Chapter Four Hundred and Thirty Seven – Zuo Mo’s Sneak Attack
All of Guard Camp was gathered and nervously waiting for orders. Returning to the camp, A Wen released a long breath. He finally didn’t have to be tormented under Daren’s hands.
The mood of Guard Camp wasn’t too nervous. Everyone was battle-hardened and naturally wouldn’t be nervous at the thought of battle. Adding on that Guard Camp were basically xiu slaves, they didn’t have any idea regarding things like Kun Lun. In their eyes, there was only the enemy.
They all knew that Vermillion Bird Camp had not yet gone all out.
Their mood relaxed, Guard Camp saw Zuo Mo charge in. Everyone hurried to bow.
“How’s the battle going?” Zuo Mo asked, pretending to be concerned. He wasn’t worried at all. With a battle maniac like Gongsun Shidi in charge, there was no need for him to worry.
Other people did not know about it, but he knew it well. Even an experienced Golden Battle General like Yu Heng had fallen under Gongsun Shidi’s butchering blade, he didn’t believe a young one could defeat Lil’ Miss. Of course, he completely forgot that Lil’ Miss was a shy little young one as well.
Shu Long said respectfully, “It has just begun, but Lei Peng has wounded one of the jindan on the other side.”
“Lei Peng wounded a jindan?” Zuo Mo jumped at this news. He didn’t quite believe it. “This guy is that fierce?”
“Yes.” Shu Long also had an admiring expression. To be able to heavily injure a jindan with only ningmai cultivation, from every angle, this was enough to shock anyone.
“Did he eat some drug?” Zuo Mo said to himself. He then moved his gaze to the battlefield. When he saw the motionless Lei Peng, he was shocked again. “Epiphany? It’s actually an epiphany! This guy’s luck is outrageous!”
It was no wonder that Zuo Mo felt admiration. An epiphany was a matter of chance, there were no patterns to evoke one.
Shu Long and the others beside Zuo Mo had sympathetic expressions. Lei Peng was a large fellow, looked outgoing and loud, but he was really cunning. There were many that had tripped up on him. Who would think that such a cunning and loudmouthed bandit was able to have an epiphany at this time. This was unexpected to everyone.
Zuo Mo smacked his lips and drew away his gaze. With that glance, he already recognized Lil’ Miss’ Snowflake Battle Formation.
He had a deep impression of this battle formation that tripped up Yu Heng. The last thread of worry in his heart dissipated.
Lil’ Miss was probably going to end the fight soon. They had to move quickly. Otherwise, they wouldn’t even get a slice of the pie.
Zuo Mo pondered inside. He was planning on trying out the power of the “Xiao Mo Ge Battle Method” that he had just discovered.
When he noticed that Gongsun Cha’s Snowflake Battle Formation had already started to press onto the enemy, he became even more rushed. Having seen the power of the Snowflake Battle Formation before, Zuo Mo never thought that the Kun Lun sword xiu could ever win.
Reality proved that encountering Gongsun Shidi was a very unfortunate matter.
———
The battle quickly entered a high point. Everyone moved decisively.
The position that Lei Peng was at quickly became the center area of the entire battle. Ming Lie’s Twinkling Brilliance Formation pressed toward there, and Vermillion Bird Camp’s goal was also in this narrow area.
A ferocious collision!
Moments later, Ming Lie’s expression became slightly ugly.
He had originally assumed that the other would become restrained in their actions due to the sword xiu that was having an epiphany. But the other didn’t have any care at all, and had made that location into their breakthrough point. That little elite troop was furiously sweeping through that area. Like layers of blades, they continuously charged!
Three section stab! Three section stab again!
The power of the other’s three section stab was enormous, especially in this situation where the his other little teams could not come to help. The sword xiu in that area had been mostly cleaned up. What angered him even more was that the wounded He Jian was like an alarmed bird that panicked and retreated without any fighting spirit, giving up the space to the other.
The enemy seemed to have torn a hole in the Twinkling Brilliance Formation. Sword xiu continuously flooded in from that gap!
A useless idiot!
Ming Lie had always dreamed of constructing a steely battalion. He Jian’s poor performance was like slapping him on the face! Losing wasn’t anything, being wounded wasn’t anything, but losing courage and forgetting his duties was, in his eyes, a failure!
I’ll sort you out once we get back!
Ming Lie thought inside as he gritted his teeth. His expression was dark as his orders streamed out. [Celestial Balance] was still going at full power. The complex and chaotic battlefield continued to change in his mind. His brow quickly furrowed.
Such a strange battle formation!
He had already made preparations to deal with the other’s three section stab. The other’s three section stab was used uncannily, and peerlessly sharp. In reality, this was the most powerful three section stab he had ever seen! It seemed that this should be the other’s trademark tactic but what he hadn’t expected was that the other did not use the three section stab but shifted to a kind of weird battle formation.
Six of their people to a little group like a snowflake that spun at high speed as they advanced.
Several battle formations flashed through Ming Lie’s mind but he quickly eliminated all of them. It was clear that this strange battle formation was not any battle formation he knew of.
His brow suddenly creased as he had a strange feeling.
This kind of battle formation seemed … … seemed slightly like a yao battle formation. His eyes lit up, and he suddenly realized why he felt it so strange. Yes! It was because this slightly strange snowflake battle formation clearly had the style of yao battle formations!
Yao, mo, and xiuzhe, the three major camps had clear differences in their battle methods so the battle formations they used were also completely different.
Xiuzhe were skilled in seal formations, so most of their battle formations had this at their core. This caused them to pay great attention to the structure of battle formations. Even such a flexible formation like the Twinkling Brilliance Formation had a very stable main skeleton.
Yao battle generals had extremely strong consciousnesses, and their control of troops was the strongest. Due to this, their battle formations did not care about battle formation structure and were more relaxed. For example, the three section wave killing charge was able to attack in any direction, while the snowflake battle formation was like a flowing flood of snowflakes.
On this point, mo battle generals and yao battle generals were in common, but compared to the yao, mo were even more straightforward. For example, the Crow Fiend Mo Killing Formation only had the Little Mo Kill, Successive Mo Kill and Great Mo Kill as transformations.
When Ming Lie detected the other’s strangeness, he was alarmed.
From the start, he had been suppressed. Every judgment he had made was different than reality! What did this mean? This meant that he had unconsciously allowed the other to take the advantage! From a certain perspective, it showed the difference in skill between him and the other.
He suddenly felt a thread of alarm.
———
“Pay attention to troop form!”
“Keep up! Keep up!”
“Do not linger in battle with the enemy, notice your position!”
The platoon leaders shouted at the top of their lungs. The ling power in their bodies were channeled to the limit, their faces red and necks thick! They had trained with the snowflake battle formation before, but had never use it in real combat so there naturally were places that were not in sync.
Everyone’s nerves were tense. This was the battlefield. The mistake in any detail meant that there was the possibility of losing their life!
The area with the fiercest combat was the position of Sky Peak Platoon!
They had already left Lei Peng’s position, and penetrated deeply into the other’s battle formation like a drill.
In this area, the sword xiu on both sides mingled.
The sword energies crossed in the air and rained down!
Among the blinding sword energies, people would occasionally be hit and fall down from the sky. In this kind of situation, if they were hit by a flying sword, they definitely could not survive. Even if they had the protection of ling armor, a momentary pause would attract many sword energies. Under this kind of assault, fourth-grade ling armor was like paper-mache, being pulverized to dust in an instant!
When the jindan sword xiu responsible for this area took a look, he was furious!
All the fatalities were people on their side!
Up until now, they hadn’t managed to kill a single person from the enemy’s side! This jindan sword xiu felt his face was burning. He unhesitatingly shouted, “Twinkling Brilliance Revolution!”
The formation shape of the little team changed. Everyone cast three sword energies towards the air.
The densely packed sword energies froze above their heads, the tips pointing at Ma Fan and the others.
Hundreds of sword energies floated in the sky, murderous intent swarmed Ma Fan and the others!
The jindan sword xiu’s gaze hardened. He threw a round silver ball into the air and pointed at Ma Fan, shouting ,”Fall!”
Hiss!
The silver ball flew into the sky, exploded and turning to electric snakes that swam between the sword energies!
In a blink, a web of lightning had formed!
———
Following the exclamation of “Fall” from the jindan sword xiu, the lightning net with the hundreds of sword energies fell down!
The moment the jindan sword xiu shouted “Twinkling Brilliance Revolution,” Ma Fan had detected danger and his body abruptly retreated! But this sword energy lightning net was like a black cloud that came extremely quickly. Before they could escape, the sword energy lightning net had reached above their heads like a mountain!
Killing intent and coldness caused the hairs on Ma Fan’s body to stand up. His eyes suddenly turned red!
Without thinking, the ling power inside his body was like a stallion off his reins that furiously flooded towards the Gold Crystal sword in his hand!
A light blue rippling sword energy that was the color of the sky appeared on the Gold Crystal sword. It was made from many layers and looked like creased blue glass!
Once the sword energy left the flying sword, it disappeared into the air without a trace!
Behind him, dozens of lotus flowers rose. There was a hum, it was the sound of the sword! The lotus flowers suddenly exploded mid air in unison, countless lotus flower petals shooting into the sky!
Nian Lu’s face was upraised, coldness flashing through his eyes as he disregarded the blood flowing out of the corner of his mouth.
The other Sky Peak Platoon sword xiu knew that this was the time to go all out. Everyone released their killing moves without communicating!
Boom!
The silver light above their heads fell down, the light was so blinding they almost couldn’t keep their eyes open!
Amongst the silver light came Ma Fan’s shout! “Retreat!”
When the light dissipated, the figures of Ma Fan and the others had disappeared. That jindan sword xiu showed shock in his eyes. His hair had been blown astray, falling all around him, and he was very disheveled! All of his subordinate sword xiu had a line of blood coming from the corner of their mouths.
On that pale face, that pair of eyes was possessed by terror!
The hardiness and viciousness of Sky Peak Platoon rattled these greenhorns that just stepped onto the battlefield! Just a few dozen people had firmly controlled almost two hundred people. Their side had turned into a mess!
What they couldn’t believe was that the other side had safely escaped!
They had not killed even one of the enemy! Even when their jindan sword xiu attacked and used the power of the battle formation, they hadn’t managed to get one person!
They had always thought they were elite! Daren had continuously told them that they were elite! They had believed in this. They were able to join a battalion that belonged to Kun Lun, this meant that they were exceptional!
But the cruel reality was clearly put in front of them.
———
Ma Fan and the others gathered the last vestiges of strength. Taking advantage of the other’s slow reaction, they quickly left behind the area of battle. They had no more strength to fight.
“The rest is up to you.” Ma Fan’s voice was hoarse. He looked extremely terrible, his hair a mess, wounds all over his body and his gaze was dim.
The sword xiu that welcomed him did not say anything and bowed respectfully towards them.
Translator Ramblings: Part one of part two since Fang Xiang combined two updates into one and I am splitting them back up.
Chapter Four Hundred and Thirty Seven – Zuo Mo’s Sneak Attack Part Two
When the figures of Ma Fan and his platoon disappeared behind the troop, every Vermillion Bird Camp sword xiu’s expressions became stern!
“Attack!”
Gongsun Cha’s order came into everyone’s minds through his consciousness.
The Gold Crystal swords in the hands of the sword xiu at the very front of each snowflake created a sword energy. At the same time, they moved towards the side. His teammate that was on his right rotated into position and also released a sword energy at the same time!
The stream of sword energies gathered into a ruler-straight line!
On this line of light, each sword energy hit the same position!
Pia pia pia!
The ruler-straight sword energy line instantly ploughed deep bloody marks on the other’s battle formation.
Hundreds of sword energy lines lit up!
In a breath, hundreds of bloody pits appeared on the Twinkling Brilliance Battle Formation!
With this one attack, the Twinkling Brilliance Battle Formation had been turned into a sieve!
———
Liang Wei looked at the battlefield with a confused gaze.
He had originally thought this would be a fierce battle, and had not expected the battle to be so one-sided. His time in Bloody Sky Metropolis Jie was not short. This battalion from Kun Lun was not weak in its composition and could be said to be above average.
If it was him, he would not be afraid, but he did not dare to guarantee he could heavily wound the other. Even though he had caused many fatalities in the previous ambush but that kind of chance wouldn’t frequently occur.
But this black ship of mysterious origins did not seem to be using much effort.
He had speculated that this was a battle general from unorthodox origins. The astounding level of control he showed was like the corps commanders of those large corps! When he saw the sword energy lines, he suddenly realized that this was a completely new battle formation!
The other showed the style of a yao battle general everywhere in his actions but he commanded a group of sword xiu!
He could not comprehend this!
And the individual strength of these sword xiu were also a great surprise to him. He had not seen any of the other’s jindan sword xiu but just this group of ningmai sword xiu beat the other so thoroughly that the enemy couldn’t even raise their head.
Other than the battle formation, there was another crucial factor, sword essence!
Almost every one of the black ship sword xiu had comprehended sword essence!
When Liang Wei discovered this, he almost went insane. There hadn’t been any major battles in the time he had returned to Blood Sky Metropolis Jie but he had more than thirty scattered conflicts. He had encountered many sword xiu that comprehended sword essence!
But it was the first time he had encountered a troop that was completely composed of sword xiu that comprehended sword essence!
This wasn’t a dozen, or a few hundred, but a few thousand!
Liang Wei suddenly felt it was absurd. Maybe, this black ship was actually the people from Kun Lun?
His surroundings were entirely silent. Everyone was shocked by the combat capabilities the black ship showed.
Looking from a distance at this troop, Liang Wei found to his shock that he could not muster up any thought of making an ambush. In this moment, he was very emotional. When the difference in strength between two sides was too great, one would lose the bravery to ambush the enemy.
When could he also possess a troop like this, that would be wonderful … …
At this time, his eye jumped and his attention couldn’t help but land on the black ship at the back of the battlefield.
A troop of one hundred silently flew out of the black ship.
Something was going on!
———
“Careful, don’t let the enemy find us,” Zuo Mo whispered. The procession behind him that was sneaking nodded to show their understanding.
Like robbers, they tip-toed.
Zuo Mo’s plan of going out to fight had been met with strong resistance from Shu Long. The stern Shu Long stubbornly thought that it would be unpardonable if Daren went and met danger. Naturally, Zuo Mo did not agree. He raised an eyebrow and asked Shu Long, which of you is stronger than ge?
Everyone was left speechless.
In terms of individual power, everyone’s first choice would be Wei Sheng but second would be Zuo Mo. His Great Day mo physique that had went through its second maturation, so Zuo Mo’s combat capabilities far surpassed normal jindan! He was also skilled in a variety of tricks. Even if he was facing Wei Sheng, Wei Sheng wouldn’t dare to easily say he could win.
Helplessly, Shu Long could only pick the one hundred of the most elite Hardship Guards from Guard Camp. He had his responsibilities and could not mess around with Zuo Mo.
To these one hundred Hardship Guards, it was the first time they were directly under Daren’s command and fighting together with Daren! The morale was very high!
But with Zuo Mo’s deviousness, he definitely wouldn’t do something like a frontal charge.
Even if Vermillion Bird Camp had the advantage, even if he had the elite of Guard Camp with him, he still decided to make an sneak attack!
Most of Guard Camp were heavy armor Hardship Guards because the armor they formed were heavily weighted armor. Each of them were very strong, and each of their weapons was a door-sized cleaver one zhang long. After cultivating [Hardship Guard] their figures had grown crazily. Each of them was very brawny and tall, one zhang being the average height.
Lei Peng who looked down on Vermillion Bird Camp in terms of physical power was only a bean sprout when he was put among this group of fierce men.
So when this group of brawny fierce men clumsily hunched their backs and tip-toed behind Zuo Mo, it looked very humorous. The only one that looked normal was A Wen. He had cultivated to become a Mo Shadow Guard skilled in speed, and was the definite abnormality of Guard Camp.
However, these fierce men that were immersed in the nervousness of sneaking about clearly did not detect how strange their actions were.
Even though they tried to copy Zuo Mo’s movements, their physiques were truly too big, especially when one hundred brawny men gathered together. It wasn’t possible to avoid attention like this anywhere.
They were quickly discovered.
The first one that found them was Song Yuan. He was slightly nervous and had been looking around. He instantly found Zuo Mo and the others.
“What is that?” He hurriedly pulled Ming Lie beside him and pointed to another direction of the battle formation.
His face turned black and red, the fire in Ming Lie reached the point of eruption!
This was his most frustrating battle ever. Up until now, his results were pitiful! The other’s weird battle formation was very powerful, and his tactics were unreasonable. They were like a mill that continuously pressed forward! No matter what response he gave, the other would disregard it, pressing forward, forward and forward again!
The Twinkling Brilliance Battle Formation that he had relied on, to get to achieve his current status, and any tactic that he could think of could not stop the other for even an instant.
There was no thrusting, no outflanking, no other tactics.
These sword xiu seemed to be insane, releasing sword energies without exhaustion. Those ruler-straight sword energy lines almost caused him to go insane!
Twinkling Brilliance Revolution, countered with two sword energy lines! Twinkling Brilliance Sword, countered with five sword energy lines! Twinkling Brilliance Qilin Sword, countered with ten sword energy lines… …
It was like a great swordsman that flourished his sword to tempt the enemy, the other didn’t pay any heed and responded by slamming down a brick; a feinting maneuver, the other didn’t look, another brick; a killing move! The other didn’t even look, and threw over a whole pile of bricks … …
But he couldn’t do anything against such a crude way of fighting!
He really had no solutions. He tried everything he could think of, but no matter what changes he made, they collapsed against the other’s crude and brutal sword energy lines.
Looking as his battalion was slowly swallowed up and being unable to do anything, the blow to his confidence was fatal!
He was confused like a gambler that had lost all he had.
Weakness, anger, hopelessness … …
Mixed together, it pushed him to the precipice of collapse.
At this moment, he saw Zuo Mo’s group!
Something in his mind seemed to explode. The last thread of intelligence was turned to dust by the erupting rage!
At this time, you still make a sneak attack!
You forced me to such a state, you still use a sneak attack!
You do a sneak attack, and use this crowd of big blockheads in the sneak attack!
You you you!
The pitiful Ming Lie’s eyes were completely red, his expression fierce! His pride that accumulated over twenty years was stepped on repeatedly by hundreds of pairs of muddy feet!
All the fury, all the hopelessness erupted and formed one word!
“Kill!”
———
Zuo Mo hadn’t thought that they would be discovered. He was slightly disappointed by the failure of his plan.
But his eyes quickly lit up. The excited person in the middle of the enemy that was charging over seemed to be the leader of this group!
The leader of the other group!
Au-au-arf!
Zuo Mo’s eyes shot out light. He seemed to have found the fattest lamb among a crowd of lambs!
The temptation of lambs caused him to become excited. The “Xiao Mo Ge Battle Method” was thrown away.
He waved his arm and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Brothers, there’s fat sheep!”
The fierce men all straightened their spines, their eyes alight. Green lights lit up in the eye-sockets of the heavy armor helmets.
Those gazes were so ravenous… … so greedy … …
Translator Ramblings: For all this talk of fat sheep, I haven’t actually seen a real sheep herd in this book.