Chapter 123: Thunder Strike Nine Heavens

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“Clang” “Clang” “Clang”~

A series of metal clashing sounds exploded instantly one after another like firecrackers.

The violent recoil force caused Lei Qing’s tiger mouth to crack, staining the spear shaft red with fresh blood. The violent power surged into his arm along the spear shaft, shaking half of his body with soreness and severe pain, and his internal organs were also damaged under the shaking force.

Especially at Lei Qing’s left shoulder, the rhinoceros hide soft armor was split open, leaving a knife wound half a foot long and deep enough to see the bone. Fortunately, just as the blood spurted out wildly, he sealed it with Fighting Qi.

At the same time, their warhorses also seemed unable to withstand the force, retreating a few feet each with unsteady steps, their four hooves trembling.

Looking at Helian Bo, he was equally miserable, with a trace of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, and his abdomen stabbed by a spear, injuring his intestines and stomach. But his eyes were filled with hatred and anger.

“Good, good, satisfying, thrilling.”

Lei Qing’s expression showed extreme delight, revealing his warlike nature. He drove his horse forward again, swung the Silver Snake and danced it over his head. The silver long spear waved a fan-shaped brilliance, with thunder rumbling, unstoppable.

An inch longer, an inch stronger; Helian Bo’s four-foot curved saber was at a slight disadvantage in mounted combat. But he hated Lei Qing extremely for daring to insult his most respected teacher’s wife, so he likewise did not dodge or evade, chopping out a saber strike into the air.

The saber force was like a rainbow, naturally a move called Power Splitting Heaven and Earth. When it cut through the air, a sharp whistling sound arose, like the north wind howling, and like countless wronged souls wailing. But this move of his also contained some stance of great skill appearing clumsy.

Clang~

As the two sides exchanged blows again, their injuries were shaken and worsened, and both spat out a mouthful of blood. Each riding a horse, they began to entangle and fight at close range, going back and forth.

At this moment, there was no justice or morality, no honor or shame. What the two thought of was only to slay the other beneath their horses.

Not far away, the battlefield was heating up. The Horse Bandits had already suffered heavy casualties and were completely defeated. But the nightmare was not over yet. The Iron Cavalry surged into the Canyon like a tide.

Under the cold and hard iron armor, eyes were sharp and filled with cruel light. They mercilessly drove the iron cavalry to charge and kill, thrusting their long spears fiercely into the chests of the Horse Bandits, or swinging their war sabers, relying on the momentum of the horses to cut people in two.

Those in full iron armor had extremely strong defense. The curved sabers waved by the Horse Bandits in haste lacked strength and could only leave blade marks on the armor.

With the addition of the Iron Cavalry, the situation, which was already nearly one-sided, instantly saw the Horse Bandits collapse like rotten wood. People kept rushing towards the place where Lei Qing and Helian Bo were fighting. In a short while, more than ten people had gathered there. Their warhorses were gone, and they relied only on their legs to sprint and escape.

The Horse Bandits who could survive until the end were more or less quite capable, either Black Iron-rank or Bronze-rank. These people banded together to escape, and for a time, few could stop them.

Just as the two Silver-rank powerhouses were fighting fiercely, they were disrupted by the rush of these people. Helian Bo was the first to lose the will to continue fighting. After using another move, Wild Sand Ten Thousand Miles, to force Lei Qing back, he joined the fleeing army.

Lei Qing’s spear moves pointed continuously, and in an instant, he stabbed two Black Iron-rank Horse Bandits to death. How could he be willing to let the tiger return to the mountain? He immediately infused Heavenly Thunder Fighting Qi into Wuzhui’s body. Stimulated by the Fighting Qi, Wuzhui instantly went berserk. Its eyes turned red, and snorting loudly, it was like a Demonic Beast, charging recklessly. It knocked over the Horse Bandits and chased straight after Helian Bo. Lei Qing tightly grasped the spear shaft and, driven by Fighting Qi, thrust it out fiercely.

The spear tip was like a sharp shooting star, drawing a bright straight line, striking straight at his back. Sensing this, Helian Bo roared with a mix of grief and anger: “Lei Qing, you bully me too much.”

After swinging his saber backhand to deflect Lei Qing’s certain-kill strike, he leaped high from his horse like a large eagle, his cape fluttering in the wind. Holding the curved saber with both hands, borrowing the momentum from his high position, he chopped down heavily.

The air whistled sharply, as if stirred into waves and ripples. In an instant, the wind raged, and the air formed a powerful vortex.

Lei Qing’s gaze became extremely grave. Helian Bo, fighting with his life, had squeezed out all his strength. This move, Wind Rolling Remnant Clouds, the famous ultimate technique of the Prairie Sacred Eagle, when performed in his hands, though still not skilled enough, was far inferior to the Prairie Sacred Eagle Murong Tiance, but its power was extraordinary.

Lei Qing could even feel that this move contained all his emotions: anger, shame, sorrow, hatred, and madness.

If someone with a slightly unstable mind faced this all-out, life-risking blow from Helian Bo, even if their spirit wasn’t seized, they would have thought of retreating.

But Lei Qing’s eyes surged with extremely firm determination. He held his long spear across his chest with both hands, stepped hard on the stirrups, and his body rose up like a spring from dry land.

The long spear in his hand thrust upward forcefully. The spear tip trembled in an incredible way, emitting strands of sizzling lightning. It was like a thunderbolt, a flash of lightning, spiraling as it went to meet the attack.

“Thunder Strike Nine Heavens!”

Lei Qing had never used this move in actual combat before. Because he was not skilled in this move, the massive consumption of Fighting Qi also made it difficult for him to truly wield its power. Rather than bringing it out half-baked to make a fool of himself and expose flaws, it was better to hide his clumsiness.

But with his Fighting Qi cultivation becoming deeper and deeper, and now, after the tempering of a fierce battle with Helian Bo. Lei Qing gradually understood in his heart, as if naturally, under this stimulation, he performed this move he had practiced no less than a thousand times but still had not truly mastered.

Around Lei Qing, Thunder Element Fighting Qi filled the air, crackling and popping. His whole person was like a shooting star, a bolt of lightning. As his figure constantly rose amidst a brilliance, the Silver Snake looked like a Flood Dragon coming out of the water.

Both of them executed an ultimate technique, moves neither had fully mastered, full of flaws and very reluctant, but the power was shockingly great.

Boom~

Two beams of brilliance collided fiercely. Instantly, the two in mid-air flew backward, flying six or seven feet diagonally before slamming into the ground. After Lei Qing was helped up by two shocked new soldiers, he sprayed out a mouthful of accumulated blood from his heart.

The high-quality rhinoceros hide soft armor looked as if it had been cut by countless blades, covered in scratches. Wind Rolling Remnant Clouds, worthy of being the famous ultimate technique of the Holy Rank powerhouse Murong Tiance, was extremely powerful. It could actually use Fighting Qi to drive the air, forming countless invisible and intangible sharp blades.

Even Lei Qing’s face had blood scratches; fortunately, the Fighting Qi condensed into Gang Qi to protect his body, so the cuts were not deep. Alternatively, Helian Bo’s cultivation of this move was not refined, and he did not unleash its true power.

Lei Qing was in a sorry state, but Helian Bo did not feel good either. He was shaken away by Lei Qing’s unprecedented Thunder Strike Nine Heavens. Several ribs on his chest were broken, and his face was covered with dark scorch marks from the violent thunder strike.

However, Helian Bo was an extremely fierce person with a very strong will to survive. His back hit the cliff, and while spraying blood from his mouth, he was actually able to grab the cliff wall with his backhand, took out a Wind Element Crystal Core, and directly stuffed it into his mouth and swallowed it. Suppressing his injuries, relying on the power of the Crystal Core, he kept climbing up. With every leap, he could climb several feet, and in seven or eight breaths, he disappeared at the top of the cliff.

That Helian Bo had such amazing skills was also beyond Lei Qing’s expectations. The strong ones of the world ultimately could not be underestimated. That Helian Bo could survive until now in such a difficult environment was indeed not an existence that could be easily taken out. And this battle between Lei Qing and him, though not the most difficult battle of his life, was definitely one of the highest standard and most thrilling.

In this battle, Lei Qing also benefited greatly, finally unleashing the move Thunder Strike Nine Heavens under great pressure and stimulation. Before, due to insufficient Fighting Qi cultivation and experience, even if Lei Qing practiced this move, he only got the form but not the essence. It was an empty stance, and unleashing it had no power.

But now, it was different. Lei Qing was confident that in a very short time, he could barely master this move and truly use it in his battles as a killer move. The only slight regret was that this move consumed too much Fighting Qi. At this time, in Lei Qing’s meridians and Qi Sea, Fighting Qi was almost exhausted, and his limbs were weak and empty.

Except for Helian Bo who escaped with heavy injuries, the other Horse Bandits were not so lucky. They were either injured or killed, or dropped their weapons and surrendered.

In this battle, Lei Qing’s troops eventually killed more than 150 Horse Bandits, with dozens injured and dozens surrendered. For those injured, if the injury was severe, they were too lazy to spend energy and resources to save them, and directly let the new soldiers add a stab to practice their guts.

The lightly injured and surrendered numbered only forty-three in the end. These people would be captured and taken back. No one was expected to spend money to redeem them, and it was temporarily impossible to let them join Lei Qing’s army.

Taking in prisoners also had great benefits. Lei Qing was about to take over Yehe Town, so he naturally needed some coolies to work. These Horse Bandit captives were strong and sturdy, most suitable for doing dirty and tiring work.

At the very least, selling them as battle slaves would earn a lot of money.

Xianyu Bao had seen more or less of the previous battle. At this moment, he rode his horse over with a face full of admiration and said respectfully to Lei Qing: “Boss, you are really too amazing. It seems you didn’t use your full strength when fighting me last time? That guy just now was the notorious Vulture Helian Bo! It is said that the number of Early-stage Silver powerhouses who died in his hands is no less than three.”

“How are our casualties?” Lei Qing ignored him and asked directly. Although war would definitely involve deaths, and Lei Qing was mentally prepared, for the subordinates he had gathered with difficulty, every death made his heart ache.

However, coming from a military family, he certainly knew that fighting a war without deaths was absolutely impossible.

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