“Five people? It’s us five again?”
Even as impulsive as Shen San was, he understood that it was impossible for just the five of them to stop the Tamu Crown Prince from entering Da Qian through the Northern Barbarians’ territory.
After all, the Tamu Crown Prince was no ordinary figure like the Third Prince of the Luoyun Tribe.
One was the heir to a large tribe, the future tribal king.
The other was just one of many insignificant sons of a tribal lord. The difference between the two was vast—and so was their treatment.
If the Third Prince of Luoyun had a bodyguard captain at the post-heaven second rank,
Then the Tamu Crown Prince’s bodyguard captain was likely at least a pre-heaven (innate) warrior.
Although Li Dao had managed to kill a half-step innate expert before, it was still just a half-step.
And the difference between half-step and full innate was a fundamental leap.
To put it simply, the gap between the two was at least tenfold in strength.
Unless Li Dao could singlehandedly defeat ten half-step innate warriors, there was no way he could take on a true innate warrior.
But could he really do that?
In their eyes, the fact that Li Dao could kill a half-step innate warrior with physical strength alone was already a massive miracle.
To take on a true innate warrior? That was beyond human capability.
So, no one placed their hopes solely on Li Dao.
Wei Yun raised a hand to calm them and said, “Don’t worry, you five aren’t going alone to stop the Tamu Crown Prince. You’ll just be assisting them.”
“Who are they?”
“The Embroidered Uniform Guard!”
Hearing this, everyone present was stunned.
Especially Shen San—he had been arrested by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and thrown into the death row barracks back then.
So the moment the words “Embroidered Uniform Guard” were mentioned, he immediately remembered his dark past.
On one hand, he wanted to help his dream lover out of her crisis; on the other hand, he’d be working with his former enemies. This left him feeling conflicted.
In the end, Shen San clenched his teeth and chose to set aside his grudge—for now.
After all, this wasn’t just about his dream lover, but also about his own freedom.
On the other side, Li Dao hadn’t expected the mission to be personally overseen by the Embroidered Uniform Guard either.
It seemed the Da Qian Emperor was determined to block the Tamu Crown Prince at the border.
And honestly, Li Dao agreed with that approach.
“Commander Wei, when do we set out for the mission?” Li Dao asked, looking up.
“Because of the urgency of the situation, the Embroidered Uniform Guard members are still on their way. They’ll need about a day to arrive. So you all have one day to rest,” Wei Yun replied.
…
Back in the military tent—
Li Dao sat on the carpet, opened his hand and took a look. The palm injury he got earlier from being struck by a half-step innate warrior had already fully healed, forming a layer of charred black scab.
He rubbed his palm together, and the scab cracked open to reveal smooth, healed skin underneath.
“Half-step innate… innate realm, huh.”
Li Dao muttered to himself.
Based on his current strength, purely in terms of physical power, even a half-step innate warrior wasn’t his match. But whether he could handle a full innate warrior—he wasn’t so sure.
Judging by destructive power alone, an innate warrior likely had enough strength to kill him.
Just that alone told Li Dao his current strength wasn’t quite enough—he still needed to improve his physique.
And this was just the innate level. Beyond that were the Grandmaster and Great Grandmaster levels.
Originally, he thought the speed of his physical improvement was already fast—but now, it still didn’t feel like enough.
With a thought, Li Dao opened his system panel:
[Host: Li Dao]
[Physique: 31.06]
[Available Attribute Points: 9.68]
After killing that half-step innate warrior last time, Li Dao had taken advantage of the morale collapse among the Tamu and Liehuo tribes to reap a considerable amount of attribute points.
Since attribute points could currently only be used to enhance his physique, Li Dao had no reason to hold any back—he added them all in.
“System, add points.”
As soon as he spoke, a familiar wave of heat surged through his body.
Because this time he had added nearly a third of his total attribute value in one go, the effect was extremely noticeable.
He could visibly see his skin undergoing some kind of transformation—becoming tougher, more resilient, and more resistant.
After about a dozen breaths, the upgrade was complete.
[Host: Li Dao]
[Physique: 40.74]
[Available Attribute Points: 0]
Forty times the physique of a normal person?
What did that even mean?
If an ordinary person could lift a 100-jin object (~50 kg), then forty times that would be 4,000 jin (~2,000 kg).
To a normal human, 4,000 jin of force was lethal—even brushing against it could injure, and a direct hit could kill.
But pure strength wasn’t the only point. The key was that in addition to this raw power, he also had mobility far beyond what normal people could imagine.
He also possessed forty times the endurance and stamina, along with superhuman reflexes.
More importantly, that 4,000 jin of strength was just his base power.
When combined with speed or technique, he could unleash blows exceeding even that foundational strength.
For example, someone with a physique of 1 might lift 100 jin, but if they were a skilled boxer, they could generate 200 jin of force with a punch using speed and technique.
All things considered, he was now a walking weapon.
And combined with his post-transformation skin that gave him exceptional defense—
He would be a meat grinder on the battlefield of ancient times—and one with its own will.
After completing the upgrade, Li Dao began eating from the food laid out on the table.
At the same time, a new thought entered his mind.
After all, once he completed this third mission and Wei Yun kept his promise, he’d gain his freedom. When that time came, where would he go?
“Forget it. I’ll think about it once I’m truly free.”
…
A day passed quickly.
Under Wei Yun’s summons, Li Dao and the other four arrived at the command tent.
Upon entering, they saw that in addition to Wei Yun, there were also two men dressed in distinctive clothing with sabers at their waists.
As a former count of the imperial capital, Li Dao immediately recognized them—their gear was unmistakably that of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
“You’re here!” Wei Yun said as he turned to Li Dao’s group of five.
Then he gestured to the two men. “These are the people you’ll be assisting on this mission.”
One of the guards looked up at the five and frowned. “Commander Wei, these are the people you picked for us? Are you trying to fool us—or worse, fool His Majesty?”
“This…” Wei Yun glanced at Li Dao’s group and slapped his forehead.
He was familiar with them and knew their strength, so he hadn’t minded their appearance. But from an outsider’s view, the five of them, with their dirty and messy outfits, probably looked like beggars. No wonder the guards were suspicious.
He quickly explained, “Please rest assured, gentlemen. I have no intention of deceiving His Majesty. These five are truly capable of assisting you both.”
“Assist us?”
The Jin Yi Wei (Embroidered Uniform Guard) officer gave a faint smile—and the next second, vanished from where he stood.
“Then let me see if they truly have the ability.”
By the time the Jin Yi Wei officer reappeared, he was already in front of Li Dao. A flash of cold light—his blade slashed straight toward Li Dao’s right ear.
To most people, the Jin Yi Wei’s speed would be impossibly fast.
But to Li Dao, the officer’s movement was still a little slow.
From his disappearance to reappearance, Li Dao saw it all clearly.
He could also see the trajectory of the blade.
Without changing expression, Li Dao raised his right hand and directly grabbed toward the blade.
By the time everyone else registered what had happened, this was the scene:
The blade of the Jin Yi Wei’s saber was locked tightly in Li Dao’s right hand.
A hint of surprise flickered in the Jin Yi Wei’s eyes—he clearly hadn’t expected his slash to be stopped like that.
When he tried to pull the blade back, he discovered, to his shock, that he couldn’t pry it free with all his strength.
“You…”
Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly felt the blade go light—and due to the force of his own pulling, he staggered backward several steps.
After regaining his balance, the Jin Yi Wei wasn’t angry. On the contrary, he looked intrigued and asked, “Innate divine strength?”
“Mm,” Li Dao responded.
“Very impressive.”
The Jin Yi Wei nodded approvingly.
He didn’t dwell on the previous clash—it had merely been a test. If he had really meant to injure someone, he wouldn’t have held back so much.
Turning back to Wei Yun, he said, “Commander Wei, it seems you were telling the truth.”
Wei Yun smiled faintly. If someone like Li Dao wasn’t considered talented, then probably only he himself, a Xiantian-level warrior, could represent the strength of their entire battalion.
“Have you explained the mission to them?” the Jin Yi Wei who struck earlier asked.
“I have,” Wei Yun replied.
The Jin Yi Wei turned back to the five and said, “Because this mission is highly sensitive, His Majesty only sent the two of us. So we need your full cooperation.”
“The task is to prevent the prince of the Tamu tribe from entering Da Qian territory. If something happens to him in Northern Barbarian lands, that’s their problem. But if it happens on our side, we’ll be held responsible.”
“Also, remember this clearly: our objective is to block, not to assassinate. We are here to disrupt, not to kill.”
“According to scouts, the Tamu prince has brought a special tribal treasure as a betrothal gift for the marriage alliance. So our mission is to seize that treasure. With the prince’s pride, once the gift is gone, he’ll likely call off the marriage—at least temporarily.”
“If this gets dragged into winter, then we won’t need to worry about it anymore.”
Shen San looked confused and asked Li Dao, “Boss, why is it that if it drags into winter, we don’t need to worry anymore?”
Li Dao thought for a moment and then replied, “The Tamu tribe is probing Da Qian while also seeking a marriage alliance mainly because their tribe is short on food for the winter.”
“If it really becomes winter, these plans become meaningless—they’ll have to abandon them.”
Li Dao didn’t lower his voice, so both Wei Yun and the two Jin Yi Wei heard him clearly.
The second, silent Jin Yi Wei suddenly spoke. “Commander Wei, I didn’t expect you to have such talent under your command. It’s a bit of a waste to keep them in a frontier camp.”
Wei Yun gave an awkward smile and didn’t respond.
After all, he couldn’t exactly tell the Jin Yi Wei that these five men were all death row inmates.
Who knew how the two Jin Yi Wei would react if they found out their identities?
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