Divine Convenience Store-Chapter 558: A Crisis Already?

Later that night, once the store closed and the evaluation for the day arrived, Lin Mo turned and headed for the Portal Room.

He stopped by the inventory first, grabbing a few more crates of supplies and, after a moment of consideration, brought a few more crates of the [Legionary Set].

"If they did what I asked them to do, there’s no reason not to reward them. Let’s see how the martial artists handle a bit of firepower," He muttered.

He stepped into the Portal Room and activated the rift.

Once again, he didn’t use a projection. He stepped through physically as his body washed through the dimensional membrane.

—

Sleeping Dragon City, Martial World

The sensation of displacement faded, replaced by the dry, dusty air of the Fractured Plane. Lin Mo opened his eyes and found himself standing in the private room of the Pavilion of Drifting Clouds, exactly where he had left.

However, the atmosphere outside was different.

It wasn’t the chaotic noise of a lawless city, nor the bustling hum of trade he had hoped for.

It was the sound of screaming. The clash of steel. And the roar of fire.

"How inconvenient," Lin Mo sighed. "I left for only a day or two, and the neighborhood already went to hell."

He walked to the window and looked down, spreading spiritual senses.

"Oh... So that’s the case." He said with a wry smile.

Sleeping Dragon City was under siege.

But it wasn’t an internal revolt.

The banners flying in the streets were unfamiliar. Black flags emblazoned with a red, seven-headed hydra.

Then, there was a massive army of martial artists, easily numbering in the thousands. They had already breached the outer gates.

They wore uniform black leather armor and wielded heavy, serrated scimitars. They were pushing through the main street, driving back a desperate defensive line.

Holding that line were the forces of the new coalition.

The disciples of the Iron Crane Dojo, now the city guards, formed a shield wall. But they were being hammered. Their ’Iron Shirt’ technique was strong, but the invaders were relentless and too many. They were even using heavy crossbows and fire-oil jars to break their ranks.

Behind them, the Crimson Tiger Sect members, the Harvesters, were fighting back with savage fury, but they were outnumbered three to one.

And leading the defense were his four chosen Enforcers.

Tie Zha, clad in the [Legionary Set], was a bulwark of silver steel amidst the chaos. He stood at the center of the broken gate, his Aetheric armor glowing with a pale blue light that contrasted sharply with the red fires burning around him.

A massive, shirtless brute from the invading army, wielding a war hammer the size of a man, swung down at him.

"Die, you shiny turtle!" The brute roared as his muscles bulged with the explosive power.

Looking at how it could match Tie Zha in the Legionary Set, Lin Mo estimated that the brute was a martial artist who opened his Sixth Gate.

A Transformation Stage martial artist.

Tie Zha gritted his teeth and raised his armored gauntlet.

CLANG!

The war hammer struck the Aether-forged plating. The ground beneath Tie Zha cracked but his knees didn’t buckle. The shock absorption of the armor absorbed the kinetic force, allowing him to endure it.

Tie Zha grunted, channeling his inner energy into the suit. The Aether Shard in his chest flared.

"Get... out... of our city!"

He punched forward. The strength augmentation of the [Legionary Set] whined, amplifying his First-Rate strength into something monstrous, matching the Transformation Stage martial artist.

His fist connected with the brute’s chest.

CRACK!

The invader’s ribcage collapsed. He was launched backward like a stone from a catapult, crashing into the ranks of his own men, taking down three others with him.

"Hold the line!"

On the other side, Ling Qiumei’s voice rang out sharply.

She was dancing on the rooftops, her silver armor gleaming under the dim sun. She wielded the spirit-grade sword Lin Mo had given her and acted like a whirlwind of death.

Five assassins from the invading force, dressed in dark rags, leaped at her from the shadows.

Ling Qiumei spun. Her sword cut through the distance. With the armor augmenting her speed, she was faster than their sight.

Shing! Shing! Shing!

Three assassins fell mid-leap, their throats opened. The remaining two landed and hesitated. However, they were immediately struck by the wind blades generated by her sword swing.

"The Shopkeeper’s order is absolute! Order must be maintained!" She shouted, rallying the flagging morale of the Iron Crane disciples below.

On the eastern flank, Hu Gan was laughing maniacally. The former bandit leader was in his element. His armor was stained with soot and blood, but he moved with the agility of a monkey and the strength of an elephant.

He leaped over the heads of the invaders, landing in their backlines and wreaking havoc with his dual sabers.

"Is that all you got?! The Crimson Tiger bites harder than this!"

And weaving through the shadows, unseen but deadly, was Ying Sha. Whenever an enemy commander tried to organize a push, they would suddenly gargle blood and collapse, a dagger wound appearing from nowhere.

Despite their individual heroism, the situation was grim. The invaders were too many.

They were well-equipped, disciplined, and led by experts who had opened at least six or seven Gates.

Lin Mo activated his [Stillwater Perception], expanding his senses over the battlefield.

"Seven Valleys Alliance," He deduced, picking up the name from the shouted commands of the enemy. "A coalition of bandit warlords from the wastelands. They heard the rumors of Sleeping Dragon City’s new wealth and came to plunder."

He spotted the enemy leader.

At the rear of the invading army, atop a commandeered siege tower, sat a man who radiated a terrifying, raw power. He was huge, draped in tiger skins and heavy iron chains. His aura was heavy, suffocating.

A Master of the 7th Gate. A martial artist who stood at the very pinnacle of this world’s power system. Only two steps away from the legendary 9th Gate.

"Warlord Hei Feilong," Lin Mo read the name stitched onto the man’s banner.

Hei FeiLong stood up, hefting a guan dao that looked heavy enough to cleave a house.

He roared, his voice amplified by immense inner energy.

"Crush them! That silver armor they wear... I want it! Peel it off their corpses! Burn the city! Take the Star-Forged Iron and those Divine Convenience Goods!"

At his command, the invaders surged with renewed frenzy. A group of elites, all 6th Gate experts, charged towards Tie Zha, intent on overwhelming him with sheer numbers.

Tie Zha braced himself, his breath rasping inside his helmet. The Aether Shard was dimming. He had been fighting for hours.

"Young Miss... run..." He wheezed, hoping Luo Lanyi was safe in the bunker.

"I am not running, Uncle Tie," Luo Lanyi’s voice came back, trembling but fierce. She was orchestrating the supply lines, running ammo and healing pills to the front. "We hold. The Shopkeeper will come."

"Oh? Shopkeeper? Is it the mysterious entity who granted you all these?" Hei Feilong laughed, having heard the rumors. He leaped from his tower, soaring through the air like a dark meteor, aiming directly for Tie Zha. "Good. If he comes, I’ll snap his neck too! But not after he tells me where he gets all his goods."

Hei Feilong’s guan dao glowed with a dark, blood-red martial qi. He swung it down, unleashing a strike capable of shattering city walls.

Tie Zha raised his arms in a cross block, activating the [Aetheric Bulwark].

A translucent shield flickered into existence. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

BOOM!

The guan dao slammed into the shield. The barrier shattered instantly. The blade continued down, slamming into Tie Zha’s gauntlets.

The ground beneath Tie Zha exploded, forming a crater five meters wide. The armor screamed in protest, metal groaning.

Tie Zha fell to one knee, blood leaking from the seals of his helmet. The sheer weight of a 7th Gate or a Profound Stage expert was overwhelming the Argentum-II’s limits. It was comparable to a Core Formation Stage cultivator.

"Weak!" Hei Long roared, raising his blade for a finishing strike. "That armor is wasted on you!"

Tie Zha couldn’t move. His inner energy was disrupted, his body numb. He looked up at the descending blade, accepting his fate.

BANG!

Cutting through the chaos, a sharp and distinct sound roared.

It wasn’t the clang of steel on steel but like a crack of thunder condensed into a single point.

Hei Feilong’s head snapped back violently. A spray of red mist erupted from his left shoulder.

The massive guan dao wavered, missing Tie Zha by inches and smashing into the ground.

Hei Feilong stumbled back, clutching his shoulder. He looked down in disbelief. There was a small, smoking hole punched clean through his iron-skin muscle and heavy pauldron.

"Who?!" He roared, scanning the rooftops.

Standing on the roof of the Pavilion of Drifting Clouds, silhouetted against the smoky sky, was Lin Mo.

He held a sleek, silver [Stardust Repeater] in one hand, smoke drifting lazily from the barrel. On the other hand, he held a can of soda.

"I have only left for a few days, and my goods already attracted someone like you? Good thing I decided to come and check today, or I might’ve returned to a graveyard." Lin Mo said calmly as if what he had witnessed or done was nothing too surprising to him.