Chapter 337 — The Enemy Presses to Within Thirty Li

Ban Gongcuo was just about to lead Luandi Khan and the rest of the masters in pursuit of Shen Mu when he saw more than two hundred tower ships, banners streaming, their enormous hulls blotting out sun and sky, moving toward them like two hundred-odd dark clouds swallowing half the heavens. And below the tower ships, the first to pour out of the gate towers was the army of exotic beasts: huge creatures the size of small hills strode in the vanguard, archers standing on their backs; behind them came chariots and cavalry, chariots first, cavalry after; and behind them again the infantry phalanxes, divided into different corps according to their spirit-body attributes, an endless and mighty host. The sight was awe-inspiring, yet it left Luandi Khan somewhat puzzled and suspicious.

In the past, Jingping had always placed the beast army in front, with chariots and cavalry weaving among them, while the infantry charged into battle beneath the beasts' bodies; the tower ships had held the position of the central army. Though the tower ships could float in the air, their range was short and they could easily be shot down, and so they needed the protection of the central army. But now the tower ships were in front. Against tower ships, one need only send blade pellets streaking across the sky from thirty li away to wreck them and bring them down.

And if the pill furnace could be destroyed, the furnace would explode, and the officers and soldiers aboard would often be buried in the blast.

—Shen Mu had indeed improved the tower ships' pill furnaces, greatly boosting their firepower; but when they exploded, they were now several times, even ten times, more terrifying than before, and an ordinary divine-ability practitioner had no hope of surviving such a blast. Of course, this was not something to blame Shen Mu for.

He had improved the furnaces so the tower ships could attain greater speed; it was only that the ships' firepower had not kept pace, so the energy of the improved furnaces could not be brought fully into play.

"Has the Jingping Imperial Preceptor gone mad?

" As Luandi Khan thought this, Ban Gongcuo's voice suddenly reached him, shouting, "Luandi, shoot that Shen boy dead at once! " Luandi Khan stood there bare as a newborn: his trousers had been pulled down to his ankles by the Lame Elder, the golden saber and quiver at his waist had been lifted by the Lame Elder as well, and that magnificent raccoon-dog cloak had been gladly accepted by the Lame Elder too.

But he was, after all, the lord of a nation, and his cultivation remained. Hearing this, he at once pulled up his trousers and reached for his belt—only to grasp at empty air. His belt, inlaid with gold and jade, had been drawn away by the Lame Elder as well.

"That Lame Elder's skills are too high! If he had come to kill me instead of stealing my clothes, how could I have withstood him?

" Terror seized Luandi Khan's heart; cold sweat poured down him, soaking his back.

Yet he had overestimated the Lame Elder. Nimble as the old man's hands and feet were, all his skills lay in thieving and fleeing for his life; his movement arts were unfathomable and his handiwork unfathomable, but unfortunately in close combat he relied entirely on his legs, and his hands held few means of attack.

The Lame Elder's physical divine abilities were nothing remarkable and his techniques lacked striking power; had Luandi Khan truly attacked him, the old man would hardly have lasted many moves. What was most frightening about him was still his movement arts.

Though Luandi Khan had neither bow nor arrow in hand, his cultivation remained. His vital essence suddenly erupted, and a figure like a god and like a demon rose slowly behind him: four arms, a bird's head, flames blazing all about it, radiance streaming ten thousand zhang!

This god-demon was his primordial spirit, already manifested as though it were solid.

Its four arms drew bow and arrow, and at once raging fire flooded the Duck's Tongue region; flames howled and gathered, forming between the four-armed great bow a plume of blinding brilliance. Hum.

A tremor rang out, and the arrow flew.

Sky and earth turned utterly parched; visions of flame and yellow sand came one after another. Where the arrow passed, fire tornadoes howled across the yellow-sand desert, sand filling the heavens, one fiery whirlwind after another raging wild! Bare-chested, Luandi Khan raised his right hand, index and middle fingers joined, thumb pressed over ring and little fingers, and touched a sword seal to the point between his brows.

Shh—! The arrow of light and fire was swift beyond measure, aimed straight at the Lame Elder and Shen Mu as they ran.

So fast was it that no one could see the blinding flare at all—only the black line it left across their pupils as it flashed by! Ban Gongcuo was shaken to the core.

Luandi Khan was hailed as the steppe's finest archer, and the power displayed in this single arrow made even his heart quail! "If I had not obtained the Golden Book Scroll and could advance further to become a deity, I would have to guard carefully against this cheap father of mine. .

.

My Golden Book Scroll! " Ban Gongcuo's heart ached as though cut by a blade; the thought that Shen Mu had stolen his Golden Book Scroll was like a knife driven hard into his chest and then twisted back and forth. On the road to the frontier pass he had secretly studied the Golden Book Scroll and memorized the diagram of its energy-circulation routes; but the diagram was exceedingly intricate, and a hairsbreadth's error meant a thousand-li deviation.

Not the slightest mistake could be permitted if the Divine Bridge was to be repaired. He could not be sure he could guarantee it would be flawless.

The arrow-light caught up with Shen Mu and the Lame Elder.

The Lame Elder abruptly flung away everything he had stolen, scattering it everywhere, seized Shen Mu, and flickered like a ghost, dodging the arrow-light. Luandi Khan raised an eyebrow, doubt in his heart: "This old man's skills don't seem as high as I imagined. .

. " The fingers pressed to his brow did not stir, and the arrow-light bent in midair, shooting at the Lame Elder once more.

The old man's movement arts shifted again and again, his form flickering to and fro almost in an instant, giving the impression that he had already trampled through the barriers of space. The Lame Elder dared not take the arrow head-on, but his movement arts were truly uncanny; to be so swift while carrying Shen Mu left onlookers gaping, and even Luandi Khan found it hard to hit him.

As the Lame Elder drew nearer and nearer to the tower ships, the Duke of Wei soared into the air, a ducal sword in his grip, and brought it down in a slash to meet the arrow-light! Boom—!

A terrifying tremor burst forth. The Duke of Wei was flung high, landing in midair on one of the tower ships, and laughed aloud: "Luandi, you really do have some skill! " Luandi Khan's strength surpassed his, and the arrow-light's momentum was still undiminished.

Then the Champion Grand General patted behind him, and his Fangtian halberd shot skyward, transforming into a long dragon that thrust out a dragon claw and clamped down on the arrow-light.

The Champion Grand General gave a stifled grunt; his vital essence was nearly blasted apart by the impact, and his feet could not help retreating again and again. At last he blocked the arrow-light, and dread rose in his heart.

Had the Duke of Wei not first traded a hard blow with the arrow-light and worn away most of its power, he likely could not have withstood the strike at all.

"The Khan of the Man-Di Kingdom lives up to his name—only a shade weaker than the Jingping Imperial Preceptor and His Majesty! " The arrow-light dispersed. The Champion Grand General reached out, and the long dragon flew to him, falling into his hand as a blood-red Fangtian halberd, the dragon claw become the halberd's side blade, humming and quivering.