High Martial Arts: Enlightenment after Practices

He looked toward the highest point of the fortress’s main building. It was empty, but just a few minutes ago, Xu Wuyi had been standing there, looking down on the blood-soaked battlefield.

”Speed up the cleanup.” Su He averted his gaze. ”Finish everything within an hour, then we pull out.”

”Understood.”

The squad members responded in unison, their hands moving even faster.

They knew that the longer they stayed in enemy-occupied territory, the greater the risk. Reinforcements from the Celestial Wolf Civilization could arrive at any moment. At that point, it wouldn’t be a cleanup operation, but a life-or-death escape.

Even so, the five couldn’t conceal the excitement in their eyes.

This mission was too easy.

They didn’t have to fight or risk their lives. All they had to do was follow behind and clean up the mess to get a 10% share of the merit points.

And it had all taken just half a day.

”I’ve been in the Battle Group for three years and run forty-seven missions,” Zhao Cheng said quietly to Chen Xiaoyu as he dismantled a suit of Bone Armor. ”I’ve never had one this easy.”

”Me neither.” Chen Xiaoyu nodded. ”The captains I followed before either led us on reckless charges with high casualty rates, or they were overly cautious, taking days to clear a single stronghold. Someone like Captain Xu... this is a first.”

”Do you think he’ll take us on his next operation?” Zhao Cheng asked.

Chen Xiaoyu’s hands stilled, and she didn’t answer.

’She wanted to know the answer, too.’

An hour later, all valuable materials had been collected, the data had been copied, and the bodies had been dealt with.

They weren’t buried, but destroyed with a special solvent to prevent them from being recovered and reused by the Celestial Wolf Civilization.

Su He glanced at the time: 5:17 PM.

”Pull out.”

The five of them shouldered their bags, which were stuffed with spoils, and quickly left Stronghold No. 9, heading back toward the camp.

They met no resistance along the way, not even seeing a shadow of a Star Beast. The Energy fluctuations in the area from the recent battle were too intense; any low-level Star Beasts had fled long ago.

At 6:00 PM sharp, the five of them returned safely to Gray Rock Camp.

Qiao Zonghan was already waiting in the camp. Seeing the five return safely, a rare smile touched his lips.

”Good work,” he said. ”Have you tallied the spoils?”

”Tally complete.” Su He stepped forward, handing over a datapad. ”Total harvest: seven Priest-level Bone Armor cores, 183 War General-level Bone Armor cores, 209 intact tail stingers, 320 kilograms of rare ore, and 47 Energy Crystal Stones. In addition, 17 intelligence files have been encrypted and uploaded to the Battle Group database.”

Qiao Zonghan took the datapad and quickly scanned it.

When he saw the estimated merit points at the bottom, his eyebrows rose slightly.

”Ten thousand merit points...” he repeated quietly. ”Xu Wuyi did all this alone?”

”Yes.” Su He nodded. ”The battle was already over when we arrived. Judging from the scene, Captain Xu encountered almost no meaningful resistance. All three strongholds were taken down quickly.”

Qiao Zonghan was silent for a few seconds, then looked at Su He. ”Your auxiliary logs? Send them to me.”

Su He brought up his recorder and sent over all of the day’s data.

Qiao Zonghan reviewed it carefully, especially the Energy fluctuation records from the combat portions.

When he saw the bizarre footage of the mass headshots at Stronghold No. 7 and the data showing the Priest at Stronghold No. 9 being instantly vaporized, his expression grew grim.

”The Fire Source Stone...” he muttered to himself.

As a steward of the Dongjiang Battle Group on the Star Realm Battlefield, Qiao Zonghan had high-level clearance. He knew that Xu Wuyi had claimed a Fire Source Stone from Grandmaster Yue’s belongings.

It wasn’t a secret, as Grandmaster Yue had possessed more than one Fire Source Stone and had gifted them to others before.

But he hadn’t expected the stone’s power to be so immense, nor that Xu Wuyi would actually use it against an enemy.

Anyone else who obtained such a treasure would have kept it safely locked away at home, wouldn’t they?

”That kid...” Qiao Zonghan shook his head, returning the datapad to Su He. ”According to Battle Group regulations, 10% of the merit points go to your squad. Any objections?”

”None,” Su He replied immediately.

10% of the merit points was still over a thousand. Split five ways, that was more than two hundred for each of them. That number might not seem like much, but for an ordinary Martial Artist, it was a huge sum.

On the Star Realm Battlefield, an ordinary Martial Artist typically earned only about a hundred merit points per mission.

A mission as easy and high-reward as today’s was something they wouldn’t even dare to dream of.

”The merit points have been transferred to your accounts.” Qiao Zonghan finished with his personal terminal and looked up at Su He. ”In addition, the Battle Group will award each member of your squad a bonus of 50 merit points as a commendation for efficient support.”

Su He was stunned for a moment, then saluted. ”Thank you, Steward.”

”Don’t thank me.” Qiao Zonghan waved his hand. ”You’ve earned it. Go get some rest. I’ll communicate with Xu Wuyi.”

Su He nodded and left with his squad members.

Once the five of them were a good distance away, Qiao Zonghan pulled up Xu Wuyi’s communication channel and placed the call.

A few seconds later, the call connected.

”Steward Qiao.” Xu Wuyi’s voice came through, calm and showing no sign of fatigue from the three major battles he had just fought.

”I’ve seen the mission report,” Qiao Zonghan said, getting straight to the point. ”You did well, but it was too risky. Attacking three strongholds in a row... the Celestial Wolf Civilization is bound to react and send experts to hunt you down.”

”I know,” Xu Wuyi said. ”That’s why I’m preparing to leave the East Third District.”

Qiao Zonghan was taken aback. ”Leave? To where?”

”The West Seventh District,” Xu Wuyi replied. ”Intel shows the Celestial Wolf Civilization has established a new forward base there. I’m going to check it out.”

”Are you insane?” Qiao Zonghan’s brow furrowed. ”The West Seventh District is deep in the warzone. The Celestial Wolf Civilization’s forces there are at least five times what they have in the East Third District. Plus, it’s far from our controlled territory. If you run into trouble, reinforcements won’t be able to reach you in time.”

”That’s exactly why I have to go.” Xu Wuyi’s voice remained calm. ”They’re out in the open; I’m in the shadows. I can kill enough of them and still retreat in time, without having to worry about a counterattack.”

Qiao Zonghan fell silent.

He knew Xu Wuyi was speaking the truth. War was like that—you kill my people, I destroy your strongholds. There was no right or wrong, only the strong and the weak.

But Xu Wuyi was, after all, just one man.

”Are you sure you want to go?” Qiao Zonghan asked.

”I’m sure.”

”What support do you need?”

”None,” Xu Wuyi said. ”It’s more convenient for me to operate alone. The support squad... have them stay in the East Third District. It’s too dangerous for them to follow me.”

Qiao Zonghan sighed.

He knew Xu Wuyi was right. Given Xu Wuyi’s fighting style, the support squad really couldn’t help much. In fact, they would just be a burden.

”Alright.” Qiao Zonghan finally nodded. ”I’ll arrange other missions for them in the East Third District. You be careful. Contact me anytime if you need anything.”