The burly man’s corpse fell to the ground with a thud, as if it had landed on the hearts of the surrounding death-row inmates.
Some of the inmates who had earlier felt it was a pity now instantly gave up any such thoughts. Instead, they felt relieved that they hadn’t jumped out earlier to seek death.
Captain Liu glanced over at the group of prisoners. “Anyone else have a problem?”
At his words, all the inmates quickly shook their heads.
The one who had a problem was still lying on the ground, body still warm—who would dare speak up now?
“No problems? Then get ready to move out.”
…
Two hours later.
After some time traveling, the group arrived at the ambush location.
It was set between two mountain peaks, where an ancient path cut through the middle and dense forests lined both sides.
Li Dao and the other death-row inmates were tasked with being the first to intercept the approaching Northern Barbarian cavalry, working in coordination with Captain Liu and his soldiers to encircle and wipe out the enemy at this choke point.
“You all wait here for now,” said Captain Liu as he positioned the inmates and sent out two scouts to check when the Northern Barbarian cavalry would arrive.
Leaning against a tree, Li Dao cradled his long blade and slowly sharpened it with a stone.
Though he had great strength, killing efficiently still mattered. Compared to fighting bare-handed, a sharp weapon could dispatch enemies faster—so maintaining it was crucial.
At the same time, he quietly allocated the attribute points he gained from the black brute into his physique.
[Host: Li Dao]
[Physique: 4.71]
[Available Attribute Points: 0]
He now had nearly five times the physique of an average person. He wondered if this stat could keep increasing indefinitely.
If it could… that’d be insanely overpowered.
On the other side—
Before long, the scouts Liu had dispatched returned.
“Captain, the Northern Barbarian cavalry is almost here!”
The scout rushed to Liu’s side to report on the enemy’s movements.
Upon hearing this, Liu immediately stood up and barked to the prisoners, “Get into position! When you hear my signal, charge out and block those Northern Barbarian riders—don’t let a single one escape!”
Li Dao picked up his blade and quietly moved to his chosen hiding spot.
Since this was his second mission, he didn’t feel the same tension as before. Instead, a strange sense of excitement bubbled within him.
Time passed slowly.
Finally, after the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn, shadows of the Northern Barbarian cavalry appeared on the mountain path.
In that moment, Li Dao’s heightened senses picked up on the rapid breathing of everyone around him—both the death-row inmates and the regular Da Qian soldiers.
It made sense—Northern Barbarian cavalry were infamous for their brutality and fearsome reputation, forged through bloodshed. Naturally, they inspired dread.
The cavalry advanced slowly toward the ambush site. Captain Liu had already raised a whistle to his lips, ready to give the signal.
Finally, once the cavalry fully entered the kill zone, the whistle shrieked through the air.
In the next instant, Da Qian soldiers let loose a volley of arrows, raining down cold steel upon the enemy.
Just as everyone thought the ambush would succeed spectacularly, no one noticed the smirk curling at the lips of the lead Northern Barbarian warrior.
“Counterattack!”
Suddenly, a voice rang out from within the Northern Barbarian cavalry.
The very next second, the cavalry moved in perfect unison, each pulling out a steel shield from the packs hanging on the side of their horses to defend themselves.
When the rain of arrows descended, most were blocked by the shields. Only a few struck the warhorses beneath them, but that didn’t matter—so long as the riders were unharmed.
On the other side, Captain Liu immediately sensed something was wrong.
The Northern Barbarian cavalry’s reaction was too fast—almost instinctive, as if they had prepared for this in advance.
However, there was no time left for speculation.
Because of his whistle signal, the death-row prisoners had already charged forward.
Li Dao also noticed that something was off, but after a brief hesitation, he followed the others into the assault.
He was always clear about one thing: with his current level of physique, he could test the situation—if things went south, he could retreat.
In short, he wasn’t going to throw his life away needlessly.
Seeing the prisoners already charging down the hill, Captain Liu quickly calculated in his mind.
In the end, he gritted his teeth and gave the order: “Everyone, charge!”
At that moment, as the prisoners rushed down the slope, the Northern Barbarian cavalry seemed ready.
The riders on both flanks simultaneously drew out three-meter-long spears and thrust them toward the charging inmates.
In just a single wave, half of the prisoners were skewered on the spot.
The other half were stunned into paralysis by the sight.
They couldn’t move forward, but turning back wasn’t an option either.
But Li Dao didn’t care—he raised his blade and charged straight in.
Those spears might stop normal men, but they were useless against someone with nearly five times the average human physique.
The Northern Barbarians quickly noticed Li Dao.
Just as he was about to breach their formation, several spears suddenly thrust out from behind the front line, aimed directly at him.
And these weren’t wild stabs either—each spear was precise, targeting vital areas.
Any ordinary person would have panicked under such a sudden and deadly assault and been skewered.
But Li Dao’s eyes sharpened, his attention peaked—under his heightened focus, the incoming spears seemed to slow down.
In midair, relying on his immense strength and agility, he slipped through the narrow gaps between the spears and dove into the midst of the enemy formation.
The surrounding Northern Barbarian riders were stunned.
They had never imagined someone could slip through their flawless coordinated strike like that.
But Li Dao wasn’t going to give them time to be surprised.
Spotting a rider clad in armor, he swung his blade.
Crack!
With a powerful slash, the rider’s armor shattered, and the man toppled from his horse.
Without hesitation, Li Dao finished him off with a clean cut across the face.
[Enemy killed. Attribute gained: 0.21]
Upon hearing the system notification, Li Dao thought to himself, As expected of the Northern Barbarian cavalry—their physical stats alone far surpass regular soldiers.
At that moment, Li Dao’s actions snapped the nearby cavalry out of their daze.
The first line continued using spears to repel intruders, while the second line drew their sabers and attacked Li Dao from all sides.
Seeing this, Li Dao swiftly mounted the fallen rider’s horse and fought back while swinging his blade.
Meanwhile—
Despite the well-coordinated ambush by the Da Qian soldiers, the Northern Barbarian cavalry’s defense was airtight.
But no one had expected the anomaly that was Li Dao to punch through their formation.
This created a crack in the enemy’s otherwise solid formation.
Captain Liu, who had earned his position due to his strategic insight, immediately spotted the opportunity created by Li Dao and made a decision.
He shouted, “All units on the right flank—push toward 9527’s position!”
This order significantly eased the pressure on Li Dao from the surrounding cavalry.
After all, his physique—nearly five times that of a normal person—was indeed powerful, but not enough to run rampant against an entire squad of highly trained cavalrymen.
Even with his strength, facing cold steel from every direction would be too much.
In such a tight formation of seasoned Northern Barbarian cavalry, just surviving was already a testament to his strength.
After Captain Liu’s reinforcements arrived, the previously suppressed Li Dao finally had the space to fully unleash his strength.
Riding atop a warhorse, he charged forward with his blade, rampaging through the enemy lines.
Anyone—or anything—that crossed his path got a taste of his sword, even stray dogs wouldn’t have been spared.
Because of the immense force behind his strikes, many Northern Barbarian cavalrymen were taken down in a single blow when caught off guard.
Some were even less fortunate—if his blade happened to land on a weak spot in their armor, it meant instant death.
In short, wherever Li Dao went, chaos followed.
Captain Liu felt a wave of relief watching Li Dao’s performance.
He was lucky this batch of death-row inmates included the anomaly that was 9527.
Otherwise, forget ambushing the Northern Barbarian cavalry—just making it out alive would’ve been a miracle.
With that thought, and seeing the battle growing increasingly intense, Captain Liu decisively joined the fray.
Meanwhile—
Li Dao was hacking and slashing with glee, but midway through his charge, he realized there were no more enemies ahead of him.
A quick glance revealed he’d gone too far—he’d actually broken through and exited the enemy’s encirclement.
Watching the Northern Barbarian cavalrymen he’d wounded being killed off by others, his heart ached terribly.
Those were supposed to be my attribute points!
He quickly turned his horse around, slapped its rump with his blade, and charged back into the battlefield.
This time, Li Dao wised up—he focused specifically on enemies he could take down in a single blow.
Because of this, the pleasant sound of system notifications echoed nonstop in his ears:
[Enemy killed. Attribute gained: 0.22]
[Enemy killed. Attribute gained: 0.20]
[Enemy killed. Attribute gained: 0.19]
[Enemy killed…]
Li Dao’s available attribute points on his system panel steadily increased.
“Bastard!”
Li Dao’s outstanding performance soon caught the attention of the Northern Barbarian cavalry’s commander.
From the moment their cavalry formation was first broken, he had taken note of this Da Qian soldier.
At first, he’d dismissed it as dumb luck. After all, their cavalry would handle the rest.
But as this Da Qian warrior not only survived but continued slaughtering their troops, the commander finally realized this man wasn’t ordinary.
At that moment, he made a decision—he would personally kill this man.
Meanwhile—
As Li Dao happily harvested attribute points, he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
“Die!”
A voice roared behind him, accompanied by the sound of a blade slicing through the wind.
He instinctively ducked—and a flash of steel swept past the back of his head.
Cold sweat drenched his back.
It was the first time since his rebirth that he’d been this close to death.
But it wasn’t over yet. The enemy’s saber, having missed its mark, came down for a second strike.
This time, Li Dao reacted and raised his blade to block.
In an instant, a terrifying force surged through the clash of steel.
His usually overwhelming strength failed him in that moment.
But he snapped out of his shock quickly—this was a battlefield. A single moment of distraction could cost him his life.
“You won’t be so cocky now, boy.”
The Northern Barbarian commander grinned savagely at the fallen Li Dao and raised his blade for a finishing strike.
The saber descended lightning-fast, arriving before Li Dao could dodge.
Clang!
Just then, another blade stabbed in from the side, intercepting the commander’s attack.
Li Dao looked up and finally noticed that Captain Liu had arrived beside him at some point.
Captain Liu gave Li Dao a quick glance, then turned his gaze toward the Northern Barbarian commander.
“Barbarian from the north,” he said coldly, “isn’t it a bit shameful for a post-heaven martial artist to bully an ordinary man?”
Post-heaven martial artist?
Hearing that phrase, Li Dao froze in place.
A long-forgotten memory from childhood suddenly resurfaced in his mind.
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