Chapter 214: Say It! How Do We Split It?
Thorn Marsh.
In the dim sky, a flying transport vehicle made of B6-grade alloy was quietly following less than five hundred meters behind the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall’s medium transport vehicle.
“The life detector shows more than eighty life reactions less than two kilometers ahead. That is most likely Steel Bone, Sharp Tooth, and their people.” Lin Yan looked at the detector with a slight frown. “Their numbers are actually much higher than what we knew.”
According to the information they had received, the teams of Steel Bone and Sharp Tooth had at most mobilized only half of their people, adding up to just over forty. After all, captains and vice captains of the Garrison are not idle all day; they all have various tasks assigned from above. Being able to gather half of them on short notice was already quite good.
Moreover, so many captains and vice captains of the Garrison dealing with a bunch of beginner and intermediate martial artists from Obsidian Martial Arts Hall was already exaggerated. Now the numbers of Steel Bone and Sharp Tooth’s two teams had directly doubled.
Such combat power used against the thirty-something disciples of Obsidian Martial Arts Hall was simply insane.
If Steel Bone and Sharp Tooth brought this many people, even they might not be able to handle it.
“More or not, we can only force it now.” Wu Zhuoqun glanced at the life detector and said calmly, “When the time comes, we will join forces directly with Obsidian Martial Arts Hall. As long as they can hold out until we deal with Steel Bone and Sharp Tooth, the captains and vice captains of the Winged Tribe and Ape Clan will naturally retreat.”
Everyone in the vehicle nodded, feeling that this was the only way.
Originally, they had joined this operation to do Lin Qi from Obsidian Martial Arts Hall a favor. After all, such a young Bone Forging Realm expert would definitely have no low achievements in the future. If he could truly grow to the height of Liu Tianzong, that would be a huge help to them and might even help them become Bone Forging Realm experts.
While Wu Zhuoqun and the others discovered Steel Bone and Sharp Tooth, those two, on a distant high slope, also received reports from their subordinates.
“There is another group of life reactions in the air not far behind Obsidian Martial Arts Hall’s vehicle. Signal recognition confirms it as Wu Zhuoqun’s team?” Sharp Tooth looked at the information coming from the flying transport vehicle above. His originally composed expression darkened slightly.
The name Wu Zhuoqun was known by everyone in the City Guard. He was among the top five in this year’s annual Defense Group tournament.
Although they had never fought Wu Zhuoqun directly, the weight of a top-five ranking in that tournament was no joke. At the very least, for either him or Steel Bone, their odds of victory were not high if they faced Wu Zhuoqun alone.
“The Human Race really cares about Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, actually sending even this person.” Steel Bone, with pitch-black hair, instead revealed a very excited expression. “We did not get a chance to fight during the tournament before. Now I can have a proper match with him and see just how much I have improved during this time.”
“True.” Sharp Tooth’s gloomy face also turned excited. “Normally, it is very hard for experts like us to find chances to fight. Now this is a good opportunity.”
The City of Light Chasing Defense Group’s tournament was held at the beginning of the year. Now more than half a year had passed, and both he and Steel Bone had improved far more than just a little.
Otherwise, Steel Bone would not dare boast that he could fight an expert who had just entered the Bone Forging Realm.
Now they were confident they could impact the tournament’s top ten. Even competing for the top five was not impossible.
“Lords, what about Obsidian Martial Arts Hall?” Mans, seeing Steel Bone and Sharp Tooth focused entirely on Wu Zhuoqun, could not help but quietly ask, “If, when the time comes, you start fighting Wu Zhuoqun’s group, Obsidian Martial Arts Hall’s people might take the chance to run. It will be difficult to deal with them later.”
“That is indeed a problem.” Steel Bone fell into thought. “Right now Obsidian Martial Arts Hall still does not know we are targeting them. If some of them escape this time, they will probably not come out easily again.”
“That is simple.” Sharp Tooth smiled. “We just need to deny Obsidian Martial Arts Hall any chance for a melee. In a moment, the two of us will go over to block them. If Wu Zhuoqun does not want massive casualties, he will definitely come down alone to fight. Before we deal with Wu Zhuoqun, the others will just lock down Obsidian Martial Arts Hall’s people. Once we finish Wu Zhuoqun, not a single one of them will escape.”
“That is a good plan.” Steel Bone clapped in agreement upon hearing this.
This way, they could have a hearty, uninterrupted battle with Wu Zhuoqun and complete the mission assigned by their race. It was killing two birds with one stone.
With Steel Bone in agreement, no one present dared object. Mans, especially respectful, was full of expectation for Sharp Tooth’s proposal.
Duels between martial artists were normally very hard to see, let alone clashes between top tier experts of the Defense Group. That was a spectacle you could not buy even with money.
It was not just Mans. Even the rogues, who prided themselves on their skills and arrogance, felt their hearts stir.
“Never thought that coming to deal with Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, we would get to see such a duel in the wilderness.”
“Skipping those tasks to come here really was worth it.”
As rogues, they had always worshiped the strong. Their daily life was one of kill or be killed, and they were constantly thinking about how to get stronger.
Because only by becoming stronger could they live better.
Their reaching this point was largely because they kept growing stronger.
Now, to watch Steel Bone and Sharp Tooth, who stood at the peak of the Viscera Refining Realm, cross hands would be a great gain even if they only watched from the side.
After all, experts at Steel Bone and Sharp Tooth’s level had control over qi and blood and internal force at the point where they could impact the Bone Forging Realm at any time.
When such experts fought, they would push their control of qi and blood and internal force to the limit. Especially against opponents of similar level, they would display everything. It might trigger something in the observers and bring them further improvement.
As everyone was excited, the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall’s medium transport vehicle in the distance came closer and closer.
One kilometer… eight hundred meters… six hundred meters…
When the distance dropped below three hundred meters, Steel Bone and Sharp Tooth both leaped, appearing on the muddy marsh road with a speed of nearly a hundred meters per second.
Their speed was so fast that Lin Yan and the others observing from the sky could not help but click their tongues.
“Have both of them fully mastered advanced footwork already?”
Looking at Steel Bone and Sharp Tooth on the road, Lin Yan’s expression grew more serious.
After becoming martial artists, many people already found it hard enough to rush to the Bone Forging Realm while their qi and blood remained at peak. Not everyone was a genius who could learn profound martial skills as easily as eating and drinking.
Under normal circumstances, training two martial artist-level martial skills to proficient level was already good.
As for high-level martial skills, they were too difficult to master. Not only did they require much more time to learn, but before reaching proficient level, high-level skills were not suitable for martial artist-level combat at all. Few martial artists would study them.
However, because the tasks of the City Guard were difficult, the captain-level experts generally would master one offensive high-level skill. A very small number of captains, like Wu Zhuoqun, could master a second high-level skill.
Now, unexpectedly, in just over half a year, Steel Bone and Sharp Tooth had mastered their second high-level martial skill to a proficient level suitable for real combat, able to use it continuously without much side effect.
She herself had only just learned a second high-level skill and was still some distance from proficiency, only able to use it occasionally in battle. Even so, it had already significantly improved her strength and given her confidence to fight Steel Bone or Sharp Tooth.
But now it seemed Steel Bone and Sharp Tooth’s progress was not slow either. Their strength was much higher than expected, already on par with Wu Zhuoqun from half a year ago.
“But what do they mean by this?”
“Weren’t they going to wipe out all of Obsidian Martial Arts Hall’s people? Why are only the two of them stepping out?”
Everyone in the flying transport vehicle looked at Steel Bone and Sharp Tooth, who had revealed themselves, feeling puzzled.
Right now Steel Bone and Sharp Tooth had an absolute numbers advantage. Attacking together was the best choice. After all, even counting Wu Zhuoqun, they had barely twenty people, while Obsidian Martial Arts Hall had just over thirty.
Fifty-plus facing over eighty captains and vice captains of the Defense Group was like an egg against a stone.
“They probably want a fight with Captain Zhuoqun. Opportunities like this are too rare. They might even use it to break through to the Bone Forging Realm.” Among them, Lin Yan, watching Steel Bone and Sharp Tooth below, was the one who understood best.
They were all under thirty, with qi and blood at their peak. Their physical fitness had already reached the peak high-level martial artist extreme, and the strengthening of their internal organs had surpassed eighty percent.
The reason they had not impacted the Bone Forging Realm was because they were not fully confident yet. They needed further improvement in controlling qi and blood and energy. Otherwise, during the impact they might fail due to insufficient qi and blood when using energy enhancement to temper bones.
Even if they survived, the next attempt would be much harder because of the qi and blood decline caused by severe injuries.
At their stage, it was already extremely difficult to gain further improvements, whether in qi and blood control or in reducing qi and blood consumption when channeling energy.
For them, only one path remained.
A death match with experts of the same level.
Only that might break their limits and push their control of qi and blood to the next stage.
At this time, Wu Zhuoqun also stood up, clearly planning to fulfill Steel Bone and Sharp Tooth’s wish.
“Captain Zhuoqun, you cannot go. You alone are not a match for the two of them together.”
“Captain Zhuoqun, I will go with you!”
Some people hurried to dissuade him, while others wanted to go down together with him.
While they were arguing on the flying transport vehicle, the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall’s medium transport vehicle below suddenly stopped less than a hundred meters from Steel Bone and Sharp Tooth. More than a dozen people wearing silver-gray long-sleeved windbreaker coats stepped out of the vehicle.
“Damn! B6-grade battle armor! Are highway robbers nowadays all this rich?” Yi Ye Fu Yun stared wide-eyed at Steel Bone and Sharp Tooth, each huge like monsters, especially at the armor on them. He looked at Lu Fanchen and the others beside him with expectation. “Was it like this when you went to the wilderness before?”
Lu Fanchen glanced at the two and shook his head. “We did not encounter anything like this before.”
“What are you thinking?” Lin Xinyao rolled her eyes at Yi Ye Fu Yun. “If we had encountered something like this, do you think there would still be anything left for you?”
Yi Ye Fu Yun was not angry, and instead felt it made perfect sense.
If the highway robbers on the way to the wilderness were all like this, there really would be nothing left for people like them.
Getting three sets of B6-grade battle armor in one go, going deep into the wilderness would be no big deal.
“This should be us triggering some plot.” Twilight of the Gods adjusted nonexistent glasses. “After all, so many of us are taking the core disciple assessment together this time. Very likely we have triggered something.”
“Makes sense. So what do we do now? Just watch the two of them?” Yi Ye Fu Yun nodded, feeling this was very likely. “Or should we go talk to them?”
Two robbers wearing B6-grade battle armor were not something you saw every day.
“I think forget it. Better to finish them quickly.” Fang Zhen glanced at the two and reminded them, “Do not forget what we are here for. We do not have time to waste on plot. If we finish the plot and the bug gets fixed, we will have nowhere to cry.”
With Fang Zhen’s words, the players present suddenly came to their senses. They had almost forgotten the most important thing was to exploit the bug. If they completed this plot and then the bug got fixed, it would be a huge loss.
“They are both elites, so how do we divide it?” Yi Ye Fu Yun said.
His suggestion brought another silence. They looked at each other.
It had to be said he had raised a big problem.
If they handled these two elites well, that meant two sets of B6-grade battle armor, equipment ahead of the current version. But there was also a problem: this kind of gear was not easy to divide. They had four teams here, and battle armor could not be dismantled.
“No one wants to give up their armor, and everyone would love to take both sets.” Luo Wu Shang suddenly suggested, “Why don’t we play a game? Whoever wins gets their loot.”
“All of it goes to one team? That is a good game.” Yi Ye Fu Yun nodded. “We are in.”
“We have no problem.” Fang Zhen also nodded, not very concerned. He already had plenty of B6-grade battle armor and did not think his team would lose.
“Then let us be quick. We are in a hurry.” Lu Fanchen did not object and urged them on.
Seeing everyone agree, Luo Wu Shang smiled and said, “Since you all agree, I will explain. The game is simple. There are only two elites. Our teams will send out one person in turn. Whoever can take down these two elites in one go gets all the loot. Of course, they must kill both and survive. If they die together, the loot goes directly to the next team. How about it?”
“One person against two elites? That is interesting.” Ye Qinglu was eager to try after hearing this.
She was now only a step away from becoming a high-level martial artist, and her fourth form of Lightning Strike Three Forms had finally taken shape. These two elite martial artists were perfect test targets.
“We have no problem.” Lu Fanchen smiled. It was practically two sets of B6-grade battle armor delivered to them.
“So which team goes first?” Fang Zhen asked.
He was currently wearing B6-grade battle armor and had his Body Strengthening Secret Technique at the First Level Perfection. Two elite NPCs were nothing to him.
After Fang Zhen asked, the players present fell silent again, realizing the problem had returned to the starting point.
While the players were solemnly discussing how to divide the loot, Steel Bone and Sharp Tooth, a hundred meters away, heard everything clearly. Their expressions grew darker the more they listened. By the end, both could not help but laugh, but their laughter carried a chill that filled the rogues behind them with unspeakable dread.
“I originally planned to let them live a bit longer. Seems that is unnecessary.” Sharp Tooth’s voice was cold. “Steel Bone, are you going, or am I?”
As top tier captains of the City Guard, those rogues who had reached high-level martial artist level were like ants in their eyes.
Now a group of beginner and intermediate martial artists, not even high-level, were casually discussing how to divide the equipment on their bodies.
If Obsidian Martial Arts Hall’s people were not insane, then there was only one explanation: these ants were openly provoking them.
He absolutely could not tolerate such provocation.
“I will go.” Steel Bone, nearly four meters tall, had his qi and blood fully unleashed as he walked step by step toward the players. “I will let these ants understand the value of life!”
With that, Steel Bone used the high-level martial skill Mountain-breaking Step. As his foot fell, the ground burst, and his whole body shot forward like a shell, his speed exceeding one hundred meters per second.
Steel Bone’s nearly four-meter-tall body came crashing toward the players like a small hill.
“This is bad! Why is Steel Bone making a move?!”
Lin Yan and the others on the flying transport vehicle were shocked to see Steel Bone suddenly explode into action.
As a peak high-level martial artist, Steel Bone’s strength was second only to Bone Forging Realm experts. If he charged into a group of beginner and intermediate martial artists, it would be pure slaughter. They would have no power to resist.
“Damn it! What exactly are they trying to do?!” Wu Zhuoqun watched Steel Bone close in on the players, his face extremely grim.
It was already too late for him to go down and rescue them. He could only watch Steel Bone butcher Obsidian Martial Arts Hall’s people.
“Die!”
Steel Bone struck at the crowd with a palm.
In an instant, a giant force palm with a radius of more than three meters, carrying terrifying internal force, crashed down on the players standing in front of the vehicle still talking.
Martial artist-level martial skill Collapsing Mountain Palm.
This palm did not carry only internal force. Its Second Level effect boosted strength by 5 times. It was Steel Bone’s most commonly used skill against ordinary martial artists.
In the past, with his strength at the 4000-kilogram limit, without battle armor support, he could kill an intermediate martial artist with one palm. Now his strength had grown close to 5000 kilograms, plus 3600 kilograms from his B6-grade battle armor.
That palm now carried 21 tons of force, enough to seriously injure a mid-level monster, let alone martial artists below intermediate.
Boom!
With a thunderous crash, it felt like the entire Thorn Marsh shook, making Mans and the others watching from afar draw a sharp breath.
“Just one palm has such power?” A rogue of the Three-eyed Tribe who was a high-level martial artist felt the aftermath of that strike and could not help swallowing.
If that palm had fallen on him, even as a high-level martial artist, he would likely be dead.
While they were all stunned by Steel Bone’s terrifying power, Steel Bone himself showed no pride on his face. Instead, he looked extremely grim and confused.
“What is going on?”
The nearly four-meter-tall Steel Bone stared fixedly at the woman who had blocked his Collapsing Mountain Palm with a single slender jade-like hand. His eyes were full of confusion.
Twenty-one tons in one strike.
Such a terrifying blow could heavily injure even a mid-level monster, yet this heroic and extraordinary woman before him, clearly petite at only about 8 meters tall, stood unharmed. Even though the sunken ground had taken up one-third of her height, she was like nothing had happened. She had not used any martial skill, only raised her hand and blocked it.
“Stop messing around. We are still discussing business.”
Luo Wu Shang flipped her raised hand to grab Steel Bone’s, then slapped her other hand onto his chest. Her speed was so fast that Steel Bone could not react at all before her palm landed on him.
Ghostly Light Finger.
Boom!
Steel Bone, wearing B6-grade battle armor, shot out like a blasted shell, flying past Sharp Tooth a hundred meters away, smashing through several large trees, and rolling across the ground several times before he finally stopped.
