Chapter 18: The Second Mission — The Innate Martial Artist

Realizing his own transformation, Li Dao sighed inwardly, "I finally have a bit of strength to protect myself."

The evolution of his skin had significantly increased his survivability, making the road ahead much easier to traverse. After cleaning off the shed skin and dressing, Li Dao sat down at the table and began to eat heartily. Once full, he stretched his limbs, collapsed onto his bed, and fell into a deep sleep.

...

Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.

During these three days, ever since Li Dao and his four companions successfully "assassinated" the Third Prince of Luoyun, Wei Yun had not come looking for them. They had tried to find Wei Yun themselves but failed, so they had no choice but to wait. Fortunately, their current life was much more comfortable than in the death row camp, as they were well-fed every day.

Finally, on the afternoon of the third day, Wei Yun took the initiative to meet with the five of them.

In the main military tent that day, Wei Yun sat at the head of the table, raised his wine cup toward Li Dao and the others, and said, "First of all, I would like to thank you five. Because of the death of the Third Prince of Luoyun, the negotiations between the Northern Barbarian Tamu Tribe and the Luoyun Tribe have temporarily collapsed. This has, in a way, relieved some of the pressure on the frontier region."

After speaking, he drained his cup in one go.

Beside the table, Shen San drank a cup of wine and spoke directly, "What’s the use of these empty words? It would be better to give us something practical, like arranging household registrations and granting us our freedom."

Wei Yun’s mouth twitched. He had underestimated Shen San's shamelessness; he had merely been speaking politely, yet this fellow had actually taken it to heart. Ignoring Shen San, he turned his gaze toward Li Dao. "Although I cannot give you any material benefits, I can help you complete the three tasks as soon as possible. I brought you here today to tell you about the second mission."

Hearing this, Shen San couldn't help but mutter, "Does that even count as a benefit?"

Ignoring the foolish Shen San, Li Dao set down his wine cup and asked, "What do you need us to do for the second task?" To him, having a mission was a good thing; the faster he completed them, the sooner he could shed the status of a death row prisoner.

Wei Yun spoke directly, "Although we have temporarily severed the connection between the Tamu Tribe and the Luoyun Tribe, the Tamu Tribe has not stopped there. According to information from our scouts on the front lines, in addition to negotiating with the Luoyun Tribe, the Tamu Tribe has commissioned one hundred thousand arrows from the Northern Barbarian Fire Tribe. Without a doubt, these arrows are meant to be used against the Great Qian army."

Upon hearing this, Shen San’s expression changed. "Hey, Wei, don't tell me this mission is for us to intercept those one hundred thousand arrows?"

Wei Yun shook his head. "Of course not."

Shen San breathed a sigh of relief. "That’s more like it."

But Wei Yun immediately added, "It’s not to intercept them, but to find a way to destroy those one hundred thousand arrows."

*Slap!*

Shen San stood up and slammed his hand on the table. "Wei, don't take us for fools! Supplies as important as one hundred thousand arrows are nothing like that waste, the Third Prince of Luoyun. The escort for these arrows will certainly be numerous and filled with experts. This is purely sending us to our deaths!"

Faced with Shen San’s attitude, Wei Yun was not angry; after all, there was no point in arguing with a fool. He turned to Li Dao and asked, "9527, what do you think about what I just said?"

Li Dao set down his wine cup and said softly, "This mission is indeed beyond the capabilities of ordinary people. If Commander Wei does not wish to break his promise to us, there must be some details you haven't mentioned yet."

Wei Yun couldn't help but clap his hands, sighing, "I underestimated your intelligence. You are correct; this matter is indeed difficult for you, so..." He looked back at Shen San and continued, "So, this time, not only will the five of you go, but I will also bring a portion of the Valiant Battalion to accompany you."

Shen San curled his lips; he had nothing more to say since the boss himself was going. If he claimed it was a suicide mission now, he would be cursing himself as well.

Hearing that Wei Yun was going himself, Li Dao focused and asked, "Is it very troublesome?"

Wei Yun nodded. "It is indeed tricky. I received news that there is a Xiantian martial artist among the escorts."

*A Xiantian martial artist!*

At these words, Li Dao and the others were taken aback. Over this period, Li Dao had learned about the cultivation levels through his interactions with Old Ghost and the others. In this world, cultivation is divided into: Houtian martial artist, Xiantian martial artist, Grandmaster, and Great Grandmaster.

Among them, Great Grandmasters are the pillars of a nation, rarely taking action. Grandmasters are the most powerful figures known in the martial arts world, but they are very rare and belong to the highest echelon of the dynasty. Xiantian martial artists, however, are the mainstream of the martial arts world. Most of the "experts" people talk about are at this level.

If Li Dao were to analyze it, in his eyes, ordinary people were small fries, Houtian martial artists were elite mobs, and Xiantian martial artists were bosses. Even though there is only a one-word difference between Houtian and Xiantian, the gap in strength is at least tenfold. The Jin Sheng he had dealt with last time was only a Second-Grade Houtian, not even First-Grade.

"A Xiantian martial artist? You’re not joking, right? Who can handle that?" Shen San looked uneasy, clearly aware of the terror of a Xiantian martial artist.

Wei Yun said, "Rest assured, you don't need to deal with the Xiantian martial artist; I will handle that myself."

"Huh?" Shen San was stunned. "You're a Xiantian?"

Wei Yun smiled faintly. "Is that so impossible?"

Shen San was speechless. He felt his courage was quite something; he had been provoking a Xiantian-level big shot this whole time, and for a moment, he actually admired himself.

"How about it? Are you taking this mission or not?" Wei Yun looked at Li Dao.

"Take it or not?" Li Dao looked directly into Wei Yun’s eyes and said, "We want to refuse, but would you agree?"

"No."

"Then why waste your breath?"

Wei Yun: "..." Well, that was his own fault for being foolish.

...

Two days later, outside Changgu Town, Li Dao and the other four gathered on horseback, just like last time. The difference was that this time, they were accompanied by many others.

"9527, long time no see." An acquaintance walked up to Li Dao to greet him.

"Captain Liu." Li Dao recognized the man as Captain Liu, with whom he had interacted many times before.

Captain Liu looked at Li Dao and his four companions, saying, "If you complete this mission, you should be close to leaving the death row camp, right?"

"Two more to go." Li Dao did not hide it from Captain Liu, as he likely knew this anyway.

"Tsk tsk," Captain Liu sighed, "It looks like you’re set."

Li Dao shrugged. "Who knows what will happen until the very end?" He didn't dare to guarantee anything yet, not until he was truly free. After chatting for a bit, Captain Liu left; as a centurion, he was one of the highest-ranking officers after Wei Yun and needed to lead his troops.

Soon after, Wei Yun rode out. Following his order, the troop set off toward the area outside Changgu. Because they were marching ahead of time, the Valiant Battalion, under Wei Yun’s leadership, arrived early at the ambush site—a location where the Fire Tribe and the Tamu Tribe met. As this area was a desolate plain with only one path, it was the inevitable route for the Tamu Tribe's transport.

Wei Yun led his men to set up an ambush around this path. As soon as Li Dao found a hiding spot, he noticed Captain Liu and his men arriving nearby. He looked puzzled. "Captain Liu, this is..."

Captain Liu waved his hand. "Don't mind us; we just wanted to ambush with you. It’s safer this way." Li Dao was speechless but let them be. Shen San and the others had the same idea and also set up their ambush near Li Dao.

...

Time passed slowly. A whole night went by, yet the Tamu Tribe's transport team had not appeared on the only path. Enduring the scorching sun, Shen San wiped sweat from his face and said, "Did that guy Wei remember wrong? Why hasn't anyone come? If no one comes, are we just going to wait here forever?"

At these words, the soldiers near Captain Liu glared at Shen San, dissatisfied with how he referred to Wei Yun. But if Shen San cared about such things, he wouldn't be Shen San. He retorted, "Why can't I say it? Even death row prisoners have the right to speak."

"Quiet, there's movement," Li Dao said suddenly.

Shen San immediately shut his mouth, and the others stood up to observe. Indeed, looking into the distance, a convoy was approaching. The flags on the convoy were those of the Tamu Tribe; this had to be the team transporting the one hundred thousand arrows.

Captain Liu stood up slightly to look into the distance, his brow furrowing. "This group seems to have a lot of people? At least a thousand." A thousand people—that was enough to start a small war.

Li Dao glanced at them and suddenly noticed two different tribal flags in the convoy. He said, "There are people from the Fire Tribe here in addition to the Tamu Tribe, which is why the group looks so large."

"The Fire Tribe?" After a moment of thought, Captain Liu analyzed the reason, "Then it must be that the incident with the Luoyun Tribe made the Tamu Tribe vigilant, so they borrowed some men from the Fire Tribe to transport these supplies."

Hearing that the number of enemies had changed, everyone’s expression turned grim. The mission was already difficult, and this new variable made it even harder. Seeing that Wei Yun remained calm, Li Dao assumed the mission was proceeding. This suited him perfectly; as long as there were no particularly formidable experts, the more ordinary soldiers or weak Houtian martial artists there were, the better it was for him.

Especially since his skin had undergone a transformation, the tactic of "human waves" had become completely ineffective against him. Most people couldn't even break his skin, posing no threat at all. To him, those who couldn't threaten him were just lambs for the slaughter. Combined with his superhuman stamina and recovery, he felt that if given enough time, he could kill this entire thousand-man troop by himself.

As time passed, the Tamu and Fire Tribe convoy grew closer to their ambush site. Finally, they entered the kill zone. At that moment, a whistle sounded across the plain. Following the sound, Captain Liu decisively ordered, "Everyone, stand up and fire!"

In an instant, two hundred archers appeared on the slopes on both sides of the path, and the first volley of arrows rained down upon the convoy. Below, the men of the Tamu and Fire tribes realized they were under ambush and shouted for their men to get ready. But it was too late; under the first wave of arrows, many escorts had already fallen. Before they could react, under Wei Yun’s command, a second volley of arrows rained down.

"You bastards!"

Just then, a roar erupted from the middle of the convoy. The next second, a figure leapt into the air from the Tamu Tribe's transport. The figure waved his hands in the air, and a portion of the arrows seemed to be diverted by an invisible force, falling harmlessly to the ground.

Seeing this, Li Dao muttered to himself, "True energy projection—a Xiantian martial artist." This must be the Xiantian martial artist hidden within the Tamu Tribe's ranks.

Wei Yun also noticed the figure who had jumped out. He immediately ordered, "Vanguard, charge! Rear guard, provide cover! Just destroy the arrows!" After saying this, he grabbed the long saber at his waist and charged straight toward the Xiantian martial artist who had blocked the arrow rain. Half of his soldiers charged at the convoy, while the other half continued to fire arrows to cover their comrades.

On the other side, Li Dao didn't hesitate. He grabbed his profound iron saber and charged down with the front line. After all, charging early meant collecting more attributes. Seeing this, Captain Liu immediately ordered, "All units, follow 9527 and charge!" He was betting everything on following Li Dao. Similarly, Xu Hu and the others didn't hesitate and followed.

A few minutes ago, it had been calm; a few minutes later, the two sides were locked in a fierce, bloody battle.