Chapter 1: Battlefield Carnage

  On the vast plains, smoke and dust filled the air, the sounds of slaughter echoed through heaven and earth. Thousands of soldiers clad in fine iron armor, holding spears and shields, clashed and collided, blood splashing everywhere, brilliant and dazzling to the eye. Countless bodies were cut down by sharp blades, the mournful cries of the fallen ringing out without cease, as they fell one after another.

  Behind, the war drums rumble like thunder, the battle horses neigh, four hooves galloping, blood light soaring into the sky, the souls of the dead lingering in the air, shrouding a vast expanse of gray mist, spreading for dozens of miles.

  This place is called Yue Ma Yuan, it is a plain at the border of Tian Du Guo and Tian Long Guo, stretching for hundreds of miles. The two countries have been in conflict for many years, neither willing to back down. Every now and then, there will be a fierce battle, and countless lives are lost here.

  The Tiandu Kingdom's soldiers, wearing yellow iron armor, charged forward like a flood, several thousand iron cavalry scattered and rushed forward, colliding and crashing, like sharp knives and blades, directly inserting into the midst of the Tianlong Kingdom's troops!

  The warriors of the Tianlong Kingdom were all clad in red armor, standing in a line, occasionally opening up a gap to let in hundreds of Tianyou soldiers, who would immediately surround and engulf them like dumplings! The outermost layer was a sea of iron shields, arrayed on the ground, with crossbows cocked and ready to shoot down any approaching soldiers.

  In the midst of a sea of red-clad soldiers, a bronze chariot stood tall and proud, surrounded by over a dozen robust men standing at attention. On top of the chariot was a seven-foot-tall general clad in scarlet armor, grasping a massive halberd with a square blade forged from fine iron and cast in bronze, measuring two meters long, its crescent-shaped tip gleaming coldly, exuding an aura of sharpness. The halberd's body was adorned with a carving of a coiled dragon baring its teeth and claws, radiating an air of majesty!

  This great general is the guardian of the border town of Tianlong Kingdom, named Gai Tiancheng. He was born in a humble family and joined the army at the age of 16. For twenty years, he has achieved great military successes and been promoted to General of the Border Town. His martial arts skills are unparalleled, and under his halberd, countless people have met their demise!

  Next to Gai Tiancheng stood a slender scholar wearing a light blue long shirt, fanning himself with a folding fan. His skin was fair and delicate, his lips red and teeth white, quite handsome, with an air of a refined young gentleman, completely different from Gai Tiancheng's rugged and majestic appearance. This person was Gai Tiancheng's military advisor, known as the "Ghostly Genius" Lin Qingdu.

  In the midst of the clamoring people and neighing horses, Lin Qingdu's warm words and smiles were heard, "General, your divine calculation is truly remarkable. This newly arrived defending general is indeed incompetent in military affairs. With your clever tactics, you will gradually whittle him down and eventually annihilate or capture his entire army of 50,000!"

  Gai Tian's face formed a cold smile, "Which wave is this now?"

  Lin Qingdu lightly shook his folding fan, "It's the tenth wave already, each time there are 800 people entering the trap, it's laughable that they still desperately charge forward, a mediocre person indeed!"

  The sky was covered with a pair of big eyes, and the newly introduced 800 Tian soldiers were already submerged in the red torrent. Even amidst the loud war drums, the mournful cries from within could be clearly heard, one body after another fell to the ground, weapons scattered all over, and fresh blood soaked the earth!

  In the smoke and dust that covered the sky, the eight hundred soldiers who had charged in were now reduced to only two hundred. Among them was a young soldier, about seventeen or eighteen years old, with a look of innocence still on his face, holding a six-foot long spear, fighting alongside other officers, making a desperate charge towards the bronze chariot!

  Every direction was filled with cold, flashing blades of light, densely packed, and there was no need to mention accuracy. The chaotic stabbing came down without any gaps, and all that could be heard were a few mournful cries, followed by several people falling to the ground. The young man became even more urgent, sweeping his long spear in wild stabs, and the clear sound of clashing blades rang out, sparks flying everywhere, causing his arm to go numb with shock.

  The other side had more people, and in a daze, he stabbed two of them. Another group of soldiers rushed up like wolves and tigers, dozens of long guns raised a cold light, the sound of breaking through the air was loud, and instantly pressed down his spear, several gun flowers were already approaching his face!

  On the battlefield, it ultimately comes down to the number of soldiers and generals. This 17- or 18-year-old youth had not yet reached his physical peak in life and was no match for those battle-hardened soldiers. Faced with such a situation, he didn't even have time to react before the gun barrel was already pressed against his body!

  Just then, a loud "ka-cha" sound was heard, and a wide iron sword slashed through the air. With a few "ding-dong" sounds, a powerful force burst forth, several long spears were cut in two, and the iron sword thrust forward, swinging and slashing about. A streak of blood flowers splashed out, and several people fell to the ground.

  A youth wearing a yellow helmet jumped out, swinging his iron sword continuously, with a clear and cold light flashing on the sword, knocking down more than a dozen Tianlong warriors who were about to pounce again. He stood in front of the young man from before, panting and shouting, "You're really an idiot, isn't this just sending you all to your deaths? Even if you really charge up to the war chariot, Guan Tiancheng alone can take down all of you! Don't die here, I'll take you out and we'll kill our way out!"

  The young man who was knocked down by the long spear finally came to his senses, with a terrified expression and lingering fear, hastily followed behind the iron sword-wielding youth, picked up another long gun, and charged out with him!

  "Warriors of Tiandu, follow me and charge out!"

  The youth wielding the iron sword let out a loud roar, striking down several people in succession. He then turned around and grabbed the youth behind him, his toes tapping the ground as he exerted his strength. The mud beneath his feet suddenly exploded, sending him leaping over three zhang high, rapidly fleeing towards the outside of the formation!

  The Heavenly Dragon soldiers rushed to the halfway point, and the young man with an iron sword had a gleam in his eyes, extremely accurate, the iron sword continuously tapped on the spearhead of the empty space, borrowing force to move, his body shape like a large goose flying in the air, instantly rushing out dozens of meters away!

  Gai Tiancheng, who was on the chariot, finally discovered this scene. A faint smile appeared on his cold face as he turned to Lin Qing and said, "I didn't expect that among the heavenly soldiers, there would be someone with such extraordinary skills. If he escapes, how can I show off my reputation as Gai Tiancheng?"

  Lin Qingdu smiled and said, "General, aren't you going to intervene?"

  Gai Tian Cheng pursed his lips, "This Tian Shou Jiang Wang Da Chuan is really incompetent. Fighting him would be boring, it's more interesting to fight this person!"

  As soon as the words were spoken, the palm of the hand holding the halberd moved slightly, and the over two-meter-long Fang Tianhua halberd suddenly emitted a crisp and clear vibration, like a dragon's roar. Gai Tiancheng exerted force under his feet, and in an instant, he swiftly swept forward, flying out dozens of meters, passing over countless soldiers, and after a few breaths, he arrived behind the young man!

  As soon as they saw Gai's incredible feat, the Tianlong soldiers shouted in unison, "General Gai! General Gai!"

  Gai Tian's right hand slightly moved, Fang Tian painted a halberd that instantly enveloped a layer of hazy blue light. The halberd blade tore through the air, emitting a tearing sound. A sharp aura flashed and shot towards the iron sword youth!

  A young man holding an iron sword, named Mu Yuan, saved a person called Chu Fei. The two families were neighbors and grew up together from childhood, but when Mu Yuan was eight years old, he was deceived by a wandering Taoist priest's words and taken as his disciple to practice Taoism. Although the old Taoist priest was not famous, he was actually a member of the renowned Changsheng Palace, who took Mu Yuan to Changsheng Palace until two months ago when he finally came down from the mountain!

  Tianlong and Tiandu, two countries that have been at war for years, many people in the country joined the army to fight, in order to establish military merit and achieve a career. Chu Fei was not good at reading books, if not, he would only be mediocre all his life, following his parents to farm for a living, but he had always had great ambitions, unbearable as it was, when the government recruited soldiers, he resolutely joined the army and rushed to the border city!

  Two months ago, Mu Yuan came down from the mountain and stayed in Changsheng Palace for over a decade, practicing the top-notch Changsheng Great Method. He had considerable achievements in his free practice. After coming down the mountain, he first returned home and stayed there for a month, feeling extremely bored. Hearing that Chu Fei was serving as a soldier in Biancheng, he ran to look for him on his own accord.

  It happened that the two countries went to war, and Chu Fei, as a soldier, naturally had to put on armor and take up arms. As the son of a farming family, he was not like those rich and noble young masters who had been practicing martial arts since childhood. He had only received some simple hand-to-hand combat training in the army, so Mu Yuan was worried and secretly got a set of battle armor, which he put on Chu Fei's body before they went onto the battlefield together!

  Unexpectedly, the newly arrived guardian general named Wang Daichuan was actually mediocre and incompetent in military affairs. Seeing that the enemy's forces were strong, he thought he was clever and said something about capturing the bandits first, then capturing their leader. He dispatched a team of elite soldiers to assassinate Tianlong General Gai Tiancheng within the formation. Chu Fei was in the tenth team, and Mu Yuan followed him in!

  It turned out that Wang Dachuan was indeed a fool. Gai Tiancheng's army formation was well-organized, with the array of yin and yang in harmony, the gates of life and death opening and closing at will. The first nine teams charged into the formation, but after advancing only a few hundred meters, they were surrounded by the enemy and annihilated one after another.

  Mu Yuan carried Chu Fei, his body shape swiftly sweeping away. He had been practicing the Long Life Great Method for ten years now. Although his cheap master in the Long Life Palace was not of high status, he was still a second-generation disciple and taught the most profound mind methods within the palace. Ten years of cultivating energy, although not achieving anything remarkable, he was quite skilled in light body flying and leaping techniques, as well as sword fighting and gun handling.

  Unfortunately, the old Taoist was really poor and only had a large red gourd as his treasure. He didn't have anything good to give to Mu Yuan. The iron sword in Mu Yuan's hand now was something he had secretly taken from the Tian Du army.

  Originally, the sword moves lightly and nimbly, but a broad iron sword like this one goes against the way of the sword. However, when two armies are facing each other, light and nimble swordsmanship is hard to use on a large scale. When enemies are all around, it's actually this kind of powerful technique that works best!

  Mu Yuan's iron sword in his hand also weighed over twenty kilograms, and when he swung it out, chopping and slashing, it was truly agile and effortless. He chopped down countless Tianlong soldiers, and seeing Chu Fei in danger, he finally abandoned his opponent and broke free to come out first!

  Outside the Tianlong Army, there are also 50,000 infantrymen from the Iron Cavalry of Tiandu, charging and breaking through the enemy lines. As long as they can get out of the battlefield and hide among their own troops, their chances of survival will be much higher!

  Who would have thought that Gai Tian Cheng was born to be a good fighter, but Wang Da Chuan is really useless and can't even withstand the first wave of attacks from the Tian Du army. The general who guards the border doesn't even need to personally command the troops, yet they've already blocked wave after wave of attacks and killed over 6,000 elite soldiers. Seeing Fei Zong's Mu Yuan, he chased after him with his Fang Tian Hua Halberd!

  Mu Yuan was flying at full speed, when a sharp and fierce aura suddenly attacked from behind, his skin crawled with goosebumps, the hairs on his body stood up, and an icy killing intent enveloped him. Before he could even react, a flashing aura had already struck him, and in his heart, he exclaimed, "This person is a master!"