Chapter 72: Six Harmonies Boxer, Burning the Zither and Boiling the Crane

(PS: This chapter froze me; no matter how I wrote it, I wasn't satisfied. Let's leave it like this for now and see how to revise it later.)

By the riverside of Ancheng, flames blazed everywhere.

Every building inhabited by humans was attacked by a squad of Fire-Feathered Ones.

Some climbed, while others rode Fire-Winged Birds.

They bypassed the main entrance passages and entered to slaughter everywhere inside.

Because there were too many humans inside the buildings, it was extremely chaotic.

Tension, panic, crowding, trampling; the Fire-Feathered Ones hadn't even entered yet.

Most had already turned into a complete mess.

At the stairwell entrance on the first floor of one building, cracks and burn marks caused by heavy blows were everywhere.

A muscular giant, one meter ninety tall, held a long spear made of refined iron, guarding this spot.

Every Fire-Feathered One that charged was easily skewered into a gourd by the giant.

His arm shook, shattering and flinging them away.

"Month for the staff, year for the blade, a lifetime for the spear." The giant's name was Luo Song.

He was a successor of the Six Harmonies Fist, wielding the ancestral Luo Family Six Harmonies Spear technique passed down through generations.

He had practiced the spear since childhood, for over twenty years now.

In this battle, he perfectly demonstrated what "an inch longer means an inch stronger" truly meant.

No matter how the Fire-Feathered Ones charged, he skewered and killed them in three moves and five sweeps.

Yet no matter how many he killed, the other Fire-Feathered Ones, fearless of death, continued charging at Luo Song.

Bang!

Another clash of spear and blade occurred; Luo Song stumbled, seemingly unable to hold on.

So he shouted anxiously, "Hurry up and buff me! I can't hold on much longer!"

The Fire-Feathered One fighting Luo Song opposite him brightened its eyes.

It directly increased its attack speed.

Who knew that Luo Song suddenly accelerated, swept the Fire-Feathered One's greatsword aside with the spear tip, and then skewered it to death again with a single thrust.

"Idiot, I was lying to you, old man!" Luo Song spat on the Fire-Feathered One's corpse.

During the previous fight, Luo Song had surprisingly discovered that the Fire-Feathered Ones actually understood Chinese.

No, "buff" is an English term.

They must have gained some ability like Comprehend Languages again.

A thought crossed his mind, and he immediately devised this strategy.

Fortunately, the Fire-Feathered Ones riding the light orbs, though appearing to descend together, actually arrived in sequence.

This also gave Luo Song time to discuss with his team.

Thus, this strategy could be successfully implemented.

"I wonder how the situation up there is," Luo Song pondered inwardly.

At this moment, his heart was somewhat anxious, urgently wanting to know the battle situation.

Because Luo Song held another identity: he was the leader guarding this building.

After the second assault began, Luo Song noticed the chaos inside the building.

He instantly realized that if things continued like this, casualties would be heavy.

Humans needed to defend too many places; splitting forces would lead to insufficient strength.

Eventually, they would be defeated one by one, resulting in total annihilation.

Therefore, he overruled the opposition and proactively divided the combat personnel into several main forces.

Each advanced in one direction, sweeping from bottom to top, then again from bottom to top.

Each was responsible for a specific area, clearing out otherworldly creatures.

He himself led a mage platoon to guard the most dangerous first floor.

This was not Luo Song being arrogant; he naturally had his own considerations.

First, the mage platoon's role was extremely powerful.

Called a mage platoon, it actually included priests, druids, and other spellcasting classes.

They did not use spell power as their main output but instead enhanced melee classes, serving as excellent support.

Second, his own class was not simple either; it was the extremely rare basic class, Boxer.

Perhaps because Luo Song had practiced Six Harmonies Fist since childhood.

After the apocalypse, this class appeared among his job options.

This allowed him to gain a powerful feat at level five.

"【Extreme Endurance】: A level-five Boxer is immune to fatigue,"

"level ten immune to exhaustion, level fifteen immune to fear, level twenty immune to instant death and energy drain."

Combined with the "Body Like Hardened Steel" gained from years of martial arts practice.

"【Body Like Hardened Steel I】: Harsh environments or prolonged periods of giving one's all will not easily cause you to fall into fatigue. You gain a +4 bonus under relevant Constitution checks, and when your hit points drop to 1–9, your condition remains stable. (Endurance cap +25%)"

Luo Song's endurance was astonishing, making him extremely suitable for prolonged battles.

Especially when his hit points were low, he could still maintain formidable combat power.

Combined with the healing from priests and druids, he was practically an indestructible cockroach.

Even if others possessed the same attributes as him, without the bonuses from these feats, they would have long since collapsed and been on the verge of death.

This was the reason he had the confidence to guard the first floor alone.

The facts also proved that Luo Song's personally super-strength, combined with a stack of BUFFs.

The Fire-Feathered Men had no way to deal with him.

The other teams, though, did not have figures as formidable as him.

But their numbers were extremely large; as long as they could reunite with the people stationed on each floor.

Their strength would be far greater than his alone.

As long as they could successfully execute the orders, the building's losses would be minimized.

"I hope they can complete it..."

Bang!

The arrow clashed with the spear; Luo Song barely dodged this strike.

If not for the Agility bonus from Intuitive Dodge I and the Lightness Technique.

He would already be dead under this arrow.

The one shooting was a newly appeared Fire-Feathered Archer; the longbow in his hand weighed a full four hundred pounds.

This made every arrow he shot reach speeds of over one hundred and sixty meters per second.

Such extreme speed was beyond ordinary people's ability to react.

Luo Song's eyes narrowed; he realized this newly appeared monster would be his greatest threat.

If he did not quickly eliminate the Fire-Feathered Archer.

Once the other Fire-Feathered Men arrived, he would surely be finished.

Luo Song shouted: "Flash Technique."

A magical light flashed quickly, bestowing its effect upon Luo Song.

This was "Slipping Away," a spell that increased movement speed.

This was Luo Song's signal with the Mage; at critical moments, it could deceive the enemy.

Hearing Luo Song's shout, the Fire-Feathered Archer instinctively closed his eyes.

Little did he know Luo Song instantly closed in, sweeping a great spear directly across.

What is the Six Harmonies Spear? Eye united with heart, Qi united with strength, foot united with technique.

Now Luo Song perfectly embodied these Six Harmonies.

One strike of the great spear smashed down, fast and fierce.

The Fire-Feathered Archer could not dodge in time, and was directly smashed until his skull cracked and he died.

Luo Song revealed a slight smile, about to turn back.

Little did he know he glanced toward the direction of the main gate.

This glance made the smile on his face vanish instantly.

In the distance, three Fire-Feathered Archers were rushing over quickly.

Most importantly, behind them followed three close-combat Fire-Feathered Men wielding curved-blade great knives.

A fierce and ruthless expression appeared on Luo Song's face.

"If Heaven wants to destroy me, I will kill you all first."

"I don't believe it; if I rush right up to you, will you still shoot your damn arrows?"

But Luo Song soon displayed a strange expression again.

It seemed, according to his observation, that these Fire-Feathered Men were not here to attack the building.

It seemed, perhaps, they were fleeing?

The fear on their faces could not be faked.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Luo Song curiously touched his face; had the wind picked up?

Yet this wind was clearly a gentle breeze, yet his cheeks inexplicably felt slightly painful.

Just as Luo Song was about to ponder carefully what was happening, he witnessed a scene that made him horrified to the extreme.

The six Fire-Feathered Men running ahead had their skin, muscles, internal organs, and bones peeling away one by one; blood splattered everywhere, splashing down with a clatter all over the ground.

Like the legendary thousand cuts and ten thousand flayings, yet faster, deeper, and more cruel.

This was "Burning the Zither to Cook the Crane," destroying what was beautiful.

At the same time, a youth holding a long sword appeared before the building's gate.