Qin Mu, who had never seen such a gigantic monster before, felt his heart skip a beat. The sheer size of the monster was overwhelming, not to mention its ferocious appearance.
"Roar!" A huge roar not only made Qin Mu feel immense pressure, but also emitted a foul stench.
"Back off!" Qin Qiong shouted, then jumped off his warhorse, which was almost paralyzed with fear.
"Mu'er! You retreat too!" Qin Qiong said sternly. Although the monster was still a hundred or two meters away, he could already feel the pressure. These warhorses had all been through the battlefield and had never been afraid of the aura of beastmen. Now that the monster had appeared, they were trembling with fear. One could imagine how ferocious the creature they were facing was.
"Dad, be careful!" Qin Mu said, wisely choosing to retreat. The creature in front of him, which looked somewhat like a lizard, actually resembled a dinosaur more. Its size was comparable to that of the largest Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Qin Qiong drew his sword, not wanting to fight the monster, especially with his son beside him. However, the monster spotted the group of prey before it. Its enormous head turned, its fist-sized eyes scanning the area, before it charged towards the group.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The monster stomped its feet, shaking the earth, and charged forward menacingly.
"Kill!" Qin Qiong roared, a blood-red light shooting up from his body, unleashing an astonishing aura, as he raised his sword to meet the attack.
"Fire!" shouted a captain among the soldiers, pointing his sword at the enemy.
"Swish! Swish! Swish!" Twenty arrows were shot out.
Knowing that this monster was difficult to deal with, no one dared to hold back; the soldiers' arrows were all imbued with a bloodthirsty aura. With this firing method, an ordinary soldier who could fire three arrows was considered a fairly elite soldier.
Unfortunately, they underestimated the monster; the arrows struck them, and they fell to the ground.
The monster didn't pay much attention to the tiny creature in front of it, thinking it was similar to its usual prey. It opened its big mouth and bit at Qin Qiong.
Perhaps because it had never encountered humans before, the monster suffered a great loss this time. Qin Qiong moved nimbly, slashing his sword through the monster's mouth.
"Roar!" A painful cry rang out as the monster's large head snapped back, followed by a tail that swept rapidly toward Qin Qiong.
A long gash widened the monster's gaping maw, and blood flowed inside, making it look even more ferocious. Perhaps because opening its mouth was more painful, the monster roared once and then tightly closed it.
It had been a very long time since it had suffered such a great loss. Apart from its own kind, which were of similar size, this was the first time the monster had been injured. The pain made it furious. Its tail, which hadn't been able to sweep across, drew a beautiful arc in the air and swept back again.
Qin Qiong hadn't expected this enormous creature to be so agile; after all, this was his first time fighting something so large. He dodged the first tail, but the second was too late. He could only gather his bloodthirsty energy and slash at it with his sword.
For military generals, dodging and weaving are all confined to a small space, as they are mostly mounted on warhorses. More often than not, they have to take direct hits and parries. Of course, military generals also have many techniques for deflecting force. A monster of such enormous size must be incredibly strong, so Qin Qiong certainly wouldn't confront it head-on. Even when he couldn't dodge in time, when his sword struck the monster's tail, he used the momentum to glide backward.
Even so, Qin Qiong was swept away more than twenty meters like a fly.
"Father!" Qin Mu cried out in alarm. Without thinking, he activated his spiritual energy and threw a wooden puppet out of his hand.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!" The second wave of arrows was also fired at the same time.
"Kill!" The captain led his soldiers, who were already in formation, and charged forward with their weapons in hand.
"Mu'er, don't come any closer!" Qin Qiong, who had just landed, did a backflip and landed steadily on the ground, raising her voice to stop Qin Mu.
Although the monster was incredibly strong, Qin Qiong was no weakling either, so he was unharmed and managed to stop Qin Mu. Qin Qiong pushed off the ground and sped forward, unleashing another slash.
With a "thud," the blade pierced the monster's body. However, the monster's hide was thick and its flesh was tough. Although Qin Qiong's slash left a cut, it only left a trace of blood. For such a huge creature, it was probably no bigger than a mosquito bite.
Mosquito bites aren't very painful, but they're annoying, and the monster felt the same way. Its anger intensified, and the wound on its mouth made it furious. Its long tail lashed out wildly, whipping the ground and creating deep craters.
Although Qin Qiong was powerful, he didn't have a good way to deal with such a huge creature with immense strength. He slashed it more than ten times, but the monster didn't seem to be in much pain.
Qin Qiong could withstand and dodge, but the ordinary soldiers fared much worse. Even when they formed a battle formation, their blood and qi merging into one, they couldn't withstand the monster's attacks. One by one, they were whipped away.
"Retreat!" Qin Qiong shouted, then threw his sword as the monster opened its mouth to bite one of his men.
The slash was swift as lightning, heading straight for the monster's gaping maw.
Unfortunately, the monster had grown up fighting since it was a cub, so it was extremely sensitive to danger. In a critical moment, it tilted its head to the side and its big mouth snapped shut.
Of course! Qin Qiong's slash did not miss, but instead pierced right between the monster's teeth.
A sword was stuck between his teeth, and the feeling was quite unpleasant. The monster did not chase after the soldiers on the ground, but instead shook its head violently.
The knife was stuck deep in the gum and couldn't be knocked out. It couldn't close its mouth because it would hurt, so it was in a panic. Unfortunately, its front legs were too short to reach its mouth, so it had to bury its head deep inside.
The monster shook its large head, but seeing that it couldn't solve the problem, it stood still and buried its head in its claws.
The monster threw its claws into its mouth, which struck the horizontal blade, causing it to roar in pain.
"Here you go, Father!" Seeing that the monster was ignoring everyone for the time being, Qin Mu hurriedly stepped forward and handed over the sword with his hands behind his back.
"You've nurtured this sword with your righteous energy; it's not suitable for me. Get me some new long weapons." Qin Qiong glanced at it, quickly turned back, and shook his head in refusal. His eyes remained fixed on the monster.
Inside the Heavenly Mystery Tower, there were many long weapons. Qin Mu immediately took out two long spears and handed them over.
"Dad, what do we do now?" Qin Mu asked anxiously. He'd only ever seen enormous monsters in movies before, and then realized how much pressure there was when he actually faced one. Even before they'd fought, just their sheer size, standing far away, gave the impression of a giant truck driving right past him.
"You lead them to retreat later, I'll hold them off!" Qin Qiong said seriously, looking at the monster still shoving its mouth in the distance.
"Father, how about I summon some soldiers to hold them off while we retreat together?" Qin Mu suggested.
"No, we can't hold them off like that. Besides, this monster is so big, it must be incredibly fast. It could easily catch up to us," Qin Qiong said, shaking his head.
The monster had taken more than ten stabs from him, yet remained unharmed; Qin Qiong wasn't entirely confident of victory. The only visible weakness was the monster's enormous mouth, but having suffered two defeats, the monster would surely be more cautious, making it extremely difficult to penetrate its jaws again. Not wanting his son to be harmed, Qin Qiong wanted him to leave first.
Looking at the wooden puppet that Xiangli Yanran had given him, now reduced to a pile of shattered pieces on the ground, Qin Mu understood that Qin Qiong was right. The soldiers formed from the Righteous Qi wouldn't last long and would be easily caught up with.
The chase only drained their energy. Although they had warhorses, judging by their size, it was clear that even if the warhorses ran themselves to death, they couldn't outrun the monster.
"Father, use this!" Qin Mu said, handing over the secret manual.
It wasn't that he didn't want to take out the manuals, but both manuals required learning their underlying principles before one could know how to use them. Right now, not even Qin Mu, let alone Qin Qiong, could use them.
"I don't have time, I can't use it."
"This is a secret manual, Wei Liaozi!" Qin Mu reminded him.
Upon hearing this, Qin Qiong immediately realized that Wei Liaozi was a master of military strategy, and this secret scroll must be about military tactics and warfare, so he could use it as well.
Upon receiving the secret manual, Qin Qiong's bloodthirsty aura surged into it like water being poured in.
Compared to the secret scroll, the secret manual used a much larger formation. As Qin Qiong's bloodthirsty aura entered, the secret manual emitted a faint light, constantly flashing. Then, a red light swept across Qin Qiong's hand at a 180-degree angle.
Like a projection, countless figures began to appear before Qin Qiong, advancing rapidly to the sides and into the distance. In just a moment, the open space was filled with soldiers. There were also rows of carriages, each filled with soldiers wielding long spears.
Qin Qiong was a seasoned warrior and naturally knew how to lead troops. Once he used the secret manual, he roughly understood how to operate it. So he raised his hand and waved it.
Although martial artists do not cultivate spiritual power, it does not mean they do not have it. The key is that a martial artist's spiritual power and physical body are perfectly integrated, but the spiritual power cannot leave the body.
Qin Qiong felt a spiritual connection to the soldiers he had summoned, so he simply waved his hand.
The summoned soldiers seemed to understand Qin Qiong's intention and began to line up and attack. The chariots they drove also launched their attack.
The secret manual conjured a vast number of soldiers, a dark, imposing mass. These soldiers were tall and appeared far more formidable than those conjured by the scroll itself.
Qin Mu stared in disbelief. He hadn't expected the secret manual to summon tens of thousands of soldiers, and these soldiers were all tall and strong, and they even had chariots. Not only that, but right in front of him, rows of soldiers sat down and used their feet to deflect crossbow bolts.
The sudden change startled the monster. Ignoring the pain, it forcefully ripped the horizontal blade away, raised its neck, and let out a huge roar.
Before attacking, wild beasts usually let out a loud roar. Firstly, this scares away their prey, allowing them to chase and kill it easily. Secondly, it intimidates opponents of similar strength, discouraging them from further pursuit. The appearance of such a dense crowd, though small in stature, still startled the monster.
However, as a local overlord, it has no habit of running away. This roar is a warning that it is not to be trifled with.
Unfortunately, it didn't know that these soldiers were summoned and had no fear whatsoever. Its roar not only failed to frighten them, but instead propelled them into a charge.
Cavalry, infantry, and archers launched an attack on the monster in an instant.
One after another, blood-red crossbow bolts silently soared into the air and shot towards the monster.
Although the monster was enormous, the cavalry was also quite large. The cavalry horses were not afraid of the monster and charged straight at it.
Seeing that it couldn't scare the enemy, the monster wasn't afraid at all; instead, it became very angry. Feeling its dignity had been challenged, it lowered its head and strode forward, crashing into the crowd, before its tail swept out fiercely.
The summoned soldiers are different from ordinary soldiers; they are composed of spiritual energy and bloodlust, and cannot be injured, only disappear. Their entire bodies are, in fact, a weapon, a method of attack.
Weapons formed from spiritual energy were quite lethal to the monster, especially with the relentless attacks that inflicted countless wounds. And those crossbow bolts truly lived up to their name, piercing the monster's body with each arrow, causing it to scream in agony.
The soldiers summoned by the secret manual had another advantage: they could be arranged into formations according to Qin Qiong's will, greatly increasing their power. Moreover, this secret manual of Wei Liaozi had been placed in the secret realm for a thousand years, accumulating a vast amount of spiritual energy; the soldiers summoned this time were brimming with spiritual energy. The crossbow bolts fired showed no sign of dissipating.
Even the soldiers who were knocked away by the monster's rage, or even those who were slammed into the ground, would get up and continue the attack.
The warhorses, pulling the chariot, slammed violently into the monster, along with the long spears of the soldiers on the chariot. Although they were summoned warhorses, they were actually just as fast as ordinary warhorses, pulling the chariot as it crashed into the monster. Even though the monster was enormous, it was still shaken violently by the impact.
Ouch! The monster felt pain throughout its entire body; even its hard tail felt injured. It immediately considered fleeing. Running away when you can't win is perfectly normal in nature.
But it's too late to run now; tens of thousands of soldiers have already surrounded it.
One side roared incessantly, while the other silently attacked. The summoned soldiers shed no blood and were not injured, only their spiritual energy was depleted. The attack never ceased from the very beginning.
Like animals locked in combat, Qin Mu and his men watched the battle unfold quietly. The wounded soldiers were completely dumbfounded.
"What a formidable creature! If it really had ten thousand soldiers, it could probably wipe them all out!" Qin Qiong exclaimed.
Qin Mu nodded in deep agreement. Every time the monster swung its tail, none of the soldiers around it could stand firm; they were all swept away, including the warhorses. Fortunately, these were summoned soldiers, devoid of fear and unable to be injured, their weapons imbued with their own spiritual energy. This allowed them to maintain their relentless attack.
The monster was like a rock on the shore, constantly being battered by the surrounding giant waves. Even though it was very hard, it gradually could not withstand the impact.
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