Chapter 36 Enemy Attack

The Shadowfront Fortress had two main gates – one to the North and one to the South.

Each gate was an imposing structure in and of itself, almost ten metres tall and able to accommodate tens of horses running out side by side when it was fully opened.

These gates were reinforced with layer upon layer of steel bars, to a point that they were probably even stronger than the fortress walls themselves!

It was nigh impossible to break down these gates in a frontal assault.

However, located slightly away from the North Gate was a tiny side door, small enough only for a single person to pass at any one time. Painted in the exact same manner and colour as the fortress wall, it was extremely well camouflaged, and any random passing person would never be able to notice it without actually knowing of its existence in the first place.

At the same time, the door was designed to be easy for people to pass, but difficult for beasts to do so.

The existence of this door was incorporated into the design of the fortress as a second option in case there was a situation at the North Gate, but some people might also consider it a security loophole.

After all, the door was far weaker than the North Gate, and could be broken down relatively easily by a martial artist.

This meant that anyone conscious of the existence of the door would be able to enter the fortress in a much easier way!

However, the demons still went ahead with the initial design without even considering that it would make them vulnerable to human martial artists.

That was because the demons were just that damn confident in their superiority over humans. They simply had no fear whatsoever that the weak humans would ever use that door as a way to sneak into the fortress.

After all, the Shadowfront Fortress was essentially a military establishment housing hundreds of powerful demon martial artists who were part of the military of the Scarlet Moon Kingdom!

Why would the humans seek their own demise by entering the Shadowfront Fortress of their own accord?

Was that not akin to a rabbit sneaking into a lion's cage?

In that case, the lion would gladly welcome the rabbit in!

Any human martial artists who entered the Shadowfront Fortress would just be delivering Slaughter Essence to them!

But of course, the demons were still not negligent enough to leave the door completely unguarded. Even though this door was rarely used, there was always a demon guard standing by on the inside of the door.

There!

Lu Tianzi let out a grin when he finally managed to make out the barely noticeable outline of the tiny door.

Staying hidden within the safety of the shadows, Lu Tianzi looked up to see that the sentries positioned on the wall were not even taking their jobs seriously, casually chatting with their partners without paying much attention to their surroundings.

Seeing that, Lu Tianzi could not help but heave a sigh of relief.

Things would only be that much easier for him if the demon sentries were this negligent.

After making sure that the sentries had their attention placed elsewhere, Lu Tianzi darted across the small open area between the forest and the fortress, quickly arriving at the base of the fortress wall where he once again entered the blindspot of the sentries above.

Due to the spikes that protruded at regular intervals, it was impossible for him to completely stick to the wall. But fortunately for him, the sentries simply could not be bothered to look out at this time of the night, much less look down at the base of the wall.

Lu Tianzi squinted in focus before reaching out to knock on the small door at a set rhythm.

After a few moments, a clicking sound came from the other side of the door as it was unlocked from the inside.

Lu Tianzi immediately drove the Spiritual Essence within his inner world before opening the door and leaping right in!

The moment he entered, he came face to face with the demon who was on guard duty.

"Huh? Who are y-"

The demon tilted his head in confusion when he saw Lu Tianzi leap in, but the demon never even managed to complete his question.

Lu Tianzi's sword shot forward and pierced right into the demon's throat, silencing him for the rest of eternity.

Before the demon's body could fall to the ground, Lu Tianzi rushed forth to carefully hold him in place before carefully laying him down, not wanting the crashing sound to alert anyone else in the vicinity.

After taking care of the demon guard, Lu Tianzi finally had some time to appreciate his surroundings.

Lu Tianzi was now standing alone in a small chamber with doors on both ends, containing nothing except for a small table and two chairs. This room was likely meant for the demon guard to rest in while looking out for anyone who wanted to go through the side door.

Lu Tianzi then turned his attention towards the corpse contemplatively as he considered his next move.

"Hey, I brought the food!" the door swung open as another demon casually stepped into the room.

When the demon entered, he was still carelessly fiddling with the two bags in his hands. Before he even had the chance to tilt his head back up, a sword had already planted itself directly into his neck.

Choking on his own blood, the only sounds that the demon was able to make were helpless grunts. He could only look up in disbelief at the stranger who had just changed into his partner's clothes, his vision gradually turning dark.

After giving the second demon a quick patdown as well, Lu Tianzi took whatever was valuable before hiding the two of them behind the door.

If someone were to come to this room later, he would much rather the room look empty at first glance than for the two corpses to be lying right in the middle of the room.

But just as Lu Tianzi was ready to leave the room, the silence of the night was suddenly broken by thunderous drumming!

"Man down! It's an enemy attack!"

Even with the door closed, Lu Tianzi heard the shoutings outside loud and clear, causing him to freeze in place.

The powerful drumming seemed to reasonate with his own rapidly beating heart as Lu Tianzi felt panic set in.

What the hell?

The demons already found him?

How the hell did they already discover his presence?

But just as he was wondering this, even more shoutings started to come from the outside.

"Gather at the Northern Gate! One of the sentries was shot down from the outside!"

"The culprits are still there! Hurry!"

Hearing that, Lu Tianzi's worries were dispelled instantly.

There was no mistake about it.

He did not understand the reason behind wanting to alert the demons, but that was not important. All he knew was that it must have been the assault party's doing.

What a good timing!

It was almost as if everything was planned to perfection!

With the assault party drawing attention to the main gate, Lu Tianzi would definitely encounter fewer demons while exploring the inside of the fortress, making his job much easier than before.

After hearing the footsteps outside of the room fade off into the distance, Lu Tianzi carefully exited before darting off towards his target – the Shadowfront Fortress' Treasury.

The fortress had already fallen into a complete frenzy by now.

Just like how Ivory Rock City had never been attacked before, this was also the very first time that Shadowfront Fortress had suffered an enemy attack!

The demons within the fortress were mostly martial artists who belonged to the military. But taking a look at them right now, one would hardly be able to find any traces of a disciplined military force.

Instead, they looked more like a group of wild beasts that were out for blood, all eagerly rushing towards the Northern Gate!

In fact, this bloodthirst within them had resulted in many demons carelessly neglecting a sole figure that was heading in the completely opposite direction from them.

Right now, the fact that humans looked identical to demons was definitely playing to Lu Tianzi's advantage!

Lu Tianzi was surprised by how smoothly everything went as he moved along, finally arriving at the seemingly insignificant door that was supposed to be his destination.

The door seemed so unimpressive that if not for the two demons standing guard in front of the regular looking door, Lu Tianzi would even have suspected that he got the location wrong.

From behind a corner, Lu Tianzi carefully swept his perception over the two guards.

Advanced Essence Building realm martial artists!

Lu Tianzi no longer placed such opponents in his eyes. Without hesitation, Lu Tianzi stepped out from the corner and charged right at the two of them.

"What?!"

The demons were confused for a moment, but their instincts still told them to draw out their weapons in response.

"Who are you?!" one of them shouted.

Lu Tianzi naturally did not bother answering, directly striking out with both hands, a sword in his right and a sabre in his left.

"Shit!" the demons immediately swung their weapons to block.

Bang-!

The two pairs of weapons clashed simultaneously, and both demons were immediately sent smashing through the very door that they had been guarding!

In a single strike, Lu Tianzi had actually sent both of them flying at the same time!

Before the two of them could even get back on their feet, Lu Tianzi stepped forward once again, stabbing into their throats. With that, the two demons were doomed to never be able to stand again.

After which, Lu Tianzi quickly swept his perception across the entire Treasury.

But what he saw made him frown in response.

When Lu Tianzi thought about the Treasury of the fearsome Shadowfront Fortress, he had imagined a huge chamber containing all sorts of precious metals and Essence Stones. Powerful weapons would be hung at the sides, decorating the walls of the Treasury in a resplendent manner.

However, that was completely different from the reality before his eyes.

It was a huge chamber indeed, but without all the treasures that Lu Tianzi was expecting.

A wooden stand was placed in the middle of the Treasury, holding up a small pearl that was constantly emitting a slight reddish glow. The ground was marked with numerous flags that stood at set intervals. Coupled with strange markings drawn onto the ground, they drew up an elaborate formation with the pearl as its centre!

There were many types of formations.

The one that Lu Tianzi knew of was one that helped with gathering Spiritual Essence and sped up a martial artist's cultivation.

But there were many other types of formations apart from that, including formations that plunged people into a dreamlike state, formations that disorientated people, and even formations that were meant for killing!

Lu Tianzi was not exactly adept at formations, but that did not mean he was clueless about it either.

He understood clearly how much of a threat a well designed formation could be!

The formation before him was completely foreign to Lu Tianzi, and that fact alone was enough to make him hesitate.

No matter how he looked at it, that red pearl was definitely an incomparably precious item.

The only thing that mattered was whether the formation was meant to feed energy to the pearl, or if it was meant to prevent intruders from stealing it.

Lu Tianzi stared ahead at the glowing red pearl resting before him and took in a deep breath before he finally made up his mind.

No matter what, if he did not even try to take the chance after coming this far, then it would truly be a waste!

Clenching his fists in determination, the young man took a step out, directly entering the formation!