Chapter 102 - 100: Battle Against the Sixth Realm!
"Just stay here and keep watch. If that new Governor lets us linger without taking any further action, it proves the leader was right — the new Governor has no real cards to play and won’t compete with us for this port. Yesterday was just a test." Another leader spoke in a muffled voice.
"I hope this new Governor has guts, so I can have a good fight..."
"A Liu, think about the bigger picture, don’t act childishly!"
"I know, I know, I just want to avenge those brothers from before." A Liu stuck a dog-tail weed in his mouth, speaking dismissively.
Just then, a gang member came running from afar.
"Big brother, we’ve found the trail of the soldiers! They haven’t left yet!"
Upon hearing this, A Liu’s mouth, which was just closed, split open again.
"Go! Go! Bring the horses, let’s catch up to them!"
On the other side, Zhuang Ren, Song Changming, and three Patrol Captains were sitting on horses, standing on a low hill and looking towards the port.
Behind the hill was a group of Patrol Guard.
Song Changming and his companions naturally noticed the seven large ships; the opponent had a lot of people, with unclear intentions.
To be cautious, they chose not to stay in the dock foolishly but decided to distance themselves from the port and observe from afar.
Meanwhile, waiting for a response from the Governor.
Soon, a group of riders charged out of the dock, heading straight towards the low hill where they stood. The realization that their presence was exposed dawned on them instantly.
"Retreat!" Zhuang Ren watched the several hundred people charging towards them and ultimately chose to avoid the confrontation.
It wasn’t that he feared these Jianghu gang members, just he did not want to waste too many of the Patrol Guards brought along.
The number of Patrol Guards in the General Department was already stretched thin and could not afford another major loss.
He did not wish to return home as a commander with only his title.
Just as he was about to turn his horse, suddenly, greater commotion arose from behind.
"General Director, reinforcements from the Governor have arrived!" a scout reported.
Zhuang Ren’s eyes lit up instantly.
The Governor’s reinforcements could not have arrived at a more critical time.
He looked back, the morning mist and water vapor enveloped the official road behind, a hazy and unclear view.
He only felt the ground beneath him reverberate, the rumbling sounds from behind growing increasingly intense.
"How many troops are there?" Zhuang Ren asked.
"Up to a thousand cavalry!" The scout barely finished speaking when the thick fog suddenly rolled violently.
In the next moment, cavalry clad in pitch-black iron armor stormed out from the mist cover, appearing before everyone’s eyes.
The air seemed to freeze, their charge fierce, like a massive flood of steel breaking through a dam, overwhelmingly powerful!
"What fine soldiers and valiant cavalry!"
The momentum, Song Changming felt, matched that of the Imperial Court Border Defense Army marching into the city, an absolutely elite force!
Though only a thousand cavalry, they seemed to have the might of a galloping ten-thousand strong army.
"Gentlemen, reinforcements have arrived, follow me to battle!" Zhuang Ren raised his longsword, becoming the vanguard, initiating a downhill charge from the low hill.
The remaining Patrol Guard immediately unsheathed their swords and followed, clearing the way for the cavalry charging from behind.
Initially, the gang members of the Dinghai Water Gang were exhilarated upon seeing the Patrol Guard appear, bellowing and yelling all the way.
They held an overwhelming advantage in numbers, with several big brothers from the gang leading them, believing themselves unbeatable.
However, when the steel flood emerged from behind the hill, all the gang members’ expressions froze, shifting from excited buzz to fearful dread.
By then, even pulling the reins was already too late.
The Patrol Guard had already charged into them!
Zhuang Ren, evidently adept at horsemanship, upon engagement, directly knocked over several gang members face to face.
The sixteen guards riding along were similarly skilled in mounted combat, wielding their long blades with ease, maintaining perfect coordination and horse distances.
In contrast, Song Changming wasn’t skilled at mounted combat; his abilities were significantly reduced in such a fight, better suited for ground combat.
This was primarily because his horsemanship wasn’t proficient; having spent years stationed in the County City seldom required him to charge into battles like this, so his experience in mounted combat was not as extensive as those military officers from the Imperial Capital, like Zhuang Ren.
Fortunately, his sword skill was still exemplary, able to flourish robustly even on horseback.
He needed to harness only sixty to seventy percent of his sword skill abilities, utilizing his brute strength to cut down members of the Dinghai Water Gang without issue.
After just one round of charge, the group of gang members from Dinghai Water Gang was already fragmented, their formation in total disarray.
More than half were knocked from horses.
The cavalry, after breaking through, under the leadership of the main general in the front, turned around for another charge.
"Dismount and engage!" Zhuang Ren ordered his Patrol Guard to dismount, pursuing the fleeing gang members like headless flies.
Like Song Changming, his Patrol Guard were more effective on foot, somewhat limited when fighting on horseback.
"Situation’s bad, A Liu, let’s go!" A leader shouted to others after cutting down a cavalry soldier.
"None of you need to leave!" Zhuang Ren said coldly, striding several dozen meters in a few steps. He leapt high, and thrust a sword directly at the leader who shouted.
The cold gleam reached him, and the leader’s heart trembled. He raised his saber to counter.
The sword tip hit the blade of the saber, and the next moment, the leader flew off the horseback.
With this clash, the leader realized the person before him was extremely strong.
"Since when did Donglai Prefecture’s government have such an expert!"
The leader had just steadied himself when a shower of sword light struck again, and instantaneously, pieces of blood flowers blossomed on his body.
He was a Sixth Realm Martial Artist, yet he could not withstand the longsword in Zhuang Ren’s hand, which was truly outrageous.
"You’re from the Capital City!" the leader said in shock.
"With your status, you’re not worthy to know my name!" Zhuang Ren coldly snorted.
The longsword in his hand spun, easily breaking the leader’s moves. The sword edge brushed past his hand, effortlessly severing his tendon.
His long saber fell to the ground with a thud.
"Stop!" A Liu appeared behind Zhuang Ren with a fierce expression, launching a heavy slash downwards.
However, Zhuang Ren didn’t even turn his head. Another longsword appeared, directly blocking A Liu’s heavy slash.
Song Changming’s foot sank, the boot cracked the ground, almost buried into the dirt.
This showed how heavy the opponent’s saber was.
"Sixth Realm expert!" Song Changming quickly identified the opponent’s strength, which was also at the Sixth Realm of Body Refining!
This must be the big leader of the Dinghai Water Gang.
"Scram!" A Liu was blocked by Song Changming and was quite annoyed.
After landing, his long saber side-slash aimed to directly cut Song Changming in half at the waist.
With his Sixth Realm body refining cultivation, the saber was fast and fierce, few martial artists could face it head-on.
However, Song Changming used his Light Body Skill, pivoting lightly, his upper body spun halfway back, like a rope suspended around his center of gravity, effortlessly avoiding this vicious saber.
The top-level Light Body Skill played out, showing its advantage in agility.
What others couldn’t evade, he could avoid.
The longsword swung downwards from reverse, slashing towards the opponent.
The sword wind face-to-face, A Liu faintly heard a clear sound of wind chimes and birds intertwined, reacting quickly, his saber suddenly stopped mid-swing, clashing again with Song Changming’s deadly slash.
In haste he blocked it, but not entirely.
The blades scraped, sparks flew, Song Changming’s sword edge still cut over the opponent’s upper body skin, his clothing instantly shredded into strips.
After a simple exchange, the two brushed past each other, deflecting force and moving past.
Song Changming’s gaze fell on the opponent’s chest, on the exposed strong muscles.
There was a shallow blood line, seeping droplets of blood.
Looking so, the wound left by his sword on the opponent was truly negligible.
"A Martial Artist specializing in skin refining!" Song Changming instantly realized this.
If not for his tough skin membrane, his slash would have certainly severely injured him.
He had encountered martial artists specializing in skin refining, but none at such a high realm level. The person before him was the first.
He understood what it meant to be impenetrable by weapons.
With his Dragon Pattern Saber’s sharp edge, he could only scrape a little blood. Others wielding knives or guns might not be able to break the opponent’s defense.
No wonder the opponent didn’t wear armor or any defensive gear.
Usual armor might not be as solid as his layer of skin membrane, besides being cumbersome, wearing it would be of little use on him.
"Dare to wound me!" A Liu was somewhat furious, quite agitated, glaring fiercely at Song Changming.
No need for words, settled on the battlefield, only kill!
In an instant, the two were fighting fiercely again.
The dual swords clashed, debris flew around, Liang Zhao Long originally wanted to assist, but in this level of combat, he found himself unable to intervene, having to lead the Patrol Guard towards other members of the Dinghai Water Gang.
Both parties fought fiercely, countering each other’s moves, each possessing peak sword skills. In a blink, they had clashed twenty to thirty rounds.
To say, this was Song Changming’s first actual fight with a Sixth Realm Martial Artist.
Previously sparring with the new General Director was merely light training, not as genuine combat as this.
Without a doubt, Sixth Realm martial artists were extremely strong.
Though not as pressuring as Zhuang Ren previously, the extra realm of body refining cultivation was enough to grant the opponent a significant advantage and chance in life-and-death combat.
Luckily, Song Changming also had his advantages. He excelled in multiple martial arts, excelled in comprehensive physical strength, forcefully negating the cultivation gap between them and even having the upper hand!