Chapter 856: Wolf In Tiger's Lair (3)

At the same time.

Inside a certain massive ravine, members of the Vanguard Regiment were engaged in an intense battle. Countless demonic beasts were attacking them. Several gigantic dragons hovered in the sky. A large number of experts had gathered there.

It was an endless carnage. Human and beasts were constantly dying, painting the ravine in the color of their blood.

Of the hovering dragons, one was a golden dragon. Overlooking the battlefield below with his large eyes, he coldly demanded, "Release all of the captured dragons or the dragon race won't let this rest."

Right after that demand was made, a spear shot through his stomach, causing his golden blood to rain down from the sky. An expert in black armor snorted.

"Big Worm, why are you uttering so much nonsense? Are you here to chat or fight?"

On the spear, suns and moons spun. Then, five half-moons appeared. The golden dragon was sent into constant retreat, his desperate roars reverberating in the area.

A battle between Sunmoons erupted in the sky.

Down below, Liu Wenyan was running all over the battlefield under the protection of his uncle. His robe was wrapped around his waist instead of worn on his body. His figure flickered everywhere with the occasional roll on the ground to avoid the random incoming attacks.

His usual elegance was nowhere to be seen. Su Yu had always viewed his Teacher Liu as a refined and elegant scholar. If he saw this scene, that image would be completely shattered. At present, Liu Wenyan looked more like a vulture than a cultural researcher.

Suddenly, a massive tail shot up from the ground and swept toward him. With a roar, Liu Wenyan manifested his axe and cut the tail off. Next, he sent a character into the ground beneath him.

Boom!

The solid ground was blasted into pieces, revealing a large snake with a severed tail. Apart from that, the head of the snake was also missing. The previous explosion had completely decimated the head.

Before Liu Wenyan could move away, thousands of soul devouring bugs flew out of the dead snake and swarmed him.

"Soul devouring bugs?"

These people sure were pulling all sorts of tricks to kill him. Individually, these soul devouring bugs were weak. They were also very small in size. But with so many of them spitting at him together, he could feel his willpower melting away before they even reached him. There were several cultural researchers nearby, and all of them had a look of pain on their faces.

"Trying to corrode my willpower?"

Liu Wenyan threw a punch out. The punch was powered by a black radiance, bringing with it a powerful corrosive force. He was using the Soul Devouring Art!

Pop! Pop! Pop!

In the blink of an eye, over a hundred soul devouring bugs were reduced to ashes. The remaining bugs were about to launch their second salvo of attack when a clump of flame appeared. With a hum, all the bugs were burned into ashes.

"Pfft!"

Liu Wenyan snorted with disdain before looking up and yelling, "Uncle, come back."

A white-haired old man in the sky sent an expert flying with a punch before returning to Liu Wenyan. He moved nimbly and caught Liu Wenyan before vanishing into the distance. Not long after they left, the shockwaves from the battle of two Sunmoons blasted the spot apart.

From afar, Liu Wenyan snorted and said at one of the Sunmoons in battle, "Old Zhou, if you keep moving your fight near me, I'll stop holding back."

Zhou Mingren ignored him.

Liu Wenyan's uncle used to be a Sunmoon as well, but his cultivation had dropped to the eighth-stage Mountainsea Realm due to his previous injuries. He frowned and sent a voice transmission to Liu Wenyan, "Ignore him. He's not a match for his current opponent. That might not be intentional."

"I am ignoring him." Liu Wenyan looked around and sighed, "The situation here is getting more and more intense. Fortunately, Bai Feng left earlier. He won't be able to survive for long in such an environment."

"You can leave as well. You have been pardoned."

Liu Wenyan shook his head and said through voice transmission, "No. Yes, things are safer behind the frontlines, but I won't be able to activate my characters there. I need constant battles to do so.

"Uncle, just run if you encounter any danger. You're not even a member of the Vanguard Regiment. You'll be fine even if you flee from a battle. You won't be considered a deserter."

His uncle said nothing. The Liu Family was no more. What was the point of fleeing? The two of them were the only survivors from the main family.

He was once a Sunmoon, but his serious injuries had pushed him down to the Mountainsea Realm. As time passed, his strength would continue dropping. What was the point of running? The only meaningful thing he could do now was to protect his nephew as long as he could. At the very least, he had to protect his nephew until his nephew was done activating those characters.

Liu Wenyan said nothing else and went to a different area with more Skysoar and Cloudbreach combatants. Uncle Liu did not participate in the fights there. Instead, he was cautiously watching their surroundings for sneak attacks.

Battles were unfolding everywhere.

During the past few months, the Vanguard Regiment had gotten involved in around eight major battles. Each time, they suffered a high number of casualties. Originally, there were about eight thousand people in the Vanguard Regiment. After several battles, only about five thousand of them were left.

As the carnage continued, a small clump of cloud suddenly formed above a tiger in the distance. Right at that moment, the Sunmoons of both sides unleashed all their strength, creating numerous loud explosions.

The human experts were rushing the tiger from all directions. The tiger was also alarmed. The cloud had appeared too suddenly and entered his body before he could react. A large amount of heavenly source qi spread all over his body, strengthening him considerably. Nevertheless, he still found himself incapable of moving.

While he was going mad, a saber stabbed through his head.

"Idiot."

A human expert with numerous scars on his face sneered before vanishing into thin air. Receiving a heavenly reward in such a place was basically the same as turning into a life target.

That tiger must have killed a lot of opponents before this. After the bloody aura around his body reached a certain level, a heavenly reward was generated. What a pity that this was not the kind of situation one wanted to receive a heavenly reward.

Here, a heavenly reward was akin to having a noose around one's neck. The tiger was killed before he could even complete his strengthening process.

After that little episode, the carnage continued. All the people here were already used to that. This wasn't the first time the Vanguard Regiment had encountered an incident like that. The lucky ones would be able to grow from the heavenly rewards while the unlucky ones would naturally die before they could even enjoy the heavenly rewards.

Some time passed, and finally, the sounds of drumbeats rang out. The giant dragons in the sky withdrew from their opponents and flew over the mountain ridge.

Down below, the beast experts were also retreating with all sorts of unique abilities. In the blink of an eye, all of them had departed the battlefield. The battle thus came to an end. Such battles had been very frequent as of late. In fact, this battle could only be considered a minor battle.

The ground was filled with corpses. Some belonged to beasts while some belonged to humans. Most of these corpses were devoid of blood essence. In the Allheaven Battlefield, most people would extract all the blood essence of their opponent right after killing them.

"Withdraw!"

The Sunmoon who had battled the golden dragon earlier ordered from the sky. This battle was merely a probe. There was no need for them to give chase.

The experts of the Vanguard Regiment started retreating one after another. Next, a team of battle inspectors entered the battlefield to clear the corpses, gather the spoils of war, and record the contributions made by the human soldiers. Everything was done in an orderly manner.

Not far away, a group of vultures left regretfully after seeing that the battle inspectors had arrived before them. This was a common sight after battles. If the battle had proceeded longer, both sides might have ended up too weakened to clean the battlefield promptly. Such a situation would be perfect for these vultures to move in and loot whatever they could.

Before the battle ended, Liu Wenyan was able to kill a third-stage Cloudbreach. Thus, he had a wide smile while withdrawing from the battlefield. During the retreat, he sent his uncle a voice transmission, "I've grown slightly. But if I continue killing, I'm afraid I'll receive a heavenly reward as well. That might get very troublesome."

Uncle Liu replied, "In the worst-case scenario, I can take you somewhere to kill some beasts and trigger the heavenly reward in advance before returning."

"We'll see."

Liu Wenyan was already a ninth-stage Skysoar, but his speed of growth was still too slow. At the very least, that was what he believed. With such a slow growth, how was he supposed to take his revenge?

Sure, climbing from the first stage to the ninth stage in about a year was actually an incredible feat, but he was not satisfied with it. In fact, even being a ninth-stage Mountainsea would still not be sufficient for him.

He was going to reach the Cloudbreach Realm soon. But he would probably take another year to reach the ninth-stage Cloudbreach Realm. He was confident he could reach the Mountainsea Realm in three years. But that was too long. He didn't have that much time.

Suddenly, an expert ahead of him roared, "Are you courting death? This is a battleground. The Vanguard Regiment is operating here. Stop! If you dare to enter without permission, we'll cut you down!"

Not far away, Su Yu appeared. He was alarmed. He had nearly intruded upon a battleground unknowingly. That was an extremely dangerous act. He stopped and looked in the direction of the ravine. Numerous corpses could be seen.

After traveling through that ravine, he would officially leave the human territory. That ravine was known as the Eastrift Valley. It was massive, extending over hundreds of kilometers.

Su Yu ignored the shouting Sunmoon in the sky. He hadn't actually stepped into the battleground. He was busy looking for someone. But after looking around, he couldn't find Liu Wenyan. Could it be that...

Then, he saw a familiar person. When he focused on that person...

Holy shit!

Teacher?

He almost failed to recognize his teacher.

Was this a joke? Was this how his teacher was supposed to look like? The cultural researcher's robe was wrapped around his waist and he was walking around with his hairy legs fully exposed. Was that really Liu Wenyan?

His beard was untrimmed, and his white beard had turned gray due to how dirty it was. His hair was messy as well. Was this really Liu Wenyan? Was that a joke? His teacher would never be so ungraceful! If Wu Yuehua and the others saw this, would they still insist on chasing after his teacher?

They would probably kick him away instead.

Holy shit!

His teacher's image had been destroyed.

It was as though a storm was raging in Su Yu's mind from sheer shock. From Liu Wenyan's current appearance, everyone would believe it if he claimed that this was a butcher from the market. Just look at the axe Liu Wenyan was carrying, coupled with his bare hairy legs and bloody shirt.

Was this really his teacher? Su Yu refused to believe that! He must have recognized the wrong person.

***

In the distance, Liu Wenyan looked in the direction of Su Yu. He didn't think much of this. Was this guy new here? He wasn't even a member of the Vanguard Regiment. How brazen of him to travel openly near a battleground. He was lucky he wasn't killed by mistake.

This was simply an inexperienced and dumb youngster. He didn't seem to look like a vulture. Was he trying to cross the Eastrift Valley and leave the human territory?

Similar to Hong Tan, he felt a random sense of familiarity with Su Yu, but he didn't dwell on it too much. He was sure he didn't know this newcomer. Perhaps the sense of familiarity was due to the kind look on that newcomer's face. Liu Wenyan did not think too much about the newcomer, but it was the opposite for Su Yu.

When he saw that a military official was flying toward him, he hurriedly said, "I'll be leaving immediately. This is a misunderstanding. I'm a peak profound weaponsmith, here to gather materials."

The military official glanced at Su Yu and took out a jade talisman. After checking the talisman, he said, "Cui Lang, this is not the type of place for you to visit. Go away. Also, the Eastrift Valley is ahead of us. If you cross it, you will leave the human territory."

Right at that moment, the black armored Sunmoon in the sky exclaimed in astonishment, "Great Ming's Cui Lang? Why are you here? You sure are fast. Good. You shall do, then. Repair my weapon for me!"

Right after that, he reached out to grab Su Yu.

Su Yu turned and ran immediately. While running, he shouted, "No thanks. I have something else to do!"

"You've been conscripted."

"I'm from Great Ming. You can't conscript me."

The Sunmoon in black armor laughed and said, "Are you running from me? If you continue running, I will deem you guilty of disrupting a military operation. Get over here. Follow me to the encampment. Repair our weapons for us and we'll pay for your service."

"No!"

Su Yu refused. It wasn't that he was unwilling to help, but he was worried that they would lock him in their base. He had heard that the people from the Vanguard Regiment were rude and unreasonable. Their military officials would frequently detain any useful individual they found without a care for the consequences.

They would only reluctantly release these people after they were scolded by the higher-ups. Su Yu was regretting this. Why must he come this way?

Run!

The Sunmoon in black armor commanded, "Soldiers, surround him! This is a pseudo earth weaponsmith! Our previous earth weaponsmith was killed in an ambush. It has been a while since our weapons were repaired. The higher-ups have yet to find us a replacement even now. If you don't want to fight your next battle with scrap iron, catch this guy! We'll only focus on repairing our weapons for now. Ignore everything else!"

With that order, more than ten Mountainseas flew toward Su Yu at the same time. They were all trying to catch him.

As for the fact that this was unlawful...why should they even care? They had to first get their weapons repaired. They were already in the Vanguard Regiment. What else could the law do to them? At worst, their time of service would be extended by a few months or a few years. That was better than dying due to broken weapons.

Meanwhile, Liu Wenyan was looking at the newcomer with sympathy.

A pseudo earth weaponsmith had appeared. Someone like that could be considered quite a big deal. Unfortunately, he had arrived at a place where everyone was crazy. Their weapons were on the verge of crumbling apart yet no new earth weaponsmiths had arrived.

And in such a situation, someone like that had arrived. Even Liu Wenyan himself was getting excited at the prospect of getting a new weaponsmith. His weapon was already on the verge of breaking apart. His uncle's weapon was in the same condition as well. Thus, he supported the act of catching the weaponsmith.

Thus, he started cheering the Mountainseas on, "Don't let him escape! Catch him and make him repair our weapons for three months! Don't worry, we'll shoulder the consequences together!"

"Catch him!"

"Hurry up! Hurry up!"

"He's at the left. Left! Are you dumb? I'll do it myself!"

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"Don't get in my way. Catch this kid. Brat, repair my weapon and I'll pay you ten thousand merit points!"

"..."

One expert after another flew after Su Yu. How fortunate. A weaponsmith had actually dropped right into their lap. Perhaps they should be more decisive and break his legs? That way, he would be forced to spend several months in their base to recuperate.

***

Meanwhile, Su Yu was greatly regretting his act of coming here.

Holy shit!

He wanted to cross the Eastrift Valley and find some people to kill! He didn't want top stay here and forge weapons for these people! If he knew this would happen, he wouldn't come. He was only here to see his Teacher Liu. And since he had already seen his Teacher Liu, it was time for him to leave.

Also, that damn Teacher Liu was a bastard! This was crazy.

That damn Teacher Liu was actually shouting so loudly for him to be captured? Yes, he heard his Teacher Liu's voice amidst all the shouting. Seeing that he was surrounded by Mountainseas, Su Yu despaired. He raised his hands in surrender and shouted, "Fine, fine. But I will only be repairing some damaged weapons. And I must leave after three days. Otherwise, I won't work on even one weapon!"

The Sunmoon in black armor nodded, "Sure. Three days it is, then. But make sure to do your job properly. I'll reward you well if you do a good job. Otherwise, I will deem you guilty of disrupting military operations and sentence you to life in the Vanguard Regiment."

He was in a good mood. How lucky. His earth weapon had been damaged during the previous battle. He was about to urge the headquarters to send an earth weaponsmith over as soon as possible. But the headquarters had to first negotiate with the earth weaponsmiths before they could even send anyone over. After all, most people were unwilling to come to the Vanguard Regiment. But now, a weaponsmith had appeared out of nowhere.

He was willing to agree with everything just to take this weaponsmith back. There, he could test the weaponsmith's skills and negotiate with the headquarters. Perhaps they could forcefully conscript this weaponsmith into the Vanguard Regiment.

As for the option of getting this weaponsmith to voluntarily join them...that was impossible. No earth weaponsmith would be crazy enough to join the Vanguard Regiment. The previous earth weaponsmith to join the Vanguard Regiment had died during an ambush. Even now, everyone was still regretting his death.

The death of a normal Sunmoon wouldn't be that big of a deal, but this dead Sunmoon was also an earth weaponsmith. In fact, even now, the weaponsmiths at the headquarters were still making trouble for him due to that one death.