The Xiliang army's raid on the camp failed, and only half of the several thousand cavalrymen escaped back. Although the Qin army on the other side had set up an ambush, due to the enemy's stubborn resistance and the help of the Wind and Rain Banner, they also suffered considerable losses.
Seeing the remaining enemy forces retreat into the city and the city gates tightly closed, the Qin general who had led the pursuing troops had no choice but to withdraw his troops back to camp.
The night passed quickly, and as dawn broke, wisps of smoke rose from the Qin army camp.
More than an hour later, Xu Shilin led a battalion of men out of the camp and set up their formation at the foot of Xianxia Pass.
At that moment, several cannon shots rang out from inside the city gate, and the city gate slowly opened. Yun Teng led his troops out of the city gate and arrived at a distance of one arrow's flight on the opposite side. Yun Teng reined in his horse and stopped, and the army behind him also came to a standstill.
"Is Xu Shilin here? Please come out and answer me." Yun Teng urged his warhorse forward a few more steps and shouted loudly.
Xu Shilin also rode out from the crowd, looked Yun Teng up and down, and asked, "You are the garrison commander of this pass? May I ask your name?"
"This is my general, Yun Teng!"
"Oh? So it's General Yun. What brings you here? Do you intend to surrender the pass?" Xu Shilin asked with a smile.
Yun Teng shook his head and sneered, "You wish! I called you out here just to see which one of you has the guts to lead troops to attack my Xiliang."
"You have now seen me, General."
"Hmph! I have indeed seen him. I thought you were some kind of peerless general, given that the King of Qin entrusted you with such an important task. Turns out you're not just a young scholar. Someone like you is not qualified to command a large army."
"It seems that the King of Qin's judgment is nothing special, actually appointing someone like you as marshal." Yun Teng looked at Xu Shilin with disdain, and was very skeptical of King Zhao Xi's judgment.
Throughout history, how many scholars who led armies have truly been capable of shouldering great responsibilities?
"It is not your place, a mere garrison commander, to judge the King's vision. As for me, hehe, you can be stubborn as a mule for now. Once I break through your Xianxia Pass and capture you, let's see what you have to say then."
"You bunch of chickens and dogs?!" Yun Teng said disdainfully.
"Who's the chicken and the dog, we'll have to fight it out first..."
Feeling slighted, Xu Shilin didn't take it to heart. He replied with a few words and immediately turned his horse back to his own camp.
"General Feng! Go and meet this garrison commander."
Xu Shilin gave instructions to one of the generals beside him.
"Here you are."
The general surnamed Feng responded loudly, immediately spurring his warhorse out of the main formation and arriving opposite Yun Teng. He raised his long spear, pointed it at Yun Teng, and shouted, "You, the garrison commander! Do you dare to fight me, Feng Wu?!"
"Bah! Where did this nobody come from, daring to lay a hand on my general!"
"Let me have a go at you!"
"Come on then! I'm not afraid of you!"
The two immediately turned and fought each other.
One wielded a long spear, its movements creating a myriad of spear flowers; the other wielded a long spear, its swings gleaming with a chilling light.
"Jingle bells!"
The weapons clashed, producing a series of loud explosions.
They fought for more than ten rounds in the blink of an eye, with neither able to gain the upper hand. At that moment, both of them realized that the other was a formidable opponent.
The two exchanged a few more blows, then each turned their horses and retreated. After catching their breath, they fought again...
At this moment, another general rushed out of the Qin army camp and headed towards Yun Teng.
A deputy general also came out from behind Yun Teng and immediately began fighting with him.
Before the battle, the four men engaged in a fierce duel, fighting one after another like a revolving lantern, their shouts echoing as they each displayed their unique skills...
Seeing that the four of them seemed unable to determine a winner in a short time, Xu Shilin immediately sent two more subordinate generals to attack Yun Teng.
He was a marshal commanding hundreds of thousands of troops, while Yun Teng was merely a garrison commander at a pass, whose resources were nowhere near those of Yun Teng.
Seeing the two lieutenants charging towards him, Yun Teng had no other generals to fight them, so he had to take the lead himself.
He then took the spear from his saddle and thrust it out with lightning speed at each of the approaching men.
The two men quickly raised their weapons to parry, and as their horses shifted, the three of them engaged in combat.
Both of these lieutenants were skilled at capturing enemy generals and flags, and their combat skills were quite impressive. If they were to encounter an ordinary marshal or general, they could hold their own for a few rounds.
The opponent he was fighting was not only a general, but also a cultivator.
After the three exchanged only a dozen or so moves, Yun Teng suddenly took a palm-sized bell from his waist, shook it in his hand, and immediately released a thick cloud of black smoke, enveloping him and the two opposite him.
The black smoke made it impossible to see anything; it was pitch black. The two people, suddenly caught in it, couldn't help but panic...
Within a few breaths, two screams rang out in succession.
The two lieutenants had already been knocked off their horses by Yun Teng.
He shook the bell to dispel the black mist, not even glancing at the corpses that had fallen to the ground, and urged his warhorse to charge towards Xu Shilin, spear in hand.
"Xu Shilin! If you have the guts, then personally exchange a few blows with this general!"
Xu Shilin once learned the art of troop deployment from Wen Zhong on Jin'ao Island. He was not afraid of either side in battle, but when it came to actual combat with weapons, he really didn't have that skill.
Seeing that Yun Teng was also a cultivator, he naturally wouldn't confront him head-on with his sword. Instead, he raised his hand and scattered a handful of soybeans.
The soybeans fell to the ground, flashed with a clear light, and instantly transformed into tall, armored warriors.
"What a brilliant trick of turning beans into soldiers!"
Yun Teng sneered upon seeing this, finally realizing that Xu Shilin was actually one of his kind.
Facing the golden-armored warriors rushing towards him, Yun Teng shook his spear, unleashing thousands of pear blossoms, shattering the golden-armored warriors one by one.
The next instant, he pulled on the reins, and his warhorse leaped forward, galloping several meters away and closing in on Xu Shilin.
"Protect the commander!"
Xu Shilin's personal guards quickly stepped forward to block him.
"Those who block my way shall die!"
Yun Teng raised his spear and stabbed all the guards to death.
In the blink of an eye, only Xu Shilin was left to face Yun Teng alone.
Seeing this fierce-looking man, Xu Shilin felt a little panicked and involuntarily turned his horse and rode away.
"Don't run!"
Yun Teng spurred his horse and caught up, thrusting his spear toward Xu Shilin's back.
Xu Shilin sensed a fierce wind coming from behind him and quickly bent down and lay down on the horse's back.
The bullet naturally grazed his back.
Seeing that his spear had missed, Yun Teng didn't wait for his move to become sluggish. With a flick of his wrist, the spear paused for a moment before striking down fiercely.
With a bang, the gun struck Xu Shilin hard in the back.
"ah……"
Xu Shilin cried out in pain and tumbled off his horse.
Yun Teng spurred his horse forward and continued thrusting his spear.
Xu Shilin endured the pain and jumped to the side to avoid it.
Before Yun Teng could continue his pursuit, he bent down, grabbed a handful of yellow soil from the ground, tossed it into the wind, and instantly used earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of magic or technique) to escape into the distance.
"Where do you think you're going!"
Yun Teng shouted and leaped off his horse, unleashing a burst of light to give chase.
Xu Shilin fled forward for dozens of miles in one breath. Looking back, he saw Yun Teng still chasing closely behind him...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com