Chapter 298: Success at the First Step

When Chen Yiming mentioned that the black river might have surpassed the master realm, he specially observed the changes in the others in the meeting room.

The provincial representatives looked so shocked that it was almost certain that they did not know anything.

The people from the capital were the same. Chen Yiming was a little disappointed that he didn’t get the answer he wanted.

After another round of discussion, the war plan was finalized. However, even the people from the capital seemed to be lacking in confidence.

…

After the meeting ended, a notice was issued that there was a commotion in the capital. On the same day, two more nuclear troops were sent to Jiangnan province.

Another day passed, and Chen Yiming and the group from the capital set off.

Along the way, the atmosphere within the team was very awkward.

One reason was that they weren’t familiar with each other, and also because Chen Yiming was too young and too strong.

Zhu Song was the oldest of the four people from the capital. He had a calm personality and did things properly. Most of the time, he was the decision-maker in the four-man group.

The team arrived at the encirclement the military had set up around the village. Taking advantage of the short break, Zhu Song sought out Chen Yiming.

Chen Yiming’s handsome and young face made it seem like he did not belong on the blue planet.

For example, Ling Zhongyun was in his early thirties. Among the small group of people in the Daxia Kingdom who were half a step away from the master realm, he was considered the youngest. However, compared to Chen Yiming, he was still like an uncle to a nephew.

As for Zhu Song, he had an old-looking face. Even though he took care of his beard every day, it could not hide his appearance as a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties. Compared to Chen Yiming, he was from a completely different generation.

Zhu Song said politely, “Chief Chen, the official operation is about to begin. Please take care of us later.”

“No, I’m not a chief.” Chen Yiming quickly waved his hand to express his stance.

Zhu Song had an apologetic expression on his face as he explained, “Everyone needs your protection. It’s only right for us to call you chief.”

Chen Yiming’s expression darkened. He thought to himself that he had encountered another thick-skinned person. Was he trying to tie him to the military and force him to take charge?

However, the other party was of the same age as Father Chen and looked very respectful. Chen Yiming couldn’t find any reason to refute him.

The other three members of the team pretended to observe the village and quickly returned to join in Chen Yiming and Zhu Song’s conversation.

“Chief Chen, your breakthrough speed is really too fast. I didn’t even hear of your name before I entered the otherworld to cultivate. After I came out, I already had to look up to you.”

The red-haired woman, Zhao Shumin, had a look of admiration on her face.

Chen Yiming’s heart skipped a beat.

Could it be that this woman is a fan of mine? We’ve only met twice, so isn’t she being too enthusiastic?

At the same time, he thought about it. No wonder he rarely saw anyone at the half-step master realm. It turned out that they had all entered the otherworld to cultivate.

However, this was normal. Those who were only half a step away from the master realm had a lot of potential. Compared to carrying out all kinds of dangerous missions, it was far more important to nurture them into martial masters.

“I heard from Wang Ronghui that all of you are half a step away from the master realm. It seems that there are many hidden talents in the capital. Jiangnan province is far inferior in comparison.” Chen Yiming changed the topic.

“Actually, the capital is only so-so. The actual situation is not much better than Jiangnan province. The four of us are all affiliated with some unit in the capital, but we do not have a permanent position,” Jiang Kai said.

He was a muscular man who was more than three meters tall. His weapon was a large shield, and it was obvious that he was a meat shield in the group of four from the capital.

Zhu Song added, “There are less than 20 people in the Daxia Kingdom who are half a step away from the master realm. Almost all of them are gathered by the side of the two martial masters in the north and south. Unless something happens that even the military can’t resolve, they won’t easily disturb our cultivation.”

After he finished speaking, he glanced at Ling Zhongyun and said, “He’s the only one who is more effective in missions because he has mastered powerful archery skills, and has taken on many more missions.”

Chen Yiming noticed that Ling Zhongyun, who had been silent the entire time, had a large bow on his back. With his accurate and powerful long-range attack ability, he indeed had an advantage when it came to carrying out missions.

Everyone in the half-step master realm was precious. At the very least, when this person was in danger, because he was kept at a safe distance, the chances of him dying were low, and the chances of him surviving were much higher.

Zhao Shumin suddenly muttered, “He hides far away and shoots arrows from a distance. He’s as thin as a stick. Wouldn’t it be more efficient to send me to kill the enemy in a few moves?”

Ling Zhongyun’s originally calm face darkened when he heard this.

Only Zhao Shumin would dare to not give him face. In the capital, his title of “Divine Arrow” was synonymous with cold, machine-like precision, and mercilessness.

This was not his own bragging, but everyone’s recognition of his abilities.

Chen Yiming glanced at the spear on Zhao Shumin’s back. In contrast to her delicate features, he realized that she was a violent woman. If it was a long sword, he would have thought that she was a gentle and sensible fighter.

Zhao Shumin did not even look at Ling Zhongyun’s dark expression and continued, “Chief Chen, you should just flatten the Kunshan Sect and kill those evil spirits. This is the true way of martial arts.”

Chen Yiming scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed.

He waved his hand with a smile and explained, “I was a little anxious back then. I was afraid that the other party would escape and return to the otherworld to inform the others. Actually, I’m usually a little introverted.”

Zhao Shumin nodded. “I know. Chief Chen is keeping a low profile and doesn’t like to be in the limelight. It’s fine if he doesn’t make a move, but once he does, he’ll shock the world, unlike some people…”

Ling Zhongyun was angered by this. The person Zhao Shumin was talking about was him.

Chen Yiming could tell that the two of them had a serious conflict in their opinions on martial arts, but they were still assigned to work together. Each of them had their own valid points, so he couldn’t say who was right or wrong.

…

Not long after, a division commander from the military jogged over.

“Reporting to the chief. The surveillance from yesterday to today shows that the three treants have not made any further movements. They have remained rooted in the strange mountain village and have not moved at all.”

“Then should we still follow the original plan?” Jiang Kai, who was holding a large shield, asked everyone.

The treants had suddenly quietened down and did not show any signs of invading an unfamiliar land. It was unknown if they were probing to see if there were any powerful creatures in this land or if they really had no intention of invading.

The others looked at each other. This was not an easy choice.

Chen Yiming suddenly realized that everyone was looking at him. Were they asking him to make the decision? What did he know about strategy? He only knew how to fight. It would be troublesome if he made a mistake.

In the end, after some thought, he still chose to carry out the mission as planned.

The treants were also plants. There was no reason for them to leave a new territory alone and not occupy it. It was probably more of a test.

Once they realized that this place did not have an owner, or that there were no enemies who could match them, the humans would probably have to face countless treants who would walk out of the space-travel passage.

After the team finished reorganizing, they continued on their way.

The division commander also relayed the decision to the command center. The nuclear troops were on standby at all times, waiting for the order to launch. The conventional troops were also prepared to fight.

…

On the way from the encirclement to the village, the team did not encounter any obstacles. They stopped at a cove more than two kilometers away from the village.

At this moment, the ground under their feet had changed a little. The weeds had lost their normal green color and became abnormally withered.

“Eh? Did we get discovered?” Chen Yiming muttered.

Just as he noticed the change in the weeds, he vaguely sensed a slight tremor deep underground. Such a coincidence was bound to arouse suspicion.

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone heard a commotion in the village.

They did not release their spiritual power to investigate. Instead, they used the cover of the rocks to observe the situation. The outline of human faces appeared in the middle of the three treants’ trunks, and they looked in the direction of the cove.

“We’ve really been discovered!”

In reality, these three treants were not very powerful. They were only equivalent to the peak of the human warrior realm. Any one of them in the team could wipe out the three treants.

However, they did not expect the treants’ perception to be so sharp. This was not within the range of the information that had been gathered previously. Clearly, the treants did not take the ordinary surveillance teams seriously and deliberately pretended not to notice them.

“Follow the plan,” Chen Yiming whispered.

In his plan, unless it was a matter of life and death, he would not make a move easily. The four people from the capital would be in charge of killing the treants.

“I’ll suppress them from a distance.”

“I’ll attack at close range.”

“I’ll block the space-travel passage.”

“I’ll cooperate with you to hold back the enemy.”

The four of them reiterated their respective responsibilities before the fight. Immediately after, they rushed out of the cove and headed straight for the strange mountain village.

“Boom!”

Ling Zhongyun stopped in an area that gave him a wide field of view and moved like a phantom. In the blink of an eye, three arrows imbued with his energy were aimed at the treant and shot out.

The energy arrows spun continuously as they flew, forming three small whirlwinds. Their speed increased by one level, and their attacks were enhanced by the spinning force. At the same time, the edges of the arrows had an extremely strong cutting force.

Before they landed, the houses in the village were already on the verge of collapse from the aftershock of the whirlwind.

The outlines of the three treants’ faces changed. Realizing how powerful the intruders were, they had already retracted their roots. At this moment, they stood up like humanoid creatures and dodged to the side.

However, at the half-step master realm, the materialized spiritual power was not just for show. It was even more effective for long-range attacks. The three small whirlwinds changed their direction in midair and flew straight at the treants.

Chen Yiming, who was watching at the back, acknowledged Ling Zhongyun’s strength. He wanted to find an opportunity to secretly learn some of his tricks and teach them to Chen Yingying when he got back.

As for letting Ling Zhongyun teach Chen Yingying directly, forget it! His sister was still young, and he would regret it if she was cheated of her feelings by this man.

As he was thinking about it, the other three had only covered half the distance when the three arrow whirlwinds hit the three treants.

“Swish! Swish! Swish!”

The treants let out painful cries. Their bodies shone with a golden light, and a golden barrier appeared on each of their surfaces to block the piercing and cutting force of the energy arrows.

In terms of internal force, there was a qualitative difference between someone at the half-step master realm and someone at the peak of the warrior realm. Chen Yiming had relied on his talent to fight across realms.

Therefore, even if the treants were at a disadvantage, it was impossible for them to be instantly killed by the arrow whirlwind. However, the whirlwind from the arrows still temporarily restrained the treeman.

Zhao Shumin used this short period of time to rush to the front of one of the treants.

She waved the spear in her hand, and a dark red flame lit up on it. Without any fancy moves, she stabbed at the treant who could not dodge in time, aiming at the spot where it had been hit by the arrow.

“Boom!”

It was as if a TNT bomb had exploded. The treant’s entire body was surrounded by flames and black smoke rolled out, spreading in all directions and up into the sky.

“What!”

Chen Yiming could feel the tragic state of the treant being blown up from the inside.

He gasped. He had a feeling that it was best not to provoke such a woman. The main attribute of her internal force was explosion, and its lethality was extraordinary.

Once she broke through to the master realm, she could use the natural power to greatly increase her endurance, and she would become a human bombing machine.

However, thinking about his powerful body, it should not be difficult for him to subdue such a woman.

The other two treants had escaped the control of the arrow whirlwind. When they saw that the aura of their kind was quickly weakening from the explosion, they immediately turned around and moved towards the space-travel passage.

Jiang Kai held his large shield and rushed to the front of the space-travel passage. A layer of blood-colored energy flowed through his body, and then his muscles and bones quickly increased in size.

His entire body grew from three meters to nearly 10 meters before stopping. He was like a small giant that was as tall as a three-story building.

At the same time, the large shield in his hand, which was made of some unknown material, began to expand as he transferred his internal force into it. In the end, it became a shield that was 1.5 times the size of Jiang Kai.

His 10-meter-long body and 15-meter-long shield completely blocked the space-travel passage.

Zhu Song charged straight at the two treants who were retreating. He took out six small discs from his pocket and covered them with his green internal force, causing them to expand into flying wheels with a diameter of three meters each.

The flying wheels had a circle of sharp blades surrounding them. The surface was surging with a green energy, and when it made contact with the air, it made a sizzling sound.

In the next moment, Zhu Song threw out the flying wheels. Using his materialized spiritual power to guide them, the three wheels flew towards the two remaining treants.

Wherever they flew past, bits of green energy fell to the ground, creating long ditches where they made contact with the ground. Small creatures in the soil melted away, and white smoke rose from their bodies.

Seeing this, the two treants were forced to come to a stop. Their bodies were covered in a layer of golden light as they fought against the flying wheels that were attacking them from three directions.

The human faces in the middle of their tree trunks revealed looks of despair. The space-travel passage was blocked by the small shield-wielding giant, and their bodies were threatened by the poisonous flying wheels.

Even if they could withstand one wave of attacks, the next wave of attacks would come quickly. If they let any of the poisonous wheels cut into their tree trunks, it would not be a good outcome. They would not even have the strength to rush to the space-travel passage.

It seemed that no matter what they did, they could not escape the outcome of death.

And the situation was exactly like that.

Zhao Shumin, who had successfully destroyed one of the treants, had her red hair fluttering in the wind. She entered a wild state and charged at one of the remaining treants with her spear.

Ling Zhongyun was not slow either. Like a chess player, he accurately predicted the treant’s next few steps. The three arrow whirlwinds were only a step slower than the spinning wheels, but they dealt the last treant a fatal blow.

In a few breaths, the three treants were wiped out by their joint attacks. In reality, there were only three half-step martial masters working together, but the damage they caused was increased by many times.

Faced with the materialized spiritual power, the treants could not effectively dodge the attacks. They were at a huge disadvantage. In such a situation, they were still being attacked two on one, and they did not have the time to put up a decent resistance.

“Not bad! In a one-on-one fight, at the peak of the warrior realm, I would definitely be able to suppress them. However, facing the joint attacks of the four of them, they won’t be able to kill me, but I’m afraid they will hold me back for a while,” Chen Yiming thought to himself.