227: A hill that is easy to defend but difficult to attack?

Whoosh, whoosh~~

Shen Bei leaped off the cliff's edge. In that moment, he felt as if time had stopped, with the wind whistling in his ears.

The crevice was like the greedy maw of a giant Dragon, devouring all darkness.

Shen Bei jumped into the crevice from the North.

Unlike the South, which had a gentle slope, there was only a sheer cliff here.

The perilous crevice snaked downwards like a Dragon or a snake, as if reaching straight for the earth's surface's core.

As Shen Bei's body continuously fell, all he saw was pitch black, with only smooth rock walls around him.

Not long after falling, the light from above disappeared, and Shen Bei slowly adjusted his posture.

Soon, a faint speck of light appeared below. After a few breaths, the speck grew larger and larger, eventually forming a ball of light.

It was the light gate to the Luan County Earth Cave entrance!

As Shen Bei neared the ground, he released his True Qi, creating a counter-force that gently lowered his body like a feather, avoiding making too much noise.

Then, Qi Chuanyu and Liao Zhongyang also landed slowly.

Following closely behind was Jian Tong, who had caught up.

Shen Bei didn't have time to ask Jian Tong if she had found Baba Tu's Martial Skill.

He activated his full dark vision.

The view of the dark crevice was completely exposed before his eyes.

At this moment, they were less than two hundred meters from the earth's surface Cave entrance light gate.

Furthermore, in this direction, apart from some scattered large rocks, there were no Otherworlders.

The Otherworlders' main offensive line was also in the South.

After all, in the South, one could walk up the gentle slope, which was much easier than climbing a sheer cliff.

If the Otherworlders chose to climb the cliff, they would truly be out of their minds; Human Martial Artists above would kick them down one by one.

It was far less advantageous than the tactical buffer zone of the southern slope.

Shen Bei and the others lay prone in the darkness for a while.

After seeing another wave of Otherworlders charge towards the southern slope, Shen Bei waved his hand:

"I'll count to three, and we'll all rush inside. I might faint as soon as I enter, Old Qi, you're responsible for finding a place to hide with everyone until I wake up."

Shen Bei didn't know what the situation would be like after entering the earth's surface Cave.

But he believed Qi Chuanyu could handle this small matter.

"Big Guy, you can't stop what you're doing, you must keep throwing punches."

Once Liao Zhongyang's charged attack was interrupted, if it wasn't unleashed within ten seconds, the accumulated power would instantly dissipate.

Throughout this journey, Liao Zhongyang had not been allowed to participate in combat.

This was to keep him as a trump card.

"Jian Tong, cover our rear."

Jian Tong, whether in single-target damage or area-of-effect attacks, was among the top Third-Rank Martial Artists.

After all, her mental attribute was no joke; it was even more formidable than Shen Bei's.

After making the arrangements, Shen Bei took a deep breath:

"One…"

"Three…!"

After counting, Shen Bei, like a leopard, took a large stride, his figure compressing the air, and he shot forward, charging straight out!

"Damn it!"

Qi Chuanyu almost fell over: "As expected, you're a slacker in academics. Is that how you count? Even a PE teacher wouldn't take the blame for that!"

The three behind him followed Shen Bei's figure, rushing forward with exasperated expressions.

One hundred and fifty meters…

One hundred meters…

Fifty meters…

Ten meters…

Three meters…

Closer and closer.

Shen Bei was ecstatic. During this process, no Otherworlders appeared, and no Human Martial Artists from the battle in the South intervened either.

The earth's surface Cave entrance was right before his eyes.

The light gate was like a rainbow formed by converging stars, flowing with vibrant, colorful light, sometimes as fiery as molten gold, sometimes as soft as moonlight, with swirling vortices dancing and shimmering within the radiant light and shadows.

Just as Shen Bei was about to step into the light gate, suddenly, an Otherworlder wielding an axe emerged from within the light gate.

His rank wasn't high, barely a Fourth-Rank.

It seemed he was an Otherworlder who had fallen behind the main attacking force and was now alone.

As the two sides met, the Otherworlder let out a strange cry.

He raised his two axes, and a powerful, heavy chop descended from above, instantly aiming for Shen Bei's head.

But Shen Bei didn't dodge or evade. He moved like a low-flying crane, his figure agile, making a nimble turn.

His hands reached behind him, gripping his twin blades.

He unleashed a horizontal slash, simple and direct, yet a combination of speed and skill, like a silver crescent moon, flashing by in an instant.

Pfft…

Effortlessly, like unscrewing a bottle cap, a bloodstain appeared on the Otherworlder's neck.

The Otherworlder's head flew high and then crashed heavily to the ground.

His body also slumped softly to the ground in a brief moment.

Instant kill!

It was at this moment.

Shen Bei had not yet stepped into the earth's surface Cave entrance.

The effect of the Super-Modified Adrenaline ended.

Shen Bei, like a television that had lost power, rolled his eyes and instantly fell to the ground.

…

"This way, this way!"

Qi Chuanyu dragged Shen Bei, crawling forward to the left.

When they entered the earth's surface Cave, they were lucky.

There were no Otherworlders nearby.

Qi Chuanyu quickly surveyed the terrain.

This terrain was truly hair-raising.

On both sides were undulating mountain ranges that converged towards the center, like a gourd-shaped landform.

And three kilometers ahead, there was a hill over three hundred meters high, perfectly blocking the exit of the gourd-shaped landform.

Qi Chuanyu could vaguely see about two hundred Otherworlder soldiers stationed there.

It seemed to be a crucial point for receiving retreating troops or for blocking Human Martial Artists' attacks.

At the same time, the interior of the gourd-shaped landform was as flat as a vast grassland, covered with weeds that were more than half a person's height.

The moment Qi Chuanyu carried Shen Bei into the earth's surface Cave, he didn't hesitate, immediately dropping to a prone position and hiding in the tall grass.

He then crawled to the left.

About a kilometer to the left of the earth's surface Cave exit, although there was no hill for cover, there was a small pit.

They could hide there for a while, waiting for Shen Bei to wake up.

"This terrain…" Liao Zhongyang wriggled in the grass, his face looking a bit unhealthy: "It's a bit tricky."

Qi Chuanyu sniffed: "This valley has no cover except for these weeds. We either climb over the mountains or fight our way through the valley exit."

Jian Tong shook her head: "Neither is realistic."

Qi Chuanyu agreed with Jian Tong's assessment.

It was indeed unrealistic.

What good would climbing over the mountains do?

Humans couldn't control the earth's surface Cave exit.

To control the exit, they would have to attack the hill at the valley exit.

That would be difficult.

…

Upon reaching the pit, Qi Chuanyu placed Shen Bei on the ground.

He looked up again at the distant hill, making a tsk-tsk sound: "A terrain where one man can hold off ten thousand. This one-day trip to the earth's surface Cave, that's it."

Qi Chuanyu wasn't just talking nonsense.

The exit of that valley was practically a natural stronghold for the Otherworlders.

One person standing up there could easily fight ten attackers.

Before long, Shen Bei slowly woke up.

"We can go back now," Qi Chuanyu said.

Shen Bei calmly pulled out his water bottle, took a sip of water, and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Look up at the terrain."

Shen Bei climbed out of the pit, glanced outside, and was immediately stunned.

"This…"

Shen Bei was also a bit confused.

This terrain was too damn devious, wasn't it?

Good heavens.

A gourd-shaped landform, with its only exit blocked by a hill.

There were indeed ten-meter-wide paths on either side of the hill, but who would dare to take them? Wouldn't that just passively allow the Otherworlders above to attack from a high vantage point?

After all the trouble of being the first to enter the earth's surface Cave, to encounter such a result… it was truly hair-raising.

"How many people are up there?" Shen Bei still asked.

Qi Chuanyu replied while tidying the battle flag: "About two hundred, I guess."

The flag pole had long been discarded; now only the flag itself was folded and tucked into his backpack.

Shen Bei squatted in the grass, his brow furrowed in deep thought, then posed a thought-provoking question:

"Do you think our chances of success are greater if the four of us assault a hill with over two hundred people, or if tens of thousands of Otherworlders retreat from the earth's surface and defend the exit, while tens of thousands of Human Martial Artists attack?"

At these words, the three were all stunned.

The way he asked that question…

Why did it feel like Shen Bei still had some ideas?

Qi Chuanyu immediately said: "According to the terrain, naturally, the fewer people on both sides, the more advantageous it is for the attacking party."

Shen Bei patted Qi Chuanyu's shoulder: "My boy, you're finally catching on."

That's right.

In this kind of terrain that favors the enemy's defense, the fewer people involved, the more advantageous it is for the attacking side.

The simplest example: let one person guard the hill and another attack.

That terrain would be useless; one could rush up from anywhere.

But once the numbers are amplified, it becomes an overwhelming advantage for the defending side.

The attacking side might pay a tenfold price and still not be able to break through.

This is a qualitative change brought about by a quantitative change.

One can imagine, once the Otherworlders from the earth's surface retreat, tens of thousands of them defending the exit.

That would be an utterly despair-inducing sight.

Therefore, Shen Bei planned to occupy the exit before the enemy could undergo a qualitative change.

But Qi Chuanyu somewhat disagreed with Shen Bei's crazy idea: "But the enemy's numbers aren't small, over two hundred Otherworlders, and it's still advantageous terrain! Just the four of us, are you kidding?"

Shen Bei said with great composure: "Last time in the Luan County Earth Cave, weren't the Otherworlder forces dealt with head-on as well?"

"So…" Qi Chuanyu stroked his chin and asked, "Are we going to ambush them again this time?"

Shen Bei sniffed: "I don't know what rank the Alien Leader is; an ambush might not even work."

Shen Bei could use the Hidden Breath Technique to quietly infiltrate the hill and find the Alien Leader.

But what if the Alien Leader's rank was too high? An ambush would be useless.

"Then what's the point of talking?" Qi Chuanyu mumbled: "If we can't take out the enemy's Leader immediately, their morale won't break, and if we charge in, we'll be cut down by their blades."

Qi Chuanyu was right; the key was that they had to achieve a one-hit kill against the opponent before they could do anything else.

Shen Bei took a deep breath and said: "A thousand words are useless; with insufficient intelligence, we need to scout."

"Let's go, crawl forward, and observe the situation first!"

With that, Shen Bei used the cover of the grass and led them to crawl towards the exit hill.