Witnessing the earth-shattering war cries ahead, Wen Guang vaulted onto his horse. Glancing back at the four thousand troops behind him, he bellowed, “The battle has begun! We cannot sit here and wait for death!”

“All soldiers, follow me! We will pierce through Jiangyun Valley and rescue the Young Master!”

“If any of us fall from our horses, do not stop! You must rip open a path!”

“You must rip open a path and rescue the Young Master!” Wen Guang repeated, his voice resonating.

“Kill!”

He led a thousand cavalry in a furious charge.

“Report!”

“Commander, unknown cavalry has suddenly appeared behind our main army!”

“Whose banner?”

“The Wen character banner!”

“The Wen character banner?” Yuwen Xing picked up his monocular telescope and looked behind him. Indeed, there was a cavalry unit, though their numbers were few, appearing to be only a thousand men.

Yuwen Xing’s expression was calm, showing no trace of panic, as if he had long anticipated this. “It seems these are the ambushing forces Wen Yue prepared.”

“Seeing Wen Yue being surrounded, they are naturally anxious. So, they’ve come to their deaths.”

“Order the Left and Right Vanguard Camps to turn their rear into their front. Devour these thousand cavalry! I want to completely trap and kill Song Hao!”

Yuwen Xing did not mention Wen Yue. In his eyes, Wen Yue was already a dead man.

Though they were involved in this battle, it was, in reality, a gamble between the Immortal Masters of the upper echelons.

The Left and Right Vanguard Camps, numbering ten thousand men in total, immediately shifted their assault.

Having ten thousand men at the front was enough to annihilate those three thousand troops in Jiangyun Valley. They needed to swiftly deal with the thousand cavalry behind them.

“Full draw!”

“Loose arrows!”

Two thousand arrows, black as a storm cloud, rained down upon the charging cavalry.

Wen Guang, at the very forefront, was instantly riddled with arrows like a porcupine, blood gushing forth.

He gripped his reins tightly, roaring, “Kill!”

Then, he toppled from his horse.

His personal guards, daring not to stop, rode their hundreds of steeds directly over his corpse.

“Kill!”

Sanhu’s hands had long since been demonized, a black film covering his body. Mere mortal arrows could pierce a cavalryman’s armor, but they could not penetrate his demonized hide.

With Wen Guang’s death, Sanhu took his place, leaping to the vanguard.

The strong warhorse beneath him, possessing the bloodline of an exotic beast carried Sanhu forward. In mere breaths, he had already charged into the Wei army’s front lines.

“Boom!”

Shields locked in formation.

Long spears thrust out from the gaps in the shields.

This infantry formation, interlinked and secure, was the bane of cavalry charges, especially now that the cavalry unit had been diminished.

A black mist of demonization enveloped Sanhu’s body, simultaneously affecting his mount.

Sanhu urged his horse, and its speed surged once more.

The great spear in his hand, as thick as a bowl, was like a towering pillar.

With a fierce sweep, the shields before him shattered. The infantry holding them were instantly smashed into paste by the iron spear.

A massive breach appeared in the shield wall.

Sanhu was like a fierce tiger entering a flock of sheep. With every sweep, countless soldiers were smashed into meat paste by his great spear. Severed limbs and broken bones flew, red and white, painting the ground and the cliff faces of Jiangyun Valley.

The cavalry behind him seized the opportunity, charging through the breach.

The Wei army at the very front simply could not withstand Sanhu in his current state.

With his demonized body, peak organ refining cultivation, and innate divine strength, Sanhu was like a meat grinder on the battlefield, relentlessly harvesting lives.

“Report—!”

“Commander, something is wrong!”

“The Wen character banner cavalry has torn through the Left and Right Vanguard Camps!”

“The two camps’ routed soldiers have already rushed onto the high ground!”

Yuwen Xing’s mouth fell open. He poked at his ears, asking in disbelief, “Are you sure the intelligence isn’t wrong?”

Without waiting for an answer, Yuwen Xing hurried out of his tent, using his monocular telescope to observe the battlefield.

Soldiers were defeated, scattering and fleeing.

Yes, he was referring to the two camps of Great Wei.

They had originally numbered ten thousand, but now they had vanished completely.

Moreover, not far away, three thousand more infantry bearing the Wen character banner poured onto the battlefield, directly striking the routed soldiers head-on, annihilating the Great Wei soldiers one by one.

Yuwen Xing set aside his shock. He didn’t know what had happened to cause such a situation, and hastily searched. Until he saw the moving iron tower enveloped in grey mist at the very front.

When all soldiers shattered at a single touch, he understood he had found the cause.

“What is that?”

“Does Great Liang have such a fierce general?”

Yuwen Xing looked at the person beside him, his eyes filled with inquiry and doubt.

His deputy was actually not entirely sure, but seeing that great spear, he felt it was almost certain. “Commander, that should be Song Sanhu, the son of Marquis Annan.”

“Damn it, Southern Liang truly has an abundance of talented individuals! Even a simpleton can make my Great Wei soldiers throw away their armor and abandon their weapons!”

“Bring in the pre-positioned army! I refuse to believe this simpleton won’t tire!”

“It’ll be worth it to bury him with thirty thousand troops!”

Now that he knew who the person was, Yuwen Xing naturally wouldn’t show mercy.

This fierce general could take a man’s head amidst ten thousand soldiers. If they didn’t rely on human wave tactics to kill him now, should they wait to encounter him on the battlefield later?

Yuwen Xing did not want to find himself, while commanding the central army, having his front-line guards pierced through and then being decapitated for public display.

...

The two battlefields presented a stark contrast.

Inside the formation, a stalemate persisted.

Outside the formation, corpses littered the ground, dismembered limbs piled like mountains, and rivers of blood stained the earth.

In truth, sometimes the battle between immortals and mortals was not so different; they were all still human, and all needed to fight desperately.

Wen Yue leaned on his Soul Banner, enduring immense pain, gripping spirit stones and consuming Yin Soul Pills to replenish his spiritual power.

Due to consuming too many Yin Soul Pills, the lingering malevolent aura, unable to dissipate, had begun to float from his body.

His spirit stones were also dwindling. From the start of the battle until now, two full hours had passed, and he had only three and a half spirit stones left.

He had a steady accumulation of Yin Soul Pills, still quite a few remaining, but Wen Yue dared not consume too many.

Too much consumption would cause the malevolent qi to affect one’s mind. In this battle, should he lose his clarity, the situation would completely tilt. Thus, he dared not do it.

The compass cultivator struggled to his feet, swallowing two healing pills. His face was pale from excessive blood loss.

Lin Hui, entangled by Zhu Lin and Zhao Shixian’s fierce ghosts, had also begun to use spirit stones.

Only Tu Shanjun and Cui Guang remained in a deadlock.

When Cui Guang needed to rest, Tu Shanjun would attack the unconscious cultivator lying at the base of the cliff. This constant harassment left Cui Guang, even as a Qi Refining seventh-layer cultivator, exhausted and daring not to slacken in the slightest.

After two hours of fierce fighting, the battle, instead of reaching a climax, had descended into a stalemate.

At the same time, the unconscious cultivator at the base of the cliff twitched a finger.

Then he slowly got up from the ground, shaking his head.

Even now, piercing ghost wails buzzed in his mind.

He glanced down. The ghost claw wound on his chest was sealed with spiritual power, no longer bleeding but the wound itself was quite large.

He took out a pill from his storage talisman and swallowed it before looking around.

Tang Wen stared, surprised and bewildered at everything before him. He didn’t know how long he had been unconscious, but all his senior brothers were wounded.

And what was this seven-foot tall green-faced fanged evil ghost?

Furthermore, why were there so many Yin souls and ghostly entities within the formation?

“Junior Brother Tang, quickly slay this fiend!” the Sword-wielding compass cultivator exclaimed with joy.

He hadn’t expected Junior Brother Tang to awaken at this crucial moment.

Now was not the time for blame; it was best to quickly seize the opportunity while the demonic cultivator’s spiritual power was insufficient and slay him.

Tu Shanjun’s expression darkened.

With Tang Wen awake, the target holding Cui Guang back was gone.

If this person broke free, this battle would be lost.

“It seems today, I am destined to die here,” Wen Yue lamented.

Everyone in this world faces death, and Wen Yue didn’t consider himself an exception. To be able to stand again, to have his broken leg reattached and to become a Qi Refining cultivator was already an immense fortune. Now, it was merely accepting death with composure.

Wen Yue had actually prepared himself long ago.

It was just a pity that he couldn’t save his father-in-law, nor could he fulfill his promise.

“If I die, what will become of Teacher?”

Wen Yue looked at Tu Shanjun, tears welling in his eyes. If Teacher fell into the hands of these people, would he still have a chance to live?

He didn’t know, but he was afraid.

“Backlash.”

Wen Yue mouthed the word to Tu Shanjun.

If Teacher possessed him, using his body as a springboard, perhaps he could still escape.

Tu Shanjun clenched his fists.

Why could he not save anyone?

Did he really have to possess his disciple, using his disciple’s fleshly body to escape?

Where could he escape to?

Once or twice?

Could he truly escape?

If I retreat today, when will I ever stop retreating?

Tu Shanjun’s gaze was resolute. He wanted to become an immortal, and he wanted to regain his human form, but today, he still did not want to give up like this. He wanted to try.

Isn’t it a master’s duty to protect his disciple?

(Chapter End)