They thought that the witchcraft arrow was unparalleled. And yet, before the old man who suddenly appeared, it was unbelievably fragile.
The blue palm seal exceeded their expectations.
The hundreds of cultivators struck with their palms again. The witchcraft purple orbs shot forward again.
Alas, the blue palm seal advanced unimpeded, destroying the purple orbs.
The witchcraft cultivator at the lead widened his eyes in shock. He looked at the huge palm seal incredulously. He wanted to retreat and leave their formation, but it was already too late.
Boom!
The palm seal struck the shaman.
The others behind the shaman looked up. They saw the palm seal hitting the shaman as though it was swatting a fly.
Brain matter rained down. The shaman was immediately crushed into a meat patty!
The witchcraft cultivators in the palm seal’s path were injured and dropped to the ground. Even those who were lightly grazed by the palm seal were not spared.
The others scattered like a platter of loose sand.
This palm strike took out close to 100 individuals!
The dense formation caused them to pay a heavy price.
They rearranged themselves and looked up as they hovered in the air.
The old man above them was looking down at them with an almighty air as he leisurely stroked his beard.
They were filled with fear, wondering about the old man’s identity when they saw many cultivators appearing behind the old man in a row. “Fall back!”
Lu Zhou said, “Take them down.”
“Alright! I’ll go first…” Mingshi Yin was to first to jump into action. He dove at the enemies at lightning speed.
Soon after, Pan Litian, Leng Luo, Little Yuan’er, and Duanmu Sheng followed suit.
Conch stayed by Lu Zhou’s side. She dared not attack since she did not know how to fight.
The witchcraft cultivators were like a platter of loose sand. They were not a match for these people.
Miserable cries rang in the air as the witchcraft cultivators plummeted from the skies.
In less than 15 minutes, all the shamans were taken down. Most of them were dead. The captives numbered less than 100.
“Lock them up in Liang Province’s prison. Seal their cultivation bases,” Lu Zhou ordered.
“Understood!”
At this moment, Lu Zhou waved at Ji Liang.
Neigh! Neigh! Neigh!
Ji Liang obediently flew to Lu Zhou’s side. Despite being clearly exhausted, both physically and mentally, it seemed happy to return to its master’s side.
Lu Zhou looked at Conch and said, “Ask Ji Liang the questions that I have…”
“Mhm.” Conch walked up to the horse. She directed the questions to it.
Ji Liang merely neighed. Sometimes, its neigh was long, sometimes, it was short.
Although the others could not understand what was said, the girl and the horse did seem like they were having a conversation. Conch was even laughing.
“What did it say?” Lu Zhou asked. ‘To think that I need someone else to communicate with my own horse. This is awkward.’
Conch said, “Master… It said that it brought Second Senior Brother to a place far away… But there were many who wanted to capture them. Hence, Ji Liang drew the enemies away and was separated from Second Senior Brother.”
Lu Zhou asked, “Does it know where Yu Shangrong is?”
“It said that Second Senior Brother was still guarding the quagmire when it drew the enemies away. When it went back to look for him, he was no longer there. It doesn’t know where Second Senior Brother went.”
“It doesn’t know?” Lu Zhou frowned.
Conch said, “But, it said that it knows how to find him. It’s just that it doesn’t want to tell me.”
No wonder that Conch laughed. Ji Liang knew how to withhold information as well?
Lu Zhou looked at Ji Liang and said, “If you don’t tell Conch, how am I supposed to save that rascal? Can your conscience live with it if that rascal dies?”
Neigh! Neigh! Neigh!
“It said that it doesn’t have a conscience.”
“…” Lu Zhou frowned and said in a low voice, “Impudent!” The soundwave was quite powerful when he reprimanded Ji Liang.
Conch and Ji Liang started.
Ji Liang huffed before it neighed.
The others, naturally, could not understand it.
Conch said, “It said that Bi An can find Second Senior Brother. Bi An can follow his scent!”
Bi An?
“Ji Liang doesn’t like the big guy, Bi An.”
There could not be two tigers on a mountain, unless they were of different sexes. On top of that, these two were different species.
Lu Zhou nodded and waved his sleeve.
Ji Liang sped toward the forest of Liang Province, searching for a resting place.
When Ji Liang was gone, Bi An arrived.
At this moment, Si Wuya said, “Ji Liang’s proposal of tracking down Second Senior Brother by his scent is a good idea… but… the Roulians and the people of Lou Lan stationed many of their soldiers east of Heaven’s Moat. They’re our greatest obstacle in our quest to cross Heaven’s Moat.”
“In that case, we’ll clear the obstacles.”
In the Lou Lan campground.
The hundreds of shamans had not returned, and the others were beginning to worry.
Two generals were pacing outside a tent.
“General, this is bad… The 300 shamans are all gone!”
“They’re defeated?”
The general was meant to replace Bazir. When he heard this, his old face fell. He ordered, “Retreat! Now!”
Lou Lan’s army retreated from the east of Heaven’s Moat in less than an hour. They traveled north and returned to the west of Heaven’s Moat through Rouli.
Inside Karol’s campground.
“General, we’ve received a report that Lou Lan’s 300 shamans had given chase too far in and are completely annihilated!”
When he heard this, General Karol was not shocked. Instead, he guffawed and said, “They deserve it… Even Bazir didn’t dare to venture too far into enemy lands. Them?”
“The rest has pulled back from Heaven’s Moat!”
“They retreated?” Karol was shocked.
At this moment, a subordinate came running in and said, “General, this is bad! Great Yan’s Liang Province’s garrison general is challenging you outside the campground!”
Karol frowned. “How audacious! They should be grateful I didn’t challenge them. How dare they challenge me?! I’ll go out and meet them!”
Karol walked out of the tent. Before he exited the tent, he could already hear the sounds of battle drums in the distance. This meant the Roulian campground was boosting up the morale of its troops. He walked out with an imposing and impressive air.
When he stepped out of the campground, his four deputy generals bowed at the same time. “General.”
“What’s the situation?”
“Someone’s challenging you.”
“Open the gates! We’ll ride out to meet them!”
“Understood!”
They opened the crude gates.
Karol and his four deputies leaped on their warhorses and headed for the frontlines.
“Today shall be the day where I slay Great Yan!”
“We’ll follow you to our deaths, general!”
From the western campground, they sped eastward with the sun behind their backs.
The hooves of the warhorses stirred up clouds of dust.
The frontlines.
Up to 10,000 Roulians wielded spears and rushed forth in groups.
Yet, the group standing before them numbered less than 100.
“Master, the provocation worked.” Si Wuya walked up to Lu Zhou.
“Good.” Lu Zhou stroked his beard while the other hand rested on his back. His eyes were fierce as he looked ahead.
The 10,000 Roulian warriors waited as they face their enemies.
“Great Yan’s greatest elite?! You think that you can face my 1,000,000-men army? That dog of a Great Yan strategist, Si Wuya, come out!”
“General Karol will be here shortly. I advise you to surrender now!” Another officer from the other side taunted from the back.
At this moment, a Roulian soldier ran to the front. He bowed and said, “General Karol is here!”
The 10,000 Roulian soldiers cleared a path immediately.
From afar, General Karol spurred his steed forward as he advanced to the frontlines, leaving clouds of dust behind him.
The Roulian soldiers fell to one knee. “Welcome, General Karol!”
“Welcome, General Karol!”
Rouli’s war god had arrived!