Chiseling the Formation! Chiseling the Formation!

The Northern Mang vanguard of ten thousand men moved like a lazy but dangerous giant python, slowly slithering across the withered grasslands. They seemed to pay no mind to any scattered resistance that might exist; their formation wasn't particularly tight, and their scouts roamed only a few miles outside the main body.

Chen Qing lay prone behind the dirt slope, his breathing nearly nonexistent, his entire being blending with the withered grass and soil. The thirty soldiers behind him dared not even exhale, gripping their weapons tightly, sweat soaking through their undershirts.

Distance, five hundred paces... four hundred paces... three hundred paces!

He could now clearly see the frost-weathered faces of the Northern Mang cavalry in the front ranks, and the thick white mist exhaling from their warhorses. The scent, a mixture of horse manure, leather, and a faint hint of blood, drifted over with the wind.

Now!

A fierce glint erupted in Chen Qing's eyes. The fully integrated Fierce Tiger Iron Body within him and the nascent Black Tiger True Intent exploded forth! A surge of malevolent energy, far more concentrated and ferocious than before, shot skyward like smoke from a beacon fire!

He sprang from behind the dirt slope, no longer concealing himself, like a hunting black lightning bolt, streaking directly towards the most loosely formed position on the flank of the Northern Mang vanguard!

"Enemy attack!"

"Stop him!"

A brief commotion and shouts arose from the Northern Mang ranks. Several outer scouts reacted swiftly, howling as they spurred their warhorses on, brandishing their sabers to meet him.

Facing the charging warhorses and gleaming sabers, Chen Qing neither dodged nor evaded. His footwork suddenly accelerated, and at the last possible moment, he slipped through the gap between two warhorses! Simultaneously, his ring-pommel saber slashed left and right!

Ching! Ching!

Two streams of blood spurted from the sides of the horses' bellies! The two Northern Mang cavalrymen felt their mounts go limp beneath them. The warhorses screamed and stumbled forward, throwing them violently aside!

Chen Qing didn't look back, his steps never faltering. He continued to charge forward! His objective was to sow chaos throughout the vanguard formation, creating an opportunity for Old Niu and Sun Quezi!

"Loose arrows! Shoot him to death!" a Northern Mang Squad Leader commanded sharply.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Dozens of arrows rained down upon Chen Qing like a swarm of locusts!

A dark sheen flashed around Chen Qing's body as Fierce Tiger Iron Body was pushed to its absolute limit. At the same time, his ring-pommel saber spun like a wheel, deflecting most of the arrows! A few shots struck his iron armor and flesh, making dull thudding sounds. They couldn't penetrate deeply; his formidable physique and energy defense resisted them with sheer force!

[Received arrow attack, Fierce Tiger Iron Body proficiency +5]

He was like an invulnerable monster, pushing through the arrow rain and instantly charging into the Northern Mang ranks!

"Kill!"

His ring-pommel saber, carrying a shrill black-red blade aura, slashed out ferociously! It was no longer a mere sword technique, but a fusion of the Black Tiger Fist's pounce, the Fierce Tiger Iron Body's brutality, and that nascent, all-suppressing domineering true intent!

Where the blade light passed, men and horses fell!

A Northern Mang cavalryman raised his shield to block, only to be cleaved in two, shield and all!

Another cavalryman attempted a spear thrust. The spear shaft was severed by the blade light, and his head was subsequently lopped off!

Chen Qing was like a tiger entering a flock of sheep. Everywhere he went, severed limbs flew, and blood instantly stained the withered ground!

He specifically targeted officers and standard-bearers! The blade light flashed, and without fail, a Northern Mang Squad Leader or Centurion would fall! Chaos spread like ripples, radiating outwards from him!

[Killed Northern Mang Decurion, gained Vitality and Energy, Fierce Tiger Iron Body proficiency +25!]

[Killed Northern Mang Centurion... proficiency +60!]

The system's notification sounds rang out madly. The energy and vitality within him grew and condensed rapidly through the slaughter!

"Form ranks! Surround and kill this cur!" A burly Northern Mang Commander, clad in iron-plated heavy armor, was finally alarmed. He roared and led his personal guards charging forward. This man's cultivation was clearly at the early stage of the Meridian Condensing Realm! He was one of the core generals of this vanguard force!

Meridian Condensing Realm! Vitality flowed through the meridians, allowing internal energy to be projected externally, making his strength far superior to that of the Bone Forging Realm!

The Commander, still more than ten paces away, unleashed a punch through the air! A concentrated, blood-scented crimson fist aura smashed towards Chen Qing like a cannonball!

The pressure increased dramatically!

Chen Qing's pupils constricted. He dared not meet the attack head-on. His footwork shifted rapidly, and he narrowly avoided the main body of the fist aura. However, the scattered gusts of wind still stung his cheeks, and his iron armor screeched from the friction.

"Brat, die!" The Commander, gaining the upper hand, pressed his attack like lightning, unleashing a rapid barrage of punches. Crimson fist auras rained down like a storm, completely sealing off the space around Chen Qing!

Simultaneously, the surrounding Northern Mang soldiers reacted. Under the shouts of their officers, they began to reform their ranks. Spears bristled like a forest, and sabers flashed like snow, squeezing in from all directions!

Chen Qing was instantly in a desperate situation! Before him was the fierce assault of a Meridian Condensing Realm expert, and all around him were countless soldiers closing in!

But instead of fear, his eyes burned with even fiercer fighting spirit! The Black Tiger True Intent within him, stimulated by the crisis of life and death, roared silently like a thoroughly enraged monarch!

"Roar--!"

Chen Qing threw his head back and let out an inhuman roar. The black-red energy around him erupted with unprecedented concentration, faintly forming a blurry phantom of a giant black tiger roaring to the heavens behind him!

He no longer dodged the Meridian Condensing Realm Commander's fist aura. Instead, he shifted his ring-pommel saber to his left hand, clenched his right fist, his spine straightening like a great dragon. He gathered all his strength, energy, and that domineering Black Tiger True Intent into a single punch!

Black Tiger Fist—Melting Sha True Intent! Tiger Roars the Firmament!

He threw a punch! There were no dazzling lights or shadows, only a concentrated, dark black-red fist energy that, like a drill, violently collided with the crimson fist aura!

BOOM!!!

Like thunder from a clear sky! The two completely different forces clashed fiercely, erupting into a visible shockwave! The surrounding Northern Mang soldiers were sent flying like wheat being cut down!

Chen Qing's body shook violently. He coughed up a mouthful of blood and was sent flying backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily onto the ground and creating a shallow pit.

The Meridian Condensing Realm Commander, however, let out a muffled groan and staggered back seven or eight paces. A thin layer of black ice had formed on his fist, and a biting cold energy surged up his meridians, causing his expression to change. He quickly circulated his energy to dispel it.

He looked at Chen Qing, who had fallen and was spitting blood, his eyes filled with shock. How could someone in the Bone Forging Realm withstand a punch from him, a Meridian Condensing Realm expert, and not die? He had even suffered a slight disadvantage? What kind of bizarre energy and fist intent was that?

Suddenly!

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Thick smoke billowed from the east and west, and flames soared into the sky! Immediately after, screams of agony and the frightened neighing of warhorses followed! Old Niu and Sun Quezi had succeeded!

The rear and flanks of the Northern Mang vanguard were instantly plunged into even greater chaos!

"Retreat! Retreat quickly!"

"The grain and fodder are on fire!"

"Poisonous smoke!"

The chaos spread like a plague. The once orderly ten-thousand-strong unit had now devolved into a complete mess.

The Meridian Condensing Realm Commander's face turned ashen. He looked at the chaotic troops and the distant fires, then at Chen Qing, who was struggling to get up from the pit, his eyes still ferocious like a demon despite his severe injuries. He gritted his teeth and finally gave up the pursuit, turning to stabilize his disordered troops.

Chen Qing leaned on his ring-hilted saber, gasping for air. Every breath tasted of blood. Taking a Meridian Condensing Realm expert's punch head-on had severely damaged his internal organs. If not for the astonishing defense of Fierce Tiger Iron Body and the Black Tiger True Intent erupting at the critical moment, that punch would have killed him.

But he was still alive.

Moreover, feeling the more refined Sha energy and blood qi within him, which had been tempered in the life-and-death struggle, as well as the clear increase in his Black Tiger True Intent, he felt... it was worth it!

He glanced at the chaotic Northern Mang army, no longer lingering. He turned to the soldiers behind him, who were stunned by his ferocity and were now reacting and wanting to rush forward to rescue him, and shouted, "Go!"

Thirty men protected the heavily wounded Chen Qing as they quickly disengaged from the battlefield, disappearing into the vast grasslands.

Behind them, all that remained was a scene of devastation: the Northern Mang vanguard camp in utter disarray with flames soaring into the sky, and the figure standing in a mountain of corpses and sea of blood, like a demon god, deeply imprinted in the minds of all surviving Northern Mang soldiers.

The formation had been successfully breached!

Although the Meridian Condensing Realm Commander was not killed, they had, with fifty men (thirty being the main force), shattered the vanguard formation of ten thousand, burned their grain and fodder, caused immense chaos, and killed countless enemy officers... This battle was enough to shake the Northern Frontier!

And Chen Qing's name would surely spread throughout the Northern Mang and Great Yan armies with this bloody formation-breaching battle.

Fierce Tiger Chen Qing, showing his true colors for the first time!