The Sixth Battalion and Tenth Battalion were transferred to the city walls to join the defense.
By this point in the war, every battalion had suffered losses and been replenished.
Only half of the soldiers were Old Soldiers.
Battalions like the Fifth and Seventh, which had endured brutal battles, had fewer than one-tenth Old Soldiers left.
Most of the replenished recruits were able-bodied laborers and civilian workers, with little combat strength.
The Anning Pass defenders were now greatly diminished in strength, their combat power far inferior to what it had once been.
Sheng Huai'an was like a god of slaughter. The Houtian powerhouses among the Xiongnu army were being held back, and among martial artists below the Houtian Realm, he had no equal.
He had already slain two or three Xiongnu powerhouses at Martial Master Great Perfection.
Sixty or seventy ordinary soldiers had already died beneath his blade.
His Slaughter Value had risen again, reaching 283 points.
Name: Sheng Huai'an Race: Human Realm: Martial Master Early Stage (+) Cultivation Techniques: "Great Sun Heart Sutra" (Beginner) "Ferocious Ox Strength" (Minor Accomplishment) (+) "Blood Fiend Saber Technique" (Major Accomplishment) "Overlord Spear Technique" (Beginner) Strength: 6,000 jin Talent: Silver Archer (+) Slaughter Value: 283
Seeing that he could raise his cultivation again, Sheng Huai'an immediately added points to improve his realm.
Two hundred points of Slaughter Value were consumed in an instant, and a powerful force surged into his body.
His skin and bones seemed to have been cast in molten gold, his physique steadily growing stronger.
The blood and qi within him swelled explosively, blazing hot, while his true essence rapidly increased and condensed.
Name: Sheng Huai'an Race: Human Realm: Martial Master Mid Stage Cultivation Techniques: "Great Sun Heart Sutra" (Beginner) "Ferocious Ox Strength" (Minor Accomplishment) "Blood Fiend Saber Technique" (Major Accomplishment) "Overlord Spear Technique" (Beginner) Strength: 7,000 jin Talent: Silver Archer (+) Slaughter Value: 83
Feeling the berserk power within him, Sheng Huai'an was now confident that Yitu Lan would no longer be able to suppress him.
With his strength increased once more, he had no rival below the Houtian Realm.
Like a wolf charging into a flock of sheep, he began slaughtering wildly, harvesting Slaughter Value.
The Xiongnu soldiers who climbed onto the walls were continuously slain by Sheng Huai'an.
The Houtian martial artists were naturally held off by the defending Colonels. Soldier against soldier, general against general—Sheng Huai'an was an anomaly, invincible within the Martial Master Realm.
He was like a great catfish invading a small stream, with no natural enemy, slaughtering without restraint.
Martial Apprentices, martial artists, and Martial Masters continuously died beneath his blade.
The Blood Fiend Saber Technique gathered a terrifying layer of blood fiend aura around him.
The Xiongnu soldiers at the Martial Apprentice Realm had their minds shaken merely by seeing the baleful aura around Sheng Huai'an, unable to raise their blades in resistance.
Some Xiongnu Houtian martial artists saw Sheng Huai'an slaughtering without pause and wanted to go over to stop and kill him.
But they were all intercepted by the Colonels.
With an anomaly like Sheng Huai'an present, they could kill many of the Martial Masters and martial artists within the Xiongnu army, greatly easing the pressure on the soldiers defending the city.
The Xiongnu army's Thousand Commanders and Centurions continuously died beneath Sheng Huai'an's blade, making it difficult for the Xiongnu soldiers who reached the walls to organize an effective assault.
Meanwhile, the defending Battalion Commanders and Captains were freed up to lead their soldiers in continuously strangling the enemy troops who had climbed the walls.
"Kill!"
"Bury him beneath a mountain of men!" A Xiongnu Thousand Commander wanted to overwhelm Sheng Huai'an with sheer numbers.
Tuoba Yan was afraid. Two colleagues at Martial Master Great Perfection had already died miserably beneath Sheng Huai'an's blade.
He was only a late-stage Martial Master. If he faced Sheng Huai'an, there would be death and no life.
Hearing Tuoba Yan's order, the Xiongnu soldiers could only raise their blades and charge at Sheng Huai'an.
In Sheng Huai'an's hands, the Blood Fiend Saber Technique had reached an exquisite, consummate level. With a single slash, he could take two or three Xiongnu soldiers with him.
The ground around him was already covered in Xiongnu corpses.
The thick stench of blood stimulated the nerves and adrenaline.
Sheng Huai'an had already lost count of how many Xiongnu soldiers he had cut down.
Wave after wave of Xiongnu soldiers surrounded him, intending to drown Sheng Huai'an beneath a sea of men.
Within the Xiongnu camp, a divine archer at the Xiantian Realm had already set his sights on Sheng Huai'an.
He nocked an arrow and drew his bow. Light gleamed upon the specially crafted arrow fletching as Sky Eagle condensed true essence onto the arrow and released it.
The glowing arrow shot straight toward Sheng Huai'an like a meteor.
Yet Sheng Huai'an was still continuously cutting down the Xiongnu soldiers surrounding him, completely unaware that a life-and-death crisis was closing in.
That arrow pierced through the air, its radiance dazzling to the extreme.
Yang Ye, standing atop the gate tower, saw the brilliant arrow-light flare within the Xiongnu army.
"Not good!"
That arrow was aimed at Sheng Huai'an. Sheng Huai'an had shone too brilliantly, drawing the attention of the divine archer within the Xiongnu army.
"Clang!"
Yang Ye swiftly drew his Black Gold War Blade, circulated his true essence, and hurled it with all his strength.
The Black Gold War Blade streaked across the sky like a meteor.
The arrow-light was incredibly fast. Sheng Huai'an's sixth sense felt immense terror, as though great danger had descended upon him.
It was as if some great terror had locked onto him. He did not know where it came from, could not evade it, and was certain to die.
His soul trembled in terror, engulfed by death. It felt as though a Grandmaster-level powerhouse had fixed his gaze upon him. He had no power to resist and could only wait for death to descend.
"Boom!!"
Two meters behind Sheng Huai'an, blade and arrow collided with a thunderous crash.
Powerful true essence erupted like a tidal wave, blasting Sheng Huai'an and the nearby Xiongnu soldiers away.
Sheng Huai'an hurriedly climbed to his feet. Looking at the Black Gold War Blade embedded in the ground and the arrow forged from special metal, cold sweat streamed down his back.
He had been one second away from death!
That arrow, engraved with special runes, had clearly been fired from the Xiongnu army camp.
A divine archer from the Xiongnu army had set his sights on him. A true divine archer's arrow meant certain death.
Without that Black Gold War Blade, he would already have gone cold.
Within the Xiongnu army camp, the divine archer saw the defending commander Yang Ye intervene and block that certain-kill arrow, and he felt some regret.
He did not fire a second arrow. With a Grandmaster like Yang Ye present, firing another arrow would be meaningless.
Sky Eagle had not expected Yang Ye to care about a mere Martial Master.
Sheng Huai'an looked at the Black Gold War Blade and recognized it as General Yang Ye's personal weapon.
He glanced at the upright figure atop the gate tower, gratitude filling his heart. Had General Yang Ye not acted, he would already be dead.
Striding forward, Sheng Huai'an pulled the Black Gold War Blade from the stone bricks.
The blade's ancient, unadorned golden patterns glimmered with a faint light. It was a straight, long blade three fingers wide and two chi in length.
Feeling the weight of the war blade, Sheng Huai'an estimated that it weighed over a hundred jin.
He had no idea what material it was forged from, but such a single war blade weighed more than a hundred jin.
The moment Sheng Huai'an gripped the Black Gold War Blade, heroic spirit surged within him as he looked at the hundred-plus Xiongnu soldiers surrounding him on all sides.
"Kill!"
He strode forward and charged into the Xiongnu army. Blood-red baleful aura coiled around the Black Gold War Blade, and with one slash, Xiongnu soldiers, blades and armor alike, were all cleaved in two.
The Black Gold War Blade was exceptionally sharp, cutting iron like mud.
"Ah!"
"Slash..."
Blood sprayed everywhere, severed limbs scattered across the ground. With the Black Gold War Blade in hand, Sheng Huai'an slaughtered even faster.
More than a hundred Xiongnu soldiers were quickly slaughtered to the last man.
"You're a demon!" Tuoba Yan watched Sheng Huai'an, drenched head to toe in blood, his heart gripped by fear.
More than two hundred soldiers had already fallen at Sheng Huai'an's feet.
After slaughtering so many Xiongnu soldiers, the blood fiend aura around Sheng Huai'an made even Tuoba Yan shudder in fright.
"Die!"
Sheng Huai'an's gaze was icy and devoid of emotion. He slashed out, and brilliant blood-red blade-light tore through the air.
Tuoba Yan burned all the blood and qi in his body, driving his true essence to its limit as he sought to fight Sheng Huai'an to the death.
"Clang!!"
The sound of a weapon breaking echoed through the air as Sheng Huai'an cut Tuoba Yan, man and armor alike, in half with a single slash.
Blood splattered, staining the wall bricks red...
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