Chapter 117.1: Stronger than His Rank! As Strong as a Thousand Cauldrons Stage Expert! (I)

The blood qi curtain shattered with a thunderous roar.

"What?"

The four Thousand Cauldrons martial artists stared wide-eyed, as though they could not believe what they were seeing. Wasn't Dao Shi'er just a Hundred Cauldrons martial artist? Yet with a single strike, he tore apart the combined attacks of four Thousand Cauldrons martial artists.

The power of that one strike was definitely equivalent to a thousand cauldrons! No, it was more than that. It had to have contained the power of a few thousand cauldrons!

"Stop him!"

The four tried to stop Dao Shi'er, but Dao Shi'er had combined several techniques at his disposal, and their power reached a terrifying three thousand cauldrons. Just one slash tore apart the encirclement, and Dao Shi'er stepped forward.

Swoosh!

Lu Changsheng broke free and rapidly moved away. In the blink of an eye, he vanished from their sight.

"Damn it! We actually let Dao Shi'er get away. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity dropped right into our hands, but we still allowed him to escape. We already caught him, but we still couldn't finish him."

"Who said Dao Shi'er is a Hundred Cauldrons martial artist? Was

that

what you call Hundred Cauldrons?"

The four were in a terrible mood. They had been hiding on the Northern Region Battlefield for so long, spending every day on edge to make sure they didn't reveal even the slightest flaw.

When the opportunity finally presented itself, however, they still failed to seize it.

"We were careless... truly careless. Or rather, all of us underestimated him."

"That's right, this isn't entirely on us. Who could have thought Dao Shi'er was actually hiding so much of his strength? He doesn't have the strength of someone ranked sixty-first. He absolutely has the potential to be in the top fifty. Even if he is not at the Thousand Cauldrons Stage, he should not be far off."

"Dao Shi'er has quite a few secret techniques as well. In a sense, he is not much different from a Thousand Cauldrons martial artist. This news must be spread. We can't become a laughingstock."

They quickly reached a consensus. None of them intended to allow themselves to be ridiculed by others, so they decided to portray Dao Shi'er as powerful as possible. More importantly, they weren't going to fabricate anything.

Dao Shi'er had truly deceived everyone. His strength was far more terrifying than his position on the Divine Strength Rankings suggested.

Whoosh.

Lu Changsheng sprinted all the way back to Beiling City. Only after he stepped through the city gates did he finally let out the breath that he had been holding all this time.

"

Eh

? Isn't that Dao Shi'er? He came back empty-handed?"

"That's rare. Mr. Dao has come back empty-handed, and he even looks disheveled. Did he run into trouble?"

"For more than a month, Mr. Dao has been carrying the heads of northern barbarians, but he's empty-handed today. That's very unusual."

"Could it be that Mr. Dao actually actually... failed to kill anyone?"

Many people found it strange that Dao Shi'er was not carrying any heads, but no one stepped forward to ask. Lu Changsheng glanced at the crowd. He said nothing and returned to his courtyard.

Once inside, he carefully recalled what had happened today. He was indeed in extreme danger. If he were weak, he would be dead by now.

Those who often walk by the river are bound to get wet sooner or later. Relying on luck has never been a long-term plan. Yet relying purely on strength to sweep through everything is impossible in the short term. Do I stay away until I cultivate to the Thousand Cauldrons Stage?

"But without merits from the Northern Region Battlefield, where would I obtain Divine Strength Realm pills to improve my body? Ughhh... I need a way that will let me earn merits on the battlefield while avoiding dangers like today.

Lu Changsheng carefully sorted through all the techniques at his disposal. His greatest technique was not the Starry Sky Waterfall Intent nor the Nine-Character Mantra. It wasn't his Hundred Cauldrons Stage cultivation either. It was the Wind Sense Intent, as it allowed him to sense many things within several li.

Actually, I haven't been using it to its full potential. There's no need for me to charge into battle myself. I could act as a commander instead. Everyone on the Northern Region Battlefield has been forming squads anyway, so why not put together one?

With the help of Wind Sense Intent, I can be the squad's eyes and ears. Let the others handle the fighting, while I stay back and direct them from a distance. If we run into a disguised squad, I can immediately retreat. If I do it this way, I can avoid unnecessary risks on the Northern Region Battlefield!

The more Lu Changsheng thought about it, the brighter his eyes became. The method was feasible. Of course, if he were to form a squad, the pros and cons had to be explained to them.

Everyone involved had to be willing to do what he wished. Although Lu Changsheng would not take action himself, as long as they were on his squad, they would definitely earn more than what they could earn from other squads.

Risk and opportunity always went hand in hand. Lu Changsheng believed that someone would certainly agree to his conditions.

However, he could not recruit squadmates indiscriminately. They had to be strong. After all, Lu Changsheng's opponents were Divine Strength martial artists and those on the Divine Strength Rankings.

If they were too weak, joining Lu Changsheng's squad would be suicidal. He needed powerful martial artists. It would be best if they were at the Thousand Cauldrons Stage or above. Unfortunately, such figures were never easy to recruit.

Even so, Lu Changsheng had to try.

The Martial Pavilion was the ideal place to do so. Martial artists gathered there daily, and news circulated faster there than anywhere else. At that very moment, a single piece of news ignited the entire pavilion.

"Latest news from the northern barbarians! Dao Shi'er ranked sixty-first on the Divine Strength Rankings was surrounded by four Thousand Cauldrons experts. But guess what happened? The four Thousand Cauldrons martial artists could not do anything to Dao Shi'er!

"Dao Shi'er blasted open their encirclement and returned to Beiling City. The northern barbarians even believe that Dao Shi'er is as strong as a Thousand Cauldrons Stage expert, even though he is technically not at that stage!"

"Yeah, I just heard the same thing. Apparently, those four martial artists spread the news themselves."

The Martial Pavilion erupted into clamor. The martial artists of the Da Yu Dynasty hadn't been able to gain much advantage on the Northern Region Battlefield over the northern barbarians. In fact, it was the other way around.

The northern barbarians even dominated the Divine Strength Rankings.

The only exception was Dao Shi'er, as he would go to the battlefield and return with heads to submit to the pavilion every day.

When news spread that he had returned empty-handed, many had speculated that he had finally suffered a setback. Now, the truth was revealed. Dao Shi'er had humiliated four Thousand Cauldrons Stage northern barbarians and escaped alive.

It had to be known that martial artists capable of wielding Intent were top-tier experts within the top fifty, or even the top forty, of the Divine Strength Rankings.

Despite that, they still failed to keep Dao Shi'er surrounded.

"Mr. Dao is actually

that

strong? We know he can cut down northern barbarians like they're nothing, so he's powerful, but this?

This

is on another level. He's at the Hundred Cauldrons Stage, but he's as strong as a Thousand Cauldrons expert!"

"Those northern barbarians are truly insidious. They actually disguised themselves as ordinary Divine Strength martial artists, catching him off guard. Good thing he's strong enough to escape. Otherwise, it would have been a disaster. I guess heaven is truly watching over him!"

Unknowingly, Dao Shi'er already had a huge influence among the martial artists of the Da Yu Dynasty. On the Northern Region Battlefield, Dao Shi'er had become their sole beacon of hope.

Dao Shi'er had been driving the northern barbarians mad, and now, he had greatly boosted the morale of the Da Yu Dynasty by humiliating those northern barbarians.