Order after order was issued, but these orders did not come from w.a.n.g Chong. They came from the five-man and ten-man commanders.
Before the arrowhead of the Arrow Formation could be destroyed, a new one would be forming to take its place. Meanwhile, the cavalry that had been slowed from the impact with the Tibetan cavalry were quickly absorbed back into the main force.
Cold swords flashed through the air and Tibetan after Tibetan fell to the ground without a groan, cut into pieces by the Wootz Steel swords.
In the meantime, those Great Tang cavalry who had been slowed gradually began to regain speed, eventually adding on to the end of the Arrow Formation.
Everything happened swiftly and automatically!
Round after round, over and over, the Arrow Formation of one thousand soldiers worked like a fine-tuned machine. Before this precision, even Ü-Tsang"s world-famous Echelon Formation felt like a gra.s.shopper trying to stop a carriage.
Cras.h.!.+
With a bout of painful and fearful screams, the last few Tibetan cavalry of the Echelon Formation were knocked flying like stray kites into the air. w.a.n.g Chong"s Arrow Formation burst out of the Tibetan army, having cleared the entirety of the Echelon Formation.
By this time, the Tibetan army was in complete chaos.
"Now is the time. Kill!"
After piercing through the entire formation, w.a.n.g Chong led his army in a figure eight so that they could turn around and attack the Tibetans again. Once more like a sharp arrow, the army charged into the tail end of the Tibetan Echelon Formation, throwing it further into chaos.
"Excellent! Success!"
Seeing the Tibetans in chaos, their advance completely stymied, Old Eagle clenched his fists as he inwardly rejoiced. This entire battle had been carried out under w.a.n.g Chong"s command, and even though he had been at his side this entire time, not even he knew what was going on.
He had been on the sidelines observing when w.a.n.g Chong was training this army and knew everything about the Arrow Formation, but he could have never expected this formation to be so powerful.
And this wasn"t just about piercing through the army and inflicting casualties. w.a.n.g Chong had completely shattered the ability of the Tibetans to fight.
The most powerful aspect of an army was its ability to fight as a cohesive whole, and the more people there were, the more powerful it was. But if every person fought individually, this advantage would utterly vanish.
This was precisely what w.a.n.g Chong had managed to do!
Although this wasn"t the first time Old Eagle had seen w.a.n.g Chong at work, none of the previous times had ever been as stimulating or as impactful to Old Eagle. This was his first time directly observing w.a.n.g Chong"s talent, that brilliant and terrifying talent to command that far surpa.s.sed his age.
"Young Master!"
Old Eagle looked at w.a.n.g Chong, a deep respect in his eyes.
He had originally followed w.a.n.g Chong out of grat.i.tude, but now, even without this reason, even if someone wanted him to leave, he would never leave. w.a.n.g Chong had a deep potential, one that did not lie in something as simple as strength.
Old Eagle felt that in another ten years, if nothing unexpected happened, this empire would gain another influential Great General on the level of Geshu Han, Fumeng Lingcha, Gao Xianzhi, and Zhang Shougui, perhaps one even more outstanding.
In his heart, Old Eagle no longer considered w.a.n.g Chong a junior, but a leader that he was willing to follow for the rest of his life.
Of course, no one knew of any of this except for Old Eagle himself.
"Congratulations to user for killing 617 Tibetan regular heavy cavalry!"
"Congratulations to user for killing 619 Tibetan regular heavy cavalry!"
Congratulations to user for killing 632 Tibetan regular heavy cavalry!"
……
Message after message flew through his mind, but w.a.n.g Chong couldn"t be bothered to pay attention to them. Each time his Wootz Steel sword slashed, another Tibetan would fall. The ma.s.sive drop in w.a.n.g Chong"s strength made it very difficult for him to deal with one Tibetan cavalryman alone, but this wasn"t a problem.
A large number of experts had gathered around him, which he had requested from Li Siye. These experts had originally been elites of the Black Dragon Bandits in the Western Regions. When Li Siye killed their boss, he also subdued these elites.
w.a.n.g Chong had requested these Black Dragon Bandits elites to protect himself. Every time w.a.n.g Chong struck out with his sword, he needed three or four others to strike with him, and with this rain of blows… plop! Another Tibetan would drop to the ground. With each fallen Tibetan, another stream of refined energy would flow from the Little Yinyang Sword into w.a.n.g Chong"s body.
The energy in w.a.n.g Chong"s body had dropped down to Tier 1 of the True Martial realm, but by now, nourished by the blood energy of the Tibetans, it was rapidly rising.
Boom!
w.a.n.g Chong heard an explosion in his body as he shook. Like a volcano, a stream of energy instantly allowed him to break into Tier 2 of the True Martial realm. Stellar Energy continued to flow, and it was only a few seconds later that there was another boom. w.a.n.g Chong had broken through again, into True Martial Tier 3, and he was still rising.
"So powerful!"
The enemies filling this crowded battlefield were the finest nutrients for the Little Yinyang Art, and the rapid growth of energy in his body was almost intoxicating. At this moment, w.a.n.g Chong was experiencing the ecstasy felt by members of those evil sects.
This ecstasy was almost maddening. Many people would be willing to take desperate risks to maintain it, killing more and more people to feel that rush of strength, not hesitating to kill for the sake of killing.
"So powerful, so powerful…"
There was another boom as w.a.n.g Chong"s strength rose to Tier 4 of the True Martial realm, only one tier off from his original cultivation level of True Martial Tier 5. Blood began to suffuse his eyes, and a ruthless aura began to pervade his heart. A powerful impulse began to dominate w.a.n.g Chong"s mind: kill everyone around him and make them his food!
Right now, his target was no longer just the Tibetans. w.a.n.g Chong now had the intense desire to point his sword at the people on his own side.
"Unable to tell friend from foe!"
He suddenly heard a voice at his ear.
"The evil path is called the evil path not because of a love for murder, but because of its indiscriminate killing, slaughter that does not differentiate between friend and foe. This isn"t a consequence of the technique, but because that ecstasy that comes from a rapid swelling of strength is capable of triggering a person"s most primal desires. But in normal circ.u.mstances, it"s not easy for pract.i.tioners of the evil path to reach that point. You must remember that once you begin to feel that intense desire and lose the ability to tell friend from foe, when you want to even attack people on your own side, your Little Yinyang Art has reached its peak and you"re about to suffer a cultivation defect!"
His master, the Demonic Emperor Old Man, had once told him these words.
In these circ.u.mstances, his master had told him that he needed to calm down, stop absorbing energy, and rest for three to four months. After that, he would need to rely on his luck and will to restrain that desire. However, the Demonic Emperor Old Man had also told him a little technique.
Boom!
Without a thought, w.a.n.g Chong caused the flow of energy in a line of acupoints consisting of the Shangqiao, Fengxiang, Renque, and three other acupoints to suddenly reverse. In an instant, w.a.n.g Chong"s mind instantly grew sober, as if a jar of ice water had been dumped over his head. That haze that made it hard for him to differentiate friend from foe instantly weakened.
When the Little Yinyang Art reached its peak, one would risk suffering a cultivation defect. In the past, the Demonic Emperor Old Man had not said anything, holding back this information so that he could test the character of his disciples. However, his master had not kept any secrets from w.a.n.g Chong.
Swoos.h.!.+
A cold light flashed through the sky, penetrating through blood and bones. In the next moment, w.a.n.g Chong"s body began to rumble and burn. The Stellar Energy from a slain individual had instantly pushed w.a.n.g Chong through the threshold of True Martial realm Tier 5. As that body thumped to the ground, w.a.n.g Chong realized that it was the figure of a Tibetan hundred-man commander.
But before w.a.n.g Chong could look anymore, the earth quaked and the ground swayed. A powerful energy swept across the battlefield, generating a powerful gale that caused the White-hoofed Shadow to rear up and neigh.
"Everyone, hear my order! Kill that Tang general!"
A ruthless order in Tibetan came from that cloud of dust in front of w.a.n.g Chong. Many people couldn"t understand those words, but w.a.n.g Chong could.
It"s that Tibetan commander!
With this flash of thought, w.a.n.g Chong instantly remembered.
At almost the same time, a destructive energy shot toward him. Apprehensive, w.a.n.g Chong shook his shoulders, and Stellar Energy began to gush out of his body, forming a barrier that protected him and the White-hoofed Shadow.
All True Martial realm experts had the powerful ability to use Stellar Energy to protect their bodies, which served as an excellent method of self-defense.
Bang!
w.a.n.g Chong had barely brought up his barrier of Stellar Energy when that furious energy struck. His horse neighed and w.a.n.g Chong felt the energy and blood in his stomach rage. As man and horse were sent flying back, the dust in front of w.a.n.g Chong settled, allowing him to finally see what was going on.
In the front ranks of the Tibetan army, Li Siye was wielding his sword with both hands, breathing heavily as he stood like a giant. Across from him was no Tibetan commander, but a bronze figure, more than one zhang tall and fully armored, with six arms and a vicious expression of rage upon its face. It was a Ksitigarbha Vajra Guardian1.
"No matter who you are, I"ll have you die today!"
That ma.s.sive Ksitigarbha Vajra Guardian"s six arms were each wielding a bronze artifact, and its resounding voice was like pealing thunder.
______________
1. Vajra Guardians were the guardians of Buddha and wrathful manifestations of the bodhisattva Vajrapani. However, in this case, I believe the author is referring to dharmapalas, which were wrathful manifestations of bodhisattvas or Buddhas and often took on fearsome appearances with many arms, legs or feet; black, blue, or red skin; and fierce expressions with fangs. The dharmapala, "protectors of dharma", were defenders of the Buddhist faithful. The vajra itself is a type of club with both symbolic and ritualistic purposes.↩