Translator: Myuu Editor: Myuu

“L-Leader… How ruthless of you…” Gu Zexuan murmured to himself as he watched the scene from afar, unable to tear his gaze away.

Everyone from the escort agency party who had made it far enough to stop on a small hill was stunned by Yan Liqiang’s retaliation. The sight of him chasing away more than a hundred people alone was a great shock to them.

This was because Yan Liqiang had never really fought anyone at close quarters before during their travel. He had only exhibited his skill in archery once at most. No one expected him to be so bold and powerful on the battlefield either. With just one bow, he was able to annihilate the White Lotus Cavalry of around a hundred men that was chasing them.

Even for proud veterans like Wang Hui, Huang Shen, Gong Dequan, and the rest, this was the first time they had ever witnessed one person chasing away more than a hundred people. It was only at this point in time did they realize that Yan Liqiang was an entirely different person on the battlefield. His deadly arrows flew at lightning speed while robbing courage and reaping souls.

While Yan Liqiang gave chase to the White Lotus Cavalry, the warbow in his hands twanged, raining arrows that knocked fleeing riders off their steeds one after another. The group of more than a hundred men was reduced to hunted hares that were powerless to even retaliate.

“Huipeng, where are you going…?”

While the group was watching the scene intently, Gu Zexuan’s yell suddenly rang out. Wang Hui and the rest turned their attention toward them, only to discover that Zhao Huipeng was thinking of rushing back there on his rhinodrake steed. However, he was stopped by Gu Zexuan who grabbed onto his steed’s reins.

“I am going back to help Leader…!”

“I wish to return too, but I know that I am not as capable as Leader. If I rush in there and get surrounded by the White Lotus Cavalry, it’ll be harder for Leader because he’d have to rescue me. I might even get him into a sticky situation…!”

“Zexuan is right. I’m sure Liqiang was confident when he had us go first and stayed back to bring up the rear. If we recklessly rush back in there, we’d be screwed with any changes in the circumstances. With a bow in Liqiang’s hand, no one will be able to come within a radius of several hundred meters from him. Recklessly charging in and engaging our enemies in close combat will only end up hindering him instead…” Wang Hui explained.

“What if Leader is in danger? We can’t just watch him battle alone!” Zhao Huipeng, who was usually quiet, appeared to be unusually stubborn right now.

“You guys stay here. Huang Sheng and I will head back to Liqiang and provide him support midway. Since you all are moving in a larger number, quickly leave this area if the situation gets worse. Don’t linger around. We will catch up to you all with Liqiang later!” Wang Hui spoke and threw a glance at Huang Sheng, who nodded to him in return. Without further comment, both of them checked their weapons, then shook their reins and galloped away.

……

On their way here, Yan Liqiang drew from his experience of escorting Sun Bingchen back to the Imperial Capital and hung three quivers full of arrows on his saddle. With a total of 108 arrows, he was sufficiently equipped with ‘ammunition’. Hence, Yan Liqiang didn’t think of conserving any arrows while chasing after the White Lotus Cavalry. The bowstring in his hand twanged unceasingly, sending out arrow after arrow. In just the blink of an eye, he shot down another twenty fleeing men and completely emptied a quiver.

The three-picul war bow was already enough to handle the White Lotus Cavalry. With such a bow in Yan Liqiang’s hands, drawing it was so simple and effortless. He wouldn’t feel tired even if he had to release several hundred arrows, much less several dozen.

When he passed by a corpse lying on the ground, Yan Liqiang inserted his bow back into the bow bag. He flipped his body and hid under his rhinodrake steed’s abdomen with the help of the stirrups. The moment he flashed past the corpse, he picked up a three or four meter-long ashwood spear from the ground. He then flipped back onto the steed with the spear in hand and continued his chase to the front.

The ashwood spear he picked up from the ground was obviously manufactured with the distinctive style of the weaponsmith quarter in the Great Han Empire. The three or four-meter-long ashwood handle was first dried in the shade, then soaked in tung oil for a few months. It was then taken out and affixed with a foot-long, sharp spearhead. The spear had no other unnecessary decorations, yet it was extremely durable. The spear handle could even last for several decades. Compared to those so-called ashwood spears Yan Liqiang had seen in his previous life, this was completely different.

When those fleeing men realized that Yan Liqiang was no longer firing arrows, someone turned his head around and saw him picking up a spear. “That person ran out of arrows. Go back and slay him…!” He immediately yelled with newfound courage.

Yan Liqiang had two more quivers full of arrows hanging behind his saddle, but that person failed to notice them.

Upon hearing that Yan Liqiang had run out of arrows, seven or eight fleeing men in the cavalry stopped immediately. They turned their steeds around, brandished their weapons, and charged at Yan Liqiang with a yell.

Seeing the people turn around, many among the cavalry that were being chased by Yan Liqiang like hares reined in their steeds and stopped. They then bared their teeth and charged toward Yan Liqiang with a snarl.

The White Lotus Cavalry which was overwhelmed by Yan Liqiang’s bow finally found an outlet to drain the fear in their hearts…

Both parties rushed toward each other. In just the space of a few breaths, Yan Liqiang collided head-on with the seven or eight cavalrymen.

Yan Liqiang let out a long yell. The spear in his hands immediately turned into a phantom image of a huge flower — more than a meter wide in full bloom on the public road. In just less than a second, the spearhead darted out eight times consecutively at lightning speed, piercing the throats of the men who rushed toward him…

When Yan Liqiang rode past those seven or eight people, their figures swayed on their steeds before they all collapsed to the ground at the same time, leaving behind their rhinodrake steeds that loitered around.

This scene immediately scared the wits out of the remaining people in the cavalry who initially wanted to rush up. Who would expect Yan Liqiang to actually be even more terrifying with a spear after he set down his warbow? No one among the seven or eight people on their side managed to actually land a blow on Yan Liqiang. That youth was the harbinger of death…

With that, the newfound courage of those men immediately dwindled like a candle lit in a hurricane. The group turned their steeds around again and resumed fleeing while wailing in terror…

Yan Liqiang was still stunned by the magnitude of his spear attack. Before he swung his weapon, he didn’t think he would be capable of such a powerful move. This had far exceeded the limits of his spear technique’s realm. When he swung his spear, everything felt so normal before the powerful move exploded from him.

Yan Liqiang carefully recalled the sensation he felt the moment he swung his spear. Realization suddenly dawned upon him. When he swung his spear, he didn’t think about everything before his eyes — not whether he was in the Heavenly Realm or reality. He merely thrust his spear with the insight and judgment he had gained during his spear technique cultivation in reality…

Although he had different bodies between the two worlds, they still shared the same soul and mind.

Even though cultivation and its realms couldn’t be transferred between two different physical bodies in two different worlds, the experiences and insights, especially in cultivation, could be shared. As a whole, they brought about great benefits to his martial cultivation in another world. As a result, the limits and standards of his spear techniques in the Heavenly Realm had undergone exponential improvement thanks to his spear technique realm in reality…

Likewise, the benefits of his experiences and insights in the Heavenly Realm could also be harnessed in reality. With different experiences and insights mixed together, he could make rapid progress in his cultivation in both worlds…

……

Yan Liqiang cut through his enemies like a hot knife through butter. No one was able to stand against him. After catching up with them, he sent another ten men flying. The White Lotus Cavalry scattered in all directions.

Yan Liqiang went off the public road into the wilderness, rushing toward the group of men who had surrounded the fleeing commoners and were attacking them.

Since they were mounted on regular horses, it made the riders appear a lot shorter than Yan Liqiang who was mounted on a rhinodrake steed. Looking at these riders from a rhinodrake steed was like looking at people riding on donkeys from a horse — one had to look down and the other had to look up. Engaged in battle, the taller person would have the overwhelming advantage.

Furthermore, the speed and endurance of a regular horse were significantly inferior to those of a rhinodrake steed’s. Yan Liqiang rushed head-on toward the cavalry on his rhinodrake steed, like tiger charging into a flock of sheep. In just the blink of an eye, more than twenty riders in the White Lotus Cavalry were either sent flying or were knocked off their horses.

The fleeing commoners parted to give way as soon as they saw Yan Liqiang charging toward them. Without any instructions, all of them ran toward Yan Liqiang.

The White Lotus Cavalry was ganging up on those commoners while Yan Liqiang was chasing after them for their lives. These cavalrymen who were tigers before the fleeing commoners were reduced into sheep before Yan Liqiang. Quite a number of commoners managed to escape through the opening Yan Liqiang had created among the cavalrymen who were surrounding them…

Upon seeing Yan Liqiang’s display of strength, the White Lotus Cavalry moved away from those commoners and started to gather around instead, trying to surround and kill him. Unfortunately, those riding on regular horses couldn’t catch up to Yan Liqiang. Even if they did manage to block his path by chance, they were quickly taken out. Although the cavalry was larger in number, a few hundred of them were made into fools by Yan Liqiang alone and suffered utter defeat…

The commoners started running in all directions when they saw the opportunity. Some rushed into the forest, while the smarter ones climbed onto the horses which once belonged to the dead cavalrymen that Yan Liqiang defeated. In just the blink of an eye, all of them vanished from sight.

……