NOVPUBThe Vanguard’s blood arrows surged toward the Trap Formation like an overwhelming tidal wave, yet the Trap Formation watched the oncoming attack calmly, their detachment resembling Gao Shun’s own expression.
"For the will of the Trap Formation, we embrace death, not life!" Li Ren bellowed, slashing his great sword in the direction of the Vanguard, and the other members of Trap Formation also let out a low shout, hacking towards the enemy with the same resolve, their silver-white gleams streaming forth, piercing through the blood arrows that Juo Yi took pride in.
"Charge and annihilate them!" Li Ren roared, seizing the chance while the Vanguard was thrown into chaos by the previous assault, and charged forward, bearing the great shield against the heavy crossbow attack of the Vanguard, then all the Trap Formation soldiers, wielding their Qi-infused great swords, whirled about in a dance of blades, their ferocity reminiscent of a tiger among sheep.
"Crossbowmen, shoot in staggered formation!" Though Juo Yi was astounded by the Trap Formation’s combat power, his seasoned mind was still present, and upon recognizing the formidable fighting ability of his opponents, he quickly regrouped his men to repel the enemy and then use the Vanguard’s most skilled attack strategy to defeat them.
In the face of the Vanguard’s arrows, the Trap Formation mostly tilted their great shields, quickly rolling and leaping into the enemy’s ranks, then slashing wildly with their swords, cutting down the Vanguard soldiers who were unable to switch weapons in time.
"This is bad!" Juo Yi saw that the Trap Formation hardly needed any commands, acting on experience alone to make the best counterattacks, and knew that something was severely wrong. It seemed as if anything could be a weapon in their hands—whether it be crossbow arrows, long spears, bow and arrows, great shields, arm armor, or shields—and as soon as these objects reached their hands, they displayed astonishing combat power, almost as if these items were born to be their weapons.
"Abandon the bow and arrows, attack in groups of five!" The continuous falling of Vanguard members made Juo Yi realize that in terms of the quality of the soldiers, his Vanguard stood no chance against the enemy, and the shooting of the crossbows had a minimal impact on them. The enemy could even catch the Vanguard’s bow and arrows and return fire with a surprising move, leading Juo Yi to doubt whether all the members of the Trap Formation were composed of officers at the level of Centurion or Commander of a Thousand.
Juo Yi’s adjustment quickly showed results, and the Vanguard, working in five-man teams, was able to stabilize the front line. However, Juo Yi clearly noticed that his soldiers seemed to have a hard time killing the enemy, while the Trap Formation’s attacks easily inflicted heavy damage on the Vanguard.
"What in the world is going on!" Juo Yi’s eyes were red with fury as he stared at the Trap Formation. If he had lost to the Cloud Qi of tens of thousands of troops, he could have understood, but the current situation completely overturned his understanding of elite forces. The Vanguard’s attacks seemed almost unable to injure the opponent unless they struck a vital point.
Juo Yi watched his elite troops closely as they ferociously struck the neck of a Trap Formation soldier, and he saw clearly that the cut landed. But it appeared as if the Trap Formation soldier had not received a fatal wound—the sword that struck the neck only penetrated a few inches, yet such a wound should have been fatal for a person.
Regrettably, despite such a fatal wound, the opponent continued to fiercely kill the Vanguard members and then pulled out the blade, brandishing dual swords and slashing at the opposition.
"How is this possible!" Juo Yi exclaimed in disbelief.
In reality, it wasn’t just Juo Yi who was struck dumb; the Vanguard was now fighting with trepidation. The ferocity of the enemy had far surpassed any human imagination. Facing the fearless and sacrificial nature of the Trap Formation, the five-man teams of the Vanguard were on the verge of collapse. Watching the Trap Formation soldiers take multiple arrows yet show no change in expression as they slaughtered their comrades, every Vanguard member struggled to conceal the chill in their hearts—the enemy was simply not human!
Suppressing the shock in his heart, Juo Yi, gripping his great sword, lunged toward Li Ren. Since the battle at Jieqiao, this had been one of the few times Juo Yi had led the charge from the front lines.
"Ding!" Li Ren parried the sudden strike from Juo Yi, and the Vanguard, with fierce courage, swung their swords at Li Ren.
"Puchi!" Two huge wounds appeared on Li Ren’s chest, so deep that even his internal organs could be seen, yet Li Ren, as if driven mad, ignored the grievous wounds and grabbed at the Great Sword Juo Yi was hacking towards him, slashing his own Great Sword fiercely at Juo Yi’s midsection.
"Puchi!" Juo Yi kicked Li Ren away and then leapt high, slicing at Li Ren’s neck with his sword, beheading him.
"Trap Formation, Trap Formation!" After Li Ren’s death, all the Vanguard Soldiers seemed to sense something and glanced back in Juo Yi’s direction, then the adjacent Vanguard fearlessly lunged at Juo Yi, swinging their Great Swords in fury at him, completely disregarding the Vanguard chopping at them from behind.
"Clang!" Juo Yi blocked the attack of the Vanguard Soldier, poised to kill another, but then two more Vanguard Soldiers pounced on him, attacking fearlessly.
Three Vanguard Camp soldiers joined hands in a fierce attack against Juo Yi. Leveraging their bet-your-life fighting spirit, they managed to suppress Juo Yi, who was quite strong, under the weakening influence of the Cloud Qi.
Seeing his fellow Vanguard being forced to retreat after the outburst of combat power due to the death of their subordinate officer, Juo Yi yelled angrily, "How dare you try to stop me! Die!"
The blade struck straight across the neck of a Vanguard Soldier, splattering blood in all directions, then with a change in motion, it sliced across the chest of another soldier and sent him flying. Turning around, Juo Yi’s Long Spear stabbed viciously into the abdomen of the last Jie Fan soldier, blood splashing all over Juo Yi.
"How can it be this hard." Juo Yi wiped the sweat from his brow. The strength of the Trapped Formation bewildered him. However, the next moment he saw two of the three Vanguard Soldiers he had killed slowly standing back up.
"This can’t be..." Juo Yi exclaimed in shock, but then as if remembering something, he wrapped his Great Sword with the Military Spirit Will and slashed heavily onto the body of the Vanguard Soldier. Just as he expected, the soldier struggled a few times and then fell like any ordinary person.
"Military Spirit Will makes you resilient, as long as the will is strong enough to withstand even fatal injuries!" Juo Yi said bitterly, watching the Trapped Formation soldiers still charging at him. He had discovered why this team, shouting "The will of the Trap Formation knows neither life nor death," couldn’t be killed.
It’s not that they were undying, but on the battlefield, they only died from unbearable injuries. The Trapped Formation’s will delayed the arrival of death; similarly, Juo Yi understood why such an astonishing team remained unnamed—likely off the battlefield, even those soldiers with less serious wounds would die.
The power obtained by overexertion, though it ensured one wouldn’t get hurt, meant only physical strength was overtaxed as long as no injuries occurred. But facing elite forces or collective armies, how could one not get hurt?
On the battlefield, the Vanguard would quickly bleed out their vitality with every injury. Perhaps with the protection of will, they could still leap around with normally fatal wounds, but sadly this also meant their life force was continuously declining. Once off the battlefield, without the drive to survive, maybe even losing an arm could lead to death.
(To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation vote or monthly ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
(To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation vote or monthly ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
