High Martial Arts: Enlightenment after Practices

Chapter 422: Chapter 422: West Seventh District

"Captain Xu." Su He stepped forward, his tone respectful.

"I’m leaving the East Third District," Xu Wuyi said directly. "For your upcoming missions, follow Steward Qiao’s arrangements."

The five of them were stunned for a moment.

Li Rui couldn’t help but ask, "Captain, you’re not taking us with you?"

"The West Seventh District is too dangerous," Xu Wuyi replied. "If you came with me, you’d only slow me down and increase the risk."

Chen Xiaoyu opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately kept silent.

She knew Xu Wuyi was right. With their level of strength, going to a place like the West Seventh District would indeed make them a burden.

"Understood." Su He nodded. "Be careful out there."

Xu Wuyi grunted in acknowledgment and said no more.

He shouldered his pack, picked up his long spear, and turned to walk out of the camp.

Beneath the dark red sky, his figure quickly vanished at the edge of the scorched plain.

Su He and the other four stood in place, not moving for a long time.

"Captain, what do we..." Zhao Cheng began in a low voice.

"We carry out the next mission," Su He interrupted him, his voice calm. "Captain Xu has his path to walk, and we have ours."

He paused, then looked at the other four. "Remember how you feel today. Remember what it’s like to trail behind a powerhouse, easily earning merits."

"And then ask yourselves one question: Do we want to keep living like this?"

The five of them fell silent.

They knew the answer.

No.

No one wants to be a sidekick forever, always trailing behind someone else, picking up their scraps.

They too wanted to be like Xu Wuyi—to go in alone, slaughter their way through enemy camps, and prove their worth through strength.

"Then get stronger." Su He’s voice was soft, but every word hammered into the hearts of the other four. "Strong enough that one day, we won’t need to rely on anyone to stand firm on the Star Realm Battlefield."

"Strong enough that one day, others can rely on us."

The night was deep.

Five figures stood in the camp, gazing in the direction Xu Wuyi had disappeared, a fire called ambition burning in their eyes.

Meanwhile, Xu Wuyi was already twenty kilometers away.

...

After leaving the Dongjiang Battle Group’s camp in the East Third District, Xu Wuyi opted not to use any form of transportation.

The environment of the Star Realm Battlefield was unique; flying through the air made one an easy target, while ground vehicles left obvious energy trails.

The best way to travel, conversely, was the most primitive: walking.

Beneath the dark red sky, the scorched plain stretched out endlessly.

Xu Wuyi retracted his Power of Heart Image to its absolute minimum, maintaining only a basic perception range of about twenty meters.

This distance was enough to warn him of most sudden dangers without revealing his position due to excessive energy fluctuations.

His pace wasn’t fast, but every step landed in the perfect spot, avoiding soft layers of ash and hidden fissures in the ground.

This was a habit he had developed while operating behind enemy lines on Celestial Wolf Four. It seemed simple, but it saved a great deal of stamina during long treks.

The West Seventh District was northwest of the East Third District, over three hundred kilometers away in a straight line.

At a normal marching speed, it would take even an Innate Martial Artist two days to arrive.

But Xu Wuyi didn’t travel in a straight line. He skirted several known Celestial Wolf Civilization strongholds, choosing a more covert but topographically complex route.

Along the way, he passed through canyons, swamps, and a stretch of hills filled with sharp stone pillars.

Star Beasts were active in these areas, and Celestial Wolf Civilization patrols rarely set foot in them, which paradoxically made them the best cover.

At dusk on the third day, Xu Wuyi reached the edge of the West Seventh District.

The sky here was still dark red, but the cloud cover was thicker, hanging so low it almost touched the ground.

Xu Wuyi stood atop a low mountain, gazing into the distance.

At the edge of his vision was a continuous range of black mountains. Their surfaces were covered in some kind of crystalline substance that gave off a dark luster under the dim red light of the sky.

That was the Black Stone deposit.

On the outskirts of the mountain range, clear man-made structures were visible.

Gray-black fortresses, towering watchtowers, and faintly visible patrol teams—the defensive density was at least three times higher than the strongholds in the East Third District.

Xu Wuyi did not act rashly.

He found a hidden crevice in the rock, sat down cross-legged, and took out the report he had obtained from Stronghold Nine to read it carefully again.

The report marked the general area of the deposit and several major extraction points, but it lacked a detailed topographical map and defensive layout. This was normal; the Celestial Wolf Civilization wouldn’t place core intelligence in an outer stronghold.

’I need to scout first.’ Xu Wuyi put away the report and closed his eyes.

In his sea of consciousness, the Dark Gold Mountain Body Heart Image slowly rotated. He condensed his Power of Heart Image into fine threads, extending them slowly from his position toward the deposit.

Thirty meters, fifty meters, eighty meters...

When his perception range expanded to one hundred meters, Xu Wuyi stopped. This was his limit; extending any further would create energy fluctuations that could easily be detected by an expert.

He "saw" the defensive layout on the outskirts of the deposit.

Three lines of defense.

The outermost was a mobile patrol, each team consisting of five members: one War General leading four warriors. Their patrol routes were fixed, passing the same spot every ten minutes.

The middle line consisted of fixed watchtowers, one every two hundred meters, with archers and Energy Detectors on top.

Simple walls connected the watchtowers, inscribed with defensive runes that would sound an alarm if triggered.

The innermost layer was a cluster of fortresses, about seven or eight of them arranged in a ring, enclosing the deposit’s main extraction area. Inside the fortresses were powerful auras, at least at the Priest level.

’The defenses are tight.’ Xu Wuyi opened his eyes, a thoughtful glint passing through them.

’A frontal assault is out of the question.’

Even with the Fire Source Stone, he wouldn’t last long against the siege of ten Priests and hundreds of War Generals and warriors. What’s more, two level-46 Priests were holding down the fort—they were already at the Innate Middle Tier, not someone he could take down with a sneak attack.

’I have to infiltrate.’

Xu Wuyi pulled up the map of the West Seventh District on his personal terminal and began to analyze the terrain.

The Black Stone deposit was located in a basin, surrounded by mountains on three sides, with only a relatively gentle entrance on the eastern side.

The Celestial Wolf Civilization’s main defensive forces were concentrated at the entrance, while their vigilance toward the mountains was comparatively lax.

This was because the mountains were steep, their surfaces covered with hard Black Stone crystals, making them difficult for an ordinary Martial Artist to climb.

Furthermore, the mountains’ interiors contained natural Energy Turbulence, which interfered with perception and communication, so the Celestial Wolf Civilization was unwilling to station personnel there themselves.

But for Xu Wuyi, this was not a problem.

No matter how steep the mountains, they couldn’t be steeper than his Dark Gold Mountain Body Heart Image. No matter how strong the Energy Turbulence, it couldn’t disrupt his Heart Image’s perception.

’I’ll go in from the north.’ Xu Wuyi made his decision.

He put away his terminal and began checking his gear.

He wouldn’t need the Meteor Iron Long Spear for now, so he disassembled it into three sections, wrapped them in special cloth, and secured them to his back.

He adjusted his combat suit to a dark gray, close to the color of the surrounding rocks. He put on his tactical mask, leaving only his eyes exposed.