"I'm going all in!!"
At the critical moment, Ding Hao did not pull back. Instead, he roared and struck with everything he had!
He understood.
When enemies met on a narrow road, the brave won. The more he feared, the faster he would die!
Thus, he fearlessly unleashed his trump card—the Primordial Barbarian Bloodline!
Who would have thought.
The moment he activated his bloodline, Man Potian's body shuddered violently. The bloodline power that had just risen within him became incomparably chaotic, even worsening his internal injuries by another thirty percent!
Terror appeared on Man Potian's aged face. Clearly, even he had no idea why such an aberration had occurred within his body!
"That's it!"
"We both possess the Primordial Barbarian Bloodline. My bloodline can restrain his bloodline power!"
Ding Hao's eyes lit up. He knew that opportunity could not be missed, for once it was gone, it would never return!
The Mysterious Iron Saber in his hand slashed toward Man Potian with lightning speed, too swift to cover one's ears!
With this strike, he not only used his Tyrant Body and Innate Strength, but also imbued it with sixty percent of the True Meaning of Strength, twenty percent of the True Meaning of Fire, and even barely unleashed a double-layered Heaven Collapsing Style!
Splat!
Ding Hao had aimed this slash directly at his opponent's head.
However, Man Potian was a master-level expert after all. At the critical instant, he forcibly twisted his head aside and avoided the fatal blow!
But with another splat.
One of Man Potian's arms was severed at the shoulder. Blood sprayed into the air as he cried out miserably, clutching his stump and staggering backward!
"Hm?"
"Where do you think you're running?!"
Merely cutting off an arm naturally did not satisfy Ding Hao. He stepped forward, intending to pursue and kill him.
Yet at that moment, a tall warhorse barged between them!
"Haha! This old barbarian's life belongs to me, Zhang Dalong!"
Amid wild laughter, Zhang Dalong used his warhorse to block Ding Hao while swinging his broadsword at Man Potian!
"Zhang Dalong, get the hell out of the way! You can't kill him!"
Seeing this, Ding Hao was both furious and anxious!
He was furious because Zhang Dalong had tried to steal his Capture the Flag merit earlier, and now wanted to seize the head as well, cutting off his Slay the General merit!
He was anxious because he had only managed to wound Man Potian by using his Primordial Barbarian Bloodline to temporarily suppress the source of Man Potian's power.
Indeed.
Zhang Dalong was far stronger than him, but once Man Potian was freed from the restraint of Ding Hao's bloodline, Zhang Dalong would never be able to kill him!
Man Potian might even seize the chance to escape alive!
"Tch!"
"That old barbarian is already wounded to such a state. Even a mere Ninth-Rank Martial Artist like you could chop off one of his arms, yet I, a dignified high-level True Martial cultivator, can't kill him? What a joke!"
Zhang Dalong ignored Ding Hao's shout, filled with contempt.
He believed Ding Hao was merely making a powerless roar because Zhang Dalong was stealing his target!
Not only did he refuse to yield, he spurred his horse and swung his blade at Man Potian!
If this strike succeeded, he would not only ruin Ding Hao's plan to gather the Four Great Military Merits, but also win the great merit of Slay the General!
Killing two birds with one stone!!
"Scram!"
Yet who would have thought that Man Potian's beard and hair would flare in fury? Like an old lion driven to the edge of a cliff, he roared as the bloodline power within him finally erupted completely!
With a boom, he sent Zhang Dalong and his horse flying on the spot!
Even Ding Hao behind them suffered as well, struck by the horse's body!
With a bang, he spat blood and flew backward more than ten meters!
By the time he scrambled to his feet, Man Potian had already been heavily shielded by barbarian soldiers.
"Zhang Dalong, fuck your mother!!"
At that moment, Ding Hao's fury blazed to the heavens, and he could not help but curse aloud!
He had been so close!
Just a little closer!
If Zhang Dalong had not meddled, he absolutely could have cut off Man Potian's head before Man Potian's bloodline power erupted!
"Damn it!"
"What the hell happened?!"
Not far away, Zhang Dalong, who had fallen to the ground and was coughing up blood, cursed furiously as well.
No!
He had seen Ding Hao, a Ninth-Rank Martial Artist, easily cut off one of Man Potian's arms with his own eyes!
So why had the old bastard become so fierce when it was his turn? Was he deliberately targeting him or what?!
But after faintly hearing Ding Hao's furious curses, Zhang Dalong's originally gloomy mood improved considerably in an instant.
Although he had not gained the Slay the General merit!
At least Ding Hao had not gained it either. This exchange had not left him at a loss!
As for Ding Hao, he no longer had time to curse Zhang Dalong. Saber in hand, he charged madly toward where Man Potian had been moments ago!
He wanted to take one more gamble!
But when he spotted Man Potian's figure again from afar, the surrounding barbarian soldiers seemed to have gone mad, desperately blocking Ding Hao.
Meanwhile, Man Potian's eyes were fixed fiercely on Ding Hao!
It was as if he wanted to carve the image of this nameless nobody—who had severed his arm and nearly killed him—deep into his memory!
"Retreat!"
"Get the commander out!"
"As long as the commander lives, our Northern Barbarian Army will kill its way back sooner or later!"
Very soon, large numbers of Northern Barbarian officers and soldiers began escorting Man Potian away!
It was not only because Man Potian had suffered grave wounds after losing an arm, but also because the main force of the Divine Phoenix Army had completely torn through the Northern Barbarian camp!
The defeat had already taken shape. If they did not leave now, they would never be able to leave at all!
"Stop!"
"Where are you running?!"
"Kill, kill, kill!!"
Naturally, Ding Hao was unwilling to let such a rare chance to Slay the General slip away tonight. Even Luo Shenhuang led Ding Yishan and the others in a charge!
All of them wanted to leave Man Potian here for good!
Unfortunately, there were simply too many Northern Barbarian troops. Layer upon layer of human walls blocked their path!
Before long.
Man Potian's figure completely vanished from everyone's sight.
As the Commander of Northern Barbarians fled, the entire Northern Barbarian camp fell into complete chaos!
"The military banner has fallen!"
"The barbarian commander has fled!"
"Our Northern Barbarians have been defeated!!"
Especially as wave after wave of shouts rang through the Northern Barbarian camp!
The Northern Barbarian Army collapsed like mountains crumbling, utterly beyond recovery. Hundreds of thousands of Northern Barbarian soldiers became a disorderly rabble, fleeing in vast swathes!
Seeing this, the Divine Phoenix Army naturally chased after the hundreds of thousands of Northern Barbarian soldiers and slaughtered them!
They pursued and killed from the dead of night until dawn, crossing more than a hundred miles!
Only when the signal to withdraw sounded did every soldier of the Divine Phoenix Army finally stop!
Looking back, for more than a hundred miles, Northern Barbarian corpses lay scattered in every direction. One bloody night had dyed the mountains and rivers of the northern border red!
"Haha!"
"We've won!"
"A great victory in this battle, a great victory!!"
In the end, every officer and soldier of the Divine Phoenix Army threw up their arms and cheered, their faces filled with the excitement and joy of victory!
Ever since they had begun fighting the Northern Barbarians, this had been their most satisfying battle. Though they had not annihilated every Northern Barbarian soldier!
They had at least eliminated more than one hundred and fifty thousand Northern Barbarian troops. Even across Great Zhou's thousand-year war history, such a tremendous victory was extremely rare!
Even Luo Shenhuang, the commander of the army, was overjoyed!
Only Ding Hao!
As he watched the Northern Barbarian forces finally escape, his face was filled with unwillingness, regret, and an irrepressible fury!
Turning around, he found Zhang Dalong and rebuked him without the slightest courtesy.
"Zhang Dalong, you deliberately let the Commander of Northern Barbarians escape. What crime should you be punished for?!"
Before you continue