Chapter 153: Feigning Repair of the Plank Road While Secretly Marching to Chencang

"Boss, won't you treat me to a bowl of noodles? Extra beef, no scallions." Su Yuqing walked into the deserted little noodle shop, picked up the menu on the table, and tapped it against the surface as she called out.

"Cough... cough, cough. No beef noodles, only hand-cut noodles. Care to try a bowl?" An elderly man bent in the corner wiping a table coughed twice and spoke without turning his head.

"Ah, as expected of the Flying Tiger of the Forest, truly the most brilliant disciple of the Grandmaster's Amber Saber Sect. I only wonder if you can still lift a saber?"

Su Yuqing exclaimed loudly, her expression as joyous and lively as a young girl's, showing not a trace of middle-aged composure or steady temperament.

The old man turned his head and laughed. "You're still as sharp-tongued as ever, something you'll never change in this lifetime... I've grown this old and frail, with only a few days left to live. Why seek me out now?"

"It's not me looking for you, but your little junior sister." Su Yuqing smiled with crafty cunning. "Can you bear to watch her son get hunted down and killed by the Li family? What's more, he's already been targeted by the barbarians."

Seeing a slight trace of anger rise on the old man's face, she quickly added, "Alright, alright, let's not mention Tan Qiuyi for now. Let's talk about Xiao Zhenjiang instead."

"Back then, when you protected your junior sister and eloped with him, Elder Tan personally crippled your cultivation and expelled you from the sect. Yet it was Xiao Zhenjiang who exhausted his family fortune, traveling far and wide to seek out medicinal herbs to heal your wounds..."

"Where is Xiaonan?" The old man's shock of white hair fluttered without wind, a brilliant flash erupted in his eyes, and a fierce gale swept through the noodle shop, causing the doorway curtain to snap violently.

His expression was very unsightly. He thought to himself that women truly had long hair and short insight, underestimating people far too much. She tried to provoke him with her words, appealing to him with gratitude and loyalty... How could she possibly understand the bonds between men? A promise made is worth a thousand ounces of gold, unshakeable even in life or death.

Yet Su Yuqing cared not what Lin Feihu actually thought. Be it profound brotherly loyalty or lingering affection for his junior sister, as long as he stepped into the fray, it was enough.

She smiled cheerfully. "The Empty Crystal Chamber at Yuanjiang First High School."

...

There were few tall buildings in the northern part of the city, only spacious manor villas scattered and standing amidst trees, with security guards patrolling the perimeter.

Not far apart, there were guard posts.

A quiet luxury permeated the area, evidently the residence of wealthy and noble families of Yuanjiang Prefecture.

Near the city wall stood a manor.

Though the day was bright and sunny outside, the main hall of the manor's primary residence remained tightly shut and bolted.

Heavy curtains were drawn, as if no one lived there.

Should anyone step inside the hall, however, they would discover it was far from empty; instead, five or six hundred people were present.

They knelt on the floor kowtowing, murmuring incantations with fanatical expressions.

Suddenly, someone shouted aloud, "Praise my Lord..."

Drawing a dagger from his bosom, he plunged it straight into his chest, blood spurting forth.

Yet not a trace of pain marred his face; he only gazed piously at a statue standing at the front of the hall, his expression peaceful and joyful.

As if it were a signal, those five or six hundred people chanted the divine name in unison, raising their blades and taking their own lives...

No pain, only bliss.

Standing beside the statue was an old man in a black robe with emerald eyes, an expression of profound compassion on his face. He formed hand seals before his chest, lowering his head to chant majestic and magnificent verses.

Within the dim hall, countless points of light converged into his palms.

"As long as you assist me in accomplishing this deed, filling Yuanjiang with the divine domain, you shall soon reach the kingdom of gods. Free from illness and disaster, peaceful and prosperous forever..."

A flash of golden-red light surged over his body, and a humanoid light-shadow leaped forth from his crown.

Countless points of light converged into a stream, attaching to the light-shadow and turning solid... Immediately transforming into gorgeous, noble, and sacred robes.

Surrounding this figure, songs echoed, grand and magnificent. His body rose higher and higher, gradually soaring above the rooftop.

In each of his hands, he grasped an egg-sized, hazy gray crystal. Sensing them carefully for a moment, he lunged swiftly toward Yuanjiang First High School.

Since the portal had been opened, it could no longer be concealed.

"It's a pity the Li family proved utterly useless, failing to send anyone inside to retrieve the crystals, which ruined the spatial targeting. They forced me to waste the soul power of so many believers to break through by force, destroying over a year of painstaking effort in an instant..."

The humanoid light-shadow's eyes rippled with shifting light, seemingly lamenting something, yet gradually they grew resolute once more.

"Once the divine brilliance fills Yuanjiang, I shall surely receive the divine reward and forge a holy spirit dharma body...

Fight, then. Fight as fiercely as possible. I am no brainless judgment warrior; why on earth would they think I would launch a frontal assault on the passage?"

With this soft chuckle, the humanoid light-shadow melted into the air and vanished without a trace in an instant.

Viewed from high above, the sun blazed brilliantly at that moment.

Where Yuanjiang First High School stood, however, two torrents of people were rushing and colliding.

At the left school gate was Li Yuan琛. His face was flushed crimson, the aura rolling and surging around his body, and his physique had grown extremely robust.

Faint golden patterns flickered across his face. Wielding a broadsword, he slashed through the wall and broke through, turning trees, bricks, and stones into powder.

Behind him, dozens of people in varied attire remained silent as they followed closely.

Most eye-catching of all were over a dozen soldiers in military uniforms led by Li Shaoyun, every single one of them fierce and burly.

"This time, gentlemen, you accompany me to avenge my brother's tragic death and seize the empty crystal. I will remember this debt of honor and shall never forget it."

"You are too courteous, Commander Li. If you hadn't saved me, this life of mine would have been thrown away in the wasteland long ago. Being able to live a little longer is already pure profit. Helping with this little favor is something easily explained to the military judge; you needn't take it to heart."

"Indeed."

The others chimed in with agreement.

These soldiers, including several experts from the Li family, clearly had no idea what they were actually doing.

Meanwhile, on the western side of the campus, another group of figures—some tall and stalwart, others nimble and swift—was charging ahead.

With a single impact, they shattered the wall and charged straight into the small grove.

This group numbered about seventeen or eighteen.

The leading figure was nearly three meters tall, wielding a spiked giant hammer. No matter how much he hooded or masked his face, one could tell at a glance from those bulging muscles that he was no human.

In fact, this group didn't bother concealing their identities at all.

The leader killed anyone he saw.

When a middle-aged martial arts teacher shouted and blocked his path along the way, he didn't bother to reply, merely swinging the giant hammer in his hand... Amidst the howling of a wild gale, he beat the middle-aged teacher into a rain of blood.

Bells rang wildly...

All the students inside and outside the classrooms shouted loudly as they evacuated the campus.

Immediately following that, the whistling of wind and the clashing of metal rang out loudly. From afar, volley after volley of arrows could be seen piercing the air, accompanied by bursting firelight.

"Li Yuan琛, you colluded with the beasts and barbarians to betray humanity. You deserve a thousand deaths."

The first to strike was neither Sun Zhongli nor Tang Zhixuan, but Zhang Yi.

With a stern shout like a fierce tiger descending from the mountains, the bearded Zhang Yi rushed out from the dwarf grove. His long saber danced in a blur of light, faintly accompanied by the roar of a tiger's head.

Behind him, a barrage of arrows whistled like thunder, piercing fiercely into the Li family's formation.

With a blur before everyone's eyes, a slender middle-aged woman appeared standing atop a tree branch, drawing a bow with three arrows at once like a string of pearls.

On the ground beside her, a dozen people drew their bows in unison. Amidst the howling, fierce kinetic energy tore through wood and shattered stone, far more powerful than modern sniper weapons several times over.

Amidst the howling shower of arrows, an emerald shadow surged forward like ocean waves, making a roaring crash...

Su Yuqing had long since shed her giggling, frivolous demeanor. Facing the barbarian beast-headed giant charging from the west, she thrust her short sword right against the giant hammer.

Amidst a thunderous shock, she darted like a butterfly piercing through flowers, stabbing out a fine spray of water waves.

Water surged to the skies.

Dozens of barbarians roared furiously; some were struck by swords right between their eyebrows and collapsed in pools of blood.

More people, however, broke through the interception and charged straight toward the small grove.

...

Strictly remembering Qin Shuang's instructions, Xiao Nan turned a deaf ear to the sounds of battle echoing from outside.

His entire mind was immersed in that miraculous crystal, feeling his spirit elevate as he watched countless colorful threads intertwining and slowly forming a complex, profound pattern.

He stood up unconsciously, the flow of his blood and Qi growing stronger and stronger, scouring his skin, flesh, and muscles.

Gradually, a humming sound like the vibration of a bowstring echoed from within his body, and his bones began to itch slightly.

His meridians cleared, his skin and flesh sealed, and simultaneously, his bones and organs grew stronger and sturdier.

Under the impact of primal energy, his power naturally increased.

Without even needing to pay close attention to his physical body, he could tell that his blood and Qi had broken through the First-Rank martial artist tier and were advancing toward the Second-Rank tendon-tempering stage.

At the same time, the blood and bones throughout his body also soaked up this ethereal primal energy, undergoing a massive enhancement.

Breaking through future bottlenecks would surely prove much easier now.

"In the path of cultivation, aside from comprehension, what truly matters in the end is resources." While his spirit rejoiced and his mind felt fulfilled, Xiao Nan could not help but sigh in wonder.

The sword in his hand swept out hazy sword shadows, blurring whether they were near or far. Within several feet around him, faint ripples appeared...

"So this is the Dao of spatial boundaries—it's the change of spatial distance. Within a foot's reach lies the ends of the earth."

This fortuitous encounter was truly extraordinary; no wonder the Li family had gone to such painstaking lengths to get in, and even Qin Shuang had expressed such deep regret.

As Xiao Nan thought this, he realized his assessment wasn't entirely comprehensive, and the battle outside was merely an appetizer after all.

The empty crystal before him suddenly vibrated. Within the misty stone chamber, from nothingness into existence, a golden-red light-shadow gradually emerged.

The light-shadow was humanoid, holding a hazy gray crystal in each hand. As it shifted from illusory to solid, the entire stone chamber trembled violently.

The three crystals resonated with one another, shooting out a beam of gray light that formed a vortex within the chamber, with cracks multiplying all around it.

It was as if some distant location had been linked.

Opposite the vortex, brilliance shone like a sea and songs echoed continuously. A point of golden light seemed both unimaginably far and yet terribly close, growing clear in the blink of an eye.

A breath-choking, immensely powerful aura poured through the passage into the stone chamber, almost making Xiao Nan gasp for air.

"This is a barbarian! Trying to open a spatial passage? How did he bypass the outer defenses and enter the empty crystal chamber directly?"

"What kind of thing is being summoned through here?"

In the flash of a spark, Xiao Nan immediately understood his own plight, as well as the crisis facing Yuanjiang Prefecture.

Feigning an advance along the main road while secretly crossing by a-detour.

The fierce fighting outside was merely a smokescreen; this place was the barbarians' ultimate lethal strike.

Their goal was never the empty crystal, but rather using the stones to form an array, breaking open the spatial rift here to create a temporary spatial passage and usher in treasures and reinforcements.

If he allowed this entity to act unchecked, it was likely that before long, the location of Yuanjiang Prefecture would be transformed into a divine domain.

And thus fall completely.

...

The major story arc is coming to a close; writing it has been arduous. I humbly ask for your support and encouragement!