"Swish, swish, swish—!!"
A series of powerful and forceful arrows continuously pierced the air, whistling as they flew into the cave.
Under the setting sun, Xiahong Yuanyu took shelter behind the shadow of a large tree, coldly observing the dim cave.
He had brought more than twenty cultivators from Prince Cheng Mansion, who were all talented guest elders. In the past, all these twenty people would have made it into Beiyuan Mountain.
But now, the entry threshold for Beiyuan Mountain was too high, and only four had been admitted.
These twenty-plus individuals were all adept in martial arts, and at this moment, relying on iron embryo bows and arrows forged from fine iron, they were wielding some of the deadliest weapons found among mortals.
Each of the four could shoot without missing, equivalent to divine archers among mortals!
After firing three rounds, the four stopped.
However, the arrows were still on the string, aimed at the cave.
"How is it?" Xiahong Yuanyu whispered.
"Young master, there's no movement inside the cave," one of the archers said with a frown, "They might be dead or might be hiding, but we should still wait. We don't have many arrows left; we can't afford to waste them."
They had carried iron embryo bows heavy enough, and with a bundle of fine steel arrows, they already weighed over a hundred pounds, resulting in them barely bringing any food.
—Each person could only carry items that didn't exceed their own body weight, including clothing, and all must be ordinary mortal items.
Xiahong Yuanyu furrowed his brows and said, "You keep watch; I'll go find some dry grass to burn the cave."
Before coming, he had prepared things like fire stones, for, having become a mortal, he couldn't use spells to start a fire and had to rely on mortal methods.
But the opponent was also a mortal!
Under the suffocating smoke and fire, hiding in the cave was a dead end.
A wolf howl came from not far away, and as dusk fell, the movement of vegetation in the forest faintly appeared; wolves with white fur all over their bodies, black hair on their foreheads and hooves, emerged from between the trees.
There were dozens of white wolves, their cold, green ferocious eyes staring at the men, emitting a panting-like low growl from their throats.
Xiahong Yuanyu's expression shifted slightly: "A pack of wolves?"
If his cultivation were still present, a single move would have sufficed to kill these wolves.
But relying solely on mortal strength, even though he was close to the threshold of Martial Arts True Self, without the ability to draw essence into his body from the earth and sky, he dared not use overly profound killing moves.
Such moves relied mainly on the enhancement of Martial Arts True Strength, with the consumption powered by the essence of earth and sky.
Just using the strength of a mortal physical body, forcibly breaking human limits, even the most powerful killing moves were just stronger in exertion, not only far less powerful than external ones but also excessively damaging to oneself.
In just a few moves, he might exhaust himself to death.
With that howl, the wolves charged at them relentlessly.
These white wolves, though just mortal beasts, were considerably larger than ordinary wolves and clearly much more formidable than normal wild beasts.
"I'll hold them off; you keep an eye on the cave."
Xiahong Yuanyu slightly furrowed his brows, instantly drew the broad-bladed longsword from his back, and charged towards the wolves.
He swung his sword, and almost with one or two strikes, he was able to kill a white wolf.
He was now merely using the 'Micro' realm of martial arts basics.
Refining Power into Silk, Perfect Unity, which was the level of a first-rate martial artist among mortals.
Although it required substantial physical effort, it was at least safe, not breaking any limits, and not harmful to the body.
As the sword light flashed, wolves continuously fell dead.
Xiahong Yuanyu initially thought that after killing some wild wolves with a thunderous approach, the wolf pack would retreat upon realizing he was not to be provoked.
However, the wolves continued their fearless and frenzied attack, their ferocity seemingly spurred by the blood.
After all, he was just one man with a sword, still with a mortal physique; with dozens of white wolves attacking, inevitably some bypassed him and went directly for the archers.
That archer didn't dodge; instead, he pulled back the arrow in his hand, and as the bowstring he had drawn snapped back, he also instantly looped the great bow around a wolf's neck and with a yank, the wolf's head flew off, blood spurting.
Xiahong Yuanyu breathed a sigh of relief, while swiftly killing wolves, he ordered, "Keep watching the cave, don't let..."
He hadn't finished speaking when suddenly a figure flew out of the cave!
Without waiting for Xiahong Yuanyu's command, the other three archers, who had been closely watching the cave, had already instinctively aimed at the figure and released their bowstrings.
"Swish, swish, swish!!"
The immense destructive power of the iron embryo bow and fine steel arrows instantly penetrated the figure, almost tearing it apart.
But upon a quick glance, Xiahong Yuanyu's expression changed.
He immediately recognized that the shadow was indeed the cultivator who had just been shot dead by arrows outside the cave!
At the same time, almost concurrently, another very fast figure dashed out of the cave.
That figure waved a hand—
"Whiz, whiz, whiz, whiz—!"
In an instant, more than ten flying knives turned into cold light, flying towards the four archers.
Picking up arrows, stringing the bow anew; after all, it required time, and facing such swift flying knives, all they could do was use the iron embryo bows in their hands to block the knives!
"Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang—"
More than ten flying knives were blocked by the iron embryo bows, although it damaged the bows, possibly making them unable to draw fully again, but it was still better than dying under a flying knife.
The speed of that figure drastically surged, and he took the opportunity to charge in front of the four!