Chapter 449: Destiny
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
'Thank you!'
Though Wang Chong's lips moved, these words did not come out. There were some things that didn't need to be said, because everyone already understood.
Rumble!
More and more horses charged in. It took only a few moments for fifty to sixty people to gather by Wang Chong's side, and still more people were flooding in.
Li Siye, Su Hanshan, Wang Chong, Sun Zhiming, Chen Burang, An Yaluoshan, Ashina Sugan… no one knew that in this world of lightning and thunder, all those people who would influence the future of the Great Tang had gathered at this spot.
"They're finally here!"
The forces that followed behind him swiftly arrived in the pouring rain, causing the killing intent in Wang Chong's heart to multiply. He had waited all this time for this very moment.
The time was ripe.
"Strike! Kill them all!"
With a zing, Wang Chong unsheathed his Wootz Steel sword and issued the order to attack.
Rumble!
As a massive lightning bolt seared across the sky, the two stalemated groups finally began to move.
Boom! With a glimmer of cold light, a powerful saber intent surged like a waterfall into the firmament, slicing through the clouds and the high heavens themselves.
The moment Wang Chong issued his order, the Invincible Great General Li Siye began his attack. His body shot forward like an arrow, massive halos under his feet vibrating. Meanwhile, the strange saber that was even taller than a man fiercely swung around, transforming into a stunning attack that sought to cleave apart An Yaluoshan and the Youzhou rebel soldiers behind him.
In the northwest, Li Siye had single-handedly defeated all the Dragon Bandits and slain their boss, Black Dragon Zhao.
And with this attack, he immediately displayed a titanic strength that could mow down thousands.
Pengpengpeng!
Almost immediately after Li Siye leapt forward, two muscular figures soared out from behind An Yaluoshan like two mighty eagles.
These men had thick eyebrows, large eyes, and burly appearances, and they were both of similar age to Li Siye. A similarly majestic strength was contained in their bodies, and though it was still inferior to Li Siye's, it wasn't by much.
Boom!
A heaven-shaking explosion resounded in midair, intense waves of Stellar Energy emanating out and sending the rain flying. Even distant rooftiles were caught up in this explosion.
As the mist in the air dispersed, everyone realized to their astonishment that Li Siye's mighty blow had been blocked by the concerted effort of this pair.
"!"
Everyone who saw this was struck dumb.
"How is this possible?"
"Just who are these two people?"
……
Even Wang Chong's eyes showed hints of surprise. Li Siye was a high-tier Profound Martial realm expert and it was obvious to all how strong he was.
If he hadn't been so excessively strong, Deflecting Blade Manor wouldn't have allowed him to do as he pleased for so long. And he certainly wouldn't have been able to venture alone and retrieve Wang Chong's Hyderabad ore.
But the pair behind An Yaluoshan had actually managed to block him.
"Cui Qianyou!"
"Tian Qianzhen1!"
Wang Chong's eyes turned dark when he saw this pair. He had recognized who they were.
One Ashina Sugan had already taken him by surprise. Wang Chong hadn't expected that even these two would appear at An Yaluoshan's side.
Wang Chong clenched his fists as the expression in his eyes constantly shifted.
Before, when Wang Chong had heard the Stone of Destiny's warning, seen Li Siye's attack blocked by a lightning bolt and his own attack being blocked by the invisible energy of the world, he had known that killing An Yaluoshan would not be easy.
But Wang Chong had not expected even Cui Qianyou and Tian Qianzhen to appear here.
In the history of the empire, these two had a very special place.
Even though they were members of the rebel army!
An Yaluoshan was only at the True Martial realm. Logically speaking, he was still a complete nobody. But Cui Qianyou and Tian Qianzhen, on the other hand, were already famous in the Andong Protectorate.
In the future, these two would be some of the last few Imperial Great Generals in the final days of the empire, even though they were part of the rebel army!
Wang Chong had originally believed that An Yaluoshan's path would not have intersected with these two so quickly, but he now realized that he was gravely mistaken.
An Yaluoshan was far more formidable than he imagined.
Although this was only his first visit to the capital, the rebel army of Youzhou was already beginning to take shape around him.
"Old Eagle! Quickly go and help Li Siye!" Wang Chong immediately issued an order, his eyes narrowing.
Cui Qianyou and Tian Qianzhen would end up being the two strongest Great Generals at An Yaluoshan's side. Many people did not know of them yet and might underestimate them.
But Wang Chong knew just how terrifying they would be in the future.
When these two were fighting alone, they would at most be brigadier generals. But when they worked together, even the Big Dipper Great General, Geshu Han, who oversaw Longxi and commanded respect even amongst the Tibetans, had to fear this pair.
And in the future, the Big Dipper Great General Geshu Han, a peer of Fumeng Lingcha, Gao Xianzhi, Zhang Shougui, and Zhangchou Jianqiong, would die at the hands of this pair.
Li Siye had been born with a divine strength and possessed astonishing martial arts prowess. In the future, he would even be called the Invincible Great General. But it was no wonder that he couldn't deal with these two people.
However, the more this was the case, the more Wang Chong's killing intent flourished.
"Li Siye, Old Eagle, delay them for me! Everyone else, hear my order: kill!"
With these words, Wang Chong charged forward.
And with a rumble, the rest of his forces followed.
"Assume the formation!"
A shrill voice cut through the rain and thunder. As the thunder boomed overhead and cold lights flashed, the Youzhou rebel soldiers did not rush to meet the offense, but instead formed one of the Five Great Defensive Formations: the Xuanwu Formation!
In the blink of an eye, the Youzhou soldiers had retracted into the tortoise-like Xuanwu2 defensive formation.
This sight took everyone else by surprise. Wang Chong's eyes were like lightning bolts, instantly picking out from the rebel troops the twenty-seven- or twenty-eight-year-old officer who had given the order.
This officer had a moustache, a dignified face, and a sharp gaze. Under his command, the rebel troops moved like a squad of elite heavy infantry.
They seemed even stronger than the Ü-Tsang heavy cavalry.
"Tian Chengsi!"
As Wang Chong's gaze swept over that person's face, his expression turned nasty. Cui Qianyou and Tian Qianzhen had given him enough of a shock.
Wang Chong was stunned that even Tian Chengsi would appear here.
'A field officer of Lulong who manages his troops rigorously.' This evaluation3 was enough to reveal Tian Chengsi's specialty. In Tian Chengsi's hands, three hundred people could be as effective as three thousand.
Three thousand people could exert the might of thirty thousand!
In the Youzhou army, Tian Chengsi was the number one manager, both in name and reality, even though he was inferior in both strategy and combat to the likes of Cui Qianyou and Tian Qianzhen.
But he was unparalleled in managing the army!
Under Tian Chengsi's command, one soldier's strength would far surpass the combined might of Tian and Cui!
One Cui Qianyou and one Tian Qianzhen were hard enough to deal with, and now he had to deal with Tian Chengsi.
"Zhao Jingdian!" Wang Chong bellowed, his face a sheet of ice.
Rumble!
In an instant, the situation changed. Wang Chong's group did not slow, but the warhorses began to adjust their speeds. The warhorses quickly came together, with Zhao Jingdian in the center and Chen Burang, Sun Zhiming and the other spirit vein students forming two wings. In a flash, they had formed the most offensive Arrow Formation!
Every student of Deflecting Blade Manor had to pass a test of chess to enter, or perhaps one should call it a test on strategy. Only by passing this high-level examination could one enter the spirit vein to cultivate.
The students had a greater experience with strategy and also a greater appreciation.
Wang Chong had ordered Zhao Jingdian to organize these students into the most fundamental formations. Although they didn't have many people, this was enough to threaten the Youzhou soldiers' Xuanwu Formation.
Boom!
The warhorses galloped forward, and under Tian Chengsi's anxious gaze, Wang Chong's Arrow Formation crashed into the Xuanwu Formation. In that instant, the earth seemed to quake and the entire courtyard tottered.
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
And just a few moments later, the horde of experts behind Wang Chong from Deflecting Blade Manor, the spirit vein, and the great clans smashed into the Youzhou soldiers…
The shouts of fighting, the clashing of weapons, the resonance of halos, steel whistling through the air, and the crashing collisions all mixed into one in the rainy darkness.
The battle between the two sides had intensified into a frenzy in just a few seconds!
"Kill them all!"
Wang Chong's eyes shone with a bloody light. His right hand wielded the Wootz Steel sword while his left hand had taken out the Little Yinyang Sword and plunged it into the body of a Youzhou soldier. After that, two Youzhou soldiers clasped their throats and slowly fell to the ground as a fresh Stellar Energy poured into Wang Chong's body.
After suppressing it for more than a year, Wang Chong had finally released all the killing intent in his heart. At this moment, the space around Wang Chong was being warped, the killing intent seeming to take physical form as some vicious beast.
Kill! Kill! Kill them all!
After making a circle, fate had once more sent all his old foes before him. Whether it was An Yaluoshan, Ashina Sugan, or Tian Qianzhen, Cui Qianyou, and Tian Chengsi…
These people all needed to die. They should all die!
______________
1. Cui Qianyou and Tian Qianzhen were both generals serving under An Lushan during the An Lushan Rebellion. These two generals defeated Geshu Han at Tong Pass, which allowed the rebel forces to encroach upon the Tang capital of Chang'an and forced Emperor Xuanzong and his court to flee.↩
2. Xuanwu most literally translates into 'Profound Martial', but this does not refer to the cultivation level. Rather, it refers to Xuanwu, the Black Tortoise, the Guardian Beast of the North in Chinese mythology.↩
3. This evaluation seems to come from the Zizhi Tongjian, a history book written in the Song Dynasty, three hundred years after the Tang Dynasty, by Sima Guang.