Late at night.
On the plains, Li Dao and his group finally stopped after walking for an unknown amount of time.
"We're here."
Hearing this, Li Dao and the other death row prisoners followed Centurion Liu's gaze.
In the distance, there was a bonfire on the plains.
Around the bonfire were many people dressed in strange attire.
Many recognized at a glance that these were not people of the Great Qian Dynasty, but nomadic barbarians from the Northern Barbarian plains.
Centurion Liu turned to the death row camp, "In a moment, you'll sneak over with us. Your task is to charge the camp and set fires, creating a distraction to draw the barbarians' attention, allowing us to attack from behind."
Hearing this, the prisoners' faces changed.
Charging the Northern Barbarian camp, even if it was just a small troop, was akin to a death sentence.
After all, one side was a regular army, while the other was a ragtag group of death row prisoners.
Centurion Liu seemed to anticipate their thoughts and reassured them, "Don't worry, you won't be sent to die in vain."
"You just need to set fires and create chaos. Once we join you, you'll be safe. You won't need to kill the enemy."
Seeing his sincerity, some prisoners felt reassured.
Glancing at the hundred-plus soldiers with Centurion Liu, then at the small Northern Barbarian troop not far away, they nodded in agreement.
Seeing this, Centurion Liu gestured, and the hundred regular soldiers of Great Qian dispersed into the night.
......
Soon after, Li Dao and the group arrived just tens of meters from the Northern Barbarian troops.
Centurion Liu, with two soldiers, stayed nearby.
"Take out the sentries."
At Centurion Liu's command, the two soldiers swiftly moved out under the cover of darkness.
Shortly after, the call of a partridge echoed.
Hearing this, Centurion Liu nodded, turning back to Li Dao and the others, "We've taken care of the front. It's up to you now."
"Wait for my whistle, then act."
The death row prisoners exchanged glances, gripping their shabby weapons as they approached the Northern Barbarian camp.
Li Dao silently followed in the middle of the group, neither at the front nor the back, his right hand gripping the Tetanus Blade tightly, as if it provided him some sense of security.
Soon, as they neared the Northern Barbarian camp, a whistle pierced the night.
"Let's do it!"
"Even as a death row prisoner, I look down on these Northern Barbarians."
"Charge, if you want to live, don't hesitate."
"......"
With the whistle, the prisoners no longer hesitated. At this point, there was no turning back.
Amidst shouts of encouragement, the prisoners scattered and charged toward the Northern Barbarian camp.
Inside the camp, the Northern Barbarians reacted quickly, grabbing their weapons and rallying.
"Enemy attack, grab your weapons!"
"It's the Great Qian Dynasty, leave none alive!"
"For the Bear God, kill!"
The shouts of the Northern Barbarian soldiers rang out, and the previously quiet camp erupted into chaos.
In one part of the camp.
Li Dao moved cautiously, holding a rusted long knife.
When he encountered a tent, he used the knife to ignite it from a nearby fire, creating more chaos.
"Don't kill me, don't kill me."
Suddenly, a shout rang out.
Li Dao turned to see, just a dozen meters away, a fellow death row prisoner had run into a Northern Barbarian soldier.
With just one encounter, the frail prisoner was knocked to the ground.
Facing the fear of death, the prisoner immediately began to plead for mercy.
The Northern Barbarian soldier showed no mercy to the weak prisoner, delivering a swift blow that sent the prisoner's head flying, leaving a pool of blood.
Since Li Dao was directly in line with the scene, the Northern Barbarian soldier looked up and locked eyes with him.
Having killed a prisoner, the Northern Barbarian soldier seemed emboldened, and seeing the 'frail' Li Dao, he charged alone with his blade.
"Great Qian man, die!"
As he neared Li Dao, the Northern Barbarian soldier swung his long knife heavily.
Seeing this, Li Dao decisively raised his knife to block.
Clang!
A sharp sound echoed as the two blades clashed, sparks flying, locking in mid-air.
Feeling the force from the opponent's blade, the Northern Barbarian soldier looked incredulous.
How could a 'frail' soldier block his blade?
The Northern Barbarian soldier pondered, but Li Dao had no time for thoughts, not forgetting his own predicament.
Realizing the opponent's strength was inferior, he forcefully swung, knocking the Northern Barbarian soldier's blade aside.
Whoosh!
He swung his rusted blade heavily at the Northern Barbarian soldier's neck.
Squelch!
With the sound of flesh being cut, a splash of blood landed on Li Dao's face.
But then, something unexpected happened.
His strike didn't kill the Northern Barbarian soldier; the rusted blade was too dull and got stuck in the soldier's neck, making Li Dao shiver.
"Ah!"
In excruciating pain, the Northern Barbarian soldier fell to the ground, wailing, blood gushing from his neck.
Seeing this, Li Dao silently muttered, "Sorry."
It wasn't that he didn't want to kill the soldier in one blow; it was purely the weapon's fault.
Fortunately, he was strong; otherwise, an ordinary person might not have even managed to cut into the flesh with such a dull blade.
With the rusted blade taken by the soldier's neck, Li Dao picked up the sharp long knife that had fallen to the ground.
Weighing the knife in his hand, he couldn't help but feel that a good blade was much more satisfying to use.
Facing the Northern Barbarian soldier still writhing in pain on the ground, he didn't hesitate, swiftly ending his suffering and cutting off the soldier's left ear.
He needed to kill, and he needed the battle merits.
The next moment, the system's notification sounded in his ear.
[Killed one enemy, gained attribute: 0.15]
Seeing this message, Li Dao felt a strange sense of relief.
Because attributes gave him a sense of security.
Without hesitation, while the enemy hadn't arrived, he quickly added the newly acquired attribute to his Physique.
A few breaths later, Li Dao's Physique was complete.
Gripping the long knife, perhaps due to the increase in strength, it felt even more comfortable.
Listening to the noise around him, Li Dao decisively continued to move cautiously with his knife.
Soon, he arrived in front of a Northern Barbarian tent.
Just as he was about to set it on fire, he suddenly heard movement from inside the tent.
Li Dao's eyes lit up, cautiously approaching the tent flap to wait.
Sure enough, a few seconds later, someone emerged from the tent.
Swish!
In an instant, blood splattered.
[Killed one enemy, gained attribute: 0.12]
This strike was flawless, and the system notification quickly followed.
"Ada, what's wrong?"
Hearing the commotion outside, someone inside the tent called out.
Taking a deep breath, Li Dao decisively entered the tent with his knife.
"You... Great Qian man, why..."
The next moment, a splash of blood stained the white tent, and the voice inside abruptly stopped.
Inside the tent.
Looking at the mess and the stench in the air, Li Dao disdainfully kicked the Northern Barbarian soldier on the ground.
Cursing silently in his heart, "Damn pervert."
With the fallen Northern Barbarian soldier's last breath gone, the system notification arrived as expected.
[Killed one enemy, gained attribute: 0.13]
"Status panel."
[Owner: Li Dao]
[Physique: 2.15]
[Available Attribute Points: 0.25]
With just a glance, Li Dao focused his thoughts, adding all available attributes to his Physique.
Until he figured out if the available attributes had other uses, increasing Physique was his only choice.
As the warmth circulated within, his body's strength rapidly increased.
A few breaths later.
[Owner: Li Dao]
[Physique: 2.4]
[Available Attribute Points: 0]
His Physique was nearly 2.5 times that of an average person, giving him a decent ability to protect himself.
But it wasn't enough. In Li Dao's view, to truly feel secure, he needed to raise his attributes to ten.
Hearing the increasing noise outside the tent, Li Dao chose not to hide inside. Instead, he cut off the left ears of the two Northern Barbarian soldiers, wrapped them in cloth, and decisively stepped out with his knife.
On the other side.
As the prisoners made the Northern Barbarian camp chaotic, Centurion Liu didn't hesitate, blowing his whistle to signal his soldiers to attack the camp.
In an instant, the Northern Barbarian camp descended into further chaos.
The once fierce Northern Barbarian soldiers lost their previous ferocity upon seeing the regular army of Great Qian, opting for defense rather than offense.
Within the camp, Li Dao roamed with his long knife.
Whenever he encountered a lone Northern Barbarian soldier, he decisively engaged.
With his extraordinary Physique, even without any combat skills, he could quickly dispatch ordinary Northern Barbarian soldiers.
Killing and moving, as he killed more, he became more adept at it.
His methods became sharper, no longer as clumsy as at the start.
Eventually, the Northern Barbarian soldiers noticed Li Dao's prowess and began to gather together.
The regular soldiers of the Great Qian Dynasty also noticed Li Dao. Recognizing his strength, they rallied around him to clear out the Northern Barbarian soldiers.
Li Dao blocked a Northern Barbarian soldier's long knife, helping a Great Qian soldier, then swiftly dispatched the enemy with a reverse strike.
"Thank you."
Grateful for saving his life, the Great Qian soldier expressed his thanks.
Li Dao didn't hear him, as his attention was on the system notification.
[Killed one enemy, gained attribute: 0.2]
This was an elite enemy, almost worth two ordinary soldiers.
However, just as Li Dao was feeling pleased, a voice suddenly rang out.
"Lay down your weapons, surrender and you won't be killed."
It was Centurion Liu's voice.
Surrender and not be killed?
Faced with this sudden command, Li Dao was anxious.
Taking away his chance to kill was like killing his parents.
Stopping him from killing meant a loss for him.
While the Northern Barbarian soldiers were still undecided, Li Dao simply picked up another knife with his left hand, wielding two blades as he charged with the Great Qian soldiers toward the Northern Barbarians.
Perhaps because of Li Dao's outstanding and frenzied performance, the already wavering Northern Barbarian soldiers completely broke down.
"I surrender, don't kill me."
"We surrender, we surrender."
"......"
Faced with the fierce Li Dao, the Northern Barbarian soldiers dropped their weapons and surrendered.
Li Dao's long knife paused at a Northern Barbarian soldier's neck.
Seeing Li Dao not move, the soldier breathed a sigh of relief.
Seemingly noticing the reluctance in Li Dao's eyes, the Northern Barbarian soldier even showed a provocative look.
The next second...
Squelch!
A head rolled to the ground.
"What are you doing!"
"Why did you kill him, he had already surrendered."
"You're killing prisoners, that's against the rules."
"......"
The Northern Barbarian soldiers began to verbally attack Li Dao.
In response, Li Dao shrugged, calmly saying, "Sorry, slipped."
Hearing this, the voices abruptly stopped.
But soon, they couldn't help but curse, each insult more vulgar than the last.
After all, who could slip and decapitate someone?
Squelch!
Amidst the curses, another head fell to the ground.
Once again, the voices stopped, everyone looking at Li Dao in disbelief.
Even the soldiers of the Great Qian Dynasty were stunned.
Once might be an accident, but twice seemed intentional.
Li Dao looked at the Northern Barbarian soldiers, calmly saying, "Sorry, slipped again."
This time, no Northern Barbarian soldier dared to curse, only staring at Li Dao in terror, silently cursing in their hearts.