Light Fortress

Chapter 1118 - 41: Afraid Your Dao Heart Will Shatter

Quite unfortunate.

Mu Qingyang saw Gu Shen and sensed the few stable spiritual auras inside the tent.

He paused for a moment.

"Everyone, please step aside, I’m here to save someone..."

The fourth-tier Spiritual healer, named Jimo, was a middle-aged man who had rushed over upon receiving the emergency call. At this moment, Jimo was still covered in thick frost.

"Saving lives is the priority, saving lives is the priority..."

He muttered under his breath as he walked toward the tent. When he looked up, he saw a familiar face: "Gu... Mr. Xiao Gu?"

Realizing it was not appropriate to address him directly, Jimo quickly changed to a more respectful title.

"Thank you for coming all this way," Gu Shen said warmly. "However, those few have already been treated by me and are now recovering."

The healer was taken aback on hearing this.

He scratched his head. Everyone in Changye knew Mr. Xiao Gu had an incredible talent, progressing rapidly in cultivation. By now, he should have the strength of the Deep Sea Eighth Layer or so!

Indeed, impressive, but even so, it’s still only third-order, and in his understanding, resolving the nightmare of Black Grinding would likely require a fourth-tier spiritual adept!

Gu Shen stepped aside half a step.

Jimo used his spiritual power to scan the inside.

Indeed... The four inside the tent were calm and out of danger. Based on the Mu Family’s earlier descriptions, their spirits were likely undergoing devastating assaults.

Even he wasn’t sure he could treat them so perfectly!

"Whish..."

The snowy wind blew by.

In the Patroller’s team, a Mu Family strongman of the eighth layer had a conspicuous Red Tassel Spear on his shoulder.

On the spear’s tip was a frozen head by icy shards!

"Tang Ran’s head..."

Mu Qingyang looked complicated, taking the spear to examine the head frozen in thick ice, murmuring: "Did you kill this?"

"Yes."

Gu Shen laughed, "Met him on the way, so I killed him easily."

The crowd once again erupted in a chorus of exclamations.

Mu Qingyang looked meaningfully at the young man.

Did I sense it wrong?

Why is Gu Shen’s spiritual aura... only at the Deep Sea Eighth Layer according to my senses?

A third-order killing a fourth-order, does such a thing exist in this world?

...

...

The storm finally passed without danger.

The team set up camp to stay overnight.

Jimo, who had come from afar, also rested with the team at the camp location.

This siege task was clearly divided, with the "exploration team" as the vanguard, due to Mr. Gu’s strategy of advancing layer by layer from south to north.

The main task of the vanguard exploration team was not combat.

These Transcendents were chosen mostly for agility and speed-boosting abilities among the young.

Flanking from east and west.

The ones leading the "exploration team" were Gu Shen and Mu Qingyang, each controlling one side.

Meanwhile, White Xiu and Gong Zi were tasked with processing intelligence, organizing sieges, and practicing real combat, each controlling one side as well.

Eight leaders, each with their duties, Li Qingsui, and Luo Yu were stationed at the rear, one responsible for supplying and emergency situations, and the other for communicating in all directions, organizing and planning various necessary battles.

The remaining two, Gu Nanfeng and Bai Chen, were responsible for tasks beyond the siege operation itself.

They were Titled.

The battles and tasks for the Titled were not for others to know.

Mu Qingyang’s tent was exceptionally quiet.

He sat with his eyes closed, appearing to rest, yet he could hear every rustle of grass and wind outside the tent.

At this moment, tens of meters away, several of his subordinates on night patrol casually chatted.

Even their whispered voices, extremely low, couldn’t escape his perception.

"Mr. Xiao Gu’s strength seems to be only at the Deep Sea Eighth Layer..."

"Yes, that’s what I sensed too. I feel something’s not right; Mr. Xiao Gu’s strength seems almost comparable to mine."

"Fools, can you two really be the same? Remember Old Xu’s shot this morning? You didn’t even touch his shadow. From what I see, Mr. Xiao Gu is definitely hiding his strength!"

"So, is he also a fourth-order... No wonder he could kill ’Soul Crusher’ Tang Ran..."

The whispering made Mu Qingyang frown slightly.

These subordinates, their strength is at third-order.

It’s normal for them not to see Gu Shen’s "true level."

But he himself is fourth-order!

His sensing results were the same as these subordinates, Gu Shen was indeed at the Deep Sea Eighth Layer!

"Killing Tang Ran probably involved some luck."

"You mean he picked up a bargain?"

"Shh, watch your words."

"But actually, that’s what I meant. After all, it was my lord who heavily injured Tang Ran with one spear... You were far away at the time and didn’t see that spear; boy, it was a blast of green light everywhere, terrifying. Just one stab, and Tang Ran was left with only one breath."

"Hiss, how terrifying..."

"Think about it, no matter how powerful Mr. Xiao Gu is, it wouldn’t be possible to advance to the fourth-order so quickly..."

Someone sighed lightly, laughing, "It seems my lord is still formidable, but unfortunately, the merit for killing Tang Ran goes to Gu Shen."

Hearing this, Mu Qingyang stopped sensing this part.

He shook his head alone.

He didn’t care about the merit; what he cared about was something else.

After confronting Tang Ran, Mu Qingyang’s spirit couldn’t be calm; uncontrollably, he replayed the scenes from earlier that day repeatedly in his mind...

Especially those brief moments when he faced Tang Ran.

Even with his spear stabbing into Tang Ran!

Yet Tang Ran hadn’t died immediately!

All his long-accumulated, unimaginably powerful Extraordinary Essence had poured into this guy’s body... To withstand it forcibly, not to mention the Deep Sea Tenth Layer, even an eleventh-layer Spiritual would have been killed instantly!

As a Transcendent, without reaching the Titled tier, without the token, one is still a mortal!

There are plenty of ways to kill a mortal body.

If we consider purely the perspective of physical wounds, an eleventh-layer Spiritual, if not dodging or defending, allowing themselves to be at one’s mercy, may still be blasted to death by a third-order Transcendent... But in real battle, high-level Spirituals wouldn’t give you a chance to touch him!

Small mistakes could lead to monumental discrepancies.

The chance of a third-order killing a fourth-order in battle is nearly zero!

The being he couldn’t kill with a spear, how did Gu Shen, a third-order, manage to kill him?

Mu Qingyang remembered, he had deliberately checked Gu Shen’s aura wave after killing Tang Ran, it was clean, not exhausted, indicating he didn’t even get injured while killing Tang Ran... It could have been a crushing battle.

He pondered deeply without answers.

"Brother Qingyang, are you asleep?"

A lazy voice sounded outside the tent.

Mu Qingyang suddenly opened his eyes, a glint flashed briefly before he suppressed it: "... Come in."

A figure in a trench coat entered leisurely.

It was Gu Shen.

Gu Shen still carried the frozen head from the morning. After entering the tent, he looked around... As a temporary encampment, the tent was naturally empty and bare.

But with Mu Qingyang sitting in cultivation, the air here was filled with a blazing presence.

This guy’s Extraordinary Ability was likely of the "fire type" as well.

Quite a coincidence, a fellow old profession with a similar ability; sensing the breath of a compatriot ability, Chi Huo inevitably became restless, but Gu Shen wouldn’t give it a chance to cause trouble, keeping it obediently pressed down.

Although he didn’t know what Mu Qingyang’s ability was, Gu Shen could tell—

This Jiuning District genius, trained in spear arts, was open-hearted and warlike, true to his name!

If, due to Chi Huo’s outburst, Mu Qingyang got battle-spirited and insisted on sparring... it would be terrible.

Gu Shen wasn’t afraid of losing.

He feared that his ally, this Mu Family genius fourth-tier, would have his hard-won cultivation path shattered by a single encounter.