Chapter 620
A Cold Feeling in My Heart
Jiang Xuan released the bowstring! There was no deafening shriek, only a faint, almost negligible vibration of the bowstring.
An almost entirely ethereal arrow, seemingly transcending the distance of space, pierced the scale-covered neck of the ferocious bird with unparalleled precision the instant it burst out of the shadows and before it could even take flight!
"Uh……"
The ferocious bird let out a short, mournful cry, its massive body stiffened abruptly, and then, like a kite with a broken string, it plummeted erratically from the sky.
Jiang Xuan's figure flashed, and like a nimble ape, he used several leverages on the steep cliff to precisely catch the falling ferocious bird. It was heavy in his hand, and its feathers were as hard as iron.
Upon closer inspection, he confirmed that it was indeed a mutated and enhanced version of the Wind Shadow Harrier, specifically designed for high-altitude surveillance and surprise reconnaissance.
Without hesitation, he twisted his hands forcefully.
With a "crack," the neck of the ferocious bird was snapped, completely extinguishing its life force.
Then, he skillfully dissected the skull and took out a blood-red bead the size of a longan that emitted a faint energy fluctuation—the "Wind Shadow Bead" that records and transmits images!
He focused his mind into it, and ripples immediately spread across the surface of the blood bead, revealing a clear light screen. On the light screen, a defensive map clearly showed that, centered on his current location, numerous key nodes along the great river were firmly controlled by cultivators! Further away, five massive Purple Elite warships patrolled low in the sky like ghosts, while higher in the heavens, even more tiny black dots were scattered—those were even more Wind Shadow Hawks patrolling in a crisscross pattern!
The light screen clearly indicated that once he appeared, he would be detected almost immediately under this tight surveillance network!
Just before the image on the light screen began to blur and was about to collapse, Jiang Xuan keenly saw that in another direction further away, another Wind Shadow Hawk seemed to have sensed the fall of its companion and was fleeing in panic at an extremely fast speed!
"We've been discovered!"
Jiang Xuan felt a chill run down his spine, realizing that his whereabouts had been relayed through another Wind Shadow Hawk.
Without further hesitation, he leaped off the rock face and quickly searched the dozen or so corpses of cultivators, taking useful pills, spirit crystals, and intact crossbows into his pocket. Then, without hesitation, he leaped off again.
With a "plop," it plunged back into the raging river, its figure instantly swallowed by the murky water and disappearing from sight.
A moment later.
A rumbling sound of air being torn apart grew louder as a massive Ziying warship, like a floating fortress, flew over the river area with an oppressive aura. The spirit-patterned cannons on the bow of the ship were already glowing with a ghostly light, locking onto the area below where Jiang Xuan had appeared earlier.
Immediately afterwards, cultivators from other nearby areas also arrived one after another. Looking at the dozen or so still warm corpses on the riverbank and the empty river surface, their faces turned grim.
"He got away again!"
"They must have dived back into the water!"
"That damned mudfish!"
Everyone gritted their teeth, but they were helpless and could only watch as the Ziying warship circled a few times before reluctantly ceasing its charging. Faced with this bottomless, swift, and wide river, even the warship's main guns felt powerless.
Upon hearing the news, Du Xingchuan rushed over. Looking at the bloodstains and corpses on the riverbank, his face was so gloomy it was almost dripping with water, and his chest heaved violently with anger.
At this moment, Xiao Mu walked over carrying the corpse of a Wind Shadow Hawk with its neck twisted off, his expression equally solemn.
"Boss, the other Wind Shadow Harrier has sent back some images. Although they are blurry, they are enough to confirm that the target has appeared."
"This one... its Wind Shadow Pearl has been taken. The target... has already detected our overall strategy."
Upon hearing this, Du Xingchuan's mind went into chaos, and a chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
He finally realized that Jiang Xuan could use the river as cover and his unpredictable underwater concealment to turn their seemingly tight security into prey, picking them off one by one! And they couldn't even touch the hem of his clothes! How could they possibly fight this battle?
A profound sense of powerlessness gripped Du Xingchuan. Although the Ziying warship was powerful, it was unable to play a decisive role with the target deliberately using the river as cover, and instead became a wasteful and useless piece of equipment.
After a long period of attrition, the fighting spirit of their own cultivators was already on the verge of collapse. Facing an enemy who could move freely underwater and launch a deadly attack from anywhere at any time, they had no chance of winning.
Just as he was feeling disheartened, another piece of bad news arrived from the front—a temporary outpost located ten miles upstream had been attacked by Jiang Xuan moments before, and none of the nineteen companions stationed there survived!
When the news spread, the cultivators gathered around Du Xingchuan were in an uproar, their faces filled with fear and irritation.
"Here we go again! What does he want?!"
"At this rate, he'll kill us all one by one!"
"I don't want to stay in this godforsaken place for another second!"
Du Xingchuan's face turned ashen. He forcibly suppressed the panic in his heart and analyzed the situation in a stern voice.
"Calm down! His intentions are clear! He wants to use this river to launch surprise attacks and gradually erode our scattered forces! We can't give him another chance to defeat us one by one!"
He turned abruptly and roared at the messenger.
"Pass on my orders! Abandon all outer outposts! All remaining forces, immediately converge here! Hurry!"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Mu, standing to the side, had a hint of doubt flash in her scarlet eyes and quickly tried to dissuade her in a low voice.
"Boss, while consolidating all forces will prevent a sneak attack, it also means we're giving up monitoring of other areas of the river. What if the target uses this opportunity to slip through the gaps in our weakened defenses and escape..."
"Escape?"
Du Xingchuan abruptly interrupted him, his voice hoarse with anger and frustration.
"Can we even consider whether he can escape now? Let's focus on ensuring the rest of us don't die inexplicably! If we continue to scatter like this, morale will collapse first! Execute the order! At the same time, order all Purple Ying warships and Wind Shadow Harriers to be on high alert and monitor the Great River with all their might. Report immediately if you discover any clues!"
He was now in a difficult situation. With such heavy losses, if he couldn't preserve his remaining strength, he would have no way to explain himself to Chi Cangmei.
With the order given, the remaining forces began to withdraw from their various outposts along the riverbank, converging on the main camp where Du Xingchuan was located like a receding tide.
The whole process lasted until late at night. There were campfires and shadowy figures in the camp, but the atmosphere was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.
Du Xingchuan stood in the center of the camp, looking at the crowd gathered before him, his heart filled with coldness.
He carefully counted the number of men, and including some lightly wounded, only a little over four hundred remained! Keep in mind, at the outset of this operation, they had mobilized a full three thousand elite troops, equipped with six of the latest Ziying warships and a massive amount of combat supplies! Now, one warship was destroyed, over 85% of the personnel had been lost, and supplies were almost exhausted…
Recalling the high spirits he had when he set off and the solemnity with which Miss Chi Cangmei had given him his mission, and looking at the group of wounded, terrified, and dejected soldiers before him, an indescribable sense of indignation and grief welled up in Du Xingchuan's heart.
That boy named Jiang Xuan seemed to have become an insurmountable nightmare in their hearts, a demon from hell! The morale of the group had plummeted, their eyes filled with confusion and despair. Du Xingchuan felt a suffocating tightness in his chest; an uncontrollable urge to retreat was growing and spreading in his mind. What could they possibly gain by continuing this stalemate, other than increasing casualties?
……
Meanwhile, in a river bend downstream from Du Xingchuan's main camp.
A massive Ziying warship was quietly moored in the shallow waters near the riverbank, the light from the spirit patterns on its hull appearing somewhat dim.
Jiang Xuan emerged silently from the river like a water ghost, his soaked clothes clinging to his muscular body, his sharp gaze locking onto the warship.
He knew that the Purple Ying warship was incredibly powerful, but what propelled its massive hull and powerful spirit-patterned cannons were precious high-grade spirit crystals. After several days of continuous patrols and guard duty, the warship must have run out of spirit crystals and was here to replace them and take a short break.
Jiang Xuan was very familiar with the structure of this warship, which he had participated in designing.
Like a ghost in the night, he easily evaded the listless sentries on board and silently leaped onto the cold deck under the cover of shadows.
A cultivator was dozing off against the ship's railing when he suddenly felt a tightness around his neck. Before he could react, a terrifying force snapped his cervical vertebrae. He collapsed to the ground without even uttering a groan.
Jiang Xuan moved without stopping, darting like a cat to the heavy hatch of the control room.
Instead of forcibly breaking down the door, he drew his Flowing Light Battle Blade and, with the tip of the blade like a butterfly flitting among flowers, repeatedly stabbed dozens of times in seemingly inconspicuous grooves and patterns on the edge of the hatch, sometimes lightly, sometimes heavily, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly!
These are emergency mechanism secrets known only to a very few core designers!
With a soft "click," the heavy spirit-patterned hatch unexpectedly popped open a crack inward!
Jiang Xuan flashed inside. The control room was empty, except for the enormous "Spirit Array Treasure Plate" in the center, composed of countless complex spirit patterns, emitting a faint glow. Normally, even when docked for rest, the control room should be staffed, and special incantations and permissions are required to activate the Spirit Array Treasure Plate.
However, perhaps the prolonged fruitless efforts had made the crew complacent, or perhaps no one expected that someone could be so familiar with the warship's structure and sneak up so quietly—Jiang Xuan discovered that the spirit array treasure plate was actually in a "standby" state and was not completely locked!
"Truly... Heaven is on my side."
Jiang Xuan's lips curled into a cold smile, and the cold light in his eyes intensified.
Without pausing, he quickly crossed the control room and opened another door leading to the interior of the ship's hold.
About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he emerged from inside, carrying a faint, lingering smell of blood.
Behind him, the ship's passageway was littered with corpses, and a strong stench of blood filled the air. Clearly, he had cleared out all the cultivators who remained on the warship.
Jiang Xuan walked straight to the huge spirit array plate and slowly sat down.
His deep black eyes were like icy pools, reflecting the shimmering light on the treasure plate, so cold and devoid of any warmth.
This war machine, which embodies the empire's top spirit rune techniques, was once used by the enemy to hunt him down and bombard innocent spirit rune shuttles, leaving his hands stained with blood.
Now, as one of its designers, he will personally take control of it and return this destructive power to its owner!
……
Inside the main camp, after a painful struggle, Du Xingchuan finally made up his mind.
He found Xiao Mu, who was standing silently to the side, his voice hoarse and tired.
"Xiao Mu, get ready... let's... retreat."
"retreat?!"
Xiao Mu suddenly looked up, his scarlet pupils filled with resentment and astonishment.
"Boss! We still have five Purple Ying warships! And hundreds of brothers! Are we just going to retreat like this? How are we going to explain this to Miss Cangmei? We..."
"Explain? You'd have to be alive to get back before you can explain!"
Du Xingchuan interrupted him, his tone tinged with a desperate mockery.
"Look at what we have left! Our spirit crystals are almost exhausted, morale is low, and the enemy is panicking! As for our target, he knows our defenses inside and out and seems extremely familiar with the structure of our warships! If we keep dragging this out, he'll just use up the last of our resources! Then, it won't just be a matter of not being able to explain ourselves, but total annihilation, with not even a messenger left!"
Xiao Mu opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but looking at Du Xingchuan's bloodshot eyes, filled with exhaustion and determination, all his resentment turned into a silent sigh, and he nodded bitterly.
"...Yes, boss. I'll arrange it right away."
Just as Du Xingchuan took a deep breath, preparing to gather the remaining leaders and formally issue the retreat order—
"Buzz—!!!"
In the distance, a deep and loud roar of a spirit-patterned engine suddenly came from the night sky!
Everyone involuntarily looked up and saw a Purple Ying warship moored downstream. The spirit patterns on the ship suddenly lit up with a dazzling light, and the huge ship slowly lifted off the river and into the air!
"What's going on?!"
"Why did that warship suddenly start up?!"
"Have we spotted the target?!"
The camp instantly erupted in commotion, the previously deathly atmosphere was shattered, and everyone nervously looked at the warship that had taken off.
Before they could even figure out what was going on—
"Buzz! Buzz!"
Immediately afterwards, two more Ziying warships started up in different directions, their massive hulls tearing through the night and creating strong air currents!
A glimmer of hope rekindled in Xiao Mu's eyes, and she said urgently.
"Boss! Look! The warships are moving! They must have spotted the target! This is a great opportunity to encircle and annihilate them! Should we wait a little longer?"
Du Xingchuan looked at the three warships that suddenly started up, clearly carrying out tactical maneuvers, and a trace of doubt and luck rose in his heart. He hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said.
"Alright! Let's wait and see! Order everyone to prepare for battle!"
Just then, Xiao Mu suddenly pointed to the warship that had taken off first, his voice filled with excitement. (End of Chapter)