Clang! Clang! Clang!

The arrow towers lined on the side of Immortality City’s main road were currently Candle Dragon’s strongest ally. Metal arrows kept pouring down from the sky, causing loud ringing sounds to reverberate in the air as they bounced off my Crimson Rock Dragon Armor. Since my Defense was higher than most players’, I could endure the rain of arrows for now. The magic knights had their shields for protection, so even though the arrow towers were putting them through the wringer, they were able to survive.

However, it was undeniable that these arrow towers were giving us a huge headache.

As I slashed my blade thrice, three streaks of flaming sword energy shot out from it. My Burning Blade Slash shot straight into a crowd of Viper Dragoons and exploded. Three consecutive damage numbers popped up over their heads and at least a dozen of them collapsed to the floor dead.

Ssssssss...

A viper’s head lunged at the Armored Ice Qilin Horse, and it was clear that it was trying to get a hit in on my mount before its rider and I properly engaged in battle. However, the Agility of my Ice Qilin Horse far exceeded that Viper Dragoon’s expectations. It simply flicked its head to the side before thrusting the sharp blade strapped to its head right into the viper’s neck! Blood immediately sprayed into the air as that viper received instant karma for its actions.

God fucking dammit, my mount is an Earth Rank boss mount, so give it some damn respect! There was no way a Purple Gold Rank rare mount could even hope to compare to it! Trying to use a special mount ability in front of my Armored Ice Qilin Horse was simply courting death!

My sword flickered through the air and cleanly sliced off a sinister-looking viper head. Fuck, the special attack of these Viper Dragoons was really disgustingly powerful. It had utterly devastated our Cyan Tiger Cavalry.

Clang, clang, clang...

The sound of blade tearing through metal rang out in the air over and over again as both sides got bogged down in a bloody and desperate battle. Many Viper Dragoons collapsed to the ground dead, but our Cyan Tiger Cavalry wasn’t faring much better. Soon, the entire street was stained with fresh blood as our Cyan Tiger Cavalry was slowly being whittled down by the enemy arrow towers. Metal arrows transfixed the bodies of many of them as they slumped to the ground in death, a grisly sight to behold.

The Phantom Wolf King’s claws danced in the air as it rampaged through the enemy riders. It practically ignored the attack of the vipers as its Claw of the Storm ripped into their bodies. It used Purgatory Storm to devastating effect whenever it came off cooldown, greatly bolstering our offensive efforts. However, Candlelight Shadow’s pet, the Bloodthirsty Lion King, was an incredibly dominant force on the battlefield too! At least fifty of our Cyan Tiger Cavalrymen had died beneath that beast’s cruel fangs.

Gui Guzi, Heaven’s Rain, and Diamond Dust had activated their Famous General Skills a long time ago. They led their Knight God and Knight General–empowered squads forward, charging through the battlefield. They ignored the enemy Famous Generals, Candlelight Shadow, Blue Sky Scar, and Tempest Shadow, because personal strength was always relegated to the background in these large-scale clashes between cavalrymen. While powerful players like Candlelight Shadow and I could make a dent in the enemy’s numbers, we wouldn’t be able to turn the tide of battle. I had experienced that first- hand against Hall of Immortality’s Ghost Riders in that valley. In the end, the strength of the overall formation would prevail over any individual player.

……

I opened up my friend’s list and quickly sent Li Chengfeng a message: “Chengfeng, it’s your turn now. Move out with your forces and destroy all of the arrow towers near the eastern wall. Our forces will only be safe once you take out those arrow towers. You need to quickly dispatch those arrow towers and link up with us as soon as possible. Fucking hell, Candle Dragon’s Viper Dragoons are insanely powerful and we don’t have enough Cyan Tiger Cavalrymen left. We won’t be able to hold out for much longer, I need you guys to reinforce us!”

Li Chengfeng swiftly replied: “Okay, Beiming Xue and Chaos Moon are with me. We’ll start the mission right away. Stranger of Three Lifetimes is also destroying the arrow towers with her own team. We should be done in ten minutes tops! These arrow towers don’t have much durability or Defense, so it’s quite easy to destroy them once we get within melee range!”

“Yeah, watch out for attacks from God’s Dance and Transient Smoke and Clouds, but do whatever it takes to destroy all of those arrow towers. If you can’t do that, we won’t be able to regain our footing. I think that the entire Cyan Tiger Cavalry is going to be buried in this place. Those motherfucking snake riders…”

Li Chengfeng laughed: “Hahaha, don’t be too heartbroken! These sacrifices will definitely be worth it! Besides, everyone who came here with you already prepared themselves for death!”

“I got it! Okay, hurry up and accomplish your mission!”

“Roger that!”

……

The moment we charged, we heard the earth-shaking sounds of battle ring through the air on the other side of the city. Li Chengfeng, Beiming Xue, Chaos Moon, Du Thirteen, and Yamete had finally launched their attack. Squads of riders and warriors pressed in on the arrow towers and started furiously hacking at their base. This was undeniable proof that money didn’t always buy quality. In fact, Li Chengfeng downed one of these shoddily-built arrow towers with just a few swings of his blade.

Rooooaaaar!

An arrow in the shape of a dragon streaked through the air and destroyed a dozen arrow towers in one go! Even the foundations of these arrow towers had been uprooted and blown to bits! That was the Outstanding Property of Beiming Xue’s Dragonbone String, Proud Dragon Arrow! This attack was really OP! It would kill anything that was unfortunate enough to be caught in its path!

As the arrow towers fell one after the other, the pressure we were facing on this side of the battlefield lessened greatly. However, the battle between both sides still raged on as fierce as ever. Both the Cyan Tiger Cavalry and the Viper Dragoon Cavalry were equally matched and they continued to struggle against each other as the battle slowly edged toward the center of the city. We had battled fiercely against them from the start of the great plaza road all the way to its end, as the riders on both sides kept charging at one another.

The riders from both sides would immediately wheel around after each charge and as I turned my Armored Ice Qilin Horse, I flicked the fresh blood off my sharp blade, mix of human and snake blood a crescent streak headed for the ground. I had already lost count of how many Viper Dragoons I had killed. However, I knew that I had definitely killed more enemy players than either Candlelight Shadow or Blue Sky Scar had!

As both sides continued to clash, all the Viper Dragoons immediately backed away the moment they caught sight of my ID. Not a single enemy player was willing to match blades with me, and even Candlelight Shadow, Blue Sky Scar, and Tempest Shadow had consciously or unconsciously avoided me as I charged forward. They all knew the risk of dying against me was far too big in a head-on clash.

Gulp!

Gui Guzi swiftly chugged a health potion and He Yi also took the chance to drink one of my Rank 9 Saint Spirit Potions that recovered both HP and MP. They soon charged back into battle after that. A player couldn’t afford to not cycle their skills as quickly as they could during a continuous running battle, so these kinds of battles were very taxing on everyone’s MP bars. Furthermore, magic knights had immense survivability and sustain on the battlefield. All of them had the Health Recovery skill, which restored 25% of their HP over ten seconds, and the War God Recovery skill, which restored 100% of their HP over sixty seconds. This was the main reason why a group of magic knights could run amok without a group of priests backing them up.

“Haha, it’s gotten a lot easier to kill these bastards…” Gui Guzi said with a hearty laugh.

I nodded my head and replied, “Let’s continue. Most of the nearby arrow towers have already been destroyed. Let’s keep up the good work, everyone! Continue charging forward! Fuck, let’s just force a decisive battle with Candle Dragon’s ace cavalry troop right here and now! We’ll show Candlelight Shadow who’s boss!”

“Alright!”

Heaven’s Rain raised her sword in the air and shouted in a sweet and girlish voice, “Friends of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, press on!”

The Ice Qilin Horse reared up on its back hooves and let out a loud neigh before it shot forward like a bolt of lightning. My HP had been fully restored, so I charged forward once more with my clone, which still had half of its HP left, and the Phantom Wolf King! It was time to decide the victor!

……

Bang!

Thousand Ice Slash exploded in the midst of a group of Viper Dragoons and froze most of them where they stood. Burning Blade Slash soon followed, and three blades of fiery sword energy soon smashed into the hapless snake riders, causing terrifying damage numbers to pop up above their heads.

14902!

18929!

24283!

It was clear that my attack power was too high for them to overcome. In fact, the most damage one of these Viper Dragoons had dealt me was 4000. Meanwhile, I was hitting them back for four to five times the damage. Though this was mainly because of the 200% Attack buff that Martial God gave me.

As for Candlelight Shadow, his Encourage VII and his Tactics stat, which was over 400, gave him an Attack buff that was higher than 100%. However, it was still a far cry from my Famous General Skill.

A bloody battle raged around the Phantom Wolf King as its claws danced in the air. The Viper Dragoons that were unfortunate enough to be its victims let out miserable wails as they dropped to the ground. A party of one man, one clone, and one wolf was wreaking such utter havoc inside the enemy lines that all the Viper Dragoons unconsciously recoiled back from them in shock and terror.

The Cyan Tiger Cavalry continued to relentlessly charge in from behind me. The battle had lasted so long that the durability of our equipment was reaching critical levels. Our weapons were nicked and chipped all over, but not a single person was willing to retreat. Everyone still continued charging forward relentlessly because we all knew that many legends would be birthed from this battle between Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls and Candle Dragon. The one who emerged the victor would be crowned the new Martial God of China!

What were our lives worth in the face of such grandiose dreams?!

……

Blood had pooled around our feet as countless brave cavalrymen continued to fall. Their bodies soon turned unrecognizable as the battle raged on around their bodies. Potions and equipment had piled up in stacks, but no one from Candle Dragon or Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls even bothered to pick them up. If someone gave in to the temptation and broke ranks to pick up equipment, the entire formations would crumble and lead to defeat. Both guilds had far too much discipline to do such a thing.

The slaughter went on for nearly an hour and all of the arrow towers near the eastern wall had been destroyed as well. Everyone could feel that the battle between both cavalry troops would soon reach a resolution as well.

“Huff, huff, huff…”

Gui Guzi roughly gasped for air and it looked as if his Rainbow had been bathed in a river of blood.

My eyes were calm and composed as I sat astride my Armored Ice Qilin Horse. The Cyan Netherworld Sword dipped low, fresh blood slowly trickled down the groove of its blade. The blood-colored Soul Suppressing Cloak seemed even redder than usual and even my black armor was turning the color of blood.

The white battle robes of He Yi, Heaven’s Rain, and Diamond Dust had also been stained crimson, but they barely even noticed it. Everyone’s eyes were filled with grim determination. We all knew that we needed to strike a telling blow against Candle Dragon right here and now. If not, all of our effort would go to waste.

“Charge!”

Upon hearing my fierce command, the ragged remnants of the Cyan Tiger Cavalry charged forward once more. I waved a hand in the air and resummoned my double and the Phantom Wolf King. Much to our enemy’s dismay, they immediately used Purple Dragon Howl and Purgatory Storm again. Purple Dragon Howl was once again the star of the show as it mercilessly ravaged the enemy riders.

Thud, thud, thud...

Three magic knights fell to the ground one after the other and all of them had these words floating above their shoulders. “Thirty-six Heavenly Spirits”!

……

The muscles on Candlelight Shadow’s face spasmed as he roared in furious discontent, “Fuck you! Lu Chen, you shameless bastard! He actually… actually used such a despicable strategy! Fuck!”

Tempest Shadow gasped for breath. “Of the Thirty-six Heavenly Spirits… only six remain. This battle has taken a terrible toll on us. Is this… it for us?”

Tempest Shadow’s words sent a shudder through Candlelight Shadow’s body. His expression turned even more sinister as he grimly grasped the Blade of Scarlet Flames.

Blue Sky Scar immediately yelled at Tempest Shadow, “Stop spouting nonsense, you dumbass! What do you mean by ‘Is this it for us’? Take a good long look at our forces! We still have 2000 fierce Viper Dragoons left! Now take a good look at Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls! They… they don’t even have 1500 Cyan Tiger Cavalrymen. Both sides have acquitted themselves well and neither guild has been able to gain an advantage over the other…”

Tempest Shadow replied, “But…”

“But what!? Just shut up and continue fighting!”

“Alright!”

……

Both sides clashed yet again, using their own blood to chronicle this terrible, legendary battle.