In the hidden passage at the corner of the Seventh Corridor, the three guardians of the branch were holding their weapons, guarding the area.
"They're here," one of the tall guardians whispered.
Rumble~~~
The sound of rumbling came from outside, causing the ground to shake.
The thin guardian walked to the front and looked out through the observation hole. Two huge ice serpents had already arrived, their massive bodies striking the walls of the corner hall, causing the ground to sink and the walls to crack...
"Two ice serpents, they're really ruthless. So many traps and arrays have been destroyed. Fortunately, the traps in the Seventh Corridor have been affected the least," the thin guardian muttered. Traps come in many types, and not all can be destroyed by ice serpents.
"Get ready. Wait for the intruders to enter the hall, then activate the traps," the tall guardian said.
"They're starting to come in, follow my command," the thin guardian said, looking through the observation hole.
...
Dongbo Xueying and the other four followed the two ice serpents inside the inner castle, searching for Lu Huiru! The entire inner castle is octagonal, with eight corner halls.
At this moment, they entered one of the corner halls.
Sibo Rong, holding a two-handed sword, and the black-haired elder Liang Yong walked in front, Yu Jingqiu held a staff and walked in the center, having already cast an ice spell on herself, with a layer of ice armor covering her body.
Dongbo Xueying and Tang Xiong followed behind, on either side and slightly behind Yu Jingqiu.
"This inner castle is quite large. Where could Lu Huiru be hiding?" Sibo Rong said, somewhat anxiously.
"Don't worry."
Yu Jingqiu said, "We'll thoroughly check each place. The inner castle is octagonal, and we've already checked six areas. This will be the seventh. After checking all eight areas, if he's still not found... he must be underground. We'll enter the underground! We'll search each area, and with the Longshan Tower airship monitoring outside, he can't escape!"
"Right," Sibo Rong nodded.
"Rumble—" The ground of the corner hall suddenly began to move, revealing large pits below, each filled with sharp spear tips! The spear tips were deep green, clearly coated with a powerful toxin. Dongbo Xueying and the others quickly dodged, fortunately, the ground had been damaged by the ice serpents, and only part of it moved, with most areas remaining stuck.
So, Dongbo Xueying and the others easily avoided the danger.
"Rumble—" The cracked and twisted walls suddenly collapsed, revealing a large number of mechanical crossbows behind them.
Huge mechanical crossbows, connected by gears.
Countless arrows, thick as thighs, densely covered every wall. Seeing these arrows, Sibo Rong, Tang Xiong, and Yu Jingqiu all felt a chill. Such thick arrows, powered by mechanical gears, would have immense force, and their destructive power would definitely exceed that of a star-breaking crossbow!
"Trouble!" Yu Jingqiu's face changed.
"Defend all sides, each person take one!" The experienced Tang Xiong and Liang Yong shouted almost simultaneously, knowing they were in a life-or-death situation.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The vibration of each arrow being shot was clear, from the front, back, and both sides... arrows came from all directions. Dongbo Xueying and the others were all inside the hall, and the distance to the arrows was at most a few dozen meters, and as close as ten meters. Too close!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh...
The air was torn apart!
Hundreds of thick arrows almost instantly crisscrossed, almost enveloping the entire corner hall.
Fortunately, it was just a trap, and the arrows targeted almost every part of the hall. Only a few dozen thick arrows actually hit Dongbo Xueying and the others.
"Block."
"Everyone, block."
Tang Xiong and Liang Yong shouted.
"Bang!" The black-haired elder Liang Yong, holding a shield in one hand and a battle knife in the other, instantly deflected an arrow. When blocking, he tilted the shield slightly, dissipating most of the force, and the arrow flew off! Even so, he still felt the impact. If hit directly, even with armor, he would be seriously injured, and being hit by two or three arrows would likely be fatal.
"Clang, clang, clang." The white-haired elder Tang Xiong, over 160 years old, held a short sword in each hand, perfectly blocking the arrows attacking his side. These old hands had vast experience.
"Damn, damn." Sibo Rong, also a Silver Moon Knight, was much more panicked, holding a two-handed sword and struggling to block.
Clang, clang, clang!!!
Each high-speed arrow, he, as a Silver Moon Knight, reacted quickly, but his sword skills were not high enough, making it very difficult to block.
A knight's skill is not necessarily related to their combat techniques.
Becoming a Silver Moon Knight only means their martial arts have reached the Silver Moon level. As for two-handed sword techniques? He practiced every day and sparred with experts in his family, but he hadn't even achieved 'sword and man as one,' only having a solid foundation, enough for ordinary battles. But in this life-or-death moment, with ultra-high-speed arrows, there was no time to think about how to block each one; it was all reflex!
"No." Sibo Rong was drenched in cold sweat, suddenly shouting as he finally made a mistake.
"Whoosh." At the critical moment, a shield suddenly extended, barely touching the thick arrow, deflecting it and saving Sibo Rong.
The one who acted at the critical moment was Sibo Rong's guard, Liang Yong.
The black-haired elder Liang Yong almost half of his attention was on Sibo Rong. After all, his mission was to protect him. But the arrows were too fast, and he barely managed to act, affecting his ability to deflect and dodge. He staggered, and the arrows coming from the front became chaotic. Bang, bang, bang... he barely deflected two arrows with his single sword, but the third arrow was too fast.
"Ah." Liang Yong let out a low cry, desperately dodging.
An arrow flew past, tearing through his right arm, and his right arm, holding the battle knife, flew off, blood splattering.
Whoosh.
Soon, all the arrows stopped.
The entire attack lasted only a few seconds.
"Alas, facing such terrifying mechanical arrows at such close range, Liang Yong didn't fully focus on defending, yet he still dared to help that young master Bao Rong. It's lucky he didn't die," Tang Xiong sighed inwardly.
"Old Liang, Old Liang." Sibo Rong, who had escaped, supported the black-haired elder Liang Yong, whose right arm was bleeding profusely. Liang Yong quickly took out a bandage and bit it to tie up the wound, and the muscles and blood vessels in the wound began to contract, slowing the bleeding.
"I'm fine, just lost an arm," Liang Yong said. He wasn't particularly loyal, but he was raised by the Si family, and his family relied on the Si family. If Sibo Rong died, he and his family would be finished, so he had to protect Sibo Rong. If Sibo Rong really died, he would have to die first to prove his loyalty!
"This Dongbo Xueying is impressive. I was using all my strength to block these arrows, but this young man seemed to handle them with ease," the white-haired Tang Xiong glanced at Dongbo Xueying. He had been fully focused and hadn't noticed how Dongbo Xueying blocked the arrows, but now he saw that Dongbo Xueying was calm and composed.
"Pity."
Dongbo Xueying stood at the back, shaking his head. He had a bit of killing intent towards Sibo Rong, but no grudge against the black-haired elder guard. If it were convenient, he could have helped. But he was at the back, and the others were at the front! Dongbo Xueying couldn't reach them in time. If he rushed to save them at his maximum speed... it would put Yu Jingqiu in danger.
Yu Jingqiu was in the center of the group and was a mage, who could only passively endure such arrows.
Three figures suddenly darted out from behind a mechanical crossbow frame, only a dozen meters away. These three figures had the strength of Silver Moon Knights and moved incredibly fast, covering the distance in an instant.
"Be careful."
"Liang Yong." Tang Xiong shouted.
"Master." Liang Yong shouted, holding his shield to block. Two guardians attacked them, clearly targeting the weakest Sibo Rong and the injured black-haired elder. They would deal with these two first, then the rest.
Another guardian rushed towards the mage Yu Jingqiu! A powerful mage, take her out first!
"Stop." Tang Xiong, holding a short sword in each hand, intercepted the guardian.
Dongbo Xueying, at the back of the group, also charged forward with his spear.
...
"Master, let's work together." The one-armed Liang Yong held his shield to block.
Sibo Rong was terrified, grabbing his two-handed sword to block. Clang, clang, clang, the attacking guardian wielded two curved swords with lightning speed, closing in quickly! Clearly, this guardian was more skilled, forcing Sibo Rong to retreat almost instantly. At this moment, he didn't care about the guard's life, or even Yu Jingqiu's.
He retreated, moving to the back of the group, letting others block!
If Sibo Rong had been calm, he and Liang Yong could have held out for a while, and soon Dongbo Xueying and the others would have come to their aid.
But Sibo Rong cared more about his own life, and his choice was to retreat! The guardian immediately turned to slash at Liang Yong.
Liang Yong, with one arm, was already struggling to block. Now, under attack, he couldn't hold on.
"Thud." A curved sword flashed, slicing across Liang Yong's throat. Liang Yong's eyes widened, filled with regret, and then a glimmer of hope. He died in battle, hoping his descendants would be treated well by the Si family. His body collapsed to the side.
Guard Liang Yong, dead!
The first to die in the group!
Silver Moon-level experts fought too fast.
A single strike could be over a hundred times in a second! This shows how fast they fought. The three guardians attacked, and Sibo Rong retreated almost instantly. Liang Yong blocked twice and was killed!
"Whoosh." "Whoosh."
Two spear shadows sliced through the air, snowflakes drifting.
Thud! Thud!
The two guardians who had just killed Liang Yong hadn't recovered when they felt two spear shadows coming at them. Their throats ached, and they clutched their throats, eyes wide, blood gushing out.
"You, you..." They couldn't believe it, it was too fast, the spear technique was too fast.
In one move, both were dead.
The others were stunned!
In fact, Dongbo Xueying had learned the "Mystic Ice Spear Technique" from Senior Guyuan Han, known for its speed. At the Flowing Star level, his spear speed could kill a fifth-stage shadow leopard! Now, even with a casual strike, using only a fraction of his strength, roughly at the Silver Moon level, his spear technique and Extraordinary Knight skills were still terrifyingly fast, easily killing the two.
After all, Dongbo Xueying, besides himself, had never seen anyone reach the Master level, where strength and technique are perfectly integrated, which is very difficult.
Few people could train as diligently as Dongbo Xueying. His father and Zong Ling couldn't! Such diligent training is easy to say but hard to do. Besides diligence, one needs intelligence. Dongbo Xueying had the guidance of an Extraordinary Master spear technique, and he was very smart, constantly summarizing and improving his technique. Through this solid foundation, he achieved 'spear and man as one' and entered the Master level of spear technique.
With daily medicinal baths, daily intense training, the guidance of an Extraordinary spear technique, the practice with many knights in the castle, and a smart mind... all these factors have made Dongbo Xueying who he is today!