Free Web NovelChapter 167: Chapter 167: The War Storm
The pale road after the Shadow Ravine did not remain peaceful for long.
At first, the temporary force moved with improved order. Injured members were placed in the protected center. Scouts rotated. Qin Mo established path markers every few hundred steps. Ren Qingshan’s shield soldiers obeyed Qin Yuheng’s tactical instructions without visible resentment now, though their trust remained practical rather than emotional.
That was enough.
The Fourth Gate could be seen in the distance: a colossal arch of black-gold stone beneath a sky split by storm clouds. Between the force and the gate stretched a wide plain filled with broken roads from all five routes.
Qin Yuheng understood immediately.
No matter which road they chose, all roads converged before the Fourth Gate.
And so did their dangers.
The mission panel changed.
[Convergence Plain reached.]
[War Storm Arrival accelerated.]
[Remaining Time: 3 hours.]
[Objective]
Cross the Convergence Plain and preserve central banner.
[Warning] ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
Unchosen road remnants will attack.]
Qin Mo stared at "unchosen road remnants."
"So we chose one road and still fight the others?"
Qin Yuheng looked at the horizon.
"We avoided their full trials. Not their consequences."
From the left came the Shield Road remnants: armored phantoms carrying tower shields.
From the right came River Road remnants: mist figures dragging water chains.
Ahead, Banner Forest remnants raised false command flags.
Above, Golden Ridge light spears began to fall.
Behind, shadows from the ravine still crawled along the ground.
Five roads.
Five pressures.
One force.
Qin Yuheng took a breath.
He could feel the temporary force’s fear rising.
Trust: 68%.
Morale: 57%.
Discipline: 70%.
Casualties still low, but exhaustion growing.
This was the real Fourth Gate test.
Not selecting the road.
Carrying the consequences of selection.
He climbed onto a broken stone marker and raised the central banner.
The banner was plain at first, gray cloth on a dark pole. But when Qin Yuheng held it, his class aura resonated. Thunder lines flickered across the fabric.
He did not make a speech about glory.
He gave instructions.
"Shield group front-left. River chains will pull—brace in pairs. Formation group marks safe ground against Golden Ridge strikes. Scouts cut false banners only after Qin Lian marks them. Ranged attackers target mist cores. No one chases. No one breaks line for illusions."
Ren Qingshan shouted, "You heard him! Move!"
This time, the force moved.
Trust rose.
[Trust: 68% → 72%]
Qin Yuheng activated Gate Thunder Command Field wider than before, but still carefully. The willing acceptance had grown. More members entered the field willingly, though not all.
Mental burden pressed against his skull.
He controlled it.
The first clash came from Shield Road phantoms.
They formed an unbreakable wall and pushed forward slowly, trying to crush the force against the river chains approaching from the right.
Qin Yuheng saw the trap.
If they focused on breaking shields, the river chains would pull the flank apart.
"Do not break shield wall. Redirect."
Ren Qingshan’s shield soldiers angled their formation. Qin Yuchen led a wedge strike—not to pierce, but to turn the phantom wall slightly. Qin Mo softened the ground under the phantoms’ left side. The shield wall tilted, creating a gap for ranged attacks to hit exposed cores.
The Shield remnants fell.
Next came River Road.
Mist chains lashed toward ankles and wrists, dragging people toward pools that had not existed seconds earlier. Qin Lian cut chains. The True Soul Guiding Lantern marked real ground. Qin Mo used Memory Anchor Water to prevent chain-induced confusion.
A healer almost got pulled away.
A young climber who had doubted Qin Yuheng earlier grabbed her arm and held on until Qin Yuchen arrived.
Trust rose again.
[Trust: 72% → 76%]
Then Banner Forest attacked.
False flags rose across the battlefield, each carrying Qin Yuheng’s voice.
"Left flank retreat!"
"Center charge!"
"Healers abandon wounded!"
"Ren Qingshan has betrayed us!"
This could have collapsed them earlier.
Now, protocols held.
Qin Mo shouted, "Only hand signals and jade-confirmed commands!"
Ren Qingshan repeated, "Ignore false banners!"
Qin Lian moved like a shadow through the flags, cutting banner cores. Qin Yuheng used the Unbroken Trust Resonance Crystal to reinforce verification pulses.
The false commands failed.
Morale rose.
Golden Ridge light spears intensified, falling from above in brilliant arcs.
Qin Mo’s formation group marked safe zones, but the light changed direction mid-fall.
Qin Yuheng made a fast choice.
"Central banner shield mode."
The panel responded.
[Central Banner temporary function unlocked.]
[Banner Shelter]
Consumes command focus to reduce area bombardment damage.
Qin Mo saw the cost.
"Command focus means your head."
"I know."
Qin Yuheng planted the banner.
A thunder-gold shelter spread outward, weakening the falling light. It did not block everything, but it reduced lethal strikes to survivable injuries.
His head throbbed.
Mu Qinglan’s moon mark was not present this time.
He had to rely on control.
Commander’s Chosen Burden stabilized him.
Not every burden.
This one.
Chosen.
The force advanced through the storm.
Then the War Storm arrived.
It was not merely weather. freēwebnovel.com
It was a moving wall of weapons, banners, voices, ash, river mist, golden fire, and shadows. It carried remnants of every road and every possible failure.
[War Storm Contact in 10 minutes.]
[Reach Fourth Gate before full contact or hold against storm.]
The Fourth Gate was still far.
Too far for the wounded.
The young climber from earlier shouted, "We cannot outrun it!"
Panic surged.
Internal conflict began rising again.
Qin Yuheng looked at the terrain.
Ahead, three broken road pillars formed a natural choke point. If they held there, the wounded could pass through toward the gate while the combat groups delayed the storm.
But if the delay group failed, casualties would spike.
He did not choose alone.
"Ren Qingshan. Can your shield group hold three minutes at those pillars?"
Ren Qingshan looked.
"With support."
"Qin Mo?"
"Formation support two minutes safely, four minutes dangerously."
"Qin Yuchen?"
"I can hold center."
"Qin Lian?"
"I can cut storm anchors if they appear."
Qin Yuheng nodded.
"Then we do not outrun. We pass in layers."
He divided the force.
Wounded and healers first.
Ranged and support second.
Shield and core team last.
No one liked it.
But everyone understood.
The War Storm hit as the first group reached the pillars.
The sound was indescribable.
Banners screamed. Bells rang. Spears fell. River chains snapped. Shadows clawed.
Ren Qingshan’s shield group held.
Qin Mo’s formations cracked one after another.
Qin Yuchen stood in the center, sword moving without pause.
Qin Lian appeared and disappeared, cutting storm anchors shaped like black nails.
Qin Yuheng held the central banner.
Gate Thunder Command Field and Banner Shelter overlapped.
The mental burden became immense.
For a moment, he felt every fear in the force.
Every injury.
Every hesitation.
Every plea.
He almost tried to hold it all.
Then Silent Ash Monastery returned to him.
A commander who accepts every burden without judgment becomes another disaster.
He narrowed the field.
Only necessary signals.
Only chosen burden.
Protect the passage.
Hold the line.
Move.
That clarity saved him.
The final group passed through the choke point.
Ren Qingshan stumbled, armor cracked.
Qin Yuheng grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.
The War Storm surged one last time.
Qin Mo shouted, "Banner! Now!"
Qin Yuheng lifted the central banner and drove it into the ground before the Fourth Gate.
The gate responded.
A barrier of black-gold light spread outward.
The War Storm crashed against it and split.
[Fourth Gate reached.]
[Central banner preserved.]
[Temporary force casualties below threshold.]
[War Storm survived.]
The force collapsed across the safe ground before the gate.
Casualty panel appeared.
[Temporary Force Members: 34]
[Dead: 3]
[Severely Injured: 7]
[Lightly Injured: 14]
[Casualty Rate: 29%]
[Sub-Mission threshold maintained.]
Qin Yuheng looked at the number.
Three dead.
The mission allowed under forty percent.
But numbers did not erase lives.
Ren Qingshan removed his broken helmet and looked at the dead.
Then he looked at Qin Yuheng.
"You kept most alive."
Qin Yuheng answered quietly, "Not all."
Ren Qingshan nodded.
"No commander does."
The Fourth Gate opened.
But the trial was not yet over.
Inside waited the Banner of Many Roads.
