NOVPUBThe scarlet light and shadow hadn’t even touched Hua Xiong before he felt the immense wind pressure. The Cloud Qi, which had been condensed through the Formation to match the entire army’s might, began to crumble in this moment, and some of the soldiers following behind him were even blown off their horses by the fierce storm.
"Trample the Mountains and Rivers!" Hua Xiong’s eyes bulged, how could the undefeated Xiliang Iron Cavalry succumb here under his command? Gazing at the dark red flag, and the blood-red Qi Arrows that filled the sky and shot towards the Xiliang Iron Cavalry like living entities, Hua Xiong roared as he unleashed the Eight Gates Heavenly Lock’s lethal technique. 𝔫𝖔𝖛𝖕𝔲𝔟.𝔠𝖔𝖒
In an instant, countless fiery-red horses shot out from all sides of Hua Xiong’s Army, their fiery-red light exploding in their utmost brilliance at that moment, the scorching heat distorting everything before them.
The collision between the blood arrows and the fire horses began, a struggle as fine as needle tips against wheat stalks, as both sides crazily neutralized the overwhelming numbers of their opponent’s attacks.
In the midst of that overwhelming offensive, the huge blood-colored flag didn’t waver in the slightest, pressing down on Hua Xiong like Mount Tai, inexorably rolling towards him.
Alongside it were the three pairs of phoenix wings, which, after slashing through countless blood arrows, slammed mercilessly into the blood fog of the Vanguard Death Squad. However, after passing through several reductions, the three phoenix wings, brimming with astonishing Attack Power, managed to kill less than three hundred Vanguard Death Soldiers.
Hua Xiong watched, eyes wide, as the Eight Gates Heavenly Lock technique failed to withstand the huge flag after neutralizing a large number of blood arrows.
"Could it be my end here? Trample the Mountains and Rivers!" Hua Xiong bellowed, blood bursting from his eyes under the tremendous pressure; it was as if he had broken free from some restraints and charged fiercely towards the huge flag, while the Xiliang Iron Cavalry under his command rushed towards Juo Yi with the resolve to face death.
Hua Xiong’s desperate strike earlier, "Trample the Mountains and Rivers," with its nearly suffocating density of attacks, would have shattered any other army to pieces had they not been the Vanguard Death Soldiers. Unleashing all their potential, drawing half their Inner Qi, they carried an unstoppable momentum, one of the final eight lethal techniques of the Eight Gates Heavenly Lock!
Under Juo Yi’s command, the vanguard, by counterattacking, had barely neutralized Hua Xiong’s last trump card, but Juo Yi also clearly felt that the Military Spirit’s power had been depleted by at least half after that blow. And before he could cut down Hua Xiong, the latter had roared "Trample the Mountains and Rivers" once again!
Watching Hua Xiong who seemed to decide to charge, Juo Yi felt a poignant sense of tragedy. Did he know he would die but still wanted to leave a chance for his comrades?
"Crack!" Hua Xiong struggled to mobilize the strength of all the Iron Cavalry under his command, and inadvertently discovered that he could command everyone’s Inner Qi as easily as his own limbs. The sparse Cloud Qi seemed to undergo an inexplicable change, and the vague concept of Legion Talent that had eluded him now seemed slightly within his grasp.
"Boom!" Juo Yi’s irresistible strike finally hit Hua Xiong’s entire team. The enormous scope of the attack enveloped a thirty-degree arc over a thousand meters in front of Juo Yi, covering most of the Iron Cavalry in that direction, including Hua Xiong.
However, reality did not play out as Juo Yi had thought; the strike didn’t destroy Hua Xiong’s Cloud Qi instantly. Instead, it was blocked for a brief moment, and then it shattered Hua Xiong’s Cloud Qi. Instantaneously, ninety percent of the Iron Cavalry Hua Xiong led perished, and Hua Xiong himself, as the primary target, was hit hard by the powerful attack and sent flying.
Hua Xiong, leading the remaining Xiliang Iron Cavalry, even those who were not directly attacked, were still affected by the powerful assault, with the vast majority losing their combat power. At the instant they saw Hua Xiong being thrown into the air, they all hurriedly chased in the direction where Hua Xiong was flung.
"Charge, wipe out Hua Xiong!" Juo Yi, looking at his own hands, couldn’t understand why Hua Xiong hadn’t been shattered to pieces, and it was clear from the way he was blasted away that he was only severely injured.
However, it was obviously not the time to discuss such things. Juo Yi immediately headed towards the place where Hua Xiong had been flung. The Xiliang Iron Cavalry led by Hua Xiong had already posed a great threat to him. If during this battle Hua Xiong had led five thousand Xiliang Iron Cavalry and employed that terrifying move, Juo Yi reckoned at least half of his troops would have fallen.
"Protect the general!" The moment Juo Yi moved, all of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry launched a desperate charge toward the Vanguard Death Squad.
This time was different from the previous hit-and-run tactics; all of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry charged at the enemy with a resolve to die, without any formation or defense, embracing the hope that for every enemy they killed, Hua Xiong would have a better chance to survive. All the Xiliang Men charged desperately towards the Vanguard!
Regrettably, the huge disparity in strength meant the soldiers of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry were like moths to flame as they slammed into the Vanguard Death Squad, using their lives to block the Vanguard’s charge and bit by bit, buy time for Hua Xiong to be rescued.
Over many years, the loyalty earned with "If I have a bowl of rice, you won’t miss a mouthful to eat," fully erupted at the moment when Hua Xiong was severely injured; the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, with their inferior numbers, stubbornly held off the Vanguard hundreds of steps away from Hua Xiong and desperately tried to send people to his rescue.
"Retreat!" Hua Xiong struggled to extend his hand from the ground, looking at the blood path paved with horse and human corpses, and spewed out a mouthful of fresh blood, his eyes bloodshot as he stared in the direction of the Vanguard.
The moment they saw Hua Xiong stand up, the soldiers of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry cheered loudly, then the leading soldiers looked back at their comrades before fiercely attacking the opposing Vanguard; an Iron Cavalry hit in the abdomen and chest, charged at the Vanguard seemingly without a hint of perception, his bloodshot eyes locked on the enemy, his saber desperately stabbing at the foe.
"Pu-chi!" Another blow landed. The rear-guard Iron Cavalry, oblivious to pain, leaped towards the Vanguard; as he jumped, three arrows struck him in lethal places, yet he still swung his saber at the enemy, striking the opponent’s shoulder. Unfortunately, it did not behead the enemy as it once would have. The creeping fatigue made this last Iron Cavalry stationed at the rear fall.
Juo Yi silently watched the battlefield, seeing both the fallen Vanguard and Xiliang Iron Cavalry. The final desperate charge of the last Iron Cavalry greatly shocked him; more than half of the casualties suffered by the thousand plus Vanguard were caused by this last frantic attack from the Xiliang Iron Cavalry.
But Juo Yi was well aware that the Xiliang Iron Cavalry had lost even more. Of the two thousand five hundred, less than five hundred were able to return intact.
"Gather our dead and those of the enemy, send back the bodies of the soldiers under Hua Xiong’s command," Juo Yi said tiredly.
Juo Yi had already seen Hua Xiong’s Infantry who had been fighting against Yann Liang start to slowly retreat. Perhaps if they pursued, they could achieve a lot of merit, but considering the combat power Hua Xiong had displayed earlier, even if they defeated the enemy, he estimated half of his Vanguard would likely fall here as well.
(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to support it with recommendation tickets and monthly passes at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
