Chen Ping's Sword

"Third Uncle Grandfather, our ambush is so crudely set, One-Line Blade Gorge is a universally acknowledged dangerous place, and it’s not easy to hide people atop the peaks. As long as one is a bit cautious, it can be discovered easily, so what’s the use of this?"

Cui Boyu watched as Cui Huchen set up the Eight Gates Golden Lock Array at the exit of One-Line Blade Gorge, feeling full of confusion.

"It was meant for King Jinghai to discover."

Cui Huchen’s white beard fluttered, looking as though he was smiling yet not smiling.

Sighing, not only did he not resolve his family grandchild’s doubts, he instead asked, "Bo Yu, beforehand, could you have imagined King Ping leading forty thousand cavalry to defeat one hundred thousand Rushing Wolf Cavalry in a complete victory?"

Without waiting for Cui Boyu to answer, Cui Huchen shook his head and said to himself, "Even I could not. Before the battle, the most daring prediction I made was a mutual loss, at best a hard-fought victory. Since ancient times, for the weak to overcome the strong, it’s not truly a reversal of fortune; rather, there must be tremendous advantages within the weaker side that the world fails to perceive.

But in the opening of this battle, whether in terms of soldier elite status or numbers, the forty thousand cavalry led by King Ping were at a disadvantage.

Even on the plane of elite surprise attacks, the opposing side had the seasoned Celestial List Grandmaster Divine Master Duran, making it an extremely tough nut to crack.

Yet, he won decisively.

Not only killing Divine Master Duran in the array, completely shattering the Ten Thousand Beasts Devouring Heaven Array, but also chasing Yuwen Zao and Yuwen Hao, both uncle and nephew, to flee in disarray... More remarkably, facing ten thousand with forty thousand, he lost less than five thousand cavalry.

Who could have believed beforehand, that our King Ping would execute such a miraculous battle, which seems so unreasonable?"

Thinking back to when I wagered with Chen Ping in Xianggu County under pressure, ultimately losing not only one prefecture and two counties, but also the entire Cui Family.

Although Cui Huchen questioned himself afterward, never regretting that he made the most beneficial choice for the entire Cui Family, preserving the family to the maximum extent.

However, after multiple internal "rebellions" from the family, enduring misunderstandings and criticisms from thousands of clan members, even secretly being cursed as an old fool, saying a thousand-year-old noble family was ruined overnight, and accusing me of being the family’s sinner.

Cui Huchen had more than a few headaches.

At night before bed, he always couldn’t help but have a few more drinks under the moonlight, carefully pondering himself, whether he did something wrong?

’If back then, we hadn’t avoided direct confrontation with Chen Ping’s military array, hadn’t conducted the scheme to lure the snake out of Xianggu County, and instead turned the military array duel into a battle of elites, sitting in the central army all the way, wouldn’t the situation have been entirely different?’

These questions are destined never to have answers.

Even if Cui Huchen completely warned himself, in any situation thereafter, to focus single-mindedly, avoiding indecision, to prevent bringing disaster to the Cui Family, preserving this millennium legacy.

But in the still of night, he inevitably sweats profusely.

Always feeling as if he made the wrong choice.

Whether it is truly like those clan members said, that he is the family’s sinner?

These myriad complicated thoughts persisted until today, seeing Chen Ping lead forty thousand cavalry, set up the Seven Stars Dipper Array, stride forward into the Fortune Array Four Realms "Heaven and Earth Realm," drawing boundless Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, tripling the cavalry combat power, shattering Yuwen Zao’s Ten Thousand Beasts Devouring Heaven Array utterly...

Witnessing this scene, seeing the Xingqing Prefecture’s forty thousand Cyan Cavalry sweeping away all obstacles.

Cui Huchen’s heart finally settled.

He knew, indeed he hadn’t chosen wrongly.

If he had remained in the army back then, not set the killing trap, made that gamble, very likely, today’s fate of Yuwen Zao and Divine Master Duran would be the Cui Family’s fate.

Life is like this, always full of many choices.

Sometimes, it’s a thought of heaven, a thought of hell.

Every day someone reenacts the tragedy of [One slip causes eternal regret, looking back after many years] throughout the ages.

Having made his choice already, now it’s up to King Jinghai to choose.

"Indeed, who would have thought, King Ping not only swept through the ten thousand Rushing Wolf Cavalry, but also split only one thousand elite cavalry to pursue, while letting the remaining three thousand elite cavalry dismount early to rest, maintaining strong combat power?"

Cui Boyu now no longer awkwardly refers to Chen Ping as King Ping.

He knew, after this battle, Jiangnan’s situation would greatly change.

Having the achievements of completely annihilating the ten thousand Beizhou Wolf Riders, in the people’s hearts, in the eyes of the tens of millions in Jiangnan, that figure shall surely be crowned king.

This time, it’s not a court bestowment, nor a hereditary bloodline.

It’s the people’s heartfelt recognition.

If he’s not the king, who is?

Especially during the moment when Northern Divine Land fears Beizhou, Chen Ping’s battle holds incredibly far-reaching impact.

The prevailing attitude of fleeing at the sight of Wolf Riders, fearing the enemy like tigers, should see some change.

Even if only armed with hoes and iron rakes, even if just teeth and nails, some will still dare to charge forward, biting a chunk of Hu people’s flesh, swallowing a bite of Hu people’s blood.

The scene of a Hu person chasing a whole village, even the whole city’s populace fleeing, will never appear.

The battle in Wenyuan Valley was not merely a cavalry duel, but a comparison between two peoples, two cultures.

Awakening many of the populace.

In fact, they are very strong.

This is the significance here.

It also marks a turning point in breaking the suppression of the populace’s blood nature by the Great Li Dynasty over centuries.

"If it were I, seeing the flags standing tall at Hungry Tiger Ridge, I’d understand that King Ping had planted ambushes early and prepared; I wouldn’t think of launching a sneak attack when he’s exhausted from prolonged combat."