Chapter 18: Critical Battle

Translator: podao001

“That old bastard!” Chen Feng swore once more. Were it not for the fact that he had stepped into the primary energy takes form (7th) layer, and that his reaction was fast enough, he would have suffered from the same fate as those men in black, transformed into hedgehogs. Earlier, Chen Feng noticed that they were a considerable number of hundred opened meridians (5th) layer cultivators amongst the men in black. However, those men could only be killed under the mighty, sky encompassing rain of arrows.

Rumble! Rumble!

Next, Iron Sword Sect’s forces charged forward, releasing rumbling sounds as they did. Killing intent rose to the sky. The ones leading the charge were the sect disciples and the one in front was surprisingly Eldest Brother Tie Yun. Riding his horse, he charged hundreds of metres before the rest. With a brandish of his sword, some of the men in black who survived were killed.

Humph! He sure is fast. I wonder if he plans on attacking me. Chen Feng thought to himself with a sneer and was secretly on guard.

Tie Yun immediately noticed Chen Feng and his eyes glinted.

This kid is really lucky. To think that he could survive through the rain of arrows. Should I get rid of him myself? A vicious light flickered within Tie Yun’s eyes as he considered.

Sou! Sou! Sou!

The distance between Tie Yun and Chen Feng gradually lessened. Suddenly, several air-piercing sounds rang out as tens of arrows made of high-quality steel shot towards Tie Yun and his horse from every angle.

“Courting death!”

Tie Yun gave a harrumph. The sword in his hand flashed out to smash the incoming arrows.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Suddenly, the arrows exploded, hurling out fragments of high-quality steel outwards. At the same time, poisonous smoke spread out. That was the army’s special technique to deal with cultivators with high cultivation bases, Exploding Arrows.

Tie Yun was enveloped by the smoke.

Sou! Sou! Sou!

Immediately, eight men in black armed with sharp blades charged Tie Yun. Each of them moved as fast as lightning. With a glance, Chen Feng could tell that all of them were hundred opened meridians (5th) layer cultivators.

Great! It will be for the best if they can kill him off. Chen Feng watched from afar. Naturally, he would not be lending a helping hand.

Unfortunately, Chen Feng was quickly disappointed. Sword luminescence shone out from within the poisonous smoke, illuminating the sky as thick astral energy dispersed the poisonous smoke away. Four of the men in black were instantly sent flying, breathing their last as they flew through the air.

Every time Tie Yun swung his sword, a bloody wound would appear on one of the men in black. After four sword luminescence shone out, the remaining men in black were all killed off.

Eight cultivators at the hundred opened meridians (5th) layer were killed just like that. Tie Yun has not even displayed his primary energy takes form (7th) abilities. However, his horse had been killed. It seems he was caught off guard earlier. Chen Feng thought.

Although Tie Yun had easily killed off the ambushing men in black, his horse was killed by the combined might of the poisonous smoke and the Exploding Arrows.

With this delay, the other disciples from Iron Sword Sect arrived, charging fiercely forward. Thus, Tie Yun no longer had the opportunity to attack Chen Feng. As for Chen Feng, he felt that it was quite a pity. He had wanted to try out how powerful this Eldest Brother was.

“Chen Feng, are you all right?” Ye Tian shouted out from his own horse as he led Chen Feng’s own mount over.

“I am fine.” Chen Feng leapt onto the horse.

“I was scared to death just now. The moment I reported the situation over, Elder Wang gave the order. Thankfully, you are all right. However, I fear that the other scouts are dead,” whispered Ye Tian, a hint of resentment on his face.

“Humph! I figured he might do something like this. He thinks he can kill me with this method? Dream on! He he, we’ll see which of us gets to kill the other,” Chen Feng responded with a whisper as he observed Elder Wang, who was at the distance. Elder Wang, seemingly noticing Chen Feng’s gaze, turned to meet his gaze. However, he revealed an impassive face. There was no way to tell what he was thinking.

After the few volleys of arrows, the disciples and Iron Sword Brigade began pursuing the remnants of the ambushing soldiers. Soon, the sounds of battle could be heard.

“Let’s head forward as well. Be careful, though. In order to kill me, he had even sent several other disciples to their deaths. This old bastard is quite the ruthless fellow.” Chen Feng urged his horse to pursue the enemy as well.

The small battle of pursuit lasted for half a day. After giving chase across a distance of over 100 metres, Iron Sword Brigade finally finished off the enemies. In this battle, they had managed to kill off over 100 men in black and 200 ordinary soldiers. As Chen Feng had noticed the enemy in advance, the losses Iron Sword Sect suffered was small. This was something of a complete victory for them.

Naturally, Chen Feng’s actions was a meritorious deed. He was also the first to gain merit this time. Thus, he was approached by both elders and given praise by them.

“We have recorded this merit of yours. Once we return to the sect, you will be rewarded for your merits,” said Elder Tie, who stood beside Elder Wang, as he nodded his head.

For this war effort, Iron Sword Sect had sent out two elders. One was Elder Wang while the other was Elder Tie. It was said that Elder Tie had cultivated up to the external discharge of primary energy (8th) layer, one layer stronger compared to Elder Wang.

“I did not expect you to be able to earn merit so quickly. It seems you have quite the high level of perception. This makes you very suitable for vanguard position. We are presently not too far from the battlefield and Steel Stone City’s forces could execute ambushes on us at any given moment. At a time like this, we need talents like yours,” said Elder Wang slowly, revealing an amused look in his eyes.

“Disciple obeys.” Chen Feng saluted courteously before moving away.

“Elder Wang, this action of yours, is it all right? This is a very outstanding disciple and our Black Origin City’s Autumn Hunt will be coming soon. We will need strong disciples in the younger generation like him to earn glory for us,” Elder Tie said softly.

“He he, it is precisely because of this that we must hone him properly. Isn’t it the same for your family’s Tie Yun? By always joining the war efforts, he could hone himself to such a level,” answered Elder Wang with a smile.

“He he, that is true.” Elder Tie laughed and stopped asking about it.

...

You mongrel! Sooner or later, I will make you suffer. Chen Feng secretly swore.

The men in black and soldiers killed earlier were all sent by Steel Stone City. Steel Stone City had originally been stronger than Black Origin City to begin with. At that moment, they had sent men into Black Origin City’s territory. This signalled to them the critical situation of the frontlines for Black Origin City. Otherwise, they would not have urgently requested a dispatch of forces from the various sects.

Sou! Sou! Sou!

Chen Feng flitted through the forest without rest. At times, he would be hidden up on the trees. At times, he would be hidden within clumps of grasses. His senses were completely spread open as he carefully inspected his surroundings.

After having survived the ambush by the men in black and the rain of arrows, Chen Feng felt that his reaction time and power of perception had improved. His body movements had also become more coordinated. Additionally, as the primary energy within his body gradually grew more exuberant, his ability to perceive the surrounding spiritual energy, too, grew stronger.

As expected, only by experiencing the pressure from battles of life and death could one improve quickly. Even if my primary energy can be greatly increased by focusing on cultivation retreats, without combat experience and agile senses, I can easily be killed when participating in large-scale wars. Chen Feng thought.

While exploring the road ahead, Chen Feng also encountered some wild beasts. In all of them, Chen Feng had displayed ferocity in either knocking the wild beasts out or chasing them away.

Sure enough, this is flat plains and not the mountain depths. Even the wild beasts here are very weak. If several wild beasts the equivalent of cultivators at the primary energy takes form (7th) layer appear, they would become a threat to the army. Chen Feng pondered.

Chen Feng advanced cautiously. However, the rest of the days were smooth and they no longer encountered any enemy ambushes.

Phew! We are close to reaching the battlefield. I wonder how the fight between hundreds of thousands would look like? Chen Feng was feeling somewhat eager.

Eh? There are men up front. They should be soldiers. This killing intent and air... their number is about the same as the number of men we dispatched out this time.

At that moment, Chen Feng had noticed a large number of soldiers and cavalry before him.

So many mounted soldiers. Not to mention, they are not hiding themselves. This is probably not an ambush. Are they going to attack us directly?

Next, Chen Feng increased his speed of advance. It did not take him long to advance over 1,000 metres. Finally, he could get a good look of the soldiers there.

Thousands of soldiers and horses were assembled, their swords and spears like forest trees, their armours bright, their flags waving openly as they exuded the atmosphere of militaristic might. Written upon the flags with elegant calligraphy were the words ‘Flash Wind’.

They are actually the Flash Wind Brigade from Flash Wind Hall. And here I thought they were the enemy forces. After getting a good look at their flag, Chen Feng let out a breath of relief.

“Worthy of the name Flash Wind. They are so fast that they are ahead of us,” said Chen Feng with a smile. He quickly returned to report the situation to his own brigade. The other scouts did the same.

“The men from Flash Wind Hall has overtaken us? Hurry, rush forward to meet up with them!” Elder Tie shouted, his voice spreading through the army.

It would appear that the major forces within Black Origin City had discussed this matter in advance. Flash Wind Hall would send out the same number of men as Iron Sword Sect as reinforcements: 3,000 Flash Wind Brigade members and 200 sect disciples.

Relatively speaking, Flash Wind Hall and Iron Sword Sect did not have a close relationship. However, they were also unlike Tiger Form Sect. As their territories were not too close to each other, the relationship between the two was fairly harmonious. After their two forces joined up, the strength of their combined army rose greatly. Then, after about half a day’s worth of rest, they began advancing once more.

Sou! Sou! Sou!

A fully-armoured, middle-aged cultivator appeared some distance from them. Then, he quickly ran towards the army. He moved with incredible speed, far superior to that of a horse. Every leap took him tens of metres ahead.

This fellow is moving so fast. He must at least be an astral energy (6th) layer cultivator. Chen Feng secretly speculated.

“Hold!”

An Iron Sword Brigade commander moved forward and shouted. At the same time, every one of the soldiers there pulled out their weapons, preparing to attack at any given moment.

“I am a member of the City Lord Residence! I need to meet your elders!” the newcomer shouted, his voice spreading through the army.

“It is Mo Hun from the City Lord Residence. Why is he here? Did something happen in the battlefield?” The elders from Flash Wind Hall and Iron Sword Sect exchanged glances. Next, they got to their feet simultaneously and rushed towards the newcomer.

“Brother Mo, what happened?” asked Elder Tie.

“The forces of our Black Origin City are facing a critical situation up front. We are on the verge of falling! I am here to get reinforcements!” There was urgency on Mo Hun’s face. The armour he wore was broken and stained with blood. Clearly, he had gone through a bloody battle.

“A critical situation? What happened?” the elders asked in unison.

“There is not much time left. Steel Stone City got help from who knows where. There are actually Concealed stage experts amongst their forces. Despite heading out to battle, our City Lord ended up slightly injured. At present, the morale of our Black Origin City’s forces has fallen greatly. Without any reinforcements, I fear we will be defeated,” Mo Hun said quickly.

“What? The other side mobilized Concealed stage experts?” the elders exclaimed, their faces sinking.