Chapter 167

The orcs' furious battle cries pierced the fog, like a beast's roar exploding beside the ear.

The first batch of dozens of orc warriors, bearing crude wooden curtains, fiercely charged into the dense fog surrounding Guangtan Fortress's outskirts.

However, what awaited them was not an easy path.

Huang Rong's carefully laid traps, under the cover of the fog, exerted deadly effect.

「Crack! 」

「Ah—! 」

A shrill scream suddenly rang out.

The orc at the very front stepped into empty space, falling into a cleverly concealed pit; the sharp wooden stakes at the bottom instantly pierced their hide armor.

Immediately after, the tripwire triggered, and poisoned tiny crossbow bolts shot out from a tricky angle, precisely striking the orcs' unprotected necks and joints.

The fog not only obscured vision but also distorted sound and sense of direction.

The orc warriors quickly realized they had lost not only their target but also the ability to locate their comrades' voices, which seemed to come from all directions.

「Don't panic! Follow the curtain cart forward! 」 an orc squad leader hoarsely shouted, trying to steady the formation.

But his voice was soon cut off by a low wolf howl.

「Ooooh—! 」

In the thick fog, countless eerie green lights flickered on. Under the Wolf King's command, the Icefield Demon Wolf Pack moved like phantoms through the mist, exploiting terrain and visibility advantages to launch a swift assault on the disordered orc squads.

Claws tore flesh, fangs severed throats, and the demon wolves' icy breath further stiffened and slowed the orcs' movements.

Li Qingxuan on the outer city wall calmly observed the battle.

He did not rush to act, but watched the Icefield Demon Wolf King directing the Icefield Demon Wolf Pack's actions while sensing any abnormal energy fluctuations within the fog.

「Xiulan, at three o'clock, 150 meters away, an orc shaman is trying to stabilize the energy in the fog area. 」 Li Qingxuan said to Chen Xiulan via the control panel.

On the inner city watchtower, Chen Xiulan took a deep breath, nocked an arrow.

Gleaming light flowed across the armor-piercing arrow; she closed her eyes, focused, and using Night Vision Reconnaissance, pierced the layers of fog to lock onto the orc shaman waving a bone staff.

「Whoosh—! 」

The arrow left the string, like a death god's whisper, silently sinking into the fog.

The next moment, a short, shrill howl came from afar; that orc shaman's spellcasting halted abruptly as an arrow suddenly appearing pierced straight through his chest!

「Well done! 」 Li Feifei's voice came from the inner city, 「The Rune Energy Core Tower has been activated! The energy field is now covering the entire fortress! 」

Hum—!

An invisible energy ripple spread outward from the newly built rune tower as its center.

The faint light on the outer wall suddenly brightened a bit; the rolling fog seemed to become more solid, and the orc shamans' bloody light trying to dispel the fog vanished like a mud ox into the sea, its effect greatly reduced.

「Damn it! 」 Outside the fog, Bloodaxe Chieftain watched wounded soldiers stumble out of the mist, yet couldn't even glimpse a shelter, and flew into a rage: 「All forces, press forward! Use corpses to build a path for me! 」

More orcs surged into the fog like a tide, no longer bothering with formation, relying solely on brute strength and numbers as they madly pushed forward.

Traps were triggered, demon wolves tearing and biting, but the orcs' numbers were simply too great; they began slowly and steadily advancing toward the outer wall.

「Prepare to meet the enemy! 」 Li Qingxuan barked low, drawing the long sword at his waist.

Huang Rong's figure also silently appeared on the battlement beside him, the dwarf's war axe gleaming with icy light.

Just then, an abrupt change occurred!

An extremely subtle yet intensely malicious spiritual pulse, like a poisonous snake, silently penetrated the interference of the fog and energy field, precisely striking Li Qingxuan on the outer wall!

This attack came too suddenly and covertly, its target aimed straight at the soul!

Li Qingxuan felt only a stabbing pain between his brows, as if a huge stone had been tossed into his spiritual sea, stirring up furious waves!

He let out a muffled groan, his body swayed, and his vision instantly darkened.

「Qingxuan! 」 Huang Rong exclaimed, grabbing him.

「I'm fine! 」 Li Qingxuan snapped his head back, his powerful spiritual force forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his mind, his eyes sharp as knives scanning the surrounding fog, 「Someone attacked! Beware of spiritual assault! 」

Almost simultaneously with the spiritual attack, a blurry figure emerged like a phantom from the shadows at the corner of the outer wall—it was Grey Shadow!

He somehow managed to pass through the fog, evade all traps and demon wolf patrols, and sneak straight to the base of the wall!

He clutched a rune stone flashing with ominous black light and slammed it against the wall's foundation!

That black light seemed highly corrosive to the energy shield; the luminous barrier at the point of contact rapidly dimmed!

「Stop him! 」 Li Qingxuan roared, a volley of Soul Arrows instantly condensed and shot toward Grey Shadow!

Huang Rong even leapt directly down from the nearly ten-meter-high wall, activating Dark Night Stealth; her form nearly vanished in midair, only the cold gleam of her axe swinging straight at Grey Shadow's head!

Grey Shadow apparently hadn't expected Li Qingxuan to recover so quickly from the spiritual shock, nor Huang Rong to act so decisively; in haste he crushed a talisman, a phantom bone shield appearing before him.

「Bang! 」 The Soul Arrows were largely negated by the bone shield, but the residual impact still made his spirit quiver.

「Clang! 」 Huang Rong's axe slammed hard into the bone shield, the tremendous force causing the phantom shield to flicker violently, nearly shattering.

Grey Shadow used the recoil to retreat hastily, narrowly avoiding the axe's lethal blow, but the black rune stone in his hand slipped and fell.

He cast a resentful glance at Li Qingxuan on the wall and the ever-present Huang Rong, dared not linger, melted back into the shadows, flickering away in the fog with astonishing speed.

「He got away! 」 Huang Rong landed on the ground, picked up the now-dull rune stone, her expression grim.

Had it not been for Li Qingxuan's quick reaction and her decisive strike, that fellow might have succeeded, tearing a breach in the wall.

「His goal is clear: to destroy the wall. Next time he appears, he must die! 」 Li Qingxuan's eyes turned icy; that earlier spiritual sneak attack left him uneasy, and if his spiritual attribute weren't as high as 1004 points, he likely would have fallen to a covert strike.

This little incident didn't affect the overall situation, but it made Li Qingxuan more vigilant. Easy to dodge a visible spear, hard to guard against a hidden arrow.

At this moment, with Grey Shadow's covert sabotage lost, the orcs' assault, though fierce, could never truly threaten the sturdy outer wall.

They battered the wall-and-fog defense line like waves, leaving the ground littered with corpses and wails, yet unable to advance even an inch.

Chen Xiulan's cold arrows periodically shot from the inner city towers, precisely picking off orc commanders and shamans.

Li Jing meanwhile patrolled various parts of the inner city, ready at any moment to use Void Shuttle to plug any possible defensive gaps.

The battle lasted nearly an hour; the orcs left nearly a hundred corpses at the wall's base, yet never even reached the battlements.

Thick fog, traps, demon wolves, cold arrows, and strange thorns… The defense system of Guangtan Fortress made these orcs, accustomed to frontal charges, suffer greatly.

The Bloodaxe Chieftain looked at the heavily casualties-ridden troops and the still-solid mist and city wall, finally realizing the seriousness of the problem.

"Retreat! Temporary retreat!" he let out an unwilling roar, his great axe slammed hard into the ground, blasting out a deep pit.

The orcs retreated like a tide, leaving only a mess all over the ground and a strong smell of blood.

The first wave of attack was held.

On the city wall, Li Qingxuan watched the retreating orcs, yet his face showed no ease at all. He knew this was only the beginning.

The Blood Axe would not give up easily, and that "Grey Shadow" hidden in the darkness was like a poisonous sting, capable of delivering a deadly blow at any moment.

He turned, looked toward the outer city, and said in a low voice: "Clear the battlefield, repair the traps, treat the Icefield Demon Wolves. They may come again. And that Grey Shadow must be found and eliminated as soon as possible!"

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