Level Up in Martial World

Chapter 191: War: Burn the Castle

In the dim moonlight, it illuminated a stronghold situated on the mountain, where the lights were off, creating an eerily dark atmosphere. Silence prevailed, as if the place was entirely abandoned. In front of the stronghold gates, two men lay, emitting occasional snores.

"Why are you sleeping, old man?"

"Hmm..."

"This old bastard." The man walked up to the snoring man and slapped him right on the head.

The old man's eyes opened in shock as he stood up from the ground.

"You little runt..." the old man was about to draw his sword.

"Wait, old man. What are you doing sleeping on the job? If you kill me, the superior will never spare you..." the man hurriedly said as he back-stepped.

"The superior is having a headache dealing with the Lu family anyway and has been fighting them a lot, so they wouldn't care about these lowly forts anymore. As for the Lu family attacking the fort, do you think they can cross that river?"

"You..."

The old man took out his sword, assuming a defensive stance.

"Are we really going to fight an old man?"

"Of course, we are. How dare you disturb my sleep. I killed my wife when she once disturbed my sleep." The old man's eyes were filled with malice, burning with rage, veins popping from his head.

"This bastard is serious..." the man cursed his luck as he quickly drew his sword from his waist.

The atmosphere became eerie as the two were in a stalemate, the chilling wind blowing over their faces.

However, before they could even move, their bodies started to tremble, and their ears rang.

Shing!

"Huh," the man found his world spinning as he looked at the old man who was now headless.

"What's happening..." was the last thought of the man as his eyes turned lifeless.

Thud!

The two bodies of the old and young guards flapped their hands and feet around as if just registering their deaths, before they fell down to the ground creating a pool of crimson-blackish blood.

Lu Zhen nodded his head, observing the aftermath.

"I never knew swords are still best when used for assassination..." He was holding a simple gleaming black sword in his hand, while fresh and warm blackish-red blood dropped from the blade.

Although Lu Zhen could pretty much imitate the principles of the sword with his body, it was still much better to use the actual weapon because of its reach and other advantages.

"You can all enter now," Lu Zhen said with a frown.

The five captains all nodded their heads.

"Yes, young master, but why are you frowning?"

"It is strange that the Xia family left this stronghold with so few people, even though this is one of their important fortresses which would be their stronghold if they lose..." Lu Zhen said, his frown deepening as he returned his sword to his scabbard.

He tapped into his mental energy and scanned the entire stronghold. Suddenly, his eyes widened as he detected a strong presence.

"Dang it, there was a powerhouse hiding here..." Still, Lu Zhen was relatively calm as he looked at the four captains.

"Can we take out a second-stage martial artist with our army?"

"Yes, young master, it is possible."

Lu Zhen nodded his head as he went out of the castle. "Follow me."

Although the five were confused, they walked out of the stronghold where their army had silently surrounded the entire place.

Lu Zhen walked towards the common centre, with the surprised gazes of everyone, and said in a cold and domineering tone, "Light your arrows with fire and shoot them towards the castle." Lu Zhen's voice was hushed, causing everyone's eyes to widen.

Although his tone was hushed, everyone could hear it, as he had controlled the sound waves to reach their ears and not travel towards the castle.

"But young master..." Li Jiao wanted to object, however, Lu Zhen's expression remained cold and ruthlessness flashed in his eyes.

"Do it," he said one last time with a cold gaze.

"Yes, young master." With that said, everyone put flammable clothes on the arrows and set them ablaze, knocking them towards the bows as they patiently waited for Lu Zhen's instruction.

A sinister smile graced Lu Zhen's lips as he felt the strong presence approaching outside the castle.

While Lu Zhen could sense him, the figure could sense him too.

The moment the figure was close to the gates of the castle.

"Shoot," Lu Zhen roared, and everyone released their arrows at the same time, setting the castle ablaze.

The sky was filled with flames, as if an apocalypse was about to descend directly on the castle.

The bows they carried were all military bows, several times stronger and more powerful than ordinary bows and arrows that normal people could obtain. In fact, these were weapons of mass destruction that major families only brought out when facing war. The arrows fired from these bows were naturally much larger and generated more momentum than an ordinary common bow.

Even a martial trainee would be severely injured with just a single arrow and might even die. The sheer power that these bows could generate was terrifying.

Now, imagine these hundreds of arrows concentrated at a third-stage martial artist; the martial artist would be instantly deader than dead if hit by them.

And if the arrows numbered in the thousands, all concentrated...

Boom!

The castle was engulfed in a fiery blaze as flames burned throughout, making it resemble a fiery hell. The cries of countless people in soul-rendering pain resonated as they were burned alive in the fire.

Lu Zhen's eyes looked towards the castle, as if piercing the fire, where a bald man with a white goatee gazed back at him.

"The fight is on, old man," a smirk marred Lu Zhen's face as he said, "reload and shoot the arrows in that direction."

"Yes, young master." The soldiers fiercely shouted as they knocked arrows in their bows again and shot them in the direction where Lu Zhen pointed.

Every single one of these people was military-trained and was at least an expert at the bow, meaning they could hit the arrows where the target was, at the very least. Although trick shots might be difficult, this was within their capability.

As the shots were fired, suddenly, in the direction where the arrows were shot, a fiery globe or orb appeared, which stunned everyone.

"Don't stop the fire; shoot again," Lu Zhen's voice buzzed in their ears, making them instinctively nock arrows in their bows and fire almost continuously.

"This..." the bald man with the goatee was stunned by the rain of arrows as his anger flared. "This little bastard..." He swiped his hands, stopping all the arrows; however, in moments, more came at him at full speed, which were directly reflected by his shield.

"Damn it, I will run out of Qi if I go on like this..." he thought with fierceness as he looked at Lu Zhen with clear hatred; however, he didn't charge at him like an idiot; instead, he walked back.

"The old man is retreating; now is the time..." Lu Zhen casually took out his sword and aimed it directly at the man.

The place where Lu Zhen stood seemed to crack just from the pressure he applied to the ground before he threw the sword with full power.

Boom!

The sword directly went towards the old man at a terrifying speed, creating shockwaves in the air as it traveled.

"Damn it..." the old man cursed as his expression changed when he faced the sword. However, he wasn't given time to defend, so all he could do was cross his hands and hope for the best.

The sword directly went past the forcefield of the man, making a large wound on his arm.

The bald man grunted as he pulled the sword out of his right arm with a pained expression.

Although the shield or forcefield decreased the power of the attack, it was still powerful enough to cause harm.

However, the man didn't stop running; he resumed his dash at an even more terrifying speed creating shockwaves in the air.

"This is troublesome..." Lu Zhen frowned when he saw this.

"Should I attack or not?" he thought for a moment before disappearing from his position.

"Cease all fire and salvage the remains of the castle. I will be back."

Lu Zhen's voice echoed as the soldiers followed his order, stopping before going to the castle to salvage whatever was left in it.

...

"Damn it, that brat. I prepared so much in the castle to trap him, but all went to the gutters..." the bald man gritted his teeth with anger as he looked around his surroundings.

"If I can meet with the other grand elders, no matter how powerful Lu Zhen is, he will definitely die by our hands." the bald man sneered as if he could already see the death of Lu Zhen.