Chapter 240: The First Battle [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

Clang—

The weapons collided with a loud bang.

Zhao Feng wielded the 120-pound bronze mace with one hand, his movements so fluid and powerful that his martial energy seemed to weave a net of heaven and earth.

No matter how fast or fierce the enemy's attack, he remained firmly seated on his warhorse, his legs gripping the horse's belly tightly.

On the surface, they appear relaxed, but inwardly, alarm bells are ringing.

The bearded warrior before him was far more powerful than any of his previous opponents. His speed, strength, and combat experience were almost on par with his own! It seemed impossible to take his head in thirty or forty rounds as he had anticipated.

Banners fluttered in the wind, and the cold wind howled.

Yet, no one felt the slightest bit of coldness.

Each person stared intently at the tense battle.

In the center of the battlefield, sand and dust swirled, and martial energy raged.

Shen Tang placed his hand on his brow as an eyelid, and the more he looked, the more he felt that something was wrong. Unfortunately, several familiar military officers were all recovering from injuries—Captain Yang, needless to say, would never be able to go to the battlefield again in his life, and Gong Shuwu had not yet recovered to his peak strength, so he stayed behind to guard the rear.

As for the brothers Zhai Le and Zhai Huan—

They had been pursued all the way from Xiaocheng and had also encountered Shao Chong having a bout of madness, so they had not yet fully recovered.

In other words—

She was the only "military general" in Shen Tang's army.

Oh, does anyone still remember that she was a literary scholar?

At this moment, Gu Chi's words awakened him from his reverie.

He said, "Aren't bronze maces usually dual weapons?"

These words clearly reached Shen Tang's ears.

Shen Tang then fully realized that something was wrong.

Bronze maces usually appear in pairs.

Why did Zhao Feng use a single mace?

There are many single-handed weapons that are more lethal and easier to use in close combat on horseback than a bronze mace. Furthermore, Zhao Feng's two arms are equally strong and powerful, so there seems to be no possibility of him being "unbalanced" in any particular area.

Could it be—

A guess popped into her mind: Had Zhao Feng been hiding his true abilities?

Alliance Leader Wu Xian is also closely monitoring the battle situation.

Each of them was either a martial artist with courage or a scholar with refined taste, possessing excellent hearing and eyesight. Seeing Zhao Feng locked in a fierce battle with the rebel generals, some secretly broke out in a cold sweat. The rebels couldn't afford to lose their first battle, but the allied forces couldn't afford to lose even more.

The alliance was hastily assembled by smaller factions.

Although their numbers far exceeded those of the ten thousand rebels, their morale was far less unified, and their spirits were just as easily shaken. Once morale plummeted and unity crumbled, and the rebels launched a general offensive, their side would likely suffer a crushing defeat... Everyone secretly observed Alliance Leader Wu Xian.

Gu Rendao, standing to one side, said, "Alliance Leader Wu, this—"

They need to be prepared for both possibilities.

Even if Zhao Feng loses, his head cannot be taken.

Losing and losing miserably are not the same thing.

Unexpectedly, Alliance Leader Wu Xian remained calm and composed, showing no concern whatsoever that Zhao Feng would lose in the duel. Gu Ren guessed that Wu Xian must have a backup plan, and forcibly suppressed his growing anxiety for the time being.

Although he advised observing the situation closely, just in case, Gu Ren secretly gave a hand signal to his soldiers. The soldiers, receiving the order, quietly rushed to Chao Lian's side. Upon seeing the soldiers, Chao Lian understood the situation and asked, "What are your instructions, lord?"

The soldier whispered something in his ear, and Chao Lian nodded in understanding.

"Go and tell the lord that I understand."

The soldiers were relieved to return home only after receiving a reply.

Gu Ren remained calm, but the others lacked the patience. They were all on pins and needles, anxious and flustered, unsure of what to do. One of them pretended to whisper to the person beside him, "Isn't Alliance Leader Wu worried that his generals will perish here?"

Such a valiant warrior should naturally be put to the greatest use.

It would be a huge waste to lose here.

Another person chuckled: "Unlike us poor folks, Alliance Leader Wu is full of talent. I've heard that his six generals are all from distinguished backgrounds. Perhaps he has his own considerations." Although he spoke in a low voice, everyone present was sharp-eyed and perceptive.

These words were also heard by Wu Xian without missing a single one.

His fingers, resting on his lap, tapped idly, seemingly random but actually following a peculiar rhythm. Finally, he reacted, turning to chat idly with his trusted scholar in a black robe.

"Gongsu, it's rare to see Dayi so happy..."

The scholar in the black robe said calmly, "A worthy opponent is a worthy foe in chess, and a worthy general is a worthy opponent in general."

A warrior with martial spirit is different from a scholar with literary mind.

The latter can compensate for a lack of literary skill with mental calculation; even a second-rank upper-level literary talent might be easily defeated by a ninth-rank lower-level literary talent. But martial arts practitioners are different. Each level is separated by a chasm. The higher the level of martial arts, the larger that chasm becomes.

Among high-level martial artists, unless they fight to the death, it is very difficult to challenge someone of a higher level, let alone succeed—typical examples include Commander Yang and Gongxi Chou. This group is like a pyramid, with fewer people at the top and a smaller chance of encountering each other.

With Zhao Feng's strength, he usually either cultivates alone or spars with a few familiar faces. They are all familiar faces, and they know each other's techniques and backgrounds. They can't completely let go and fight to the death. They are quite frustrated and restrained when fighting.

He's a slow starter.

When he sparred with others, he often felt that he had just finished warming up and had enough foreplay, but his opponent had already finished, which was extremely frustrating!

Don't be fooled by Zhao Feng's seemingly close fight; those who know him well know that once he finishes warming up, he gets completely excited!

Alliance Leader Wu Xian laughed and said, "Haha, that's true."

The scholar in the black robe withdrew his gaze from the battlefield, turning it to Qi Shan beside Shen Tang in the distance. Qi Shan seemed to sense this and turned to look at him as well. Their eyes met briefly in mid-air before turning away in unison. The scholar in the black robe frowned and pursed his lips.

Just then, a massive impact suddenly erupted on the battlefield, shaking the ground. Under the watchful eyes of both armies, Zhao Feng's aura suddenly surged, his dense martial energy almost seeping from beneath his skin, forming a thin mist tinged with light red.

"Give me your life—"

Zhao Feng opened his left hand.

Another bronze mace appeared in his palm.

He blocked the enemy general's weapon with his right hand, and with his left hand swung his bronze mace, striking the enemy general's skull with tremendous force. This strike was far more powerful than the previous one, and the enemy general's warhorse neighed as if it could not bear the weight.

Zhao Feng's warhorse charged forward, kicking out with a powerful hoof.

That bearded general was no pushover either.

Instead of dodging or yielding, he used his martial energy to meet the attack head-on.

Zhao Feng roared, and the martial energy unleashed by his iron mace left a trench several feet long in the ground. Dust billowed up as the martial energy poured forth unreservedly towards the bearded general.

Clang clang clang—

In the blink of an eye, the trembling continued for dozens of rounds.

Almost simultaneously, the two unleashed their martial energy, condensing it into ferocious beastly shadows that lunged at each other, tearing and attacking. As the saying goes, the layman sees the spectacle, the expert sees the technique; everyone could see that after Zhao Feng used his pair of bronze maces, his body seemed to have flipped some kind of switch.

It surpasses even the release of a ferocious beast from its cage, its momentum rising steadily.

The situation, which was initially evenly matched, began to slowly but steadily tilt in his favor after dozens of rounds.

Chao Lian's grip on the reins of his warhorse loosened slightly.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, we should be able to win this match.

|ω`)

Ugh, so annoying, I don't have any drafts saved up...

(End of this chapter)