Forge a path to success

The opposing player entered the arena; it was the red-haired girl who had been watching the spectacle from the bar. At this moment, she radiated an overwhelming vitality, a pressure that was almost suffocating.

They have no affiliation whatsoever. They are absolutely warriors who fought their way out of the Heavenly Prison. If they were to get serious, it wouldn't even take a second to finish.

Silian smiled and calmly took out his hidden weapon. If he could boost the morale of his warriors, then the fight wouldn't have been in vain. Huan Ge beat the drum.

"start!"

Slaine vanished instantly, his form concealed by invisible wings. He launched darts from 16 different directions, the blade-like throwing knives silently piercing the air. The assassination techniques of the Fourth Team were the same ones he had overseen the development of years ago; on the battlefield, these were tricks reserved for scouts.

Qingxia shifted her body slightly, the leaves brushing past her. She twitched her ears, seemingly a little confused: "Huh..."

Silian wouldn't let this opportunity pass. No matter why she was distracted, the enemy wouldn't stop. He threw two throwing knives at Qingxia's eyes, using a unique force. Qingxia casually picked up two fallen leaves and threw them back in response.

The blades collided in mid-air. They fell simultaneously. Even the force was the same? A terrifying learning ability.

Slayne instinctively changed his tactics, though it meant little to the outcome; the fighting style was ingrained in his bones. The blade traced a bizarre pentagram trajectory, and Qingxia retaliated with an equally bizarre throwing knife. Collision, fall, change again—three feints, one direct strike…

Completely ignoring the feinting throwing knives, a counter-attack struck first, shattering the offensive. Then let's switch to a scimitar formation…

"Um……"

Slaine stood frozen in shock, and as he pondered, the enemy launched a scimitar-like attack of falling leaves.

Qingxia twitched her ears and asked, "Old man, why do you know my family's hidden weapon technique? Is this a compulsory course for your race?"

“No…” Sillian revealed herself in a daze, “This is… a family heirloom…”

"It's a family heirloom? I see!"

Something inside the old man's heart trembled uncontrollably. The red-haired girl smiled brightly at him and asked, "So, do you know Grandpa Slar?"

-

"His ears are a little longer than yours, his eyes are a lighter color, and when he eats, he likes to hold his food in his paws like a hamster..."

Before he could even react, his emotions had already driven him to blurt it out.

"Is he still alive?!"

The old man shouted as if he were a drowning person grasping at a straw.

"Is Silar still alive?!"

Chapter 375 War and Turmoil (5)

"Well..." Qingxia pondered her choice of words, "Grandpa is fighting somewhere in the world right now. He has many companions by his side, so he shouldn't be too lonely."

The matter of the man in the fog was really difficult to explain, so in order to prevent the old man from pressing the issue further, she quickly changed the subject: "Grandpa, are you related to Grandpa?"

Slaine covered her eyes, her voice trembling: "Slaal... is my grandson..."

"You're so old!" Qingxia exclaimed in surprise. "Then don't worry, grandpa. He's always been an upright soldier, and he's definitely a grandson you can be proud of!"

Slaine was overwhelmed with emotion and almost burst into tears. The image of his grandson's smiling face as a child, and the way he saluted when he secretly joined the army, lingered in his mind.

“I’ve always been worried about him,” Slaine said with difficulty. “Where did that bastard go… why hasn’t he come home all these years!”

Qingxia scratched her head, looking troubled: "Grandpa had no choice. He ran off to a terrible Dust Island. There's no sun on that island, and it's full of heretics. It's basically impossible for anyone to survive there, let alone leave."

"Grandpa was the strongest person in that place. He guarded the survivors' settlement, serving as the chief warrior, finding food for everyone, and teaching them how to defeat the heretics."

Then one day he found me and raised me. After Grandpa's leg injury prevented him from fighting anymore, I took over as the leader of the warriors and took over his role in protecting the people's settlement.

Qingxia smiled and said, "We worked hard for a very long time, and only recently did we finally defeat the local heretics. A few of us took advantage of the victory to escape, but Grandpa and the other comrades stayed behind to continue fighting the heretics in more distant places..."

"I think he's still a long way from retirement; he'll always be an Allied soldier protecting everyone!"

Slaine looked up at the sky, and despite her efforts to stop, tears continued to stream down her face.

How could I not understand?

They saw the knife. And the opponent was another warrior who had broken through the wilderness. How could they not know where Silar had gone?

Even after being banished to the Heavenly Prison, you continued to fight...

The old man couldn't say a word, and tears streamed down his face.

Qingxia didn't know what to do. She felt that launching a surprise attack at this moment was too inappropriate, so she said, "Speaking of which, aren't you all family? Grandpa is still fighting. Why do you want to run away, old man?"

Silan wiped away her tears and laughed, "I'm getting senile... I'm getting old, and I can't think things through very clearly anymore."

"oh oh."

Silayen turned around: "Huan Ge!"

Huan Ge raised his hand without saying a word.

"I surrender." The old man smiled kindly.

He stepped off the ring with ease, as if he had cast off all his burdens. He walked back to the independence officers, many of whom were sobbing quietly.

"I feel ashamed before my comrades. But please understand, I really can't fight anymore."

Another veteran officer rubbed his eyes hard: "Don't say anymore, General... You're so old and have supported us in the public eye for so long, what else can we say..."

"Let's go sweep the tombs after this is over."

"I haven't been to the cemetery in so long, I'm too ashamed to go..."

"It's not too late to turn back now..."

"How ridiculous!"

Slaine took off his military uniform and slowly walked out of the dueling arena, leaving all the mess behind. A young man on the roadside threw trash at him, which he was swatted back by a fruit pit.

Qingxia chased after him with a plate of fruit, squatted down and asked, "Do you want some? Grandpa really likes this."

"Oh, thank you." Slaine took the fruit. "Could you tell me more about Slaine?"

"Sure, he wrote books for me when I was a child."

"Oh! He can even write books, that's amazing..."

The girl and the old man walked away chatting and laughing, no longer paying attention to what was happening behind them. Scenes from the long years flashed before the old man's eyes.

Lofty ambitions. Heroic spirit. Grief. Rise up. Mourn. Struggle. Dejection. Disappointment. Numbness.

Relieved.

The tears were all shed. A long laugh followed.

·

Silian left the arena with a sense of relief. Qingxia had only come to fight and didn't care about the various matters within the city-state. Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the dueling arena behind them had dropped to freezing point.

First, Qingye confirmed the arrival of reinforcements in the name of the Martial Venerable, effectively cutting off the independent faction's support in their claims of isolation and helplessness. Then, the old general surrendered before the battle even began, and the core figures of the independent faction themselves fled to the other side. At this moment, the soldiers on both sides were unsure of their own stances, let alone their own emotions.

Should we persist? The allied forces have actually come when the city-state is in trouble. Logically, we should have a good chance of winning this battle. Are we going to run away without a fight?

The old general's grandson, even after being stranded on the frontier, persisted in the resistance for 20 years. How can these ordinary soldiers have the face to run away again? How can they face their families and comrades who died in battle?

Aren't you going to stick to your principles? You almost went into civil war for independence before, and now that things are not going well, you want to change your allegiance? Aren't the city-state warriors just a bunch of shameful opportunists?

The soldiers' minds were in complete turmoil, and even the Allied soldiers weren't much better off. The heavy drumbeats jolted them from their reverie. The second captain stood on the platform, hands on his hips, his face full of impatience.

"I've said the third round is about to start several times, but there's been no response at all!" Huan Ge cursed. "I really don't understand. Didn't you all start this dispute over independence? You were the ones who supported the bill before, you were the ones who fought in the streets, and now that things are going badly, you're the ones who are cowering and shrinking back?"

"You all claim that the Independence Act is an act of serving the country, and that supporting the Act is an act of loyalty to the nation. When you shout slogans, you all speak with conviction and unwavering resolve. I know nothing about politics, but seeing your demeanor, I surmise that it must be a well-considered decision before I decided to fight for the independence cause!"

"But now, a few words from a few young people have left you all hesitant. Where exactly is your deep thinking? Or are you all like me, without using your brains, just going along with what sounds right?"

Huan Ge sneered, "So, is this so-called independent thought an ideology or a business?"

Those both inside and outside the arena, upon hearing these chilling words, broke out in a cold sweat. All the soldiers present immediately stood up and shouted, "Reporting to the captain, there's absolutely no such thing!"

"Since you don't have any, then show some soldierly spirit!" Huan Ge shouted. "The second captain is about to go into battle, what should you say!"

Whether they were allies or separatists, all the soldiers stood tall and shouted, "Captain Huan Ge, victory is certain!"

"louder!"

"Huan Ge!" "Huan Ge!!" "Huan Ge!!!"

Instinctively, the soldiers called out their commander's name. The cheers and shouts merged into an invisible wave, like a strong wind howling.

The dejected mood vanished instantly, and the second captain, with his sheer prestige, forcefully pushed the arena down. He struck the drum one last time, stepped onto the stage first, and shouted, "The third match, the final outcome!"

"Huan Ge, captain of the second squad of the Divine Guard of the Jingsha City-State, an independent!"

"Chu Hengkong, a senior detective from the Allied Forces' Resurrection Unit in Huilong City!"

Amidst a deafening roar of cheers, Chu Hengkong walked alone onto the battlefield, spear in hand. He planted his Dragon-Slaying Spear on the stage and laughed, "What are the rules?"

“There are no rules,” Huan Ge laughed. “Secret techniques and weapons are all permitted. There are no prohibitions on either orthodox or heterodox methods.”

"it is good."

Both sides assumed their fighting stances, and Huan Ge laughed loudly, "Let's stake our martial arts, dignity, and honor—"

"Let's settle this fairly and squarely!"

In an instant, a silver light pierced the battlefield.

As the voices faded, the spear's momentum was already unleashed. The Dragon Spear, carrying crimson energy, struck with its most powerful initial attack, which was impossible to defend against below the Second Abyss. Huan Ge lowered his center of gravity, ready for battle. He suddenly struck out with both palms, actually intercepting the spear with his bare hands!

"A body tempered a thousand times fears no divine weapon. I can catch a blade barehanded!"

"Good perseverance."

Chu Hengkong gave a shout of praise and withdrew his spear. The Dragon Spear left two streaks of blood as it was withdrawn; this first strike was extremely sharp, even injuring Huan Ge with its ferocity.

Huan Ge remained unmoved and clapped his hands together. A naginata appeared out of thin air in his palms. He smeared blood on the blade with one hand and on the hilt with the other, and the naginata was immediately covered in blood, with the inscription "Ichimonji" appearing on the hilt.

The sharpness of that naginata was astonishing; one glance was enough to tell that it was no less powerful than the dragon spear in Chu Hengkong's hand.

"My sword is named Kido Ichimonji, a bloodthirsty demonic sword I sought during my travels. It rejoices at the smell of blood and cries out when bathed in it." Huan Ge unleashed a profound slash, "Take this, Jumonji Slash."

His swordsmanship appeared extremely slow, but in reality, it was astonishingly fast. At first glance, it seemed like just a flick of the naginata, but a cross-shaped slash was already upon him. Chu Hengkong dared not be careless and smashed his spear to deflect the attack. The tip of the Kanglong Spear pierced the ground, but he used brute force to push it forward, delivering a powerful thrust from below.

Huan Ge held the sword in his left hand, raised his right hand high, and summoned another divine weapon of equal caliber to the naginata, which he grasped. It was a large, golden axe, its blade rough and gnarled like a mountain rock. He brought the axe down with a thunderous crash, intercepting the dragon spear's thrust!

"The Vakria Mountain-Splitting Axe was a gift from the islanders of a certain Dust Island after I rescued them." Huan Ge narrowed his eyes. "Can you withstand a blow that splits mountains and cleaves the earth?"

With a flash of light from the divine axe, Chu Hengkong suddenly felt the weapon in his hand become extremely heavy, almost impossible to lift. Huan Ge seized the opportunity to switch the axe to a naginata to suppress the attack, the axe blade in his hand shining brightly.

"One Qi for a Thousand Autumns, 8 Times the Power—"

"Million-Crushing Strike!"

The pressure struck instantly, as if an ancient being had descended upon the city-state, its terrifying aura almost suffocating everyone. But that was merely the axe-wielder's imposing presence; the true power had already descended with the axe's strike. Absolute strength, absolute speed—the power control that high-level martial artists prided themselves on was displayed to its fullest extent in this single blow.

If this strike were to hit the ground, over a third of the second-order meridians would be instantly destroyed. The dueling ground would naturally be completely obliterated, and the remaining soldiers and civilians would have no chance of survival. Was Huan Ge, who used such methods in a friendly spar, blinded by the situation? Or was he harboring malicious intentions amidst this chaos?

No. No! It's a very simple reason: he simply knew that his opponent would definitely be able to withstand the attack!

"8 times."

The Divine Slash is unsheathed.

"Steel Edge Flow - Returning Strike!"

With a swift slash, Chu Hengkong met Huan Ge's giant axe head-on, using his spear in the left hand and his sword in the right to firmly block Huan Ge's attack.

The force of the blade's intent rebounded onto Huan Ge's arm, momentarily creating an opening in his otherwise perfect stance. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Chu Hengkong shifted his position, sliding behind Huan Ge and thrusting his Dragon Spear straight towards his back!

"He's got a knack for it."

The thrust struck, yet no blood was drawn. The spear blade pierced the massive bundle on Huan Ge's back, but could not advance an inch further. The Dragon-Slaying Spear was slowly pushed forward, but what hindered it was…

The other hand hidden in the bundle!

Chu Heng raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Uncle Huan Ge's physique is indeed extraordinary."

Huan Ge ripped open the bundle. People finally saw the contents of his package. It wasn't magical artifacts, nor weapons; it was four tightly curled arms, bound by iron chains he himself had used!

"Drink!"

Huan Ge broke the iron chains, and all six of his arms stretched out at the same time.

He removed his mask, revealing his true face: "The battle has only just begun!"

Chapter 376 War and Turmoil (6)

"You asked what kind of person Senior Brother Huan Ge is?"