Chapter 170: First Snow (4)
Translator: Kelaude Editor: TomYummy
Two Cave Masters charged to the fore. They rode their steeds in formation, and stabbed their spears forward together.
There was an illusory six-petaled white lotus on both of their foreheads. Usually, Miao Yi would not be so bold as to go head to head against them. However, with the might of his treasured first grade spear, as well as his own cultivation, he had no need for fear and was fully capable of facing them head on.
As the Inversed-Scale Spear jerked out, its body was wrapped in a resplendent white light while the roars of dragons swept towards the two men in front of him.
Ten bitter years of training on the island was now fully displayed with gleaming sharpness.
The dragon roars resounded as he struck out with his spear. It was hard to tell how many times he pierced forward in that moment as cold sparks flew in quick succession.
‘Clank! Clank!’ Two loud rings reverberated.
The spears in the two Cave Masters’ hands had been struck away. While they were still taken by surprise, Miao Yi had already slipped himself between the both of them with his relentless momentum.
Blood spurted out of the neck of one of the Cave Masters; his entire neck exploded with a ‘BANG!’ and his entire body toppled over backwards.
Meanwhile, the spearhead in Miao Yi’s hands had already punctured the other man’s waist, leaving behind a bloody hole. In that instant, Charcoal had already slipped past between the two with Miao Yi in tow, and continued charging forth in a frenzied manner.
Another spear came from the front, but Miao Yi shook it off with his own. Beneath him, Charcoal had no intentions of evading and directly crashed into the enemy’s dragon steed.
The sharp, long horn on Charcoal’s forehead pierced right into the head of the dragon steed that came charging forward. The enemy’s dragon steed didn’t even have the chance to scream in agony, before getting rammed into a bloody mess and flipped over by Charcoal’s forceful charge.
As the person on top of the steed jumped up in shock, a cold glint came from beneath him and penetrated his stomach, creating another gaping wound.
Miao Yi flicked him away with a single swing. Immediately after, his spear struck out again like a dragon, piercing forward in a torrential storm.
"KILL!" Miao Yi screamed in rage, raising everyone’s morale.
Charcoal, whose movements had slowed down from the crash, widened its eyes as its four hooves stomped ferociously at a frightening speed. It sped up and continued to madly dash forward.
The Inversed-Scales Spear threw up a terrifying gale above Miao Yi as one cold glint after another thrust forth and withdrew from his hands. He wasn’t concerned with his flank, nor did he care about his back; his only concerns were for the enemies that dared to stand before his forward path.
Riding his steed with spear in hand, Miao Yi flowed like a stretch of white silk as he met the twenty oncoming steeds. Yet, he effortlessly broke through them all.
As the cold glint thrust forth and back again, the roars of dragons continued to resound. Wielding his spear, he rode his steed like a raging wave, not slowing down in the slightest. Not a single soul dared to face the edge of his assault.
The draconic roars of the Inversed-Scale Spear made one’s spirit tremble even as its cold radiance opened a path. Where Charcoal passed, figures fell from their dragon steeds one after another.
Not long after eight cultivators had already fallen to the Inversed-Scales Spear, everyone else was now too afraid to try and stop him. They quickly spread out to the sides to avoid him, every single one of them were scared to a deathly whiteness.
Miao Yi instantly broke past the crowd that tried to stop him, and charge directly at the place where about two hundred men continued to encircle the others. He lifted his spear and angrily shouted, "Miao Yi is here. Those who stand in my way shall die!"
From halfway up the mountain, Duan Jirui and Luo Wuqing both sucked in a deep breath. They looked at each other, unwilling to admit Miao Yi’s overwhelming spearcraft, and could only praise, "Truly an entire body of prized treasures!"
On a far off mountain, Zhang Decheng squinted his eyes as he watched the battle. He extended his arm to point ahead as he asked the people about him, "How was I not informed that Yang Qing had such a fierce general as a subordinate?"
Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads, they also hadn’t heard of it before.
Perhaps it was because Miao Yi’s murderous aura was too shocking; it was truly a sharpness none could withstand. The people that stood in Miao Yi’s way all fell to his spear within two strikes.
Seeing him massacre his way towards them like a bolt of lightning, not a single one of the two hundred men surrounding Qin Weiwei’s group dared to impede his path.
As he continued to single-handedly battle ahead, Miao Yi was like a rock smashing into tofu. Everywhere he went, men would dodge to the sides. After he had instantly killed two Cave Masters with his spear, all the other Cave Masters didn’t dare test their luck, and cowered from him in fear.
Without any obstacles, Miao Yi managed to charge directly towards Gongsun Yu and company all by himself, immediately making them overjoyed.
As she grit her teeth through her difficult ordeal, Qin Weiwei had a complicated expression as she gazed at Miao Yi, whose overwhelming prowess and might was like a god that had descended onto the mortal realm. As she allowed herself to feel relief, she suddenly lost all tension in her body and began to fall over.
A large and strong hand suddenly reached to grab her. As he leaned over, Miao Yi held onto her wrist and pulled, quickly lifting Qin Weiwei over to his own steed and seating her behind him.
At the same time, he pulled Qin Weiwei’s arm across his waist and gestured for her to hold on.
"Hold on tight!" Miao Yi shouted. As Charcoal swiftly shifted around under him, the Inversed-Scales Spear in his hand trembled with a dragon’s roar as it was jabbed directly towards someone in particular.
It was none other than the man who led Li Xin and Sun Jiaojiao as they stared wide-eyed back at him—Yuan Zhengkun. It looked as though the three of them found it a little difficult to believe that this person was the same Horse Deputy Miao Yi back in Transient Light Cave. Suddenly, all they could hear was Miao Yi bellowing, "Bastard Yuan Zhengkun, die!"
Yuan Zhengkun was startled. He immediately turned around and ran away, hiding himself behind the crowd.
Unexpectedly, Miao Yi didn’t give chase. Instead, he waved his spear and shouted towards Gongsun Yu and the others, "Follow behind me. Slaughter our way out!"
He knew now wasn’t the time to dawdle. He had simply relied on his aura to frighten everyone. If he really were to linger because of a single Yuan Zhengkun, he might not be able to rescue Qin Weiwei from this predicament. If that happened, even if he managed to escape the encirclement, how would he be able to face Yang Qing?
Including Gungsun Yu, the seven men that were lucky enough to have survived immediately followed after with their own screams, "Kill!"
Miao Yi swiftly led the charge carrying Qin Weiwei at his back. He plowed his way through and opened a path for the men behind him; no one dared to stand in his way as he led the seven men straight out of the encirclement.
"Stop them! Those who cower from battle will be killed without exception!" Duan Jirui roared.
He and Luo Wuqing were furious now. The Manor Head was spectating the battle and yet they couldn’t even stop a single man with so many men. Furthermore, he was obviously not someone with a high cultivation. Did they even want to continue working in the future?
The two of them leapt over with their respective steeds and stood before Miao Yi’s escape path.
After the two of them gave such a stinging reproof and personally led the assault, the surrounding crowd immediately came forward to seal off the path.
Yet it wasn’t enough to stop Miao Yi. With Charcoal’s speed, and the force of his charge fueled by an entire set of treasured armour enveloping its body, there was no need to even worry about Qin Weiwei at his back. Moreover, with Gongsun Yu and company behind keeping his flank safe, Miao Yi masterfully wielded his spear like a duck took to water and only concerned himself with killing the enemies before him, in order to clear a path for those behind.
‘Clank, Clank, Clank, Boom, Boom…’
A series of impacts resounded, leaving Qin Weiwei astonished from her seat behind Miao Yi. She was surprised by Miao Yi’s spear skills. About ten men had charged forward, but Miao Yi was actually able to quickly respond to their assault. His movements looked chaotic, but there was actually an order to them and he wasn’t the least bit panicked. It made one feel as though he was unbeatable as long as he had a spear in hand. It was overwhelmingly tyrannical.
With the opportunity to observe from such a close distance, Qin Weiwei still couldn’t imagine how Miao Yi might have trained to attain such superior spearcraft.
With moves from only a single clash, three cultivators fell to Miao Yi’s spear.
There were benefits in having less people, just as there were inconveniences with a large crowd—it was impossible for everyone to gather together and attack simultaneously. Regardless of how many people you had, only a portion of those numbers would be able to attack together. This made it extremely difficult to impede Miao Yi’s relentless charge, fully garbed as he was in transcendent artifacts.
There were some who took the opportunity to strike at Charcoal. If Charcoal didn’t have a full set of armor protecting it, it would likely have died ten times over. However, it could now withstand the assaults.
Following Charcoal’s relentless charge, they crashed forward. Using the Inversed-Scales Spear in his hand, Miao Yi managed to forcefully open up a path of blood.
Under the terrifying roars of dragons, those that stood in his way were all killed. Wave after waves of enemies were sent flying away as their steeds were knocked over. Dragon steeds and men alike screamed as fresh blood spurted out.
Those that continued to block his path were all frightened, their courage lost to the onslaught. However, those that were spectating the battle could feel their blood begin to boil!
From within the distant mountains, the spectating Zhang Decheng could also see that Miao Yi was not someone with a high cultivation. But it was exactly because of that, that he couldn’t help suck in a deep breath as he said, "Such valor! He is indeed a valiant general. I can’t believe that Yang Qing actually had someone like this working for him!"
He was not impressed by Miao Yi’s cultivation, but based on the fact that Miao Yi had charged in alone into such a perilous situation just to save Qin Weiwei, Zhang Decheng was convinced that Miao Yi must be one of Yang Qing’s trusted aides. For Yang Qing to have a subordinate who was willing to go to such lengths for him truly made him envious.
Waiting for orders a distance away, Yan Xiu was also taken aback by what he saw, and could feel his blood boil with excitement. He hadn’t expected that the Cave Master was so ferocious that he would able to kill his way in and out of such a heavy encirclement of about two hundred men.
As he hid under a tree, Yao Ruoxian secretly observed the battle. His lips couldn’t help but twitch, as the Inversed-Scales Spear was not some sort of peerless treasure to him, yet it was able to unleash the full might of its destructive force in the hands of a cultivator at Miao Yi’s level. He couldn’t help but grumble to himself, "The Inversed-Scale Spear has really met its fated master…"
However, there was another undeniable fact. If it weren’t for the protection of the complete set of armor that Miao Yi had on, he definitely couldn’t have been as ferocious. If it were a normal spear without the power of a transcendent artifact to back it up, it would have been impossible to unleash such devastating might; a cultivator that was a few grades higher would be able to knock your weapon away.
That being the case, Yao Ruoxian had to admit that Miao Yi’s exceptional spearcraft was also a deciding factor in him being able to slaughter his way in and out. It seemed that even with his eyes closed, Miao Yi would still be able to find the opponent’s opening and launch a fatal strike. His spearcraft was clean and precise to the limit. If that weren’t the case, he would not have been able to defend against the coordinated attack of such a large crowd.
As the chill wind howled amidst the cascading snow, a line broke out of the encirclement. Men and steeds were thrown off their feet where a gap emerged, and the men that were previously surrounded managed to slaughter their way out in a single file.
Including Miao Yi and Qin Weiwei, the nine cultivators had now dwindled to five after forcefully breaking out of the encirclement. The four that were slain had fallen behind purely because they had been ensnared by the enemy and were unable to keep up with Miao Yi’s charge.
"Where do you think you’re running off to!?"
Duan Jirui bellowed, as both he and Luo Wuqing raised their spears in an attempt to stop Miao Yi.
From the one-petaled illusory blue lotus on their foreheads, it was possible to tell that both of them were Blue Lotus level experts.
Miao Yi cursed to himself. It would be difficult to leverage the might of a first grade transcendent artifact against a Blue Lotus realm cultivator, whose might was on par with a second grade transcendent artifact.
Furthermore, the faint white light on both of their weapons revealed that they were clearly using first grade transcendent artifacts as well, and not normal weapons.
As he continued to charge forward, Miao Yi suddenly shouted, "All of you escape first!"
His words were meant for Gongsun Yu and the rest who were riding behind him. The three people that remained at his back were Gongsun Yu, Li Youqian and Zhang Yuniang.
The three of them now heeded Miao Yi’s every word. Under the relentless press of enemies from behind, the three of them immediately split into two separate directions, circling around on either side of Duan Jirui and Luo Wuqing who were continuing to charge towards Miao Yi.
Duan Jirui and Luo Wuqing were not concerned with the three of them and let them escape. The two of them only needed to stop Miao Yi and Qin Weiwei—especially Qin Weiwei. If she managed to escape, then all their efforts would have been for naught.
"Hold on tight!" Miao Yi shouted, and behind him, Qin Weiwei’s arms held tightly onto his waist.
Charcoal suddenly took to the skies; both Duan Jirui and Luo Wuqing responded by viciously leaping in his way.
The instant both sides clashed, besides the Inversed-Scales Spear, seventeen clumps of silver mist suddenly burst out of the seventeen transcendent artifacts on Miao Yi and Charcoal’s bodies. Seventeen ferocious illusionary beasts abruptly struck out and pounced on the two men.