The Speedrun Begins with Choosing Hunter

Chapter 273: Chapter 270: Great Battle

The appointed day had arrived.

Except for a hundred people who remained to defend Guiyuan City, everyone else went to the designated Yellow Flower Mountain.

Bai Yuan was, of course, among them.

"Ah Yuan, Brother Li, you must be extra careful on this trip to Huaiyuan."

Yang Fangyu said in a low voice.

The three of them walked side-by-side in the middle of the formation.

"Mm."

Li Huan nodded. He was here to make his fortune, not to throw his life away.

As a member of the Royal Race from the Qingzhou Royal Mansion, his birth was already far superior to that of an ordinary person; of course he didn’t want to lose it so carelessly.

He’d gotten lucky once with the lottery of birth, but how could he expect to be lucky every time?

The better one’s background and the wealthier one’s family, the less willing they were to take risks. This was also why many disciples from prominent families had never weathered a true storm.

Of course, for the core geniuses destined for great responsibility, the family would specially arrange for them to gain experience. Although they might encounter crises, everything was under the control of their Guardians, so no real accidents would ever happen.

The three chatted as they walked, and soon they saw a valley.

This was the valley where the five factions had previously agreed to meet.

When the Yang Family contingent arrived at the valley, it was already packed with people. A rough estimate put the number at a shocking five thousand.

Of course, the Cao Bang alone accounted for half of them.

The Cao Bang’s influence was widespread, and their ranks were a motley crew. They often relied on overwhelming numbers to defeat smaller forces, so bringing extra people was normal for them.

When the Cao Bang fought, they had a habit of swarming their opponents and beating them to death.

As soon as Yang Jiuyan arrived, he was called away by a Little Monk from the Celestial Profound Sect.

Bai Yuan, meanwhile, waited in place with his troops.

While the three of them had nothing to do, a head popped out from the crowd.

"Ah Yuan, Brother Yang, Brother Li."

The three turned to look.

"Lu Xiaoyu?"

"Brother Lu?"

All three, including Bai Yuan, looked surprised, because the young man who had suddenly appeared was none other than Lu Yu, whom they hadn’t seen in a long time.

Lu Yu grinned. "I knew you guys would be here."

Yang Fangyu playfully punched Lu Yu in the chest. "What’s a punk like you doing here?"

Lu Yu shrugged. "I hadn’t even made it back to Lu State when I got a message from my father-in-law to head north with the Fang Family."

Bai Yuan and the other two nodded.

Lu Yu was one of the few in the Fang Family who understood the situation in the Northern Territory, so it was reasonable for him to be sent to Dingzhou.

They had heard before that the Fang Family of Lu State was coming to Dingzhou, but they hadn’t expected Lu Yu, the live-in son-in-law, to come along as well.

"Did your wife come with you?"

Yang Fangyu grinned mischievously.

Lu Yu also wore a playful smirk. "You’ll meet her sooner or later."

Speaking of which, Bai Yuan and the others had never met Lu Yu’s wife.

They had only heard rumors that she had the reputation of being the "number one most remarkable woman in Lu State."

As the three were joking around, a commanding voice rang out.

"March out! To Huaiyuan!"

Hearing this, everyone’s heart jolted.

This was the first battle for the five-faction alliance!

Before long, Yang Fangyu returned to Bai Yuan’s side.

He looked at the group with a stern expression, preparing to lay out the battle deployment.

Although the five factions had joined forces, it didn’t mean they were willing to mix their troops. They would simply coordinate with each other to attack the city.

The Yang Family was responsible for the South City Gate of Huaiyuan Prefecture.

Bai Yuan and Li Huan were not assigned any overly dangerous tasks, but were simply to wait for an opportunity to assist the Yang Family.

After all, the two of them were guests, and Yang Jiuyan didn’t want anything to happen to them.

Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain to the King of Qingzhou and Dong Wanjun.

After everyone received their orders, Yang Jiuyan led the Yang Family Members toward the South Gate of Huaiyuan Prefecture.

Lu Yu’s Fang Family was responsible for the West City Gate of Huaiyuan Prefecture.

The Cao Bang and the Jiangnan Commerce Association joined forces, taking the initiative to attack the most heavily defended East Gate.

The Celestial Profound Sect was responsible for the North Gate.

...

An hour later.

The Yang Family Members arrived at the South Gate of Huaiyuan Prefecture.

Yang Jiuyan did not rashly choose a frontal assault, but instead lay in wait in the woods a li from the city gate, biding his time.

Bai Yuan gazed toward Huaiyuan Prefecture.

As one of the Prefecture Cities of Dingzhou, its walls were naturally much sturdier than those of county towns like Guiyuan. They were a full ten zhang high, and an ordinary Martial Artist, no matter how skilled their Lightweight Technique, could not leap to the top.

This was when unique siege engines were needed—scaling ladders, Siege Hammers...

This time, the Yang Family had come fully prepared and brought all these things with them.

It was precisely because they were hauling these large siege weapons that their marching speed had been so much slower.

The other factions were mostly in the same situation.

In normal times, any family or sect that dared to privately stockpile such siege weapons would be branded as traitors by the Court. Only in these special circumstances would the Court choose to turn a blind eye.

Time passed, second by second.

Finally, a blaze of fire lit up the distance, followed by the sounds of battle cries.

That seemed to be the direction of the West City Gate.

The Fang Family had made their move!

Yang Jiuyan: "Kill!"

Upon Yang Jiuyan’s command, the Yang Family soldiers raised their weapons and charged toward the South City Gate. The scaling ladders hidden in the forest slowly rolled forward.

At the same time, countless arrows rained down from the walls of Huaiyuan City.

The city gate slowly opened, and one vicious demon after another charged out, pouncing on the advancing Yang Family members.

The two sides clashed like converging torrents, and the battlefield instantly descended into chaos.

Normally, opening the city gates at the start of a battle would be a foolish move, but the demons of the Demon Sect were just that ferocious.

This time, a full five factions were attacking Huaiyuan City. With the attack spread across four gates, the defenders at any single location were naturally much fewer.

The scaling ladders were already approaching the walls. As soon as they were in place, the Yang Family could use their numerical advantage to storm the walls, cut down the archers, and then break through the city gate.

Everything was proceeding smoothly, as it should.

It would be a joke if the five allied factions couldn’t even take a single Huaiyuan City.

Just then, a Tiger Demon leaped directly from the city wall, tearing open a Yang Family soldier’s chest with a single bite.

The Tiger Demon’s aura was overwhelming; it had to be the Demon Sect’s commander stationed at the South City Gate.

Yang Jiuyan snorted coldly, lunged forward with his blade, and began to battle the Tiger Demon.

His Buddhist Vajra Strength was incredibly lethal, and he completely suppressed the Tiger Demon.

Bai Yuan took in the scene.

The Yang Family was originally a scholarly lineage; logically, they shouldn’t know a Buddhist Family’s Cultivation Technique.

According to Yang Fangyu, an exceptionally brilliant ancestor of the Yang Family had cultivated both Buddhism and Confucianism, and later generations had followed his example.

This was what had created the Yang Family’s unique standing.

Bai Yuan and Li Huan didn’t need to participate in the battle directly; they just had to stand guard nearby.

However, Bai Yuan had no intention of letting such a good opportunity to farm mobs pass him by.

He led the Firearms Team to the right flank, encircling the demons of Huaiyuan City from the side.

"URK... AARGH!"

A Wolf Demon didn’t even have time to let out a howl before Bai Yuan lopped its head off with one slash.

Enhancement Points +1034

’The battlefield really is the fastest place to level up!’

Bai Yuan’s eyes lit up.

He raised his long blade and charged into the fray.

With his current strength, he moved with ease; hardly any demon could withstand a single strike from his blade.

Enhancement Points +687

Enhancement Points +812

...

Just as Bai Yuan was getting into the swing of his slaughter, he realized something awkward: all the demons at the city gate were already dead.

As far as the eye could see, the ground was littered with the corpses of demons—and, of course, the bodies of Yang Family members, though far fewer in number.

Yang Jiuyan sheathed his long blade, his gaze happening to meet Bai Yuan’s.

He gave Bai Yuan a slight nod.

He hadn’t originally arranged for Bai Yuan to take action. Now that Bai Yuan had joined the battle, he had effectively helped the Yang Family, saving the lives of several of their members.

At that moment, Li Huan and Yang Fangyu also walked over to Bai Yuan’s side.

"You punk, you really are Mr. Dong’s disciple. I’m liking you more and more."

Yang Fangyu, reeking of blood, tried to sling an arm around Bai Yuan’s shoulders.

Bai Yuan decisively pulled away.

’I didn’t bring many clothes with me to Dingzhou,’ he thought. ’It would be a shame to get them bloody.’

Li Huan, in contrast, was a world apart from Yang Fangyu. He didn’t look like he had come to kill enemies at all; you could say he was on a spring outing, and people would believe you.

He looked every bit the elegant young master, without a trace of blood on him.

That was because he hadn’t lifted a finger.

Yang Fangyu knew this was his Second Uncle’s arrangement, so he didn’t think much of it.

Besides, he knew Bai Yuan was a warmonger who always killed with his own hands in every battle, never relying on others.

"Let’s go. Into the city."

Yang Fangyu’s eyes gleamed.

He felt as if he were back in his days with the Northern Garrison Army.

Bai Yuan said, "I still have something to do. You guys go ahead."

Yang Fangyu had long heard about Bai Yuan’s peculiar hobby of studying corpses, so he thought nothing of it and walked into Huaiyuan City with Li Huan.

He considered himself a ruthless killer who wouldn’t blink at taking a life, but he knew he wasn’t sick enough to grin greedily at corpses like Bai Yuan did.

Bai Yuan wasn’t really a sicko.

These demon corpses were all top-grade ’Ling’. Although there was less than when they were alive, if he acted while they were still ’hot’, he could get eighty percent of what they had in life.

He spent a full hour extracting all the ’Ling’ from the demon corpses in front of the gate.

By now, only he and the Firearms Team were left on the battlefield.

Bai Yuan clapped his hands in satisfaction, placed the small wooden box for collecting ’Ling’ into his robes, and said to Hu Ben, "Into the city."

Seeing their Sect Leader give the word, Hu Ben and Liu Li called for the men of the Firearms Team to enter the city.

After the fall of Dingzhou, Huaiyuan Prefecture had become a complete and utter Demon City. The residents were long gone, leaving it exceptionally grim and desolate.

Only a few scattered soldiers could be seen searching the buildings.

Bai Yuan immediately spotted Yang Fangyu directing Yang Family members to search the streets.

"Ah Yuan."

Yang Fangyu also saw Bai Yuan standing under the city gate.

He gave a few orders to the Yang Family Members beside him and then strode quickly over to Bai Yuan.

"There you are, punk. I was starting to think you were going to sleep out there."

Yang Fangyu laughed heartily.

Bai Yuan asked, "What’s the situation in Huaiyuan City now?"

"With a force this large, of course there wouldn’t be any problems. The demons in Huaiyuan City have been completely wiped out. This city belongs to Xuan Yang now."

"Where is Elder Yang?"

"Second Uncle went to the Prefecture Magistrate’s Office. They need to discuss what’s next. I heard Kuaidong has already descended from the Great Wall and might have reached Huaiyuan Prefecture."

Kuaidong...

Hearing that name made Bai Yuan cautious.

Yang Fangyu added, "But don’t worry. It won’t be so easy for Kuaidong to stir up trouble this time. I heard the Sect Leader of the Celestial Profound Sect is already on his way to Dingzhou."

Bai Yuan’s heart skipped a beat.

The Sect Leader of the Celestial Profound Sect!