Ascending to the Clouds Alone

Lin Su's post was located at the crenellation of the city wall to the right of the watchtower.

Leaning against the cold, rough stone wall, he felt his legs go weak and he could no longer support himself, so he slid down the wall and sat down.

The piercing screams, shouts of battle, the clash of weapons, the clashing of mechanisms... all made my head throb.

He tried to adjust his breathing, trying to adapt to the chaotic battlefield filled with the aura of death, but the more he tried to adjust, the more his stomach cramped.

He loosened his grip on the gun, flexed his fingers a few times, and then gripped it tightly again.

A boy, who looked no more than thirteen or fourteen years old, was squatting next to Lin Su. His hand holding the long sword was trembling uncontrollably, and his other hand was tightly hugging his legs. His head was tucked into his knees. It was clear that this was also his first time facing the battlefield.

Looking at the young man in front of him, Lin Su felt that he should be better than him.

Could he also be an unlicensed rogue cultivator? Or perhaps someone who sneaked out of a sect without a fuse? But why is he wearing a worn-out garrison uniform?

"At such a young age, you're traveling alone?" Lin Su wanted to ask the boy his name and where he was from.

Before he could even speak, a streak of bloody light shot out from the depths of the miasma, crashing into the city wall. The violent impact caused the entire section of the wall to tremble violently, and rubble fell in a shower.

When the tainted light touched the light shield, it tore open tiny, fleeting cracks.

A small group of barbarian assassins reached the base of the wall through the crack and then climbed up.

Lin Su gritted his teeth, opened his eyes, and, bracing himself against the wall, suddenly flipped himself up. His grip on the gun tightened abruptly as he focused on his defense.

In just over ten breaths, a figure covered in blood appeared from the edge of the battlements.

The newcomer was burly and fierce, his muscles bulging, every inch of his skin exuding savage power. His face was contorted with murderous intent mixed with barely suppressed elation, as if the credit for being the first to reach the summit was already his.

He pushed off the rock with both feet, sprang up, and swung his heavy cleaver down in a whistling wind.

The boy beside him hurriedly raised his knife to block, but as soon as the weapons clashed, he was knocked to the ground by the brute force.

Taking advantage of the situation, the barbarian soldier stepped forward and kicked out with great force. The boy was sent flying backward and curled up against the wall, unable to move.

The scene before him made Lin Su's heart pound wildly, and only one thought remained in his mind:

To flee or to fight?

If I were to run away, how would Ye Qingqing and the old doctor in the clinic survive?

Without a moment's hesitation, the savage blade, whistling sharply through the air, was already upon him. This strike was incomparably fierce; if it struck, even if it didn't cleave him in two, it would certainly take half his life.

For a moment, Lin Su seemed to be nailed to the spot, unable to retreat, and with nowhere left to retreat!

He could only focus his mind, recalling how he had been listening to the wind in the courtyard that morning, his strength was stretched to the limit and his energy was about to dissipate!

Just then, the blade came crashing down.

Lin Su suddenly turned to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack, and at the same time, he swiftly thrust his iron spear forward, the tip striking the barbarian soldier's wrist as he gripped his knife.

The barbarian soldier cried out in pain, his fingers suddenly loosened, and the knife slipped from his hand, clattering to the ground.

Lin Su dared not pause for a moment, and swept his spear again, the force not great, but the speed was tricky.

The barbarian soldiers were terrified and retreated at lightning speed.

He clearly hadn't expected that this seemingly unremarkable little cultivator would act so swiftly.

At this moment, he could not give his opponent a chance. Lin Su thrust his spear again, hitting the target several times in a row.

The barbarian soldier immediately clutched his throat, blood spurting from between his fingers. Then, he swayed a few times, the murderous intent in his eyes gradually turning into astonishment and disbelief.

It makes sense, considering how incredibly brave and unparalleled those were in the first wave to storm the city walls!

But to his utter surprise, he was defeated by Lin Su in just a few moves.

The barbarian soldier's pupils gradually dilated.

Lin Su then realized that in the heat of the moment, one of his spears had pierced the barbarian soldier's throat.

In an instant, the barbarian soldier's strength dissipated, and he tumbled down the stone steps, crashing heavily against the base of the wall, whereupon he remained motionless.

At this moment, Lin Su's back was drenched in cold sweat.

He leaned on his rifle, panting heavily, his vision blurry, but he kept his eyes fixed on the ramparts, afraid that more enemy soldiers might emerge.

This fight didn't consume much of his physical strength, but killing for the first time made him feel extremely mentally drained, as if his entire body had been drained.

Unlike the bewitching moth and other demonic creatures, what fell before him was a life form identical to his own, which had been slashing and killing just moments before, but was now a corpse.

An unprecedented fear surged through his body, his stomach churned violently, and he could no longer suppress it.

"Huff—"

Lin Su vomited.

He vomited several times before he recovered, but he still felt weak all over.

Although he was somewhat dazed at this moment, a sense of relief, as if he had survived a disaster, rose in his heart...

The large array of light overhead continued to flicker, and the earth continued to tremble.

As Lin Su stood guard before the battlements, a thought suddenly popped into his mind:

If one can master those few moves to the point where they hit the target every time and can be executed with ease, then one will not be in such a sorry state the next time one faces a deadly situation.

At that time, you can protect yourself and those around you.

Two zhang away, the boy was still curled up, his face as pale as paper, bloodstains on the corner of his mouth, clearly his internal organs had been injured by the shock. Even so, he still gripped the long knife and did not utter a sound.

Lin Su walked over quickly, panting, and asked:

"Where are you hurt?"

The boy struggled to lift his eyes, the fear still lingering in them, but he gritted his teeth, shook his head, and then leaned against the wall to barely stand up.

Lin Su inadvertently noticed that the young man was emanating a faint spiritual energy, which turned out to be the cultivation level of Qi Refining? This was even a level higher than his own, a half-baked cultivator whose dantian was sealed.

Looking at his thin yet stubborn figure, Lin Su was momentarily dazed, as if he were seeing himself three years ago.

That year, he was taken away by Aunt Zhou using her private military token, and left alone in the depths of a dense forest thousands of miles away. The helplessness, fear, and despair of having no way to survive at that time are still vivid in his mind.

When he thrust the gun out just now, the thought that someone was waiting for him at the clinic meant he couldn't die here.

Thinking of this, Lin Su held his spear horizontally in front of him, his tone firm, and said:

"Use your skills and join me in fighting the enemy!"

The boy had already noticed Lin Su's fighting posture. He nodded and took half a step closer to Lin Su's side.

The two were standing on the most solid front section of the city wall, where the wall was thick and sturdy and the defensive fortifications were complete.

This is why the enemy avoided attacking this area with their main force.

However, occasionally some stragglers would slip up, and the two men stood back to back guarding the ramparts, clearing away the barbarian soldiers and monsters that climbed up.

Just as the battle was raging, Lin Su felt a sudden tension followed by a release in his dantian, which was instantly drowned out by the increasingly intense sounds of fighting from the city walls.

He didn't notice it during the fierce battle.

At this moment, the large array of light above the city wall was already covered with cracks from the repeated attacks of the demons.

The garrison commander was swaying precariously, his true energy seemingly about to be exhausted, but he still exerted all his strength to hold up this life-saving barrier.

On the battlefield below, the Eighth Battalion of Changqu Town was each holding their own section of defense.

The deputy general personally led elite soldiers, rushing back and forth between the various defensive zones to provide reinforcements. His voice pierced through the stench of blood and resounded throughout the entire battlefield:

"Brothers, hold on a little longer, reinforcements will be here soon!"

Here, Lin and Su had just joined forces to kill a monster covered in scales that resembled a vicious wolf.

During his brief respite, he glimpsed that the enemy's main force had already turned around and was rushing frantically toward the weak sections of the walls on both sides and the corner gaps.

While the main front is temporarily secured, the flanks are on the verge of collapse.

The corpses piled up like mountains beneath the city walls, and the once clear moat was now stained red.

Even with the Changqu garrison fighting so desperately, the great array of light shields ultimately couldn't hold up and was shattered by a desperate attack from the ferocious creature deep within the miasma.

A cracking sound came from above the city wall.

The protective barrier vanished abruptly, and the golden halo shattered into countless tiny specks of light, scattering down.

Almost simultaneously, the garrison commander, like a kite with a broken string, plummeted straight down from the sky and crashed onto the stone slab in front of the command platform.

The pillar supporting Changqu Town has collapsed!