Immortal Refiner

The Frontier Army camp, which had been attacked, was almost unable to withstand the assault of over five thousand bandits. Amidst a sea of flames, the soldiers scattered and fled.

With General Yuan Xiao taking a large number of troops to suppress the bandits, the current number of Wu Li Army soldiers stationed at the camp was less than two thousand.

Although there were many martial artists within the Wu Li Army, facing such a disparity in numbers, they were ultimately overwhelmed and unable to turn the tide.

However, on the night of the defeat, two Chiliarch who had cultivated Inner Strength bravely took action, ruthlessly killing dozens of bandits and even nearly threatening the bandit leader, Tuwa Ha’er.

But faced with a large number of cavalry, even the masters of Inner Strength dared not linger in battle and eventually chose to retreat calmly.

”Cough, cough!”

Tuwa Ha’er, who had been knocked off his horse, was surrounded by many concerned faces.

However, Tuwa Ha’er merely wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, remounted his horse, and looked warily in the direction where the two Inner Strength masters had departed.

These two masters were Qian Hong and Guo Zhentong, the two Chiliarchs stationed at the camp. Their formidable martial prowess had nearly cost the naturally powerful Tuwa Ha’er his life.

”Leader, are you alright?”

Tuwa Ha’er shook his head and smiled, ”These warriors from Maple Country are indeed not simple. They could threaten me from such a distance.”

The wise strategist among the bandits spoke up, ”Those who can cultivate martial arts to such a level are extremely rare. There aren’t many in the entire Maple Country, otherwise, Maple Country would have already conquered Liang Country!”

The bandit leader shook off his earlier displeasure and immediately ordered, ”Send some of our brothers to chase down the remaining fleeing soldiers. It’s best not to let any of these warriors escape. The rest of you, bring all the supplies from the camp back to the Bandong Grassland!”

”Leader, we’ve captured some prisoners!” a bandit reported.

However, Tuwa Ha’er grinned, his eyes revealing a fierce and ruthless aura, and he shouted loudly:

”The Tuwa Tribe does not keep prisoners! Kill them all, hahaha!”

”Tuwa!!!”

”...”

With the bandits’ roars, Tuwa Ha’er led his men to plunder the camp’s supplies.

For these grassland bandits, the salt, iron, grain, and cloth within the military camp were the most precious items. For these, they would raid the surrounding countries every year, even if it meant heavy casualties.

They rarely engaged in trade. Compared to the resource-rich countries like Maple Country and Liang Country, a tribe with only cattle and sheep found trade to be a losing proposition.

Thus, they resorted to plunder!

As the bandits were frantically looting the camp, one of them discovered something amiss.

”Bad news, the granary is on fire!”

Upon hearing this, Tuwa Ha’er’s expression immediately darkened. He pulled on the reins and quickly rode towards the source of the voice.

The next moment, this leader with an absolute aura of a warlord arrived in front of the granary engulfed in raging flames.

He looked at the scene, his face frozen in shock.

”It wasn’t a natural spread; it seems like someone set the fire,” the bandit strategist sighed.

Immediately, his face was almost overflowing with murderous intent as he promptly ordered, ”Send another five hundred men to hunt down the fleeing deserters. Make sure none escape!”

For the grassland tribes, grain was an extremely precious resource. Now that it had been burned to ashes, it naturally filled his heart with hatred.

In the past, when they were defeated, the vanquished would voluntarily leave behind provisions, which had almost become an unwritten rule. Only then would they not pursue the fleeing deserters so relentlessly.

But now, this fire had completely burned into his heart. And at this very moment, in the World of Eternal Night.

The mastermind behind the arson of the granary, Li Qing, had carefully hidden the large amount of grain he had taken with him.

He was nearly exhausted from the effort. Carrying so much grain, even though he had started practicing martial arts, was an extremely heavy burden.

Li Qing lay on top of a pile of rice and flour sacks. The stored food was enough to last him a long time, even if he indulged in overeating.

”If I save it, it could last me a year or two. I just hope it doesn’t get moldy,” Li Qing patted the rice and flour beneath him, a satisfied smile on his face.

”Although it disrupted my original plan, it seems like I’m free now, right?”

Originally, Li Qing had planned to wait until the bandits attacked, then find a corpse in the World of Eternal Night that was roughly his size to use as a substitute for his death.

He would throw the body into the furnace, and no one would recognize the face. That way, his departure would be justified.

Dying in a bandit raid was reasonable, and no one would suspect a mere blacksmith’s apprentice.

Having left the military camp and with enough food, he was temporarily safe.

However, there was one downside: wherever he had crossed into the World of Eternal Night, he would return to the same spot when he crossed back.

Moving such a large amount of grain had nearly exhausted him, so he didn’t have the energy to escape to a suitable place before crossing into the World of Eternal Night.

If he returned now, it would still be to the granary engulfed in flames.

”Sigh, if I calculate the time, staying here in the World of Eternal Night for a year would mean only four months have passed on the other side, almost reaching winter.”

”That might actually be a good time to return. I just hope that by then, they haven’t rebuilt a granary in that place.”

Every military granary was a heavily guarded stronghold, which was why Li Qing had chosen to burn it down after leaving.

Not only did he want to cover up the fact that he had taken a large amount of grain, but he also hoped that they wouldn’t rebuild a granary there in the future.

He didn’t want to risk returning after a long time only to face a heavily guarded granary again.

As for why winter was a good time to return, it was because every winter, many soldiers would return to the inland of Maple Country to visit their families—assuming there was no war.

And the grassland bandits would also choose to withdraw and return to the Bandong Grassland to spend the winter.

Therefore, regardless of how the situation in Wangyuan City might change in the future, the borderlands in winter were always a relatively desolate place.

”Sigh, looks like I’ll have to spend a whole year in this harsh and freezing land!”

Having regained some of his strength, Li Qing jumped down from the sack of rice and flour, dusted off the white powder from his pants, and continued to console himself:

”At least this will give me a chance to thoroughly explore Blackrock City and also focus on my martial arts training. Hopefully, I can break through to the level of an Outer Strength expert as soon as possible.”

In the past, being stationed in the military camp, he didn’t have much free time. If he disappeared for too long, it would raise suspicions among others. So every time he traveled to the World of Eternal Night, he could never stay for long. He would always slip over in the dead of night and return just before dawn.

Staying for an entire year in one go was a first for Li Qing. He had never considered staying forever in this barren land where food was scarce. After all, he still had to return. But before that, he hoped to make his martial arts skills as advanced as possible.

(End of the Chapter)

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