Chen Ping's Sword

He clashed his twin swords, a muffled boom reverberating, as golden-red True Qi surged and roared like a tidal wave. Behind him, over forty thousand riders shouted in unison, their morale greatly boosted.

This time, Ji Changlie had practically launched an all-out assault.

Upon receiving the battle report from Wenyuan Valley, he immediately recognized a heaven-sent opportunity. When two tigers fight, one is bound to get injured, or both will sustain heavy losses. The one to benefit would always be a patient hunter like himself.

Thus, he rallied together forty thousand cavalry, over a hundred thousand infantry, leaving only over ten thousand old, weak, sick, and disabled to guard the home.

And the general left to guard the home was no other than her.

Feng Jiu had always been eager to fight the Hu People, the more she wished to fight, the more she disobeyed military orders. Ji Changlie felt increasingly displeased, so he left her behind.

Were it not for her unwavering loyalty over the years and her extraordinary martial skills, Ji Changlie would have long broken ties with this stubborn yet capable female general. Additionally, there were unspeakable sentiments in his heart that kept him from acting rashly against this princess-like disciple.

What he disliked the most was anyone defying him.

Misunderstanding could be tolerated, but questioning was unacceptable...

The Jinghai Army had been amassing its forces over the years just for the day it could finally unleash a brilliant display.

Claiming a strength of two hundred thousand troops, Ji Changlie did not hold back this time.

He could never forget the humiliation when Chen Ping arrogantly fought his way up to him.

He also resented that wretched boy for eloping with his daughter.

In his heart, even a victory for the Beizhou Hu Cavalry was more acceptable than Chen Ping winning this battle.

The Beizhou People’s attack on the Great Li Dynasty was a clash between nations, where nothing was off the table; it was all about showing their respective skills and tactics.

However, to have a mere mud-legged beggar reach high positions, steal Xingqing Prefecture right under his nose, and on the brink of seizing half of Jiangnan, it was unbearable.

"Fortunately, Heaven assists me. As long as I win this battle, I can then point my sword at the Vice Capital and capture the Southeast Half. The Seven Fiends Army and East Wood Army are mere chicken and dogs; they pose no threat."

"Charge, I’m certain this time, the ambushing forces aren’t many. Cui Huchen is prudent and experienced in strategy; he wouldn’t maneuver the entire army. Chen Ping can’t abandon his own lair. At most, the front has only ten to twenty thousand troops, that’s reasonable."

"Would you like this old servant to scout ahead to see the danger ahead?"

Although Ji Changlie knew how to abandon things and was quite opportunistic, he never relaxed about his own safety. Uncle Tonx always accompanied him, serving both as a guard and an assurance.

With such a renowned Grandmaster of the Fourth Realm, Unity of Heaven and Man, escorting him, he believed he could venture anywhere in the world.

"No need, Uncle Tonx, stay by my side. This battle is simple; minor ambushes are of no consequence."

According to the frontline reports, Chen Ping’s forty thousand cavalry had been fully mobilized, even bringing along novices trained for barely a month to the battlefield. This fight was waged against the most elite, fierce ten thousand Rushing Wolf Cavalry. Even if he fought to the death, seven or eight tenths must perish for the battle to conclude.

Moreover, he also needed to guard a county and five prefectures behind him to prevent his lair from being stolen.

The available mobile forces were really quite limited.

Perhaps, after this grievous victory, the front had already transformed into a field littered with corpses and agony.

The surviving cavalry were also utterly exhausted, unable to continue the fight.

At this time, rapid action was crucial; delay was unacceptable to prevent the enemy from getting any chance to recover.

The mountain paths were difficult.

But for elite cavalry, it’s just a minor issue.

With the infusion of Blood Qi, both man and horse were bathed in a crimson hue, brimming with vitality. The galloping speed of the vigorous horses did not slow much, their hooves rhythmically tapping, leaping over meadows, skipping over rocks and slopes, agile and swift.

However, the more than forty thousand cavalry stretched into a long black line, extending several miles in length.

The ambush troops on the mountain seemed to be mere decoration, existing only to frighten.

Ji Changlie held back the horse’s speed in front and discovered they had already traversed more than half of the One-Line Blade Gorge without any disturbance from the mountains, which greatly relieved him. He shouted, "Accelerate, increase speed, rush out of the gorge, and prepare to form ranks."

With Ji Changlie’s roar,

Generals Fang Gui, Luo Yuanhua, Jia Santu, and Zheng Guang simultaneously shouted their orders.

The cavalry at the rear accelerated, no longer displaying their earlier cautious demeanor.

"Boom..."

The sound of cannon fire echoed.

Suddenly, the countless heads appeared densely upon both sides of the mountain.

Amidst the woods and brush, it was unclear just how many people had appeared, nor how many were shouting in unison.

The first to appear was a volley of arrows.

The sharp whistle was like a violent gale.

Wooshing...

In a fraction of a breath, the narrow pass resounded with screams of agony.

For figures like Ji Changlie and Fang Gui, Luo Yuanhua, and other experts, these minor crossbow arrows naturally posed no real threat to them.

Even decurions and centurions in armor merely needed a slight movement of their weapons to defend themselves cleanly.

Both man and horse were well protected.

But for ordinary cavalry, whether they could block the arrow rain, whether it hit a vital area—now that was up to fate.

Missing one or two arrows which pierce through armor into flesh was manageable, however, if struck in the neck, eyes, or heart, they naturally fell from their horses, their bodies trampled by the following cavalry until bones shattered and tendons tore.

"Continue forward, accelerate through, Sea Treading Left Guard, ascend the mountain."

This had been the previous arrangement.

Seeing that after the arrow storm, countless mountain stones and wooden logs rolled down, within a mere dozen breaths, he had lost hundreds to a thousand horses from his ranks.

Most were merely injured and unhorsed, with less than thirty percent actually killed, but these injured had no choice but to hide, no longer daring to advance. For those aiming to traverse the narrow pass and strike Chen Ping’s forces, it was already too late.

Ji Changlie had not anticipated that the ambush on the mountains was far more than he imagined. From the look of it, all protruding highlands were densely populated. A preliminary estimate could easily put the number at two to three thousand people.

"To have laid in ambush three thousand at Hungry Tiger Ridge alone, could it be that old fellow from the Cui Family really moved all ten thousand defending troops from the city to here? It’s irrational, Xingqing Prefecture, Hexi County, Qingjiang Prefecture, do they not care about them anymore?"

In this moment, Ji Changlie felt a heartache as though blood was seeping away. As he advanced, he silently calculated; forty thousand cavalry had already dropped behind by about six to seven thousand along this path.

The rate of loss, even for a prince like him who scarcely valued the lives of soldiers, was growing unbearable.

Two incense sticks’ worth of time passed.

Finally, shouts of battle echoed from the mountains, attacks from the adjacent highlands started to significantly lessen.

Ji Changlie knew, this was because his own rear infantry and Sea Treading Guard had commenced climbing operations... yet expecting to capture these two highlands in a short time was a futile endeavor.

Losses among the cavalry within the mountain path continued to rise.

His eyes brightened slightly as he glimpsed open sky.

"Finally emerged from One-Line Blade Gorge, luckily, I only lost less than ten thousand cavalry due to dropping behind. With these thirty thousand elite cavalry, releasing their full might can still crush that rascal’s exhausted troops."

Ji Changlie could not resist but let out a long howl, taking the lead, he charged out of the long narrows.

Behind him, the thunderous sound of hooves converged like a flood returning to the sea.

Then, he saw, not far from the gorge’s exit, in the glow of the setting sun, a densely packed octagonal formation settled before him.

This formation spanned several miles long and wide, though their armor was not fully intact, nor were the weapons particularly fine, yet standing within the formation, they exuded a fierce aura like a steel fortress.

"Eight Gates Golden Lock Array!"

At this moment, Ji Changlie’s eyes turned red.

He was a seasoned war veteran, self-acknowledged as a famous general, whether it be martial arts or military formation, he considered himself among the elite of the world, how could he not recognize it now.

The formation before him had at least seventy to eighty thousand men, with military qi smoothly flowing, linking head and tail, eight hidden edges...

It had to be led by a renowned general to exhibit such bearings.

As the frontline reports indicated, Chen Ping led forty thousand cavalry to engage in a decisive battle with the Rushing Wolf Cavalry in the field...

Thus, this infantry couldn’t be personally led by Chen Ping; so who exactly commanded this sudden appearing infantry formation and the devious ambush set on the mountains?

Among the generals in Xingqing Prefecture, this kind of seasoned and insightful leader, there was, and only one.

That was his own father-in-law, Cui Huchen.