"The opportunity to be bestowed noble rank for military achievements lies right before us."
Yuwen Hua said solemnly, "Yes!"
This army of several thousand soldiers approached with a solemn momentum, rolling forward. In response, Zhenbei City, along with all other cities under its command, remained on alert without obstructing them, similar to the previous stance with the Yue Family Army. In just a few days, they would arrive.
The borderlands of Ying Country.
Eight thousand armored cavalry, arranged in military formations, galloped forward, signifying that this troop had been on the brink of charging throughout their journey. Anyone who understood battle formations would be terrified at this sight.
To maintain a charging formation while piercing through the defenses of two countries,
then to charge tens of thousands of miles northward, was akin to a hellish ordeal of intense training. This troop of equipped heavy cavalry had gradually developed into a semblance of the elite units comparable to the three great heavy cavalries of the land.
But on this day, a scout returned with a message from The World’s First Building.
Yue Qianfeng glanced at it during his rest, a slight change in his expression.
"Spear Madman Li Guanyi, after a nighttime infiltration of the Zhenbei City Lord Mansion, managed to balance the powers among the Angry Scale Dragon King, the Great Elder of the Yin Yang Reincarnation Sect, the Sect Master of the Sky-reaching Sect, and Kunlun’s Nu Jianxian. He fought Yuwen Tianxian to a standstill without defeat, and despite sustaining severe injuries, he left and his whereabouts are now unknown."
"Afterward, Li Guanyi gathered his followers at Chongshan. Yuwen Tianxian mobilized five hundred cavalry and three thousand infantry."
"They are on their way, closing in to surround and kill Li Guanyi."
Yue Qianfeng and others changed their expressions abruptly. Yan Xuanji looked troubled. Yue Qianfeng held the intelligence and passed it among his men; all of the generals looked unsettled, one of them said, "What should we do now? Having come this far, if we divert our forces to support him, we must fight."
Another general said, "But Li Guanyi has fallen into a desperate situation for our sake."
"How can we stand by and do nothing!"
The generals fell into a silence filled with struggle. Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out, and everyone halted, turning their heads in unison to look. They saw two cavalrymen carrying a man on a stretcher; Yue Pengwu sat on top, pale-faced.
This renowned general had finally briefly regained consciousness the day before.
He would still occasionally fall into a coma-like sleep with brief moments of awakening.
The severe poisoning had weakened his body and tormented his spirit. But at this moment, he simply put down the scroll, looked around at the surrounding generals with a smile, and said, "I remember he once said, ’Those who gather firewood for many should not be allowed to freeze to death in the snow.’
"He has treated me this way; I must reply in kind."
"Cough cough cough cough—"
Yue Pengwu looked down and said, "Ling Pingyang."
The young general, who had just reached his thirties and was ranked ninety-seventh on the Divine General List, stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and said solemnly, "This subordinate is here!"
Yue Pengwu looked at the intelligence and said,
"The Yuwen family has five hundred cavalry; let’s also send out five hundred heavy cavalry."
"I want you to break their cavalry."
"Select five hundred heavy cavalry yourself, pivot our forces, and rush across three thousand miles immediately to reinforce Li Guanyi, then..."
Yue Pengwu paused, weaker now, his face gaunt, but his eyes still shone like cold stars in the night, filled with the ambition of running amok under the heavens. He smiled faintly, burned the intelligence, and continued,
"You don’t have to come back."
Ling Pingyang’s pupils constricted sharply. He understood the meaning and expectation behind Yue Pengwu’s words. Yue Qianfeng, Yan Xuanji, Situ Boshen, and Yue Pengwu, four famous generals from a bygone era, watched this young successor.
They were heading northward to another battlefield far across the world. But the young should not follow them. Yue Qianfeng patted Ling Pingyang’s shoulder, followed by Yan Xuanji and Situ Boshen. "We have our battlefields, and you have yours," they said.
Finally, Ling Pingyang slowly bowed, showing reverence,
He said, "We will meet again, won’t we?"
Yue Pengwu was so weak he could hardly sit up. He gave a faint smile, saying, "Yes, we will meet. On that day, we will fight side by side again for this land, because—"
The weakened general extended a finger toward the sky and in a soft voice said,
"The sun and sky bear witness."
"How can they let me down?"
Ling Pingyang, looking at his weakened state, almost in tears, clenched his teeth, made his reverence, then turned and strode away.
The sun and sky bear witness!
That day, five hundred battle-hardened frontline heavy cavalry equipped in heavy armor parted from the main force.
An elite troop that could maintain the state right before a charge, even after thousands of miles.
they pivoted their forces!
All mounted on beasts of exotic bloodlines, riding eight-foot-tall exotic warhorses, clad in thick and sturdy full-body heavy armor, wielding the Golden Peng Spear and equipped with Flying Feather Arrows, their galloping hooves resounded like thunder. Led personally by Ling Pingyang, ranked ninety-seventh on the Divine General List and the number one Cavalry General of the younger generation,
To come to the rescue!
To come to the rescue!!!