My Misfortune Crushed Instances

The call for reinforcements was naturally sent out when Lirui was at the city gates, and upon receiving the message, the Western Kingdom’s frontline command promptly ordered a retreat.

They knew well what kind of power they’d mobilized to blockade that Mist Demon.

If even those surrounding forces were defeated, the main camp’s garrison was unlikely to hold.

The root of all this lay in underestimating that person’s strength.

But regardless, since the worst-case scenario beyond the plan had already happened, they had to respond.

Evidently, from the moment Lirui breached the city, the Western Kingdom was destined not to gain the upper hand in this war.

For them, the best outcome was to maintain the status quo, without dreaming of pushing the Dragon Country’s defenses back to the depths of East Wangze State; retaining their original territorial range was good enough.

After all, within these encircled areas, there were many hidden spoils yet to be unearthed.

Lirui didn’t intend to give them such a chance; he was fiercely battling the Bloodclad Barber, and as long as he could kill this person, Central City would be won.

The pinnacle fighters in this Secret Realm battlefield mainly fell into two categories.

First were those like Cheng Wen and Kong Ji, older with commanding abilities and formidable strength.

The other were the rising stars like Simon and Vons, emerging as new powerhouses.

There wasn’t much difference in strength between the two, as the upper limit of levels was set; not everyone was heaven-defying like Lirui, having multiple Legendary items or skills.

Currently, the Barber confronting him belonged to the low-tier version of the first type.

The man’s reputation wasn’t unfounded; the machete in his hand, almost as long in the handle as the blade, had only two attack attributes, but greatly amplified stats.

He himself was another advanced path of martial arts mastery—Weapon Master, possessing numerous skills that could enhance the power of armaments.

This beheading machete was Epic Level; had it been a Legendary Level gear, he might have been among the top echelon.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t, so he was bound to be outmatched by Lirui.

Frankly, Lirui hadn’t expected the chief guard of Central City to be even weaker than himself.

When he probed and discerned his opponent’s tactics, ensuring all the Barber’s attack methods relied on that machete, he abandoned Thunder Shocking Earth in favor of confronting with Yin Thunder Blitz.

In the beginning, the Barber used skills to counter Thunder Shocking Earth a few times, thinking he had a chance, his confidence soaring.

But it wasn’t long before he stopped being pleased; as the black umbrella swung with an afterimage each time, the situation changed.

The intense triple shockwave left him struggling to cope, threatening his posture with the slightest misstep.

His opponent was fast, he couldn’t outrun, and as a Weapon Master, he was destined to rely on close combat.

Thus, he was quickly outmaneuvered and wounded twice by Lirui, sustaining significant injuries.

"Ah!!"

He slashed down with the blood-colored machete, and Lirui saw a sea of blood coming at him.

He closed his eyes, then reopened them, revealing a red glow in his eyes.

With Blood Eye activated, illusions became no obstacle; they were decoys crafted with armaments, meant not to hurt but confuse.

Strangely, Lirui wondered why the opponent used an illusion, yet felt no threat, then saw only a figure retreating into the distance.

He fled?

Feeling speechless, he began to chase with long strides.

The Barber fled quickly, leaping along the walls of the central building onto the rooftop; looking back, he was startled to see his pursuer gaining fast, leaping ahead and slicing the central column of the building behind him.

Bang!

This four-story building’s main support shattered, collapsing amid surrounding dust.

By the time Lirui passed through the dust, a great distance separated them again.

They chased and fled, heading east.

Bang!!

The Barber shattered the city gate, seemingly heading northeast to the front lines where the Western Kingdom’s elites gathered.

As for holding the main camp, he had already, consciously or not, disregarded it—survival was paramount as death approached.

He even conjured reasoning that he’d drawn Lirui outside the city, allowing the camp’s stockpiles and main communication and intelligence systems to still operate.

A person of his rank in the Western Kingdom highly valued escaping defeat, as the stronger ones had more chances of gaining from the Secret Realm battlefield.

He nearly applied all speed and physique-enhancing skill states on himself, running away more fiercely than he fought.

Lirui was astounded by this trickster; originally, he thought the man would die with the camp he vowed to protect, but faced with disadvantage, he fled—bah!

Activating Shenxiao Thunderbolt Heart Scripture, he chased vigorously, and as spiritual power depleted, the battle-scarred bonuses grew, closing the distance between them.

Finally, with thunderous strides, he leaped forward and activated Iron Cavalry Charge, crashing at the target like a meteor.

The Barber, shocked, didn’t expect his opponent’s speed to be so great, forced to halt fleeing to intercept.

Blood Source Reinforcement lv3.

Weapon Sharpening lv5.

Brave Power lv4.

Three state skills, plus an active lv5 Epic skill Blood Slash.

The red glow on the beheading blade became radiant again.

Bang!!

The Barber flew backward, trailing a long blood line.

Skills aren’t always stronger with more; it depends on their intensity and synergy.

He was critically struck again by the Iron Cavalry Charge and battle-scarred enhanced Thunder Shocking Earth just executed.

However unexpectedly, twisting in midair, he dashed onward with newfound speed.

Lirui paused, thinking another strike should finish him off, without expecting the other had a life-saving skill.

Suddenly recalling the intelligence, this man had a skill known as Regeneration, granting heightened vitality and physique briefly during heavy blood-loss.

It was a skill to stay alive in death; if fighting to mutual destruction, it could surprise an opponent.

But faced with Lirui’s complete suppression, the Bloodclad Barber had lost the courage to utilize it for a desperate fight.

Lirui turned back, seeing Central City far behind.

"No wonder he’s a master; so long without getting killed by me."

Without hesitation, he pursued, knowing another skill combo would surely end the man’s life.

He wasn’t concerned as the commanders; pursuing deeply wouldn’t fall into enemy’s encirclement—he would strike any fledgling hard.

Swoosh.

Lirui’s form swept across the earth, like lightning rushing along the ground.

Reaching striking distance, a change abruptly unfolded.

At the horizon was a writhing black line—an army moving en masse, swift as they apparently headed for Central City.