"Little Dance, watch out!" Candlelight Shadow yelled. He knew just how powerful Frightening Slash was; he knew that it was the bane of all mages. The moment a mage was hit by Frightening Slash, they were basically on the brink of death. Blink and Magic Shield both required MP to use, so a mage with no MP would be like a fish thrown out of the water.

I used my superior to speed to practically ignore God’s Dance’s attempts to evade me. My sword flashed through the air as a spiral of indigo energy appeared around its blade. This was the wind-up for Universe Break!

"Ah…"

God’s Dance cried out in alarm as fear and shock filled her eyes.

It was at this moment that a black shadow suddenly barreled in front of her. A huge golden shield heavily slammed into the ground in front of God’s Dance. Someone was actually trying to save this damsel in distress!

Puu!

The Cyan Netherworld Sword bored into the huge shield like a power drill! Universe Break ignored 90% of a target’s Defense, it wasn’t something a shield could defend against. It wouldn’t make a difference if the one blocking was the CGL Hall of Famer Tempest Shadow, the result would still be the same.

29092!

Universe Break was even more OP when it was used while I was mounted. A single blow had taken out nearly half of Tempest Shadow’s HP. But I wasn’t done yet! I immediately unleashed Burning Blade Slash right after that!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Tempest Shadow successfully defended against the three consecutive strikes, but he still lost a huge chunk of health. Only a few seconds had gone by, but Tempest Shadow’s health had already dropped to critical levels.

Tempest Shadow had realized this as well, and a look of shock flashed through his eyes as he cursed, "Fuck me, Lu Chen’s attack power is absurdly high…"

Beams of white light rapidly fell on his head. Candle Dragon’s priests had pulled Tempest Shadow’s back to half. However, it was at this moment that he ate Stranger of Three Lifetimes’ Galaxy Storm.

……

"Hold your ground!" Candlelight Shadow thrust his blade ruthlessly into a Cyan Tiger Cavalryman’s throat, causing blood to spray into the air. He wiped away the blood that had stained his face as he yelled, "We have the arrow towers on our side while Blazing Hot Lips and Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls don’t! I need frontline fighters to hold the line! Mages, archers, don’t hold anything back! Focus on their Famous Generals and kill them one by one!"

After he said that, Candlelight Shadow’s eyes turned flat and he yelled, "Smoke and Clouds, come here! Let’s launch a combo attack!"

Candlelight Shadow turned into a blur of motion. He abruptly changed direction as his feet danced over the shattered cobblestones on top of the city wall. With a lightning quick zigzag, he dodged both Chaos Moon’s and Li Chengfeng’s attacks. His sword glinted in the light as he activated Charge and barreled toward someone in the crowd. It was the Berserk Warrior High Fighting Spirits!

Wooosh!

The Martial God hit High Fighting Spirits with a casual ease. The berserk warrior’s body shuddered as his Invincible fell to his side. Candlelight Shadow raised his Blade of Scarlet Flames, a fiery spiral appearing around the body of his sword. After that, he hit High Fighting Spirits with a Barrier Break + Blazing Purgatory Slash combo. All four strikes hit High Fighting Spirits and instantly depleted most of High Fighting Spirits’ HP, which was already above 60000.

Murong Mingyue and Moon Dew’s eyes widened in alarm as they hurriedly cast healing spells on High Fighting Spirits. Beams of white light fell on his head like rain, but Candle Dragon wasn’t going to just let our priests save his life. Transient Smoke and Clouds’ bow shuddered as twelve arrows howled out toward High Fighting Spirits. They smacked into his breastplate with a thud, instantly deleting the health that our priests had just recovered. Candlelight Shadow didn’t let up either. He stepped forward and simply swiped his sword across High Fighting Spirits’ throat.

Crack!

21092!

Crimson blood sprayed into the air as High Fighting Spirits limply sank to the ground. He had been killed just like that!

……

"Dammit! Uncle Fighting Spirits…"

Diamond Dust brandished her sharp blade and spurred her Cyan Battle Tiger forward. Her blade shot out as she hit Candlelight Shadow with a Barrier Break! A huge damage number popped up above his head. 19039!

"Heh!"

Candlelight Shadow’s lips quirked up into a small smirk. He was actually laughing at her! He abruptly spun around and grabbed the handle of Diamond Dust’s sword. He jumped forward as he pulled her sword toward him. Just as his Blade of Scarlet Flames hit Diamond Dust’s throat, a spiral of burning energy appeared around it. He used Barrier Break again!

42904!

It was a critical hit! Diamond Dust was in danger!

Candlelight Shadow surged forward, his blade pressing in fiercely. It seemed like he wasn’t going to let our lady Knight General catch a break. Blazing Purgatory Slash howled out of his sword!

Clang!

Diamond Dust backpedaled furiously as metal screeched against metal. Fortunately for her, Candlelight Shadow was staggered backward by the slash of a beautiful lady knight. He Yi had come to her rescue! Of all the female knights on the battlefield, only she could clash against Candlelight Shadow and not come out any worse for wear.

Diamond Dust’s face had gone pure white as she hurriedly urged her Cyan Battle Tiger backward so that our priests could heal her.

There was murder in Candlelight Shadow’s eyes and he sorely wanted to kill Diamond Dust and He Yi, but there were too many enemy players around him. Beiming Xue, Xu Yang, Du Thirteen, and Yamete were right behind He Yi, while Gui Guzi, Heaven’s Rain, Li Chengfeng and I were waiting on the flanks. It would be way too difficult for him to pull off a quick kill here.

He astutely chose to retreat and as he retreated back to the head of Candle Dragon’s formation, he chuckled and said, "Come at me if you have the balls!"

……

One couldn’t deny that Candlelight Shadow was an extremely intelligent person. We would suffer huge losses as long as he and his men used the arrow towers for cover.

With his HP fully restored, Tempest Shadow cockily stepped forward and yelled, "Bring it on! Candle Dragon has the Seventy-two Earthly Demons, a troop of seventy-two warriors. If you have the balls, come forward and kill all of us! If you don’t, then we’ll have no choice but to kick Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls all the way back to Sky City!" [1]

There really were a bunch of Candle Dragon players which had the guild position "Seventy-two Earthly Demons" floating above their shoulders. All of these players were warriors and their levels were extremely high. Even the lowest-leveled warrior among them was above Level 140. Furthermore, all of them were decked out in excellent gear. It was clear that Candle Dragon had created a core group of elite fighters and it was the existence of this group of fighters that prevented Li Chengfeng and Chaos Moon from penetrating their frontline.

Clang!

The shrill screech of metal on metal rang in the air as a thick iron arrow from one of the arrow towers slammed into Gui Guzi’s chest. Even though he didn’t move an inch, he still lost more than three thousand health in one go. If even a player whose Defense was his calling card had lost that much health, then one could imagine just how bad it would be for everyone else.

"What do we do, Boss Broken Halberd?" Gui Guzi said in a rather stunned voice. "Our hundred-strong cavalry troop didn’t manage to break their lines even after four charges thanks to these Seventy-two Earthly Demons. They even managed to kill quite a few of us in retaliation. Those arrow towers will nickel and dime us to death if this deadlock persists!"

Li Chengfeng chimed in as well, "Yeah. Lu Chen, we need to settle this as quickly as possible!"

I grinned as I raised my sharp sword high in the air. "Brothers and sisters, come with me! I don’t believe that we won’t be able to break the formation of those so-called Seventy-two Earthly Demons. Since Candle Dragon dared to take such a name, we have no choice but to destroy them to prove them wrong!"

The Ice Qilin Horse suddenly let out a shrill whinny after I said those words. I also took the chance to activate my Apparition Ring, and my double stealthily melted into the crowd of players that had formed up behind me.

I raised the Cyan Netherworld Sword high in the air as I yelled, "Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, for our oath and our bonds of brotherhood, charge! Kill all those who stand in our way!

The Armored Ice Qilin Horse exploded into action as it shot forward like a bolt of lightning. Gui Guzi, Heaven’s Rain, and Diamond Dust were hot on my tail. I soon formed the edge of our "spear" that drove toward Candle Dragon’s formation. This attack would decide whether we could break their defensive line or not.

……

Bang!

The Armored Ice Qilin Horse slammed into the body of a Level 144 warrior and sent him flying. After that, I raised my sword high in the air and unleashed Thousand Ice Slash!

Boom!

Ice crystals danced wildly in the air but the opposing players scattered in such smooth unison that it seemed as if their movements were synchronized. They had actually managed to dodge the splash effect of my skill. They really weren’t just a bunch of ordinary players!

They didn’t stop there! The first three warriors instantly charged up to me and hit me with Barrier Break! Fiery energy spun around their blades as they smashed into the Armored Ice Qilin Horse’s body, sending fierce stabs of pain coursing through my own body as well!

7803!

12829!

10038!

Fuck! These punks had incredible offensive power as well! They really were worthy of being members of the Seventy-two Earthly Demons that Candlelight Shadow had picked out himself. They were too OP!

I retreated two steps before springing forward. My sword shot through the air as a spiral of blazing indigo energy appeared around it! Universe Break!

Puchi!

My sword skewered the warrior closest to me and instantly one-shot him! Even if he was one of the Seventy-two Earthly Demons, he was still made of flesh and blood. I could kill him as long as my Attack was high enough!

……

Tempest Shadow roared in fury, "That punk Lu Chen is way too arrogant! Does he think that he can break the Seventy-two Earthly Demons’ formation just because he’s a sixth-promotion player? All troops around me, advance! Surround that cocksucker!"

Clang! Clang! Clang!

A group of warriors flew forward and quickly encircled me.

Li Chengfeng and Chaos Moon exchanged a quick laugh as they also arrived at the flanks of the opposing warriors. Their blades gleamed in the sun as sword energy exploded out of them!

"Reverse Scale Slash!"

"Rock Crush!"

The HP of the dozen warriors who had surrounded me dropped to critical levels in an instant. However, we weren’t anywhere close to being done. About forty yards behind me, my double, which was at full HP and MP, gave a loud shout as it thrust its cloned Cyan Netherworld Sword into the cobblestones below it. When it pulled the sword from the ground, a purple-colored cluster of divine dragon energy swelled up from the ground. When it slashed its sword forward, that cluster of energy transformed into a huge purple dragon that exploded into the enemies in front of us.

Rooooaaaar!

The world turned purple right before my Purple Dragon Howl exploded into the enemy’s midst!

……

Color drained from Candlelight Shadow’s shocked face. "Shit, we already have to defend against Lu Chen’s Purple Dragon Howl, but… but he actually had a clone that could use it as well?"

Li Chengfeng let out a hearty laugh, "Is that all it took to shock you? Since that’s the case, let me show you something else!"

When he finished speaking, the dragon warrior suddenly retreated to the edge of the walls. Energy started to swirl all around him as a magic circle started rotating beneath his feet. He looked completely magnificent as he raised his Blade of Ghastly Wind high in the air. The energy around him suddenly coalesced into the image of a coiled golden dragon and the gigantic dragon meekly coiled its head around Li Chengfeng’s arm. After that, Li Chengfeng gave a huge roar as he slashed forward, sending the golden dragon hurtling toward the enemy formation!

"Dragonblade Revolution!"

……

Rooooaaaar!

The huge golden dragon started swimming through the air and sharp blades of dragon energy started forming around its body before plummeting down from the sky. They skewered into the bodies of the Seventy-two Earthly Demons with meaty thunks, causing a string of damage numbers to pop up in the air.

17239!

16287!

18293!

……

Our attacks were too lethal! Purple Dragon Howl and Dragonblade Revolution had completely decimated Candle Dragon’s pride and joy, the "Seventy-two Earthly Demons”. More than half of them had died in less than half a minute. Candlelight Shadow’s face had turned greener than a cucumber. He raised his blade in the air and yelled, "Fucking hell, their attack power is way too crazy! Comrades, scatter into the city. Use the attacks of the arrow towers to launch attacks of opportunity!"

1. “Seventy-two Earthly Demons” is a reference to a famous Chinese novel called Water Margin. They had 108 heroes, known famously as the 108 Stars of Destiny. These 108 stars were split into two groups, the 36 Heavenly Spirits and the 72 Earthly Demons