My Cultivation Techniques Upgrade Automatically

Chapter 185: Chapter 184: A Matter of Convenience

”Kill them! Don’t let a single one get away!”

”Find that old dog in seclusion within the Zhuangzi! Once we kill that old dog, the rest will be easy!”

...

Countless figures swarmed over the walls. As they dropped into the Zhuangzi, battle cries erupted from every corner.

The raiders darted everywhere, rushing into the few houses that were still intact and began to ransack them.

They were in a blood frenzy. Once inside, they cut down everyone they found—the old, the weak, and the women. They slaughtered every living thing without a shred of mercy.

This was a time for pillaging, not lust.

With enough money, you could visit a brothel anytime. It was a much safer bet.

”Young Lord! We should retreat! The Manor Lord said that if we can’t hold them off, we’re to escape through the mountains behind the manor!”

”Yes! Where there’s life, there’s hope! As long as we’re alive, we’ll have another chance!”

...

Xu Le and a few of her personal Guards had come down from the wall to stop the raiders from advancing deeper into the Zhuangzi.

But the raiders were simply too numerous. For every few they cut down, another group would swarm in. There was no end to them.

After felling dozens of men, the small group was gasping for air, their clothes soaked through with sweat. Several hours had passed since the attack on the Zhuangzi began. After such a prolonged battle, their Qi Power was nearly depleted.

If they didn’t decide whether to flee or fight soon, they wouldn’t even have the strength left to escape.

They would be helpless, waiting to be slaughtered.

...

Xu Le was in no better shape. Strands of hair clung to her sweat-soaked forehead, and her saber-wielding hand trembled from exhaustion. She was a wretched sight.

At their words, she glanced around the Zhuangzi. Flames licked the sky in every direction. Her vision was filled with the frantic silhouettes of people locked in combat.

The people of the Zhuangzi were falling one after another. The tide of defeat was irreversible.

It was clear that this time, the raiders had gone all out, intending to take the Zhuangzi in one fell swoop, giving Qingfeng Manor no chance to breathe.

After all, they couldn’t afford to drag this out either.

If they really waited for an expert of the Leakless Realm to emerge, leaving empty-handed would be the least of their worries. More than likely, they’d be leaving their lives behind.

Even if the old man’s age made a successful breakthrough unlikely, no one was willing to take that gamble.

”Wait a little longer. If we hold on for just a bit more, maybe Grandfather can break through.”

”When that happens, everything will be alright.”

Xu Le had no intention of fleeing. She knew her own aptitude for cultivation was nothing special. If she abandoned the Zhuangzi, there would be no talk of a second chance.

”But...”

The Guards had a bitter taste in their mouths, their faces a mask of indecision.

’Wait for the old master to break through?’

’That was a complete joke.’

First, there were the earth-shaking tremors from the rockslide in the mountains. Now, there were the screams from countless raiders murdering and pillaging their way through the Zhuangzi.

’With such a commotion, how could the old Manor Lord possibly succeed in his breakthrough?’

A breakthrough was a delicate process. It required guiding the very source of one’s Qi and Blood to fuse together, strand by strand, into a seamless whole. It couldn’t tolerate the slightest external disturbance.

There was no room for error. The slightest misstep would render all previous efforts moot.

’And with such a racket, how could anyone possibly achieve a state of complete focus?’

If the cultivator were younger, a failure would, at worst, mean losing some of their core essence. They could spend time to build it back up and try again. It wouldn’t be a catastrophe.

But the old Manor Lord was advanced in age. A failed breakthrough would likely result in his immediate death.

Even setting all that aside, let’s say the old master’s concentration was strong enough to ignore the chaos in the Zhuangzi.

’But how could he possibly succeed in his breakthrough at this exact moment?’

’And turn the tide?’

’This was clearly a lost cause!’

”Hold on for two more hours! Just two more hours, and I’m sure Grandfather will successfully break through!”

Sensing the plummeting morale, Xu Le, as the manor’s Young Lord, could only force out these words of encouragement.

But she knew this alone was not enough. After all, she wasn’t sure how long her grandfather’s breakthrough would actually take.

She swept her gaze over the Guards beside her and made a solemn vow in a firm voice:

”Help me drive out these raiders, and once this is over, all the gold and silver in the Zhuangzi’s treasury is yours!”

Xu Le knew that if the Zhuangzi fell, all the silver coins in the treasury would be no different from scrap metal. It was better to use it to steady her men’s hearts.

She wasn’t wrong, but at that moment, treacherous thoughts had already taken root in the Guards’ hearts. They wanted to flee.

Suddenly, one of them roared:

”Do you take me for a fool!”

”Even if I don’t help you fight off the raiders, that gold and silver will be mine for the taking!”

A Guard by Xu Le’s side, his gaze shifting several times, finally let out a loud shout. At the same time, he drew his saber and swung at Xu Le’s neck, intending to decapitate her.

The Guard’s reasoning was simple: there was no way they could repel the raiders.

The entire Zhuangzi was surrounded. Escaping from the raiders on his own wouldn’t be easy either.

But,

’if he offered up his Young Lord’s head as a pledge of loyalty, everything would become much simpler!’

So, desperate to survive, he decided to kill his Young Lord and present her head to the raiders’ leader for a reward.

Failing that, he could join the raiders. At the very least, he would survive.

And if all else failed, just killing Xu Le and making a run for it was an excellent option in itself.

”You...”

Xu Le froze, unable to react to the sudden attack.

She never thought someone would suddenly turn on her.

After all, they had been beggars, taken in and raised by the Zhuangzi since they were children. Calling them death-sworn loyalists would not have been an exaggeration.

But the human heart is hard to fathom. It wasn’t just the Guard who attacked; hearing his shout as he struck, the other Guards around Xu Le also began to waver, their gazes darkening.

’It seemed they were also weighing the situation, wondering if there was any point in following their Young Lord.’

But whether they were hesitating or not, Xu Le’s fate seemed sealed.

Facing such a vicious and cunningly angled strike, Xu Le was powerless to dodge, even if she wanted to.

All she could do was feel the cold rush of air as the blade swept toward her neck.

CLANG!

But a sharp clang echoed across the field. Xu Le felt a far more violent gust of wind tear past her neck.

Then, she saw a black shadow slam violently into the blade that was meant for her.

The blade that had nearly taken her life was instantly sent flying by the shadow.

Not only that, but the moment the blade was sent flying, the Guard’s saber arm dropped limply, a look of agony on his face.

Before Xu Le could process what had happened, a young man with a refined face appeared before her.

It was Wu Chen, who happened to be passing by and saw this scene.

With a flash of his blade, the treacherous Guard’s head was already rolling on the ground.

His face was still frozen in an expression of agony.

”Th-thank you, Young Master, for saving my life!”

Xu Le looked at the bow and arrow in his hands and knew that the black shadow that had flashed past her neck earlier must have been an arrow he had shot.

She hurriedly cupped her fist in a salute. ”Young Master, this is a great kindness that Qingfeng Manor will never forget!”

”In the future, if you have any need of Qingfeng Manor, Young Master, just say the word. I, Xu Le, will serve you faithfully without question!”

”May I ask for my benefactor’s name...?”

”It was nothing.”

Wu Chen replied nonchalantly. He paid no mind to the promise made by the Young Lord of Qingfeng Manor and did not reveal his name.

’In his eyes, saving her and fending off the raiders was simply part of the mission he had come here to complete.’

After killing the treacherous Guard, Wu Chen’s gaze swept over the other Guards by Xu Le’s side.

Under his stare, the Guards who had just been entertaining thoughts of betrayal lowered their heads, daring not to meet his eyes. An inexplicable tremor ran through them.

It was as if the one standing before them was not some youth, but a fiend more terrifying than the Blood Slaughter Sect!

”This Zhuangzi will not fall. Just wait here and stay put.”

Wu Chen said only that, but the Guards all nodded hurriedly. They didn’t dare utter a single word of protest or question his command.

’They were at the same cultivation level as the Guard who was just slain. If he couldn’t even withstand a single blow, what chance did they have?’