shiheng knew he had little time left.
Watching the fellow guards he had lived alongside day and night fall into pools of blood, their vibrant lives vanishing in an instant, Shiheng's anger shattered the restraints of reason. That rage held both boundless hatred for the Shadow Alliance's brutal slaughter and an utter refusal to accept his own lack of strength, his inability to protect those around him.
He had already planned to conceal himself, break out, and deliver the letter, but as the comrades he had fought beside for more than half a year fell one after another, Shiheng ultimately could not stand by and watch coldly. The next instant, his aura surged violently, and the power of berserk he had suppressed for so long erupted in full. This transformation was no longer like those of the past. After three days of nourishment and tempering by destruction battle qi, his berserk state had been optimized to the utmost!
Through those three days of grueling cultivation, Shiheng had already stabilized at the peak of fifth-level warrior strength. Now, with his berserk power fully unleashed, his strength actually leaped across two major realms, soaring straight to the seventh-level warrior peak! Pitch-black battle qi swept around him with a savage aura of destruction. Even the surrounding air warped beneath that mighty pressure. Shiheng's gaze was bone-chillingly cold, and the killing intent around him almost took tangible form.
The instant he revealed himself, Shiheng turned his wrist and swept his weapon outward, wrapped in battle qi. He cleanly slew the two sixth-level Shadow Alliance warriors closest to him, his movements swift and ruthless, without the slightest hesitation or wasted motion.
Theodora, not far away, happened to witness the scene. He recognized Shiheng at once, vicious malice and hatred instantly churning in his eyes. Through gritted teeth, he gave an order into the shadows. The hidden experts who had long been lying in ambush immediately moved, charging straight at Shiheng to surround and kill him.
In mere moments, four seventh-level advanced warriors converged from four directions, trapping Shiheng in the center of the battlefield. Together, they unleashed a coordinated attack, their flashing blades and surging battle qi leaving no gaps. Despite Shiheng's formidable combat strength, their well-coordinated assault gradually forced him onto the back foot, and openings began to appear in his defenses.
Yet these were not all the trump cards the Shadow Alliance possessed. Along with the sixth-level mages and seventh-level warriors, an eighth-level warrior had also accompanied them and was stationed at the rear! Seeing Shiheng expose a fatal opening, the eighth-level warrior's eyes turned cold, and he instantly teleported over. His heavy saber swept toward Shiheng with world-shattering pressure. Before the wind of the blade even reached him, the powerful battle qi was already cutting painfully into Shiheng's skin.
Shiheng's pupils contracted sharply. With no time to think, he instinctively raised his saber to block. With a deafening clang, the weapon in his hand was cleaved in two. The terrifying force of the eighth-level expert surged through the weapon and into his entire body. Shiheng flew backward like a kite with its string cut, unable to stop a mouthful of blood from spilling from his lips.
At that critical moment, Shiheng endured his injuries and used the momentum carrying him backward to abruptly twist around. He desperately fled toward the edge of the battlefield, not daring to linger in combat for even a moment. Seeing this, the five men, led by the eighth-level warrior, immediately gave furious chase, vowing to kill Shiheng there.
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