Chapter 745: The "Hero" is No Longer Free (Part 2) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]
We...we just lost like that?
The defeat in the first battle dampened the morale of the Allied forces.
Seeing Zheng Qiao bring in a new player for the second match, a familiar sense of defeat inevitably arose in his heart. Based on past performances, what was the point of continuing the fight? If he couldn't win the next two matches, he might as well just flip the table and start fighting now.
There's a big difference between losing only one game and losing three.
Even if they manage to win one game in the middle, it will still be two to one.
But no one dared to speak their mind.
"Who should we send to fight in this second match?"
Whispers rippled through the allied forces. They exchanged glances, their gazes finally settling on Kang Shi and Gu Ren. Gu Ren's face darkened slightly, and Chao Lian, standing behind him, shifted slightly to the side, using his body to shield Shao Chong.
Kang Shi reacted more directly, taking a half step back! He didn't avoid the gaze of his allies, but just smiled and said, "Why are you all looking at me like that? My lord Shen Tang is not here right now, and Wei Yuanyuan has also been taken away by her. If another person were to enter the arena to fight, and something were to happen to him, we would even be short of a commander. My humble family is not as well-off and well-established as yours, so please forgive me."
Among the allied forces, the most famous were the fifteenth-rank junior officers, the junior officers of Gu Ren's side, Shen Tang, Wei Shou, and Chu Jie.
Chu Jie's heroic performance at the Battle of Chaoli Pass, where he appeared out of nowhere and slew the enemy general Qi Cang, made a strong impression. However, no matter how impressive his performance, Kang Shi had no intention of letting him be eliminated. For the Allied Forces to try and hide their strengths at this critical juncture, pushing others out as cannon fodder, was going too far!
Upon hearing this, who couldn't hear the dissatisfaction in Kang Shi's words?
Everyone else was thick-skinned and didn't notice anything amiss, but Qian Yong laughed out loud, completely disregarding their feelings. Or was he just too thin-skinned? Even as an outsider, he felt embarrassed for these people, yet these hypocrites and scoundrels could act as if nothing had happened?
Qian Yong's tone seemed to carry a hint of schadenfreude.
"Luckily, the man surnamed Chen isn't here, otherwise there would be quite a show to watch."
Shen Tang once committed the audacious act of publicly beating up an ally.
"This humble general is willing to go!"
Finally, one of Huang Lie's generals stepped forward, easing the awkwardness. Huang Lie relaxed considerably upon seeing him. This general appeared to be around forty years old, and his physique was not as robust and muscular as that of a typical martial artist; he was rather lean. Most importantly, his accent was striking. Despite being a rugged-looking man, his accent carried a soft, melodious Wu dialect tone.
Huang Lie said, "In that case, I wish you great success in your military endeavors."
The general clasped his hands in acceptance of the order, then turned and flew towards the ice.
"Another 15th-rank Junior Master! Could it be that the old man has been stuck in this harsh place of Yonggu Pass for too long and can't keep up?" General Jiang stroked his beard, grinned, and clicked his tongue. "Logically speaking, someone with this level of strength shouldn't be without a reputation. How did Huang Lie manage to recruit him?"
Chu Jie said, "His accent."
You can tell from their accent that they're not from the Northwest region.
At this moment, Lü Jue also joined the conversation.
"This humble general does know a little. I heard that a few years ago, he was so powerful in the south that he became ambitious and wanted to go it alone. Who knew that he was careless and the news got out, resulting in his whole family being either killed or exiled. He himself almost lost his life and escaped his homeland with the help of his retainers and followers. After that, he somehow met Alliance Leader Huang, who was kind to him."
General Jiang asked in surprise, "How did you know?"
Lü Jue said, "Of course I heard it from someone else."
Military life is monotonous and tedious, and even low-ranking soldiers need activities to pass the time. Unable to go out and seek pleasure, gossip and idle chatter become the obvious choice. Even someone like Lü Jue, who focused solely on cultivation and training, was forced to overhear a few snippets. Ordinary soldiers also have a natural fascination with the strong, making them frequent subjects of gossip.
Shen Tang was strict in his military discipline, allowing soldiers recreational activities such as listening to storytelling and learning to read, but forbidding them from discussing high-ranking generals, let alone leaking their information to third parties. Other forces were not so strict, and their military discipline could even be described as lax.
When Lü Jue got bored, he also went to inquire about the news.
He wasn't being nosy; he just wanted to learn more about strong people.
During their brief chat, the second duel began, and the clash of two bursts of martial energy attracted General Jiang's attention. He stopped chatting, turned his attention to the battlefield, and after watching for a while, said, "This round is in the bag."
Lü Jue said, "Are we going to lose again?"
General Jiang chuckled and said, "No, we must win."
Lu Jue watched the two beams of light locked in fierce combat. Their powerful collisions caused large craters to erupt on the ice surface from time to time, sending ice shards flying everywhere, which from a distance looked like white dust. He sighed with slight annoyance, realizing he couldn't figure out the trick at all.
The two are clearly about the same level.
General Jiang noticed Lü Jue's frustration.
He chuckled and said, "You want to know why?"
Lü Jue asked, "I want to know."
General Jiang said, "I guessed."
Lü Jue: "..."
That's why they say old ginger is spicier.
General Jiang made this judgment not based on the strength of the two players, but because he firmly believed that Huang Lie would not allow the allied forces to lose the second match. If they lost the second match, Zheng Qiao's side would send out that sixteenth-rank Grand Master, resulting in the allied forces losing all three matches.
With morale so low, what's the point of fighting?
The second duel lasted almost a quarter of an hour longer than the first, and the two fighters were indeed very evenly matched, neck and neck. Zheng Qiao propped his cheek with the back of his hand, finding it boring, and yawned, saying, "This is really dull..."
boom--
In a direct confrontation, Zheng Qiao's side was indeed no match.
Half of his foot was severed.
"Give me your life—"
To take advantage of someone's illness and kill them.
By unleashing their full power while the opponent is injured, they can kill them and recover from the morale blow caused by the first defeat. At the same time, they can intimidate the other allies in the coalition and incidentally give Wu Xian a hard time.
Would the enemy general simply surrender and offer his neck for execution?
Despite his survival instinct kicking in to the extreme and pushing his speed to its maximum, he was still a little too slow.
boom--
A blade of light, more dazzling than the blazing sun, pierced through the rain curtain, tearing away the gloom, a fleeting moment that vanished in an instant.
puff!
Something fell to the ground.
The defeated general was extremely fast. Just when he thought he had escaped and saved his life, he realized that the surrounding altitude was wrong.
He turned his head in confusion, and the protruding intestines and gushing blood formed a horrifying picture, assaulting his pupils and contorting his expression with pain. His gaze swept back to the direction he had come from, and he vaguely saw a large pool of blood where he had stood…
His lower body remained on the ice.
The upper body escaped back.
This horrifying discovery turned his face deathly pale.
The uneven ice surface gradually healed under the influence of the magical energy. The allied forces were silent for a moment, then erupted in a thunderous roar of cheers, the sound of war drums completely drowning out the sound from the opposite bank. Zheng Qiao's eyes brightened slightly, as if in surprise: "This is interesting."
He doesn't care about winning or losing at all.
Zheng Qiao only cared about whether she enjoyed watching it.
Currently, they have one win, one loss, and a draw.
Qi Cang, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them and calmly got up to walk towards the riverbank, step by step, just like an ordinary person.
The colleague, whose body was now only half-dead, paused slightly in his steps.
Qi Cang lowered his eyes slightly, his gaze indifferent.
"Help, help me—"
The pain contorted the general's features.
He stretched out his hands, gripping Qi Cang's war boots tightly, his fingers sinking into the cold rivets. Driven by his will to live, he pleaded, "General Qi, please save me! I don't want to die!"
"This humble general does not wish to die—"
"Help me! Help me! Help me—"
The last word didn't get a chance to be uttered; instead, a dull shattering sound followed. Qi Cang looked at the exploded blood mass and distorted face beneath his feet, then kicked the crushed brain aside. The movement was natural and fluid, as if he hadn't crushed his colleague's skull or kicked away half of his body, but rather a piece of trash blocking his path.
Qi Cang said indifferently, "Incompetent thing."
This bizarre scene left the people on the other side completely dumbfounded.
General Jiang was so shocked that he plucked a tuft of his beard, unable to utter a word for a long time. Some people rubbed their eyes, afraid that they were seeing things. However, no matter how much they rubbed their eyes, the scene before them remained unchanged.
The loser in the second round had his brain crushed by his colleagues.
This...this is a fifteenth-rank superior craftsmanship!
How could they be treated like this after their defeat?
As the initial shock subsided, a chill ran through me.
No matter how ruthless they are, they wouldn't do something like this on the battlefield.
Tap, tap, tap...
Accompanied by rhythmic footsteps, Qi Cang stopped on the river and glanced at Huang Liewu, who was still on the river.
He frowned, raised his hand, and slapped his fan.
Then, a scene unfolded that no one could have predicted.
A gigantic, dozens-of-meters-long phantom hand appeared out of thin air, swatting away the generals on the field as if swatting flies. The latter stood there dumbfounded, neither dodging nor avoiding the blow, taking it head-on. The speed was so fast that even their armor was heated by the friction.
It finally landed on the opposite bank, creating a crater half a meter deep.
Qi Cang said, "You nobody here, get out!"
This maneuver left the Allied forces speechless.
Qi Cang sneered: "Come and die, whoever it is."
His patience is running out.
He raised his hand and conjured a long sword that was entirely black. The tip of the sword fell to the ground. He placed his hands on the hilt of the sword, his eyes flashing with a sharp light as he swept over the Allied Army. He paused slightly at a certain spot.
Wow, what an unexpected discovery.
It seems this battle isn't too boring.
"The tenth and sixteenth grades of the highest level of craftsmanship—"
Before the Allied forces could even savor their triumph, Qi Cang's maneuver plunged them into despair. Having previously witnessed Jiang Ao's power, they assumed that a sixteenth-rank Grandmaster was nothing special. Strong, as they were, they thought, not invincible.
General Jiang muttered under his breath, "That General Wei is quite honest; Jiang Qianshen really got in through connections!"
Who would have thought that even though they were both at the sixteenth-rank Grand Master level, the difference between them would be so huge! Jiang Ao is committing fraud!
"No wonder Shen Jun cut off his head."
The others were also inwardly complaining about Jiang Ao's misdeeds. But then they thought that this big liar was dead, and their anger subsided a little.
The faces of the crowd were even more bitter than bitter herbs.
"Alliance Leader Huang, what should we do now..."
"...Who should we send to fight?"
"That's a sixteenth-rank Grand Master craftsman! What difference does it make who we send to fight? Alas, the tyrant Zheng Qiao holds the resources of both Geng and Xin kingdoms in his hands. We truly underestimated him..."
"Are we going to surrender without a fight in the third round?"
It's one thing to fight and lose, but it's another to admit defeat before even fighting. The latter would be a huge blow to the morale of the Allied forces.
One person asked, "What good ideas do you have?"
Judging from Qi Cang's brief display of skill just now, if the player who went up wasn't a peak-level fifteenth-rank youth, they probably wouldn't even have time to escape. Or are they just going to throw the third round, sending anyone up to their death? The question is, who would be willing to go up and die?
Everyone chimed in with their own opinions.
Huang Lie clenched his fist tightly as he hung down.
Wu Xian also sighed and closed his eyes.
He didn't want to send his precious subordinate to his death for nothing.
The black-clad warrior beside Huang Lie stepped forward and volunteered for the challenge: "My lord, why don't you let me give this one a try?"
Huang Lie looked at the black-clad warrior, undecided.
All eyes were focused on this unassuming martial artist. They had no recollection of him, only that he always followed behind Huang Lie. He exuded no martial energy and appeared at first glance to be an ordinary man.
Wu Xian suddenly opened his eyes and saw that the person who stepped forward to volunteer for battle was a martial artist in black robes. His tense nerves relaxed slightly.
He had been wary of this person for a long time but had been unable to find out his background. He decided to take this opportunity to see what this person was capable of.
Gu Ren and Wu Xian had similar ideas.
They all agreed that this person was very likely Huang Lie's trump card, one he had been hiding, perhaps even more important than the heavy shield warriors under Huang Lie's command. Not everyone shared their insight. Seeing that it was one of Huang Lie's personal guards stepping forward, one oblivious person spoke up: "Although he is Huang Lie's personal guard, a duel is no child's play. This match is crucial to the morale of the allied forces..."
The black-clad warrior ignored the sarcastic person.
He remained in a posture of volunteering for battle.
Huang Lie was now in a precarious position, and the allied forces were unable to send any more men, so they had no choice but to agree to the request of the black-clad warriors.
Unexpectedly, Qi Cang suddenly went mad and started laughing uncontrollably.
The sound waves of laughter rippled outwards, sweeping across the Allied forces' riverbank. Soldiers who heard it covered their ears in pain.
"Blood! It's blood!"
The soldiers at the front found their palms warm and sticky.
Upon closer inspection, the first thing that catches the eye is a glaring crimson.
The situation improved somewhat as the soldiers took up defensive positions.
Qi Cang said, "You've come at the perfect time!"
At this moment, the black-clad warrior seemed to sense something as well. His gaze fell in a certain direction, and his pupils suddenly contracted as if he had noticed something.
Huang Lie asked him softly, "What happened?"
The black-clad warrior said, "Someone's here."
Just as Huang Lie was about to ask who had arrived, he saw a dark green ball of light streak across the sky with a tail, heading straight for them!
Before he could figure out what was going on, Qi Cang took to the air and disappeared.
He roared, "You're asking for death!"
He unleashed a punch that sent a burst of martial energy flying, hurtling towards the approaching figure.
Boom boom boom—
The two forces collided head-on in mid-air, the resulting shockwave cutting off the surrounding rain and creating a vacuum. A hurricane descended from above, surging towards the troops on both banks. Fortunately, both sides were prepared, immediately erecting various defensive barriers.
In this way, a complete disaster was avoided.
As the light faded, a figure could be vaguely seen standing in mid-air.
Kang Shi blinked, feeling inexplicably familiar with this person.
Tu Rong was stunned for a moment, then shouted.
"Gongxi Chou!"
The newcomer stood with his hands on his hips, looking down at the newcomer.
"Your whole family is asking for death!"
ヽ(ー_ー)ノ
(End of this chapter)
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