Chapter 578: The Decisive Battle! Longqinba Retreats!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“Jiaosiluo is dead! Duan Wuzong is injured! All generals, hear my order! Ignore Longqinba! Full advance! Wipe out the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army!”
While everyone was chasing that ‘Mengshe Zhao soldier’, a thunderous voice suddenly exploded through the air.
Everyone was extremely familiar with this voice. It was Wang Chong’s.
While the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army might have been indifferent the first time Wang Chong said those words, when he repeated them in the languages of Ü-Tsang and Mengshe Zhao, everything instantly changed.
Boom!
With a startling rumble, the entire Tang army suddenly underwent a transformation. All the Tang formations gave up the pursuit of Longqinba and began charging down the mountain, acting like the leader of the Five Tiger Generals simply did not exist.
“Kiiiill!”
At the same time, the tens of thousands of Tang soldiers stretching from the middle of the mountain to the summit, who had all been following their orders and not participating in the battle, suddenly yelled out and surged down the mountain like a wave.
From the moment Jiaosiluo led his Tibetan soldiers up the mountain, from the moment Longqinba appeared, the nature of this battle had changed. This was no longer some probing offense, but a true battle.
Buzz!
The Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army that had originally been chasing Wang Chong finally began to appear fearful. Even the bravest of these warriors began to show fear in their eyes when they saw the fresh Tang troops rushing down the mountain in a flood of steel.
The voice had been completely correct. Duan Wuzong had left the battlefield with heavy injures while Jiaosiluo had been killed. Meanwhile, the only commander left who could fight and lead the army was Longqinba, who was up the mountain trying to take down Zhao Wujiang.
The Whitestone Corps and the Tibetan army were truly a host of dragons without a leader!
Regardless of Longqinba’s initial plan, from the moment he infiltrated the Tang army and ambushed Zhao Wujiang, he had taken leave of his own troops.
Longqinba’s existence was currently unrelated to the state of the army!
“Damn it!”
In the roiling tide of troops, Longqinba’s figure was like that of a fierce beast, his domineering aura inspiring dread. But when he saw that tide of steel howling down the mountain, Longqinba couldn’t help but pale as a hint of apprehension entered his heart.
A sufficient number of ants could even kill an elephant. In the current situation, no matter how strong he was, he would soon end up too deep in the enemy ranks. Once figures like Xianyu Zhongtong and Wang Yan appeared, it would be too late to retreat.
Although Wang Chong had said to ignore Longqinba, this order actually made Longqinba even more fearful.
“Hmph, no matter what, I’ll think about what to do after killing Zhao Wujiang!”
Longqinba’s expression hardened as he made his decision. No matter what decision the Great Tang made, he first had to kill Zhao Wujiang. With Jiaosiluo dead, Zhao Wujiang also had to die.
Besides, he had suffered heavy injuries and wasn’t far from death!
Bzzt!
Longqinba brought his palms together. Clangclangclang! There was a series of deafening metal clanks as if gears were coming to life. A massive ten-armed bodhisattva of dark golden hue manifested behind Longqinba. Its ten arms unfurled like ten sharp swords, appearing like some sort of metallic sun in the air.
At the same time, a massive grinding came from beneath Longqinba’s feet. With the support of a massive black Halo of Thorns, Longqinba became as strong as a demonic god.
Boom!
Longqinba swayed before he suddenly swept forward like a black gale.
Rumble! Wild winds brashly swept over the mountain, and powerful waves of energy swept aside Luo Ji, Xu Andun, the Black Dragon Bandit elites, and the surrounding Annan Protectorate army soldiers.
Longqinba’s strength was now at a truly stupefying level!
Clang!
A cold light flashed through the air as Longqinba leaped forward, the scimitar in his hand leaving a long scar through the air as it hurtled toward Zhao Wujiang ten-some zhang away.
So fierce was this scimitar that it immediately stirred a fierce wind and seemed ready to tear open the skies.
Longqinba’s ambush and the injury Zhao Wujiang had received from baiting Jiaosiluo left him utterly drained of Stellar Energy and unable to dodge.
Just when Zhao Wujiang was about to die to Longqinba’s scimitar…
Boom!
There was a glint of light as a sword infused with Stellar Energy smashed against Longqinba’s scimitar. The force of this collision sent the wielder of this sword flying back along with his sword. However, Longqinba’s certain-kill strike had been thrown off course.
Crash!
Hitting the ground, the muscular figure of an Annan Protectorate army general staggered back a few steps, his chest heaving. It appeared that he had come off much worse in this clash.
“Lin Wushou!” Luo Ji yelped in surprise, an elated look on his face as he charged forward with Xu Andun and the rest of the Black Dragon Bandit elites. Together with the high-ranking general Lin Wushou, they opposed Longqinba.
“Hmph, it’s useless. You lot aren’t enough to stop me!”
Longqinba’s eyes flashed with a fierce light as a majestic Stellar Energy began to roil through his body like a storm. He didn’t have much time left, but it was enough time to kill these few people.
In a flash, just when Longqinba was about to commence a mass slaughter, a voice suddenly rang out. “Luo Ji, Xu Andun, Zhang Hu, attack his right rib together! Lin Wushou, an annihilating strike two inches to the left of the Baihui point on his head!!”
Luo Ji was the first to respond. Boom! The halo under Luo Ji’s feet flashed as the thick silver spear left his hand and instantly arrived at Longqinba’s right rib.
Lin Wushou reacted right after. With a rumble, a light stabbed straight toward Longqinba’s head.
“Milord!”
“Young Master!”
……
The last to react were Xu Andun and the Black Dragon Bandit elites as they finally recognized Wang Chong’s voice. Clangclangclang! The seven people immediately shot forward, the Wootz Steel weapons in their hands slashing toward the muscular figure of Longqinba.
And behind these seven was the final attacker: Wang Chong.
Clang! A stream of light zigzagged through the crowd. Before anyone could react, Wang Chong had come with his sword, using his most powerful technique.
“Leaping Dragon Art!”
A massive flood dragon seemed to coil up into the air. Upon reaching a certain height, it suddenly streaked down like a bolt of lightning, crackling down over Longqinba’s head.
Boom!
There was a heaven-shaking boom as Luo Ji’s spear, Lin Wushou’s sword, Wang Chong’s Leaping Dragon Art, and the combined attacks of Xu Andun and the Black Dragon elites were all stopped by an invisible barrier.
In a split second, a majestic and hardy wall of Stellar Energy had expanded out of Longqinba’s body.
Hiss!
A chorus of gasps came from the surrounding area as all the Annan Protectorate army soldiers who witnessed this sight felt a shiver run down their backs. Longqinba’s reserves of Stellar Energy had reached an unthinkable level.
Although he didn’t have a sturdy transformation like Jiaosiluo’s Swordfanged Beast, he had been able to rely on his vigorous reserves of Stellar Energy to achieve a similar result.
Whoosh! While everyone was stunned at Longqinba’s mighty Stellar Energy, there was a flash of bloody light. Without any warning, a stream of Sword Qi pierced through Longqinba’s many layers of Stellar Energy, shooting straight toward his head.
Longqinba almost immediately tilted his head, causing this lethal strike to miss him by a hair. The Sword Qi instead struck his back. Shlick! A wound suddenly appeared, blood gushing forth.
“Stellar Energy Piercer!”
Wang Chong’s strike had actually managed to trigger the rare effect of the Stellar Energy Piercer.
“What martial art is this?” Longqinba roared. Even someone of his composure couldn’t help but pale at this point.
As someone raised by the Great Snow Mountain Holy Temple, he had seen all kinds of martial arts, yet he had never encountered such a thing. His Stellar Energy had clearly stopped Wang Chong’s attack, yet that stream of Sword Qi had inexplicably managed to get through all of it.
Even Luo Ji couldn’t do such a thing, yet the weakling Wang Chong had succeeded.
If he hadn’t reacted so promptly, Wang Chong’s Sword Qi would have struck a critical point on his head.
Bzzt! Instead of answering, Wang Chong unsheathed a sword from his waist with his left hand and stabbed it toward Longqinba. The more times he attacked, the more chances the Stellar Energy Piercer would have to trigger.
Although he still didn’t have a complete grasp over it, he was certain of one thing: as long as he attacked four times, the Stellar Energy Piercer would undoubtedly activate on the fifth attempt.
This was the best method to deal with an expert with reserves of Stellar Energy as deep as Longqinba’s.
This was also Wang Chong’s only way of threatening him.
This time, however, before Wang Chong could strike, Longqinba pushed out with his arms, causing a fierce wave of tyrannical Stellar Energy to explode from his body.
There was only a massive boom as Wang Chong, Luo Ji, Lin Wushou, Xu Andun… everyone was jolted away.
Longqinba was inconceivably powerful.
But this time, despite the success of his attack, no pleasure could be seen on Longqinba’s face, nor any of that previous confidence.
Damn it, this brat can have his formidable military arts, but where did he learn that strange technique from!
Longqinba stood like an iron tower on the mountain slope, his dreadful eyes burning with killing intent as he stared at Wang Chong in the back of the crowd. Wang Chong’s appearance had suddenly made this battle extremely disadvantageous to him.
It wasn’t merely because of Wang Chong’s strange ‘Stellar Energy Piercer’ that couldn’t be defended against. More importantly, the places Wang Chong had pointed out moments before were the flaws in his defense that he had still not properly tempered.
The martial arts of the Great Snow Mountain Holy Temple were famed for their power, but they were also famed for being difficult to cultivate. Despite cultivating them for ten-some years, achieving great success, he was still clearly quite some distance from perfection.
And his right rib and the Baihui point on his head were precisely the locations of his flaws.
Wang Chong had even managed to specifically pinpoint his weakness as being two inches to the left of the Baihui point, which truly made Longqinba apprehensive.
That location was his fatal weakness.
A fierce killing intent instantly began to boil within Longqinba’s mind. But Wang Chong had already made ready, positioning himself behind Luo Ji and Lin Wushou. Even if Longqinba wanted to strike, his chances of success were zero.
“Longqinba, withdraw!”
A voice rang out like a peal of thunder. At the base of the mountain, the looming figure of Huoshu Huicang, the unmoving mountain, had suddenly taken a step forward and issued an order in Tibetan.
Bzzt!
This order was so sudden that let alone Longqinba, even Wang Chong was shocked.
Longqinba had been doubtful at the start, but he quickly noticed something. Turning around, he jumped forward and began to charge down the mountain without another word.