Soaring the Heavens

Chapter 175: Reversal (4)

Translator: Kelaude Editor: TomYummy

Liu Jingtian raised his arm to call for a halt. The large army behind him followed suit, and stopped in their tracks as they eyed the situation critically.

He didn’t want to be rash and simply react on impulse. He had to see if the other party was really battling or not. In the worst possible scenario, they might even team up against him and eliminate his troops.

Keeping watch on both his front and rear, Zhang Decheng was trying to spot if there was a hidden ambush. Then, he turned around and shouted "Yang Qing, how dare you involve outsiders in the affairs of Suppressing Second Hall!?"

Yang Qing outright ignored him. He led his troops over as they continued to charge towards Zhang Decheng with a fervent intensity.

Zhang Decheng raised his arm and gestured ahead with his finger. Following which, the green-glowing treasured sword around his waist flew out of its sheath and soared through the skies, slashing towards the oncoming Yang Qing.

A green sheen enveloped the long spear in Yang Qing’s hands—‘BANG!’—he raised his spear to quickly knock the green-glowing treasured sword flying.

He was not Miao Yi. A mere second grade transcendent artifact wouldn’t find it so easy to kill him.

The treasured sword slid back into the sheath by Zhang Decheng’s waist. Zhang Decheng instantly brought his steed into a charge as a green light enveloped his long spear with a hum—he crashed right into Yang Qing.

‘BOOM!’

A thunderous boom resounded. From where the two were clashing with each other as the center, transcendence energy rolled out in waves, sweeping up dust and rubble as the land sank in.

The two Manor Heads fiercely battled as sand and rocks continued to be swept upwards. Normal men would find it hard to even get near the two of them.

Occasionally, the treasured sword by Zhang Decheng’s waist would launch sneak attacks. In return, two illusory beasts would erupt out of Yang Qing’s shoulders, protecting his sides and blocking the flying sword.

Even though the both of them had second grade transcendent artifacts, there was a difference in their constitutions, which resulted in a contrast on how transcendence energy could be channeled between the two cultivators. Zhang Decheng’s flying sword could kill from a distance, whereas Yang Qing’s artifact could only engage in close combat.

This was the greatest difference between White Crystals, Black Crystals and Gold Crystals. Zhang Decheng’s second grade transcendent artifact could be called a mid-grade among second grades, whereas Yang Qing’s would be low-grade.

Yet, Yang Qing possessed three while Zhang Decheng had two; the difference between the two was minimal at best.

However, those who had a discerning eye would be able to see that Yang Qing was falling behind slightly. If the situation persisted, Yang Qing would lose.

Moreover at this moment, Yang Qing had to take the lead in the attack. For one, it raised the troop’s morale; for another, he was the only one capable of facing Zhang Decheng on their side. If he didn’t face him, his subordinates would not be able to stop Zhang Decheng from starting a massacre.

Those who wish to have great accomplishments must shoulder a certain degree of responsibility, and be willing to take risks. If he was like the Transient Light Cave’s previous Cave Master Yuan Zhengkun, and tossed his subordinates aside so he could escape, then Yang Qing wouldn’t have as many accomplishments as he did now.

Another important point was that if he stood by the sides and watched the excitement unfold, how could he expect Liu Jingtian to easily be moved?

Zhang Decheng’s troops stood their ground and went on the defensive. One side faced the front, while the other faced the rear.

Yang Qing’s troops that had approached from the front, instantly broke past Zhang Decheng’s defenses. From their rear, Xiong Xiao and his troops were also charging at them ferociously.

Relying on the edge he had from Charcoal’s leg strength and his battle armor, Miao Yi picked up the pace and rushed in front of Qin Weiwei. Even if he had any bias towards Qin Weiwei, at least for the time being, he had to put his grudges aside. He could not let any harm come to Qin Weiwei on account of giving Yang Qing face.

Gongsun Yu and company had already seen the destructive might of Miao Yi’s charge, so they immediately understood the idea and followed behind him.

Staring at Miao Yi’s back as he gallantly rushed forward, Qin Weiwei bit her lips; she had no choice but to follow his plan and maintained their charging formation.

Waves of dragon roars erupted as the cold light of the Inversed-Scales Spear flickered. This spear was best used in chaotic battles; it was able to distract the enemy into thinking there was an attack coming from the sides, when it was actually a spear strike from the front aiming to burst their skulls.

With the Inversed-Scales Spear in his hand, Miao Yi created a path of blood as five-six men fell to his spear in an instant. He led his team like a sharp knife that viciously drove itself deep into the enemy camp. They charged their way in and killed anyone they passed. They didn’t stop, nor did they engage themselves with any experts.

Booms continued to thunder across the entire battlefield as transcendence energies rolled out in chaos. If Miao Yi were to use his tiny mantids here, they would probably be crushed from the waves of transcendence energy as soon as they were summoned.

Both sides had fallen men and steeds. The dragon steeds neighed in agony as they fell to the ground; cultivators screamed in despair as their blood and flesh were ripped apart.

This was true carnage, not some pretense of a battle. Liu Jingtian, who had been spectating the battle from behind, no longer had any doubts. ‘Why not take advantage of this situation when I can?’ he thought, as he chuckled. The long spear in his hand emitted a green sheen as he stabbed it ahead and furiously bellowed, "Zhang Decheng! Your life is mine! Slaughter them, men!"

As he charged into the fray, how could Zhang Decheng’s subordinates stop him? They were all sent flying, and their steeds were knocked over. Like a line slicing straight through the waves, crowds of men and dragon steeds alike fell on either sides as he charged his way directly through their battle formation, and rushed to join Yang Qing in battle with Zhang Decheng.

Furthermore, the men behind Liu Jingtian pushed forward in a wave, facing Zhang Decheng’s troops in a bloody combat.

A single Yang Qing was already difficult enough to deal with; now there was another Liu Jingtian butting in. Zhang Decheng’s eyes almost burst open after he took a moment to turn around and look. He knocked Yang Qing back with a fierce strike of his spear, then quickly turned to the side and started running. He could no longer be bothered if there was an ambush or not from the sides. As he ran, he shouted, "RETREAT! Follow me and retreat!"

"Zhang Decheng! Where do you think you’re going!?" Yang Qing bellowed as he chased relentlessly.

"Thief Zhang, don’t run!" Liu Jingtian had broken through the battle formations, and was already chasing after him in a frenzy as the treasured sword on his back slipped out of its sheath—it was also a green-glowing treasured sword, and the flying sword slashed at Zhang Decheng ferociously.

The treasured sword by Zhang Decheng’s waist immediately shot out. ‘CLANG!’ After blocking a strike, the two flying swords both flipped over and flew back.

Since things had already escalated this far, how could Yang Qing just let him leave? He tucked the long spear in his hand back into his storage ring, and drew a longbow. He pulled ten long arrows and nocked them; imbued them with his transcendence energy, and released!

Qin Weiwei’s skills were taught by him. So what Qin Weiwei could do, there was no reason Yang Qing could not—he could only be better.

Whizzing noises broke out as ten arrows were swiftly shot in rapid succession. They weren’t aimed at his person, but rather at Zhang Decheng’s dragon steed. Furthermore, they were only targeting the dragon steed’s rear hooves.

There was a reason behind this, Yang Qing knew it would be difficult to snipe Zhang Decheng himself due to his cultivation.

Zhang Decheng immediately began to panic and quickly swung his spear to block the arrows. His speed was considerably fast, knocking away a few arrows successively. However, Yang Qing’s sniping angle was truly too cunning.

Underneath him, his dragon steed suddenly raised its back hoof—it had been shot! It carried the long arrow as it jumped up and neighed in agony.

Zhang Decheng tried to force the steed to continue running, but its speed had already severely fallen.

Yang Qing tucked his longbow away, and the long spear appeared in his hand once more. He swiftly caught up and immediately launched a fierce downward strike with his spear.

Seeing that he could no longer escape, Zhang Decheng could only turn around and battle it out with Yang Qing.

"Thief Zhang, your life is mine!" Liu Jingtian shouted as he joined the battle, teaming up with Yang Qing to subdue Zhang Decheng.

Zhang Decheng had enemies to his left and right. Furthermore, his steed had been injured and lost its agility. He was at the end of his rope, as the old adage went. Terribly dismayed and regretful, he realized that he shouldn’t have come to South Edict Manor to wreak havok. He had been set up by He Yunye.

"Liu Jingtian! I….."

Zhang Decheng still wanted to ask Liu Jingtian what exactly was going on. ‘We have never interfered in each other’s businesses, so why are you trying to harm me?’ he thought.

Yet how could Yang Qing let him speak? As soon as he saw him opening his mouth, he immediately threw caution to the wind and attacked with greater fervor. Zhang Decheng couldn’t spare any thought to saying another word because of the onslaught.

Yang Qing’s fierce assault completely occupied Zhang Decheng’s hands. Liu Jingtian immediately saw an opportunity, and took the chance; launching a strike and piercing Zhang Decheng’s chest.

Zhang Decheng spat out a mouthful of blood. With his dying breath, he held onto the shaft of the spear that had pierced his chest. Staring wide-eyed at Liu Jingtian, he spat out more blood as he shouted angrily, "Liu Jingtian…."

Yang Qing obviously wouldn’t let him utter any nonsense. With a sudden sweep of his spear, Zhang Decheng’s head was sent flying, and fell on the ground.

Hot blood gushed out from Zhang Decheng’s neck.

Liu Jingtian raised his spear, and Zhang Decheng’s headless body was lifted off its steed even as it continued gushing piping hot blood…

On the main battlefield, as soon as Zhang Decheng ran away and sounded the retreat, it had already caused his subordinates’ morale to plummet. They no longer wished to continue fighting and took any chance they could to run in all directions.

With that, they could no longer rely on each other for mutual support, and this would only increase the number of fatalities against such superior numbers.

As men continued to be sent flying throughout the battlefield, the screams of men and neighs of dragon steeds also continued to echo. All around, there were many who were frantically running away in order to save themselves.

Most people had already declared their surrender.

However, Yuan Zhengkun had a terrified expression on his face as he ran away leading Li Xin and Sun Jiaojiao. He really wanted to surrender, but he didn’t dare surrender as Miao Yi was relentlessly chasing the three of them, so they could only run away.

After the three of them had charged out of the chaotic battle, Miao Yi immediately threw Qin Weiwei and the rest aside as he rode out on his own. "Yuan Zhengkun! Where do you think you’re going!?" he shouted as he furiously chased after them.

The three of them frantically ran for their lives, but realized that the sound of stomping hooves seemed to be getting closer and closer. When they turned around to look, they were frightened out of their wits.

The three of them had already seen Miao Yi’s ferocity. He killed normal Cave Masters as if he were chopping up vegetables, and could single-handedly send dozens of men off their steeds. This former Transient Light Cave Horse Deputy was no longer someone the three of them could stop.

Miao Yi was completely covered in an imposing battle armor and drenched in blood; even his steed had its own set of armor. He was carrying a vicious long spear in his hand, and chasing after them relentlessly like a vicious evil god. What’s more, he was getting closer and closer. The three of them didn’t seem to have gained any advantage by running out first.

Trying to compare the leg strength of their steeds with Charcoal seemed more than a little naive. While he was skilled at running away, he naturally wouldn’t be poor at chasing others as well.

Especially when chasing after someone who was desperately running away—Charcoal always felt absolutely terrible when he was being chased by others, but he felt completely ecstatic when he was on the opposite end, so he put more effort into his gallop.

If Zhang Decheng had Charcoal’s leg strength when he led his troops to chase after Yang Qing previously, Yang Qing would probably be dead by now.

Noticing that it was getting harder to get away the longer they went on, the anxious Yuan Zhengkun searched everywhere for a chance at survival. He noticed that there were others chasing after deserters a little behind him to his right, but they accepted surrenders.

Since only death awaited him wherever he went, he could only turn to making a gamble. He swiftly brought Li Xing and Sun Jiaojiao into a sudden turn, and circled back towards their right.

How could Miao Yi let them go? He immediately turned to continue chasing relentlessly. "Don’t run, you bastard!" he shouted.

"WE SURRENDER! WE SURRENDER!"

Yuan Zhengkun and the rest frantically jumped of their dragon steeds, tossing their weapons aside as they faced a group of men who were cleaning up—frantically howling their surrender.

"DIE, YOU BASTARD!" Miao Yi shouted as he charged forward. Without another word, he swung his spear at the three of them, intending to cut them where they stood.

Unexpectedly, a rider charged out from the other group and swung his great blade. ‘CLANG!’ He knocked away Miao Yi’s fatal spear strike.

They charged past one another. As he swung his steed around, Miao Yi glared at the person that had stopped him, and discovered that it was none other than Xiong Xiao.

Miao Yi’s battle armor was completely soaked in blood, and Xiong Xiao wasn’t much better off; he was also covered in blood, and it seemed his left arm was injured.

Drenched in blood, the Mountain Chieftain Xiong and Cave Master Miao glared at each other; the two nemesis didn’t even try to hide the animosity in their eyes.

It was Xiong Xiao’s first look at Miao Yi’s battle armor, which covered not only his entire body, but his steed’s as well. His gaze then swept over the Inversed-Scales Spear that was obviously much better than his own weapon. His mouth couldn’t help but twitch slightly as he felt incredibly displeasure—a Caver Master actually had better equipment than he, a Mountain Chieftain. Where was the logic in that?

‘This bastard is getting more and more arrogant. He doesn’t have the slightest hint of modesty!’ Xiong Xiao sneered to himself. He stared at Miao Yi, and coldly said, "Miao Yi, what do you think you’re doing?"

Enrage, Miao Yi bellowed, "I am the one who should be asking what is it you think you’re doing. Why are you stopping me from killing the enemy!?"

Xiong Xiao rationally replied, "I have lost a great number of subordinates in this battle, and need men to make up for that. Now that the three of them have surrendered themselves to me, and since I am willing to accept their surrender, they are now my Mount Shaotai’s men. No one is allowed to kill them as he pleases!"