Its purpose was to send a signal, meaning the village was in trouble.

Iron Bull, pursuing from behind, immediately understood what it meant. He roared, "A few of you, put out that fire! The rest of you, search for them! Kill every last one—leave no survivors!"

With that, he brandished his blade and charged at Li Lu.

The other men who had spread out charged toward various parts of the village, with some heading for the bonfire.

But on Li Lu’s orders, all the villagers had already gone into the city for temporary lodging. The people Zhou Zhendong had arranged for were already hidden in the secret underground chamber.

As the Foreign Race Martial Artists searched everywhere, they naturally found no one.

By the bonfire, the two Eighth Grade Martial Artists, Li Lu and Iron Bull, were locked in a back-and-forth battle.

Although Li Lu’s Cultivation had risen quickly, he had once been a government official and had practiced a few moves. Coupled with his already impressive Power, he could still put up a fight even though his Martial Arts technique was inferior.

This was a difference in the application of Martial Arts, not a difference in Power. Li Lu’s Cultivation was at the Peak of Eighth Grade, making him slightly stronger than his opponent. With one’s strength offsetting the other’s weakness, they were locked in a stalemate.

A few of the Foreign Race Martial Artists quickly doused the bonfire with water until no more smoke rose from it.

The surroundings immediately plunged back into darkness.

Seeing this, Li Lu seized the opportunity to deflect his opponent’s attack and spun around, rushing into the largest building—the meeting hall—to try and escape into the secret chamber.

Iron Bull’s eyes quickly scanned the area. Seeing the fire was out, he breathed a sigh of relief and said,

"Get in there! Let’s end this quickly!"

Clearly, Iron Bull had no intention of continuing the one-on-one duel. Since his men were free, they would all attack together.

Aside from those still searching the village, the four Martial Artists who had put out the fire followed Iron Bull and charged into the meeting hall.

Meanwhile, Cheng Zongyang, having emerged from the mountains at the former site of Golden Bridge Village, also breathed a sigh of relief.

"After all this time, I still don’t like traveling at night," he muttered to himself. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Cheng Zongyang plunged his Tang Blade into the ground and dusted himself off. He then entered the Wilderness World to retrieve his things before hurrying toward the village.

The next moment, however, when he looked up toward Tiantuan Village, he saw thick smoke billowing in the sky above it!

It obviously wasn’t the time for cooking fires, and even if it were, the smoke would never be that thick.

Suddenly, an image flashed through Cheng Zongyang’s mind: the signal pyre in the stone mound at the entrance of the meeting hall!

’And the Foreign Race was supposed to arrive soon...’

"The beacon!"

At this thought, Cheng Zongyang’s expression changed. He yanked his Tang Blade from the ground, stored his belongings back in the Wilderness World, and pushed his Wind-Stepping Step to its absolute limit, shooting toward Tiantuan Village like an arrow loosed from a bow.

At the village entrance, Xiao Bing rushed out of the woods, preparing to head into the village, only to run into an equally injured—and in fact, far more grievously wounded—Chen Eryun.

"Brother Bing! Run!" Chen Eryun clutched his abdomen, his face deathly pale, as he whispered to the arm-wounded Xiao Bing.

An enemy had run him through the stomach with a single sword strike. He only survived by playing dead on the ground, taking advantage of the fact that his attacker didn’t bother with a finishing blow.

"We have to save the Gang Leader!" Xiao Bing said anxiously, quickly propping Chen Eryun up.

"We can’t save him! We’re completely outmatched! Most of them went after the Gang Leader!" Chen Eryun quickly argued, already feeling his body grow limp and weak.

He knew it was from blood loss.

"Then what do we do?!" The two supported each other as they hid behind a dirt mound near the village entrance.

The mound was just earth cleared away during the village’s construction.

Chen Eryun lay back against the mound, his right hand clutching his left side. His chest heaved as he fought through the pain. "You run south! If Lord Cheng returns, it will be from the south. If you run into him, tell him to be careful!"

Xiao Bing frowned. "You want me to run on my own?"

"What other choice is there?" Chen Eryun closed his eyes, trying to regulate his breathing as he spoke. "I can’t run anymore. I don’t know how many of the brothers managed to escape. The Gang Leader is in the most danger, surrounded. Unless he makes it underground, it’s hopeless. You..."

"Cut the crap. No one’s chasing us now. Are you going to wait until they are before we run?!" Xiao Bing hauled Chen Eryun to his feet, and they quickly headed south under the cover of darkness.

Chen Eryun was speechless.

’He has a point!’

The two immediately began supporting each other, stumbling as they fled south of the village.

Chen Eryun thought back to the fight. Fifty Entry Grade Martial Artists against thirty Eighth Grade Martial Artists. Their chances? Aside from the few they wounded with a surprise volley of arrows at the start, they had been completely and utterly crushed.

They had all Just Entered the Grade, after all. How could they possibly win?

In the end, they had no choice but to order everyone to scatter and try to stay alive.

"Halt!"

Just then, the sound of galloping hooves and an angry shout came from behind them! The sound was closing in fast!

"Only an idiot would halt!" Xiao Bing cursed under his breath, preparing to duck into the woods.

Just then, a figure suddenly charged toward them from the path ahead. An instant later, he swept past them like a gust of wind.

Xiao Bing and Chen Eryun stopped dead in their tracks and whipped their heads around to look back.

Under the faint light of the waning moon, a flash of light glinted in the figure’s hand. It was a Long Saber, its cold light gleaming as it was thrown with a speed that was faster than the eye could follow.

Right after, they watched as the rider on horseback was flung backward, finally getting pinned to a nearby dirt mound!

The horse’s momentum caused it to rear up on its hind legs, its piercing neigh shattering the silence of the night.

Even in the dim light, both Xiao Bing and Chen Eryun recognized the figure’s back.

"Lord Cheng!"

Xiao Bing was ecstatic.

Cheng Zongyang quickly doubled back to them. Seeing their condition, he asked, "Are you two badly injured?"

"We can still hold on."

Chen Eryun gave a weak smile and reported, "Our Gang Leader is trapped in the village; we don’t know if he’s dead or alive. The enemy sent fifty or sixty men this time, almost all of them are Eighth Grade! The rest of our people fled toward the County Town!"

Cheng Zongyang nodded slightly. "I’ll go on ahead. You two follow me."

As he spoke, he pretended to reach into his robes, retrieving a packet of White Medicine from his marketplace cabin.

"Apply this to your wounds!"

With that, he ran toward the dirt mound where the man was pinned.

He saw the man was still breathing. Without wasting words, he pulled out his Tang Blade and delivered the finishing blow, then continued his charge toward the village.

At the southern entrance of Tiantuan Village, he saw a dozen or so people walking along the path into the village.

Seeing this, Cheng Zongyang wasted no time. With a flick of his hand, a Stone Stele as tall as a man appeared, and he slammed it into the ground.

He released the restriction on the Soul Gathering Stele. A gray mist instantly surged forth, spreading and expanding with incredible speed!

He was using the Soul Gathering Stele not only to aid in the fight but also to prevent them from escaping. Of course, if Li Lu was still alive, it could also serve to protect him.

At the village entrance, the dozen or so men also spotted Cheng Zongyang approaching with a blade. One of them, covered in blood, gave a savage grin.

"I haven’t had my fill of killing yet, and here comes another one to serve up his life!"

With that, the young man raised his sword and charged at the approaching Cheng Zongyang.

As the man charged him, the rapidly advancing Cheng Zongyang’s expression remained unchanged.

As the distance between them closed, the ferocious, bloodthirsty look on his opponent’s face became visible. In the next second, Cheng Zongyang’s speed suddenly exploded!

Pushing his Wind-Stepping Step to the Peak of Perfection, his speed was so immense he seemed to become a blur, like a gust of wind. At that velocity, he executed the Thrusting Blade from his Basic Saber Technique. His Tang Blade tapped the man’s throat, and he was already standing behind him.

Cheng Zongyang didn’t break his stride, continuing his charge toward the others.

The young man stared, stunned by Cheng Zongyang’s speed. A second later, a sharp pain blossomed in his throat, and blood shot out.

The young man’s sword fell from his grasp. He clutched his throat in disbelief, his mouth agape, but he couldn’t make a sound.

Seeing this, the faces of the other Foreign Race Martial Artists changed dramatically.

This time, they no longer dared to be arrogant or playful. All of them charged at Cheng Zongyang at once.

At that very moment, however, the gray mist from the Soul Gathering Stele swept over them. It first engulfed Cheng Zongyang’s figure, then the dozen men charging him.

"What is this?!"

"Where did this fog come from?"

"Dammit, He Sai, He Qi, where are you?!"

...

Shouts echoed one after another from within the mist.

But they didn’t know that while they were enveloped in the gray mist, only Cheng Zongyang could hear their voices.

Activating his unique perspective, Cheng Zongyang ignored them for the moment and headed into the village to find Li Lu.

’Trapped in the Ghost Wall, these low-Cultivation grunts won’t be able to escape!’

He had to confirm Li Lu’s status first!

Soon, following the trail of the attackers, Cheng Zongyang found Li Lu in the meeting hall. He was covered in blood and barely breathing.

The Foreign Race Martial Artists there were also shrouded in the gray mist, panicking in place.

Cheng Zongyang’s brow furrowed when he saw Li Lu’s terrible condition.

If the gray mist had arrived just a few breaths later, that burly, bear-like man would have swung his blade and taken Li Lu’s head.

Suppressing his rage, Cheng Zongyang took out some Wilderness Bean Water and poured it down Li Lu’s throat.

Once Li Lu was completely unconscious, Cheng Zongyang brought him into the Wilderness World.

Inside the marketplace cabin, Cheng Zongyang laid the unconscious Li Lu on a wooden bed.

"Heal!" Cheng Zongyang commanded.

Li Lu was still very useful to him. He couldn’t be allowed to die now, or else many of his efforts would be wasted.