New Moves Defeat Enemies, Breaking the Battlefield Stalemate

The wind whipped grains of sand into his face, and a thread of blood seeped from Chen Wuya's temple. That black-feathered poison arrow had grazed his brow and buried itself in the battle banner, its tail still trembling. The instant he rolled from the saddle, his shoulder blade slammed into the hard earth, pain shooting straight into his skull—yet his limbs had already sprung up on instinct.

With a kick of his right foot, he slanted three feet to the side. Misaligned Practice Connects to Spirit detonated in his mind—three incomplete true-qi pathways, [Reverse Meridian Force], [Unorthodox Edge Intent], and [Intermittent Step], were forcibly tugged together and entwined, twisted into one like strands of hemp rope. A stream of gray-gold force surged up from his dantian, rushing through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians toward his right arm. Every muscle in that arm convulsed.

"Nonstandard operating pathway calibration complete. Output power increased by three hundred." The system's voice was curt and cold.

He had no time to think. Two axe-wielding guards to his front left had already pounced to his side, their twin axes crossing as they chopped down and sealed off his retreat. Instead of retreating, Chen Wuya advanced, taking one axe head-on with his left shoulder. His iron armor shattered and flesh tore open; the pain bored into his heart. Yet borrowing the recoil from that impact, he spun like a top, his short sword in his right hand flicking up along the man's throat.

The blade did not pierce deeply, but the misaligned force erupted along its edge. The finely forged steel battle axe cracked inch by inch, from blade to haft, before exploding with a thunderous blast. Amid the spray of fragments, a third man was hurled away by the shockwave and smashed into the messenger behind him.