Hum… 

The second gleam of light brightened even more! The sneer on the leading rider’s face completely vanished at last, instead replaced with a wisp of terrible solemnity!

Powerful… Very powerful!

No… how could this be?!

If he was solemn on the battlefield, everyone’s valor and courage would be stifled to the lowest point! They would fall flat, dragged down from the peak by another legion! However… 

What was happening with the man before his eyes? 

Such strength… transcended the ordinary… 

This qi… was unceasingly rising! The Great Circle of Qi Condensation… Half-step Foundation Establishment! And it was still rising!

Foundation Establishment!!! 

This qi had surpassed an entire great realm! The divide between Foundation Establishment and Qi Condensation was as different as heaven and earth! A single strike, all that was needed was a single strike! One blow was enough to leaving them with grievances!

“KILL!!!” He snarled angrily, and a hundred silhouettes madly charged Xu Yangyi!

He couldn’t allow this man to use this qi! 

This idea surged in his mind. He couldn’t allow the opponent to act! His own death wasn’t the worst result… In a worst case scenario, the power of this move would be too great, wiping out the sealing formation they were armed with!

This formation only had one use, to mask spiritual sense within the surrounding thousand meters! It could block the penetration of a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s spiritual sense! This was considering that it was a supreme Qi Condensation formation!

If the formation detonated… all the clans would discover that not all of the Linghu Clan’s central forces were defending their stronghold. Their main fortress was empty! 

This

 was a catastrophic outcome!

“Drop… dead!!!” He wasn’t close enough… His gaze flashed, and he hefted up his longspear. A snow-white seal on it rumbled and leapt forth several meters! In the sky, the spear transformed into a blurring rainbow of red and white. The long tip filled the sky with red flames, pointing straight between Xu Yangyi’s brows!

A hint of bloodlust appeared on Xu Yangyi’s face. This move of his didn’t need too much time to amass power. The opponent… was in a state of panic.

Yes. Here, perhaps an individual's realm wasn’t the most important aspect. But in that case… why was it said that a battle could be dominated by transcending a great realm?

There was no other choice but to say that this ‘most important aspect of individual martial skill’ was still lacking in achieving such power!

“Pierce.” Following Xu Yangyi’s low roar, endless black qi swirled and rose into the sky! In the black mass, the phantasm of a man from ancient times appeared without warning. What came with the man’s emergence… was another qi, qi that could be said to be terrible! Enough to crush the qi of everyone on the battlefield!

The power of Foundation Establishment!

The Ketu-Rahu Sword fully erupted!

“This?!” In the air, the leading rider, who bounded up from his tiger’s back, snapped his eyes wide open! In front of him, darkness, even blacker, darker, deeper, and stronger than the Screaming Wind Legion, exploded!

In the darkness, there was a cold edge, an immortal flying beyond the heavens! With a speed he fundamentally couldn’t explain, imbued with an aura of unparalleled rage, the blade razed through the entire battlefield!

Crash… 

In this very instant, the sound of something breaking into pieces was heard from each of the riders, all at once. The leading rider’s mind became a blank expanse.

Broken… The seal had broken!

Just now, this Foundation Establishment spiritual pressure, their own spiritual pressure, and the aftershock on the battlefield had passed on, no longer with the slightest concealment!

The cold tip of a blade arrived first, and a spear departed afterwards like a dragon. This was how Zhao Yun’s spear arts were described. Here, no one could’ve expected that sword arts could be so sharp, either.

In the sky, a cold star flashed. Soon, pitch-black qi slashed forth pure-white sword qi!

RUMBLE!!!

 The earth boomed and quaked! In this rumble, frenzied qi rose up all around. In the first second, at least a dozen cavalrymen had been overtaken without the least bit care!

With greater shape came greater formlessness, with greater sound came greater depth. Between heaven and earth here, all that now existed was sword qi! No matter how it was dodged, all could only sense a sharp sword reach their body!

[1]

“Foundation Establishment… This is Foundation Establishment!!!” In his pure-white battle armor, the leading rider’s pupils scattered in terrible fright. Not to even mention that his body was in midair, he wouldn't even be able to dodge this move if he was on the ground! 

Oneself to battle through 3,000 li, one sword to match 10,000 masters!

[2]

A brief word to “pierce”, an instant of youthful splendor, the essence of Sword Dao reaching the Dao’s extremes!

Crack crack crack!

 Shattering noises came from his entire body. He knew, that was the crumbling sound of his protective artifacts, simply unable to bear this Foundation Establishment killing move. A moment later… he had no time for further thoughts as his body seemed to be pierced by a hundred swords, in an instant. He wailed miserably, blood spraying out from his mouth!

Rumble… 

Smoke and dust flew loosely, sword qi rising high to the firmament. Before the eyes of the third echelon, one sword had severed the black tide, cut forth in heaven’s moat between earth and sky. 

From behind, a rumbling explosion shook the sky. A fleeing cultivator was dazed, somewhat incredulous as he looked back. Over yonder was an unassuming cultivator with a long knife scar on his face. However… there were no less than ten massive gorges in front of him! They were around seven to eight meters wide! Twenty meters deep! A hundred meters in length!

The edges of these depressions were neat and tidy, as if they had been cut out by a sword! The entire battlefield resembled a place devastated by a demon!

Xu Yangyi firmly gritted his teeth. He couldn’t allow himself to collapse. He knew that he couldn’t fall over now! 

But now, his gaze slightly wavered, his eyes swaying. In a cracked-open sword scar, something blue seemed to flash. Its brightness was very dim. He almost believed himself to mistaken.

“My god…” In mid-escape, a rider’s legs came to an abrupt stop, and he tumbled onto the ground. His voice was quavering, not because he forgot himself, but rather that he had already lost control. Everything in front of him rocked him to his core!

Who was this? 

In shock, he looked at the cultivator before him. Late Qi Condensation… but who could fucking say that this was something a late Qi Condensation cultivator could do?! Presently, the most powerful known Qi Condensation divine ability could decimate an area of thirty meters. And yet… to carve out a gorge that was a hundred meters long and twenty to thirty meters deep was the work of only Foundation Establishment!

Nonetheless, the Xingtian Legion absolutely couldn’t use Foundation Establishment divine abilities. Once used, the other powers were bound to follow with their own attacks. Only skills within the Qi Condensation realm could be used. This was the greatest allowance that Ancestor Ancientpine had granted them. There was no way that Xu Yangyi’s forces could lose this crutch.

One person stopped, and so did a second. Those that were fleeing, the lucky twenty-three-man reserve of the central forces, had their courage destroyed. One after another, they all came to a halt.

In disbelief, they all looked at the gorge. Bodies lay strewn all about in the rift. The might of one sword had immediately wiped out over thirty of the Screaming Wind Legion! These thirty riders were at the forefront of the charge, but behind them… over twenty had been seriously wounded! Over a dozen had suffered light injuries! Under one sword, the Screaming Wind Legion had lost around seventy to eighty percent of their cavalry!

And facing these gorges were gigantic black tigers shivering on the ground. None dared to believe that several seconds prior, these behemoths had killed straight through three defensive lines! They had saw the Xingtian Legion as nothing!

The mounts of the Linghu Clan trembled with their riders saddled on top. Granted that the Screaming Wind Legion adhered to strict military discipline—having become famous for their decisive attacks—if their masks were now lifted, one would also be able to see their dumbstruck faces.

This was Qi Condensation?!

Was this a joke?!

Deathly silence reigned. A stillness akin to death.

After an unknown passage of time, the old man leading the echelons said shakily, “This… This is the power of Foundation Establishment!”

“Foundation Establishment… This is definitely Foundation Establishment might!”

“Heavens… T-This is too… unbelievable!” 

“Is there really someone who can power through an assault of freaks like that?!”

Discussion emerged all around. A rider quickly ran his eyes through the battlefield. To his shock, he discovered that his captain was no longer in sight!

Dead?

 He dared not imagine such a possibility, but he immediately shouted, “Retreat!!!”

Against Qi Condensation, they hung their enemies, but faced with those who transcended Qi Condensation… Such cultivators were all masters who could withstand a hundred opponents! Upon reaching this stage, individual martial skill could already dominate the microcosm of war!

A continued battle… This wasn’t a battle of fear or no fear, this was a death without the slightest meaning!

Thrum… 

The low sound of two bugle horns suddenly rang out.

Chu Zhaonan and Fang Cheng snapped their heads up and looked behind. There, Jun Man was holding an immense horn that was a full two meters long, blowing it loudly! Two great banners rippled in the wind as they were hoisted up in the next second! At the left was a dragon! To the right was the symbol of Xingtian!

This was the Hidden Dragon Legion and the Xingtian Legion! Those just scattered in the Screaming Wind Legion’s charge just now was the Xingtian Legion’s assisting forces!

“I command you…” The old man inhaled deeply and looked down at the blood and ruined limbs that matted the ground. His heart ached in terrible pain, but searing fire burned him from head to toe at this moment! 

“KILL!!!”

His clansmen had died here. They were going to take their share of lives in reimbursement!

“Hidden Dragon…” Chu Zhaonan’s face was heavy like water, both of his guns emitting spirit light. He roared furiously, “Follow me!!!”

“In the darkness of the forest, the wind rustles the grass… the general draws his bow at night…” He leaped into the air with a swoosh, and both of his guns exploded with two massive flares of light. Afterwards, two massive arrows appeared at the muzzles of his guns.

Luo Sanfeng took the lead. His arcane effort was rather strange; unexpectedly, humans could force demonization! He was a full three meters tall, the upper half of his body like a giant bear. Ash-colored talismans ran up and down his entire body, but the area below his hands to his claws were covered in red and black blood-marks. The slam of his giant black palms and red nails accompanied his thunderous snarl as he fought against a huge tiger!

The glumness within his heart had finally gained full release!

They hadn’t even really known who this assisting force was beforehand, but… compared to their Hidden Dragon Legion, he couldn’t say that they would’ve done any better. However, they absolutely wouldn’t have fled as battle approached!

Fleeing before the fight started against cavalry was a death wish. Only in an all-out struggle to the death could victory be obtained. Luo Sanfeng had watched the assisting force’s clan elder mercilessly kill his own men, but it was ultimately all for nought. 

More worryingly was Xu Yangyi… The paragon that he’d once had faith in actually didn’t allow their two wings to counter! The two arms could only look on with bloodshot eyes as the central forces were toppled in one strike! He was already burning with worry, yet he still saw one man standing among the scattered center-echelon.

He knew who that person was, but it was merely the start of a guess. And yet he simply hadn’t guessed that this sword would put an immediate stop to the invincible and seemingly impenetrable Screaming Wind Legion!

Too strong… In his heart, he was shaking. The valor of their former paragon had actually reached such heights!

But now was their time to let loose! The calvary’s charge had been blocked, the Linghu Clan’s casualties more than half. However, their own two crescents were outflanking! The situation had already reversed!

“Hundred Shadows Heavenly Punishment!” On the other side, Fang Cheng’s eyes had already reddened, and the demon blood within him was boiling. Inwardly shocked, he glanced at Xu Yangyi. This was his junior brother?

A sword, one sword was all that was barely required, truly like in a novel where Zhang Fei broke Dangyang Bridge as he drank! The place where the third echelon had resisted the Screaming Wind Legion’s arrow to the death!

Swoosh swoosh swoosh… 

In the air, weapons formed out of shadows sprang into view. All of them were aimed below at the riders!

The counterattack… had officially commenced!

1. “With greater shape came greater formlessness, with greater sound came greater depth.” Passage from the 

Dao De Jing

, not sure if this is the best translation, but I feel it is close to the original intent.

2. Poem from Tang Poet Wang Wei (701-761 CE).

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