Chongxuan Sheng and Jiang Chen led their troops in a frantic charge forward.
This scene was not only noticed by Ji Cheng, but the Autumn Kill Army was also inspired by it, their resolve suddenly firming.
After a long and fierce battle, this grand conflict seemed to suddenly accelerate, reaching the moment of decisive confrontation.
Among the State of Yang's two-hundred-and-ten-thousand-strong army, were there really no experts who could match Chongxuan Sheng and Jiang Chen?
Of course there were.
But apart from Chongxuan Chuliang's personal guard, the Autumn Kill Army had already committed its entire force. The Yang army, whose strength was far inferior, could not possibly have any reserves left either.
On the Yang side, their experts would be even more stretched!
In fact, to plug the gaps in every defensive line, Ji Cheng had not reserved any forces to guard the central command.
His strategic goal was to delay at all costs, to delay and delay.
To drag the battle on until Chongxuan Chuliang had no choice but to personally enter the fray, creating an opportunity for Sovereign Yang Jiande to break the army and slay the general.
Because as one of Qi's Nine Armies, defeating the mere army of the State of Yang was the most natural thing in the world.
A small victory was normal, a slightly larger one warranted mild praise. If it were a pyrrhic victory, it could almost be counted as a defeat.
Defeat went without saying.
Or even just a draw...
If political rivals attacked him, Chongxuan Chuliang, a general of legendary fame, might find his reputation destroyed overnight.
So the pressure on Chongxuan Chuliang was by no means small.
Yet the man remained steady as a mountain, coldly watching the Autumn Kill Army and the Yang army locked in bitter combat, watching the battle remain so fiercely contested.
Yang Jiande could sit back and watch his Yang army suffer massive casualties, waiting only for a single chance. He, Chongxuan Chuliang, did not care about being mocked by the world, crushing an egg with a stone just to secure a pyrrhic victory!
Both gave each other the utmost respect.
The turning point came with Chongxuan Sheng's unit.
When this fat man got fierce, he charged straight into the enemy formation with his troops alone, undoubtedly stirring up the battlefield.
...
A man and a woman, each riding a horse, charged toward them.
Behind them, there was no army. The Yang army could no longer spare a single extra soldier.
Yet they were charging.
They were charging straight at Chongxuan Sheng and Jiang Chen.
Two riders against a thousand soldiers.
No battle cries, no mournful wails.
Silent collision.
They charged straight through.
That heroic woman, that righteous man of the State of Yang who had asked to die first.
They didn't even create a ripple before being killed by Jiang Chen and Fourteen, respectively.
Forward, forward.
The five-thousand-strong formation had been reduced to about three thousand by the time they reached this point, nearly half their number dead or wounded!
For the elite Autumn Kill Army, this casualty rate was terrifying. Such losses, without a great achievement to show for them, would be a great failure!
Yet the excellence of the Autumn Kill Army was precisely reflected in this: though nearly half their number was dead or wounded, not a single soldier retreated, not a single soldier died with their back to the enemy.
All the dead had fallen face forward, all had died on the charge.
And the Yang army seemed to have gone mad as well, constantly sending men to intercept them, though their formations became increasingly disorganized, increasingly scattered.
In the end, a formation of over two thousand soldiers finally crashed into them head-on.
It was clear they had just been pulled from the front line—nearly every man was wounded, their killing intent overflowing.
After charging and fighting until this point, even someone with Jiang Chen's strength felt a hint of fatigue, let alone the ordinary soldiers in his unit.
Yet when they suddenly faced this enemy force, Chongxuan Sheng was not worried but delighted.
The appearance of this unit actually proved that the situation had reached its final moment.
Once they broke this army, the outcome would be clear!
"Cut down their general, seize their banner! This is our one shot!"
He roared, directly activating the military formation.
The killing intent of the entire army coalesced.
In an instant, a violent wind arose. From the generals down to the soldiers, all were enveloped by the autumn wind of slaughter, suddenly lifted into the air!
In the fierce wind, the killing intent took form—withered trees snapped, fallen leaves drifted.
That killing intent, as if manifested by heaven and earth itself, was soul-shaking.
It was, indeed: boundless leaves... fluttering down!
On the battlefield, when a military formation condensed its killing intent into a physical form, it was one of the strongest techniques—like the giant Yin-Yang fish formed by Shi Jing's Yin-Yang Wandering Kill Formation earlier, which had nearly killed the Qian commissioner of the Four Seas Trade Alliance with a single collision.
But in actual battlefield combat, such techniques were generally reserved as the final move.
Because it required the entire army's coordinated effort, every person had to give their all, strictly following the formation's movements, consuming enormous military strength. In a prolonged battle, unless one could shatter the opponent in one blow, expending military strength too early could very well lead to being at the enemy's mercy in the end.
And this moment, was precisely the time to make that final move.
So let the outcome be decided!
The enemy formation of two thousand men had all just been pulled from the front line, rushing in to fill the gap.
Their fighting spirit was certainly commendable.
But the absolute gap in strength did not bend to fighting spirit.
Moreover, even just in terms of fighting spirit, would the Autumn Kill Army lose to anyone?
Two thousand weary soldiers charged forward with suicidal force.
And Chongxuan Sheng personally led his unit, directly unleashing the peak killing formation.
Boundless withered leaves, falling like rain, were then swept together by the fierce wind. Like an autumn tornado, in an instant they swept over this Yang army unit, swallowing it whole!
If someone had watched coldly from the side, surveying the entire scene from a great height, they would have been able to see.
From the moment Chongxuan Sheng's unit first charged into the Yang army's central command, they had not stopped for a single instant.
Like a giant arrow, once fired it had no return, and would not stop until it hit its mark.
And this "arrow" had initially only pushed forward with an arrowhead formation. When they reached the end, they suddenly transformed their killing intent, raising boundless falling leaves. In a single clash, they shattered the final defenses on the opposite side, appearing beneath that fluttering battle banner of sky-blue!
On the vast commander's platform, at this moment...
Only the old general Ji Cheng remained!
All available troops had been sent out.
In the vast field of his vision, the Autumn Kill Army was attacking everywhere, having already torn the State of Yang's great army into tatters.
He had done everything in his power, burning nearly everything he had just to command, barely maintaining the crumbling situation.
But even this situation could no longer be held.
Because...
The enemy had arrived!
They had arrived before the command platform!
"What young tiger wishes to claim an old general's head!"
The white-haired old general shouted into the wind.
"I! Chongxuan Sheng!"
"I! Jiang Chen!"
Provoked by the atmosphere of the moment, Jiang Chen's blood also began to boil.
At this point, all defensive lines had been breached. There was nothing between them and Ji Cheng.
He and Chongxuan Sheng both stared straight at the old general.
The entire military formation roared as it surged onto the command platform.
Boom!
An arrow.
A roaring arrow.
Like wind, like thunder, like the earth splitting and the sky collapsing!
Ji Cheng's white hair still fluttered in the wind as his withered hand had already drawn his bow.
Even his voice trembled slightly when he spoke, yet his hand was so steady.
Steady as a rock!
With a simple pull, and release.
The arrow shot forth like wind and thunder.
The moment the string moved, the arrow had already collided with the formation led by Chongxuan Sheng and Jiang Chen.
Boom!
Whether it was Chongxuan Sheng, or Jiang Chen, or Fourteen, all of them clearly felt it.
This was the strongest resistance this unit had encountered on its charge to this point!
The arrow roared like wind and thunder, and the formation with its killing intent transformed into shape was actually flipped over entirely!
The fierce wind that carried boundless fallen leaves seemed to be seized by an invisible giant hand and yanked upward. The entire formation tumbled off the command platform, men and horses falling in disarray.
The killing intent dispersed, the formation was broken!
Yet, within this broken formation, among the tumbling soldiers of the Autumn Kill Army...
A brilliant sword light burst forth, stunning and bright, from below upward, once again charging back onto the command platform!
Jiang Chen's sword light was like a rainbow, his person like a shooting star.
Bam!
Chongxuan Sheng slammed his palm hard against the ground, smashing a deep pit into it, and followed close behind.
The custom-made armor on his body could no longer bear the load. He ripped it off with a single motion, wearing only a simple tunic, and charged onto the command platform!
Then came Fourteen, black helmet, black armor, black sword, silent but resolute as he surged upward.
And after him, soldier after soldier of the Autumn Kill Army.
Those fewer than two thousand who remained, who as long as they were not completely dead, still climbed toward the enemy's command platform!