Chapter 527: Feng Sha!
"If there is a chance, I will teach them a lesson."
Li Yun spoke calmly. "Alright, let us not concern ourselves with the Chen siblings for now. We should go and carry out the mission."
"Good."
Hearing Li Yun’s words, Lan Yichen was stunned for a moment. Then, his face filled with joy, and he quickly said, "Brother Li Yun, I will lead the way for you immediately."
Under Lan Yichen’s guidance, the two of them stepped directly into the Cloudchain Mountain Range.
Meanwhile, deep within the Cloudchain Mountain Range, a massive stronghold stood atop the largest peak.
This was Heavenly Wind Stronghold, the most powerful stronghold among the Seventeen Cloudchain Strongholds.
However, Heavenly Wind Stronghold was now in complete disarray. Ruined buildings, shattered stone walls, and broken weapons could be seen everywhere. Several corpses lay on the ground with their eyes wide open, and those frozen eyes were filled with despair and unwillingness.
"Father..."
A young man around thirty years old picked up one of the corpses. Tears streamed down his face as he sobbed uncontrollably. Suddenly, he raised his head and roared with grief and fury, "Damn Golden Dragon Hall, I swear I will never coexist with you!"
"Young Stronghold Master, please restrain your grief."
Seeing the young man’s grief-stricken appearance, several sturdy men around him could not help stepping forward and sighing bitterly.
Indeed, this young man whose face was covered with tears was the Young Stronghold Master of Heavenly Wind Stronghold. He was also the strongest member of the younger generation in the entire Seventeen Cloudchain Strongholds, Feng Sha.
Although he was only around thirty years old, he had already reached the 5th level of Earthly Core Realm. He was only one step away from breaking through to the 6th level of Earthly Core Realm.
However, it was fortunate that he had not yet broken through to the 6th level of Earthly Core Realm. Otherwise, he would have been ruthlessly purged by Yue Cangshan and the other two Four-Clawed Golden Dragon Guards, just like his father and several uncles.
"Everyone."
After a long while, Feng Sha gradually regained his composure. His gloomy face became sinister and determined as he revealed a cold smile.
"The Golden Dragon Hall never leaves things unfinished. Since they have already made a move, they will definitely not let this matter end here."
He took a step forward and continued coldly, "If I am not mistaken, the Golden Dragon Hall must have turned us into the targets of the Golden Dragon Guard assessment mission. They want to borrow the hands of those examinees to wipe us out completely. Hmph, the Golden Dragon Hall has made a fine plan, but our Seventeen Cloudchain Strongholds are not so easy to destroy."
Feng Sha’s voice became even harsher as he shouted, "Pass down my order. Send a message to the other sixteen strongholds and tell them to strike with full force. Kill every cultivator who dares to step into the Cloudchain Mountain Range. Remember, kill them all and leave no one alive."
"Yes!"
The several sturdy men around him shouted in unison, and their eyes burned with incomparable hatred.
Just like that, a great battle erupted.
In the blink of an eye, three days had already passed since Li Yun and Lan Yichen entered the Cloudchain Mountain Range.
Lan Yichen truly understood the terrain of the Cloudchain Mountain Range extremely well. As soon as they entered the mountains, he led Li Yun toward the headquarters of one of the strongholds.
Unfortunately, the remaining bandits in that stronghold had clearly prepared in advance. By the time Li Yun and Lan Yichen arrived, the place was already empty, leaving them with nothing.
It was not only one stronghold. Li Yun and Lan Yichen went to three strongholds in total, but all of them had already been abandoned. Even the items inside had been cleared away.
Clearly, there were also capable people within the Seventeen Cloudchain Strongholds.
They understood very well that if they stayed to defend the strongholds, even with experts at the 4th and 5th levels of Earthly Core Realm presiding over them, they would still be easily overwhelmed by hundreds or even thousands of examinees.
However, if they split into smaller groups and relied on their familiarity with the terrain to fight through ambushes and harassment, they could inflict heavy losses on the examinees.
After all, a starving camel was still bigger than a horse. Although the top experts of the Seventeen Cloudchain Strongholds had been killed, they still had ten experts at the 4th and 5th levels of Earthly Core Realm. There were also hundreds of cultivators at the early-stage Earthly Core Realm and Half-Step Earthly Core Realm, along with thousands of Mortal Core Realm cultivators. This was still a formidable force.
During these three days, Li Yun and Lan Yichen encountered ambushes from the remaining bandits more than once.
However, the strength of those ambushers was not especially high. There was no need for Li Yun to act, because Lan Yichen alone could easily kill them.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
On this day, just as Li Yun and Lan Yichen stepped into a valley, a sudden sound of air being torn apart rang out.
Immediately afterward, more than a dozen enormous crossbow bolts shot toward them with lethal force. Each bolt was three meters long and as thick as an arm, and their cold metal tips gleamed with a fierce light.
"Courting death."
Lan Yichen snorted coldly and struck out several palms in succession. With each palm strike, surging essence qi condensed into a giant palm print that knocked all the crossbow bolts away.
In the next moment, more than a dozen cultivators emerged from around the valley. Five of them were at the 1st level of Earthly Core Realm, while the rest were all at the Half-Step Earthly Core Realm. They quickly surrounded Li Yun and Lan Yichen in a circle.
"Kid, your death has arrived."
The leader was a bearded and sturdy middle-aged man. The fire of hatred burned in his eyes as he shouted sternly, "During these past few days, you killed many brothers of my Flying Feather Stronghold. Today, I will skin you alive to avenge them."
"Kill!"
The remaining dozen or so cultivators shouted in unison. Their voices were deafening, and a person with weaker mental fortitude might have been frightened unconscious by that single shout.