My strength increases by one percent every day; I can destroy stars with my bare hands.

In his attempt to rescue the Wang brothers, Li Xuancang missed his best chance to escape, and the barbarian cultivators quickly surrounded him.

"Xuan Cang, let's go quickly."

Zhao Changlin charged to Li Xuancang's side, and the two joined forces to fight their way out.

"Attack together! We must not let them leave alive!"

Hundreds of barbarian warriors formed a dense battle formation, wielding spears and axes, pressing forward relentlessly.

There were also more than a dozen Body Tempering Realm cultivators standing in the formation, their blood surging and their eyes fixed on the enemy.

At the forefront, two burly barbarian leaders, both at the late stage of the Body Tempering Realm, stood with swords drawn, exuding a murderous aura. They locked onto the two men, determined to cut them down.

Zhao Changlin held his blade horizontally, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding enemies, and said in a deep voice.

"Let's join forces and fight our way out, escape into the depths of Black Wind Ridge ahead, and use the terrain to our advantage."

Before the words were even finished, two barbarian leaders in the late stage of Body Tempering had already charged forward with their swords drawn.

"kill."

A dozen or so barbarians at the Body Tempering Realm rushed forward, and hundreds of barbarian soldiers formed a line to surround them, their spears like a forest and their blades like snow, completely blocking all their escape routes.

"You protect the flanks, I'll break through the front."

Zhao Changlin roared, unleashing the full power of his late-stage Body Tempering Realm blood and qi. He charged straight into the enemy formation with his sword, sweeping across and instantly felling two barbarian soldiers. He then faced the two barbarian leaders of the same level.

Li Xuancang gripped his spear tightly, relying on his superhuman strength and terrifying endurance to hold Zhao Changlin's flank.

A dozen or so Body Tempering Realm cultivators attacked him, but he neither dodged nor avoided them, continuing his ruthless fighting style of trading injury for life.

With spear tips thrusting out and shafts sweeping across, each strike was delivered with all their might, forcefully blocking the flanking attack.

"clang!"

A barbarian cultivator at the mid-stage of Body Tempering swung his blade, reopening an old wound on Li Xuancang's shoulder, causing blood to gush out.

He endured the excruciating pain, swung his spear backhand, piercing the other man's abdomen, and flung him away violently.

Zhao Changlin was fighting two opponents, both of whom were late-stage Body Tempering Realm leaders. Their moves were ruthless and deadly, and he gradually fell into a disadvantageous position.

Despite the increasing number of wounds on Zhao Changlin's body, he fought to the death, holding back the enemy's strongest combat force.

The two relied on each other to resist the attacks from all sides, and every step forward came at a bloody price.

"Kill them!"

Barbarian soldiers surged in like a tide, and the Body Tempering Realm cultivator relentlessly attacked. The two men sustained more and more wounds, and their strength rapidly diminished.

The two paid a heavy price as they gradually approached Black Wind Ridge.

Zhang Changlin channeled his strength throughout his body, forcing back two powerful enemies, and roared, "Let's go, charge towards Black Wind Ridge!"

Li Xuancang swept his spear, forcing back the surrounding cultivators. The two charged side by side, ignoring the swords and spears that slashed and pierced them, heading straight for the Black Wind Ridge, a continuous stretch of dense forest.

The two men sustained serious injuries while trying to break through the encirclement.

Zhao Changlin withstood the relentless, deadly attacks of the two barbarian leaders, suffering numerous wounds that pierced through his body, leaving him covered in blood.

Li Xuancang was surrounded and attacked by several Body Tempering experts. He had more than a dozen deep wounds on his chest, abdomen, and legs, with bone visible. His physical body was on the verge of collapse.

The two men fought with all their might to break through the enemy's last line of defense, stumbling and falling into the deep forests of Black Wind Ridge.

The two dared not stop, enduring the excruciating pain, and desperately fled into the depths of the mountains and forests.

Deep in the mountains, ancient trees reach for the sky, vines intertwine, and weeds grow in abundance.

The terrain is rugged and complex, with obstructed visibility, and it is a place where monsters roam and the terrain is treacherous.

"Let's go that way!"

Li Xuancang relied on his keen senses to avoid some of the places where demonic beasts roamed.

Using the dense shade of trees and rugged ravines, they constantly changed their routes, erasing traces of their march, and painstakingly escaped the pursuit of the barbarians.

They fled for an unknown amount of time until they could no longer hear the sounds of the barbarians pursuing them, only then did they realize they were out of danger.

"Bang!"

The two could no longer hold on and collapsed in the grass, panting heavily, covered in blood, and barely breathing.

After resting for a while, the two forced themselves to get up and began to treat their wounds.

Zhao Changlin pulled out the last half-bottle of wound medicine from his pocket, his eyes filled with a pang of heartache.

This is a high-grade healing medicine, extremely precious. He usually wouldn't use it when he was injured, but now that the situation is critical, he has no choice but to take it out with a heavy heart.

After applying the medicine to his own wound, Zhao Changlin handed it to Li Xuancang.

"Use this to stop the bleeding first, it can stabilize the injury and prevent it from worsening."

Li Xuancang did not refuse. He took the medicine bottle, applied the ointment, and the medicine took effect quickly, causing a sharp, burning pain in the wound.

Both men clenched their teeth and remained silent. Having spent years licking blood from the blade, they were already used to this pain.

Then, the two tore off clean strips of cloth from their bodies and tightly bandaged the wound.

After quickly cleaning the blood off his body, he leaned against a thick tree trunk to rest for a while.

"The barbarians will certainly not give up easily. They may still be searching the outskirts of the mountains. We cannot stay here any longer. We must hurry back to Cangyun Ridge and rejoin the main force."

Zhao Changlin's eyes were serious as he analyzed the current situation.

"The lakeside post station has completely fallen, and our remaining troops are reduced to just a handful. Our only chance of survival is to return to Cangyun Ridge."

Li Xuancang nodded, agreeing with Zhao Changlin's arrangement.

He was worried about his family back home and longed to return to the army as soon as possible to continue accumulating military merits, becoming stronger and getting promoted. He was determined not to be trapped and die in these deep mountains.

"Black Wind Ridge has a complex terrain. If we follow the mountain range southeast, we can bypass the search area of ​​the main barbarian force and quietly reach Azure Cloud Ridge."

At this point, Zhao Changlin paused for a moment, then continued, "However, the mountain road is difficult to travel, and there are monsters lurking around. Our injuries are severe, so we must proceed with extreme caution."

This mountain road will not be peaceful; it is fraught with danger for the two of them.

After catching their breath and regaining some strength, the two helped each other to their feet, picked up their weapons, and carefully made their way southeast.

The forest was dimly lit, overgrown with thorns, and the occasional eerie cries of birds and beasts kept everyone on edge.

The two looked after each other, keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings, and dragged their heavy injuries as they trudged through the vast mountains toward Cangyun Ridge.