Chapter 766 Capture!

What a stroke of luck, arriving just in time.

Initially, Marquis Zheng led an advance force north into the far north, with only a vague idea of where to go. Finding anything was purely a matter of chance.

Then, as luck would have it, they found traces of a band of wildling cavalry.

In the snowy wastes of the far north, in the dead of winter, the appearance of a wildling cavalry force numbering over a thousand was a clear sign of trouble, even to someone less astute than Marquis Zheng.

So, he kept his men on their tail. The wildlings, for their part, were focused on pressing forward, completely unaware that they were being followed.

And so it went,

The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. One link connected to another, and Marquis Zheng finally caught up.

At this moment,

Xue San was so excited he was practically weeping. He had been wondering if he was playing the part of a villain, but now he knew for sure that he was the protagonist. Only the protagonist could experience such a perfectly timed arrival.

The appearance of the two armies silenced the cheers of the other group.

After so many days of pursuit and fighting with the Star Inceptors, the cold reality was that their fate was not in their own hands.

Marquis Zheng drew Wu Ya. At this point, there was no need for parleying or grandstanding. The simplest and most direct approach was to crush them.

The wildling tribe that had sent this cavalry force was now on Marquis Zheng's blacklist. As far as he was concerned, anyone or anything connected to that prophecy was a target.

"Lao Yu, keep an eye on things over there."

"Understood."

Then,

Wu Ya was raised,

And Marquis Zheng let out a low roar:

"My sons!"

"Hoo!"

"Hoo!"

"Hoo!"

The knights were exhausted, but they instinctively began to form a charging formation.

Aside from the wildling auxiliary troops, the main force numbered only three thousand. But these three thousand riders were all elite soldiers personally selected by Liang Cheng, and among the first to be equipped with the latest gear.

Blades forward,

The pixiu mounts let out low growls,

"Charge!"

"Kill!"

The Yan army charged. When cavalry faced infantry, there were many tactics to employ. Ultimately, it came down to the cavalry's sense of superiority and a desire to resolve the battle in the most efficient way possible. When cavalry faced cavalry, the side with better equipment, training, and morale preferred a decisive engagement rather than maneuvering. That was the confidence they possessed.

Not just the Eastern Jin army, but the entire Yan army, regardless of faction, never refused a challenge if the enemy was willing to field their own cavalry.

The wildling army seemed surprised by the Yan army's immediate charge, without even a preliminary exchange. Although they quickly ordered their horses to pick up speed and meet the charge head-on, they were already at a disadvantage in terms of momentum.

Furthermore, the wildling cavalry was already intimidated by the Yan iron cavalry. This particular force was not composed of naive, isolated tribesmen. As such, their charge had a forced and reluctant air about it.

The two cavalry forces collided, and chaos erupted.

Marquis Zheng did not have the same confidence as Lao Tian to lead the charge himself, but he was not lagging behind either. After cutting down two wildling riders in quick succession, the battle quickly turned in his favor.

Because the wildling cavalry began to break down, completely losing their formation.

They came, they charged, and then they scattered.

That was typical of the wildlings.

Back in the day, the Situ family, one of the Three Jins, could confidently and casually bully the wildlings while also defending against the Chu Kingdom to the south. The reason lay here.

Individually, the wildlings were decent horsemen and archers, but their disorganized tribal structure often led to disastrous performances on a large scale, creating a vicious cycle.

Only during the reign of the Wildling King did they briefly rise to prominence, but they quickly reverted to their timid state.

Meanwhile, Xue San was leading his men in an attack on the other group.

Xue San's men were skilled with bows and crossbows. The crossbows they used were personally designed by Xue San himself. They had a short range but high accuracy. At the current close range, their lethality and efficiency were astonishing.

They then formed teams of three to engage in close combat. With their coordinated teamwork, the already weakened guards of the group were quickly overwhelmed.

"Pfft!"

Xue San's dagger slit a man's throat. He then leaped towards the woman who had been casting spells repeatedly.

That woman was a key figure who had repeatedly awakened the black-armored man and had to be captured.

The woman was currently kneeling over the black-armored man.

Xue San rushed forward,

But just then, the woman suddenly plunged a dagger into her own chest and grabbed the black-armored man tightly.

Instinctively, Xue San wanted to stop, but his momentum carried him forward. Just then, the black-armored man's saber suddenly stood up, and Xue San could only block with his twin daggers.

"Clang!"

The black-armored man rose, holding the woman with his left arm and grasping the saber with his right hand, drawing it up.

Without hesitation, Xue San rolled to the side, and a deep pit was blasted into the ground where he had been standing.

The black-armored man attempted to follow up, but Long Yuan was unsheathed behind him, striking his back like a red ray of light.

"Bang!"

The black-armored man was knocked over, and several terrifying grooves appeared on the armor on his back. The woman he had been holding was cleaved in two by Long Yuan's strike.

Looking down at the woman's corpse beneath him, the black-armored man opened his mouth and roared, his aura surging out once more, carrying a chilling coldness.

Facing the opponent's furious assault, the Sword Saint did not retreat. A swordsman's greatest fear was an opponent who refused to engage head-on!

Long Yuan trembled and soared,

In an instant,

The Sword Saint opened his Second Grade again.

He had no interest in sparring with this mysterious being. Marquis Zheng's intentions were clear to the Sword Saint: to eliminate this threat at all costs, preferably grinding his corpse into dust. Therefore, the Sword Saint had held nothing back from the start.

Long Yuan, imbued with Second Grade power, roared down.

The man raised his saber to resist,

"Boom!"

After the first strike, the man quickly slid backward.

Then came the second strike!

Under the second strike, the black-armored man's aura began to fade rapidly.

Back on the Wangjiang River, Wei You, wielding the Li Long Spear, had only managed to block two strikes from the Sword Saint. Of course, it should be considered that Wei You had already exhausted himself against the Sword Saint while still at the Third Grade.

But there was no denying that the black-armored man's physique had reached an alarming level.

However, he was only relying on his physical strength. His own Qi and blood, his power, had already been shattered by the two strikes.

Grasping Long Yuan, the Sword Saint personally wielded the sword and thrust out a third strike.

The black-armored man raised his saber, but then, in the next moment, abandoned all defense.

"Pfft!"

Long Yuan pierced the black-armored man's chest almost without resistance. Sword Qi began to wreak havoc within his body. With this strike, the Sword Saint was certain he had pulverized his spleen.

At this moment, Xue San shouted from the outside:

"He doesn't have a heart!"

The Sword Saint's eyes narrowed, and a sense of foreboding arose.

The black-armored man's face turned blue, and the crimson in his eyes transformed into a deep green. Two fangs grew from the corners of his mouth, and he transformed into a ghoul in an instant.

Then, the bones in his body began to churn. Skin, flesh, and bone formed a cage, firmly locking Long Yuan within his body.

The Sword Saint was familiar with this aura. There was a similar being lying in the underground chamber of the Marquis of the West's residence.

The black-armored man's saber fell.

The Sword Saint immediately released his grip on Long Yuan and retreated quickly. At the same time, he tried to pull Long Yuan out with his Qi.

However, just then, the Sword Saint suddenly realized that the connection between him and Long Yuan had been severed. Even though Long Yuan was right in front of him, he could no longer resonate with it.

"His blood has contaminated it!"

Xue San shouted again.

Only then did the Sword Saint notice the black-armored man's blood, which was viscous and black, and had already coated the blade of Long Yuan.

However, even without Long Yuan, the Sword Saint was still the Sword Saint. He had been wandering the martial world for so many years, not relying on a magical weapon to make a living.

Withdrawing his hand, the Sword Saint condensed Sword Qi and launched it at the black-armored man from a distance.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A series of Sword Qi strikes landed on the black-armored man's armor, leaving it riddled with dents. The black-armored man staggered, as if he wanted to continue forward but lacked the strength to do so. His body began to fall backward.

"He's out of juice!"

After Third Master shouted this, he immediately darted forward, daggers in hand. He was going to sever the opponent's head. Although he knew it would be difficult to cut, he would strike while the iron was hot!

It was just a pity that he hadn't brought black donkey hooves!

Third Master straddled the black-armored man, preparing to strike with his dagger.

But at this moment, a chanting sound came from the black-armored man. It wasn't the black-armored man chanting, but rather the entire area was enveloped by this sound.

On the mountainside of a distant snow-covered peak, a group of Star Inceptors gathered, half of them injured.

"Why are the Yan people here?"

"How did the Yan people know about his awakening!"

"What should we do?"

"If the Yan people get him, or destroy him, will my Holy Race have no chance of blossoming again?"

"If we had known this would happen, we should have given him to the Di Shan tribe. At least we would have kept him in the snowy wastes."

"Are we doing the Yan people a favor?"

At this moment,

An old man with white hair surveyed the surroundings,

And said:

"We must not let him fall into the hands of the Yan people. Otherwise, my Holy Race will have no hope of revival. Let us offer a sacrifice and give him strength. He is still too weak.

He will remember the sacrifices my Holy Race has made for him!"

Few people present truly believed the last sentence, but they had no choice. With the Marquis of the West's religious outreach, the Star Inceptors were feeling a sense of imminent destruction.

They didn't really care whether the snowy wastes were united or fragmented. They hadn't even cared about the Wildling King's failure. This faction had never chosen to follow in the Wildling King's footsteps. A unified snowy waste wasn't conducive to maintaining their previous status.

But when the Marquis's residence began to focus on undermining the foundations of their faith, they panicked.

"For the Holy Race, for the Stars!"

"For the Holy Race, for the Stars!"

"For the Stars!"

In an instant, half of the Star Inceptors began to spontaneously combust. Blue flames appeared on their bodies. The flames didn't last long. Within a few breaths, they vanished, along with their bodies, leaving only a pile of ashes.

...

Xue San raised his dagger, pointing it at the black-armored man's neck, and shouted:

"Eat my old Sun's staff!" (Reference to Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, from *Journey to the West*)

The dagger fell,

And at the same time,

The black-armored man opened his eyes again.

"..." Xue San.

"Boom!"

A terrifying murderous aura spewed from the black-armored man's mouth. This aura couldn't be blocked by holding one's breath. It would burrow into your eyes, ears, nose, and even the pores of your skin.

Xue San felt as if his entire being was floating. It was as if he was ascending to heaven, his soul about to separate from his body.

The black-armored man slammed his hands down on Xue San,

But Xue San's figure suddenly disappeared, reappearing not far away.

"Pfft..."

A mouthful of blood was spat out, and Xue San's entire face turned blue. Two daggers, one piercing his chest and the other piercing his neck.

The toxins in the daggers were rapidly entering his system. Xue San swallowed a pill and then shouted:

"Get Liang Cheng to detoxify me!"

Then,

His eyes closed, his body slumped, and he fell to the ground.

Over there, the black-armored man was just about to get up when the Sword Saint attacked again, launching Sword Qi with his fingertips.

The black-armored man roared and grabbed the ground with both hands, sliding backward to avoid the Sword Saint's attacks.

At this moment, Marquis Zheng, having defeated the wildling army, immediately ordered a portion of his troops to turn around and encircle them.

"Roar!"

The black-armored man burst out again, and Long Yuan, which was stuck in his chest, was ejected. The Sword Saint instinctively wanted to catch Long Yuan, but immediately remembered the scene of Xue San collapsing to the ground and passed out. Immediately, he guided the sword with his Qi. Long Yuan didn't touch the Sword Saint, but spun around and plunged into the frozen earth. Its blade was stained with black blood.

At the same time, a team of Yan knights charged forward.

Without hesitation, the black-armored man directly collided with them, flipping over the two leading knights along with their armor and mounts. But the knights behind them thrust their lances into the black-armored man's armpits.

The black-armored man clamped the lances with his arms, rooted his feet, and lifted upwards, lifting the two knights and their horses into the air, then slamming them together.

"Bang!"

The flesh and bones of the people and horses were almost completely separated in this collision.

This scene, as seen by Marquis Zheng, truly resembled the scene of Sha Tuo Que Shi fighting the Northern Town Iron Cavalry alone outside the Marquis of the Northern Town's residence.

"Kill him! The one who takes his head will be promoted to General!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Yes, sir!"

More and more knights fearlessly charged towards the black-armored man.

The black-armored man faced the charge of hundreds of cavalry alone, still choosing the most fearless and powerful way to fight. He alone was like a god of war.

Marquis Zheng rode his pixiu to Xue San's side, glanced at Xue San, and stopped looking at him after confirming that Xue San was still alive.

The Sword Saint looked at Long Yuan, which he had plunged into the frozen earth.

Zheng Fan lowered his head and asked, "Can Wu Ya be used in the meantime?"

The Sword Saint looked at Zheng Fan, opened his hand, and Zheng Fan handed Wu Ya to him, and the Sword Saint took the sword.

In the midst of the battle, the black-armored man was still fighting, and knights were constantly being killed and dismounted, their deaths very tragic, almost none of them with complete corpses.

But the knights did not collapse, and the surrounding knights had already formed a new encirclement.

To deal with this kind of strong man, you have to use human lives to fill in the gaps and exhaust him.

In the past, the Sword Saint had single-handedly killed a thousand riders in front of Snow Sea Pass, but it was exaggerated. The formation that Marquis Zheng had set up was the real deal.

Fearless, well-trained, tightly formed, and charging to the death, no matter how high a master is, they would have to kneel down to you!

The Sword Saint prepared to go forward, but was stopped by Zheng Fan:

"Don't."

The Sword Saint frowned slightly.

"Exhaust him a little longer. His Qi is weak, he's used his initial burst of power. So many brothers have died, we can't let them die without value."

Marquis Zheng straightened his back,

And said in a deep voice:

"If we put in so much effort and let him run away in the end, I would be suffocated to death." This wasn't Marquis Zheng being cold-blooded, it was reality.

"This physique, of all the people I've seen in my life, maybe only Tian Wujing can compare to him."

"He makes a living by his physique."

"The aura on his body is a bit like the one in the coffin in your basement," said the Sword Saint.

Zheng Fan shook his head and said, "The one who really looks like him is leading the army behind him."

"What exactly is it?" the Sword Saint asked.

"Are you talking about him, or... us?"

"Us?"

"Yes, us."

Seeing that the fighting was almost over, Zheng Fan took out the magic pill from his pocket, held it in his hand, and prepared himself.

Then,

He shouted loudly:

"Zheng Fan, Marquis of the West of Great Yan, is here!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

In an instant,

The black-armored man seemed to instinctively lock onto the target. In fact, even for animals with low intelligence, they understand the principle of capturing the leader first.

Regardless of blades and spears, the black-armored man forcefully broke through the encirclement and pounced in the direction of Zheng Fan.

The surrounding knights quickly reacted, wanting to block him back. Marquis Zheng was here, and they were willing to use their lives to block all gaps.

And the Sword Saint also moved at this moment,

His figure flashed,

After the black-armored man smashed a knight's chest with one punch and kicked a horse's head with one foot,

The Sword Saint appeared beside him,

Holding Wu Ya,

And slashed at the black-armored man's shoulder.

"Pfft!"

Wu Ya cut into his shoulder,

The black-armored man's body trembled, his knees buckled, and he knelt on the ground.

He instinctively wanted to stand up again, but the Sword Saint also stabbed a finger of Sword Qi into the back of his head at this moment.

The black-armored man's figure froze,

After struggling for a while,

It seemed that he had exhausted the last bit of strength in his body at this moment,

And lowered his head in despair.

Marquis Zheng put down the magic pill, took out an iron box from his pocket, took out a cigarette, and was too lazy to use a fire starter in this cold wind. He directly put the cigarette into his mouth and chewed it slowly.

The spicy taste stimulated him and cleared his mind.

"Ptooey!"

After spitting out the residue in his mouth,

Marquis Zheng ordered:

"Find all the available iron chains and ropes and tie him up tightly!"