If I, a death row inmate, am not to become a demon, am I to become a member of the Imperial Guard?

Qin Shuang leaned on her knife, looking at the smile on Zhou Yang's face.

That smile was strange.

It's like the savage look on a gambler's face before the cards are dealt, having staked everything. Or it's like the indifferent look on a butcher's face before the final sacrifice.

The panic in her heart was actually suppressed by that smile.

As long as he was still standing, she would stand with him.

This thought was crystal clear.

Zhou Yang didn't look at her.

His gaze passed over Qin Shuang, and over the cavalry tide that was slowly approaching two thousand meters behind her.

He saw Batel.

The smugness on the Mongolian man's face was like wildflowers blooming wildly and arrogantly on the grassland.

Zhou Yang is conducting an assessment.

Assess the gap between the two sides.

Late stage of True Essence Realm. This is his current realm, forged by burning his lifespan. But after repeated battles and the constant fleeing, his True Essence has long been exhausted. Every wound, large or small, on his body is slowing him down.

His current combat strength is not even as good as that of a mid-stage True Essence Realm cultivator under normal conditions.

And the other party.

Batel is at the Great Perfection of the True Essence Realm. He's just one step away from becoming a Grandmaster.

His two thousand Azure Wolf Riders were at least at the peak of the Body Refinement Realm. Among them were elites, including many True Essence Realm experts. This was a force capable of flattening any county city.

The disparity in strength, like a leech clinging to his throat, gripped him tightly.

There is no chance of winning.

There is absolutely no chance of winning.

run away?

Impossible. Qin Shuang's warhorse is dead. No matter how much stamina two people have, they can't outrun the iron hooves of two thousand cavalry.

surrender?

Even less likely. The feud between the Heavenly Principle Sect and the Embroidered Uniform Guard is irreconcilable. Falling into Batel's hands would only lead to a fate worse than death.

That leaves only one path.

Zhou Yang's breathing suddenly became rapid. His chest heaved violently, like a trapped beast on the verge of death.

Since we can't fight a conventional war, then... let's fight an unconventional one.

I'd trade my life for it.

He used his already limited lifespan to buy a chance, a chance to escape.

He likes trading.

Is there any fairer transaction in this world than trading your life for it?

Once the thought was made up, Zhou Yang's eyes changed completely.

It was a kind of madness that burned everything away.

"system."

He called out silently in his heart.

The cold, mechanical sound rang out almost instantly.

[Host survival crisis detected, meeting the 'emergency overdraft' protocol.]

Please select the overdraft item.

"Burn your lifespan!" Zhou Yang's will was as sharp as a knife. "Unleash all your power immediately!"

[Transaction plan confirmed.]

[Solution: Burn lifespan to instantly heal all injuries, temporarily restoring true essence to peak condition.]

[Please confirm if it's burning...]

"Three years!" Zhou Yang interrupted the system's prompt.

He couldn't be bothered to listen to those lengthy explanations. Time was running out. He knew his trump card. Three years of lifespan was enough to push his current cultivation level to a brief but brilliant peak.

[Confirmed to have burned three years of lifespan.]

[Fully recovered from the injury.]

[True Yuan Realm late-stage combat power temporarily boosted to peak.]

The moment the system notification sound ended.

An indescribable heat suddenly exploded from the depths of Zhou Yang's dantian!

That wasn't a flame.

That is the purest, most intense heat when the very essence of life is ignited.

The heat surged through his body like a burst dam, instantly engulfing his limbs and bones.

His wounds, deep enough to expose bone, were writhing and churning with visible speed. Severed fascia were forcibly mending, and shattered bones were being straightened by immense force. Blood and grime were squeezed out by newly formed granulation tissue, and within a breath or two, the wounds scabbed over, fell off, and revealed tender new skin.

Severe pain?

No.

That's no longer just pain.

It is a tearing feeling of life being forcibly accelerated, a burning feeling of the soul being ignited.

Within Zhou Yang's body, it was as if a small sun was rising. Every bone in his body was creaking under the strain. Every meridian was stretched to its limit by the violent true energy.

"Hmm..."

A suppressed roar escaped from deep within his throat.

He straightened his back.

His once somewhat hunched back now stood like a javelin, pointing straight to the sky.

A pale golden aura seeped out from the pores of his entire body. Unlike the violent true energy, it carried an ancient and desolate aura. This golden aura seemed to possess its own life; it coiled around Zhou Yang's arm and climbed onto the green steel sword in his hand.

A fleeting, scale-like pattern of light appeared beneath his skin and then quickly disappeared.

If Zhou Yang before was a stubborn rock weathered by time...

At this moment, he is like a piece of refined iron thrown into a furnace, burning red-hot, ready to be forged into a divine weapon!

momentum.

A crazy surge!

The aura that was originally only at the late stage of the True Essence Realm was now steadily rising. Late stage peak... Great Perfection... and then, it broke through an invisible bottleneck.

Although it was only for a moment, and only a false appearance, at that moment, he displayed the strongest combat power below the Grandmaster level!

Qin Shuang, who was standing in front of him, was the first to sense this change.

She felt an irresistible force coming from behind her, as if a mountain was pressing down on her. The air became thick, and every breath was incredibly heavy. She even had the illusion that Zhou Yang in front of her was no longer the familiar companion, but a ferocious beast that had been sleeping for thousands of years, just opening its eyes.

She looked up in surprise and met Zhou Yang's eyes.

Those eyes were frighteningly bright at that moment.

There were no pupils, only a burning gold.

At the top of the slope.

The sneer on Batel's face also froze.

He's not a fool. The fact that he's survived on the grasslands to this day and managed to gather an iron cavalry force is definitely not due to brute force.

His intuition was frantically sending him warning signals.

Danger!

Deadly danger!

The Imperial Guard, who had been like a lamb to the slaughter, suddenly transformed into a lion awakened from its slumber. No, more terrifying than a lion. It was the aura of a predator, the purest predator, emanating from the top of the food chain.

Batel felt a chill run down his spine.

His warhorse also sensed this presence and began to paw restlessly, snorting and even trying to turn tail and run away.

"Calm down!" Batel roared, spurring his horse hard to regain its balance.

He stared intently at Zhou Yang, his eyes no longer showing contempt, but only solemnity and a trace of... fear.

What did this guy do?

How could there be such an amazing change?

Was he pretending all along?

Impossible! That state of utter exhaustion cannot be faked. It is the manifestation of a martial artist's life essence declining to its extreme.

"Release the arrows!"

Battelle didn't have time to think it through.

As a battle-hardened commander, he made the fastest and most correct choice.

Before figuring out exactly what changes have occurred to the other side, nip them in the bud with the longest-range, most saturated attack!

"Release the arrows!!"

He mustered all his strength and let out a second roar.

The command was executed swiftly.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Among the two thousand Grey Wolf Riders, the hundreds of archers in the front row drew their bows almost simultaneously.

The warbows of the Gray Wolf Cavalry were the finest horn bows on the grasslands, boasting long range and powerful penetration. At this moment, hundreds of arrows were aimed at the two men below the slope. The arrowheads gleamed with a cold, chilling light, clearly coated with deadly poison.

The air was torn apart by the violent vibration of the bowstring, producing a sharp buzzing sound.

next moment.

The dark spots, obscuring the sky, resembled a dark cloud, rushing towards Zhou Yang and Qin Shuang.

Every arrow carries the whistling sound of death.

This salvo was enough to turn any target within a radius of ten zhang into a hedgehog.

Qin Shuang's face turned deathly pale instantly.

She tried to parry with her knife, but her weakness made even lifting the embroidered spring knife incredibly difficult. She instinctively looked at Zhou Yang, her pupils reflecting the rapidly expanding cloud of death.

It’s over.

That was the only thought in her mind.

However, Zhou Yang made a move.

He remained completely calm.

Faced with a rain of arrows that could blot out the sun, he simply raised his steel sword calmly.

His movements were slow.

It was as slow as brushing dust off the corner of a garment.

He didn't display any mysterious sword moves; he simply raised the sword to his chest and then swung it forward smoothly.

This gesture was executed with effortless ease.

Yet it was as heavy as a mountain.

The sword's edge sliced ​​through the air.

It didn't cause a stir.

However, a perfectly condensed, semi-circular white blade of energy appeared out of thin air in front of Zhou Yang. The blade of energy seemed to be still, so transparent that it was almost invisible. Only when sunlight shone on it would it ripple like water.

That wasn't sword energy.

It was a blade magnified infinitely, composed of pure true essence.

call out--!

The moment the rain of arrows touched that invisible "blade".

Time seemed to freeze for a moment.

Immediately afterwards, a series of crisp, indistinguishable explosions erupted!

Ding ding ding ding ding—!

The sound wasn't the clanging of metal, but more like countless firecrackers being lit at the same time, creating a storm of metal and flames!

Qin Shuang's pupils suddenly contracted.

She witnessed a scene she would never forget.

Hundreds of unstoppable arrows, upon contact with the invisible barrier, were like arrows striking an unseen diamond wall. The arrowheads shattered first, followed by the sturdy shafts, which were instantly severed, torn apart, and pulverized by the immense force!

Not a single arrow could penetrate it by even a fraction.

A hail of arrows appeared as fragile as paper before this seemingly delicate barrier.

Splintered wood chips and pieces of iron fell from mid-air like a strange snowfall.

The smoke and dust cleared.

Zhou Yang remained standing in the same spot.

The sword in his hand remained in a forward-swung position.

Within three feet of him, everything was clean and tidy.

The ground behind him was covered with a thick layer of broken arrows.

The entire battlefield fell into a deathly silence.

The charging formation of the Wolf Riders became slightly disordered.

All the cavalrymen reined in their horses, staring incredulously at the lone figure below the slope.

What just happened?

Hundreds of poisoned armor-piercing arrows were fired simultaneously, yet they didn't even touch the hem of the person's clothes.

Is this even human?

Top of the slope.

The muscles in Battelle's face were twitching.

His pupils shrank to the size of pinpoints.

He saw it clearly.

He clearly saw Zhou Yang's seemingly ordinary swing. It wasn't some exquisite sword technique, but a pure crushing of power. It was absolute power, forming an impenetrable wall.

That power has already exceeded the scope of the True Essence Realm.

Could it be... that he's already a grandmaster?

This thought, like a venomous snake, gnawed fiercely at Batel's heart.

impossible!

That's absolutely impossible! How could a Grandmaster be a mere lowly Jinyiwei officer? Besides, judging by his age, he's at most in his early twenties!

A grandmaster in his twenties?

You couldn't find a single one like it in the entire Great Qian Dynasty!

Fear gripped Batel's heart like a vine.

Zhou Yang slowly sheathed his sword.

He raised his head, his golden gaze piercing through dozens of feet, and precisely locked onto Batel.

That gaze was cold and indifferent, as if looking at a dead person.

"It's my turn."

He spoke.

The sound wasn't loud, but it clearly reached the ears of every wolf rider.

The moment the words fell.

Zhou Yang moved.

He lightly touched the ground with his foot.

He transformed into a golden straight line, ignoring the terrain and the distance, and charged straight toward Batel's location.

speed.

It's almost at its limit!