It’s cavalry indeed!
The cavalry surged forward, raising plumes of dust, leaving Zhang Chen utterly stunned. He saw platoons of cavalry charging towards the refugee camp like a tide.
"Those are humans!" Zhang Chen could see clearly. The ones mounted on horseback were humans, wielding curved blades that glinted with a cold light in the moonlight, seemingly ready to cleave the night apart.
"Could it be the army from Prince Pingbian’s Mansion? And how do those horses remain unaffected amidst the beasts? How is that possible?" Zhang Chen’s eyes were filled with disbelief.
Beside him, Chen Ping’s face turned pale, and a rare hint of tension appeared in his voice: "Everyone, be careful, it’s the Demon Race’s cavalry. We must hold our ground and not be scattered."
Humans are also one of the many races of the Demon Race!
On that vast grassland, there are indeed human tribes, but they call themselves Human Demons, akin to the Fox Demon or Tiger Demon.
The Human Demons are also a powerful tribe among the Demon Race. Except for a few inherently strong races, few can compare to the Human Demon tribe.
But the only thing that reassures the humans is that due to differing cultural practices, the Human Demons do not smelt iron and are extremely lacking in it. Salt and cloth are even rarer commodities.
Human Demons adhere to the Law of the Forest, engage in no production, and take from others what they lack through direct plunder — a pure survival of the fittest ideology.
"Things are going wrong!" Zhang Chen looked at the overwhelming cavalry of the Demon Race, a sense of bad omen rising in his heart.
Even an army of well-trained elite infantry can hardly withstand a few charges from cavalry, let alone the refugees gathered here? Just a ragtag group, nothing more.
Zhang Chen’s eyes were constantly scanning the surroundings, waiting for an opportunity to escape and hide his people underground. However, he quickly went pale: "Something’s wrong! There are beasts underground too!"
Zhang Chen could feel rats and snakes crazily tunneling underground, relentlessly creating openings to launch a covert assault on the humans’ rear base.
"It’s not safe underground either." Zhang Chen stroked his chin and casually picked up a blood-stained long sword lying on the ground, left behind by a dead man.
"Zhang Chen, we’re in big trouble!" Chengyu watched the cavalry approaching from afar, a hint of murder in his eyes, his face icy.
Facing a cavalry army, no matter how high one’s Martial Dao Cultivation, it’s useless unless one has mastered Divine Techniques, particularly those with Great Divine Power, only then one could have a chance to escape.
"Don’t worry! I will definitely keep you safe." Zhang Chen reassured Chengyu, his voice calm and composed, without the slightest hint of panic.
The cavalry surged forward, instantly scattering the refugees; countless refugees fell into pools of blood, while more fled like frightened animals in all directions.
It’s not that the refugees weren’t resisting, but rather that they simply couldn’t.
Even those from the escort agency in the distance, under the Demon Race’s first charge, were thrown into chaos, their formation shattered. Thankfully, there were those with refined Martial Dao Qi Blood to intervene, or else within three rounds of charges, all the armored warriors would have been slaughtered.
Chen Ping, the young master of the Chen Family, was surrounded by armored warriors, valiantly resisting the attacking cavalry, though he was grievously injured and had lost his ability to dominate the battlefield.
Zhang Chen looked at the situation before him, knowing that without a miracle, these tens of thousands of refugees and the escort agency’s forces would likely all perish here, becoming food for the Demon Race.
But fortunately, these people were lucky enough to encounter Zhang Chen, someone who defied logic and broke conventions.
Since Zhang Chen was hiding in the rear, the cavalry still needed some distance to charge over. Zhang Chen looked at the ferocious Human Demons among them, their mouths shouting, their bridles flying, his eyes revealing a hint of coldness. Then, he took a deep breath, his acupoints vibrating, and exhaled sharply, stirring up a violent wind. Accompanied by the sweeping gale, overwhelming wind and sand surged, spanning ten miles like Earthquake and Mountain Collapse.
Sand Merging Skill—scores triumph!
This sand is not ordinary sand. First, it comes from the Sea of Blood, formed by the sedimentation and nurturing of Gods’ Corpse Bones. Second, it’s the sand and stone from Buzhou Mountain. This wind is also not ordinary. Firstly, it’s the Yin Wind from the Underworld, designed to counter Yin Spirit Strong Persons, even they can’t resist it. Secondly, it’s the wind from the Spiritual World, able to disorient thoughts and disrupt perception of the external world, so even Great Divine Power Users, once enveloped in this wind and sand, would find the heavens dark, losing judgment of the surroundings.
Yellow sand swept across the sky, rolling into the air, halting the horses in their tracks. The Human Demons on the horseback fell off. Beasts crouched on the ground, losing their senses, attacking each other. Even the Great Demon controlling the beast wave was influenced by the Sand Merging Skill, losing control over the beast tide, with all beasts advancing into the wind and sand unrestrained.
"Kill!"
Yet the slaughter within the yellow sand continued, with humans gaining a definite advantage. Though humans were also affected by the sand, losing sense of direction, they automatically grouped together, and upon encountering beasts, directly attacked, driving the beasts into chaos within the sand. In contrast, the beasts suffered terribly, having lost the Great Demon’s control in the sand. They acted independently, different species even engaged in relentless slaughter and aggression.
These Human Demons weren’t doing much better. At this moment, the horses were being blown by the Yellow Sand until they couldn’t open their eyes, each automatically lying down on the ground. No matter how the Human Demons urged and drove them, all the horses knelt down, closed their eyes, and refused to move an inch.
At this time, the Escort Bureau’s armored soldiers reacted, each holding knives and spears, moving forward in a fierce, chaotic battle.
There was no need to say who would win between those armored and those unprepared.
"What a sandstorm! What a sandstorm! This sandstorm came at the perfect time; we happen to be downwind. Everyone follow me to attack! It’s the perfect chance to kill these beasts." Chen Ping stood in the sandstorm, instructing the armored warriors beside him.
Because the Human Race was downwind, although their vision was impaired, it was far better than the Demon Race’s camp. As long as they tore off the silk clothes to cover their eyes, they could avoid being blinded by the sandstorm. In contrast, those Human Demons mostly wore beast pelts, which couldn’t cover their eyes.
In an instant, they were defeated successively by the Escort Bureau’s people.
"What an impressive skill! Junior Brother, when did you master such a skill?" Chengyu saw Zhang Chen blowing out the Yellow Sand with one breath, his eyes fixed, as if tiny stars were sparkling.
Zhang Chen glanced at Chengyu upon hearing this, "Don’t even think about it, my Divine Techniques are unattainable for you!"
This was a Qi Cultivation Divine Technique, whereas Chengyu couldn’t cultivate Qi, and thus couldn’t cultivate the Sand Merging Skill.
Chengyu’s smile vanished at these words, he sighed, "Junior Brother, don’t deceive me!"
"When you prove the Yang God, perhaps you’ll have hope in cultivating this Divine Technique." Zhang Chen replied.
"If I’ve cultivated into a Yang God and harnessed the Power of Heaven and Earth, why would I covet your Divine Technique?" Chengyu replied irritably.
Beside them, Zhang Tuowei and Zhang Fei were also stunned, looking at Zhang Chen in disbelief, not expecting their elder brother to have mastered such an incredible skill.
"Big Brother, what’s this skill? I feel my Bloodline Power is inherently restrained by your Divine Technique. There seems to be a soul-restraining power in this sandstorm. If I were to control evil ghosts, they would be blown away by the sandstorm within breaths." Zhang Fei looked at Zhang Chen, astounded.
"In this Sand Merging Skill, I’ve refined a mystical wind called: Yin Wind. This wind specifically restrains souls." Zhang Chen thought of the Gong Family, who naturally mastered strange winds, especially Bifeng and other Yifengs. If he enhanced the Sand Merging Skill further, why search for strange winds elsewhere when the Gong Family was right there?
"The Gong Family is a blessing, a gospel to me." Zhang Chen felt a flash of inspiration, realizing an ingenious method for cultivating Divine Techniques.
Like that Godly Wind utilized by Gong Bai and Gong Hei, although its power was somewhat weak, it remained a viable option. If a strange wind couldn’t be found in the future, Gong Bai could provide a peculiar wind.
"This sandstorm is indeed formidable. In your sandstorm, my Exorcism techniques are wasted, my soul can’t influence the external world." Chengyu lamented.
At this moment, Zhang Chen manipulated the Wind Stabilizing Pearl, despite the sandstorm outside roaring, it couldn’t approach within meters of the group.
Zhang Chen smiled at these words, "With this sandstorm, those wild beasts similarly struggle to exert dominance!"
"However, the beasts underground aren’t affected by the sandstorm." Zhang Chen lowered his head to the earth, sensing the beasts still active, excavating pits, readying to secretly harm people.
Nevertheless, Zhang Chen mastered the Power of the Earth, so any snakes and rats underground got crushed instantly, turning into heaps of mince, dead in the ground.
But Zhang Chen couldn’t care about those farther away, only able to protect the elderly, women, and children within fifty meters.
"There’s a venomous snake underground!"
Just then, someone bit by a snake emerging from underground killed it with a slash, then cried out in shock, quickly alerting companions.
"What? Be careful, everyone. Avoid being bitten by these venomous snakes; these beasts are cunning, attacking us from underground." An experienced Martial World individual shouted, warning nearby allies.
Yet underground assaults were alarmingly covert, unpredictable where defenses were insufficient.
Especially as Yellow Sand filled the air along with nighttime obscuring vision, scream after scream erupted among the crowd.
The Yellow Sand was an aid to the Human Race but also a shackle at this point.
Seeing this, Zhang Chen hesitated, contemplating intervening. Uncertain about the depth of the Great Demon orchestrating from behind, if it provoked any elders, consequently targeting him, his junior siblings might be implicated. Though he had an Escape Technique to flee, his family couldn’t.