Upon realizing the changes within himself, Li Dao couldn’t help but sigh, “I have a bit of self-preservation power now.”
The transformation of his skin had greatly increased his ability to protect himself, and the path ahead would certainly be much easier to walk.
After cleaning off the skin that had shed from his body and putting on his clothes, Li Dao sat at the table and began to eat heartily.
Once he was full, he stretched his back and then lay down on the bed to sleep.
…
Time flew by rapidly.
In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.
During these three days, after Li Dao and his group successfully “assassinated” Prince Luo Yun, Wei Yun had not come to see them.
They had also tried to visit Wei Yun, but they couldn’t find him, so they could only wait. Fortunately, the days were more comfortable than those in the death row camp, and they were able to eat their fill every day.
Finally, in the afternoon of the third day, Wei Yun took the initiative to arrange a meeting with the five of them.
On that day, inside the main military tent.
Wei Yun sat at the main table, raising his wine cup to Li Dao and the others.
“First of all, thank you five. Because of the death of Prince Luo Yun, the negotiations between the Northern Barbarians’ Tamu tribe and the Luoyun tribe have temporarily broken down, which has alleviated some pressure in the border areas.”
After saying this, he downed the wine in his cup.
At the wine table, Shen San drank a glass of wine and directly spoke up, “What’s the point of saying such nice things? Why not give us something more practical, like arranging household registration and freedom for us five?”
Wei Yun twitched his mouth. He had still underestimated Shen San’s thick-skinned nature. Shen San was just making a casual remark, but this guy had taken it seriously.
Not bothering with Shen San, Wei Yun turned his gaze to Li Dao, “Although I can’t provide you with any practical benefits, I can help you complete the three tasks sooner. I brought you here today to tell you about the second task you need to do.”
Upon hearing this, Shen San couldn’t help but mutter, “Is this really considered a benefit?”
Ignoring Shen San’s words, Li Dao put down his wine cup and directly asked, “What do we need to do for the second task?”
For him, having a mission was a good thing, and the quicker it was completed, the sooner he could shed the identity of a death row prisoner.
Wei Yun replied directly, “Although we’ve temporarily severed the connection between the Northern Barbarians’ Tamu tribe and the Luoyun tribe, the Tamu tribe hasn’t stopped. According to information from our frontline scouts, besides negotiating with the Luoyun tribe, the Tamu tribe has also ordered 100,000 arrows from the Northern Barbarian Liehuo tribe. These arrows are likely intended to be used against our Great Qian army.”
Upon hearing this, Shen San’s expression changed. “I say, Wei, you’re not asking us to intercept these 100,000 arrows, are you?”
Wei Yun shook his head. “Of course not.”
Shen San breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s better.”
But immediately after, Wei Yun continued, “It’s not about intercepting the arrows, but rather finding a way to destroy these 100,000 arrows.”
“Bang!”
Shen San slammed the table and stood up. “Wei, don’t take us for fools. These 100,000 arrows are crucial supplies, far more valuable than that useless Prince Luo Yun. There will definitely be many people escorting these arrows, and plenty of experts as well. You’re just asking us to go and die!”
Facing Shen San’s attitude, Wei Yun wasn’t angry. After all, what was there to argue with a big fool?
He turned to look at Li Dao, “9527, what do you think about what I’ve said?”
Li Dao put down his wine cup and spoke softly, “This task is indeed beyond what ordinary people can accomplish. If you, Commander Wei, don’t want to lose credibility with us, there must be something you haven’t told us.”
Wei Yun couldn’t help but clap his hands and sigh, “I underestimated your intelligence. You’re right, this task is indeed difficult, so…”
Turning back to Shen San, he continued, “This time, not only will the five of you go, but I will also bring some of the Weiwuying with me to accompany you.”
Shen San curled his lip. He had nothing more to say. After all, the main person was going.
If he kept talking about going to die, wouldn’t he be dragging himself down as well?
When he heard that Wei Yun would be going himself, Li Dao’s expression froze, and he asked, “Is it really that difficult?”
Wei Yun nodded. “It’s indeed a bit tricky. I’ve received information that one of the escorts is an innate martial artist.”
“Innate martial artist!”
Upon hearing this, Li Dao and the others were stunned.
Regarding cultivation levels, Li Dao had learned a lot through communication with Old Ghost and others during this time.
In this world, cultivation was divided into levels: Post-Heaven Martial Artists, Innate Martial Artists, Grandmaster Martial Artists, and Grand Grandmaster Martial Artists.
Among them, Grand Grandmasters were national figures, usually belonging to the foundation of each country, and rarely intervened in matters.
Grandmaster Martial Artists were the most powerful figures in the martial world, but they were very rare, and they were the upper echelon in the entire dynasty.
Innate Martial Artists, however, were the mainstream in the martial world.
When people spoke of famous experts, most of them were in this level.
To analyze it from Li Dao’s perspective, ordinary people were like small monsters, Post-Heaven Martial Artists were elite monsters, and Innate Martial Artists were boss-level beings.
Although there was only one character difference between Post-Heaven and Innate, the gap in power was at least ten times.
The last time he faced Jin Sheng, he was only a Post-Heaven Second Grade, not even a Post-Heaven First Grade.
“Innate Martial Artist? Are you kidding? Who could handle that?”
Shen San looked uneasy, clearly aware of how powerful an Innate Martial Artist was.
Wei Yun spoke, “Don’t worry, that Innate Martial Artist doesn’t require you to act. I will handle him myself.”
“Mm?”
Shen San looked surprised. “You’re an Innate Martial Artist?”
Wei Yun smiled淡淡 (lightly) and said, “Why not?”
Shen San was speechless, feeling a bit bold. It turned out that all this time, he had been arguing with a powerful figure at the Innate level. For a moment, he felt a bit impressed with himself.
“Have you thought it over? Will you accept the mission this time?”
Wei Yun turned around and looked at Li Dao.
“Accept it?”
Li Dao turned around and met Wei Yun’s gaze, then said, “We want to refuse, but do you agree?”
“No.”
“Then why waste time talking?”
Wei Yun: “…”
Alright, it was his own fault for being foolish.
…
Two days later, outside Changgu Town.
As before, Li Dao and his group rode their horses and gathered together.
However, this time, there were many more people around them.
“9527, long time no see.”
A familiar voice suddenly called out to Li Dao.
“Chief Liu.”
Li Dao looked at the person who approached, and it was none other than Chief Liu, with whom he had had many interactions before.
Chief Liu took a quick glance at Li Dao and the four people around him, then said, “If you complete this mission, you should be able to leave the death row camp, right?”
“Two more tasks to go.”
Li Dao didn’t hide anything from Chief Liu, as he probably knew about these matters as well.
“Tsk tsk.”
Chief Liu couldn’t help but sigh, “Looks like you’re all set.”
Li Dao shrugged, “Who knows the result until it’s over?”
He wasn’t ready to make any guarantees yet, not until the day he was really free.
The two chatted for a few more moments before Chief Liu left. As a Hundred-man Commander, he, along with Wei Yun and a few other Hundred-man Commanders, was one of the highest-ranking officers and needed to lead the team.
Soon after, Wei Yun rode out on his horse.
With a single command from him, the troops began heading out of Changgu Town.
Since they were marching ahead of schedule, Wei Yun led the Weiwuying to the designated ambush location earlier than planned.
It was the location where the Liehuo Tribe and Tamu Tribe intersected.
This area was a desert plain, and there was only one pass, which was the必经之路 (only road) for the Tamu tribe’s escort.
And so, Wei Yun led the team to set up an ambush around this road.
Just as Li Dao found a place to hide, he saw Chief Liu and his men arriving nearby.
He showed a puzzled expression and asked, “Chief Liu, what are you doing here?”
Chief Liu waved his hand, “Don’t mind us. We just want to set up the ambush together with you. It’ll be safer this way.”
Li Dao was momentarily speechless but allowed them to join.
Shen San and the others had the same idea. They also ran to hide near Li Dao.
…
Time passed slowly.
In the blink of an eye, an entire night had gone by.
But there was still no sign of the Tamu tribe’s escort on the only road.
Under the scorching sun, Shen San, drenched in sweat, said, “Is it possible that Wei Yun made a mistake? Why hasn’t anyone come? If no one shows up, are we just going to keep waiting?”
Upon hearing this, the soldiers around Chief Liu all glared at Shen San, clearly displeased with the way he referred to Wei Yun.
But Shen San didn’t care. He directly said, “What, can’t a death row prisoner speak up? We have a say too.”
“Enough talking, there’s movement.”
Li Dao suddenly spoke.
Upon hearing this, Shen San immediately shut his mouth, and the others quickly rose and began to observe.
Sure enough, looking into the distance, they saw a convoy approaching from afar.
The convoy’s flag was the one belonging to the Tamu Tribe, meaning it was likely the group transporting the 100,000 arrows.
Chief Liu slightly rose to look at the distant convoy, furrowing his brow. “This group seems to have quite a few people—at least a thousand.”
A thousand people—that was enough to start a small-scale war.
Li Dao glanced over and suddenly noticed that there were two different tribal flags among the convoy, and then spoke up, “It looks like, aside from the Tamu Tribe, there are also people from the Liehuo Tribe. That’s why the number of people in the convoy seems high.”
“Liehuo Tribe?”
After thinking for a moment, Chief Liu quickly deduced the reason. “It must be that the events with the Luoyun Tribe made the Tamu Tribe cautious, so they borrowed people from the Liehuo Tribe to escort these supplies.”
Hearing that the enemy’s numbers had increased, the expressions of the people around them darkened.
This mission was already difficult, and now with this new development, it became even harder.
Li Dao saw that there was no movement from Wei Yun’s side, so it seemed the mission was still on.
It was a good thing for Li Dao, as continuing the ambush was his idea too.
After all, for him, as long as there weren’t any particularly strong opponents, the more normal people or weaker post-heaven martial artists that came, the better.
Especially after his skin had undergone a transformation, the strategy of overwhelming him with numbers had almost completely lost its effectiveness.
After all, the majority of people couldn’t even pierce his skin, and thus posed no threat to him.
For him, people who couldn’t threaten him were simply lambs to the slaughter.
With his exceptional stamina and recovery abilities, if given enough time, he felt that he alone could wipe out this thousand-strong group.
As time passed, the convoy from the Tamu and Liehuo tribes grew closer to their ambush position.
Finally, not long after, the enemy convoy entered the ambush range.
Just then, a signal horn sounded across the plain.
Upon hearing the sound, Chief Liu decisively gave the order, “Everyone, rise and shoot arrows!”
In an instant, 200 archers appeared on the hillsides on either side of the convoy, and the first wave of arrows rained down upon the convoy.
Meanwhile, the people from the Tamu and Liehuo Tribes below quickly realized they were being ambushed.
They immediately shouted for their people to be on alert.
But it was too late. The first wave of arrows fell, and many of the guards in the convoy were killed by the barrage.
Before they could react, under Wei Yun’s command, the second wave of arrows shot down at the convoy.
“You deserve to die!”
At that moment, a roar came from within the convoy.
In the next second, a figure leapt into the air from the Tamu Tribe’s convoy.
The figure waved both hands in the air, and a portion of the arrows seemed to be diverted by an invisible force due to his movements, causing them to land harmlessly on the ground.
Seeing this, Li Dao muttered to himself, “True Qi external release, an Innate Martial Artist.”
This person was likely the Innate Martial Artist hidden within the Tamu Tribe’s convoy.
At this moment, Wei Yun also noticed the figure that had suddenly appeared.
He immediately gave the order, “Vanguard charge, rear support, just destroy the arrows.”
With that, he grabbed the long knife at his waist and charged toward the Innate Martial Artist who had blocked the arrows.
Half of his soldiers charged toward the convoy, while the other half continued shooting arrows to cover their teammates.
On the other side…
Seeing this, Li Dao didn’t hesitate and immediately grabbed his Black Iron Sword, following the vanguard in a charge toward the west.
After all, it was better to charge early and reap the rewards.
Chief Liu saw this and immediately gave the order, “Everyone, follow 9527 and charge!”
This was a show of faith and follow-through.
Similarly, Xu Hu and the others, seeing Li Dao move, didn’t hesitate and followed right behind.
Just minutes ago, everything was calm, but now, in just a few minutes, the two forces were already in the midst of a brutal battle.
Rate and review this novel on NU to help people find this novel. Bonus chapters on reaching milestones.
Happy reading!