Volume 1, Chapter 56 – Fierce Battle

When the beast horde closed within fifty zhang, Huangfu Yun suddenly slashed his hand down.

“Loose!”

“Thrum—”

“Whoosh—”

More than fifty bolts screamed out at once, raising a shrill tearing sound as they ripped through the air, dragging trails of compressed air behind them!

At fifty zhang, the bolts arrived in an instant. The front rank of demonic beasts was pierced through on the spot. More than a dozen were hit in the head or neck, their legs buckling as they tumbled to the ground, dead before they could even cry out!

Dozens more were struck in the legs, their balance gone as they rolled into a tangled heap, knocking over yet more beasts. Before they could get back up, the beasts behind surged forward without pause, trampling them underfoot!

With this first volley, nearly a hundred demonic beasts lost the ability to move.

After loosing that first shot, everyone drew their bowstrings again without needing Huangfu Yun’s command, setting another round of bolts and firing in unison.

After another volley, the fastest demonic beasts were less than thirty zhang from the formation!

With the sharp eyesight of martial artists, even the individual hairs on the beasts’ bodies were clearly visible now. Those pairs of bloodthirsty beast eyes were all the more striking.

A few more people started to shake, their movements flustered and clumsy.

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Shi Lan shut everything else out and focused, drawing the bow and setting bolts again and again. In short order, she had already fired more than half of her twenty refined steel bolts.

By the time the demonic beasts broke into twenty zhang, more than half of them had already died. After yet another volley, Huangfu Yun raised his hand, lifted his horse-cleaving saber, and pointed it straight at the horde:

“Stow crossbows! The whole army, charge!”

The moment the words left his mouth, the sixteen riders who had dismounted earlier put away their Demon-Slaying Crossbows without hesitation, swung back into their saddles, and drew horse-cleaving sabers from their jiao horses’ sides identical to the one in Huangfu Yun’s hand.

A twitch of the reins, and the jiao horses beneath those sixteen riders turned into streaks of black, charging headlong into the onrushing horde without an ounce of fear!

Shi Lan and the other four squad leaders followed suit, stowing their Demon-Slaying Crossbows and mounting up.

The jiao horses that had been standing in place were already restless, snorting nonstop. Shi Lan yanked the Purple Star Seven-Section Halberd from the ground, and the moment she tugged the reins, the jiao horse under her shot forward.

The beast horde that had still been more than ten zhang away was suddenly right in front of her eyes!

Though startled, Shi Lan remained utterly calm. She tightened her grip on the reins, loosened her palm slightly, letting the halberd shaft slide so she caught it by the very end, then swept it out sideways, tracing a half-circle before her mount!

“Swish—”

A sharp tearing sound split the air as the halberd swept across. The demonic beasts blocking the jiao horse’s path didn’t stand a chance against the edge of the blade; they were cleaved cleanly into two in an instant!

The jiao horse’s momentum didn’t slow at all as it barreled straight ahead. The bisected corpse was smashed into a cloud of blood mist by the powerful impact!

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Bathed in that blood mist, the jiao horse seemed to grow even more excited. Its scaled hide flexed and rippled, its blood surging hot!

Shi Lan’s halberd didn’t stop for a moment, leaving arcs of violet afterimages as she rode, reaping demonic beast lives without pause.

Taking a brief moment to glance over the battlefield, she saw that the sixteen riders who had charged in first were rampaging through the horde, with not a single beast able to withstand even one exchange. It was a one-sided massacre.

The others had also clashed with the demonic beasts at close quarters now, each wielding the weapon they were best with, bringing their skills to bear as they threw themselves into the slaughter.

Huangfu Yun stood calmly at the valley mouth, casually cutting down the occasional beast that slipped through as he took in the entire battle at a glance.

The fierce fighting lasted for nearly half an hour. Corpses were piled like mountains at the valley entrance, and the stench of blood soared into the sky.

Shi Lan’s armor was soaked in blood. The jiao horse beneath her was spattered with chunks of flesh and gore across its scales, every breath it took misting blood.

No one knew how many demonic beasts had died beneath the Purple Star Seven-Section Halberd in her hands, yet it was still spotless, not a drop of blood clinging to it. The blade was as cold and white as snow, almost reflective enough to show a face.

Choked by the stench of blood and feeling a bit sick, Shi Lan reached up to lift her veil for some fresh air. But as soon as she raised it, an even heavier wave of bloody reek rushed into her nose and mouth, nearly making her retch.

She pulled on the reins and slowly rode back to the valley mouth. By now, most people had gathered there, resting either standing or sitting. Some still hadn’t recovered from the injuries they’d taken in the previous sparring bouts and had already added new ones, but thankfully, no one had died.

Huangfu Yun wasn’t the least bit surprised by this outcome. Every demonic beast in the valley that could pose a real threat had already died under his blade. This pack was what he’d drawn over to toughen up these new recruits.

To let them understand that demonic beasts were nothing to fear.

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Jiang Li returned to the valley mouth a step ahead of Shi Lan. Seeing her come back without a scratch, he let out a breath of relief. Looking at the halberd in her hand, there was some envy in his eyes. Razor-sharp, unstained by blood—anyone with eyes could see at a glance that this was no ordinary weapon.

Jiang Li wasn’t seriously injured, just had a slight dislocation in the bones of his right wrist.

As dusk fell, Huangfu Yun ordered the soldiers to set up camp right where they were. Several large bonfires were lit, and with the ground covered in “ingredients,” dinner was hardly a concern.

Huangfu Yun sent a few men into the trees to drag out several of the larger corpses. By the stream, they butchered them, washed them clean, and set them over the bonfires.

The meat roasted quickly and was distributed.

Jiang Li sat not far from Shi Lan. After biting off a chunk of roast meat and swallowing, his eyes lit up. “What kind of demonic beast is this? The blood and flesh essence is so rich!” He said this and tore off another big bite.

The moment the roast meat entered her mouth, Shi Lan knew without a doubt that this beast had been at the Innate Realm in life. Thanks to Shi Feng, she’d eaten quite a bit of Innate Realm demonic beast meat and could tell the difference.

Huangfu Yun walked over and sat down beside Shi Lan. He lifted his eyes at Jiang Li, who understood and got up to leave.

“Where did you get this halberd?” Huangfu Yun glanced at the weapon stuck in the ground beside Shi Lan and asked bluntly.

Shi Lan was taken aback for a moment, then answered offhandedly, “Got it by chance.”

“If you’re ever out alone, you’d best not use it so openly.”

“Why?” Shi Lan asked, puzzled.

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“With your current strength, you can’t protect it yet.” As he spoke, Huangfu Yun raised his hand and placed it on the Purple Star Seven-Section Halberd. A hazy violet light rose from it, and a majestic righteous aura spread out in all directions.

“This is a rare righteous weapon. It’s already beyond the level of an ordinary magic artifact. This is a treasure artifact—and not a low-grade one, either.” Huangfu Yun withdrew his hand, and the violet glow slowly faded.

“What’s a treasure artifact?”

“Something far more powerful than a magic artifact. Even martial artists at the Innate Realm can’t bring out its full power.”

Shi Lan’s heart jolted. She hadn’t expected the Purple Star Seven-Section Halberd to be of such a high grade, a treasure that even Innate Realm martial artists couldn’t fully control. With her current strength, still short of the Innate Realm, waving such a heavy treasure around everywhere really was dangerous.

“You don’t need to worry too much. Here in Twin Moon City, no one will dare set their sights on it,” Huangfu Yun said with a wave of his hand.

Steadying herself, Shi Lan asked curiously, “What realm is above the Innate Realm?”

“The Earth Fiend Realm.”

“How strong is an Earth Fiend Realm martial artist?”

Huangfu Yun was silent for a moment before he spoke. “A martial artist at the Earth Fiend Realm is more than ten times stronger than one at the Innate Realm. You could call them an enemy of ten thousand.”