Chapter 65: Single-Handedly Breaking the Army

Although the distance was merely three hundred meters, because they were carrying scaling ladders and other siege equipment, the soldiers of the Tamu Tribe did not reach the walls of Yellow Sand Town immediately.

Even so, their casualties in the face of the incoming arrows remained remarkably low.

This was because many of the cultivators among their ranks took the vanguard, helping to deflect the incoming missiles.

However, they had not rejoiced for long before streaks of brilliant light suddenly shot toward them from the ramparts not far ahead.

Faced with these dazzling rays, many failed to react in time before their skulls were pierced, causing them to drop dead on the spot.

Moreover, many realized that these beams of light never landed on ordinary soldiers.

The more arrows a person deflected, the more likely they were to become the next target of the glowing projectiles.

Among the charging vanguard, a centurion noticed this phenomenon and gazed toward the distant ramparts with a shock.

What kind of weapon could possibly snipe their men with such terrifying precision?

Before he had time to ponder further, the hairs on his body suddenly stood on end, as if he were being locked onto by the eyes of the Grim reaper himself.

In the blink of an eye, he spotted a stream of light hurtling straight toward his face at blinding speed.

At that critical moment, his instincts flared, and he instinctively raised his saber to block.

The next second, the streak of light pierced straight through the blade, bored through the center of his brow, and buried itself deep into the ground behind him.

Perhaps hindered by the obstruction of the saber, the projectile did not plunge fully into the earth; only the feathered tail of an arrow protruded from the ground.

Upon the city walls.

Li Dao gripped the millennium-old ironwood bow, continuously drawing arrows from the quiver and loosing them into the battlefield.

Every single arrow claimed a life.

The crisp system notifications rang endlessly in his ears.

[Killed one enemy, obtained attribute: 1.23]

[Killed one enemy, obtained attribute: 2.67]

[Killed one enemy, obtained attribute: 1.89]

[Killed one enemy...]

Furthermore, every single arrow specifically claimed the lives of individuals with higher cultivation levels.

This gave him his very first taste of the pure joy of archery.

Li Dao could not help chuckling softly. "I've spent too much time in close combat; being an archer is actually quite fun."

Yet while he was thoroughly enjoying himself, the soldiers of the Tamu Tribe were about to suffer a terrible fate.

Deprived of the protection of their acquired-realm martial artists, they were left completely exposed to the relentless hail of arrows.

Within a short span of time, the death toll surged dramatically.

This grim spectacle soon caught the attention of Sen Ze and the others in the rear.

Sen Hai watched his subordinates die one after another, a pang of deep distress tightening his chest. Ordinary soldiers were easy to replace, but subordinates with cultivation were exceptionally hard to come by.

He turned, cupped his fists, and said, "General, let me go out and deal with that man."

Sen Ze glanced toward the ramparts of Yellow Sand Town and raised a hand. "You cannot move just yet."

"If you rush onto the walls alone without support, you will only plunge yourself into a passive and vulnerable position."

"Wait a little longer. Wait until our men breach the walls."

Hearing this, Sen Hai had no choice but to obey orders, though his gaze burned with intense hostility as he glared at the distant figure on the ramparts.

Over on the battlefield, after a sustained charge.

The foremost soldiers of the Tamu Tribe finally arrived beneath the walls of Yellow Sand Town, carrying their siege apparatuses.

"Raise the scaling ladders!"

At the command, nearly ten ladders were slammed against the ramparts of Yellow Sand Town.

The Tamu Tribe soldiers below began swarming upward along the ladders.

Witnessing this, several centurions immediately issued orders.

"Prepare the burning oil, nightsoil, and boulders! Pour them down and smash them all to pieces!"

At these words, many defenders picked up whatever was at hand and hurled it downward.

Consequently, the archers on the ramparts were also disrupted by the chaos.

In the distance.

Seeing this scene, Sen Hai turned his head and asked, "General!"

Sen Ze nodded. "Order the rest of the forces to move out. You and the others should also seize the opportunity and take Yellow Sand Town as soon as possible."

"Understood!"

Sen Hai had long since grown impatient. Upon receiving the command, he immediately bellowed to the remaining troops, "All forces, charge! Take Yellow Sand Town within half an hour, and I shall handsomely reward the victors!"

"Charge!"

At his shout, the remaining two thousand soldiers raised a unified battle cry and surged toward Yellow Sand Town to slaughter.

The defenders upon the nearby ramparts grew tense once more at the sight.

"Boss!"

Zhang Meng could not help turning his head to look at Li Dao.

To his astonishment, he found his boss enthusiastically firing with the millennium-old ironwood bow, his hands moving so fast they were blurring into afterimages.

Hearing the call, Li Dao turned back to Zhang Meng. "What is it?"

"The enemy's main reinforcements are charging over! What do we do now?"

Li Dao raised his gaze and spotted the two thousand soldiers sprinting toward Yellow Sand Town.

Seeing this, he replied very plainly, "Just kill them all."

He was not joking; he genuinely wanted to leave every single one of these people right here beneath the walls of Yellow Sand Town, because every single person down there represented attributes for him.

Although ordinary soldiers might provide meager attributes, even a mosquito's leg was meat, and the cumulative value was substantial. Naturally, he would not let such an opportunity slip away.

Hearing his boss's words, Zhang Meng was startled. "Boss, are you joking? Holding the line is already a massive question mark—how are we supposed to kill them all?"

Li Dao swept his gaze across the battlefield, quickly locking onto the rushing phalanx below, as a bold idea formed in his mind.

He immediately stated, "Hold the fort here. I'm heading down for a moment."

Zhang Meng froze completely. "Down? Down where?"

Before he even had time to react, he watched his boss retrieve his dragon-patterned halberd and leap directly off the city wall.

Zhang Meng: "???"

So when he said "going down," he literally meant jumping off! This was getting a bit too exaggerated.

***

The soldiers of the Tamu Tribe were continuously climbing up the scaling ladders.

Suddenly, a deafening explosion rang out in their ears.

Some soldiers looked toward the source of the sound, only to see a deep crater abruptly appearing in the ground, with a single figure standing within it. Judging by the military uniform, it was none other than their opponent—a Daqian soldier.

Though they did not understand the situation, the surrounding Tamu Tribe soldiers instinctively swarmed forward to surround and kill him.

Watching the encroaching Tamu soldiers, Li Dao gripped his dragon-patterned halberd and swept it outward.

The next second, everyone within a five-meter radius of his position was cleanly sliced in two at the waist.

Those with good fortune died instantly, while those who lingered on for a moment emitted agonizing shrieks.

In the blink of an eye, the surrounding ground was slick with a fresh carpet of blood.

Before long, the system notification chimed in his ear.

[Killed ten enemies, obtained attribute: 1.7]

Li Dao merely spared these men a single glance before ignoring them entirely, for his target was never these foot soldiers.

Instead, it was another group not far behind them.

Ignoring the terrified and panicked gazes of the surrounding Tamu soldiers, he stamped his foot and shot forward like a cannonball.

His speed was so extreme that it left blurring afterimages in the air.

Speaking of speed, Li Dao was reminded of a previous misunderstanding in his comprehension.

His physical body was currently two hundred times that of an ordinary human.

His strength, stamina, recovery rate, and other aspects had truly reached the level of two hundred times a normal person, but he discovered that attributes like speed and personal reaction time did not function quite like strength.

These attributes were more akin to supplementary attributes granted by physical enhancement; they grew progressively with the elevation of physical prowess, expressed solely through the application of his physical force, rather than multiplying at the exact same exponential rate as raw strength.

For instance, if his physical body improved tenfold, his strength would increase tenfold, whereas his speed might only increase twofold or even less.

Even so, his current speed and reflexes far exceeded those of ordinary mortals.

(PS: There was a slight loophole in the previous setup, which has now been revised. This addition is made to showcase the protagonist's strength more scientifically. Sincerest apologies.)

Meanwhile, Sen Hai led the charge, spearheading two thousand troops as they galloped toward Yellow Sand Town.

Suddenly, his eyes caught sight of a swiftly moving figure cutting through the billowing dust, charging directly toward their force of two thousand.

This left the vanguard leader, Sen Hai, momentarily stunned.

What on earth was going on?

Why would a single Daqian soldier dare to charge at them?

Clearly, they were the ones conducting the siege.

Regardless of his confusion, his immediate priority was to eliminate this adversary.

As the figure drew closer and closer, Sen Hai's expression grew increasingly grave, for he could already perceive the intense oppressive aura radiating from the opponent.

No!

He had to strike first!

Seeing the enemy approach rapidly, Sen Hai brandished his long saber.

"Bloody Blade Technique!"

With the sweep of his blade, dozens of crimson saber qi condensed from true qi surged toward the oncoming figure.

On the opposite side.

Li Dao's gaze narrowed as he watched the oncoming red saber qi, quickly assessing the strength of his attacker.

Generally, martial artists who had just stepped into the Xiantian realm could project true qi externally, though it could not leave their bodies by too great a distance. The more abundant their internal true qi and the higher their cultivation, the further their projection range.

Given that the opponent could release condensed and unyielding saber qi several meters away, his cultivation was at least at the mid-Xiantian stage.

His strength was roughly comparable to that of the Snow Demon he had encountered beside the eldest prince of the Tamu Tribe.

Faced with this wave of saber qi, Li Dao had no intention of recklessly taking it head-on.

The battlefield permitted no carelessness, especially when dealing with an opponent of completely unknown capabilities.

He slowed his pace slightly, gripping his dragon-patterned halberd with both hands as he spun and whirled it.

Driven by his terrifying physical strength, the qi generated by the revolving halberd instantly enveloped his entire body in a protective barrier.

When the blood-colored true qi collided with the qi barrier, it was deflected and sent flying away instantly.

Seeing all the blood-red saber qi miss their mark, Li Dao halted his movement. By this time, he had already arrived right before his opponent.

"Peerless! Army Breaker!"

Facing a martial artist of at least the mid-Xiantian stage, Li Dao brought his dragon-patterned halberd crashing directly downward.

Sensing the formidable pressure of this strike the moment his own saber qi was deflected, Sen Hai had already prepared himself mentally.

Confronting this massive halberd stroke from Li Dao, he felt an overwhelming sense of oppression, and his first instinct was to evade.

And that was precisely what he did: he abandoned his mount and lunged sideways to dodge.

At that very instant, the dragon-patterned halberd struck.

Boom!

The halberd slammed heavily into the ground with a thunderous roar, simultaneously cleaving his warhorse neatly down the center.

The residual qi released by the blow carved a deep, lengthy gouge into the earth.

While evading, Sen Hai launched an immediate counterattack.

His long saber thrust straight toward Li Dao's heart from a tricky, unorthodox angle.

Yet the next second, Sen Hai's expression froze.

His sharp blade was caught bare-handed in the palm of his opponent, the razor-edge utterly failing to inflict the slightest scratch.

He instinctively tried to yank his saber back, only to find it completely immovable.

Suddenly, he felt his grip lighten.

Yet immediately afterward, the hairs on his body prickled anew, as the enemy sent a bare palm flying toward him in the wake of releasing the weapon.

Even though the opponent's palm appeared entirely ordinary—devoid of even a shred of true qi coverage—he sensed an aura of absolute lethality.

Without a moment's hesitation, he chose to abandon his weapon and leap backward.

Hmm?

Seeing his attack miss, Li Dao raised an eyebrow.

Sure enough, martial artists with higher cultivation were far from ordinary.

Many previous opponents, seeing that he lacked true qi, had foolishly chosen to meet his strength with theirs; he hadn't expected to run into an exception today.

However, he felt no sense of regret.

Although his exchange with this Xiantian martial artist had been brief, it was more than enough time for the surrounding soldiers to react.

Treating Li Dao as an immediate threat right before them, they unhesitatingly closed in for the kill.

This development played right into Li Dao's hands, as he had not forgotten his primary purpose for charging down here.

Killing this Xiantian martial artist might grant him a massive attribute reward, but the variables were simply too high. If the opponent decided to flee, given a Xiantian expert's capability, escape was entirely possible. It was far wiser to first devour the easy meat served right to his mouth rather than losing the watermelon while chasing a sesame seed.

Moreover, the sheer number of Tamu Tribe soldiers meant their cumulative value far surpassed that of a single mid-Xiantian martial artist.

"Charge!"

Before long, a fresh wave of Tamu Tribe soldiers rushed right up to Li Dao.

With a flick of his halberd, Li Dao sent several heads flying into the air.

[Killed seven enemies, obtained attribute: 1.56]

Yet, a continuous stream of soldiers kept pouring toward him wave after wave, as if afraid he wouldn't get enough of the slaughter.

Of course, some soldiers ignored him and continued sprinting toward Yellow Sand Town upon seeing their enemies surrounded.

Li Dao noticed this, but paid it no heed. His task was merely to pin down a portion of the enemy forces along with their Xiantian experts here.

As for the rest, the thousand-plus defenders in the Yellow Sand Town garrison should surely be able to handle them while holding a defensive stance.