Chapter 386: Peerless Brigand Soldiers! (2)
Translator: Zen Translations Editor: Zen Translations
Shangguan Fei’er muttered in a voice that only Zhou Weiqing could hear. “You truly sound like a bandit head now.”
Zhou Weiqing turned to her and said jauntily: “Not just any bandit, a bandit soldier. The peerless bandit soldiers of the Peerless Battalion!”
At this point, Shen Yi had returned to the Company of heavy cavalry, crying out angrily: “First Heavy Cavalry Company, prepare to charge!”
The clang of armour sounded out in an almost orderly fashion. For heavy cavalry, their selection and training were the strictest of all army units, and having received their orders, they swiftly made preparation to charge.
“Battalion Commander Shen Yi, are we really going to charge?” The First Heavy Cavalry Company Company Leader quickly nudged his warhorse forward and asked in a low tone.
Shen Yi gritted her teeth and said: “These ruffian bastards not only do not plan on returning the equipment, they actually dared to mock and take liberties with me. If I do not pay them back, my surname is not Shen!”
“But… Regiment Commander asked us here in order to threaten them, not to actually take action. If we charge, it will be difficult to answer to the northern command, especially if we sustain any injuries.”
Shen Yi said angrily: “Are you in charge or am I in charge? If there are any problems or charges, I will bear them.” As she said that, she drew her sword and pointed towards the ruffian soldiers, shouting out loud: “Charge!!!”
As the Company of heavy cavalry started charging, Zhou Weiqing could see clearly from his vantage position that even despite charging, they were in a neat formation.
Fifty of the heavy cavalry soldiers in a row; a total of two rows. For the first row, each soldier was about six metres apart. The second row was similar, but with each soldier right between two soldiers of the first row. That way, if the first row’s charge was stopped, it would not affect the second row’s charge. These were definitely highly trained powerful soldiers.
Five hundred metres was more than enough distance for the cavalry units to build momentum, and though they only numbered a hundred, they thundered along like a wave of steel.
One should never underestimate a Company of heavy cavalry. If they faced infantry soldiers who did not have any preparation, just a hundred of them alone could carve a path through an entire infantry Regiment.
The Ruffian Battalion soldiers were getting nervous at this time. Although they were confident in their own abilities, facing such a wave of steel still caused their faces to change. They were all experienced soldiers, and naturally knew the power of the heavy cavalry charge. Man, steed and equipment, the sheer weight of all that, along with the impetus and momentum from their speed… a charging heavy cavalry soldier at full speed was able to defeat a lower ranked Physical Jewel Master.
Zhou Weiqing casually lifted his right hand, an icy mist appeared in a faint flash of light, along with the Overlord Bow.
Shen Yi chose for the heavy cavalry soldiers to charge instead of shooting their longbow. After all, to ordinary archers, five hundred yards 1 was far beyond their range, and in her eyes, the Ruffian Battalion was merely a motley crew without disciple. In terms of understanding of the Ruffian Battalion, she could not compare to her sister Shen Bu.
Very soon, the heavy cavalry soldiers had reached about three hundred yards from them. That distance was still beyond most ordinary longbow archers.
At that moment, Zhou Weiqing burst into action. Striking the ground with the tip of his feet, his entire body leaped into midair like a sleek hunting cheetah. In the middle of that, the Overlord Bow had already been pulled to a full crescent. This time, he did not use any arrows; instead a thick white light gathered on the bowstring in the shape of an arrow, blue light mixed within, and in a swift motion, it flew out like a bolt of lightning.
As Zhou Weiqing’s power had grown, so too had his archery and the usage of his abilities with the Overlord Bow. In truth, after reaching the Heavenly Shen Energy Stage, he was already able to condense Heavenly Energy into arrows. However, that took quite a toll on Heavenly Energy, and he would not use it often. At this moment, what he wanted was the shock and awe factor; not against his opponents, but to the ruffian soldiers of his own Peerless Battalion. That was the reason why he actually used his Heavenly Energy to condense into arrows.
As one might imagine, arrows made out of Heavenly Energy were far more powerful than ordinary arrows, especially with Skills imbued within, allowing the Skills to have a greater effect than normal.
This time, Zhou Weiqing only imbued a single Skill, the Lightning Explosive Palm. It was the Overlord Lightning Explosive Arrow.
The speed of an arrow fired from the Overlord Bow was indeed terrifying, and almost at the same instant that he released the bowstring, the arrow had already reached its target. The Peerless Battalion soldiers could only see the faint blue/purple afterimage left behind in the air, before a violent explosion rocked the entire valley.
The massive explosion did not have much of an effect on the humans, but it had a huge effect on the horses. Although these warhorses were all well trained, they were still animals after all. Along with the explosion, the charging Company slowed noticeably, especially the horses in front which reared up on their hind feet, neighing loudly in panic.
Zhou Weiqing’s arrow had been extremely precise, not hitting any of the heavy cavalry soldiers or their horses, instead striking directly in front of them about ten metres away, causing a huge explosion and a resulting pit.
As soon as he had released that first arrow, Zhou Weiqing had not waited for it to strike and jumped down the hill, releasing his second arrow at the same time. The second arrow was shot directly into the sky, also a blue-purple colour.
Another explosion rang out almost right after the first, not quite as loud as the first, but a huge mass of compact but fine bolts of blue-purple lightning crackled as they descended from the sky. The area of effect was not too overly huge, but still more than enough to cover the hundred heavy cavalry soldiers. It was his Thousand Lightning Strikes Skill.
The Thousand Lightning Strikes Skill did not have much destructive power at all, but it had one of the widest area of effects. Furthermore, the metal of their armour were all electricity conductors, and as soon as the Thousand Lightning Strikes appeared, a strange sight could be seen.
All the charging heavy cavalry soldiers and their warhorses started trembling, their speed slowly considerably at once. Their once-neat formation was scattered, and the intense numb sensation caused the soldiers to drop their heavy lances.
Zhou Weiqing laughed heartily and shouted out: “Brothers, what are you waiting for?! Go rob them all!”
Although he had only shot two arrows, the result was clear, and all the watching ruffian soldiers were bedazzled. Just two arrows!! He had actually stopped the charge of an entire Company of heavy cavalry soldiers with two arrows, and broke up their formation!
It was time to flog the cur that’s fallen into the water2, and such a thing was definitely a speciality of these ruffian soldiers. How could they possibly let go of such an opportunity! Led by Wei Feng and the other Company Leaders, they all charged down the hill like a locust swarm. They still remembered Zhou Weiqing’s words – whatever they robbed would belong to them.
At this moment, Shen Yi was in a mess. As a Low Level Zun Stage Heavenly Jewel Master, the Thousand Lightning Strikes did not have much effect on her. However, she had not imagined that Zhou Weiqing would actually have Lightning Attribute Skills, and that their charge would be stopped so easily. Seeing the ruffian battalion soldiers swarm down the hill towards them, a sinking feeling appeared in her heart.