Chapter 383 Destroying Cities
Of course this blade did not fall on Shangguan Qingcheng’s head. He retracted his blade half-way.
He had to retract.
Because Li Cunxiao was being attacked head-on.
A sword was about to land on his head.
The leading commander’s role in a Military Formation was absolutely crucial. Thus when two sides faced off, there would often be hidden arrows within the formation aimed directly at the opponent’s leading commander.
To take down the man, one must first take down his horse. If the opponent’s leading commander were taken down, then victory could almost be guaranteed.
However, pertaining to a military warrior of Militarism, even if a ballista were deployed, it would be useless, much less a hidden arrow.
This was because a military warrior of Militarism aggregated the power of the Military Formation, thus his attacking and defensive power was mighty. The usual tricks would not be able to harm such a military warrior.
But now, Li Cunxiao promptly retracted his blade and switched to defense. He even let go of the chance to kill Shangguan Qingcheng.
The power of this attack was too forceful for him to ignore.
The man wielding the sword was lightning fast. After the blade and the sword met, he retreated in a flash as well. His attack was swift and powerful with a graceful body posture.
After Li Cunxiao blocked the sword attack, there was not a hint of joy in his eyes. He simply stared at the opponent.
The man in front of him had gray hair.
The man was naturally, Li Xian.
He stood by Shangguan Qingcheng. His calm expression showed not a hint of killer instinct. He looked at Li Cunxiao and said, “General, I’m your opponent in this battle.”
Shangguan Qingcheng got up and took a couple of steps back, settling on the vice-general’s position. Though she was hurt, that was only relative to Li Cunxiao, she was still able to fight.
Li Xian had been observing the situation from the back of the Military Formation, of course he would not let Shangguan Qingcheng be seriously wounded. The only reason he didn’t take on Li Cunxiao straight away was to give Shangguan Qingcheng a chance to gain experience.
After all it was rare to face off against a senior general of Militarism. This experience would be beneficial for Shangguan Qingcheng’s cultivation in the future.
The battle was still going on in many corners of the city. But here, after Li Xian’s timely appearance, the fighting had stopped temporarily.
Li Cunxiao stared at Li Xian with a killer instinct in his eyes. But he didn’t act rashly, instead he said in a low voice, “So you’re the one who made the timely appearance and turned the situation around for the Pinglu army. They were able to win only because of you.”
Li Xian answered with a smile, “It is me.”
Li Cunxiao tightened his grip on his blade like a panther about to prance, and he asked word by word, “Who are you exactly?”
There was a reason Li Cunxiao asked such a question because as soon as he appeared, the Pinglu army’s unstable power of their formation had recovered. It meant that Li Xian was already making adjustments to the formation, and he acted quickly.
After the Military Formation recovered, its power had elevated to another level, to the point where even Li Cunxiao felt its pressure.
His acutely figured out that the opponent had the cultivation on par with his!
He was puzzled.
It was widely known that after the Battle of Bagong Mountain, Zhang Yichao died in Chang’an and the Tang Empire no longer had any senior generals of Militarism. Out of the entire Tang Empire, Gao Pian was the most renowned.
But when Huang Chao went up north to take Chang’an, he faced off against Gao Pian in Huainan, and Gao lost. After that battle, people started questioning Gao’s Militarism cultivation.
Rumors were circling that Gao Pian had been drunk with power in recent years, and he no longer had the will to battle. Thus he had fallen out of the realm of senior general of Militarism.
Therefore, no cultivator in the Tang Empire could match up against Li Cunxiao.
Apart from Li Ye.
During the battle of Hedong, Pinglu had won battles one after another. Li Keyong’s advisers had previously predicted that Li Ye’s Militarism cultivation had reached extremely high levels.
Li Ye was the Prince An after all, so more than likely he would have gained Li Xian’s inherent cultivation, not to mention going through battles with Huang Chao. Based on the cultivation talent he exhibited, his accomplishments would be great if he cultivated Militarism.
Even Prince An’s Manor guard Shangguan Qingcheng had already achieved general of Militarism. So why couldn’t the Prince An be senior general of Militarism?
But these were just speculations.
Li Ye had never exhibited his cultivation as a senior general of Militarism during the battle of Hedong, so these speculations could not be proven.
But now, faced against the polished, gray-haired man, Li Cunxiao could clearly sense that he was likely to have reached the cultivation a senior general of Militarism owned!
But who was this man?
It was possible for a great Kungfu master to be born out of nowhere, but for a military warrior of Militarism, especially a senior general of Militarism, it was impossible!
Faced with Li Cunxiao’s questions, Li Xian just gave a casual laugh. It was as though trying to say Li Cunxiao needn’t worry about who he was. Fortunately he was not a man swollen with pride, and would answer any question, so he replied, “This is a big world full of great men. How could the great Tang Empire lack warriors?”
Having heard his words, Li Cunxiao was taken aback, and fell silent.
To expand the Tang Empire territory, the Tang soldiers fought many battles and earned much glory. Of course they also had many great commanders. When the Tang Empire was at its heights, the number of Militarism warriors they had exceeded the number of fish in the rivers. They even had multiple famous generals, let alone senior generals of Militarism.
But that was the past, things had changed now. The Tang Empire’s glory had disappeared when they lost to Huang Chao and allowed the capital to be taken by rebels, twice.
Li Cunxiao’s silence only lasted a moment, before long, he opened his mouth again, “Judging by your words, you’re no ordinary man. You must have achieved much in the past. Anyhow, since we’ve met on the battlefield, there’s no need for small talk!”
As he finished those words, Li Cunxiao let out a roar and a great light erupted from the Military Formation behind. The power of the Military Formation had elevated to yet another level. Clearly, Li Cunxiao had given it his all.
When faced with a strong, unknown enemy, it would be foolish to reserve any strength. That would be like seeking death. The best strategy was to immediately attack the opponent. Li Cunxiao knew that.
An imposing manner, coupled with boundless energy had brought immense pressure. All the Pinglu soldiers had sensed that, even the ones at the back of the formation. Though they couldn’t see the situation at the front, they felt like they were stuck in a swamp and moving every inch was difficult.
Shangguan Qingcheng’s face had now turned ghastly white, and her wounds had deepened.
The next instant, the Pinglu soldiers suddenly felt all the pressure lift off their shoulders. And they began feeling light on their feet again; everything was back to normal.
All that was because Li Xian had countered. His counter was simple, he just stabilized his breathing. And that was enough to lift the whole Military Formation above water.
His breathing became at one with the guards and his cultivation had amalgamated with the Military Formation. He was like the heart of the formation, and his every move would determine the formation’s life and death.
“Gather strength!” Roared Li Cunxiao. He could arrange and shift the Military Formation’s power from one spot to another and make it gather on top of his head.
With his arrangement, Spiritual Qi came rolling like a tornado, where every ounce of power had gathered and formed into a ball.
The ball quickly turned dark, deep like an abyss.
Undoubtedly, it was powerful beyond measure.
Li Cunxiao stared at Li Xian, then let out a thunderous roar and sliced down with his blade, “For the lord, kill the enemy!”
The Hedong soldiers all took out their weapons and roared in unison, “Kill the enemy!”
The soldiers acting in unison had pushed the power of the Military Formation. Like a tidal wave, it came pouring out.
As Li Cunxiao’s blade sliced downwards, a loud bang erupted from the dark tornado ball. Like a falling meteor, it was headed towards the direction of Li Xian’s Military Formation!
Instantly, Spiritual Qi erupted in midair. Winds began roaring and everything was silent—only the howling of the Spiritual Qi could be heard.
Amongst all of this was the spirit of golden spears and iron horses. They seemed to have travelled through time and space. The sky above them had changed its color and was full of murderous sense!
All the city towers seemed minuscule in this weird picture. It was as though they were shaking, and about to be blown down in an instant; The whole city was like a gigantic beast, with its head buried and hidden, scared to even move.
The Pinglu soldiers seemed smaller than ants, more like dust.
Such was the power of Militarism Formation, the strength of a senior general of Militarism. This was Li Cunxiao’s true power!
Such an attack would even wipe out a cultivator of the Ground Immortal Realm!
Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and Militarism.
The fact that Militarism could be spoken in the same breath as Confucianism and Buddhism meant that it was a force to be reckoned with.
Who in the formation would not be afraid of such an attack?
Shangguan Qingcheng was not afraid.
The Pinglu soldiers were not afraid.
Not a single guard was afraid at this moment!
Because Li Xian, again, had countered.
He said only two words, “Destroy City!”
“Destroy City” was a power only a senior general of Militarism could comprehend and use.
When Li Xian said those two words, every Pinglu soldier could feel their spirit shake like seeing a true god! It was as though everyone had taken an elixir and had the courage to swallow heaven and earth, like they could kill every demon and evil!
Their potential had all been released.
Every soldier’s spirit was free of concern and the power within was like howling wind and pouring rain. When they heard their commander’s call, that power had found a direction.
At this moment, the Pinglu Military Formation suddenly shook.
because Li Xian had already clenched his fist.
As his fist clenched, the passage way towards the city wall below the soldiers’ feet had sunk an inch!
The Military Formation lit up like the moon, and the light was think and heavy!
Li Xian took a step forward with his blade in hand and sliced towards Li Cunxiao.
As he took a step forward, so did the Military Formation; When he lifted his blade, so did the soldiers; When he attacked, the Military Formation hacked out thousands of rays of energy light!
These rays of energy differed in size and power, but it had all gathered together after the hack and eventually rolled into a huge ball of Knife Qi, which then hacked towards the oncoming dark ball!
Bang!
All other sounds had disappeared from heaven and earth.
The whole Taiyuan city had shook.
The Spiritual Qi erupted and Spiritual Wind blew over, covering everything in sight.
The city walls had cracked inch by inch, dust and stones flared up everywhere.
If it weren’t for the protection of the Military Formation, no one would be able to stand still.
The Pinglu soldiers were all firm on their feet.
Because the forefront of the formation, a man was standing like a stone.
Faced with the raining Spiritual Qi, he was as steady as Mount Tai.
The formation was only as steady as its commander.
But someone was not able to stand firmly.
not only that, his formation was collapsing in waves.
Painful screams could be heard.
They came from the Hedong soldiers in front of them!
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m