Invincibility starts when I see the BOSS health bar.

Chapter 1031 Gap
After passing through the last two streets filled with tension, the towering outline of the West Gate became clearly visible ahead, and the figures of the guards moving around the gate could even be faintly seen.

Xi Di's tense face finally broke into a relieved smile, and the heart that had been hanging in his throat seemed to relax halfway.

Once you leave this city gate and reach the vast wilderness outside the city, you'll have many more paths to choose from, and the difficulty of being accurately tracked will increase exponentially. The main thing to worry about is the invasion of demons in the wild.

Moreover, according to the pre-signed contract, as long as the goods successfully leave the city, the subsequent escort mission will be entirely the responsibility of Baron and his guard team. He, the eldest son of the Xi family, will have successfully completed his mission and can turn back to the capital to wait for the guard team to complete the mission and reap a generous reward.

Just as he was beginning to plan how to use the huge sum of money and the expanded network he gained from this transaction to gain face in front of his father and truly begin to implement his grand plan to expand the Xi family's branch.

Baron, the guard captain who had been on high alert and walking at the front of the group, suddenly changed his expression without warning!

The composure and ease he had maintained vanished instantly, replaced by an extreme solemnity, as if facing a formidable enemy, even tinged with fear!

Almost entirely relying on his fighting instincts honed from countless brushes with death, he suddenly took a powerful stride, his imposing figure like a teleporting iron tower, completely blocking Xidi's horse and separating him from any potential danger from the front!

The very next instant after he completed this guarding action!

Whoosh-!
A blurry blue figure, like lightning tearing through the night sky or a predatory owl, swooped down from the roof of a shop three zhang high, with a speed beyond the limits of human vision and an incomparably fierce momentum!

Before the person had even fully landed, an extremely condensed sword aura had already taken the lead, tearing through the stuffy air like an invisible blade, with a sharp whistling sound that made one's scalp tingle. Its target was not Baron, nor Siddi, but rather it was aimed precisely at the carriage covered with black cloth that Baron was protecting behind him!
This sword strike was fast, ruthless, and accurate, containing the determination to kill with a single blow!
"when--!!!!"

A clang of metal, louder and more deafening than when Baron cleaved the enemy's weapon, seemingly piercing the soul, suddenly exploded like a thunderclap on the street that was about to reach the city gate!

At the critical moment, Baron once again demonstrated his amazing reaction and strength as a master of the Mind and Soul Realm. The scimitar that had just been sheathed seemed to come alive and was drawn again, carrying the pure internal energy surging throughout his body, to block the sudden and terrifying sword strike!
At the center of the collision, blinding sparks burst forth like fireworks!

"Well!"

A tremendous force surged through the blade like a raging torrent!
Baron felt a slight tremor in his arm, and the thick bluestone slabs beneath his feet cracked and splintered as he deflected the force. Several tiny, spiderweb-like cracks spread across the ground. He was also forced to stagger back three steps uncontrollably by the hasty parry and the immense power from the sword.
Each step left a clear footprint on the stone slab!

The azure figure who launched the sneak attack used the immense recoil from the violent collision to deftly turn in mid-air as if weightless, landing steadily on the open ground about three zhang in front of the group, like a light feather. The long sword in his hand pointed diagonally at the ground, its blade gleaming and emitting a faint hum.

Only then did the still-shaken Xidi and his guards realize that behind the woman in green who had made the move, two other figures had silently appeared, like ghosts.

One person had a cold and stern face, and his aura was restrained, yet he gave people a sense of profoundness and danger, as if they were facing an endless ocean.

The other woman was slender and had a half-smile on her face, an expression of great interest, as she scanned their disheveled group with the same eye you would use to appraise prey.

Baron ignored the surging blood in his chest; his gaze was fixed on the two men who hadn't yet made a move, as if drawn by a magnet.

The mere presence of those two people gave him an almost suffocating sense of oppression and a deadly threat!
His brows furrowed tightly, and his gaze abruptly shifted back to the arm of the woman in green who had just attacked, which was radiating a faint glow. His voice, tinged with undisguised surprise and heaviness, was almost forced out through clenched teeth:
"...An amplification formation?!"

Zhuge Shi, who made the move, did not pose a fatal threat in Baron's eyes, based solely on the power he emitted. With his cultivation at the Soul Realm, he was confident he could suppress him.

But the problem was that the array patterns that lit up on her arm, and the two people behind her, especially the young man in the blue robe, made his soul tremble just by standing there!

This feeling is ten times, a hundred times more dangerous than that rabble of "masked men" from before!
This escort mission, which was thought to be a sure thing, is likely to encounter huge setbacks, and may even... not end well!

Baron's breathing became heavy and rapid involuntarily, his chest rose and fell slightly, and his knuckles turned white from gripping the scimitar too tightly.

A fine layer of cold sweat even seeped from his forehead, something he had never experienced before when facing that group of "masked men".

Having roamed the martial world for many years, his intuition for danger far surpassed that of ordinary people. The three people in front of him, especially the young man in blue who remained motionless, gave him a sense of oppression as if he were facing a volcano that could erupt at any moment.

Xidi was terrified out of his wits. He scrambled off his horse and stumbled behind Baron's burly body, his voice trembling uncontrollably as he asked in a low, urgent voice, "Lord Baron... he, they...?"

There's really no need to ask. Just by looking at Baron's reaction, which was as if facing a formidable enemy and even revealed a hint of fear, you can tell that the enemy he's encountered this time is completely different from the small fry he just dealt with. It's a truly deadly existence!
However, at this moment, Baron didn't even have the energy to pay attention to the panic of the young master who was his sugar daddy.

His brain was racing, fiercely weighing the pros and cons.

Should they continue the mission, risk their lives to protect the goods, and gamble with their own lives to win that hefty commission and the favor of the Xi family?
Or... should we decisively give up, immediately withdraw, and prioritize saving our lives?

The opponent's strength is unfathomable, especially that young man; I'm afraid... I wouldn't even be able to withstand a single move!
Is it worth risking your life for money? A variety of thoughts flashed through his mind, making his expression change and making it difficult for him to make a decision.

Just as he was struggling with his inner turmoil, the woman opposite him, who had just fought him and whose arm array light was slowly fading, parted her lips slightly. Her voice was clear and cold, yet carried an undeniable certainty, directly stating their objective:

"The body is in their hands."

This statement is like throwing a boulder into a calm lake!
The guards, who were already tense because of Baron's solemn demeanor, became even more panicked in an instant. Their palms, which were gripping their weapons, were covered in cold sweat, and they looked at the three figures opposite them with fear in their eyes. Their formation even showed a slight disturbance.

They had just witnessed this woman force Captain Baron to retreat with a single sword strike!
Even Captain Baron, who was at the Soul Realm, was briefly suppressed. Just how terrifying must the other two, who hadn't made a move yet, be? These were simply enemies they couldn't possibly contend with!

Gao Meng stood beside Fang Yu and spoke softly, her tone casual as if discussing the moonlight, yet she uttered the most ruthless words: "Young Master Diao, shall we kill them?" Her gaze swept over the group of people opposite her, who looked as if they were facing a formidable enemy, as if they were lambs to the slaughter.

Fang Yu did not answer immediately. His gaze swept over the tense crowd, first glancing at Xi Di, who was being protected at the very back and pressed tightly against the carriage, and then his eyes fell on the top of Baron's head, who was blocking the front and whose face was ashen.

[Baron: 8964/9872].

A Soul Realm martial artist with less than 10,000 HP...

Fang Yu shook his head slightly, his tone calm and even: "You don't need to take action."

Gao Meng taking action? That's like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, making a mountain out of a molehill.

As for Zhuge Shi... Fang Yu glanced at her. The sword strike that this girl unleashed just now, thanks to the amplification array recorded by Ding Hui, was indeed amazing and caught Baron off guard.

However, if they really went all out, given her peak Wood Realm cultivation, once the formation's effect weakened, Baron would quickly discover the problem. At that point, let alone taking her down quickly, it would be good enough if she could even remain undefeated, let alone defeat her opponent.

His target, from beginning to end, was only that bone tiger corpse.

With his mind made up, Fang Yu said no more. He moved like an arrow and rushed straight toward the heavily guarded defensive line!

"He's coming! Stop him!"

"Form ranks! Form ranks now!"

"Protect the carriage!!"

Seeing Fang Yu charge into the enemy lines alone, the guards, though terrified, were driven by their survival instincts and sense of duty. They shouted in panic, mustered their remaining courage, and hastily formed a defensive formation in front of the carriage, swords pointed outwards, attempting to create a human wall.

Xidi, his eyes bloodshot and looking like a madman, stood firmly in front of the carriage, brandishing his longsword and roaring hysterically, "Trying to steal? He'll have to step over my dead body first! Block him! Block him with all your might!"

He knew that if he lost this shipment, all his ambitions and investments would be in vain.

However, among everyone present, only Baron, who was the strongest, had his pupils suddenly shrink to the size of pinpoints the moment Fang Yu launched his charge!

He could clearly "see" that the air around the other person seemed to be drawn by an invisible and terrifying force, and began to emit a low hum centered on him, faintly forming spiral air currents that were difficult to detect with the naked eye!
This control over power has gone beyond his understanding of "qi"!

Gao Meng narrowed her alluring eyes slightly, a hint of appreciation and understanding flashing within them.

Just as Fang Yu's figure was about to collide with the hastily formed defensive line of the guards, he whispered:
"Qi explodes in Tianxuan."

boom! ! ! !

There was no earth-shattering explosion, but an overwhelming and terrifying spiral of energy, like a destructive tornado born out of thin air, suddenly erupted from Fang Yu as the center!
In an instant, sand and stones flew, and dust filled the air!
Those guards who were at the forefront didn't even have time to scream before they were lifted into the air like scarecrows grabbed by an invisible giant hand, powerless to resist!

Their formation, their swords, their courage—all seemed so laughable and fragile in the face of such absolute power.

His body spun and collided uncontrollably in the air, then was violently flung in all directions, crashing into the surrounding walls and the ground, producing a series of dull thuds and the sound of bones cracking, instantly losing all fighting ability.

Even the strongest of them, Baron, could only hold out for half a breath longer in the face of this terrifying spiraling energy!

He roared and slammed his scimitar into the ground, trying to steady himself, but the immense power was something he couldn't possibly withstand!
His entire body, along with the scimitar he had stuck in the ground, was uprooted and thrown out like a kite with a broken string!
Strangely, the carriage carrying the bone tiger's corpse, and the tin huddled tightly around the wheels, seemed to be in the eye of the storm. Apart from being blown about by the air currents and the black cloth fluttering in the wind, they remained perfectly intact in their original positions!
Fang Yu's control over power has reached an unparalleled level!
"Pfft—!" Xidi slammed heavily against the wall next to him, then slid down, coughing up a mouthful of blood, as if his internal organs had shifted.

He stared blankly at the mess before him, his men lying scattered on the ground, and then at the lone carriage parked in the middle of the street. His heart felt cold and ashen.

It's over...it's all over...this mission has been a complete failure.

All ambitions and all investments have vanished into thin air.

However, just when he was in despair, another unexpected event occurred!

Baron, who was thrown away, mustered his inner energy in mid-air and stomped heavily on the wall behind him. Using the rebound force, he charged towards Fang Yu again like a mad bull, his eyes bloodshot and filled with a resolute aura!

The curved blade in his hand hummed under the strain of the intense internal energy poured into it!
"Lord Balon!"

A faint glimmer of hope rekindled in Xidi's eyes. Could it be... that this expert still had a trump card up his sleeve? Was he going to fight to the death?
But he didn't know that Baron's thoughts at that moment weren't about professional ethics or completing the mission.

He was just unwilling to accept it!

Unwilling to accept that the Mind and Soul Realm he had painstakingly cultivated for many years was so easily defeated in front of his opponent!
He simply wanted to use his last bit of strength to personally experience just how vast the gap was between himself and such a top-tier expert!
(End of this chapter)