Chapter 18: The Death of Qiao Mu
Qiao Mu had already been injured, with multiple cuts and arrow wounds on his body. After going through several battles before, even with a strength of 500 pounds, he was starting to feel tired.
Qiao Mu was surrounded by the bandits. He continuously thrust his long spear forward, each thrust taking the life of a bandit.
His spear technique was newly learned and not yet proficient, but with enemies coming from all directions, he had no room to dodge. Every thrust meant a life.
Similarly, he had no room to dodge either.
This time, he charged alone, facing enemies on a completely different scale. Soon, he had many wounds on his body.
His strength was fading, blood was flowing, but his feet never took a step back.
However, his movements gradually slowed down.
In an instant, four or five bandits swarmed him, and his figure ultimately disappeared from the view of the soldiers behind him.
"Is this... him?"
Old Huang and the other soldiers behind watched this scene, their emotions mixed.
At this moment, they still didn't understand why Qiao Mu charged forward alone, even preventing them from following... but seeing this scene, their hearts felt a pang.
Meanwhile.
A chilling light flashed like starlight, followed by a sharp sound of breaking through the air.
The bodies of the four or five bandits were struck by a tremendous force, flying sideways. In mid-air, their chests collapsed and deformed, sending surrounding bandits flying and creating a small open space around Qiao Mu.
The long spear in Qiao Mu's hand now shimmered with a cold and bright silver light. wherever the spear tip passed, armor was pierced, and blood flowed like a stream.
"Is the leader developing internal strength at this critical moment?"
The soldiers behind felt a sense of joy in their hearts.
After practicing and cultivating their inner power, martial artists can channel it into their limbs or weapons, unleashing a radiant energy.
Amongst these soldiers, only the monk soldier who came from the temple didn't have a joyful expression, but instead let out a soft sigh.
Martial artists can dance on the edge of a knife, breaking through their limits between life and death... Some martial artists can take advantage of the life and death struggle, using it as a whetstone to sharpen themselves.
However, there are limits to this sharpening.
In this siege of a thousand bandits, even a brand new 9th ranked martial artist with inner power could still die!
"Have you cultivated your inner power?" The military officer named Chu on the hill behind furrowed his brows slightly, but quickly relaxed them.
When a martial artist with inner power unleashes their energy, their explosive force can be several times stronger than their physical strength. But Qiao Mu had too many enemies to face, enough to completely exhaust his inner power.
Not only Qiao Mu, but even Military Officer Chu himself.
After reaching the 9th rank, it took him over ten years of diligent training to step into the 8th rank, and the depth of his inner power was several times that of a 9th ranked martial artist. But even he, if placed in Qiao Mu's position, would have no chance of survival, let alone Qiao Mu who just cultivated his inner power.
Thinking about this, he felt a bit lucky in his heart.
"A martial artist who can develop internal strength at the age of twenty either has extraordinary talent or has exceptional perseverance and hard training for many years."
"I underestimated him before, it's fortunate that he was eliminated early. If I report this to the city lord, it will surely be a credit."
Thinking about this, Military Officer Chu's lips slightly curled up. He continued to stay put, preparing to witness Qiao Mu's ultimate demise before joining the battle.
"Will this little bit of internal strength that he just developed be enough for him to last a few more breaths?"
Just as he was thinking about this, he once again saw a flash of light ahead.
The silver-white aura swirling around the tip of Qiao Mu's spear suddenly expanded, faintly tinged with a red blood glow.
He was practicing the newly learned Military Spear Skill, with no fancy moves, just continuously gathering qi and thrusting straight ahead, straight ahead, straight ahead!
The surging aura of the spear pierced through several meters in front, and the strong wind it caused blew away the surrounding bandits.
At this moment, he was surrounded by mountain bandits, but he was the most shining star on the battlefield.
"Something's not right, he has just developed internal strength, how could his internal strength be so powerful?" Military Officer Chu's eyes widened slightly, and he was truly surprised this time.
"No, this must be some kind of explosive secret technique."
"The boss has become so strong?" Old Huang and the other soldiers also widened their eyes, feeling ecstatic in their hearts.
"He's so powerful, he will surely survive, right?"
"I think so, just look at how he kills those bandits like slaughtering dogs!"
At this moment, they even had the illusion that Qiao Mu might be able to survive.
The burly monk-soldier from a certain temple was the only one who was stunned at first, then a bitter smile appeared on his face.
"Heavenly Demon Disintegration Method? He won't survive."
The Heavenly Demon Disintegration Method was so famous that he quickly recognized it.
This is a very famous exploding secret technique that uses self-harm to unleash the body's hidden potential, resulting in a sudden surge of internal strength in a short period of time.
"The boss had just made a breakthrough and cultivated internal strength, which can be said to be a breakthrough in the face of death, finally having a glimmer of hope in life! But why... why did he make such a decisive move and immediately activate the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Method, completely sacrificing his own vitality?"
"Clearly he made a breakthrough, but instead of striving for a top position, he destroyed his own path?"
The key is not about cultivating internal strength. There are many young martial artists who have cultivated internal strength, and there are also those who can make breakthroughs in crucial moments.
The crucial point is that he clearly had a breakthrough in strength and had a chance at survival, but he chose to cut off his own path and go to his death willingly!
He couldn't understand, but he was greatly shocked.
In the gaze of thousands of soldiers, Qiao Mu, armed with a spear, charged into the midst of the bandits, leaving chaos and people falling to the ground wherever he went.
Five breaths.
The dazzling light on Qiao Mu's spear slowly faded away.
Ten breaths.
The fierce light on the tip of Qiao Mu's spear completely disappeared. He had used up all the internal strength he had just cultivated. Blood seeped out from his pores, his meridians were broken, and he had become a bloody figure.
Fifteen breaths.
Qiao Mu's arms trembled, excessive loss of blood drained the color from his face, and even his physical strength was almost gone.
Twenty breaths.
Qiao Mu had lost his breath and died from exhaustion and severe injuries.
He stood at the forefront of the battlefield, leaning on his spear. His body had not yet fallen, and he turned his back to the soldiers behind him. His clothes were stained red with blood, and there were almost mountains of bandit corpses at his feet. Within a radius of twenty meters, no bandit dared to approach.
"Did... he die?" The bandits held their knives, and their voices trembled slightly, showing fear.
"Why don't you give it a try?"
"Why aren't you going?"
"Surely he's dead, don't believe me? Give it a try!"
The bandits discussed among themselves, then made the same decision without saying a word.
Go around.
The remains of the person still held power.
Like a tidal wave, the bandits split apart on both sides, avoiding the mountain of corpses in the middle and the young body that, with a long spear, remained standing.
Eventually, this isolated reef was separated by the tide.
Qiao Mu, deceased, aged 20.
