Chapter 95 - Departure

Lin Xuan arrived at Beiwei City on the third day, but the task at Hundred Herbs Hall still had no progress.

During this time, many martial artists went out to kill enemies to earn battle points.

Lin Xuan again found the Scarred Man and shared his thoughts.

“What, you want to repair weapons to earn battle points?” The Scarred Man was surprised; he had not expected Lin Xuan to be an Artifact Nourishment Master.

“Come with me,” the Scarred Man said.

Lin Xuan followed him to the city center, through the residential area, until they reached a hexagonal tower.

Without pausing, the Scarred Man led Lin Xuan to the third level.

“Master Mo, this is Lin Xuan from the Xuantian Sect; he wishes to repair weapons here to earn battle points,” the Scarred Man said respectfully.

“Oh, from the Xuantian Sect?” Master Mo looked at Lin Xuan with a hint of interest, a trace of a smile appearing on his aged face, “You know how to refine artifacts?”

“A bit,” Lin Xuan smiled.

“Try this,” Master Mo handed Lin Xuan a long sword, its blade full of notches and seemingly on the verge of being useless.

“Only treasure weapons are worth repairing; ordinary weapons, if damaged, might as well be newly forged,” Lin Xuan said after a brief glance.

“Good, you indeed have some discernment; this long sword is truly ordinary,” Master Mo said, delighted rather than angry, “Here are some low-level Human Rank treasures; if you can fix them, I’ll give you satisfactory battle points.”

Lin Xuan didn’t hesitate and sat down to carefully repair the damaged Human Rank treasures.

He didn’t use the techniques from Sword Pond Prefecture but instead used the methods taught by the Lord of Wine, slowly restoring them.

Two days later, six Human Rank treasures were completely repaired, gleaming with a cold light under the sunlight.

Master Mo was very pleased and directly gave Lin Xuan thirty battle points.

Over these two days, Lin Xuan had gained a solid understanding of battle points.

Killing a first-rank Demon Beast earned one battle point, a second-rank earned five points, and a third-rank—a match for a human warrior at the Spirit Sea Realm—earned twenty points.

By repairing six treasures, Lin Xuan had effectively slain six second-rank Demon Beasts.

One should not underestimate a single battle point; inside the Martial Hall, one battle point could be exchanged for a hundred-year-old ginseng, ten points for a low-level Xuan Rank Martial Arts, and twenty points for an intermediate Xuan Rank Martial Arts.

Lin Xuan’s thirty battle points could be exchanged for an advanced Dark-grade Martial Art or a low-level Human Rank treasure.

In the Martial Hall, if you had enough battle points, you could even exchange them for Spirit-level Martial Arts and various Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, which were absolutely enticing.

Lin Xuan’s heart surged with excitement, filled with anticipation for the mission.

Five days later, Lin Xuan returned to the War Martial Hall.

“Has everyone arrived?” a majestic figure asked with his back to the crowd.

“Reporting to the General, all sixteen youths are present,” a soldier responded respectfully.

Whoosh!

The majestic figure turned around, looking at the crowd, his gaze mingling with immense pressure.

Anyone he looked at felt as if electrified, a fear rising from within.

It was not intentional; rather, years of battlefield living imbued his every action with an invisible malevolence.

“This operation must succeed in rescuing Divine Doctor Du,” General Zeng declared robustly.

Next, General Zeng began to lay out the battle plan, which was simple—General Zeng would lead his men to pin down the main firepower of the Demon Clan, while the youths from the sects were responsible for the rescue.

Once successful, they were to retreat immediately.

Although it sounded simple, implementing it perfectly without any mistakes was critical.

Otherwise, not only would they fail to rescue anyone, but they might even lose their own lives in the process.

General Zeng led seven soldiers as the vanguard, while sixteen youths were divided into four groups, breaking out from four different directions, planning to meet up at the Hundred Herbs Hall.

Each person carried a shield, three signal flares, and three recovery Elixir Pills.

After collecting these items, Lin Xuan set off with the others, and the group quickly disappeared into the wilderness.

Each of the four squads was led almost invariably by a martial artist at the Ninth Rank of Congealing Veins, responsible for controlling the whole team.

Lin Xuan was not grouped with Fan Chong but was assigned to a mixed team instead.

The highest cultivation within his group was held by Feng Bufan from Lianhua Sect, who had reached the Ninth Rank of Congealing Veins.

The other two were Zhang Hao, a disciple from Lianhua Sect, and Liu Lan, a disciple from Purple Mist Sect.

In the remaining three teams, there were disciples similar to Fan Chong holding the fort, making Lin Xuan’s team seem the weakest by comparison.

Feng Bufan had the strongest cultivation, so he temporarily took charge of the team.

“Our team is relatively weaker,” said Feng Bufan, “but as long as we stay united, I believe we still have a chance.

We’ll detour through the forest and everyone needs to proceed with caution.”

After leaving Beiwei City, the four entered the forest where Fan Chong’s team was taking a similar route.

“Feng Bufan, be careful not to let anyone drag your team down,” said Fan Chong, sneering at Lin Xuan before quickly leaving.

While Feng Bufan was alright, the other two disciples looked at Lin Xuan with strange expressions.

“No matter, let them go ahead and scout for us,” Feng Bufan said indifferently.

Lin Xuan just smiled, offering no explanation, and the four of them headed south together.

Half an hour later, Lin Xuan suddenly frowned and said, “Brother Feng, there are wolves ahead; we’d better go around.”

“Wolves?

How is that possible?

There’s been no sign of anything ahead!” exclaimed Zhang Hao, skeptical.

Feng Bufan also looked puzzled, but seeing Lin Xuan’s confident expression, he opted for a cautious approach.

“Brother Lin, lead the way; let’s go around.”

“Follow me,” commanded Lin Xuan.

Although Feng Bufan was fine with it, the other two disciples were somewhat dissatisfied.

They had no issue with Feng Bufan’s commands, but they were somewhat resistant to Lin Xuan’s.

Lin Xuan ignored what they thought and quickly led the way ahead.

He knew about the wolves because of a tip from Lord of Wine.

Although Lord of Wine could not directly intervene to help Lin Xuan, he was still capable of providing sensory assistance like this.

Carefully maneuvering through twists and turns, Lin Xuan’s group cautiously navigated through the forest.

Zhang Hao, discontent in his heart, scoffed, “There’s clearly nothing there, yet…”

Before he could finish his sentence, angry shouting from Fan Chong’s direction erupted not far from them, followed by intense fluctuations of Spiritual Power.

“What?

How could this be?” Cold sweat dripped from Zhang Hao’s face, realizing that had they not followed Lin Xuan’s guidance, they would have ended up exactly where the roar had occurred.

The expressions of all three toward Lin Xuan changed, with Zhang Hao bowing his head, unable to speak, while Feng Bufan gratefully said, “Thanks for leading the way, Brother Lin.”

He knew that it was because of Lin Xuan that they had avoided a disaster.

“It’s nothing, let’s hurry on our way,” Lin Xuan replied lightly.