This snowy mountain seemed even more real and physical than the last, and even larger as well. It was more than a hundred zhang tall, enough to astonish anyone who saw it.
Roooar!
A massive dragon bellowed. Dark clouds roiled beneath the snowy mountain, and a savage and wicked dragon coiled within, its eyes red and bursting with an energy that could annihilate the entire world.
"Before absolute strength, all techniques are insignificant tricks. Let me show you what true strength is!"
Dayan Mangban's voice echoed over the sky, resounding over the City of Steel like the voice of a god.
At this moment, the entire world was still, all being silent, all staring at the massive evil dragon, all feeling a fear that came from the darkest, deepest depths of their soul.
"The Great Snow Seals, the Devil Dragon Destroys All—this is the strongest and most profound of the Devil Dragon Art's techniques."
Dayan Mangban had relied on this technique to shatter Lesser Balur, utterly destroying its fortifications and causing this minor kingdom of the Western Regions to submit and become a vassal of Ü-Tsang.
This technique was so powerful that it could destroy everyone on the walls, including Wang Chong.
"Hmph!"
Wang Chong sneered, his hair blowing in the wind as he fearlessly looked up to the heavens.
"Dayan Mangban, your way of thinking is too simple. Who cares about the Great Snow Mountain? Who cares about the Devil Dragon? Let me show you what the true martial arts of the Central Plains are like!
"Yin and Yang interchange, the heavens and earth reverse! Great Yinyang Art!"
With a howl, Wang Chong suddenly gathered up all of his strength, as well as that of the thirty-two officers, and soared into the air like a hawk. Buzz! The illusory sun and moon on his shoulders suddenly became corporeal, turning respectively into gold and red streams of energy that began to spiral together, forming a sun-like Yin Yang forcefield with a radius of ten-some zhang.
The Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art was not a technique purely meant for battle. Its greater purpose lay in absorbing an opponent's energy to rapidly increase a cultivator's strength. Fighting was not its primary mission.
But this did not mean that it was ineffective in battle. On the contrary, the reason the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art was known as the supreme evil art, which made all the masters of that path quiver in fear, was precisely that it was so terrifying in battle.
As the number one evil art for several thousand years, the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art had three top-notch techniques that could be used in battle.
'Yin and Yang interchange, the heavens and earth reverse, the Great Yinyang Art' was one of these three!
Each of the three battle techniques of the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art had extremely harsh requirements. For example, the Great Yinyang Art was a technique that was specially meant for fighting stronger opponents, like Dayan Mangban now.
But this technique still required an extremely high level of cultivation to use. If Wang Chong were not being boosted by the Death's Scythe Formation and had also not absorbed a part of Dayan Mangban's Stellar Energy, he would have never reached the requirement.
In addition, using the technique also required a great deal of blood energy and mental energy.
One would suffer a drastic drop in strength after using this technique, so if one could not finish off their opponent, one was highly likely to end up being pursued and killed. This was why Wang Chong did not lightly use this move.
Boom!
In the blink of an eye, Wang Chong, cloaked in gold and red Stellar Energy, smashed into Dayan Mangban. The sound of the collision was so massive that it seemed like the heavens were about to tear open. The sound waves were so intense that everyone felt deaf and began to see stars.
"Cover your ears!"
The nervous workmen began to put their hands over their ears, their faces twisted into grimaces, but many more were staring at the sky with eyes wide open.
Chapter 739: Frightening Away Dayan!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Boom! Boom! Boom!
In the air, Wang Chong's Stellar Energy fiercely clashed with Dayan Mangban's. Wang Chong was far weaker than his foe, but by using a strange energy, he was able to borrow at least half of Dayan Mangban's energy and use it for his own purposes. This Stellar Energy combined with the energy around Wang Chong, transforming into a mighty flood that thundered toward Dayan Mangban.
Roooar!
The massive dragon roared and the mountain of snow crumbled. In that one moment, it was possible to hear a groan of pain. In a flash of light, a figure crashed down from the sky, falling atop the walls.
Boom! At this time, everyone could clearly see that the one to drop from the air had not been Wang Chong, but Dayan Mangban.
"How is this possible?"
Xu Keyi and the others were stunned by this sight. They had personally experienced Dayan Mangban's power. That nearly two hundred army elites were required to surround and attack him was testament enough to his power.
When Wang Chong soared into the air, everyone had expected him to fail and had prepared for the aftermath. Yet to their surprise, the seemingly much more powerful Dayan Mangban had lost this contest of power, and it seemed like his wounds were not light.
"Brat, I'll give this one to you. I didn't expect you to use this sort of method. But this is far from over! I'll be coming again, and you might not be so lucky then… Retreat!"
Dayan Mangban's voice echoed over the City of Steel, brimming with savagery and loathing. Before anyone else could react, Dayan Mangban suddenly jumped over the city wall and vanished.
"!!!"
The suddenness of this left everyone dumbfounded. No one could have predicted that Dayan Mangban would choose this moment to retreat.
Buzz! Mere moments after he jumped down the wall, there was a flash of light, and Wang Chong floated down from the sky to the place on the wall that Dayan Mangban had fallen.
He looked over the wall and outside. The fearless White Braves who had seemed ready to keep up the attack forever had been thrown into chaos at Dayan Mangban's sudden retreat.
Many of the White Braves were still confused as to what was going on. They only saw Dayan Mangban jump down from the wall, mount a horse, and ride off into the distance, so they followed him.
The undaunted valor of the White Braves had instantly evaporated.
……
"Archers!
"Ready!"
With a grim expression, Wang Chong raised an arm and gave an order. Creakcreak! The archers from the great clans within the city began to jump back onto the walls and pull on their bowstrings.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A dense rain of arrows descended like a cloud of locusts from the 'beehives' installed fifteen meters above the ground, bursting toward the several thousand White Braves.
Neigh!
Warhorses cried as they reared up on their hindlegs. Some of the arrows struck the hindquarters of these horses, causing them to throw off their riders in their painful contortions, while others were struck in vital areas and dropped on the spot.
Bang!
At this sight and the sounds of the neighing warhorses and panicked White Braves, the entire city exploded with cheers.
"Wonderful!"
"We've won!"
"I just knew that with Lord Marquis here, no one could ever capture the City of Steel!"
……
The City of Steel was an ocean of cheers, and on the walls, the clan experts and soldiers from the army found themselves regarding Wang Chong with utter admiration.
At the start of the assault, the archer teams from the great clans had been ready to fire a volley of arrows, but Wang Chong had stopped them.
Everyone had been puzzled by this order, but now, no one questioned Wang Chong's decision.
Although these Tibetans were equipped with thick arm
or, and their horses similarly equipped, not even the formidable Tibetans could protect the hindquarters of a warhorse.
This was the only weakness in their defense.
This was not because the Tibetans had been careless or neglectful. The hindquarters were where warhorses excreted their waste, and there was also the long tail to consider. Armor for this area was difficult to make and very uncomfortable for the horses, and they often kicked it away.
This wasn't usually any big problem, but at this moment, it became the Achilles' Heel of the Tibetans that Wang Chong now exploited.
Neeeeigh! In a few short moments, one to two hundred Tibetans were brought down to the ground.
"Quickly, save them!"
Hearing the activity behind them, the White Braves began to turn their horses around with the intent of aiding their dismounted comrades. But what welcomed them was a shower of sharp and powerful ballista bolts.
Boom! A White Brave who had just turned his horse around and begun to charge back had his head blown through by a ballista bolt. The Tibetan's eyes widened and his body trembled as he went rigid and toppled from his horse.
Twang!
One ballista bolt after another was fired from the walls. When the White Braves began to flee from the walls, the four ballistae no longer had anything to fear and began to freely fire on the White Braves.
While the Tibetans were panicked and fleeing, the ballista team fired away. In just a few moments, thirty to forty White Braves who had turned around to aid their brethren were struck down.
"Retreat! Retreat!" a White Brave officer in the distance hurriedly shouted. Although they were very unwilling, the remaining Tibetans quickly took off.
"Lord Marquis, a good chance! Let's pursue."
On the walls, Cheng Sanyuan, Su Shixuan and the others hurried over to Wang Chong, the joy visible on their faces. Dayan Mangban had been defeated by Wang Chong and the Tibetans were in disarray. This was a superb opportunity to chase them down and expand on their victory.
"There's no need!"
Wang Chong put a stop to this idea.
"Now is not the time to chase them. Xu Keyi, take some people and finish off those dismounted Tibetans. Without their warhorses, they won't be able to run very far."
With these words, Wang Chong gave a light cough, tinged with a hint of weakness. Startled, Cheng Sanyuan and the others raised their heads and finally noticed that Wang Chong's face was pale, his breathing weak. He had none of the appearance of a proud victor returning from battle.
"Lord Marquis!"
They hurriedly went up to support Wang Chong.
He truly deserves his rank of Brigadier General of Ü-Tsang! Future King of Generals, I underestimated you!
Wang Chong's eyes flashed as he looked in the direction that Dayan Mangban had fled toward. The gap in strength between him and Dayan Mangban was still there, and even though Wang Chong had used the Great Yinyang Art in the final attack and even turned a part of Dayan Mangban's own attack against him, Wang Chong had still failed to absorb his energy, much less severely wound him.
Dayan Mangban was currently only frightened and surprised. Once he came back to his senses and realized that he wasn't as injured as he imagined, the City of Steel would truly be in danger.
"Hurry and clean up the area. Sweep the battlefield," Wang Chong said.
"Yes, Lord Marquis."
The officers all lowered their heads.
With these words, Wang Chong jumped off the wall. In the air, he used the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art on the wall, using the attractive force to slow his fall into a float.
"Ho, he's the Tang commander! Kill him and we'll have succeeded!"
Wang Chong had barely landed on the ground when he was greeted by Tibetan shouts from all sides. Though their warhorses had been killed, the dismounted White Braves did not flee upon seeing Wang Chong. Rather, their first reaction was to pull out their scimitars and charge.
"Hmph!"
Wang Chong only sneered. Without even glancing at them, he activated the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art. Four of the White Braves were still several zhang from Wang Chong when their faces froze in shock. Their bodies trembled as Stellar Energy flooded out of them and into Wang Chong's body.
"Evil… evil art!"
The White Braves shuddered as they were quickly sucked dry, their corpses left to drop to the ground.
"Ah!"
Wang Chong gave a long sigh. With the energy of the White Braves, he immediately felt much better.
Now, it's time to end this battle!
Wang Chong opened his eyes and looked around at the nearby White Braves. Buzz! In a flash of light, Wang Chong appeared ten-some zhang away in front of a White Brave, his right hand pressed on the unlucky soldier's head.
"Save– save me!"
The White Brave's eyes were wide open and full of fear as he was quickly sucked dry and killed.
What followed outside of the City of Steel was scream after scream. The murderous and fierce White Braves of the Tibetan Plateau had become Wang Chong's prey.
This was not a battle, only a one-sided massacre.
A few moments later, the battle was over. Nearly two hundred White Braves had added their number to the corpses outside the city. These elite cavalry whose strength was nearly equal to the Mamelukes of the Abbasid Caliphate were merely ants before Wang Chong.
An army's advantage was in its numbers. Without an absolute advantage in numbers, soldiers fighting against an elite expert would fare little better than fighting one-on-one.
……
Eight-hundred-some zhang from the city, Wang Chong had his eyes closed in meditation, attempting to soothe his seething blood energy, when he suddenly heard a familiar voice at his ear. "Lord Marquis, the battle within the city is also over. All sixteen Tibetans have been eliminated and order has been restored. Our brothers have already begun to clear up the corpses."
Wang Chong's eyes opened as he asked, "Have you found out how they managed to sneak in?"
The City of Steel had a long expanse of walls, and if one wanted to, it was completely possible to attack and enter the city from another direction. However, that was in the case of a powerful foe who was engaging openly with the defenses. But to climb over the walls and enter the city without anyone noticing or making any noise? That was simply impossible.
Chapter 740: Fumeng Lingcha's Fury
One hundred and fifty thousand experienced craftsmen were in the city, and though they were normally laying bricks, placing tiles, and building the city, when a battle began, they would become one hundred and fifty thousand pairs of eyes. They could serve as the best scouts and lookouts. No one should have been able to sneak past their eyes and infiltrate the city.
Yet it was a fact that before Dayan Mangban launched his sneak attack, no one in the city had noticed anything strange. Simply put, the enemy had not climbed over the walls, but had infiltrated the City of Steel beforehand.
From a certain perspective, this was utterly inconceivable.
"This… Time has been short, and we still haven't had time to properly investigate. However, according to the procedure laid out by Lord Marquis, after the incident, we cleaned up the area and discovered several broken wooden chests.
"These chests all had a large hole, and half of the steel and building modules were missing."
Behind Wang Chong, a young officer, about twenty-eight years old, described the results of the preliminary investigation.
Wang Chong's brow furrowed, but he quickly understood what was going on.
I really did underestimate him. He must have done something while the products were being shipped from the capital and the provinces. This Tibetan madman seems to be a far more meticulous person than I imagined, Wang Chong quietly said to himself.
In order to maintain secrecy, Wang Chong had sealed many of the modules for his City of Steel in wooden chests so that outsiders wouldn't be able to tell what was inside. A large hole being made in
these chests wasn't enough to draw any sort of concern, but that so many steel modules were missing completely changed the nature of the matter.
There was a high chance that this was how the Tibetans had managed to sneak past his eyes as well as the eyes of the one hundred and fifty thousand craftsmen.
"I understand. Let's leave the matter there! Strengthen the guard. In addition…"
Wang Chong began to head back when he suddenly stopped.
"Have some people clean this place up!"
After glancing behind him for a moment, Wang Chong quickly left.
The night winds howled, spreading a thick stench of blood through the air. The ground behind Wang Chong was strewn with the corpses of Tibetan White Braves. Nothing came without a price.
Dayan Mangban had retreated, but these two-hundred-some Tibetan elites were the price he had to pay.
……
Gallop!
The Tibetan White Braves rode through the darkness, fleeing toward the Tibetan Plateau. Next to Dayan Mangban, a Tibetan deputy general appeared greatly confused.
"Milord, what should we do now?"
The deputy general's eyes were tinged with a deep worry.
More than two thousand White Braves had suffered two to three hundred losses in the attack on the city. The elite White Braves had never suffered such a heavy loss before. This tiny City of Steel had inflicted more damage to the White Braves than entire kingdoms.
At the very least, the White Braves had never suffered such casualties when they attacked Greater and Lesser Balur.
And when they thought about how Lord Dusong Mangpoje was waiting at the edge of the plateau for news of their victory, the soldiers couldn't help but shiver in fear.
I really didn't think that we would be defeated by that small city with only several thousand people guarding it!
I didn't think that Great Tang brat would be even more impressive than the rumors. Milord has always been a master of siegecraft, never leaving a city empty-handed, but not even Milord personally taking action could deal with that boy.
And that city was incredibly tough. Zongka and Cangba with their Metal element abilities can easily turn a gate into powder or transform it into a giant. This move has always been effective in previous battles, but even after working for so long, those two only managed to dig a few inches into the wall. I truly can't believe it.
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 493