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Chapter Seven Hundred and Seventy Two – Glittering
The dark night was illuminated by the lights of the spells and shen techniques. They collided in the air like fireworks, giving off great explosions that made people"s ears hurt. Waves of air twisted the night, and everything in view seemed to be twisted.
Inside the jinzhi, everyone had an excited expression. Their faces were twisted, tendons bulging as they focused.
"Pay attention! Pay attention! First Group, pay attention to cutting off the enemy"s left flank!"
"Second Group, control your shen power, do not fight too strongly, pay attention to s.h.i.+fts!"
"Fourth and Fifth Jinzhi Group, did you eat? Why are your attacks so weak? Attack at full power! I won"t forgive you if you let even one escape … …"
Ma Fan calmly observed the battlefield. His orders flowed into every corner of the jinzhi defense line.
Among Mo Cloud Sea"s battle generals, there were several that were skilled in defense such as Shu Long"s Guard Camp and Tang Fei"s Tangzi Battalion. Yet Ma Fan was a strangest one among them.
He was the battle general most skilled in jinzhi battle defense.
Because he had successfully stopped Xu Kong Temple"s battalions in the past which unearthed Ma Fan"s talent in defense, he had then been sent to Orchid Home Jie where he defended against Tian Huan"s Gongye Xiao Rong by relying on the jinzhi forts. He had developed a great interest in how to use the seal formations and jinzhi.
Formations and jinzhi were one of Mo Cloud Sea"s developmental focuses. Zuo Mo"s turtle style had influenced them deeply. The interested Ma Fan spent a great amount of time in Golden Crow Cloud Island to study jinzhi and formations.
Any formation defense line in his hands would have astounding power.
He was familiar with the weakness and strengths of every kind of seal formation and could use them. Also, his experiences as part of the offensive core gave him a good understanding on the large-scale strategy of how to use seals and jinzhi.
His second-in-command, Nian Lu, was skilled in calculation and aided him greatly. Lei Peng was the head of the ax hidden in the turtle sh.e.l.l.
The battlefield was silently changing.
This kind of change was subtle and almost no one detected it among the chaotic battlefield. But Ma Fan detected it.
The two enemy battalions were not in sync and an opening in their formation had begun to appear.
Ma Fan"s eyes suddenly lit up. His voice unconsciously increased, and his orders became brisk.
"First Crux, attack at full power!"
"Third Group, delay your enemies."
"Seventh Group, weaken your attacks, draw them in."
"Third Group, Sixth Group, pay attention, prepare to kill!"
The members under his command were familiar with his change. Everyone knew that when Daren"s orders became short, it meant that the crucial moment in the battle had come.
Everyone felt their minds become alert, and the formation defense line immediately changed. However, it was also difficult to detect this change among the storm of spells.
Waiting for his orders, Lei Peng was completely armored. The Mo Cloud shen equipment covering all of his large and brawny body. He had a golden crystal sword in his hand. He appeared like a giant stepping out of a legend as he gave off a bloodthirsty and savage presence. Beside him, two hundred elites were also fully armored and stood silently.
He was prepared to fight!
"They"ve been drawn in!"
"Big Peng, kill!"
Lei Peng"s eyes suddenly grew bight, his presence increasing. He lifted the heavy gold crystal sword as though it was nothing and changed towards the formation defense line like a furious rhino.
"Kill!"
The two hundred elite moved at the same time and howled together, "Kill!"
The troops were like a sharp and heavy axe that was swung in an overhead blow at the prey that was caught in a net.
The battalion that had been allowed in had never expected enemies to come charging out of the enemy defense line. Caught off guard, blood and flesh flew. Lei Peng was like an ancient monster, unstoppable as he charged every which way.
The shen equipment he wore had been designed and forged according to his strengths. It only had one use, to increase Lei Peng"s power fivefold!
Lei Peng was naturally endowed with astounding strength, and it became even greater after mo matrices were engraved. Zuo Mo had switched out the spell he cultivated into a mo skill a long time ago. After he used a mo embryo, he managed to cultivate a power-type mo physique that increased his strength by multiple times again. Zuo Mo was determined for him to become a power-type. The Lei Peng of the past had a terrifying amount of strength but after he cultivated the Mo Cloud Shen Methodology, Lei Peng"s strength went up another level.
Lei Peng"s shen power was the simplest, most direct, crudest, roughest, and purest of power!
He had a door-sized golden crystal sword in his hand. When he started to swing it, no one was able to stop his attack. He did not like using stabs. In his hand, the golden crystal sword was like a thick horse-chopping sabre. What he liked to do most was chop.
Usually, when his blow fell, the enemy, rider and steed, would be split in two.
When he was really in his state, he would even use the sword like a metal staff, slapping and whipping. Anyone that was touched would fly out as though they were hit by a rhino, a large part of their body strangely caved in, as they bled for all orifices.
Clang!
Lei Peng"s hand shook. For the first time since the battle started, someone stopped his sword!
His eyes bled red. He saw the person that stopped him, it was one of the mo marshals.
This time was when Lei Peng"s fighting spirit was at its height. Even if the other was a mo marshal, he did not feel fear. With an angry howl, he swung the golden crystal sword up, and swung at the other, throwing himself behind the sword!
"Good attack!"
The mo marshal snorted. The spear in his hand suddenly turned bright silver, an extremely blinding point of light suddenly appearing in front of Lei Peng"s eyes.
This dot of silver energy came quickly like lightning.
Everyone who was within ten li was pulled towards this spear. Lei Peng"s surrounding soldiers seemed to have a feeling that this dot of silver light had a strange magnetic force. Their bodies seemed to be flying uncontrollably towards the dot of silver like moths to a flame.
A feeling of extreme danger suddenly took over their minds. They paled in shock.
At this time, a wild angry shout exploded in their ears.
Lei Peng"s eyes were wide in anger, his shen equipment flas.h.i.+ng with bright red light. Every drop of power in every mo matrix on his body, every muscle, bone and sinew, gathered on the golden crystal sword in his hand.
It was a power pure and without any finesse!
Only power!
Boom!
A thick drum-like sound echoed, like m.u.f.fled thunder deep within the clouds. This could be heard by everyone within a hundred li!
A shocking unstoppable wave of air swept in all directions like a wall of iron. All of the seal formations and jinzhi within five li were destroyed. Those with slower reactions had to face the shockwave of air head on and were immediately wounded. Those smarter let themselves fly out with the wave of air.
There was nothing left within five li.
The golden crystal sword was completely shattered, Lei Peng was thrown out like a sandbag. His shen equipment was cracked all over, blood streaming out. He was covered in blood.
At the place where the fight had been, the mo marshal stood holding the spear, motionless.
The entire battlefield was silent. Everyone was stunned by this astounding collision.
Suddenly, with a snap, a fragment fell from the long spear to the ground.
This seemed to be a signal. Crack, the entire spear crumbled.
The mo marshal was motionless as though he was made from stone.
Everyone looked uncertainly at the mo marshal, their hearts in their throat.
At this time, the mo marshal fell and cras.h.i.+ng with a boom.
"Daren!" Countless mo soldiers wailed in sorrow and disbelief.
Yet the mo marshal who had fallen down did not respond.
"Hahahaha! Cough … …"
Lei Peng struggled up as he laughed wildly. He suddenly tore off the shattered shen equipment he wore. People found out their shock that Lei Peng was covered in blood. They were even able to see the wounds that were seeping blood all over his body.
Lei Peng seemed to not notice them. He took out a new set of shen equipment, and put it on, ignoring the blood flowing out of him.
Then he took out a large axe from his ring that was the size of a door.
Holding the large axe, blood pooling under his feet, Lei Peng walked forward. He suddenly raised the axe in his hand and shouted like a wild beast, "Kil!"
Inside the seal formation, Nian Lu wiped away cold sweat, "This guy"s gone crazy today!"
Ma Fan frowned. He was the strongest and he saw the most. The mo marshal had been over-confident and hadn"t expected that someone would take the path of only pursuing strength and even managed to reach such a level. Lei peng"s attack had gathered all of his strength. Even Boss who was famed for his strength would not choose to face it head on.
Power defeating all methods, Lei Peng was what the phrase referred to.
In terms of cultivation and skill, the mo marshal was much greater than Lei Peng. Yet he chose to fight Lei Peng in strength, wasn"t that just looking for death?
Ma Fan shook his head. He knew what the mo marshal had intended. The mo marshal had thought to increase morale through this action, but hadn"t expected to meet such an unreasonable person like Lei Peng.
"Have him withdraw," Ma Fan said unquestionably.
There was a five li opening in the seal formation jinzhi. This meant that the previous arrangements had to be adjusted. A damaged defense line meant more weaknesses but there was nothing to be done about it. High level experts were enough to affect the state of a battle. Also, the enemy had lost a mo marshal. In terms of damage inflicted, they had benefited greatly.
The enemy had not just lost a mo marshal. With the way that the mo fought this meant that when the mo marshal died, the offensive ability of the battalion would decrease precipitously.
The death of a mo marshal was like losing a flank, but in addition what it shook was morale.
Morale was something intangible but of crucial importance to victory or defeat. The more intense the battle, the greater its effects.
Even if the enemy still had one more mo marshal!
Ma Fan perceptively detected that the enemy morale was now low and the other mo marshal was stunned by the results of this battle. He did not respond immediately.
The enemy was in a short burst of chaos.
Opportunity!
Ma Fan unhesitatingly adjusted his orders.
———
The chaotic mo battalions immediately were inundated with strong attacks. When the remaining mo marshal reacted, he found that the enemy had grabbed hold of his battalion. If they wanted to retreat, the fatalities would be terrifying.
d.a.m.n it!
How could it be like this!
His complexion turned grey.
Translator Ramblings: Even Zuo Mo"s subordinates are now taking down marshals.