Cang Liqun sucked in a cold breath and stood up from the chariot in horror. Only then did he discover that Yunxiao’s two thousand troops were all warriors! He had never seen such a strong force among all the armies in Tianshui!
‘How could there be an army like this? What is going on?’
Although he was somewhat surprised, he soon calmed down. No matter how strong a warrior was, he or she could fight ten or, at most, a hundred foes at one time. It was impossible for them to escape from the encirclement of his army of four hundred thousand soldiers. However, if he were to rely on crowd tactics, the losses would be too heavy. Hence, he hesitated for a moment.
Yunxiao threw an arm into the air and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Well done! Now, I want everyone to exercise the Murderous Air Script, form a square, and break through from the south!”
“Understood!”
After slaughtering some of the foes, the students’ confidence had greatly increased. Under the effect of the Murderous Air Script, their eyes began to fill with traces of murderous air and thirst for blood, and when all two thousand of them formed a square, a dark purple cloud appeared over them, gradually taking the faint shape of a finger.
“Wha-what is this!” Cang Liqun’s eyes grew wide. The penetrating, terrifying murderous air made his heart race. And as he stared at the faint shadow of a huge finger over the square array, he felt something stuck in his chest and an urge to vomit blood.
“Charge!”
At the loud cry, the two thousand students charged toward the south, their spirits high and their eyes red. Very soon, they were inside the army of four hundred thousand soldiers. Wherever they went, their foes crumbled to the ground like walls made of tofu. It seemed that none of the students had attacked, and the numerous soldiers were actually devoured by just the dark purple cloud alone.
In a fit of rage, Cang Liqun bellowed, “Stop them! Stop them at all costs!” He was horrified to find that the square array of two thousand people was like a meat grinder, killing every soldier who was dragged into it.
Li Yi’s eyes widened in horror as well. With a venomous look on his face, he said, “This Li Yunxiao is truly a monster. If we don’t get rid of him as soon as possible, he will surely become a major threat in the future! Since the strange square array is following his order, we can destroy it by just killing him!”
Cang Liqun realized that and cried out, “Yes, and we shouldn’t delay any further! I’ll pin Ji Meng down while you kill that Li Yunxiao!” As soon as he had finished, he leaped down the chariot and took out a saber, slashing it toward Ji Meng.
‘What a sly old fox!’ Li Yi scolded in his mind. Yunxiao’s identity was already made known to Cang Liqun just now. Although they were from opposing factions, if he were the one who killed Yunxiao, Cang Liqun knew he would be flayed by Li Chunyang and Li Changfeng, and even Qin Yang would not be able to save him.
“Senior Brothers, we must kill this guy this time! He is our nemesis, and if he stays alive, not only will we suffer, but it is very likely that Master’s plans will also be ruined by him!”
“You are right. I also think this kid to be too evil! Rest here, Junior Brother, just the two of us are more than enough to finish him!” Guang Yuanjia and Yu Yuanwen had also appeared on the chariot, both staring at Yunxiao with gloomy faces.
Li Yi nodded. “In the beginning, I thought only one of you will be enough, but this guy is just too queer. I think it is better for both of you to strike together, only then can we ensure his death!”
“You can count on us. Let’s go!” Weapons in hands, both men leaped into the air, heading toward Yunxiao in a very threatening manner.
Ji Meng saw them rushing at Yunxiao right after he had blocked Cang Liqun’s attack with his sword, which greatly frightened him. With fierce a killing intent in his eyes, he rushed toward them. But Cang Liqun, being a two-stars Martial Lord and stronger than Ji Meng, would never let him pass, and he did so by swinging his saber and trapping Ji Meng with a burst of attacks.
“Be careful, Young Master Yun!” Since he could not go to the rescue, he could only shout anxiously.
Yunxiao had long discovered both men. “Everyone, charge for the south! Do not let anything distract you!” he cried out. Then, he lightly kicked his foot into the ground and leaped into the air as he began running to the south as well. He was not stupid enough to fight head-on against two Martial Lords. As long as the student army could break through the encirclement and run to the south, they should come upon Chen Dasheng’s troops soon, and it would be time to fight back then!
“Trying to flee?” Guang Yuanjia sneered. He lifted his spear and thrust it, sending its pointed end through the air with strings of ice crystals. As a genuine Martial Lord, his attack was so strong that it broke through the void and froze the air, which turned into an ice bridge and fell onto Yunxiao.
“You want to kill me? Hmph! Kill your own men first!” Yunxiao cried out lightly as his figure flashed, “Nether Swap, Moon Walk!”
Yunxiao threw himself into the Golden Lion Army, flashing back and forth in the chaotic crowd. Guang Yuanjia’s ice bridge followed and instantly killed many soldiers, but he did not mind at all. With a sneer, he continued to attack without showing any mercy.
Meanwhile, Yu Yuanwen joined the pursuit as well, waving his halberd as he plunged into the army and began slaughtering.
Yunxiao moved with magic steps, flashing relaxedly amongst the crowd. From time to time, he used soldiers as shields, throwing them to the two attackers, and all of them were cut into halves directly. The soldiers of the Golden Lion Army sucked in cold breaths as they ran away from them in horror and glared furiously at the two men.
“What is wrong with you! Stop killing my soldiers!”
Cang Liqun, who was fighting nearby, had also discovered something wrong, and he roared with fury. These men were all loyal subordinates who had followed him for many years. So, when he saw them being killed by someone from his own faction, it instantly broke his heart.
Guang Yuanjia bellowed as he kept killing the soldiers in front of him, “It’s all this boy’s fault! He’s too cunning, using your soldiers as shields! I swear I’ll hack him to pieces!” As soon as he had finished, he killed another soldier thrown over by Yunxiao. The spear pierced the man and exploded him into a cloud of blood, which was instantly frozen into ice before falling to the ground and shattering into pieces.
Cang Liqun flew into a rage. “If you kill my men again, don’t blame me for being rude to you later!”
“Hmph!” Yu Yuanwen gave a cold snort, but he reduced his aggressiveness all the same, kicking away the next soldier thrown over by Yunxiao.
Yunxiao moved swiftly in the crowd like a fish in the water while soldiers avoided him as if he were a plague. Because of that, and as the student army fought bravely, a breach was soon opened up in the south, allowing everyone to escape the encirclement.
Li Yi watched anxiously from the chariot in the distance. “Kill his companions! Let’s see if he will run again!” he roared.
Upon hearing that, Guang Yuanjia glanced at the crowd. After charging out of the breach, as there was no one to command them, the student army plunged into chaos and dispersed, no longer in the square array as they ran messily toward the south. Right outside the breach stood Lin Yu and Bai Chengfeng, who were taking up the rear of the student army. As they both were the only two Martial Masters among their peers, they thought they should shoulder greater responsibility.
“Hmph!” Guang Yuanjia gave a cold snort and ditched Yunxiao before thrusting his spear toward both men. As a result, Lin Yu and Bai Chengfeng immediately felt that they were targeted by a deadly killing intent. A sense of death descended upon them, filling their hearts with dread.
As the stronger one between them, Bai Chengfeng was the first to react. He shouted and hurriedly threw out hundreds of Thunderbolt Beads, then brought his arms together. His vambraces joined as one and transformed into a round stone disk, flying out and hovering before them as a shield.
“Your defense is futile before me!” Guang Yuanjia gave a contemptuous sneer and thrust his spear. One after another, all the beads exploded, and yet none of them could stop his attack!
Clang!
The spear hit the disk, and the vambraces shattered into pieces with a rumble before blowing out in all directions. Meanwhile, the sharp tip of the spear ripped through the air and stabbed hard through Bai Chengfeng’s chest!
Puke!
Bai Chengfeng vomited a mouthful of heart’s blood, and his spirit instantly leaked out of him.
“Chengfeng!” Lin Yu was stunned and then roared while rushing over and holding Bai Chengfeng in his arms. But, he then saw that his friend’s pupils had begun to dilate.
“Die, you ants!” Frustrated by the fact that he had failed to instantly kill a Martial Master with one single strike, Guang Yuanjia raised his spear and thrust it out again.
“Look out, Lin Yu!” A beautiful figure in the distance trembled. Luo Landuo was pale with fear as she screamed desperately, “Run! Run away from there, Lin Yu!” She felt strength was leaving her as she watched the enemy’s spear approach to claim the life of someone she loved.
Clang!
At the critical juncture, Yunxiao suddenly appeared. He swung the sword of Spring Water so fast that it left streaks of light in the void, which then scattered like lotus flowers and swept toward Guang Yuanjia’s head.
“The Song of Blue Lotus Sword!”
Guang Yuanjia felt a chill. He did not understand why an eight-stars warrior could fill his heart with a chill, but that was the most instinctive intuition of warriors. He sucked in a cold breath and decided to give up on killing Lin Yu. Hastily, he pulled back the spear and swept it out, destroying all the lotus flowers.
In the distance, Luo Landuo put her heart back into her chest, which had almost come up to her throat. For a moment, she felt she was completely exhausted. As she watched the figure shrouded in lotus flowers, she had a very complicated feeling.
“Retreat with Bai Chengfeng and find Jia Rong to heal him!” After saying that, Yunxiao was immediately enveloped by the shadows of Guang Yuanjia’s icy spear.
Lin Yu was filled with grief and indignation, but he knew he would be a burden if he stayed. He punched the ground with a fist, sending a small cloud of dust into the air. Then, he carried Bai Chengfeng up and retreated into the student army.
At this moment, everyone’s gaze was at Guang Yuanjia and Yunxiao, as well as Cang Liqun and Ji Meng. Since the army of four hundred thousand soldiers had failed to trap the two thousand student troops, it was futile for them to charge again.
Ji Meng panicked as soon as he saw Yunxiao getting trapped. He kept attacking desperately; his sword techniques were swift and agile, and wherever his sword went, peach flowers blossomed, making it a beautiful sight. Cang Liqun, on the other hand, was depressed and gloomy from the attacks. As he was one star stronger than Ji Meng, he thought he could easily suppress or even kill the other. But as time went by, he found that he was actually struggling to keep up with the attacks.
“Stop moving around, boy! Fight me if you have balls!” Guang Yuanjia was extremely depressed as well. Although he thrust his spear faster and faster, Yunxiao still managed to dodge it every time. He thought it was just luck, but when all his attacks were dodged, he finally realized that it was part of the latter’s strength!