One Wrong Step

In a cavalry army of tens of thousands, Zhang Xuezhou was an insignificant drop of water.

In a battlefield where hundreds of people clash, his position becomes much more conspicuous.

After ambushing the three Venerable Ones' Yang Souls from afar, he began to be entangled by a swarm of cursed insects.

This is a variant of the cursed insect called 'Celestial Phenomenon'. Before becoming this cursed insect, it was called 'Longhorn Beetle'. It is renamed after it has been properly cultivated.

Longhorn beetles are named for their immense strength and ability to fly through the sky, while 'celestial phenomena' are more than ten times stronger and can easily sever flesh, creating wounds and injecting toxins.

Zhang Xuezhou's body is not afraid of even swords and knives, so there's no way he would be afraid of these cursed insects.

"What's this person's name?"

The spellcaster, constantly shifting positions in the distance, wore a crown but had a relatively young face, clearly a mage who had risen through the ranks in recent years.

Zhang Xuezhou specifically targets veteran players, and he is quite unfamiliar with the younger generation.

"I'm going to die! I'm going to die!"

While being attacked by the cursed insects, Zhang Xuezhou frantically rummaged through his clothes and occasionally cried out, trying to get away from the insects' attention and launch a sneak attack from a blind spot.

"You... you're not the sword-wielding Lord Dongfang, how did you get here?"

Although he was stripped of the Xiong State cavalry's clothes and turbans, Zhang Xuezhou did not change into the attire of Han soldiers. In this area filled with Incantation Technique, he was still relatively conspicuous.

After being helped up and patted on the body, the rescuer exclaimed in surprise.

I came on horseback!

Zhang Xuezhou muttered something, then casually tossed the 'celestial phenomenon' he was holding onto the ground. After stepping on it with his toe, the finger-thick celestial phenomenon burst out of a ball of foul-smelling black liquid, causing a small wisp of blue smoke to rise from the soil.

"Where is that person? Where is His Majesty?"

The man supporting Zhang Xuezhou was a general in his forties. Looking at Zhang Xuezhou, he felt a chill run down his spine.

Zhang Xuezhou is absolutely not someone who should be here. If he is, it likely means that the emperor himself has also arrived in the palace.

The ambush was a complete mess; it was hardly presentable.

The officer gritted his teeth and asked in a low voice. Zhang Xuezhou pointed in a direction, and his gaze swept across the area. In the distance, he saw a man in white underwear wielding a sword wildly, with piles of iron wire snake corpses beneath his sword.

"I'm going to die!"

The officer's face turned ashen, and he muttered to himself. He didn't care about the spear he was holding; instead, he grabbed the black jujube wood bow from his back.

Two blue-tipped arrows were placed in his hand, and with a heavy twang of the bowstring, the two arrows flew out.

Damn it!

When the officer felt a chill on his neck, he thought his body might be torn apart and pierced by the 'celestial phenomenon,' but he soon felt the cursed insects flying wildly and out of control.

Like headless flies, the cursed insects that attacked him not only gave up biting, but also flew up crookedly, trying to leave.

"This Venerable Hongsheng is very troublesome. He has several kinds of cursed insects, as well as blinding poison powder. The snake-driving one is called Hongfu..."

The officer flicked his fingers as if to flick the 'celestial phenomenon,' but ultimately turned it into a flying kick.

The sound of the insect bursting rang out, and a wisp of smoke rose from his leather boots. A burning sensation surged through his toes, causing him to quickly retract them. He had to scrub the ground for a while, all the while cursing his troublesome opponent.

"Finally found you two! I told you not to release snakes to bite me!"

Before even mentioning the two troublesome rivals in this area, the officer heard someone beside him grit their teeth and speak.

"Hey, there's a snake on the ground!"

The officer shouted, and as he was about to grab the spear that had been thrown aside and thrust it out, he saw Zhang Xuezhou step on the snake's head, then spun around on the ground.

When the foot was released, only half of the snake's body remained on the ground, writhing back and forth.

"This Lord Dongfang is incredibly bold!"

Fighting a sorcerer is definitely not a pleasant experience; many would rather just hack and slash at each other with swords.

The casting time of Incantation Technique is extremely long, which leads most curse casters to raise cursed insects for self-protection.

There are many sorcerers who play with snakes, spiders, poisonous toads, scorpions, centipedes, wasps, and poisonous ants.

If you can't defeat your opponent, these seemingly insignificant little things can easily be overlooked and become fatal.

"Break down the cages they use to trap the cursed insects, and they won't have such vicious cursed insects next time!"

The officer recognized the sorcerers whose figures kept appearing on the treetops, and knew that these people had special bodies; swords and blades would only slightly damage them, making it difficult to kill them with a single blow.

He had to speak up and make the other party aware of the key points of the attack.

"What are you talking about, attacking the insect cages? Light the arrows with kerosene and shoot them dead! No wonder this place is full of cursed insects; it turns out you're the ones who broke them!"

"Ignition oil?"

When the officer questioned him, he reached behind him and pulled out a black, round-tipped arrow.

He flicked the tinderbox at his side, and a burst of flame shot up from the front of the arrow.

The arrow he had previously fired, its cold light penetrating with great power, had killed the iron-wire snake. Now, he aimed the arrow at the sorcerer once more.

The flame flashed in the air and then struck a spellcaster who had appeared more than two hundred meters away.

The officer glanced at the man and saw a twisted expression of pain on his face, a far cry from the nonchalant demeanor he had displayed when an arrow pierced his chest.

Before he could observe any further, the officer saw the other's body suddenly shatter and then transform into a streak of purple light, disappearing into the distance.

"Brothers, get the rockets and shoot them!"

The officer shouted.

In just ten seconds, several streaks of fire shot into the sky, and the cries of the sorcerers, "The wind is getting strong, let's get out of here!" could be heard as they gathered and fled.

"This humble general will save you..."

"Li Xi, where are the men? Where are the men you planted in ambush?"

The officers rushed forward, and when they approached the new emperor, they bowed slightly. The emperor then roared and questioned them.

"This humble general received a messenger on horseback, saying that the enemy forces have undergone a temporary change and require the dispatch of three hundred of the army's best warriors..."

Where are the three hundred men?

"The deadline for the rendezvous is too urgent; there's not enough time to spare so many people!"

Li Xi pursed his lips, his face full of bitterness.

A legion of tens of thousands of people is no child's play. Not to mention drawing on the best from each formation, even just relaying an order takes a very long time. And he also needs to be able to stabilize the remaining legion and resist unexpected events and risks.

Before the manpower could be fully mobilized, the last-minute change of time had arrived, so Li Xi had no choice but to lead his men over mountains and valleys to intercept them.

"Who came up with this ridiculous interception plan?!"

The new emperor roared in anger, but Li Xi did not respond to the question. After all, he only followed orders, while the decisions were made by his superiors.

"General Li Guang and General Gongsun Hong are lying in ambush at Wuzhou Pass. I think General Li Guang has just arrived!"

Li Xi reluctantly pulled Li Guang, and only then did the new emperor's expression soften slightly.

"Where are Han Anguo and Wang Hui?"

"Lord Han and General Li are in charge of the second wave of interception at Yanmen, while General Wang is in Dai County, and it's very likely he's infiltrated behind Xiong State!"

"A second wave? Looks like you have another wave? What about the first wave?"

The new emperor, sword in hand, surveyed his surroundings. Only four skilled soldiers lay dead on the ground, most of them poisoned by cursed insects.

These people could continue fighting, but just one wave of attacks from the spellcasters of the Yedie River Holy Land disrupted their plans.

Just considering the size of the Xiong State's assault team, which numbered in the hundreds, the new emperor felt that this group of less than a hundred people was simply being sent to their deaths, especially since most of them were archers.

He questioned him, and Li Xi couldn't help but feel bitter.

He was in charge of the first wave.

In the normal plan, his 30,000 men would be stationed on high ground and continuously fire arrows to rob the retreating Xiong State from Mayi City. Regardless of whether they were killed or wounded, he would not be responsible for them, and then a second wave of men would take over.

However, the war that had been rehearsed many times did not take place. The enemy split into two groups. The elite group only looted the Nine Dragon Cauldrons and did not plunder other valuables in Mayi City, which made their march cumbersome and slow. Their retreat was even faster than their regrouping.

The valley where tens of thousands of people were lying in ambush was shrouded in mist, but eagles circled overhead, constantly observing.

As long as they show signs of a large-scale military operation, the Xiong State's army, which is stationed dozens of miles away, will likely be able to outflank them and completely annihilate them.

They devised a plan according to the strategies in the military treatise, but their opponent did not follow the steps outlined in the treatise.

If the first wave of layoffs cannot be implemented, the second wave will be impossible, not to mention the third wave and the cleanup of the fourth wave.

In this ambush operation, a single wrong step could have far-reaching consequences.

Li Xi and Li Guang rushed over in a hurry. The first and second waves were completely wasted, and now it was time for the third wave of people to fight hard.