NOVPUBNext morning.
Soldiers at Lu Ding's campsite lined up for their breakfast.
It was a sumptuous meal with meat, fish and rice.
They hadn't had such a good meal for a very long time.
Those in the queue eagerly waited for their turn.
When the aroma of the food got into their noses, it made their stomachs growl.
"Eat as much as you can. You need all the energy for the battle ahead!" Lu Ding said to the soldiers as he led Lin Fan and the others to the frontline.
"Yes Captain!" They replied in unison.
But after Lu Ding got far, they looked at each other and sighed.
Last night when they asked their centurions, they didn't say much about the help Lu Ding got.
And today after witnessing his help, they knew why.
Those cultivators didn't looknvincing.
That young man with two swords on his back, what was he thinking?
Did he think heuld utilize two techniques at the same time?
As for the middle-aged man, although he had the look of a master, he seemed to be unknown.
No one knew what he was called.
As for the last person, that young man who looked like a scholar, it was tough to believe that he was a cultivator.
His pale face looked like he would faint at any moment.
In their minds, any one of themuld have easily defeated Lin Fan.
But after following Lu Ding as soldiers for so long, they only sighed and kept it to themselves.
They knew that it was their duty, and they had better be ready to sacrifice their lives to protect the Quan Dynasty.
When the time came, all they wished for was to cut down one of the barbarians from Hulu Tribe and bring them to hell.
Lu Ding's idealistic outlook had gotten to them.
…
The Forever Plain seemed never ending.
It was as far as the eyesuld see.
Troops from both sides had lined up, getting ready for the battle.
Lu Ding's troops were at the far left of the battlefield.
Next to him was Ye Sheng's troops, and on the far right, it was Hai Tao's troops.
The Hulu Tribe had amassed most of their troops against Lu Ding, as he was the weakest among the three of them.
Hulu Bei Er's strategy was to break Lu Ding's troops down and then proceed to slaughter the rest of the Quan Dynasty's army.
"These barbarians are allming over to our side."
"Really?"
"Yes, look. They are all dressed in full armor mounted on Ember Moose."
The soldiers swallowed a mouthful of saliva when they saw what they were up against.
On the other side, Ye Sheng and Hai Tao's troops were up against light armor and fewer enemies. 𝓃𝓸𝓿𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝓬ℴ𝓶
They looked back at Lu Ding and saw him standing tall with his sword in his hand.
There was no sign of any fear in his expression.
This gave them someurage and they looked back at the enemies who had kept amassing.
Soon, all theyuld see on the other side of the Forever Plains were a huge mass of soldiers and the dust that was kicked up by the Ember Moose.
Drum.
Drum.
Drum.
War drums beat and the troops started to advance.
Lu Ding on his horse went forward, Lin Fan and the others followed behind.
"Captain! Be careful."
Even though the soldiers had fought with Lu Ding, and he always led the charge, they were still worried for him every time.
The cavalry moved and followed Lu Ding.
Archers ran closely behind, trying to catch up.
The soldiers with long spears and shields followed behind on foot.
Hai Tao smirked when he saw what had happened.
What a fool? Charging in and leading it.
He didn't expect hismpetitor to try and end himself so soon.
The Sword Saint stood beside him quietly with his eyes closed.
Jian Xin held onto the sword and waited for the Sword Saint's orders.
Ye Sheng looked at the head monk and asked, "Should we follow them? They are charging towards the enemy even though they are outnumbered."
The head monk, Master See, just shook his head and chanted a blessing.
"It's better we advance arding to plan, young master."
Soldiers in Ye Sheng and Hai Tao's camp watched as Lu Ding's troops advanced.
They held onto their weapons and looked back at theirmmanders.
Lu Ding and his troops'urage had affected them.
To them, Lu Ding and his troops were to be honored, being able to face their eventual demise with pride andurage.
The war drums made their hearts pound hard.
The adrenalin rush made them wanted to join Lu Ding's troops and kill off the barbarians.
But theyuldn't.
They had to wait for orders from theirmmanders.
"For the Emperor!" Lu Ding shouted as he wielded his sword in the air, fending off the volley of arrowsming down at him.
The soldiers surrounding him also did the same, shouting in the air and fending off the arrows at the same time.
"Argh!"
Some of the arrows hit and plunged through the armor.
The scriptures on the armor weren't enough to withstand the arrows that the Hulu Tribe had.
"Those idiot eunuchs!" Lee shouted as he tried to help the soldier beside him.
The eunuchs from the imperialurt had refused their request for new armor for many years.
Now the soldiers had to pay for it with their lives.
Boom!
The arrows glowed red and exploded after they plunged into the armor of the soldiers.
One quarter of the cavalry was down after the first volley of arrows.
Lu Ding held up his sword and shouted, "We are getting near, just one more volley of arrows!"
Besides him, Lin Fan, Ho Ming and Zhang Yi Nian were able to use their Qi to fend off the arrows.
They had another objective instead.
"There. Let me get him." Lin Fan pointed at a Hulu Tribemmander.
Ho Ming and Zhang Yi Nian nodded.
He wasn't interested in killing all the Hulu Tribe soldiers.
It was more efficient for him to break their chain ofmmand.
They whipped their horses and broke off from the main force.
The soldiers looked on in astonishment.
They didn't know what Lin Fan and the others were thinking.
"Are theyurting death?" One of the soldiers asked.
