Chapter 97 - 76: Are You Trying to Rebel?

Chapter 97: Chapter 76: Are You Trying to Rebel?

However, the cavalry completely ignored the seasoned bandits who had huddled together with fierce and murderous expressions. Instead, they spurred their horses directly past them to hunt down the lesser thieves who were fleeing in blind panic.

The cavalry’s main purpose was to reap the harvest. Meeting the enemy head-on would be far too disadvantageous.

The panicked thieves dove straight into the surrounding fields, scattering across the sparse wheat crops in an attempt to escape through the small river ditches. But in winter, the wheat seedlings were naturally too short to provide cover. Thus, the thieves’ escape routes were plainly visible.

Hooves thundered across the ground. Vice Captain Yang Jun rode at the very front. He did not even need to exert his True Qi; relying purely on the momentum of his charging horse, he impaled a thief with a single thrust. After a brief, agonizing scream, the man was tossed aside, only to be trampled into a bloody pulp beneath the galloping hooves.

All around, the infantry began to press forward as well.

Zhang Pingteng looked on in tense disbelief. Staring at the Black Mountain Guard foot soldiers advancing in an Array Formation with Momentum like a Rainbow at the edge of his vision, and the vigorous young General radiating True Qi in the center of the Military Array beneath his banner, he nearly choked on his own blood.

"Are you kidding me? A Qi Storage Captain, advancing in formation?!"

It was not just Zhang Pingteng whose face had drained of color. The seasoned bandits by his side—hardened criminals born from routed troops and deserters who had survived multiple flights—also turned pale.

Only twenty-one of them had come down the mountain in the first place. Twelve fools had already fled blindly and been slaughtered by the cavalry. As for the remaining nine Blood Refining Martial Artists, what gave them the right to warrant a Qi Storage Martial Artist mobilizing a Military Array against them?

"Boss, what do we do?" a Blood Refining Bandit asked, his face ashen.

Seeing this, Zhang Pingteng did not hesitate. He threw down his weapon, took a step forward, and shouted toward the Military Array, "We surrender! We surrender!"

But before he could even finish speaking, a flash of Blade Gang suddenly tore out from within the military formation.

In the next second, Zhang Pingteng’s body violently exploded! Flesh and blood splattered in every direction, blowing him to pieces.

Zheng Jun, who had delivered the strike, wore a look of utter indifference. He issued a cold command to the soldiers flanking him, "We accept no surrender from bandits like these. Kill them!"

Then, he deliberately disbanded the Military Array.

"Orders received!"

As the Military Array broke apart, the armored Crew Leader of the Personal Soldier Squad, Xu Zhilei, let out a mighty roar. He charged like a wild boar, tearing forward like an unstoppable, fleshy cannonball as he rushed toward the remaining bandits ahead.

"Brothers, they won’t let us surrender! Let’s fight these Court bastards to the death!" one of the bandits roared, his expression twisting into something fierce and ferocious.

Realizing they had no option but to fight for their lives, they naturally fought back with desperate abandon! Gripping their weapons tightly, they charged headlong into the Black Mountain Guards.

Although the troops deployed this time numbered a hundred and included ten Blood Refining Martial Artists, the eight surviving bandits also possessed Blood Refining Cultivation. When pushed to the brink of death, their ruthless frenzy proved rather troublesome.

The highly experienced Decurions of the Third Squad quickly recognized the threat. They immediately coordinated with one another to surround the Blood Refining Martial Artists, using their superior numbers to encircle and eliminate them.

Zheng Jun, however, did not make another move. He merely acted as a Supervisor on the sidelines, keeping watch to prevent any unforeseen accidents. The entire purpose of this bandit suppression campaign was to let his troops taste blood. Endless drilling alone would yield no significant results.

The leader, Zhang Pingteng, an eight-time Blood Refining Martial Artist, had already been slain by his single strike from within the array formation. Encirclement and annihilation of the rest shouldn’t pose any problems.

Soon enough, the Blood Refining Bandits found themselves locked in a bitter struggle. Though they were vicious and their wild hacking and slashing carried immense power, they were hopelessly outmatched against a disciplined Military Array. After all, swords, spears, and halberds were thrusting at them from all directions in perfectly paced coordination, and the Decurions within the ranks also boasted Blood Refining Cultivation.

As long as they hadn’t reached Qi Storage, it would be almost impossible for them to tear through the encirclement formed by the Crew Leaders and Decurions. Before long, the bandits’ defenses became riddled with openings. They were impaled by the army’s Long Spears, leaving their bodies covered in bloody holes.

Whether they were from Jianghu Sects or mere street thugs, as long as they lacked a systematic structure and the ability to form a Grand Array, they were completely powerless against an organized army. Back when the Divine Martial Emperor united the world, he turned his sights on the Jianghu Sects. The Iron Cavalry trampled everything in their path, wiping out countless sects until the remainder were forced to compromise. The sheer disparity in power between the systematic Court and the Jianghu went without saying.

Meanwhile, Zheng Jun continued to observe quietly from the sidelines.

But right at that moment, an anomaly occurred. A bandit who had undergone Blood Refining four or five times forcibly broke through the encirclement. With bloodshot eyes, he gripped his saber and charged frantically at Zheng Jun. "You dog bastard! I’ll kill you!"

"Protect the Captain!

"Quick, quick, quick!"

Having just chopped a bandit to death with a single strike, the plump Xu Zhilei was reveling in the thrill of battle. When he suddenly witnessed this scene, he paled in shock and frantically roared his warnings.

But before he could even finish his shout, he watched as Zheng Jun didn’t even attempt to dodge. A faint layer of black mist surfaced on his arm as the Iron Sand Demon Suppression Skill activated. With hands like iron, he caught the naked blade barehanded, firmly gripping the bandit’s heavy, momentum-fueled Yanling Saber!

"Ah!"

"Huh?"

The plump man and the bandit cried out at the exact same time. The plump man’s gasp of "Ah!" came from the realization that he had forgotten about Captain Zheng’s Iron Sand Demon Suppression Skill. The bandit’s "Huh?", on the other hand, was a cry of pure shock—how could Zheng Jun possibly catch a bare blade with empty hands?!

"What’s going on?" the bandit thought. "Didn’t they say Wang Zhen, the Captain of the Black Mountain Guards, is a useless bum? That he hasn’t even reached Qi Storage and is nothing more than a nine-time Blood Refining piece of trash?! Catching my Yanling Saber barehanded... how could he be a useless bum?!"

The bandit cursed Zhang Pingteng a hundred times in his heart as he tried to yank his saber back, only to find Zheng Jun’s hand clamped around the Yanling Saber like an unyielding iron vise.

With a gentle tug, Zheng Jun wrenched the Yanling Saber straight out of the bandit’s grasp. He casually tossed it to the ground and kicked the charging bandit over. Then, looking toward a pale-faced Blood Refining Decurion, he sharply demanded, "Feng Ze, what’s wrong with your squad? How did you let him break through the encirclement? Kill him. I’m docking half your silver."