Chapter 258: One, Two, Three, Four, Let’s Do It Again!
Furious Wind Town, at the main gate.
In front of the large transport vehicles forged from C-grade alloy, large groups of intermediate martial artists wearing B6-grade battle armor were quickly carrying box after box of heavy ion bombs. Hundreds of advanced martial artists were stationed around them, each carrying a city breaking heavy crossbow the size of a person, completely forged from C-grade alloy.
This scene made the members of the Star Tower City Guard stationed on the alloy city wall drool uncontrollably as they cast envious looks.
Putting aside the fact that heavy ion bombs were strategic materials in each city, with nowhere to buy them even if one wanted to, the price of a single heavy ion bomb was two hundred energy crystals, something even Bone Forging Realm experts were reluctant to purchase.
And the city breaking heavy crossbows forged from C-grade alloy were lethal weapons for killing Bone Forging Realm experts. One shot could pierce through a mountain peak and penetrate alloy city walls several meters thick. Even advanced Bone Forging Realm martial artists wearing Tier 2 battle armor could not block a single bolt from a city breaking heavy crossbow head-on.
However, the city breaking heavy crossbow also had a major weakness: each reload was extremely troublesome. Only large-scale usage could truly kill advanced Bone Forging Realm martial artists; otherwise, the attacks of just two or three crossbows could easily be dodged by them.
Right now, however, the Holy Blood Mercenary Group had as many as six hundred city breaking heavy crossbows. Even a hundred-strong unit composed of Bone Forging Realm experts would be shot into a beehive.
“Vice Leader Huang Lang, all supplies have been fully carried. We can depart at any time.”
A Bone Forging Realm intermediate level youth of the Flame Horn Tribe quickly came before a Flame Horn Tribe middle-aged man lying on a lounge chair, drinking sparkling fruit juice, and reported respectfully.
This Flame Horn Tribe middle-aged man had graying hair, a mechanical prosthetic arm, and a mechanical eye, giving off a burly and rough impression. But within the Holy Blood Mercenary Group, anyone who dared to think of him like that would usually end up hanging on a tree in the wilderness the next day as a monster lure.
“Good, inform the other vice leaders, we’re setting off.” Huang Lang picked up his sparkling fruit juice and took a sip, his expression indescribably relaxed. “And by the way, inform that youngster Wan Lei that, as a newly promoted vice leader, once we reach the frontline she will be the vanguard to open the way.”
“Inform Vice Leader Wan Lei?” The Flame Horn Tribe youth could not help swallowing, a little fearful.
Vice Leader Wan Lei, as Tuan’s girlfriend, was still in a state of rage over Tuan’s death. Just yesterday, a female team member was beaten to death by Vice Leader Wan Lei while delivering a message.
“It’s fine, at most you’ll just take one punch from her.” Huang Lang laughed. “You can tell her we have received news that people from Obsidian Martial Arts Hall have arrived at Maple Forest Town, and this time we are going to cause trouble for Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.”
“One punch?” The Flame Horn Tribe youth let out a slight sigh of relief.
As an intermediate Bone Forging Realm martial artist, if he activated his transformation and took one punch from Wan Lei, he should still have half his life left, unlike that female messenger who was gone after two punches.
Just as the Flame Horn Tribe youth was preparing to muster his courage to deliver the message, a Flame Horn Tribe female team member, an advanced martial artist, respectfully stepped forward.
“Vice Leader Huang Lang, our life detector has found two people rapidly approaching from not far away. Their identities have been confirmed as the leaders of the Stone Axe Mercenary Group and the Iron Claw Mercenary Group. Behind them is a flying transport vehicle from the City of Light Chasing.” As she spoke, the female team member took out a palm-sized life detector for Huang Lang to see.
“They are actually being chased by people from the City of Light Chasing. Could it be that the vice city lord of the City of Light Chasing has come?” Huang Lang could not help but look toward the direction where the two red dots were swiftly approaching, soon spotting two figures moving at nearly the speed of sound. He was slightly surprised.
The strength of Stone Axe and Iron Claw was quite well-known in the Mercenary Alliance. As rare top Bone Forging Realm experts, even within the Holy Blood Mercenary Group they were figures second only to the vice leaders.
The only existence that could make both Stone Axe and Iron Claw afraid would be a vice city lord level expert.
But a vice city lord level expert from the City of Light Chasing daring to pursue all the way to Furious Wind Town was truly puzzling to him.
Even as strong as the Holy Blood Mercenary Group, they had gathered six vice leaders before daring to go to Maple Forest Town to cause trouble for Obsidian Martial Arts Hall. For the City of Light Chasing to dare take the initiative to offend Furious Wind Town was either courage or madness.
“Vice Leader Huang Lang, should we go and block them?” the Flame Horn Tribe youth asked.
“All right, just before heading to Maple Forest Town, I should loosen up a bit anyway.” Huang Lang sat up, picked up the heavy sword over three meters long at his side, hoisted it onto his shoulder, and slowly walked toward the direction the flying transport vehicle was coming from.
As Huang Lang began to move, the members of the Holy Blood Mercenary Group present became excited.
As the first vice leader of the Holy Blood Mercenary Group, Huang Lang’s strength was said to be second only to the leader. It was rumored that after transformation he had once fought a Blood Condensation Realm expert without falling behind. Within the Flame Horn Tribe, he was a legendary figure.
However, in recent years Vice Leader Huang Lang had always been commanding from behind and no longer personally took the field, so many newcomers in the group had never seen him take action; they only knew that he was very powerful.
Now that they could see Vice Leader Huang Lang personally make a move, many were curious how long the people in that flying transport vehicle from the City of Light Chasing could last.
As Huang Lang drew nearer, Stone Axe and Iron Claw also noticed him.
“Huang Lang? Why is he here?” Stone Axe looked at the slowly approaching Huang Lang in surprise. He had not expected Furious Wind Town to send such an expert.
“Should we tell him the people behind us are the grey-clothed people?” Iron Claw asked hesitantly.
The name of the grey-clothed people was quite well-known in the Mercenary Alliance. After all, caravans traveling between the two regions often hired mercenaries like them when short on manpower. So the name of the grey-clothed people spread quickly within the Mercenary Alliance, unlike the major cities of the Wushan Region, which probably still did not know of them.
“Tell him. If we don’t, and they come to settle the score with us later, we can’t afford it.” Stone Axe thought for a moment and then sent a message to Huang Lang.
The Holy Blood Mercenary Group had a rather exalted status within the Mercenary Alliance. If they were angered, one could forget about surviving in the Mercenary Alliance afterward.
The grey-clothed people had been drawn over by them, so they naturally had to give some warning.
As the message reached Huang Lang’s smart watch, he read it and was somewhat surprised.
“Southern Skull, Northern Grey Robe. The City of Light Chasing actually invited the Northern Grey Robe?” Looking at the information from Stone Axe, Huang Lang suddenly understood why Stone Axe and Iron Claw were fleeing.
The name of Northern Grey Robe had reached even the Holy Blood Mercenary Group. They were a group of madmen who dared to fight the Smiling Skull to the death in the Mountain of the Dead, and it was said they had caused the Smiling Skull quite a few losses.
If Stone Axe and Iron Claw dared provoke such a lunatic faction, then they truly had a death wish.
But this also put him in a difficult position.
Should he block the grey-clothed people behind or not?
Rumor had it that the grey-clothed people were a bunch of suicidal lunatics. Once provoked, they would exact endless revenge. Although the Holy Blood Mercenary Group was powerful, they did not want to casually provoke such a group.
“They are really causing me trouble!”
Huang Lang gritted his teeth, but still took a step and leaped forward, directly blocking between Stone Axe, Iron Claw, and the flying transport vehicle. His terrifying qi and blood pressure crashed down toward the flying transport vehicle, forcing it to a screeching halt. The strength of his qi and blood was far beyond what an Extreme Bone Forging Realm could compare to.
“Friends inside the vehicle, I am Huang Lang, a vice leader of the Holy Blood Mercenary Group. Ahead is Furious Wind Town under Star Tower City. You are all from the City of Light Chasing. If you move forward, it will not be good for you. I hope this matter ends here. Please turn back.” Huang Lang took a deep breath and shouted loudly in the human language.
With Huang Lang’s words, the members of the Holy Blood Mercenary Group, who had originally thought he would attack directly, were all stunned.
“Vice Leader Huang Lang is not going to fight?”
“No way. Vice Leader Huang Lang has a bad temper. If he can fight, he never wastes words. Am I dreaming?”
“Damn, just who is inside that vehicle?”
The members of the Holy Blood Mercenary Group stared at Vice Leader Huang Lang, who only blocked the way and did not intend to take further action, their mouths open wide enough to fit several eggs.
After a brief moment of shock, they watched as the door of the flying transport vehicle slowly opened, and a valiant human woman stepped out.
In midair, with each step she took, it seemed as if there were invisible steps beneath her feet. She walked down from the air one step at a time, leaving everyone present dumbfounded.
“What is going on?”
“A Blood Condensation Realm expert?”
“Who exactly is that human woman? And who are these people in silver-gray clothing? How have I never heard of them?”
At this moment, whether it was the Holy Blood Mercenary Group members watching from afar or Stone Axe and Iron Claw, who had been fleeing all the way, their eyes were bulging as they watched this peerlessly stunning human woman descend from midair.
“I’m not dreaming, am I? Void Crossing!” Stone Axe stared fixedly at the distant peerless human woman, stammering. “The one who has been chasing us is actually a Blood Condensation Realm expert?!”
“It’s over. We’re dead for sure. I knew we shouldn’t have greedily helped that Blood Rider back then.” Iron Claw looked at the peerless human woman, his heart sinking halfway to ice.
Void Crossing.
That was a technique only available to those in the Blood Condensation Realm.
They had long known the grey-clothed people were terrifying, but they had not expected that a Blood Condensation Realm expert would be the one hunting them. Now it would be difficult for them to survive.
“Blood Condensation Realm? No. This qi and blood is not at the Blood Condensation Realm level.”
Huang Lang watched Luo Wu Shang, who had walked step by step from midair to stand before him. His initial shock quickly faded as he realized that the qi and blood she displayed were not that strong. At most, she was at the Bone Forging Realm.
Just as Huang Lang was puzzling over how Luo Wu Shang managed Void Crossing, Luo Wu Shang was examining the more than three-meter-tall Huang Lang in front of her.
For existences who had attained sainthood like them, learning Li Tianxing’s Treading Air Steps was not difficult. Although they could not reach Li Tianxing’s level of proficiency, walking in the air posed no problem.
If Huang Lang had not suddenly spoken human words, making her suspect that she had triggered a plot, she would not have opened the door and come out at all.
“No good for us? Many times, how would we know unless we try?” Luo Wu Shang looked at Huang Lang with interest.
When she had received the support task, she had thought it was a simple mission. She had not expected that the support task was just the prelude, and that the real task might be this Furious Wind Town before her.
But the level of this task was clearly not low. It actually judged that their strength was insufficient and directly advised them to return.
She felt they had to try. After all, the game’s tasks were interesting precisely because they were difficult, and she was also curious how high the difficulty of this task would be.
“Everyone, you may not be weak, but in the face of the more than one hundred thousand martial artists in Furious Wind Town, do you really think you can come and go freely?” Seeing that Luo Wu Shang still intended to force her way through, Huang Lang warned her again, hoping she and her people would back off.
“More than one hundred thousand martial artists?” Luo Wu Shang was surprised. “Is that true?”
“Of course.” Seeing Luo Wu Shang’s shaken expression, Huang Lang let out a sigh of relief and slowly said, “As a major frontline stronghold, Furious Wind Town not only has more than one hundred thousand martial artists stationed long-term, but our group leader, my lord, is also here. Although, due to the rules, he cannot make a move for now, but you would not want to offend a Blood Condensation Realm expert, would you?”
“There is also a Blood Condensation Realm expert?” Luo Wu Shang became even more excited.
“That’s right.” Huang Lang nodded, speaking proudly. “Our group leader, my lord, is a Blood Condensation Realm expert renowned throughout the Wushan Region. Even the Smiling Skull of the Mountain of the Dead would show him some respect.”
He was very pleased that Luo Wu Shang was able to understand the situation.
But as soon as Huang Lang finished speaking, Luo Wu Shang looked up toward the flying transport vehicle.
“Brothers, let’s move!” Luo Wu Shang said excitedly. “I’ve confirmed it. There are more than one hundred thousand martial artists in this town, and there is a Blood Condensation Realm leader sitting in it.”
As Luo Wu Shang spoke, the members of Twilight of the Gods on the flying transport vehicle were overjoyed. They had not expected this mission to be so exhilarating.
Over one hundred thousand martial artists.
How much merit was that?
Fortunately they had chased all the way here, or all those merits would have been gone.
“Go. We can’t let the other teams snatch them.” Without another word, Zhang Qing Wei leaped out, directly leading people to charge toward Furious Wind Town.
In an instant, over a hundred members of Heavenly Might followed Zhang Qing Wei and the others, charging toward Furious Wind Town without hesitation, each one excited, as if they were seeing a treasure.
“Were you even listening to me?” Huang Lang looked at the grey-clothed people who had taken the initiative to attack and felt sure they were absolute lunatics.
A mere hundred or so people dared to strike at a town defended by more than a hundred thousand martial artists. How could any normal person do such a thing?
In fact, it was not only Huang Lang, who had kindly advised them, who was stunned. The people of Star Tower City stationed in the town were stunned as well.
What were these grey-clothed people in silver-gray clothing trying to do?
“These lunatics from the City of Light Chasing, kill them!”
The leader from Star Tower City watched Twilight of the Gods and the others charging up and immediately ordered the members of the city guard on the wall to open fire.
Instantly, thousands of mid and advanced martial artists on the alloy city wall, all wielding Tier 2 compound heavy bows, loosed a volley at Twilight of the Gods.
Facing such attacks, which could easily threaten the Bone Forging Realm, Twilight of the Gods and the others no longer held back. They all activated their transcendent state. In an instant, more than ten people became supernatural lifeforms, their physical fitness reaching the Extreme Bone Forging Realm, like savage beasts fiercely attacking the martial artists on the wall.
As for Luo Wu Shang, she did not hold back either. Activating her transcendent state, she unleashed a single Heavenly Severance.
With that soaring sword qi, a single slash destroyed the solid alloy city wall. The sword mark extended several hundred meters into the town, killing hundreds of martial artists, forcing Huang Lang, more than ten leaders of Star Tower City, and six vice city lords to all take action together. Only after battling for more than ten rounds did they finally manage to kill Luo Wu Shang with great difficulty.
In doing so, three leaders of Star Tower City fell, and one vice city lord was severely injured.
“These lunatics. What on earth are they thinking?” Huang Lang looked at the annihilated grey-clothed people and felt that, for the first time in his life, he had encountered such madmen. He had repeatedly warned them, yet they still dared to throw their lives away, as if the Holy Blood Mercenary Group and the Star Tower City Guard were merely decorations.
While the people of Furious Wind Town cheered and celebrated, Stone Axe and Iron Claw inside the town looked at the slain grey-clothed people with ashen faces.
“Run. We can’t stay here.” Thinking of the combat videos the caravans had shown him, Stone Axe looked at the dead grey-clothed people and realized that Furious Wind Town was finished.
Iron Claw also nodded, quietly leaving Furious Wind Town with Stone Axe, not daring to remain a moment longer.
Less than an hour later, in Maple Forest Town, Luo Wu Shang and the others were all resurrected.
“That Furious Wind Town is really tough. I was actually besieged alone by more than a dozen top-level and above Bone Forging Realm experts. It seems it will be hard for us to take it down on our own.” Luo Wu Shang spoke with excitement. “Hurry and contact Fang Zhen and Yi Ye Fu Yun and the others. Tell them I have found a place to farm merit. If they are willing to come, we split it thirty-seventy.”
(The chapter ends here.)
