33: Urgent report from Qingyuan Town

Outside the canyon, Fang Han had been waiting anxiously. Seeing Lin Mo appear, he stepped forward quickly and lowered his voice, speaking at a rapid pace: "Young Master, urgent report from Qingyuan Town!

An unidentified armed force has broken through the three outer defense lines. The hidden guards lured them deep into the old forest according to plan, but the enemy has guides familiar with the terrain, and their advance speed has exceeded expectations!

Combat has already commenced. Our side has used the geographical advantage and crossbows to heavily injure dozens of them, but seven hidden guards have been killed in action, and thirteen are wounded!

One estimates that they can delay for half a day at most!"

The sunset was like blood, reflecting on Lin Mo's suddenly cold profile.

He took the water skin handed over by Fang Han and took a slow sip.

Inside his body, the internal qi, surging and boiling due to insights from the secret land and days of feedback, as well as that body containing the physical essence of ninety-nine Death Warriors—already transcending the mundane—was longing for a hearty release.

"Pass the order." His voice was calm, yet it contained a heart-palpitating chill.

"Within Qinglan City, all Death Warriors enter standby status. Close Hundred Herbs Hall, and have the personnel disperse and go into hiding."

"Notify Liu Kui and White Sand Child to assemble all combat-ready forces in Qingyuan Town, prepare to receive us at the preset positions at the River God Temple, and evacuate the elderly, weak, women, and children."

"Send a message to One to change strategy; no longer focus primarily on delaying.

Activate all preset traps and poison barriers, with the primary goal of annihilating the enemy's effective strength. I will arrive within four hours."

He turned his gaze to the longsword in his hand, which was still covered in rust, and his other hand tightened around that fragment of Extraterrestrial Meteorite Iron.

"Additionally, have Five prepare a quiet room, Ancient Beast Blood, and Pure Yang Potion refined from three yang grass."

"Tonight, I will use the blood sent by the City Lord's Mansion and the gold gifted by the Hundred Treasures Pavilion to sharpen this sword."

Night fell quietly, swallowing the last glimmer of daylight.

Lin Mo's figure vanished into the secret path leading out of the Martial Academy.

Day 101, the third quarter of the Hour of the Boar.

Thirty miles outside Qinglan City, the dense forest of Old Crow Ridge.

Lin Mo's figure shuttled through the night like a ghost, his toes lightly tapping on branches and leaves. Every leap covered over ten zhang, landing without a sound.

Under the feedback of the day and night Cultivation of nearly a hundred Death Warriors, the Willow Catkin Following the Wind Step had long reached the realm of mastery. Now, exerting full effort, his speed was so fast that in the eyes of an ordinary person, only a blurred afterimage remained.

Even more astonishing was his endurance.

He had been traveling at full speed for nearly an hour since leaving the Martial Academy. The Qi Sea Acupoint within his body rotated incessantly, providing a continuous stream of internal qi. Coupled with that body that had been superimposed and strengthened countless times, he didn't feel the slightest bit of fatigue at this moment, and his heartbeat remained as steady as ever.

As he traveled swiftly, he perceived the battle situation in the direction of Qingyuan Town through the System.

Among the ninety-nine consciousnesses, seven had completely dimmed and disappeared; those were the Death Warriors killed in action.

The feedback from another dozen or so nodes carried pain and sluggishness, indicating they were heavily wounded.

But more nodes were calmly and efficiently executing the tasks of killing and delaying.

"Almost there." Lin Mo's eyes were icy, and his speed increased by another thirty percent.

The night wind whipped against his face, carrying the faint sound of clashing metal and miserable wails from the distance.

Currently, five miles outside Qingyuan Town, Black Pine Forest.

The battle had entered a white-hot stage.

The originally quiet forest was filled with firelight, blood, and broken branches.

Thirty-seven hidden guard Death Warriors, relying on pre-arranged traps, crossbow arrays, and poison barriers, engaged in a brutal jungle war of attrition against over a hundred and fifty well-trained enemies.

The enemy was clearly experienced; although they lost dozens of men in the initial ambush, they quickly stabilized their footing, advancing steadily in groups of three, supporting each other like the horns of an ox.

Their saber techniques were ruthless, their coordination seamless, and furthermore, they wore light armor, providing high defense against ordinary arrows.

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—!"

Another round of crossbow bolts shot out from the shadows at tricky angles.

Three enemy soldiers raised their shields to block, but one was still hit in the thigh, falling to the ground with a scream.

But a companion immediately dragged him behind a tree, the formation not pausing for a moment.

"Find them!" The enemy leader, a grim-faced middle-aged man holding a ring-pommel saber, shouted sternly.

He was the expert at the Great Accomplishment of Muscle stage, named Zhao Kun. "Groups of five, fan out, use torches to force them out! Archers, suppress them!"

Torches were lit one after another, and arrows began to cover suspicious areas. The hidden guards' advantage of concealment was being compressed bit by bit.

Behind an ancient tree, Death Warrior [Ten], the temporary commander of the Qingyuan Town hidden guards, calmly wiped away the bloodstain on his arm cut by Saber Qi.

His skill was [Basic Stealth], which had now been raised to mastery, but facing this kind of carpet search and Internal Energy perception, the pressure was still immense.

"Groups One to Four, retreat to the second blocking point, set up tripwires and poison caltrops along the way as planned. Groups Five and Six, follow me to provide cover; delay for another half a quarter of an hour."

He transmitted instructions through specific bird calls.

The hidden guards retreated silently, their movements swift as leopards.

Six Death Warriors from Groups Five and Six took the initiative to expose themselves, charging out from their hiding places with fierce saber light, instantly tangling with the two nearest groups of enemies, trading injuries for lives, undaunted by death.

Zhao Kun's eyes turned sharp: "Surround them! Kill them!"

He personally raised his saber and lunged toward one of the Death Warriors, his saber momentum like a rainbow, carrying a piercing whistle that tore through the air.

[Twenty-One] neither dodged nor avoided, his eyes devoid of emotion as he slashed his saber directly toward Zhao Kun's neck, a fighting style completely aimed at mutual destruction.

Zhao Kun snorted in anger, his saber momentum shifting slightly to parry this desperate strike, while his left palm, filled with Internal Energy, slammed hard against the Death Warrior's chest.

Boom!

[Twenty-One]'s chest caved in, and he flew backward, crashing into a tree and spraying blood, but the saber in his hand still flew out at the last moment, slicing across an enemy soldier's throat.

He struggled to stand up, but was simultaneously pierced by several long sabers, the light in his eyes quickly fading.

Zhao Kun's expression, however, became even more unsightly.

The strength of these ambushers wasn't top-tier, mostly in the Bone Forging stage with only a few who had just entered the Muscle stage, but their fighting will was resolute, their tactical execution strong, and their indifference to death was simply not human!

In a short clash, he had already lost nearly forty men, while the opponent had only left behind seven or eight corpses, and most of those were the results of trading lives.

"Keep chasing! They won't last much longer!" Zhao Kun gritted his teeth.

He could feel that the ambushers' resistance was weakening; the opponent's numbers and supplies were surely limited. As long as they broke through the final defense line, Qingyuan Town would be within their grasp.

At the start of the Hour of the Rat, at the edge of the Black Pine Forest, the River God Temple was in sight.

Only twenty-eight hidden guards remained, and most were wounded, forced back to the final preset position behind a stretch of rocky beach.

There were still nearly a hundred enemies. Under Zhao Kun's command, they slowly pressed forward in a semi-circle, torches illuminating their fierce faces.

"Prepare for melee combat." [Ten]'s voice remained steady, even though his left shoulder had been pierced by an arrow.

All the hidden guards silently drew their weapons, forming a simple defensive formation. The final instruction they had received was...

Defend to the death until the Young Master arrives, or until the entire unit is killed in action.

Just as Zhao Kun was grinning and preparing to order the general offensive—

Boom!

A figure descended from the sky like a meteorite, smashing into the open ground between the two sides, kicking up dust and gravel everywhere.

The ground shook from the impact.