Patrol Captain

The night was pitch black, and a storm was raging.

Nine hundred li north of Tianxiong Pass, amidst towering mountains and forests, lies Guiku Mountain, a place of peculiar terrain. Its peaks resemble sharp knives piercing the sky, and the howling winds here sound like murderous blades, accompanied by the cries of ghosts and wolves, hence its name.

At this moment, leaden-gray clouds pressed down heavily in the night, and the gale whipped up large raindrops that pounded against the mountains and forests, making a wailing sound.

"Boom"

A thunderclap boomed in the sky, and lightning tore through the pitch-black darkness.

Amidst flashes of lightning, in the southeast of Ghost Cry Mountain, amidst a dense forest of towering mountains, figures clad in heavy black iron armor lay dormant beneath the lush trees, their breathing barely audible. Only the rainwater trickling down from the seams of their armor made a soft pattering sound on the grass before being swallowed up by the torrential downpour.

Through the dense foliage, pairs of gleaming black dots, like tigers patrolling the mountains at night, peered over the thick forest and the heavy rain, intently watching the enemy camp stretching for miles in a valley a dozen miles away.

The campfires in the camp were scattered like stars, and they did not go out when it rained. The orange-red flames spread out a hazy halo in the rain curtain. The figures of patrolling soldiers moved in the firelight, and the shadows cast by the tents were countless. With the mountain wind, the continuous neighing of horses could be faintly heard from the valley below in the distance.

Above that valley, large birds circled, surveying the surrounding mountains and forests. On each bird stood a soldier clad in Northern Liang black gold armor, his sharp eyes watching for any unusual activity in the dense forest below, keeping watch!
"call"

A creature with a wingspan of three zhang (approximately 10 meters) was whistling in from the forest above them. Its feathers were dark red, and its claws were as sharp as scimitars. With each flap of its wings, white energy shot out through the rain, scattering branches and leaves in the forest.

Below in the dense forest, the Xuanjia warriors watched as the sentry drew closer, their eyes narrowing as they reached for the hilts of their swords. Their breathing became even lighter, though the small flags on their backs fluttered slightly, shaking off the water droplets on them!
Yang Zhong, the leader of the Eighth Route Army, held the reins. His eyes, hidden behind the black iron mask, were as sharp as cold stars. He raised his hand behind him, and an attendant handed him a large bow. It was a longbow made of thousand-year-old black iron wood, with ferocious cloud and tiger patterns carved on the bow arm. The bowstring was made of demon tendons mixed with true essence and was now gleaming with a dark golden luster in the rain.

Yang Zhong's eyes flashed coldly. His left hand gripped the bowstring, while his right hand slowly pulled back. His inner energy surged into his arms like thunder, causing the muscles beneath his black iron armor to tense instantly, clearly outlining the heavy armor. The black iron bow was drawn to a full moon, the bow creaking with a dull sound. The sound was not like the vibration of wood, but rather like thunder brewing in the palm of his hand. Even the surrounding rain seemed to freeze under this aura, forming a faint wave of energy around him. A white light condensed on the bowstring, revealing an arrow formed from his true essence, pointing skyward!

At this moment, the large bird in the sky was less than four hundred feet away. If the sentries above were any closer, the hundreds of elite cavalry below might be exposed at any time.

But Yang Zhong waited and did not fire the arrow immediately!
The giant bird drew closer and closer, three hundred feet, two hundred feet... The bird's route remained unchanged, heading straight for their hiding place. The armored soldiers, who had been lying in wait, narrowed their eyes and tensed their expressions, slowly drawing the hilts of their swords from their waists.

"ga"

With a strange cry, the large bird seemed to have noticed something in its eerie green pupils. It let out a hoarse, duck-like sound from its throat and suddenly lifted its forward-charging body upward.

The Northern Liang sentries above immediately became suspicious and alert, their sharp eyes quickly scanning the dense forest below.

Then his gaze fell upon a cold glint in the vast rain below!
His pupils contracted, and his throat began to gurgle. At this critical moment, "Boom!" A thunderclap boomed from the sky. Below him, Yang Zhong, the Eighth General, finally seized the opportunity. His eyes flashed with cold light, and he let out a low shout: "Die!"

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly released his right hand, and the bowstring twanged like thunder. With a whoosh, the arrow of true energy suddenly transformed into a bolt of lightning, tearing through the leaves and piercing the rain. The shockwave from the arrow's tail blasted the surrounding rain into fine mist, which shot towards the large bird and the sentry.

The sentry on the bird's back narrowed his eyes, his hair stood on end, and he tried to flee, but the arrows were like thunderbolts, impossible to dodge. With a muffled "thud," the arrow pierced the bird's neck, dripping with blood. Then, the arrowhead, imbued with powerful true energy, pierced straight through the bird's head and exploded.

Then, the large bird let out a muffled cry like a broken bellows, and spun down in the rain, falling into the dense forest with a crackling sound as branches snapped, and blood spread across the ground in a bright red color.

All of this happened in an instant, and all the noise was drowned out by the thunderous roar from the sky.

Having done all this, Yang Zhong held a bow in one hand and waved the other forward, signaling to advance. The soldiers lying in ambush behind him immediately understood, each raising one hand to their chest, forming a sword-finger gesture, their fingertips flashing with white light. Then, a small flag with a gold border flew out from behind them, fluttering in the wind, and then swirling around the armored soldiers and the strange horses beneath them.

As this process unfolded, a layer of water shimmered on the bodies of both the people and the horses, and then they seemed to become invisible, blending into the surrounding mountains, forests, and rain, their forms disappearing from sight.

Soon, this small group of soldiers began to move. The outlines of men and horses could be seen in the rain and mist as they moved forward silently toward the mountains and forests ahead. There was no sound of horses' hooves, only the rustling of small branches and leaves, which was drowned out by the sound of the heavy rain hitting the banana leaves.

A small group of soldiers quietly made their way towards the main camp at the foot of the mountain in Riftwind Valley under the cover of night rain. The closer they got to the direction of the Northern Liang camp, the more and more spies in the mountains and forests and sentries in the sky appeared!

In the mountains and forests, a series of cold arrows tore through the dense rain and cleared away obstacles, each one hitting its mark.

Nine li, eight li... six li, five li...

However, when they were still quite a distance away, a sharp whistle rang out from the opposite mountain ridge.

"Enemy attack!"

"Enemy attack!"

This urgent shout tore through the rain and startled the camp below the mountain!
"Boom"

The drums of the enemy camp sounded in the distance, and a loud charge erupted from the opposite mountain ridge.

The enemy discovered the Seventh Mountain first and launched an attack. Five hundred elite soldiers roared down the mountain and used their supernatural powers to send rocks tumbling down the mountain. Huge boulders the size of houses rolled down, creating a terrifying scene and causing chaos!
The Northern Liang camp also reacted quickly. A group of Northern Liang cavalrymen, dressed in black armor, wearing eight-plate helmets, and wielding curved swords, shouted as they left the camp and charged towards the southwest of Riftwind Valley.

Just as the Beiliang camp was temporarily distracted by the enemy's attack from the southwest, a short while later, a whooshing sound pierced the rain from the southeast, shooting like lightning from the mountain directly towards the Beiliang troops who had rushed out of the camp.

"puff"

A muffled thud that pierced through flesh and blood.

A Northern Liang soldier's armor was pierced through, and he fell off his horse, where he was pinned to the muddy ground!

next moment,
"kill!"

From the valley to the southeast, a deafening battle cry resounded, its powerful momentum carrying a chilling killing intent, like a thousand troops!

From the dense forest on the southeastern hillside, amidst the rushing white rain, a series of large horses emerged from the downpour, letting out deep neighs. Their hooves pounded the mud, and they charged down the hillside like streaks of black lightning. The five hundred elite cavalry of the Eighth Mountain surged out of the forest like a tidal wave. The hooves of their black iron warhorses slammed into the slippery mountain road, splashing up mud half a person's height, yet without slowing their pace. The rain was cleaved by the shockwaves of their charge, forming a transparent curtain of water before the knights. The black iron patterns on their armor gleamed coldly in the lightning.

They charged out from the other side, rushing into the Northern Liang troops who were leaving the camp, and joined forces with Seventh Mountain to attack from both sides!
The thousand elite soldiers of the Mountain-Crushing Army, veterans of countless battles who had survived the demon battlefield, were like a sharp dagger, piercing the vanguard of the Northern Liang army that had set out from its camp. Warhorses charged, weapons cleaved through armor, and the sounds of neighing, screams, the clanging of metal, and the rain mingled together in an instant. People on both sides fell and were wounded, but the Mountain-Crushing Army consisted of elite soldiers selected from the army, and they attacked from both sides, so their losses were much smaller.

Seventh Mountain Sheng Zhonglang swept his long spear horizontally, his true energy transforming into a spear beam like a bolt of lightning, cleaving seven or eight Northern Liang armored soldiers in two, armor and all. Blood mixed with rainwater flowed, forming a dark red stream on the ground.

"kill!"

He led his troops to join forces with Yang Zhong, the Eighth General. In a fierce and swift attack, they quickly joined forces with the hundreds of soldiers who had broken out of the camp. Then they rushed into the enemy's outer camp and set fire to the hastily built gates, watchtowers, and sentry towers!

"So brave."

At this moment, a skilled enemy general roared, and three or five streaks of light from the front camp rushed in with a whooshing sound!

"go!"

The two lieutenant generals worked together seamlessly. Yang Zhong turned his horse around, drew his bow, and fired several arrows in quick succession, like arrows piercing the clouds, cutting through the air and blocking the enemy. Qi Zhonglang, on the other hand, swung his spear, unleashing a spear beam that swept across the enemy ranks, preventing them from pursuing him.

Their thousand cavalrymen were no match for the Northern Liang army; their mission was merely to cause trouble.

After drinking, everyone followed their pre-arranged plan: kill the men and retreat without lingering in battle. They ordered their elite cavalry to split into dozens of small teams, turn around, and quickly spurred their horses into a fan shape, plunging headlong into the mountains and forests, disappearing into the rainy night.

"Leave me alone!"

"Where to go!"

At that moment, a furious shout rang out from the fire-filled vanguard camp.

A giant white jade hand, several meters in size, slapped away the arrows and spear flashes, flying towards the direction where the elite cavalry from the two mountains had fled. With one slap, it left a huge handprint on the ground.

Immediately following, amidst the flames burning at the front gate, a bright blue light blazed forth, and a colossal Dharma image rose up, like a green mountain rising from the ground, reaching a height of over ninety feet. Its blue armor gleamed with a cold, chilling light, and its powerful Musashi aura directly tore through the rain curtain.

The general's face was hidden in the shadow of his blue helmet, only revealing a pair of cold, star-like eyes with a sharp, knife-like gaze. He had a black and gold longsword at his waist and a body like a giant.

"dong dong dong"

This Musashi statue, with its sword-like gaze, looked at the horses galloping across the mountain, let out an angry snort, and then suddenly moved its feet, chasing after the two lieutenant generals in the direction they had retreated.

The clash of the blue-armored warriors produced a thunderous roar. Each step they took cracked the rocks, sending rubble and broken wood surging to both sides like a tidal wave. Their eyes bulged like copper bells, their nostrils flared, and their massive hands pounded wildly into the dense forest below. The force was enough to split mountains and shatter forests, causing the earth to tremble and startle birds into scattering. The attack forced the elite Xuanjia warriors who had been hiding and running through the forest below to emerge. Some sank with the shattered forest, while others were thrown into the air by the powerful shockwaves, accompanied by the neighing of horses.

At the same time, the sword at the waist of this Musashi statue suddenly came out of its sheath. The sword light was like blue lightning that tore through the night. With one slash, the rocks and trees in the place where the blade passed were cut open like tofu. Finally, it left a huge ravine that was more than a mile long on the ridge, directly cutting off a road. The iron-blooded pressure covered the entire mountain forest like dark clouds.

However, due to the dispersed retreat and the timely withdrawal, most of the elite cavalrymen had already crossed a mountain ridge and retreated towards the wider dense forest. This Musashi statue was naturally unwilling to give up, thumping its feet against the forest, wanting to lift its foot and cross the mountain ridge.

"No one is leaving!" This Musashi Vanguard General of Beiliang transformed into a giant, his eyes glaring and his brows furrowing, his imposing presence unstoppable. Today, no one will escape his pursuit.

Just as this person crossed the mountain ridge, he saw another "high mountain" behind the peak, a pair of huge eyes, like the sun and moon in the sky, staring straight at him as he crossed the ridge!

Clearly visible, a colossal body, over two hundred and fifty feet tall, stood there like a mountain, clad in purple-gold armor, its eyes gleaming like cold stars, its eyebrows as sharp as steel brushes, and its vertical, menacing pupils, as if it were waiting right there.

The Musashi general from Beiliang suddenly felt his pupils shrink and his whole body tremble with alarm. Compared to him, his own Dharma form was like "a small witch seeing a great witch"!
Dragon and Tiger Generals!

As he was stunned, he saw Qi Tian raise his pale golden giant hand and slap it down directly at the Northern Liang warrior right under his nose.

The speed was so fast that the leaden clouds in the sky were ignited by friction, the void was suddenly compressed, and the dense forest below bowed down.

The Northern Liang warrior, Musashi, was unable to escape at such a short distance. He could only grit his teeth and roar, wielding a black and gold longsword with both hands, channeling all his energy into it, and slashing at the pale gold hand in the sky. At the same time, his blue armor trembled violently, and scales flew off, quickly piecing together a huge blue shield above his head.

In a flash, the black-gold blade unleashed unparalleled sword energy, slashing towards the rapidly descending golden palm.

"when"

A loud clang of metal striking metal.

The next moment, the sword energy shattered inch by inch.

Then, with a "boom," the golden hand continued its momentum, striking towards Beiliang Musashi at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.

Suddenly, the earth shook violently, the mountains shattered, and a blinding blue light erupted from the spot where Bei Liang Wuzang had just stood, before it was completely obliterated without even a scream.

Only some fragments of blue armor and a broken blade remained!

Then, Qi Tian's feet shook, and the giant dragon and tiger body directly flipped over the mountain ridge. With a flick of his hand, a bronze spear flew directly from his hand and roared towards the Beiliang camp where the howling winds were rising.

The bronze spear moved, and wherever it passed, mountains trembled, and spatial rifts were torn open in the void!
A sacred weapon was deployed, and at that moment, a golden light rose into the sky from the Northern Liang camp ahead. (End of Chapter)