Chu Li waved a hand and then spurred his horse out of the forest. He rode along a narrow path at the bottom of the hill to bypa.s.s it and came out onto open gra.s.sland.

As they continued to spur their horses forward, they soon arrived at the bottom of the next hill.

Chu Li waved his hand as a signal for them to dismount and tie their horses to the trees around them. Then, they carried their equipment with them and followed Chu Li as he walked up the hill.

While they could not use their inner energy, they were martial artists after all, so they were physically stronger than ordinary people. Moreover, since they had been practicing walking on wooden poles more frequently over the past few days, they had become much lighter on their feet and were able to effortlessly travel through this narrow and winding path.

Before long, they were already halfway up the hill. Then, Chu Li lowered his voice and said, "They're on the other side of this hill. When I give you the signal, get into formation and sprint toward them! Shoot your arrows for our first round of attack. Then, put away your arrows and don't use your s.h.i.+elds. Just tie your s.h.i.+elds onto your back and use your blades!"

The rest of them nodded vigorously.

Chu Li quickened his pace as he moved forward.

The general of Flying Cloud Cavalry, Zhu Wuji, was surrounded and protected by a hundred-man troop as he sat on his horse. The soldiers around him vigilantly observed their surroundings.

Zhu Wuji pointed his horsewhip at the distant battlefield and laughed heartily. "Haha, so this is the famous Soaring Eagle Cavalry? Haha, they're a useless mess!" 

He had a thin physique and a jutting chin, which gave him a rather weak and incompetent appearance. Nonetheless, his voice was extraordinarily loud and clear, and the sound of his laughter echoed into the distance like a ringing bell. 

Beside Zhu Wuji, a scrawny-looking middle-aged man was stroking his beard and smiling faintly as he sat on his horse and said, "They've been modeling their cavalry after ours, but unfortunately, they don't have enough battle experience, so their surprise attack has failed this time. Nonetheless, they nearly succeeded! What a pity! What a pity!"

"Elder Jing, whose side are you on?" Zhu Wuji burst into laughter. "If anyone else hears what you just said, you might be accused of colluding with the enemy!"

The scrawny man continued to stroke his beard while chuckling. "I just find it a pity that they did not plan this thoroughly. I feel quite sorry for them. It pains me to watch this!"

As the war-horses carried on neighing and running around in circles while more than two thousand soldiers kept shouting and screaming, a thick cloud of yellow dust hung over the battlefield and made this scene seem even more terrifying and miserable. Fallen riders were continuously being trampled underfoot by the galloping horses, and although their armors had kept their vital organs well-protected, most of them were suffering from broken bones and fractured limbs. 

"Even if we give them the opportunity to do it, they won't be able to seize the opportunity!" Zhu Wuji muttered and curled his lip in disdain. "They're a useless bunch. Their fame and reputation are unfounded!"

"General, it seems like one of their teams is missing." The scrawny-looking man had been silently observing the battle for quite a while. Then, after making some calculations with his fingers, he frowned and said, "Why don't I see their Sharp Vigor Battalion? That team often appears in an ambush. We have to guard ourselves against them!" 

"Haha, we've already killed most of their people from the Sharp Vigor Battalion," Zhu Wuji replied with a scornful laugh. "They're left with only a few weak soldiers. There's no need to worry about them!"

"It's better to be safe than sorry," the scrawny middle-aged man said. "This Yang Ping guy has managed to attain a high position at such a young age. We shouldn't underestimate him."

"Don't you know what kind of a useless person this Yang Ping is?" Zhu Wuji curled his lip into a sneer and muttered, "He's an idiot. He has managed to attain such a high position only because his elder sister has become a concubine!"

"He's still pretty capable," the scrawny man replied with a chuckle.

"Don't tell me you're afraid that the Sharp Vigor Battalion will come and try to a.s.sa.s.sinate me? Haha!"

The scrawny middle-aged man turned his head to look around while frowning and said, "We can't rule out that possibility! … We only have one hundred protectors with us. If more than a hundred soldiers from the Sharp Vigor Battalion show up here, I'm afraid…"

"With this military flag here, all martial arts masters will be no different than ordinary people no matter how powerful they are. How will they be able to withstand being attacked by these one hundred protectors of mine?" Zhu Wuji replied and laughed heartily as he shook his head. "Elder Jing, you're being overly cautious and paranoid. Perhaps that Yang Ping guy has done this on purpose!"

The scrawny man shook his head. "Young Zheng, Young Meng, go to the top of the hill and be on the alert. Don't overlook the slightest movement in your surroundings!" 

"Understood!" Two burly protectors gave a fist salute and leaped off their horses before striding away toward the top of the hill.

The two men reached the hilltop very soon and climbed up onto a huge boulder to study the view below them. 

Chu Li and the others appeared in their field of vision, but they paid no attention to them at first and mistook these men as their own people because Chu Li and his men had been wearing the same armor as them.

After a while, it occurred to them that their people should not be coming over here at this time, so they stared straight at Chu Li and his men and shouted, "Who are you!"

This momentary delay was precisely what Chu Li had been aiming for with his plan of changing their armors. Initially, they had been two meters away from Zhu Wuji and his men. However, because of this momentary delay, they had managed to reduce the distance between them to a hundred meters. 

"There really are a.s.sa.s.sins?" Zhu Wuji broke into laughter. "Elder Jing, you were right after all!"

The scrawny middle-aged man frowned and said, "General, let's evacuate!"

"How many of them are there?" Zhu Wuji shouted.

His voice rang like a bell and immediately echoed to the top of the hill.

"Twenty-three of them!"

"Haha, they've sent only twenty-three men to a.s.sa.s.sinate me. These people are really seeking their death!" Zhu Wuji laughed heartily. "Kill every single one of them! Elder Jing, I'll leave this to you!"

"Understood!" The scrawny-looking man did not agree with this decision, but since the general had given him an order, he had to obey it. Thus, he gave a fist salute, leaped off his horse, and brought fifty riders with him as he charged away.

Chu Li moved at the head of his group with Xu Cihang and Fan Yang on either side of him, and the three of them drew their blades at the same time. Before the scrawny middle-aged man and his people appeared, Chu Li had already shouted, "Shoot your arrows!"

His inner energy had been suppressed, so he was unable to use it. However, since his Omniscient Mirror and Nature Restoration Manifestation remained unaffected, he could clearly observe every movement of Zhu Wuji and the scrawny middle-aged man as well as their thoughts.

He was happy to know that he could use Zhu Wuji's arrogance and carelessness to his advantage, but it would not be easy to deal with this scrawny man's cautious mind, so he thought that it would be best to kill this man first.

Nonetheless, since Zhu Wuji was a headstrong and self-opinionated man who disliked listening to the advice of others, he might not necessarily listen to this scrawny man's suggestions.

Although they did not notice anyone in front of them when they heard Chu Li's command, the men took out their bows and shot their arrows without the slightest hesitation.

Their arrows showered down like rain, and just as the arrows were about to hit the ground, the scrawny-looking man emerged from behind a huge boulder with his hors.e.m.e.n and charged right into this rain of arrows.

"Ding, ding, ding…" They hurriedly waved their scimitars around to block the attack and slowed down for a moment.

This moment of delay gave Chu Li and his men the chance to draw their blades and charge toward their opponents.

"Ding, ding, ding, ding…" Chu Li waved his blade around at lightning speed at the front of the group while Xu Cihang and Fan Yang protected him from both sides. Together, the three of them forced themselves into the fifty-man troop like a triangular wedge.

Chu Li's body was tough and fit, so he was perfectly capable of fighting with a Grandmaster by relying only on his physical capabilities without using his inner energy. Moreover, these were just ordinary riders. Therefore, none of them could ward off his blade.

With the three of them charging at the head of the team, the remaining twenty men became filled with courage and determination and moved forward according to their formation like a chainsaw rotating at high speed. Wherever they pa.s.sed, scimitars would be sent flying away, and all the riders in their path would be covered in injuries.

In the blink of an eye, they had chiseled their way through the group of fifty men, who were all left severely wounded on the ground, and had proceeded to charge toward Zhu Wuji and the rest of his men without any hesitation.

When the scrawny middle-aged man saw that the situation was taking a bad turn, he rushed to the hilltop and shot a signal into the sky. 

"Boom…" A thunderous explosion resounded from the sky.

The Flying Cloud Cavalry riders who had been fighting fiercely amid the thick cloud of yellow dust began to retreat. Five teams of a hundred men rushed toward where their general, Zhu Wuji, was while the other five teams stayed behind to bring up the rear and stop the Soaring Eagle Cavalry riders from advancing further. Although they had lost their advantage, they still managed to keep their opponents at bay.

"What happened?" Yang Ping looked into the distance and frowned when he noticed a group of people charging toward Zhu Wuji at the side of the distant hill. 

Since Chu Li and his men were clad in Flying Cloud Cavalry's armor and were wearing helmets, which hid their faces from view, none of Yang Ping's men managed to recognize that those were Chu Li and his men.

"General, could it be that they're having some internal conflict?" Jiang Jinfu asked with delight. "Even Heaven is helping Soaring Eagle Cavalry!"

"Hmm, that's very likely!" Yang Ping slowly nodded. "Convey my orders. Keep pursuing and attacking Flying Cloud Cavalry with all our might. We have to reach their general's flag no matter what it takes!"

"Understood!" Jiang Jinfu replied and then started hitting the big drum behind them.