Chapter 24: The First Archer of Dongyi
The next day, when the Witch King and the Eastern Yi kings led their coalition forces to a plain twenty miles outside of Kan City, they found that the Shang army had already been arrayed on the opposite side for some time. The Shang army's armor was resplendent, their halberds sharp, and they were divided into three large squares. The two wings were commanded by Huang Feihu and Jiang Huanchu respectively, while the central army, which had the largest number of troops, was where the Heavenly King's chariot was located. They were arrayed in four rows according to their types: archers, shields, cavalry, and infantry, forming a cohesive whole that seemed well-trained and awe-inspiring. The Eastern Yi generals looked on with trepidation. In comparison, although the Eastern Yi army also had a large number of troops, they gave off a feeling of being loosely gathered and lacking in cohesion.
Cang Jie Wang rode out of the formation, facing the Shang army's central camp and shouted loudly: "I am the commander-in-chief of the allied forces, Cang Jie Wang, the ruler of a poor country. Is that the great king of Shang in front of me?"
Only to see the great merchant army like a rolling tide, a column of four special war chariots slowly emerged, with a figure standing proudly in the center of the chariot, wearing golden armor, majestic and awe-inspiring. It was Zhang Zixing. Although he had watched countless war movies in later generations and played simulated combat games, after all, it was his first time experiencing this large-scale warfare in the cold weapon era. For a moment, he felt his blood boiling, drew his sword and pointed at Cang Jie, shouting: "I am the Son of Heaven of Great Merchant, you are just a small country on the border, how dare you repeatedly invade my territory? Today, let you know the power of my heavenly army!" The merchant army saw the majestic appearance of their king and shouted in unison: "Heavenly Army! Heavenly Army!"
Although the two armies were far apart, the shout was like a crack of thunder, shaking the ears of the Eastern Yi generals and making them buzz as if someone was shouting directly into their ears. Unbeknownst to them, the Shang army remained completely unaware, which was precisely the wonderful effect of the Battle Soul Technique.
Seeing the enemy so powerful, the Dongyi army couldn't help but be in an uproar. King Cangjie didn't expect the opponent to be so formidable. He didn't expect the opponent to be so formidable, and as soon as they met, they took the initiative to seize the momentum. Just this one encounter made their own morale drop significantly. Hurriedly, he shouted: "King Shang, you are so rude! Yesterday, you sent that Feng Lin to deliver a battle book, but secretly injured my general Wu Rou, truly a petty person!"
Zhang Zixing received Feng Lin's report last night and sneered, "When two countries are at war, they do not kill the envoys! That Wu You is a despicable person who launched a surprise attack on our envoy out of personal grievances. If it weren't for Feng Lin's exceptional abilities, he would have been killed long ago! I had heard that all the tribes of Dongyi were brave and extraordinary, but unexpectedly, there are such despicable people in the State of Youmu. It is truly shameful to die! As the ruler of the State of Youmu, you distort black and white, and are utterly shameless. What face do you have to command the allied army of various tribes?"
The Eastern Yi army was mostly composed of bold and forthright men, so when this statement came out, the officers from various tribes all cast their disdainful gaze at King Cang Jie. To be sure, in a battle between two armies, killing an envoy is already shameful, let alone launching a sneak attack for personal grievances. King Cang Jie had not expected his opponent's words to be so sharp and piercing, and he was left speechless, his face flushed with anger. Seeing that the morale of his own troops was sagging, Wu Ji Wang discreetly signaled to King Cang Jie to withdraw, then rode forward on horseback and shouted at Zhang Zǐ Xīng: "I am Wu Ji, the king of Eastern Yi! I have long heard of your great name, Great King of Shāng. Today, now that we meet, it is clear that you are not a mere legend. Now that our two armies are arrayed against each other, let us settle this with strength and see who is superior. Why must we engage in verbal sparring?"
Zhang Zixing's eyesight was astonishing, and when he heard the other party call himself Wu Jiwang, he fixed his eyes on him. All he saw was that Wu Jiwang was not tall, with no armor on his body, just wearing a large green robe, his old appearance looked very ordinary, his eyes were slightly closed, and the occasional flash of light seemed to reveal his extraordinary hidden qualities.
Li Jing had a mind to compete for merit and rushed to ask the Emperor for battle, Zhang Ziyuan also wanted to see his ability, so he agreed.
Li Jing was born into the Kunlun Mountains, under the tutelage of the True Person of the West. Due to his mediocre talent and limited learning, he was sent down the mountain. By chance, he became the General of Chentang Pass. In the book, this person is timid and afraid of trouble. To appease the Dragon King's anger, he actually offered up his own son Nezha. Nezha was forced to disembowel himself and die in front of the Dragon King, severing Li Jing's paternal bond with him. Later, Li Jing feared that his official career would be affected, so he destroyed Nezha's temple, preventing him from reincarnating. If not for the great magical powers of the True Person of the Primordial, who helped Nezha take shape with a lotus flower, Nezha might have been reduced to nothing. However, the True Person of the Primordial was not a good person either. After Nezha caused trouble and stirred up the ocean, he promised to help but instead told Nezha to sneak into Heaven and assassinate the East Sea Dragon King Ao Guang, enraging him. When the waters flooded Chentang Pass and forced Nezha to kill himself, the True Person of the Primordial never appeared, and it is unknown what his intentions were.
Zhang Zixing actually had a very low opinion of Li Jing, and this time he was summoned to follow the army on a personal campaign, but there were other calculations. The Dongyi army witnessed Huang Feihu's bravery yesterday, and even the first brave warrior Wuzamu was no match for him. Today, facing Li Jing's challenge, who would dare to meet him rashly? The Shaman King saw that the leaders of various tribes were hesitant to move forward, his brow furrowed, and he personally ordered his general Xun Ke La to go and respond to the battle.
Diwu Qingyun didn't wear a mask, representing his identity as the commander of the Witch God Army. He was highly skilled in close combat and had received orders from the Witch King, so he didn't say much. With a copper shield in his left hand and a long knife in his right hand, he strode towards Li Jing. Seeing that the incoming general's momentum was fierce, Li Jing didn't dare to be slow and urged his horse to meet him.
“Clang” sounded, Li Jing's long spear and Tuo Kela's large shield collided in one place, each retreated several steps, and surprisingly, they were evenly matched. Li Jing only felt his hands numb from the shock, secretly astonished: on the surface, both sides were evenly matched, but in reality, the opponent was using the power of a single-handed shield to resist his full strength plus the huge impact force of the horse, it can be seen that Tuo Kela's strength far surpassed his own. Moreover, that long knife also had some strange power, seemingly extremely sharp, and when the wooden tail of the long spear collided with it, it was easily cut off.
Li Jing, aware of his disadvantage, did not dare to engage in a fierce battle. The long spear in his hand began to move strangely and quickly, almost without intersecting with the opponent's weapon, only attacking the vital parts that must be saved. Syuekela's strength was astonishing, and his movements were extremely agile. It seemed that there was a secret method in the Wu Shen Army that could increase the speed of walking within a certain period of time, even faster than horses. He surrounded Li Jing, constantly changing his position, and Li Jing's control over the horse's speed was clearly not enough, several times almost being caught up by him.
Li Jing also had some skill, after getting used to the opponent's speed, he simply took himself as the center and fully utilized the advantage of his long-handled weapon, forcing Xun Qilang to retreat and unable to get close for a melee. Xun Qilang's Speed Secret Technique couldn't last forever, seeing that Li Jing's spear was getting harder to fight against, he secretly worried, spotted an opportunity, swung his left hand with force, and flung the large shield out of his hand. The shield was made of fine copper, very heavy, plus Xun Qilang's divine strength, its power was extremely astonishing. Li Jing dodged too late, hastily dismounted his horse, only to hear the horse let out a sorrowful whinny, being hit by the copper shield, its tendons and bones broken, falling to the ground.
Li Jing fell to the ground, but he didn't care about his face, got up and ran. Tuoqieka chased after him with big strides, raised his knife and chopped down, but Li Jing suddenly twisted his waist, turned around and shook his spear, using a clean and swift "retreating horse spear" to pierce Tuoqieka through the chest. Tuoqieka let out a loud roar, using all his remaining strength to swing his knife and cut off the long spear that had been stabbed into his body, then charged towards Li Jing with his body, wanting to fight to the death. Li Jing reacted extremely quickly, seeing the enemy charging near, decisively threw away the broken spear, suddenly drew out the long sword from his waist, and blocked this deadly knife.
Before his death, Tie Ke La's strength was so great that, combined with the sharpness of his long knife, Li Jing's fine copper long sword could not withstand it. With a clear sound, it was cut into two segments. Fortunately, Li Jing let go in time at the critical moment, and the long knife with undiminished momentum passed over his head and plunged straight into his shoulder armor. Unfortunately, Tie Ke La no longer had the strength to chop down a second knife, and he fell straight down. Although this knife made Li Jing suffer a serious injury, he ultimately escaped disaster.
Seeing Zhuanxu die, the Dongyi army was in an uproar. Wufeng Wang also secretly gripped the reins tightly in his hand.
Just as Li Jing was covering his shoulder and rushing back to his own formation, a beautiful female knight rushed out of the Eastern Yi army. The woman held a longbow and shouted: "General Shang, don't escape, watch my archery skills!"
As soon as the words fell, a long arrow broke through the air and flew swiftly towards Li Jing's back. Li Jing knew something was wrong when the woman spoke, and he quickly rolled on the ground, but it was still half a beat too slow. The long arrow pierced his left leg from behind, causing him great pain. Li Jing knew this was a matter of life and death, so while reciting an incantation, he grabbed a handful of dust and scattered it swiftly into the air. In an instant, he vanished from where he stood. When the dust settled, Li Jing had already appeared in the midst of the Shang army's formation, using the Earth Escape Technique he learned from Du E to escape with ease.
Zhang Zixing saw Li Jing bring injuries to kill the enemy and made a meritorious achievement, so he encouraged him with a few words and ordered the military doctor to treat his wounds quickly.
A general on the merchant army's side rode out on a flying horse: "You barbarian woman, you can't get away with this sneak attack! Wait for me to come and meet you!"
The woman saw Li Jing escape and sighed, "What a pity!" When she saw the approaching general, she laughed angrily and said: "I thought it was someone else. It turned out to be Feng Lin, the envoy from yesterday! I am You Huiyue Ji Wang, do you dare to fight me?"
Zhang Zixing saw Yue Ji Wang Yingzi, and his eyes lit up. This woman was beautiful in appearance, with a healthy and beautiful figure, radiant all over, with a wildness and charm that ordinary business women did not have.
"You think you're just a weak woman, what skills do you have? At most, you only know how to launch sneak attacks! Why don't we switch to a more capable general, lest people say I'm bullying a woman." Feng Lin looked at Moon Princess with disdain, but he didn't realize that he had underestimated this beautiful woman. In the Eastern Yi tribes, what made Moon Princess most famous was not her beauty, but her unparalleled archery skills, earning her the reputation as the "First Archer". Even Cang Jie Wang, who had long been infatuated with her beauty, harbored a deep respect for her.
"Hmph! Let you see the power of a woman! I'll stand still here, within three arrows, I will hit your left shoulder!" Moon Princess Wang raised her bow and aimed at Feng Lin from afar, actually saying out loud what she was going to shoot, showing her strong self-confidence.
Although Feng Lin spoke with contempt, he didn't relax his vigilance in the slightest. He only heard the bowstring vibrate and, as expected, an arrow shot towards his left shoulder. His eyes moved quickly, and he raised his stick to deflect the arrow. Before he could even catch his breath, the sound of breaking air came again, like a continuous shooting. Feng Lin's strength was exhausted, and he couldn't block it anymore. He hastily leaned back, using the stirrup to stabilize his body, narrowly avoiding the long arrow. Before he could stand up straight, a third arrow suddenly fell from the sky, piercing through his leather armor and into his left shoulder. Feng Lin felt an intense pain and involuntarily let out a muffled groan.
The accuracy, speed, angle and timing of these three arrows were excellent, and they also incorporated tactics. Even Huang Feihu, who was watching the battle, couldn't help but sigh in admiration. As Wang Yueji had said earlier, she stood still and shot three arrows at Feng Lin's left shoulder, which she did indeed do. The Eastern Yi army saw her incredible skill and burst into loud cheers, and their morale surged for a time.
"I am Tsukihime-ō, the greatest archer of the Eastern Barbarians. You dare to underestimate women?!" Tsukihime-ō sneered and raised her longbow.
The Shang army generals were shocked. Among the Dongyi tribe, famous for their archery skills, the strongest archer turned out to be a woman!
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PS: Due to the need to rush up the new book chart, today's second update will be around 12:15 am. Please recommend it at that time and let this book's ranking squeeze up a bit more. If I'm lucky enough to see its name on the homepage's new book chart tomorrow (even if the chance is only one in a million), I'll release three extra chapters as a thank you to everyone, bowing in gratitude!
