Blood flowed freely across the land, and upon seeing that frightening killing power, the vast sea of Arab cavalry paused. Even the distant Adnan lost a little of his savagery.
In order to avoid being swept up in the Ifrit’s attacks and provoking its killing instinct, the Arab army had retreated, increasing the distance between it and the Tang army. But this had also given Su Hanshan and the ballista army more space to work with.
“Release again!”
His expression cold, Su Hanshan swung his arm down again, and the ballista army revealed its savage face once more. The air thundered as another vast swath of Arab cavalry was slain, large holes punched through their chests.
The power of the ballista army quickly allowed the rest of the army to stabilize.
“Xue Qianjun, I leave the vanguard to you. Even if you have to die, you have to hold against their first wave!” Su Hanshan’s cold voice rang out over the front line.
Waves of heat continued to sweep over the battlefield; the threat of the Ifrit was as ever-present as one’s shadow. Wang Chong, Wang Zhongsi, Zhangchou Jianqiong… all the elite commanders of the Great Tang were doing all they could to hold down the Ifrit. They had no strength or energy to command the army.
At this time, Su Hanshan rapidly took the reins of command. Although he had yet to reach the Great General level, at times of crisis, Su Hanshan could display the necessary daring a Great General required to hold the line.
“Everyone, follow me! Goose Pond Formation!”
Upon hearing Su Hanshan’s voice, Xue Qianjun clenched his teeth, raised his sword, and gathered his men to face the Arabs.
“Wushang Cavalry, hear my order! Prepare to charge!”
In another area, Li Siye took out his giant sword, rising to the occasion, his brave and fearless voice sweeping across the battlefield and raising the morale of the entire army.
The bravest general!
The most stalwart figure!
The clearest mind!
After the Battle of Talas, Li Siye’s reputation had spread throughout the Central Plains. He was possibly the only person who could rally an army through his personal strength and courage.
Rumble! The Wushang Cavalry quickly gathered behind Li Siye, their swords leaving their sheaths and gleaming with cold light.
“Mo Saber Unit, where are you?!
“Kong Zi-an, the Mo Saber Unit is under your command! Anyone who retreats is to be executed!”
With another great rumble, the tens of thousands of Mo Saber Units, their raised Mo Sabers forming a forest of steel, gathered next to the Wushang Cavalry, exuding an intimidating aura.
Just like how Su Hanshan had become the spiritual leader of the ballista army, Li Siye was the heart of the Wushang Cavalry and Mo Saber Unit. As long as Li Siye was there, the army’s morale would never crumble.
“Big Dipper Army! Prepare for battle!”
Cheng Qianli and Xi Yuanqing also came forward to take command. The Nine Dragon Army, the various protectorate armies, the Imperial Army… In just a few moments, the entire Tang army had reformed.
On the other side, despite the powerful hindrance of tens of thousands of ballistae, the Arab flood was unstoppable.
Boom!
In just a few moments, the two armies were fiercely clashing, and the Ifrit’s clones also entered the battle.
……
Whoosh!
A vicious tongue of flame shot through the air, and An Sishun only barely managed to dodge it.
While the two armies had restarted their battle, Wang Chong and the others were in a fierce battle of their own. Boom! The massive Ifrit swung down an arm, causing gouts of lava and flame to spray outward, so blindingly bright that it was hard to open one’s eyes.
“Origin Immortal Art!
“Life Execution!”
“Eight Ultimate Sunderings!”
“White Tiger Swallows the Stars!”
“Emperor Dragon Fist!”
Wang Chong, Gao Xianzhi, Zhangchou Jianqiong, An Sishun… all of them were constantly shifting around as they unleashed powerful attacks on the Ifrit at the center, barraging its body with blows.
Chapter 1885 - King Ape! (I)
Chapter 1885: King Ape! (I)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
The most surprising performance came from Wang Zhongsi. His moves were simple yet exuded a tyrannical aura. These were moves that had sublimated the complex into the simple. Most importantly, just like Wang Chong, he had also reached the Subtle realm.
With each attack, he could open up a passage through dimensions, draw out the energy from that different dimension, and throw it against the Ifrit, sending flames splashing everywhere.
But despite all this, their situation had not changed.
Awooooo!
The Ifrit bellowed, its sea of high-temperature flames scorching the Stellar Energy on their bodies. Not only that, whenever their attacks struck the Ifrit, the flames and lava that erupted from its body would fall on the ground and transform into more fire men.
Not all of these fire men surged to the front line. Some of them turned around to attack Wang Chong and the other commanders.
Boom! The Ifrit, apparently incensed, suddenly stomped down. The earth trembled as a wave of heat more than thirty meters high rose up around the Ifrit and swept outward.
Gao Xianzhi had just dodged to the back of the Ifrit and launched an attack when an edge of this high-temperature wave of flame struck him.
Bzzz! Gao Xianzhi panicked and immediately dodged to the side. It was a rather swift reaction, but it was still too slow. Bang! Gao Xianzhi’s body shuddered, and then he was blasted back by a tongue of flame.
“Not good!”
Everyone felt like their hearts had seized up when they saw this.
Raaaa! The Ifrit’s golden eyes flashed with cold light as it roared, and then a massive arm wrapped in destructive flames swung toward Gao Xianzhi.
Such was the power in this fist that before it had impacted with anything, it was already causing depressions in the fabric of space.
With the Ifrit’s power, if Gao Xianzhi were struck by this punch, all of his Stellar Energy would instantly explode, leaving him either heavily injured or dead.
“Careful!”
Everyone instantly paled. Zhangchou Jianqiong, An Sishun, and Wang Zhongsi immediately lunged toward Gao Xianzhi. Beforehand, in order to dodge the Ifrit’s attacks, they had scattered themselves around the Ifrit and had maintained a certain distance from it.
But this had now become a fatal flaw. Even the closest one, Zhangchou Jianqiong, was several hundred feet away, and he also had flames blocking his path. There was no way he could make it in time.
The Ifrit’s punch hurtled toward Gao Xianzhi, blocking out the sun, and everyone’s hearts sank. At this moment, Wang Chong’s extremely cold voice came from overhead.
“Let me try!”
Bzzz! The sun and moon appeared, and with these two sources of powerful pull, Wang Chong pulled the Ifrit’s arm to the side while also pulling Gao Xianzhi the other way, immediately increasing the distance between the two.
Rumble!
In an explosion of flames, the Ifrit’s punch missed. Roaring in anger, it locked its eyes on Wang Chong and punched. In a flash of light, Wang Chong swiftly dodged by a hair.
But the fact that it had missed only made the Ifrit angrier. The fires on its body swelled, its attacks intensified, and terrifying heat scorched the air, creating thick black smoke.
“Not good! They can’t hold!” Li Junxian called out from the rear of the army. There was a determined look in his eyes as he gripped his sword.
“Elder, Junior Sister, I leave the rear to you!”
Before Li Junxian had finished speaking, he shot away, the Noble Sage Sword gleaming in his hand.
Wang Chong and Wang Zhongsi were incredibly strong, but they were still not enough to deal with the Ifrit and its lack of a physical bod
y. From Li Junxian’s perspective, purely through its vast sea of flames and waves of heat, the Ifrit had completely suppressed the five commanders.
Wang Chong and Wang Zhongsi were on the defensive and had no time to launch any counterattacks.
They alone were far from enough.
“Righteous River!”
Li Junxian was still several thousand feet away when he raised his divine sword and unleashed a dazzling river of milky-white Sword Qi. It seemed like the Milky Way as it cut through space and sliced into the flames around the Ifrit’s body.
Although this attack could not deal lethal damage to the Ifrit, the flames around the Ifrit substantially weakened. Most importantly… the Ifrit turned its attention to Li Junxian.
At the same time, Righteous Alliance Lord Song Yuanyi glanced at the distance, his eyes in turmoil. “You go and help General Li! I’ll go and lend them a hand!”
A moment later, Song Yuanyi vanished in a shriek of air. Behind him, Xie Guangting gave one last glance before swiftly heading for the battlefield.
Roooar!
Elsewhere, a fire man more than two meters tall roared as it punched, sending a shield soldier flying through the air. “Kill!” Spears thrust and sabers slashed, but it seemed like they were attacking the air for all the damage they did to the fire man.
But just when that fire man was about to attack several more Tang infantry, boom! A massive pillar of cold water descended from the heavens. Hisss! The water pierced through the fire man, unleashing a cloud of steam, and in a flash, the seemingly unkillable fire man was gone.
“Ordinary attacks have no effect on them! Try and find water to use against them! This will be more effective than any of your other attacks!”
The Lone Silence Ancestor’s voice echoed in their ears, the man himself shooting over their heads to kill another fire man with a single punch, after which he began to rush in Wang Chong’s direction.
Water countered fire!
The ‘fire men’ created by the Ifrit shared its indestructibility. On this battlefield, possibly only the Lone Silence Ancestor was capable of easily killing them with a single strike.
“No good! The northwest lacks water! This area is too arid!”
The Lone Silence Ancestor creased his brow, his calm exterior concealing his anxiety. Underneath the City of Steel was a layer of hard rock, and to the north was the Moheyan Desert. This environment had a dire shortage of water.
The amount of water the Lone Silence Ancestor could extract from the ground was too little. For the most part, he had to consume his own energy to deal with these fire men.
“Water! Where can I get water?!”
The Lone Silence Ancestor swept his gaze across the battlefield, but where could one find enough water to deal with the Ifrit in such short order? At his moment of panic, a heaven-shaking cry resounded over the battlefield.
“Kiiill!”
In the distance, Adnan waved the Blade of Mukala and led the Arab Governors and Deputy Governors in a charge. Ignoring the battle taking place between the Ifrit and Wang Chong’s group, they charged straight into the battlefield.
“Forget the Tang Great Generals! Use this chance to slaughter their officers and soldiers!”
Adnan had a smug expression, and his eyes glowed with bloodlust.
Without the commanders present, he could crush these people like ants, like that minor general commanding the ballistae or the leader of the Mo Saber Unit. They were simply no match for him, and once he killed these higher-ranked commanders, the rest of the army would be doomed.
“They’re finally here!”
Seeing Adnan and those Arab Governors and Deputy Governors charging toward his ballistae, Su Hanshan turned grim.
Wang Chong, Zhangchou Jianqiong, and the others were fighting with the Ifrit, but none of the Arab generals went to disrupt their battle. Su Hanshan was keenly aware that the Arabs were not showing mercy, simply pursuing a different objective.
“Release!”
Boom! Boom! Boom! With a swing of his arm, the skies were filled with ballista bolts.
“It’s useless!”
Adnan coldly laughed. While the Tang ballistae were effective against ordinary soldiers, they were useless against peak Great General experts like him. Boom! With a wave of his hand, Adnan sent out a pitch-black torrent of Stellar Energy that knocked aside the ballista bolts when they were still thousands of feet away.
“Everyone, hear my order! Kill—”
Adnan had just raised the Blade of Mukala and ordered a charge when his voice came to a sudden stop. A roar came from above his head, and then a massive shadow blotted out the sky, rapidly expanding as it hurtled toward Adnan and the Arab soldiers around him.
“Giant ape!”
That massive silhouette was none other than the red-haired arm of a giant ape. Adnan cried out in alarm, his face paling. The Arabs no longer had many Behemoths, and almost all of them had been seized by Wang Chong to use against the Ifrit.
No one had expected this giant ape to change targets and attack the Arab soldiers, and there had been no sign of this beforehand.
“Run!”
With no time to think, Adnan erupted with Stellar Energy and slashed the Blade of Mukala at the red-haired ape, simultaneously shooting off to the side and leaving a blur in the air.
Adnan had no desire to fight this beast directly, because he clearly recalled that the Behemoth Army was led by this red-haired ‘King Ape’. The King Ape was far stronger than all the other Behemoths, and its skin and bones were as tough as steel. It possessed both impressive defense and berserk strength.
The longer the battle and the more damage it sustained, the stronger and more terrifying it would become!
Chapter 1886 - King Ape! (II)
Chapter 1886: King Ape! (II)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Boom!
The King Ape’s massive fist descended, causing the ground within one thousand feet to shudder and shooting loose rocks and chunks of dirt several hundred feet into the air. The tremendous power of this strike immediately engulfed the battlefield in a cloud of dust.
“Ah!”
Several Arab Governors and Deputy Governors cried out in shock, and with no time to dodge, they expanded their barriers of Stellar Energy. But a moment later, they screamed as the King Ape’s terrifying attack shattered their Stellar Energy and smashed them into the earth.
Horses shrieked as they were crushed into meat pancakes, along with all the Arab cavalry in the area.
They were even weaker, so they were even less of a match for the King Ape!
But this was only the beginning. The sky darkened once more as yet another silhouette rapidly expanded. Before the army could react, yet another fist smashed into the dense ranks of the Arab cavalry, provoking a chorus of screams.
“Trying a sneak attack against the Great Tang? Did you get my permission?”
Wang Chong’s icy voice rang out over the battlefield.
Even though he was being held down by the Ifrit, Wang Chong was still keeping a close watch on the battlefield, even splitting his attention to control the King Ape so that it could wreak havoc in the Arab army.
Through his experience at the Battle of Talas, Wang Chong had grown much more proficient at controlling ape Behemoths, and most frightening of all was that Wang Chong specifically had the King Ape attack the Arab Governors, Deputy Governors, and generals.
“The giant ape is coming! Run!”
“Bastard! Hurry and kill it!”
The Arab ranks fell into turmoil, resounding with screams. The King Ape under Wang Chong’s control did not care who stood in its way, rushing here and there and almost splitting the battlefield in half.
“Beast!”
Stellar Energy surged into the air as several furious and fearless Arab Governors rose into the air and attacked the King Ape. But they had barely risen up when the King Ape sent them flying like cannonballs.
The King Ape was the apex of the Behemoth Army, and in terms of physical strength, it was equal to an early Subtle realm expert. Only a scant few were able to reach this level of power.
Even the Arab War God, Qutaybah, had only broken into this level at the Battle of Talas.
“We’re no match for it alone! Everyone, go together and use ritual tools on it!” a powerful Arab Governor said. The moment he spoke, ten-some Governors and Deputy Governors converged from all sides, attempting to work together to subdue the beast.
If the Behemoth were allowed to wreak havoc in the army, the consequences would be unimaginable. Arabia did not have the giant ballistae of the Great Tang.
But they had underestimated both the King Ape and Wang Chong.
The King Ape suddenly pressed its body to the ground and began to move around on all four limbs, moving left and right, spinning around halfway, twisting and turning, attacking before the Arab Governors could complete their encirclement while constantly shifting positions.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Explosions rang out over the earth as dust churned through the air. In just a few moments, the Governors and Deputy Governors had been broken, either fleeing with heavy injuries or killed on the spot.
Moreover, the King Ape’s movements were clean and vicious. Rather than a Behemoth, it was more like a seasoned warrior!
The King Ape already possessed frightening strength. Coupled with Wang Chong’s warrior mind and experience, it was simply unstoppable.
“Ah!”
Under the King Ape’s attacks, the Arab cavalry could only scream as they were crushed like ants by the thousands.
Only the High Priest could stop Wang Chong from controlling the Behemoths, and the High Priest was now dead, leaving no one to stop him.
“Kill!”
The Great Tang side was invigorated by this sight. Arabia had its Ifrit, but the Great Tang was not powerless. At this moment, the Tang soldiers began their counterattack.
Meanwhile, Su Hanshan, Li Siye, and Cheng Qianli seized the moment to engage in their own attacks. In flash, the Arabs had lost their upper hand and fallen into disarray.
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 1147
