Lord of the Desert

Chapter 489 A Gathering of Heroes
October 22nd, afternoon.

A hundred miles northwest of Shenjing.

The snow was falling heavily, and the sky turned into a glowing white.

Hong Fan, wearing sand armor, stood against the wind and saw dozens of mountain peaks in the north floating above the heavy snow, like the dorsal fin of a giant beast emerging from the sea.

Shi Yuanwei was wearing a single black garment and holding an armor-piercing steel spear. He stood twenty meters away from him.

"how?"

He folded his spear around his waist, danced with it to make a powerful sound, and asked questions.

"Okay, let's go to the center of the shield."

Hong Fan shaped a sand shield as thick as his plastron and replied.

Shi Yuanwei nodded, holding the spear in both hands with a slightly focused gaze, and shot away from his original position like a ray of black light.

A moment later, the steel spear pierced through the sand shield, revealing a portion of the spear tip.

"One inch and two centimeters."

Hong Fan used his eyes as a ruler to read the data.

"Ten tests, ten penetrations, the killing depth is between one and two inches."

"You look dissatisfied, but this defense is already terrifying!"

Shi Yuanwei thrust his lance into the snow and complained.

"I am now a congenital triple combination, wielding two armor-piercing weapons, using the full force of the Divine Movement Code, but I can barely penetrate the thinner abdominal armor of your sand armor - if I can only use 70% to 80% of my strength in actual combat, then I won't even be able to break your defense!"

Shi Yuanwei was originally a bold and careful person. He had noticed that Hong Fan seemed to be worried these days and was less smiling.

"I originally thought so, Old Shi, but the Iron Demon in Qingzhou really taught me a lesson."

Hong Fan sighed.

"Besides, if a warrior doesn't practice killing techniques, how can he improve his martial arts?"

As he spoke, he mobilized his blazing fire essence to burn the outer layer of the sand armor on his abdomen.

The calf-deep snow under the feet of the two men was rising rapidly, and Shi Yuanwei's face was soon burned red by the heat radiation.

After a few breaths, the high fever dissipated, and the belly armor of the Wild Sand Battle Armor was as smooth as a mirror, inlaid with six highly translucent crystals.

"I call this 'Crystallized Defense Plate'. It will slightly reduce mobility, but can greatly increase defense."

Hong Fan tapped the board lightly with his knuckles, making a short, crisp sound.

"This time you stab me directly."

"Row."

Shi Yuanwei knew that his old friend always made plans before taking action, so he walked back with his spear in hand.

The distance was still twenty meters, and the two tried it three times in total.

The first time the gun tip slipped on the crystallized plug plate, the second time the gun tip bent, and after being straightened, it broke in the middle when measured for the third time.

The strength of ordinary hundred-forged steel is obviously not enough.

So the two of them changed to a Xuan-level armor-piercing gun worth three hundred taels for testing. Although it could stably penetrate the plug plate this time, it was still not enough to hurt Hong Fan's body.

Objectively speaking, this defense is not enough to compete with the Iron Demon, but it is no problem to withstand a few attacks from the Earth God Weapon, Feng Manyun Gangren Blade, and other levels.

"This new killing method works in principle, but I still need more practice to quickly manufacture and deploy the plug-in board in actual combat."

Hong Fan rarely smiled.

"Is this a killing method of at least the first rank?"

This time it was Shi Yuanwei's turn to sigh.

"Alas, when I was in Xijing Prefecture, I always thought I was quite intelligent, and privately laughed at Master Lu Yun and Wu Ruyi for being stupid. Now that I've been with you more, I feel that I'm almost the same as them and it's time to go to the trough to eat." As the two of them chatted and laughed, they took out the frozen roe deer that they had hunted on the way here, and roasted them in the snow.

······
Shenshizheng (four o'clock in the afternoon), Shenjing.

Thanks to Yuzuo Mountain, Diyan Lake and Leiguo Waterfall, the capital of Dahua has neither extremely hot summers nor extremely cold winters. Not only does it not snow at this time, but the temperature is similar to that in the northern part of Zhanzhou. There are also many dahlias and golden osmanthus blooming on the streets.

Hong Fan returned home and recorded the experimental results as usual. He then sat quietly for a while and added some ideas.

[Explosive reflective stream armor: The armor-piercing projectile structure is deployed inside the sand armor, and it is detonated under pressure during close combat, integrating offense and defense. However, due to the limitations of the human brain's computing power, it may only be of practical value when one reaches the True Essence Spiritual Realm.

Fierce sand knife: Combining the characteristics of sand-containing water cutting and gas welding, it uses crystallized sand for high-temperature and high-speed cutting, and its destructive power is much greater than that of the sand flow knife...】

Just as he finished writing a draft, Shen Hong knocked on the door and came in, handing over a gold-plated invitation wrapped in a black sandalwood box.

When Hong Fan removed the sealing wax and opened it, he felt dizzy for a moment.

【Respectfully pay your respects to the Lord

Dear Young Master Hong,

At the end of the year, frost condenses and the sky is bright with auspiciousness.

I humbly wish that Mr. Hong has great talent and brilliant brilliance.

Today, the La drum is bringing in the cold, so we prepare ancient rituals to drive away the evil and ward off disasters, and invite unicorns and phoenixes from all over the world to join in the celebration.

At 3:15 on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the Nuo mask performances and acrobatics will begin; at 2:15 on the afternoon, the banquet will be moved to the shore of Diyan Lake.

The four golden eyes, the black robe and the red skirt, please hold the spear and raise the shield to drive away the plague.

The ice mirror is shining, and the jade slices are spread out, imitating the elegant event of drinking wine by the winding stream.

You are a blazing star in the sky, how can you break your promise to the Queen Mother?

Fei Lian was specially sent with a letter, hoping that the young prince would come with the Longyuan pendant and the jade pendant.

As the cold plum blossoms fall in the snow, I wish to watch the heroes line up with you and draw the map of martial arts together.

此祝
Military prosperity
The Imperial Court conferred the title of Super-Rank Lord of Fengcheng, Shen Huchen, respectfully presents
Zhenghe Yisi Year Dinghai Month Yiwei Day (October 22)]

The end of the invitation was stamped with cinnabar, leaving the four characters "天鉴奉诚".

Hong Fan had been in Shenjing for more than a year and of course knew the reputation of the "Three Dukes and Four Marquises", especially the three dukes among them who had risen to superb ranks for their merits in following the dragon during the Rebellion of the Thirteen Kings two hundred years ago.

"This invitation is so flowery that I can't understand its meaning without reading it several times."

He handed the invitation back to Shen Hong.

"The Second Young Master has been busy with cultivation these days, but Old Shen has long heard people talking about the 'Gathering of Heroes'."

The latter replied.

"A gathering of heroes?"

Hong Fan's expression darkened slightly when he heard this and he sighed.

"It's the party mentioned in the invitation from Lord Fengcheng. It has been held for seventeen consecutive years. Usually, only young warriors who were once ranked in the top twenty of the Tianjiao list are invited, and there are only dozens of people each time. As for the exorcism ceremony, it is actually hosted by the Minister of Rites (the official in charge of ancestral temple rituals, the head of the Nine Ministers), and has nothing to do with Lord Fengcheng's mansion."

Shen Hong explained.

Hong Fan nodded silently.

As the saying goes, a sedan chair is carried by everyone. When Kou Yong, Gu Yixin and Qu Luoyi were on the list, they all traveled around Kyushu - one was to learn martial arts from other heroes, and the other was to increase their personal and sect reputations - and Hong Fan has received many such invitations over the years, but the specifications were never as high as this time.

"Please write a reply for me and agree to this matter. Now that we are at the center of Jiuzhou, it would be good to have the opportunity to meet the peers on the list."

He said.

"Also, check the gift you prepared for Zhan Ye Gong again to make sure there are no mistakes."

(End of this chapter)