Chapter 123: Earth Extreme Realm Expert
Zhang Ruochen released his Space Domain, covering an area sixty meters in radius. A cold light flashed in his eyes as he said, "Prince Huo Xing, since you have repeatedly tried to kill me, I will no longer show mercy. Tonight, either you die, or I do."
"Facing death, you still dare to boast. Release the arrows!" Prince Huo Xing said coldly.
At his command—
"Bang! Bang!"
A series of bowstrings sounded!
One hundred soldiers fired the first volley of Thunderbolt Arrows, which whistled through the air. The dense mass of arrows flew toward Zhang Ruochen like raindrops.
Before the first volley even reached him, the second volley was already released, followed by the third...
Under such an orderly assault, even an Earth Extreme Realm martial artist risked falling.
"Swish! Swish!"
Having reached the Small Extreme of the Mysterious Extreme Realm, Zhang Ruochen's control over the Space Domain had become more refined. He extended both arms and traced a circle in the void.
The space around his body twisted by one hundred and eighty degrees. The incoming Thunderbolt Arrows, still several meters away from him, abruptly changed direction and flew back the way they came.
"Pfft!"
"Pfft!"
...
The Thunderbolt Arrows struck the Tiger Might Army, piercing through soldiers and sending them tumbling off their mounts. Cries of agony filled the air.
Witnessing this scene, Prince Huo Xing was dumbfounded. Stammering, he said, "Could... could he have truly mastered the legendary martial technique 'Reversal of Stars'? Impossible! Stop shooting arrows at him! Charge in directly! Whoever kills Zhang Ruochen will be rewarded with half a city!"
"Kill!"
The armored soldiers riding ferocious beasts charged forward, as if intending to hack Zhang Ruochen to pieces.
Xiao Hei pressed his cat paws against the ground, channeling true qi from his claws to activate an inscription pattern. With a thunderous roar, a pillar of fire erupted from beneath the earth, transforming into a massive flame bird over ten meters long.
That flame bird, resembling a Vermilion Bird, plunged into the ranks of soldiers, instantly igniting over a dozen of them and reducing them to ash.
Only a dozen empty suits of iron armor remained on the ground, still radiating scorching heat that made the soil sizzle.
"Hua!"
From other directions, more enormous flame Vermilion Birds surged forth, charging into the army, setting soldiers ablaze, and even igniting the entire forest.
The formation had fully activated. From all around, one hundred flame Vermilion Birds burst out of the ground, rushing in every direction, inflicting massive casualties on the Tiger Might Army under Prince Huo Xing's command.
The entire mountain ridge had turned into a blazing sea of fire.
"Your Highness, the enemy has set up an extremely powerful flame killing formation. We've fallen into a trap!"
"At least a third-rank formation master could set up such a terrifying formation."
...
Prince Huo Xing's face turned ashen. He had thought that leading two thousand Tiger Might Army soldiers against Zhang Ruochen would be foolproof, but he never expected Zhang Ruochen to be a formation master, dealing a devastating blow to the Tiger Might Army.
In just a quarter of an hour, at least five hundred soldiers had died, with many more severely wounded.
Prince Huo Xing could never have dreamed that it was a cat, not Zhang Ruochen, who had set up the formation.
"Kill! Annihilate them all! Haha! Opposing this emperor leads only to death!" Xiao Hei sat atop the Twin-Headed Blood Lion, charging recklessly, trampling a large swath of soldiers into bloody pulp beneath him.
Zhang Ruochen leaped up and landed on the Twin-Headed Blood Lion's back. "Let's go. Lure them toward Demon Wind Valley."
"What's wrong? This emperor's killing intent is at its peak today. Why retreat?" Xiao Hei said.
Zhang Ruochen's expression turned grim. "I sense the aura of an Earth Extreme Realm expert heading this way. If we don't leave now, we won't make it."
Zhang Ruochen also wanted to eliminate the threat of Prince Huo Xing, but with his current strength, he was absolutely no match for an Earth Extreme Realm expert.
Hearing the words "Earth Extreme Realm," Xiao Hei was startled as well. "Little Twin, run!"
The Twin-Headed Blood Lion, carrying Zhang Ruochen and Xiao Hei, smashed through over a dozen soldiers and bolted at top speed toward Demon Wind Ridge.
Not long after Zhang Ruochen and Xiao Hei left, the ground began to tremble violently, as if an earthquake were striking.
"Boom!"
An eight-meter-tall Golden-Horned Leopard charged up from below the mountain ridge, snapping trees in its path and causing tremendous destruction.
A third-rank ferocious beast, the Golden-Horned Leopard, possessed combat power comparable to an Earth Extreme Realm martial artist.
Seated atop the Golden-Horned Leopard was a tall, burly man who appeared to be in his forties. He stood two meters and three inches tall, clad in five-hundred-jin-thick black armor. His arms were as thick as buckets, and he wielded a two-zhang-four-chi-long war halberd, looking like a war god descending to the mortal world.
He surveyed the carnage on the mountain ridge and let out a cold roar. "You are the elite Third and Fourth Battalions of the Tiger Might Army! Even when attacking Shunjing City of the Cloud Wu Commandery, you didn't suffer such heavy losses. You've disgraced the Tiger Might Army!"
Prince Huo Xing stepped out from among the soldiers. "General Hong Ye, don't blame the troops. It's my fault. I didn't expect Zhang Ruochen to be a formation master. He caught us off guard."
"A formation master? How old is he? How could he become a formation master?" General Hong Ye's expression softened slightly when he saw Prince Huo Xing.
General Hong Ye was well aware of the role a formation master could play on the battlefield, sometimes even determining the outcome of a war.
Prince Huo Xing's face darkened. "General Hong Ye, you may not know this, but although Zhang Ruochen is young, his spiritual power is terrifyingly high, having already reached the twenty-ninth rank. With his spiritual power, he can fully become a third-rank formation master. His existence is an absolute threat to the surrounding commanderies."
General Hong Ye was also shocked. A mere teenager with twenty-ninth-rank spiritual power was truly unbelievable. His eyes narrowed. "Is that brat dead?"
Prince Huo Xing's expression dimmed. "He escaped!"
General Hong Ye looked at the tracks on the ground, then fixed his gaze on the direction Zhang Ruochen and Xiao Hei had fled. "He won't get away."
"Rumble!"
General Hong Ye rode the Golden-Horned Leopard and charged off, pursuing toward Demon Wind Ridge. Killing Zhang Ruochen would be a great merit—how could he let this opportunity slip?
Prince Huo Xing gathered the uninjured soldiers, about a thousand in number, and also set off toward Demon Wind Ridge.
The Twin-Headed Blood Lion was fast, but how could it compare to a third-rank ferocious beast like the Golden-Horned Leopard? Soon, General Hong Ye caught up to Zhang Ruochen and Xiao Hei.
"Damn it! He's caught up!" Xiao Hei said anxiously.
Zhang Ruochen looked ahead. They had already reached the foot of Demon Wind Valley, just moments away from charging into the valley.
But would that Earth Extreme Realm general give them even a moment's grace?
"Fight!"
Zhang Ruochen pulled a war bow from the Time-Space Crystal, nocked three purple Thunderbolt Arrows onto the string, and fired.
"Bang!"
The three Thunderbolt Arrows shot toward General Hong Ye's head, heart, and mount with deadly precision.
General Hong Ye curled his lips into a smirk. He didn't even dodge. The two arrows aimed at his head and heart slammed into his thick armor, producing two loud metallic clashes before being deflected away.
The arrow aimed at the Golden-Horned Leopard was caught in its jaws and swallowed whole.
Seeing this, Zhang Ruochen's expression shifted slightly. Those three arrows had been fired with all his strength. An ordinary Mysterious Extreme Realm Great Perfection martial artist couldn't have blocked them. Yet before an Earth Extreme Realm expert, they were so utterly useless.
"Kid, nice archery, but your power is still lacking." General Hong Ye laughed loudly.
Just as the Twin-Headed Blood Lion was about to charge into Demon Wind Valley, General Hong Ye had already closed to within sixty meters, then fifty, forty, thirty...
When the distance between them was only twenty meters, General Hong Ye leaped off the Golden-Horned Leopard's back, raised his two-zhang-four-chi-long war halberd, and thrust it with immense force toward Zhang Ruochen's back.
"Kid, it's over!"
Before the halberd even struck him, Zhang Ruochen felt a sharp pain all over his body. A piercing force tore his robes to shreds.
Zhang Ruochen remained calm, extending both hands and pushing forward.
General Hong Ye, bringing down his halberd, saw Zhang Ruochen's movement and sneered in disdain. Did he think he could block a war halberd with just his hands? How naive.
But what happened next made General Hong Ye's expression change.
The halberd, originally aimed at Zhang Ruochen, slowly shifted direction and flew past his left side.
Dodging that strike bought Zhang Ruochen precious time.
The Twin-Headed Blood Lion, carrying Zhang Ruochen and Xiao Hei, charged into Demon Wind Valley.
"How is this possible? What martial technique did he cultivate?"
General Hong Ye gritted his teeth, staring at Zhang Ruochen's retreating figure in disbelief.
"He must die!"
After only a moment's hesitation, General Hong Ye's gaze hardened again. He leaped onto the Golden-Horned Leopard's back and pursued into Demon Wind Valley.
"Kid, running into the valley is walking into a death trap..." General Hong Ye stood on the Golden-Horned Leopard's back, staring at Zhang Ruochen, who had stopped.
Suddenly, his eyes narrowed as he fixed his gaze on two young, beautiful women standing not far away. "And who are you?"
Duanmu Xingling's pretty face revealed a seductive smile. Her ample chest trembled slightly as she bared a row of snow-white teeth. "You ask who we are? I should be asking who you are, daring to hunt down a student of the Martial Market Academy. Quite bold, aren't you?"
Duanmu Xingling was indeed beautiful, alluring and captivating. Even General Hong Ye was momentarily stunned, never expecting to encounter such a stunning beauty in the wilderness.
From her tone, she seemed to be a student of the Martial Market Academy as well.
So what if she was a student of the Martial Market Academy? Here in the Demon Ridge, even if he slept with her, how would the Martial Market Academy ever find out? At worst, after he was done, he could sell her to the Black Market.
Once sold into the Black Market and turned into a prostitute or slave, no matter how impressive your identity, you would never escape.
"If I could sleep with her, even losing ten years of my life would be worth it."
General Hong Ye then turned his gaze to Huang Yanchen, his eyes once again filled with admiration. His heart surged with joy. Heaven was treating him well—chasing down Zhang Ruochen had led him to two fairy-like beauties.
He would enjoy them first, then sell them to the Black Market. He was sure to make a fortune.
General Hong Ye could tell that both Huang Yanchen and Duanmu Xingling were at the Mysterious Extreme Realm and were no match for him.
But he didn't know that both Huang Yanchen and Duanmu Xingling were Earth Ranking martial artists. If he had known, he wouldn't have been so optimistic.
Seeing General Hong Ye's lecherous expression, Huang Yanchen felt nothing but disgust. "Men are all the same. No matter how high their cultivation, they can never change their nature."
Standing not far away, Zhang Ruochen heard Huang Yanchen's words and furrowed his brows slightly.