Chapter 335: Who Has The Larger Force?
Translator: SoupHunter Editor: Milkbiscuit
Why did Miao Yi have to lead the disciples of the three major sects around in circles? Because he was good at doing this, and because Charcoal’s speed was top-tier among dragon steeds. He could catch up to others, but others could not catch up to him.
The sound of galloping hooves resounded across the desolate plains. With his spear at the ready, Miao Yi charged in front. He constantly looked behind him or to the side; two hundred steeds were chasing after him relentlessly.
“Don’t try to run, you little rascal! Do you dare fight me to the death!?” Pursuing from behind, the Blue Lotus Ninth Grade cultivator called Wang Tianlun shouted incessantly at him. With over two hundred people supporting him from the back, he was absolutely arrogant.
“Don’t try to run, you little rascal!” The two hundred supporters echoed his words.
As he galloped away, Miao Yi turned around and pointed to the back with his spear, “You mangy old fool. I’ll let you all be cocky for now. Don’t you dare run away next time!”
“Cowardly little rascal. Why don’t you take a look at who’s running away now? Stop and fight me to the death if you have the guts!” Wang Tianlun guffawed arrogantly. He wanted to take back the honor that the Sword Deviate Sect had lost earlier on.
Miao Yi couldn’t hope to match these people. The most logical option was to make use of Charcoal’s speed and run away immediately. However, he couldn’t run, not now. If he did, all the preparations he’d made on the ship would be for naught. There were certain risks he had to take, some sacrifices he had to make. He needed to protect his honor right now as well. He couldn’t let everyone believe that he was running away.
He turned around and shouted, “Wait until I’ve dealt with a few people I need to kill. Then, it’ll be your turn, you mangy old fool!”
He said these words to prove to the crowd that he, Miao Yi, wasn’t scared of these people.
Everyone watching nearby looked on as Miao Yi circled around and then led over two hundred disciples of the three major sects back to where he started.
Wan Yanhua and her group revealed twisted expressions when they saw Miao Yi come back in full force. They had just gotten their steeds back up and were still in their original spot. They were almost scared out of their skin. With Miao Yi in the middle, they couldn’t group up with the main forces. All they could do was immediately turn their steeds around and run away.
However, their steeds were but empty shells. Earlier aboard the ship, Miao Yi had their steeds methodically weakened over the span of three months. They couldn’t compare with Charcoal’s speed. Even if they were at their peak performance, they wouldn’t have been able to, much less now.
The dragon roared again as Miao Yi swung the Inversed-Scales Spear in his hand. Beneath him, Charcoal raised his speed up a notch as well. Previously, he had been maintaining a constant speed to allow the troops of the three major sects to bunch up behind him, but now he was slowly pulling his distance away from the two hundred riders behind him. At the same time, he quickly closed in on Wan Yanhua and her group.
Those cultivators watching the battle couldn’t help revealing astonished expressions. ‘This steed has such powerful leg strength. It can run so fast even while wearing such heavy armor! With this speed, it could send cultivators beneath the Red Lotus realm halfway to the grave! No wonder its owner spared no effort to protect it with a complete set of Second Grade armor. Not only is he frighteningly powerful, but he’s also donned on a complete set of Second Grade Transcendent Artifacts and has a steed with such astonishing speed. This is practically a perfect set-up!’
Observing the battle from the ship, Wu Menglan gently shook her head and sighed. She never expected a steed so prone to lying on its belly and sleeping could be so fast.
“Where do you think you’re running off to!?” Miao Yi bellowed, already striking with his Inversed-Scales Spear.
The School of Imperial Beasts’ disciple that he’d caught up with hastily turned around and tried to block it with his scimitar.
Bang! A loud noise echoed forth, and the dragon steed neighed in agony as it collapsed. It was knocked down once more by Miao Yi’s spear.
Now, both the one giving chase and the ones running away were charging in the same direction, but at a much slower speed than at their earlier confrontation. Previously, Miao Yi could only knock them off as fast as possible. He didn’t have the luxury to kill them. Now that he was the one chasing after them, things were completely different. Not to mention, Wan Yanhua and her group were severely disadvantaged when they turned their backs on Miao Yi. Given the situation where they could quickly trade blows, it was easy to imagine what would happen once their dragon steeds lost their balance.
The School of Imperial Beasts’ disciple had already experienced having his steed knocked down once. As soon as Miao Yi knocked his body off his already collapsing dragon steed, he quickly stepped on its back and leaped upwards to try to escape his predicament.
Miao Yi wore an emotionless expression on his face as he quickly moved past the falling dragon steed. He quickly twirled his spear around and slashed through the air. His opponent had barely hastened to jump off when the sharp spear tip cleaved through his waist, his body erupting in a bloody burst.
“AHH!” He screamed in agony as both halves of his body flung apart. Miao Yi charged past the rain of blood, terrifying the people running in front, their faces turning as white as snow.
Bang! Miao Yi caught up with another person and again hammered down his spear.
He sent another rider flying off his steed. Using the momentum, Miao Yi stabbed his spear into the opponent’s back, then flicked him off. His scream echoed back to the main troops chasing Miao Yi from behind.
Bang! He knocked yet another off his steed. Miao Yi’s spear blurred with a quick flick. The next moment, another person was screaming in agony as he was sent flying off.
Bang! A dragon steed neighed in agony as it fell. Then came another scream.
In the blink of an eye, Miao Yi had already chased and killed eight people in quick succession. Both his steed and his spear were equally fast. Every time he struck, his opponents were sent flying off their steeds, right before screaming out in pain. Furthermore, Miao Yi’s massacre continued as though he wasn’t being chased around by over two hundred cultivators.
Whether it was the people chasing after Miao Yi from behind or the observing bystanders, they were all getting goosebumps from the sight. He had killed off so many Blue Lotus cultivators, and not a single one of them could withstand a blow from Miao Yi. He was actually killing off Blue Lotus cultivators as easily as if he were slicing up vegetables. It was truly too frightening.
Within the crowd, Zhao Fei and the others were burning with excitement. It was such a horrific sight, but they were fully absorbed, ecstatic even. Originally, they were full of worry and restlessness as they came to the Sea of Constellations, now it felt as though they had found a cornerstone for their confidence.
Observing the battle from the ship, Wu Menglan continued to shake her head. Miao Yi had thoroughly impressed her. If she had the chance, she absolutely had to recruit him.
Seeing the trail of corpses left under his feet as he chased after Miao Yi, Wang Tianlun bellowed towards Miao Yi’s silhouette from afar, “You little rascal! Where is the honor in bullying the weak? Your opponent is right here. Do you dare fight me to the death!?”
To say Miao Yi was bullying the weak was a little far-fetched. However, Wang Tianlun was already treating Miao Yi as a top-tier expert within the Blue Lotus realm.
Miao Yi turned around and scoffed, “What a joke! You mangy old fool! I’ll go and take your pitiful life later on!”
He faced forward; there were only two people left still running away from him, and one of them was Wan Yanhua. Miao Yi shouted, “Vile woman! I’ll have your life!”
Bang! As her dragon steed collapsed, Wan Yanhua shrieked in agony, blood gushing out the back of her chest.
Then, Miao Yi dragged his spear across the ground, causing Wan Yanhua’s body to tumble around in a bloody mess.
Tossing aside the battered and bloody Wan Yanhua, Miao Yi was just about to kill the last person. However, his opponent made a smart choice in the midst of his predicament. He abandoned the one thing that cultivators relied on to survive in battle— his dragon steed. He jumped up from his dragon steed and threw himself to the side.
Normally, if he did something like this, it would spell death as soon as his opponent turned around. However, there was a two-hundred-strong army currently on Miao Yi’s tail. Miao Yi passed him by in an instant, but couldn’t possibly turn back and give chase as a result. He had actually managed to escape death just like that.
Chasing after Miao Yi from behind, Wang Tianlun and his forces tensed up as Charcoal made a sudden large turn. They thought that Miao Yi was about to meet them head-on in battle.
‘Could this bastard be this confident in his abilities? He dares to fight alone against so many of us?’ Wang Tianlun and his forces immediately steeled themselves.
“Everyone, strike together! Don’t say—” Wang Tianlun had yet to finish rallying his forces before he suddenly fell silent. He watched as Miao Yi suddenly changed his course again and broke to the sides. With nothing but a spear and his steed, he charged straight towards Su Jinggong and his party in the distance.
The forces who were pursuing Miao Yi in a straight line found their formation in disarray and quickly altered their course to give chase.
At first, Su Jinggong and his party had chased after Miao Yi alongside the main forces. However, their steeds were terribly slow. After Miao Yi led them along in two full circles, there was now some distance between them and the main forces. Now, when they saw Miao Yi coming after them again, they were immediately scared out of their wits and didn’t know where to run.
They saw how that one person managed to escape from Miao Yi’s spear just now. Although his experience would make a good reference, they couldn’t just up and leave their steeds right now. How would that be different from digging their own graves? Miao Yi would just catch up to them and send them to their deaths with a thrust of his spear.
“Spread out!” Su Jinggong had grown more quick-witted as well amidst the life-threatening situation and formed a good strategy.
However, the situation he was most worried about had still presented itself. As he feared, Miao Yi was only going after him. Clearly, it didn’t matter if the others managed to run away. He just wanted to kill Su Jinggong.
Utterly terrified, Su Jinggong suddenly changed his course and led his dragon steed towards the sea. As soon as he reached it, he immediately dived under and managed to disappear into the deep waters instantly.
As he chased him all the way to the sea, Miao Yi was a little speechless at Su Jinggong’s actions. Chasing behind Miao Yi with a large number of troops in tow, Wang Tianlun bellowed, “Cowardly little rascal! Where do you think you’re running off to now? Hurry up and fight me to the death!”
Charcoal quickly changed his course and avoided clashing head-on with the forces chasing them from behind. Instead, he continued to lead them in circles. Miao Yi turned his head around and shouted, “Why wouldn’t I fight you to the death!? You old fool. Have your men step aside and face me in battle alone if you dare. If you can survive three strikes from my spear, I will spare your miserable life!”
This was not Miao Yi boasting. This was Miao Yi unwilling to lose in spirit despite losing in strength. After all, anyone could see the strength his opponents carried with their large numbers. It was definitely a disadvantage to face off against two hundred people on his own.
Seeing him this confident, Wang Tianlun became a little hesitant. It was truly too horrifying how Miao Yi had massacred the others as if he were chopping up vegetables. Wang Tianlun didn’t dare respond, and only shouted, “Stop trying to run, you little rascal!”
As he ran in front, Miao Yi shouted back, “Shameless old coot! Your bravery merely hinges on the advantage you have from your superior numbers. Do you really think I am alone? Since you want to compare who has the greater number on their side, I will grant you that!”
Still running away at full speed, Miao Yi suddenly took out from his storage ring a beautiful piece of red cloth embellished with a blue and green floral pattern. He hastily tied it on his arm, then charged towards the onlookers in the distance. As he raised his arm, he shouted, “Where is the Red Scarves Alliance!? When is a better time for you to fight than now!?”
The crowd watching the battle from a distance suddenly looked around and noticed quite a number of people beside them were scurrying about. Even Wu Menglan and those observing the battle from the ship cast their gazes over.
Within the crowd, Qi Xiuhong was the first to flash out the red cloth adorned with a blue and green floral pattern and tied it around her wrist. Raising a silver spear, she charged out of the crowd on her steed.
She was not the only one. After her, there were dozens, then hundreds of cultivators wearing the same red cloth on their wrists and charging out of the crowd.
The people wearing the red cloth on their wrist all looked at each other and glanced at the red cloth they were all wearing.
Miao Yi had initially obtained these pieces of red cloth from the Sea Of Constellations. He procured the beautiful fabrics after killing Madam Wu Hua. He didn’t know what they were made of and had overlooked them all this while. This time, because many of his recruits were not aware of the others’ identities, there came a need for them to differentiate friend from foe. Seeing as these pieces of cloth were rather unique and not so easy to duplicate, Miao Yi tore off a piece for every person he recruited in order to achieve that distinction. This made it easy for them to recognize one another once they assembled.
Seeing that there were indeed a few hundred of them charging out from all across the crowd, everyone realized that Miao Yi had not been lying to them at all. They were all brimming with vigor, not to mention, with Miao Yi’s awe-inspiring performance in fighting solo against the three major sects, no one had any doubts anymore.
Revealing the mark of Blue Lotus Ninth Grade cultivator on his forehead, Zhao Fei was among the first to charge out. He waved his spear and shouted, “Fret not, Alliance Master! Zhao Fei is here to offer you his assistance!”
The second person with the mark of a Blue Lotus Ninth Grade cultivator shining on his forehead quickly followed suit. “Worry not, Alliance Master! Wang Yuetian is here as well!”
Those who were unaffiliated were already quite astonished to see two Blue Lotus Ninth Grade cultivators charging out. Little did they expect a third Blue Lotus Ninth Grade cultivator would charge forth as well. His hoarse voice echoed as he shouted, “How dare you try to bully our Red Scarves Alliance with numbers!? Sikong Wuwei is here as well!”
From the back, a bunch of Blue Lotus Eight Grade, Seventh Grade, and Sixth Grade cultivators also charged out. They swiftly galloped forth on their dragon steeds, armed and ready to fight.
Then, someone suddenly shouted, “Kill!”
“KILL!!” All those charging full speed on their dragon steeds immediately echoed that voice. Their voices reverberated across the wild plains as more than four hundred riders came charging forth, the hooves of their steeds causing the ground to tremble as they galloped. Their forces were astonishing, and they were quickly advancing.
