Alone and Infinite.

Chapter 318 Spark and Hope

Kobis was shocked to discover that his once-luxurious pursuit team had unknowingly dwindled to just himself and his Eagle Riders.

Like the maggot below, which is fleeing in a sorry state, it is covered in wounds but still doesn't fall down.

And it runs very fast.

The maggot's body was harder than that of a normal stone man. It was alright, but the arrows that the Eagle Knight usually used were almost useless.

Only the armor-piercing spikes specifically designed to deal with stone golems are effective.

The armor-piercing cone was heavy and required momentum to strike, but the maggots were extremely agile and had a keen sense of danger.

In addition, the environment below was complex, and he often had to travel through the caves carved out by the stone men, making it difficult to seize an opportunity to attack.

Kobis stared coldly at the figure below, watching him disappear into the cave once again, and waved his hand to stop the Eagle Rider from giving chase.

"Just flip over, we'll block him from the front."

This land, being a frequent frontline of war, is familiar not only to the Stone Golems.

Griggs was also familiar with the area; beyond these mountains lay a valley, the only way through.

There was no cover there.

The wind in the valley is cool and carries the fragrance of grass and trees and the moist air.

This is Kobe's favorite scent, and soaring through this sky is also his favorite activity.

Only at this moment did he feel free, and the sky was his limit.

The jet-black eagle wings shimmered, and wisps of mist swept across the wingtips, leaving clear trails.

Even the anger over Scarpo's death and the anxiety from the pursuit had lessened considerably.

He finally spotted a familiar figure atop the last mountain range before the canyon.

A figure so familiar it's almost unforgettable.

Kobis raised his hand, and the eagle riders behind him, like a dark cloud, all stopped and circled in the air.

He slowly descended to the mountaintop, looking at the stone figure holding a stone pencil, constantly writing and drawing on the stone slab.

This stone figure looks completely different from the other stone figures; its skin appears much whiter.

Even the stone figure's unique markings were unusually faint, and it was much shorter than a normal stone figure.

His face was unusually gentle; in short, he was a completely different kind of guy from a normal stone figure.

But Kobis didn't relax at all; on the contrary, his vigilance was instantly raised to the highest level.

He stared at him as if facing a formidable enemy.

Ge Zhuo was also called a 'painter' because he liked to write and draw things on stone slabs that the stone men couldn't understand.

Legend has it that he was an undeveloped stone embryo among the stone men, while another legend says he was the offspring of the stone man and Grigg.

But Kirby believed the second theory was pure nonsense, because it was absolutely impossible for Grigg to marry a stoneman.

Even if Griggan and the Stone Man had a brief period of good relations, they could not possibly marry.

And can Griggan and the Stone Man produce offspring?

But none of that matters. What matters is that the 'painter' possesses wisdom and strategy that ordinary stone figures lack.

In the war between the two races, Griggan also experienced defeats and even crushing losses, although local battles did not affect the overall situation.

But these crushing defeats still made Griggs remember a stone man.

'The Painter' Ge Zhuo!
The stone man, who can create miracles even in extremely unfavorable situations, is even the reason for the current standoff between the two races.

Otherwise, according to the previous strategic plan, the Stone Golem race should have been completely wiped out.

Legend has it that the painter is dead, but unexpectedly he appeared here.

Kobis looked at the artist intently drawing on the slate and said in a low voice:

"Did you plan this theft of the sacred relic? You should know that stealing the sacred relic is pointless."

This will only hasten the destruction of the stone men!

He was extremely wary of the painters, and the greatest defeat of the entire Griggs Air Cavalry was a gift from them.

Even if the painter were standing right in front of him right now, seemingly someone he could kill with a flick of his wrist.

Kobe still doesn't dare to attack directly; there must be a trap involved!

This is the painter's illustrious reputation!

"Do not--"

The painter finally stopped what he was doing, stood up, and smiled at Kobis:
"I didn't plan this operation, but I was in charge of the second half of the evacuation plan."

He counted on his fingers and said, "There are four pillars in the entire Southern Territory. The Imperial Sword, Scapo, is the strongest and most cautious."

If the situation turns unfavorable, in order to maintain stability, they will definitely invite the other three pillars to come and help.

However, the special domain of the sacred relic rendered a large number of ordinary soldiers useless.

Therefore, only you, as the vice commander of the Sky Cavalry Legion—Wings of the Empire—have led your strongest Eagle Knights to this place.

First, you are fast and agile enough.
Secondly, your individual strength is sufficient to barely resist the domain of the sacred artifact.

The painter held nothing back, revealing his thought process in its entirety:

"Poison Arrow Robbie seemed the calmest, but he was an anomaly; his beloved adjutant was killed by a stone bullet."

Because they are different, their love is all the more precious.

Upon seeing the stone bullet, he would disregard everything, seeking only to avenge his adjutant.

The Imperial Wall, Bronn, was the most prudent. He knew how much failure to hold off the stone wall alone would affect the pursuit.

Finally, it's you—"

The painter touched Kobe with his brush:
"When you find that the area is full of caves and it is not convenient to pursue them, you, who hate trouble the most, will choose to cross the mountain range and block them in that valley."

So I'm waiting for you here.

Kobis suppressed his shock. The painter's words were simple, but there was definitely more to it than that.

Even the possibility of him appearing here is very small.

His murderous intent grew stronger, and he even began to consider whether, disregarding everything, his men could break through the painter's arrangement.

Kobes was also somewhat worried about whether he and these people were—

"Are you thinking of giving everything, even yourself and the Eagle Knights, to replace me?"

The painter's voice remained calm, even carrying a hint of amusement.

Was this really within his calculations?

Corbis gripped his weapon tightly. The painter was right; he was an extremely averse to trouble, or, from another perspective, an indecisive person.

He was able to become one of the Ten Pillars because his family background and talent were so good that he didn't need to work hard. He could easily become one of the Ten Pillars by simply relying on the pair of eagle wings passed down in his family.

"Corbis—"

The painter sat down, pushed a cup of tea towards him, and poured himself one, as if he were saying something that couldn't be refused:

"I'll give you a chance."

"Say"

“You stay here. Your Eagle Riders can continue the pursuit. That’s all I want.” Kobis stopped talking, a fierce struggle beginning to unfold within him.

Stay behind for yourself?
That maggot was no match for hundreds of eagle riders.

Even the strongest Imperial Pillars could only flee in defeat when faced with several hundred Eagle Knights whose strength ranged from centurion to chiliarch.

"Who knows if there's a trap behind you, trying to ambush and kill my Eagle Knight?"

"No, this wasn't originally an operation by the Stone Clan. If it were, it would have been an operation launched by us with all our might."

Your holy land is gone, and what awaits you is not us alone, but the final strength of the stone men.

The painter shook his head, looked at him, and said:
"So this is an opportunity, a gamble between us. You stay here, and the Eagle Rider continues the chase."

This is the condition for continuing.

"Not the actions of the stone men?"

Kobe sneered:
"Then why are you here? Was the theft of the sacred relic also an individual act?"

"Is this just a transaction?"

"A trade? What are you trading? What will you get in return? I've already said that there's no point in stealing the sacred artifact anymore."

Obtaining or destroying the sacred relic will only hasten your demise.

The painter suddenly laughed, and Kobis then realized that the person in front of him seemed quite young, and his laughter had a radiant quality.

He looked at the painter, who was smiling, and slowly said:

“What we have obtained is very precious, far more valuable than the sacred objects.”

The painter pointed to the stove he used to boil tea:
"It is hope and a spark."

Li Xia was panting heavily, still running at high speed, his body pulsating with each step.

The muscles are arranged with extremely smooth lines, possessing a unique aesthetic appeal.

Sweat mixed with blood creates a peculiar pale color.

Aowu and Heitan gripped the ends of the armor-piercing spikes with some trepidation. Their muscles, taut from running, clamped the spikes tightly around them, making them penetrate very deep into their flesh.

Even just pulling it out was extremely difficult.

"Bah!"

The howling claws gripped the end of the armor-piercing cone with the small hole and pulled it out forcefully.

Li Xia's body trembled, and a stream of bright red blood spurted out. His muscles twitched rapidly, and the blood flow gradually decreased.

A faint white light emanated from the wound, which was the true qi spontaneously gathering at the wound.

Wisps of smoke began to rise from the wound, but even the powerful regenerative ability was insufficient in the face of such an injury.

Li Xia had countless wounds of all sizes on his body.

Xiao Long remembers pulling out more than twenty armor-piercing spikes by just constantly retrieving them.

The armor-piercing cone was also filled with a strong acid liquid, which was probably specifically designed to deal with stone men. It was extremely corrosive and would be difficult to suppress without the suppression of true qi and the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts.

If it were a pure flesh and blood body, it could be instantly melted into large holes.

This syringe-like structure renders even antidotes ineffective.

It was this acid that kept causing the wound, which should have been healing slowly, to bleed continuously.

Li Xia ran all the way, and blood flowed all the way. Even if this kind of injury were on a normal mid-to-high-level third-tier apostle, he would have already crouched down and started healing on the spot, or simply couldn't withstand it and died.

It's only because Li Xia's body is so incredibly strong that he can continue running at high speed.

Li Xia slowed down a bit. These culverts weren't long. Hei Tan had made it clear when they met that the painter wasn't confident he could hold out for long.

The longer it goes on, the greater the probability that the enemy will launch a full-scale attack. Right now, it's just the southern army. If it goes on for too long, the troops stationed at the passes and Dragon Road will be under full pressure from the Griggs court and will launch a full-scale attack.

The stone men were powerless, and due to Griggan's brutality, they had largely reached a consensus.

That means they don't want to have children. They don't want their children to be ground into mincemeat and turned into mud by Griggs after they are born, to be used to irrigate their deformed offspring.

Without newborns, there is no back support.

The last remaining force consisted of the few able-bodied men left in the hands of the resistance fighters.

Therefore, the only way to break the deadlock is to climb Tianbi Mountain.

Tianbi Mountain is over 20,000 meters high. The lower part can be approached by flying, but as you go higher, a strange force prevents you from flying.

The only way to get up there is to climb. Even if there are many people in Griggs, there is no other way to get up to Tianbi Mountain except to climb it.

Therefore, Li Xia had no time to waste and had to race against time!
"Ouch, rinse it with clean water!"

Li Xia was breathing heavily, but even so, he only changed from sprinting to running quickly.

"Okay, boss, just bear with it."

Aowu manipulated the water in the bottle, accurately flushing it into the wound. The large amount of water washed away the remaining acid and blood.

Just looking at it makes one's skin crawl, let alone Li Xia after she was washed.

The wound writhed and squeezed out the fluid, and wisps of blue smoke rose from the flesh and blood once again. This was a special phenomenon caused by the rapid regeneration and the frantically increased temperature being cooled down. Basically, any creature with super regenerative ability would exhibit this behavior.

Aowu and Heitan even curiously tested it and found that the highest temperature during rapid wound healing could reach seventy or eighty degrees Celsius!

It's only because these superhuman beings, the Apostles, can withstand this temperature. If it were a normal person, their cells might just stop working due to such high temperatures.

A tiny light appeared at the end of the road, and soon it grew stronger.

Suddenly, a wide valley appeared before us.

In the valley, large flocks of eagle riders were circling low in the sky. When thousands of eyes were focused on Li Xia, it felt as if they were actually there.

Aowu and Heitan felt as if their bodies had stiffened, staring at the dark shadows filling the sky, the mournful cries of the eagles sounding like the death knell.

"That painter is quite skilled."

Awoo is still being stubborn:
"They actually managed to keep that winged birdman. If only they could have kept these eagle riders as well."

"Meow!"

Black Charcoal looked around absentmindedly, which piqued Awoo's curiosity:

"Who are you looking for?"

"Meow!"

"Stonemason? No matter how good a stonemason is, can he withstand so many eagle knights? Even when the boss was at his peak, he would have had to run if he encountered so many. They are all elites!"
Each one of them could take on a hundred!

Aowu expressed disbelief, saying that an enemy of this magnitude and quality could not be resisted by a third-tier individual. It was like how even if Dongfang Bubai was incredibly powerful, she would still have to turn her back if she encountered eight hundred Yue Buquns.

Eight hundred ordinary cavalrymen can be disregarded, but eight hundred centurions deserve respect.

Just then, at the other end of the valley, a stone figure pulling a wooden cart the size of a small mountain stopped in its tracks.

He straightened up, and his hunched back seemed to straighten up at that moment.

His aged face gazed at Li Xia, then suddenly roared:

"Keep moving forward, don't stop!"

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1. Monthly pass 2. Recommendation vote

Something happened, but somehow I got caught up in it.
(End of this chapter)