As Li Yèlái wiped his face again, the Hegemon Facial Mask dissipated, and the Double Pupils fused together.
Strange patterns and colors gradually began to fill in.
At the same time, Li Yèlái felt as though time had slowed countless times over—or perhaps his thinking had accelerated by several thousand times.
Countless arrows descended slowly, yet he saw another vision.
In the vision, a Young General entered the Military Tent and cupped his fists toward a middle-aged general. "Uncle, I'm going to capture a prisoner!"
The Young General was extraordinarily handsome, yet far too young. A hint of youthful innocence still lingered on his face, alongside the resolve expected of a soldier.
The "prisoner" in question was actually an enemy military officer, captured to obtain relevant military intelligence.
The middle-aged general glanced up at him. Apparently believing it was not dangerous, he nodded slightly. "Call me General. Also, don't go too far."
"Thank you, Great General!" The Young General grinned, then left the Military Tent. With his troops in tow, he gleefully departed the military camp.
The scene shifted.
The Young General led eight hundred cavalrymen across the desert day and night, piercing straight into the enemy's heart like lightning.
At that moment, he looked at the seemingly endless military camp in the distance and asked with a smile, "How many of them are there?"
"Forty thousand, no more!" a cavalryman replied.
"How many of us?" the Young General asked again.
"A full eight hundred!" the cavalryman answered.
"Good. The advantage is ours!" the Young General laughed, spurred his horse forward, and led the charge. "Charge with me!"
That night, eight hundred Iron Armor Cavalry trampled through the Xiongnu camp, killing two thousand in battle and capturing countless high-ranking enemy officers.
The scene shifted again.
The Young General led a great army on an expedition into the northern desert, repeatedly cutting through the forces of King Hunye and King Xiutu, whose troops outnumbered his own several times over.
On the way back to court, he encountered an ambush by two other kings and killed them in passing.
The Records of the Grand Historian stated: "They passed through five kingdoms. They seized neither the supplies nor the people who were terrified into submission, and nearly captured the Chanyu's son. After six days of continuous battle, they traveled more than a thousand li beyond Yanzhi Mountain, engaged in close combat, fought fiercely beneath Gaolan Mountain, killed the Zhelan King, beheaded King Lu, and exterminated the fully armored troops."
No one knew how much time had passed.
Li Yèlái witnessed the Young General in the vision fight across a thousand li, achieving one invincible victory after another.
He also witnessed the Young General standing atop Langjuxu Mountain, building an altar to worship Heaven and Earth and honor the soldiers who had fallen in battle!
That night.
The Young General stood atop Langjuxu Mountain, watching a meteor streak across the night sky.
From brilliance to decline, it was much like a human life.
The Young General slowly exhaled. "I have to hurry. I don't have much time left."
At the final moment, he seemed to see Li Yèlái. After a flash of astonishment, he revealed a gentle smile.
As the vision ended, a second mask appeared on Li Yèlái's face.
It was a floral mask with a gold base, black brows, and crimson eyes.
With it came an aura that made every Zhelan Iron Cavalryman feel afraid.
Unlike the forced terror of the Doll's curse, this was a fearsome deterrence that had seeped into their memories!
Simply hearing that being's title was enough to make them tremble with fear.
The Zhelan King frowned. He did not know where this feeling came from, but inexplicable fear was spreading through his heart.
He seemed to see a terrifying being from some distant memory.
But why? This human was indeed powerful, yet he was suppressed by the rain of arrows and should be killed soon.
So why did he feel this way?
The next second, the Zhelan King heard it.
Amid the rain of arrows, an unsettling laugh rang out.
"Hahahaha!" Li Yèlái laughed loudly. "Zhelan King, let's relive it!"
Li Yèlái naturally knew the identity of that Young General!
He had reached his peak the moment he entered the world, standing atop the monument of his people in an extremely short time.
He was the originator of blitzkrieg, fighting across two thousand li in six days and never failing to conquer or win!
He was the greatest warrior under Heaven, a genius military star who defined the title Marquis of Champions for later generations!
He had performed the rite of sealing Mount Langju Xu, attaining the highest honor coveted by military commanders throughout the dynasties!
At that moment, the brand-new power surged and boiled within Li Yèlái. Amid the mountains of corpses and seas of blood, the shadows of countless fallen cavalrymen began to sway of their own accord.
Like streams flowing into the sea, they poured into Li Yèlái's shadow.
The Zhelan Iron Cavalry?
Defeated foes!
The Zhelan King finally awoke from his unease, endless fear sweeping through his entire body.
The Zhelan King recalled the battlefield from several thousand years ago.
What he had believed to be an exhausted army had displayed terrifying, inhuman combat prowess.
Among them, a Young General had led a cavalry unit and forcibly pierced through his battle formation!
After finally shooting a rain of arrows and killing that general's warhorse,
things had only gotten worse. He had run faster than a horse—no, faster than arrows!
With a single Huan Shou Dao, he had severed his head and kicked it around like a ball!
That was—
"Marquis of Champions!" The Zhelan King finally called out that being's title. He let out a terrified roar. "Even after I'm dead, you still won't leave me alone!"
Yes, that young hero was the Great Han's Marquis of Champions, the one who had performed the rite of Fenglang Juxu—Huo Qubing!
The Zhelan King was one of the two kings Huo Qubing had casually killed on his way back from the campaign.
Now that he sensed that power descending upon the world once more, how could the Zhelan King not be shocked?
"Shoot him to death! Shoot him to death! Everyone, fire! He's only one man!" he ordered in terror, commanding all the eagle-shooters beside him to attack!
This was his final courage. The opponent was alone and had not brought his army of thousands!
His own army had already received the blessing of God's Whip. Their spirit energy was even stronger than it had been back then!
They would definitely win. They would definitely get their revenge!
Thus, the seven Iron Armor Knights simultaneously raised their great bows and fired heavy arrows.
They were the Zhelan King's most elite eagle-shooters. Firing heavy arrows imbued with the spirit energy of God's Whip at the same time, they produced terrifying power!
Yet, facing the countless arrows and heavy bolts, Li Yèlái neither defended nor dodged. Instead, he slammed his blade into the ground.
His voice rang out like thunder. "Mountain!"
In an instant, the black shadows beneath his feet stirred, and countless dark, illusory Armored Soldiers emerged.
Holding shields, they surrounded Li Yèlái and shouted in unison, "Mountain!"
A shield wall rose, unmoving as a mountain!
Countless arrows crashed onto Shield Mountain, yet not a single one could break through the shield wall!
Had a senior Handler been present, they would have recognized this as an ability that could only possibly be obtained upon reaching the Six Senses or Seven Senses along the Nether Path.
The Shadow Army!
Kill the enemy's physical body, seize the enemy's shadow, and forge one's own Military Force!
The more numerous the Shadow Army, the stronger the Military Force, and the greater the enhancement granted to the spirit energy wielder!
It was as if one person had become an army—the Shadow Army!
As for Li Yèlái's word "Mountain," it came from The Art of War's Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain!
"As swift as the wind, as gentle as the forest, as fierce as fire, as unshakable as a mountain, as unknowable as darkness, and as sudden as thunder!"
After witnessing the Marquis of Champions' campaigns, Li Yèlái had gained much knowledge and many techniques.
What he was using now was the Art of Commanding Troops! The combination of troop command and the Shadow Army made Li Yèlái fearless of the rain of arrows!
Seeing this, the Zhelan King let out a crazed roar. "Charge! Stop him!"
Yes, stop him!
The Zhelan King had already been crushed by fear. The only order he could give was to stop Li Yèlái.
As for himself, he turned his horse around and immediately fled with his elite Iron Armor Knights.
But how could Li Yèlái let him escape? The blood debts of those heroes had yet to be repaid!
"Thunder!" Li Yèlái growled. In an instant, the shield-bearing Armored Soldiers beside him transformed into Heavy Cavalry.
Li Yèlái charged at the same time. The Heavy Armor Knights surrounding him made no movement to accelerate, yet their hooves thundered against the ground.
They crashed directly into the oncoming Prairie Cavalry. In an instant, the cavalrymen's bones and tendons shattered from the impact.
With the enhancement of his Military Force, Li Yèlái was like a tank. Without even drawing his blade, he bored straight into the enemy formation.
Countless Prairie Cavalrymen were crushed to death. Some Zhelan cavalrymen were so frightened that they dared not advance, and they actually formed Defeated Troops. They charged in the opposite direction, instinctively pursuing the Zhelan King.
By the time Li Yèlái broke through the formation, the Zhelan King was nowhere to be seen. However, his direction could be determined from the route taken by the fleeing troops.
Thunder was too slow. Thunder could indeed strengthen the impact, allowing Li Yèlái to smash straight through them, and the effect would be even better with a fine horse.
But it did little to increase his speed.
Thus, Li Yèlái spoke again. "Wind!"
This was also Huo Qubing's greatest strength in the Art of Commanding Troops.
He was a heaven-gifted genius who could even use several troop-commanding techniques at the same time. With Wind in one hand and Thunder in the other, he possessed both speed and might.
Li Yèlái had yet to master that skill, but using one at a time was enough!
Thus, the Shadow Army beside Li Yèlái transformed from heavy armored cavalry into light cavalry, and Li Yèlái's speed suddenly increased!
With a single step through the air, he actually crossed dozens of meters.
Like a shadow, he swept swiftly past the fleeing Zhelan cavalrymen. His long blade followed the motion of his body, beheading one fleeing cavalryman after another.
Like a god of death, he pursued thousands of cavalrymen, just as the Young General of old had transformed into the most terrifying nightmare of all the Xiongnu!
If Wei Qing was the Xiongnu's greatest nemesis, then that young general was the Star of Calamity of the entire Xiongnu people!
The Zhelan King was terrified. Riding his warhorse, he crossed several battlefields. He intended to find a Forbidden Item that could help him!
The best choice would be the Scarlet Wanted Order!
If that was impossible, then the Mobius Ring Diagram would do!
As a result, some Handlers and Iron Guards suppressing Forbidden Items watched helplessly as a group of cavalrymen charged left and right.
Yet they did not linger in battle, even detouring around many battlefields.
"What are they doing?" White Poplar, who had lost his right arm, stared in bewilderment at the Zhelan cavalrymen running past a dozen steps away.
Then something even more astonishing happened. A speeding black shadow followed closely behind the cavalry formation, slaughtering cavalrymen in a frenzy. It also shook a bell, summoned the Dual Blade Knight, and sent the knight to support other teammates.
"Night General!" White Poplar was stunned, then delighted. "No wonder the captain wanted to claim the title of Marquis of Champions."
He then raised his saber in his left hand and, disregarding his injury, followed close behind.
He saw that the Heart of Slaughter was still beating on the opponent's chest!
Elsewhere, Cheese and Shā Lì joined up with more Handlers and worked together to suppress several Forbidden Items.
After suppressing the Mobius Ring Diagram, the situation began to improve. In the familiar terrain, everyone was able to provide support and retreat quickly.
But Cheese's face was frighteningly pale.
Li Yèlái was missing!
After suppressing the out-of-control Mobius Ring Diagram, Li Yèlái, who should have been delaying the Prairie Cavalry in the passage, had vanished together with the corner. He had been transferred somewhere else.
This filled Cheese's heart with fear. She could only hope that Li Yèlái had better luck and had not ended up in the same area as those Forbidden Items. Then he would still be relatively safe.
But... hoping that Li Yèlái would have better luck? Wasn't that nonsense? When had he ever had good luck?
She should never have let him face the cavalry alone. Then he would not have been forced to fight by himself!
But who could have imagined that Li Yèlái would fight his way out of the passage?
Especially since Li Yèlái was still carrying the Heart of Slaughter.
If the Heart of Slaughter was still attached to Li Yèlái, then more than an hour had already passed. Could he have been bewitched by the Heart of Slaughter?
"Can't we contact headquarters yet?" Cheese asked once again.
"They're still repairing the connection. The Class B Forbidden Item Demon Host is far too destructive!" someone replied.
"Damn it." Cheese grew agitated.
Then she suddenly heard a dense rumbling approaching, followed by someone shouting, "A large cavalry force is approaching! Prepare to meet the enemy!"
Those Prairie Cavalrymen?
Cheese widened her eyes, fury filling them. "Leave them alive. They may know where Night General is!"
"Got it!" the Handlers answered one after another. They would never forget that Li Yèlái had taken the cavalry's attacks for them earlier.
Although they were utterly exhausted, they still prepared to engage the enemy.
If Li Yèlái was alive, then everything could still be discussed. They could leave that group of cavalrymen with intact corpses.
But if not, then they would tear those cavalrymen into eight pieces!
When the crowned Zhelan King and the Iron Armor Cavalry burst from around the corner, the Handlers immediately launched their attack.
Yet they found that the Zhelan King was letting out a desperate roar, ordering several Iron Armor Cavalrymen to cover him while he fled toward another passage.
He wasn't attacking them? The Handlers could not help feeling bewildered as they fought the Iron Armor Cavalry.
"Is there some terrifying monster behind him?" The Handlers frowned warily. Anything capable of frightening a Forbidden Item derivative was likely an even more dangerous Forbidden Item.
Then, very soon,
they learned why.
A speeding figure suddenly charged around the corner. His upper body was bare, golden-red patterns spread outward from his chest, and a scarlet heart at the center of his chest beat furiously. The violent thudding echoed in everyone's ears.
To the Zhelan King, this was the drumbeat of death!
The figure held the Crimson Longsword, its edge already rolled. He stepped forward through the air, leaping ahead and catching up to the Zhelan King at incredible speed.
Hearing the movement behind him, the Zhelan King immediately shouted, "Stop him!"
The remaining Iron Armor Cavalrymen had no choice but to turn back and raise their spears or draw their bows.
But they were too slow. Almost instantly, the figure had already passed over them.
He appeared directly behind the Zhelan King.
In shock and fury, the Zhelan King summoned his final courage and swung his spear backward.
His strength was formidable, and after being blessed by God's Whip, he was no weaker in combat than the Iron Armor Knight.
But his spear thrust struck nothing but air.
The instant he swung his spear, Li Yèlái had already appeared in front of him.
The long blade in his hand came down in an instant, just like the young general's single upward swing years ago.
Swift and deadly!
Zhelan King's crowned head crashed to the ground.
The Zhelan King's Banner, which the Iron Armor Knight had been holding, finally stopped fluttering.
In an instant, countless Prairie Cavalry crumbled into dust and vanished.
The Zhelan King's Banner had successfully subdued him!
Before you continue