Over a thousand cavalrymen charged forth, their momentum vast and mighty. They were quickly spotted by the Xiongnu army.
"Enemy troops! Colonel, enemy troops!"
"I'm not blind." Helian Tieshu watched the charging Anning Iron Cavalry, the corners of his mouth lifting.
"Heh, let me see what sort of divine beings they are, to force a Colonel like me to personally escort provisions."
Helian Tieshu was a Houtian mid-stage Colonel, commanding two thousand men, equivalent to a Great Wei Colonel.
"Warriors, charge with me and kill the enemy!" Helian Tieshu drew his saber and shouted.
"Charge!!"
Five hundred Xiongnu Cavalry followed Helian Tieshu in their charge, rushing toward the enemy force barreling at them.
Sheng Huai'an's gaze was sharp. He gripped an iron spear weighing over a hundred jin, his blood and qi boiling within him, true essence circulating as all his strength gathered into the spear.
His target was the leader of the Xiongnu army.
Helian Tieshu's target was Sheng Huai'an as well.
As the two armies clashed and cavalry charged, that magnificent, sweeping momentum bore down like mountains collapsing and seas roaring. Timid men could be scared out of their wits on the spot.
"Rumble!"
Hoofbeats echoed across the grasslands like thunderous war drums, frightening even the eagles in the sky into flying far away.
"Kill!"
Sheng Huai'an roared. His spear came down like a heaven-supporting staff, smashing the air hard enough to create a sonic boom.
Helian Tieshu swung his saber down to meet it, incomparably fierce.
"Boom!"
Helian Tieshu and his horse were split apart by a single stroke, blood spraying through the air.
The scene Helian Tieshu had imagined—his saber severing the enemy's spear and taking the opposing commander's head—never appeared. Instead, he was smashed into a pulp by one spear strike.
The Xiongnu cavalry behind him saw their Colonel and his horse turned into minced flesh by the enemy commander's single strike, and their faces drained of color.
Even Guo Xiaoping and Hu Bing, following behind Sheng Huai'an, were utterly stunned.
That Xiongnu commander had been a Houtian martial artist, yet Sheng Huai'an had killed him with one spear strike.
Just how terrifying were his strength and power?!
When Sheng Huai'an had asked them to spar that morning, they had firmly refused. What an incomparably wise decision that had been.
"Kill!"
Sheng Huai'an took the lead, charging into the Xiongnu cavalry formation. Wherever his spear passed, it left no intact corpses behind.
Seeing Sheng Huai'an kill the Xiongnu commander with one strike and charge alone into the Xiongnu cavalry, the other soldiers' blood boiled as they rushed forward with soaring battle intent.
Warhorses neighed, sabers and spears collided, and men constantly fell.
A cavalry charge was swift as the wind.
Seeing their Colonel slain, the Xiongnu cavalry lost all momentum. The Anning Iron Cavalry swept through them in one magnificent charge and slaughtered every last one.
Only corpses and horses that had lost their masters remained on the ground.
Aside from Sheng Huai'an, their cavalry force also had two Houtian martial artists, Guo Xiaoping and Hu Bing. Against five hundred Xiongnu cavalrymen who had lost their commander, this was nothing but a massacre.
The army's charge did not stop. They pressed forward without hesitation, charging toward the remaining Xiongnu forces.
"They've lost! The army has lost!"
"This Wei cavalry force is too strong..."
"The cavalrymen are all dead! Run!"
Watching five hundred cavalrymen die, the herdsmen in the convoy were the first to crack under the terrifying pressure of the cavalry charge. They threw down their weapons and ran.
The remaining five hundred infantrymen had no fighting spirit left in the face of the ferocious Anning Iron Cavalry.
The iron cavalry charged past, leaving behind only corpses strewn across the ground. This Xiongnu supply transport force was swiftly wiped out, and even the fleeing herdsmen did not escape.
The iron cavalry halted their charge. Warhorses neighed, and Sheng Huai'an's mount reared high on its hind legs, as though celebrating victory.
Sheng Huai'an's battle robe fluttered in the wind, and blood dripped from the iron spear in his hand.
After annihilating this Xiongnu supply force, Sheng Huai'an immediately ordered the battlefield cleaned up.
"Clean up the battlefield at once. Take whatever can be carried away, and burn everything that cannot."
"Treat the wounded. Bring back the bodies of our fallen brothers."
Although the unit had suffered casualties after taking down this Xiongnu supply force, they were not severe. Only a dozen or so men had been killed or wounded.
The strongest among the Xiongnu cavalry, Colonel Helian Tieshu, had been slain by Sheng Huai'an. The remaining Xiongnu cavalry could not inflict much harm upon the Anning Iron Cavalry.
His soldiers swiftly finished clearing the battlefield, set fire to the supplies they could not take, and departed at once.
By now, every member of this Anning Iron Cavalry force had two warhorses. Even if they launched a long-distance raid, they could now manage it.
After destroying this Xiongnu supply force, Sheng Huai'an continued leading the cavalry in search of their next target.
Before long, in the span of a single day, Sheng Huai'an led his cavalry in sweeping through more than ten Xiongnu forces transporting supplies and provisions. They killed over ten thousand Xiongnu and burned countless supplies and rations meant for the Xiongnu army.
When Xiongnu cavalry found the slaughtered transport forces, they saw corpses covering the ground and supplies reduced to ashes.
"Damn it, damn it! Whoever you are, I will grind you into ten thousand pieces!" Helan Guanshan roared.
"Pursue them! Find this group no matter what!" Helan Guanshan shouted furiously, spurring his horse after the direction Sheng Huai'an's men had gone.
Behind him, two thousand elite Xiongnu iron cavalrymen, their iron armor clanging, galloped after him.
Seeing their slaughtered clansmen, the other Xiongnu soldiers were also consumed by rage. They had always been the ones invading others—since when had anyone dared penetrate deep into their grasslands and slaughter their people?
This was a provocation against Xiongnu warriors!
As warriors of the Xiongnu, eagles of these grasslands, they could not tolerate it.
At nightfall, Sheng Huai'an led the troops to stop and rest, taking the chance to eat dinner.
They ate the seized food without restraint. Martial artists had enormous appetites.
Sheng Huai'an ate an entire cow by himself and only barely felt full.
The meat he consumed was all converted into essence and qi, stored within his body.
Adding today's gains to yesterday's, their harvest had been exceptionally bountiful.
Setting aside everything else, they had acquired quite a few pills alone.
There were three Fourth-grade Breakthrough Pills in total!
There were also countless other pills for healing and cultivation.
This was an immense fortune. Once they brought it back, everyone on this expedition would receive a substantial share of silver.
Unfortunately, there was no one in the group at Martial Master Great Perfection. Otherwise, Sheng Huai'an would not have kept the three Fourth-grade Breakthrough Pills.
Only increasing one's strength was the true path. That was Sheng Huai'an's belief.
Although they had successfully ambushed more than ten Xiongnu supply forces today,
more than thirty cavalrymen he had brought out had also been left behind on these grasslands forever.
That night, Sheng Huai'an looked at the stars filling the sky, but he could not see the familiar constellations.
Over the course of the day's fighting, he had killed seven Xiongnu Houtian martial artists and several hundred ordinary soldiers. The Slaughter Value he had gained exceeded all previous amounts.
Name: Sheng Huai'an Race: Human Realm: Houtian early stage (+) Cultivation Techniques: "Great Sun Heart Sutra" (Beginner) "Ferocious Ox Strength" (Minor Mastery) (+) "Blood Fiend Saber Technique" (Major Mastery) (Deduce) "Overlord Spear Technique" (Beginner) (+) Strength: 15,000 jin Talent: Silver Archer (+) Slaughter Value: 1132
Looking at his Slaughter Value exceeding one thousand, Sheng Huai'an felt a little excited.
Seeing that his cultivation realm could be improved, Sheng Huai'an did not raise it immediately.
He had only just broken through. If he raised his cultivation again now, he would stand out too much and be treated like a monster.
The word "Deduce" had appeared after the Blood Fiend Saber Technique, leaving Sheng Huai'an greatly surprised. Was this a new function of the golden finger?
There was no plus sign after the Great Sun Heart Sutra, so it could not be improved. That left him somewhat at a loss. The first improvement had cost two hundred, yet even over a thousand Slaughter Value could not make the plus sign appear. Just how much would it take?!
The Overlord Spear Technique, on the other hand, had gained a plus sign indicating it could be improved.
Sheng Huai'an chose to improve the Overlord Spear Technique first. During cavalry charges and mounted battles, killing enemies with a spear was still faster.
He directly added points to improve the Overlord Spear Technique.
Countless insights and experiences regarding the Overlord Spear Technique flooded into his mind in a blur, like scenes flashing past on horseback. It was as though he had practiced the Overlord Spear Technique for ten or twenty years, bringing it to Minor Mastery.
Now, with a spear in hand, Sheng Huai'an felt exceptionally familiar with it, as though he had trained with the spear for more than a decade. Unable to resist, he raised his spear and began practicing.
The Overlord Spear Technique was domineering and fierce. Every form was hard and valiant.
Not far away, Guo Xiaoping and Hu Bing watched Sheng Huai'an practice the Overlord Spear Technique, their hearts trembling with fear.
This spear technique was too sharp and tyrannical. No wonder that Xiongnu Houtian martial artist had been smashed into pulp, man and horse alike, by one strike.
"What a powerful spear technique."
"This is General Yang Ye's Overlord Spear Technique. How does he know it?"
"Isn't that obvious? General Yang Ye must have passed it down to him."
"But that proficiency looks like he's practiced it for more than ten years."
"This guy didn't start practicing from the womb, did he?"
Guo Xiaoping and Hu Bing muttered quietly to each other.
After practicing the Overlord Spear Technique once, Sheng Huai'an had brought it to Minor Mastery. His combat power had risen by another large margin.
With his strength improved, Sheng Huai'an was filled with joy.
But when he looked at his Slaughter Value, only 632 points remained.
Seeing that raising the Overlord Spear Technique to Minor Mastery had consumed five hundred Slaughter Value, Sheng Huai'an could no longer remain calm.
Another bottomless pit that devoured resources. How much Slaughter Value would it take to raise it to Major Mastery?!
Looking at the remaining 632 points of Slaughter Value, Sheng Huai'an suppressed the urge to deduce the Blood Fiend Saber Technique.
He needed to keep a certain amount of Slaughter Value in reserve for unexpected needs.
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