Firmament Sword

TAP, TAP, TAP!

The faint sound of footsteps came from overhead.

They were light and cautious.

It had to be said, these Reconnoitre from the Yan Kingdom truly deserved to be called ’elite’.

Although they were all dissatisfied, their actions were meticulous. They scouted the mountain with extreme caution.

”No traces of anyone.”

”Nothing over here either!”

The quiet conversation between the two men reached Xu Luo’s ears clearly.

Xu Luo held his breath, motionless, pressing himself tightly against the cliff face. His expression was calm as he cultivated the Shadow Shaking Heart Method.

”I really don’t know what Li Ming is thinking. This valley looks treacherous, sure, but this isn’t our first time passing through. Does he have to run us ragged like this? In three days, this makes the seventh time we’ve checked it.”

”Exactly. This isn’t caution anymore, it’s cowardice! Look at the mountains on both sides of this canyon—they’re all sheer cliffs. The peaks are mostly bare rock, with nowhere to hide. It might look dangerous, but I actually think this is the safest part of the entire supply route!”

The two Reconnoitre grumbled in low voices.

”Alright, let’s head back and report.” One of them spoke, then shouted to the other side, ”Anything over there?”

”Nothing! Not a damn thing!” a voice from a Yan Army Reconnoitre drifted over from the opposite mountain, not too far away.

Xu Luo looked up at the figures on the opposite mountain, a mocking smile touching his lips.

These Reconnoitre were indeed elite, checking every part of the mountain meticulously. But it never occurred to them that people were hiding right beneath their feet.

Although they had dug out caves in advance, with trees growing on the cliffs providing cover, if these Reconnoitre had been willing to descend and check the cliff faces, they would have easily found something amiss.

Unfortunately... resentful of their superior’s orders, the Yan Army Reconnoitre had no intention of checking the cliffs.

Perhaps they never imagined someone would hide on the cliff face itself.

’What would they even do, hiding there? Throw a few rocks down?’

’With a convoy this long, how many people could you kill by throwing a few rocks?’

This conventional thinking made the Yan Army Reconnoitre completely let their guard down.

They called out to each other and began to withdraw.

Xu Luo narrowed his eyes, watching the figures of the Reconnoitre departing from the opposite peak, the corners of his mouth curling upward.

”At this point, the plan is halfway to success!” Xu Luo murmured. ”The other half... is all up to Fifth Brother!”

...

Watching the returning Reconnoitre, Li Ming finally let out a long sigh of relief. He nodded at them and said in a deep voice, ”You have all worked hard. Once we reach the front lines safely this time, I... will personally request commendations for you!”

Although a few words weren’t enough to completely dispel their dissatisfaction with him, no one would argue with the promise of military honors.

The Reconnoitre nodded. ”You’re too kind, General Li.”

Li Ming waved his hand and ordered, ”Move out!”

As the order was passed down the line, the long column began to move slowly, entering the valley!

Li Ming took the lead, riding at the very front while vigilantly scanning his surroundings.

The road at the bottom of the canyon was narrow, flanked by dense woods that soon gave way to steep cliffs.

Looking up, one could only see a sliver of sky, which was why many people called this place One-Line Heaven Valley.

The oppressive atmosphere was unsettling. After entering One-Line Heaven, almost everyone fell silent.

Carts rumbled and horses neighed. A grim, solemn atmosphere filled the entire column.

”Pass the order down: pick up the pace! We need to get out of this valley before nightfall!” Li Ming commanded the man beside him.

”General, that might not be easy. One-Line Heaven is seventy to eighty li long, and it’s already noon. Crossing it in one afternoon... that’s a tall order.”

”Tell them, everyone who crosses One-Line Heaven before dark gets a reward of one tael of silver!” To boost morale, Li Ming had to make such a grand promise.

He knew that as long as he successfully reached the front lines, the Grand General would cover the cost of the silver!

”The Grand General has spoken! Everyone who crosses One-Line Heaven before dark gets a reward of one tael of silver! Everyone!”

”Look sharp, all of you!”

”Stop looking like you haven’t slept! Faster! For the General’s reward, pick up the pace!”

”Pick up the pace!”

All sorts of shouts quickly spread through the entire supply train. The previously downtrodden men all perked up.

Money is a great motivator; no one would turn their nose up at it.

Hidden at the entrance to the valley, Sui Yan watched the long column below with cold, calm eyes.

’One tael of silver for everyone? I’m afraid you won’t be collecting that!’ Sui Yan thought, not a trace of guilt on his face.

Li Hong and the others were hidden in their respective caves, already dug into the cliffside, silently watching the column below.

They were quietly waiting for the signal from Xu Luo at the front.

The moment Xu Luo made his move, they would activate the mechanisms and completely block this supply route in the shortest time possible!

Liang Ziyi looked at the mechanism beside him and couldn’t help but mutter under his breath, ”Will this Mechanical Skill really work? Can something this small really control a massive boulder?”

Xu Lingtian, who was with him, said shyly, ”It will. I’ve seen Sui Yan test it several times. Mechanical Skill is amazing; even I want to learn it. It’s just a pity I’m too stupid to learn something so complex.”

Liang Ziyi rolled his eyes and grumbled, ”Who could possibly learn something so dull?”

Xu Luo continued to cultivate with the Shadow Shaking Heart Method while keeping an eye on the Yan Army supply train.

As time passed, the sun began to set in the west, and the sound of galloping horses finally drifted up from the distance below.

Two Reconnoitre on horseback came flying out, clearing One-Line Heaven in one go. One of them quickly turned back to report, while the other continued to scout ahead.

’Soon!’ Xu Luo thought.

Sure enough, after a short while, a clamor of noise arose, and a column of men and horses appeared around a distant bend.

”They’re all in!” Xu Luo let out a breath of relief. Immediately after, a cold light flashed in his eyes. ’Don’t blame me,’ he thought. ’In war, it’s kill or be killed!’

SLAP!

Xu Luo gently slapped the mechanism that Sui Yan had set up beside him. A violent tremor immediately followed, startling him!

It was as if a massive earthquake had struck; the whole world seemed to be shaking...

Then, Xu Luo watched, dumbfounded, as the cliff face about three hundred meters away from him... collapsed with a deafening ROAR!

The entire cliff face... had been shattered!

Countless boulders mixed with rocks of all sizes rained down into the abyss-like valley!

At almost the exact same instant Xu Luo acted, Huangfu Chongzhi on the opposite side... also made his move!

The reaction was nearly identical: a sound like muffled thunder, the earth shaking and mountains swaying, and boulders falling like rain!

Li Ming and the others at the head of the column had just emerged when they were stunned by the sheet of falling boulders from above, before they could even react to what was happening!

”Damn it! Ambush!” Li Ming roared, his eyes nearly splitting with rage. In his heart, he cursed those damn Reconnoitre.

’I had you check seven times... seven times! Is this how you fucking check?!’

But unfortunately, at this moment Li Ming had no energy to spare for anyone else’s survival. With a great shout, he leaped into the air and lunged toward a concave section of the cliff!

No matter what, he had to save his own life first!

As for the others... he truly wanted to help but was powerless to do so.

The quicker-reacting Soldiers at the Swordsman and Sword Master levels cried out in alarm, scrambling toward the sides of the valley.

Others simply turned and ran back the way they came.

But Sui Yan’s mechanism was simply too devastating. It used some miraculous method to detonate the energy within the Spirit Beast Crystal Cores, and the placement of these Crystal Cores was extremely clever.

There were six points in total, each one capable of affecting an area stretching about five hundred meters!

Xu Luo had detonated the first. The second, third, and the rest were all placed further back along the direction the Yan Army supply train had come from.

It was the same on Huangfu Chongzhi’s side.

Thus, within this five-to-six-hundred-meter range, almost no one, save for a few, could escape!

And as it happened, the men at the very front were all part of the escorting Guard Team!

There were a full two to three thousand of them, with another two to three thousand bringing up the rear.

With just this one wave of falling rocks, more than half of those two to three thousand men were killed or wounded!

Even more terrifyingly, the Soldiers who weren’t killed instantly but were only injured were buried alive by the subsequent deluge of large and small rocks before they could escape!

In truth, even before they were buried, their brains had been splattered and their bodies smashed beyond recognition.

”How terrifying!” Xu Luo stared, aghast, at the apocalyptic scene in the valley below and couldn’t help but exclaim in awe.

The other members of the Martial Soul Squad had much the same reaction as Xu Luo.

The others on both cliffs and in the middle of the valley were the same. Only Sui Yan, at the valley entrance, was different; since the supply train had already fully entered, the mechanism he triggered didn’t harm anyone.

But the sheer scale of the commotion still left Sui Yan himself in shock.

The seventy-to-eighty-li-long valley was thrown into chaos by the sudden cataclysm. Countless men struggled and screamed, trying to escape the rain of stones falling from the sky.

They were trampled, shoved, and tried to dive under wagons for cover...

However, within the area blanketed by the falling boulders, all of it... was futile!

Supplies, provisions, warhorses, flatbed carts... everything was smashed to smithereens under the deluge of rock!

And the lucky few who were not caught in the rockslide simply stood frozen in place, completely stupefied with terror!

RUMBLE!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The collapse of the cliffs, which had stood there for countless years through wind and rain, triggered a chain reaction. More sections of the mountainside began to give way in landslides, sending countless boulders mixed with sand and earth tumbling down!

”Heavens, what’s happening? What’s going on? I’m going to die!”

”Is this heaven’s punishment?”

”We’ve angered the heavens...”

Cries of despair continuously echoed from within the chaotic Yan Army supply train.

Xu Luo stared down at the five-to-six-hundred-meter-long stretch of valley below, struck speechless with horror. The boulders, sand, and collapsing mountainside had forcefully buried this section of the valley under a pile of debris five to six hundred meters high!

The supply train, the carts and horses... the fierce soldiers of the army... in the face of such overwhelming natural power, all of it was fragile... and utterly crushed in an instant!