Invincible: I Level Up In My Sleep

Setting the Trap

The narrow maw of the Black Wolf Pass loomed ahead like the jaws of a frozen beast. Towering cliffs of jagged, black obsidian stone rose hundreds of feet into the gray sky, their steep ledges heavily burdened with layers of unstable winter ice and loose shale.

Following Yan Zheng’s precise orders, the three hundred Ironcliff guards had shed their heavy iron tower shields, replacing them with bundles of dry pine wood, pitch, and barrels of highly flammable seal oil pulled from the castle’s emergency reserves. They moved like ghosts through the freezing mist, their spirits high but their movements disciplined.

"Your Highness, the three detachments are in position," Fan Changyu reported in a low whisper, stepping up to Yan Zheng’s side. She had abandoned her horse at the base of the mountain, her nimble movements showing her own peak Qi Refinement agility as she climbed the rocky terrain.

"Group one and two have scaled the eastern and western ridges. They have secured the loose shale cliffs directly above the enemy’s primary supply line, just as you described," she continued, her eyes flickering with a mixture of awe and curiosity. She still couldn't fathom how Yan Zheng knew the exact layout of the enemy camp without ever setting foot near it. "Group three is waiting at the southern exit, ready to trigger the oil barrels."

"Good," Yan Zheng rumbled softly, his gaze locked onto the valley below.

Through the dark silver Ring of the Shadow Commander, his consciousness remained subtly linked to the four Shadow Vanguards positioned at key vantage points around the mountain. They were his eyes, his radar, and his silent executioners.

"Ba Yan’s scouts are approaching," Yan Zheng warned, his voice turning ice-cold. "They are sending a vanguard cavalry squad of fifty men to clear the pass before the main army moves. Changyu, tell the men to hold their breath. Not a single stone must fall until I give the command."

"Yes, Your Highness." Fan Changyu turned, signaling the captains using a series of silent hand gestures.

Minutes later, the low rumble of hooves echoed through the cavernous pass. Fifty heavy cavalrymen of the Iron-Blood Tribe, mounted on their red-eyed war beasts, trotted cautiously into the choke point. At the front of the squad was a sub-commander clad in heavy hide armor, his eyes scanning the ridges with practiced suspicion.

"Keep your eyes open!" the sub-commander barked, his voice echoing against the cliffs. "Ba Tu’s vanguard was wiped out by some freak occurrence at the city gates. The trash prince might have set up archer ambushes on these ledges."

The cavalry squad advanced deeper, moving directly beneath the cliffs where two hundred Ironcliff guards were hiding behind massive boulders, their hands gripping the wooden levers they had wedged under the loose rocks.

From his position on the highest peak, Yan Zheng looked down at the trap. His hand drifted to the dark silver ring on his finger.

Shadow One, Shadow Two,Yan Zheng commanded internally. Execute the riders at the rear. Do not let them turn back to warn the main camp.

Deep within the shadows of the canyon floor, the darkness warped. Two towering figures clad in midnight-steel and tattered linen rose silently behind the last two cavalrymen in the line.

Before the riders could even register a change in the temperature, the smoky trench swords of the Shadow Vanguards blurred through the freezing air.

Puff! Puff!

Two heads rolled into the snow, their bodies slumping silently from their mounts. The beasts they rode snorted in confusion, but before they could panic, the shadows melted back into the earth, reappearing five meters forward to claim the next two targets. It was a silent, terrifying assembly line of death.

Within minutes, the rear half of the cavalry squad had completely vanished into the fog, systematically harvested by the two level 3 Qi Refinement entities.

By the time the sub-commander reached the center of the pass, he finally noticed the eerie silence behind him. He spun his mount around, his eyes widening in absolute horror as he realized only twenty of his fifty men were left.

"Amb—!"

Before the word could fully form in his throat, Yan Zheng stepped out from the fog, standing directly in the middle of the narrow path, blocking their exit. He wore no armor, only his simple black tunic, his arms crossed casually over his chest.

"You look lost," Yan Zheng said, his deep voice carrying a terrifying weight that caused the war beasts to rear back in instinctual panic.

"It's him! The trash prince!" the sub-commander screamed, recognizing the royal face from the tribe's intelligence reports. "Kill him! He's alone!"

The remaining twenty cavalrymen roared, lowering their spears and charging straight toward Yan Zheng, their mounts kicking up violent sprays of snow.

Yan Zheng didn't flinch. He simply raised his right hand, pointing a single finger toward the sky.

"Drop the mountains," he ordered.

BOOM!

Up on the ridges, the Ironcliff guards threw their entire weight against the wooden levers. Massive, ten-ton boulders and thousands of tons of sharp, loose obsidian shale were unseated from the cliffs, cascading down the vertical rock faces in a terrifying, deafening avalanche.

The sky literally seemed to fall.

The heavy rocks slammed into the charging cavalry, crushing the war beasts and their riders instantly beneath an unstoppable wall of stone. The sub-commander looked up just in time to see a boulder the size of a carriage falling directly toward his head.

CRUNCH.

In less than thirty seconds, the entire fifty-man scouting squad was buried under a massive barrier of jagged rock, completely sealing the southern exit of the pass.

[Your strategy has successfully annihilated the enemy scouting squad!]

[Total EXP Gained: 250]

[Current Level: 3 (670/800 EXP)]

Yan Zheng ignored the system screen, his eyes burning with a brilliant blue fire as he looked over the newly formed rock wall toward the northern entrance, where the main army of ten thousand warriors was currently marching.

The avalanche had not only destroyed the scouts; it had created a perfect, unyielding bottleneck.

He turned to Fan Changyu, who had just leaped down from the ridge, her sword drawn and her breath hitching at the sheer efficiency of the slaughter.

"The wolves are in the trap," Yan Zheng said, a dark, predatory smile stretching across his face. "Changyu, pour the oil down the eastern ridge. When Ba Yan’s main army arrives to clear this rubble... we light the world on fire.”