As a spy for the army, I naturally knew some important figures from other clans. As for Teng Qingshan... his fame is too immense these days. If one didn't know Teng Qingshan, how could they possibly be a spy?
"Teng Qingshan?" The muscles around Yan Baishou's eye twitched, and he couldn't help but turn his head to look at the Iron Sword Martial Saint beside him.
"It seems the situation is not good."
The Iron Sword Martial Saint's expression shifted slightly. "Brother Yan, let's go ahead and see what's happening." As the clan leader, Yan Baishou was usually under heavy military protection and rarely went to the very front lines. At this moment, he disregarded everything else... and swiftly hurried forward with the Iron Sword Martial Saint.
...
The mountain walls flanking the Fire-Flowing Iron Canyon on Ox Head Mountain were actually two ordinary small mountains of differing heights. The southern one was perhaps thirty zhang high and stretched for several hundred zhang long. The summit of such a small mountain could hold at most a few hundred people. However, the northern mountain was different.
The northern small mountain was about seventy or eighty zhang high, and its summit was broad and level. This mountain, extending for several hundred zhang, could accommodate several thousand people on its peak!
This meant that if several thousand people were positioned on the summit, even if the enemy charged into the canyon, these thousands of people could smash large numbers of enemies by simply rolling rocks down. From seventy or eighty zhang up, even carelessly tossed small stones would possess immense power upon hitting the ground.
Even soldiers with mediocre discipline could understand the importance of this northern low mountain!
It could be said—to seize this northern low mountain was to capture nearly half of the ore vein!
"No matter what, we must take the North Low Mountain," Yan Baishou thought anxiously.
"Greetings, Clan Leader!"
"Greetings, Clan Leader!"
Yan Baishou and the Iron Sword Martial Saint had already rushed to the very front of the army. That continuous stretch of the North Low Mountain was now visible ahead. This nameless low mountain was destined to be recorded in history, yet beneath it gathered a dense mass of soldiers.
And atop the North Low Mountain, a single figure sat cross-legged, a Black Flame Rod stuck upright before him.
The mountain wind blew, stirring his long hair, yet it could not shake his stance!
At this moment, thousands of soldiers gazed upward at the figure seated there—so small, yet conveying an aura of majesty—this was the current number one Martial Saint on Duanmu Continent, the so-called Strongest Martial Saint, Teng Qingshan! His mere presence rendered the vast army helpless.
"It's him!" Yan Baishou's gaze turned cold.
"It is Mr. Teng!" The Iron Sword Martial Saint frowned. He held deep respect for Teng Qingshan, but... this Fire-Flowing Iron Vein was assigned to him by the clan, and the vein was critically important to his Tianfeng Clan.
"Clan Leader," a broad-shouldered, square-faced brute in black armor said anxiously beside him, "Martial Saint Mr. Teng is right up there on the North Low Mountain. Our soldiers simply cannot charge up. The low mountain is hard enough to climb as it is, and only elite soldiers can make it. Martial Saint Mr. Teng merely flicks a few pebbles, and our elite soldiers die. Even if they dodge Mr. Teng's pebbles, falling from the cliff face means being smashed into pulp."
"Clan Leader, we have no options right now," the square-faced man urged desperately.
"What?"
Yan Baishou angrily pointed toward the North Low Mountain. "Look, this North Low Mountain stretches for several hundred zhang. Teng Qingshan is formidable, yes, but he is only one man! I refuse to believe he can simultaneously cover several hundred zhang when hundreds of soldiers climb up from all different spots!"
Several hundred zhang—that's nearly a li!
"Clan Leader, his pebbles are too terrifying," the square-faced man pleaded. "He doesn't need to run back and forth; he just sits there, casually tossing pebbles, and our soldiers are either smashed to death or fall from the rock face and die from the impact."
"Pebbles?" Yan Baishou frowned. "Could it be that he can hit targets across several hundred zhang?"
"Yes," the square-faced man confirmed. "Yes, Mr. Teng's skill with hidden weapons is formidable."
He would never forget the terrifying scene from before—
At his command, hundreds of soldiers began climbing from various directions of the North Low Mountain. Teng Qingshan sat high above, and once the soldiers were halfway up, Teng Qingshan casually tossed some pebbles. These stones didn't strike the soldiers directly, but instead impacted the cliff face!
The force of the pebbles was so great, like small bombs detonating, causing massive loose rocks to tumble down the mountain wall.
Those falling rocks struck the soldiers struggling to climb, immediately causing many to lose their footing and fall. Many soldiers fell in the very first wave, while others who had just started climbing leaped back down to the ground!
Even if they survived the first wave, the second attack began—Teng Qingshan’s pebbles directly targeted the rapidly ascending elite soldiers.
Within the range of several hundred zhang—though for ordinary people, this one or two li distance meant they couldn't even see clearly—having reached the limits of the physical body, the limits the Nine Provinces could sustain, his vision and hearing had long since reached a terrifying level. He saw every movement clearly.
"Mr. Teng!" Yan Baishou shouted loudly.
The voice echoed through the forest; every soldier heard it.
"I implore Mr. Teng to relinquish this North Low Mountain... My Yan Clan will never forget this great favor. Ask whatever you wish, Mr.," Yan Baishou called out.
There was no choice; the hard approach had failed, so they had to try the soft one.
"Hahahaha..." A hearty laugh drifted down from the figure sitting cross-legged atop the summit, echoing across the sky. "Yan Baishou, I see you as a man who understands reason. Why today do you utter such ridiculous words? If you were here, would you give up the North Low Mountain?"
Yan Baishou choked on his words.
...
Among the many soldiers of the Yan Clan army, although many felt anger and shock, they also held a sense of admiration for the figure sitting so casually on the peak! Sitting alone atop the summit, merely waving his hand, yet a few pebbles prevented the mighty army from ascending the North Low Mountain. How could such skill not inspire envy?
In the hearts of many soldiers and martial artists, feelings of admiration and longing arose—a desire to one day become an invincible figure like him on the continent!
...
The Yan Clan army was at a loss. Yan Baishou, Xiahou An, and the Iron Sword Martial Saint gathered together, all troubled by how to capture the North Low Mountain.
They knew clearly...
If they didn't take the North Low Mountain, even if they entered the canyon, they would just be sending their soldiers to die.
"This Teng Qingshan, he is just...!" Yan Baishou was frantic.
"He won't yield to soft or hard tactics," Xiahou An also worried. How could they try force? The opponent was the current number one Martial Saint in the world!
"Seventy or eighty zhang high—using ladders is completely impossible."
"Ropes are useless too."
The Iron Sword Martial Saint had been frowning continuously. Suddenly, his gaze fell upon the tall trees flanking the North Low Mountain. Some of these trees had grown for centuries, even millennia; some were not at all shorter than the North Low Mountain itself.
"Yes." The Iron Sword Martial Saint's eyes lit up.
"Brother Yan, Brother Xiahou," the Iron Sword Martial Saint pointed toward those tall trees nearby.
"What is it?" Xiahou An and Yan Baishou were startled.
"Have the soldiers climb the trees, reach a height roughly equivalent to the North Low Mountain," the Iron Sword Martial Saint suggested with a smile. "Then, throw long ropes across and secure them firmly onto the North Low Mountain. This is essentially creating rope bridges... allowing the soldiers to rapidly reach the mountain via the ropes."
Xiahou An and Yan Baishou's eyes immediately brightened.
"Haha, Brother Helian, you truly are brilliant." The two men were overjoyed.
There was no shortage of giant trees in this mountain range!
And didn't the soldiers all possess strength measured in hundreds of jin? Grasping ropes, they could swiftly dart up the mountain. Those skilled in lightness kung fu could even tread across the ropes, flying quickly to the summit.
Xiahou An's single eye gleamed brightly, excited. "There are easily over a hundred massive trees surrounding the North Low Mountain. Each tree can provide several ropes... Over a hundred trees mean hundreds of ropes. Then, a large number of soldiers can swarm up together, allowing a thousand soldiers to reach the top in a short time."
"So what if he is the Strongest Martial Saint? He is still just a Martial Saint; his Innate True Essence is not infinite. Brother Yan and I command armies totaling over one hundred thousand men! How can he resist? I suspect he will flee the moment our main force ascends."
...
Following the command, a large number of soldiers uniformly began climbing the tall trees situated at the foot of the North Low Mountain.
"Go, quickly!"
"Fast!"
Many soldiers scrambled up the trees like monkeys.
On the North Low Mountain, Teng Qingshan sat cross-legged alone.
"Climbing trees?" Teng Qingshan smiled as he saw some soldiers carrying large bundles of rope. "So they plan to create rope bridges... Indeed, once they finish setting them up, one person might genuinely have trouble stopping so many."
Teng Qingshan then clapped a nearby rock; the rock shook, splitting into a large quantity of fragments.
Teng Qingshan remained seated, grabbing the stone fragments and throwing them out one by one! His fingertip strength, capable of exerting seventy or eighty thousand jin, ripped through the air, causing friction that made the stones themselves ignite completely.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Flames licked the stone fragments as they tore through the void, slamming into the trunks of the tall, centuries-old, even millennia-old trees.
"Boom!" Like a bomb explosion, the trunk of an ancient giant tree was blasted entirely in half, the upper section crashing down.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Blazing stones, like meteors, hammered into the tree trunks.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
One tree after another could not withstand the attack; some were blown clean apart, others snapped halfway, but one by one, the giant trees crashed down. Many soldiers cried out in terror as they fell. The lucky ones broke a leg; others, falling from dozens of zhang high, died instantly.
The collapse of the trees sent waves of agony through the surrounding soldiers on the ground.
"This... how is this possible?"
"How can this be? Such thick trees just snapped?"
Yan Baishou, Xiahou An, and the Iron Sword Martial Saint were all stunned by this terrifying scene.
"How can the power be so great? Impossible!" The Iron Sword Martial Saint shook his head repeatedly. "Stone is not Profound Iron; it simply cannot sustain the infusion of such potent Innate True Essence. How can it possess such power?"
Yan Baishou and the others were dumbstruck, while the soldiers cried out in misery. Only Teng Qingshan, sitting high on the summit, remained completely calm, remaining seated from beginning to end.