Chapter 1093: Safe Passage
At first, the smoke and dust in the canyon made it impossible to see anything, and the sudden appearance of Dao Feng and his two companions lulled the enemy into thinking there were only three opponents, evidently relaxing their vigilance for a moment.
However, they never expected that like troops descending from heaven, several hundred people appeared all at once, startling them greatly. At this moment, a commander stepped forward and commanded, "Everyone, prepare for battle immediately."
As soon as he finished, over thirty archers appeared, and Dao Feng immediately ordered the shield bearers to place shields in front for protection. In an instant, arrows rained down like a storm, and the three wielded their swords to block them; as masters, they were not about to be hit by ordinary arrows.
But, the brothers behind them were not so fortunate. After the volley of arrows, many of the three hundred disciples were either dead or wounded. Seizing the moment when the archers were switching out, the three swiftly leaped forward, swinging their blades, sending a burst of fierce Sword Qi rushing forward, lifting a layer of earth, similar to a move by the Sword God earlier, though not as magnificent, it was more than enough.
"Brothers, kill!"
Upon landing, Dao Feng immediately shouted.
The troops behind him had been pent-up for a long time, and at this moment finally erupted.
Each one charged forward like a ferocious wolf, within moments the sounds of battle cries and shouting rose to a crescendo.
In less than five minutes, the enemy troops were in disarray, many turned to flee up the mountain. Dao Feng’s team seized the chance to slaughter the remaining soldiers; by now, corpses littered the field—a scene incredibly touching to the heart.
Yet, as it was war, sacrifices were inevitable; the Black Alliance had lost tens of thousands, the blood flowing in rivers, what’s a mere few hundred?
In a blink, everything calmed down; of the three hundred Dao Feng brought, only two hundred remained. Still, their fighting spirit was high; they hardly planned to return alive—instead, fighting to the last moment without giving up.
Dao Feng wasted no time, immediately gathering everyone, having noticed his father, the Sword God, was nowhere to be found; where could he be?
"Old Lu, do you find it strange? When we rushed into the canyon earlier, there was no resistance; normally, there should’ve been rolling stones from the mountain and archers shooting, so why was it so quiet?"
Dao Feng voiced his doubts, and Old Lu, who had his suspicions, immediately recalled something he hadn’t considered before.
"Not good, Father must be surrounded at the top of the canyon. Old Lu, Zhao Lei, take twenty archers up there with you," Dao Feng swiftly said.
Old Lu wasted no time; with a wave of his hand, twenty archers in the squad grabbed ropes and hooks. The canyon’s peak was not for everyone to climb.
But they were trained, and soon over thirty people reached the canyon’s summit.
At this point, Dao Feng saw his father, the Sword God, being besieged, with archers firing at him, while two young men nearby were not idle.
The Sword God had reached his limit, though he wore a smile, knowing Dao Feng had arrived, giving him solace.
The Sword God used his last breath, forcefully swung, sending Sword Qi towards the dozens of archers, but at the same time, Xu Gao and Xu Shang struck, intending to take the Sword God’s life.
They unleashed Dual Swords United, fierce Sword Qi racing towards the Sword God, seemingly about to hit him; at this moment, he was too exhausted to resist and closed his eyes quietly.
But during the Sword God’s despair, he suddenly heard the sound of arrows, simultaneously feeling his body being lifted. He opened his eyes to find his son, Dao Feng.
Xu Gao and Xu Shang were grieved; they didn’t expect a master to appear at the critical moment, evidently a Celestial Dao expert, acting swiftly, not inferior to them.
Dao Feng saw his father seemed exhausted, and without speaking, carried him, strenuously running back.
Xu Gao and Xu Shang sensed something was off, hurriedly chased, but met with a barrage of arrows, courtesy of Zhao Lei and Old Lu’s ambush of archers.
"Retreat!"
Once the shooting ceased, the pair commanded their men to hastily retreat, realizing too late that while intent on killing the Sword God, they hadn’t anticipated the enemy’s opportunistic strike.
"Ah, we’ve been led away, he risked life to deliberately draw us away," Xu Gao said self-reproachfully.
"Yeah, brother, let’s hurry and check if our troops are still there," Xu Shang said anxiously.
"No need to check, surely occupied, we better carve a path of blood and quickly report to the master on the mountain," Xu Gao recalled the situation, knowing they’d already lost.
Dao Feng returned his father to the group, the Sword God finally recovering; he wasn’t seriously injured, just exhausted from successive attacks. After drinking water and resting, he was slowly recovering.
"Dad, how do you feel? Are you okay?" Dao Feng asked concernedly.
"Phew..."
Dao Feng took a deep breath, then smiled slightly, "I’m fine now, once I rest, I’ll be alright."
Seeing his father’s response, Dao Feng relaxed, tidying up the troop, counting the soldiers, aside from the dead, the wounded patched up, could return to combat.
Now, a total of two hundred combat-ready soldiers.
Watching the corpses strewn across the mountainside, the Sword God felt somewhat lost; this battle heavily cost the Black Alliance, but all orchestrated by the Celestial Pill Sect; were it not to save his granddaughter and revive the Black Alliance, he wouldn’t have fought so fiercely.
The Sword God understood that even if he didn’t aid them, Thunder Tiger would come knocking and would likely face annihilation.
With everyone ready to head for the final checkpoint, suddenly from the canyon summit there appeared a group; it was Xu Gao and Xu Shang with remaining archers and rock throwers.
The Sword God saw, promptly rising; his strength had mostly returned.
Observing, Dao Feng rushed forward; two Celestial Dao masters intercepting—they wouldn’t let them escape. In no time, those dozens of archers were eliminated, while the two brothers didn’t linger and turned to flee.
"Brothers, we have wasted much time, if I am correct, their main force has already reached the summit, although we didn’t stall too long, now we’ve done our best, everyone, give it all, break through the last checkpoint, are we confident?"
The Sword God knew it was the prelude to the final battle, so he spoke motivating words to boost morale.
"Yes!"
The disciples shouted in unison, their morale evidently high.
Seeing this, the Sword God’s face showed satisfaction, he planned to attack directly to the summit.
"Brothers, are you ready? We prepare to charge up the mountain!" The Sword God stood forward, resolutely declaring.
"Ready!" The soldiers shouted in unison.
"Good, let’s go," the Sword God said, leading them onward.
Qishan Peak.
Situ Feng, along with Shangguan Ba, arrived at mid-mountain, just encountering Hao Shuai and the others ascending the path, learning the Red-eyed Eagle was indeed at the summit, they quickened their pace.
"Tell me, what’s the situation, Third Elder, is the Red-eyed Eagle truly formidable? How come even you and Hall Master Shangguan can’t handle her?"