Chapter 358: Slaying Iron Cloak Li!
Boom! Iron Cloak Li"s fist fell, but his powerful punch fell empty. The w.a.n.g Chong who was in midair dissipated into shadows, while the real w.a.n.g Chong suddenly appeared behind him.
Pairing Single Character Consecutive Slash with Phantom Steps, w.a.n.g Chong managed to fool even Iron Cloak Li.
Iron Cloak Li"s face tightened, and the black Stellar Energy chainmail wrapped around him swiftly moved to form multiple layers of barriers behind him.
Klang! Under the multifold layer of defense, w.a.n.g Chong"s decisive strike was forcefully deflected.
"Hmph!" Iron Cloak Li harrumphed coldly.
Without any hesitation, he turned around to send a punch at w.a.n.g Chong.
"Brat, you are too naive! Do you think that my Iron Cloak Technique only has defensive capabilities? Even with a sword like yours, you won"t be able to defeat me!"
"Is that so? We can"t really tell unless we give it a try," a young but frosty voice replied. This was the first time w.a.n.g Chong had responded to Iron Cloak Li"s provocations.
"Everyone, cooperate with me. Attack!" At this moment, w.a.n.g Chong executed the strongest technique he had at hand.
Eight Steps of the Furious Flood Dragon!
The roars of innumerable dragons pervaded the surroundings, and one after another, the silhouette of flood dragons began appearing before everyone"s eyes.
At the same moment, numerous True Martial halos began spinning with loud metallic calls as they sprang for Iron Cloak Li.
At this instant, Iron Cloak Li finally felt deeply threatened.
His Iron Cloak Technique was extremely flexible in usage. He could layer it to strengthen his defense in specific regions, and it was this property that allowed him to deflect w.a.n.g Chong"s Wootz steel sword.
However, strengthening a certain location would inevitably mean weakening the others.
It wasn"t a problem when he was facing w.a.n.g Chong alone, but if the Great Tang cavalrymen were to get involved as well, Iron Cloak Li"s black Stellar Energy chainmail would become insufficient to cope with all of them.
Neighhhh!
But at this crucial moment, the highwaymen had finally arrived.
"Chief, let me help you!" With those words, a muscular Han wearing a sleeveless s.h.i.+rt leapt over with his steed.
One of the strongest aides of Iron Cloak Li had arrived, Chang Dao!
"Chief, I am here as well!"
"Chief, we"ll help you!"
"Brothers, kill these soldiers and exact vengeance for our dead brothers!"...
Wave after wave of highwaymen arrived in the area after slaying the war steeds at the perimeter.
"Hahaha! Good, good! You all did well!" Hearing those voices, Iron Cloak Li laughed heartily. He felt deeply threatened by w.a.n.g Chong"s Wootz steel sword, and it was like rain in the middle of a drought for reinforcements to arrive at this moment.
"Brat, looks like even the heavens are on my side. Why don"t you just obediently give in, and I might give you a painless death!"
A powerful surge of Stellar Energy burst from Iron Cloak Li, and with just the shockwave of the explosion, he was actually able to forcefully stop w.a.n.g Chong"s Eight Steps of the Furious Flood Dragon!
Neighhh!
The highwaymen were swiftly converging on the area. Hearing the war cries of the highwaymen swiftly cresting, the Great Tang cavalrymen"s faces warped in despair. w.a.n.g Chong and Bai Siling"s hearts sunk as well.
It was too late. Even with the Wootz steel sword in hand, there was nothing they could do.
Their final attempt had failed, and the ultimate fate that awaited them was being cut to their deaths.
"Listen to my command! Ignore the other highwaymen and focus our attacks on Iron Cloak Li. Even if we have to die, we must bring him down with us!" Determination flashed across w.a.n.g Chong"s mind as he bellowed furiously.
After spouting those words, w.a.n.g Chong immediately executed the Single Character Consecutive Slash and rushed at Iron Cloak Li.
"You brat! No matter what, I"ll surely kill you today!" Iron Cloak Li flew into a rage.
Driven up a corner, w.a.n.g Chong actually wanted to pull him down with him. This left Iron Cloak Li incensed.
Ultimately, the reason why everything went wrong, and how so many of their men ended up being killed by a mere forty soldiers was the fault of this brat.
It wouldn"t matter to Iron Cloak Li if anyone else were to escape today, but he was determined to kill this brat at any cost.
"I would like to see how an ant like you who hasn"t even reached True Martial realm is going to kill me!" Iron Cloak Li bellowed, as killing intent suffused his eyes.
Weng! With a flash of shadow, a black offshoot shot from his body toward w.a.n.g Chong.
It was the Stellar Energy chainmail!
At this crucial moment, Iron Cloak Li decided to use his Stellar Energy chainmail to crush w.a.n.g Chong"s body and bones together, just like what he did to the other cavalrymen.
Only through this could he vent the rage of having lost so many of the elites under him!
To quell his rage, he would have to slay this brat himself!
Weng!
Without the help of the White-hoofed Shadow this time around, w.a.n.g Chong was unable to move swiftly enough to dodge the Stellar Energy chainmail this time. With a huge shadow, it fell from the sky and covered w.a.n.g Chong along with his sword.
With his body tightly constricted by the Stellar Energy chainmail, w.a.n.g Chong"s movement was severely limited. His sword might be able to pierce through the Stellar Energy chainmail, but unable to move his body, there was nothing he could do anymore.
With w.a.n.g Chong"s death, no one else would be able to threaten Iron Cloak Li anymore.
"Siling, now! Move!"
Everything happened in the course of a split second. Just as Iron Cloak Li was about to tighten the Stellar Energy chainmail to crush w.a.n.g Chong into pieces, w.a.n.g Chong"s sharp cry suddenly echoed from the chainmail.
What the heck? Iron Cloak Li was alarmed by w.a.n.g Chong"s sudden shout.
No matter how slow he was, it was apparent that there was something wrong with the situation. An arrangement that that young commander put his life on the line for couldn"t possibly spell anything good for him.
Everything seemed to reek deeply of a scheme.
Hua!
But before he could even do anything, he suddenly heard a cry behind him along with the shrill sound of a sharp object traversing through the air.
Everything happened quickly. By the time Iron Cloak Li heard those sounds, the other party"s sword was already nearing his neck. Under normal circ.u.mstances, Iron Cloak Li might have been able to dodge. But to deal with w.a.n.g Chong, he had devoted most of his attention to manipulating his Stellar Energy chainmail, which resulted in a slight impairment in his movements, preventing him from dodging this sudden attack.
Hong long!
All Iron Cloak Li managed to do in that fraction of a second was to gather his Stellar Energy to protect his neck and send out a palm before that sword slid through his neck.
To his horror, his dense Deluge of Stellar Energy actually failed to stop the sword even by the slightest instant.
"That sword..."
Seeing that familiar blade beneath his neck, realization flashed across Iron Cloak Li"s mind before everything blacked out.
"CHIEF!"
A desolate scream echoed in the air. The highwaymen who had rushed over here furiously ended up witnessing a sight that they would never forget, one that would shatter their guts and induce utter despair in them: a young lady in white beheading their chief!
From the moment they saw their chief getting killed, their initial delight and excitement vanished along with the wind. Their blood ran cold, and their hearts sank.
Killed!
Their chief was killed!!
Their chief was actually killed!!!
At this moment, time seemed to have come to a halt. Even the horses had fallen silent.
To the highwaymen who had just arrived, there was no confusion or doubts about the matter. They had seen everything as clear as day.
At the moment when victory was just in their grasp, that young commander stepped forward and served as a bait to draw away the chief"s Stellar Energy chainmail.
But in that instant, making use of Iron Cloak Li"s blind spot, that sharp sword was thrown in an arc to the white-clothed young lady. Making use of the sharp sword, the young lady sliced through the chief"s neck, thus rewriting the conclusion of the battle.
Just like that, a sure-win battle had been turned around.
Sou!
With Iron Cloak Li"s death, the Stellar Energy chainmail was undone, and w.a.n.g Chong was released from its tight grip. Peng, as soon as w.a.n.g Chong was freed, he immediately rushed forward to pick up Iron Cloak Li"s head.
"Iron Cloak Li is dead! Anyone who dares to continue standing against us will only be killed. Let it be known that should the Bureau of Punishments issue an arrest warrant, you will be caught and dealt with even if you were to flee to the Western Regions!"
Raising Iron Cloak Li"s head with his right hand, w.a.n.g Chong"s sharp and cold gaze swept across the bandits, leaving their hearts on the edge.
Too many of their brothers had died. Hu Lang"s death was a huge blow, and now, even their chief who possessed unparalleled strength had fallen in the face of the schemes of this young man.
At this moment, even someone as vicious as Chang Dao was feeling frightened and apprehensive.
No one could tell what other ploys the young man had up his sleeves, or what other means he possessed.
With a force of forty, they had killed more than three hundred of their brothers, along with their chief. How many more of them would die facing the remaining twenty?
At this instant, even the bravest of the highwaymen couldn"t help but feel daunted.
With the death of their chief, their morale had been utterly shattered.
They might still have a reason to fight when their chief was around, but it had vanished along with his parting.
At this moment, even if they were to, by some stroke of luck, kill these cavalrymen, it would be meaningless to them.
Not only would they not gain anything from it, they might even lose their lives instead.
"What are you waiting for? Disappear from my sight!" Carrying the head up high, w.a.n.g Chong bellowed deafeningly. In that instant, as if awakening from a dream, the highwaymen and bandits immediately scattered in all directions, fleeing frantically for their lives.
In just a short instant, the eighty highwaymen and bandits had vanished entirely.
"Lord, we have won!" One of the surviving Great Tang cavalrymen heaved a long sigh of relief.
"We did overcome the crisis, but we haven"t won yet. Let"s go, there is still one last thing for us to do!"
Shaking his head, w.a.n.g Chong turned his gaze to the distance. There, the commotion seemed to be growing louder and louder.