Chapter 865: Descent of the Reaper
Even though King Qi Manor’s soldiers were all carefully selected elites, He Li had just examined those terracotta warriors himself and promised that they were lifeless statues. They hadn’t expected the statues to suddenly come to life at all!
Furthermore, the terracotta warriors’ attacks were sharp and lethal, their coordination excellent. They were just like a well-trained army. It was to the extent that the deathsworn might be able to avoid one or two strikes, but they couldn’t avoid the spears and halberds attacking from other directions.
All of them cursed He Li to hell as they died. It was all because of this damn pig of a comrade!
When he saw that half of his subordinates had been killed so quickly, Zhao Ruizhi erupted in rage. “Preposterous!”
A blast of power spread outward. At the same time, a streak of golden light suddenly appeared. Before anyone could even see what was going on, all the terracotta warriors within a dozen zhang had already collapsed into pieces.
“I have to admit that this fella is quite strong,” Mi Li’s voice said by Zu An’s ear. He could clearly sense the graveness in her voice.
Zu An forced a laugh. “Auntie, did you only realize this now? I already knew that a long time ago.” Mi Li harrumphed and ignored him.
All of the remaining King Qi Manor soldiers rushed over to Zhao Ruizhi’s side. Even though they knew that the emperor might not necessarily let them go, that was something they would worry about later. The terracotta warriors could take their lives right then and there. As for their companions’ corpses, they couldn’t be bothered at all at the moment. Even Zhao Ruizhi’s expression was grave as he stared at the distant, dark expanse of terracotta warriors.
Only Zu An didn’t seem that fazed. After all, he was already well acquainted with them. His eyes shifted to King Qi’s deathsworn soldiers, and he couldn’t help but ask in confusion, “Gorgeous master, don’t you feel like they’re not bleeding as much as they should?”
“You’re right. It’s almost as if the blood is quickly absorbed by the ground as soon as it drips out,” Mi Li said, confused. “But isn’t it common for such dry ground to do something like this?”
“I hope I’m overthinking things too.” Zu An’s expression darkened.
A rumble suddenly erupted in the distance. Those present were shocked, because they could tell that it was the sound of an army marching. A march this orderly was the trademark sign of a powerful army. Furthermore, the footsteps seemed to even harmonize with the very world, proving that they had received the acknowledgment of heaven and earth.
Even Zhao Ruizhi subconsciously backed up. No matter how strong he was, defeating an entire massive army was beyond his power.
Right at that moment, a group within the dark expanse of terracotta warriors stopped. Then, they drew back their bows. A split second later, a storm of arrows plummeted from the heavens. The shrill noises of tearing air echoed through the sky. It was easy to see just how powerful they were!
Zhao Ruizhi didn’t dare underestimate them. He raised his hands above his head, then slowly spread them. A golden barrier of light took form above his head, surrounding the group within. He still had more uses for Zu An and Bi Linglong. As for the others from King Qi Manor, he might need them as cannon fodder in the dungeon, so he didn’t plan to lose them here.
Of course, he wasn’t so stupid as to endanger himself to protect them. He would decisively shrink the barrier for increased effectiveness the moment he sensed that the circumstances weren’t right.
The endless barrage of arrows bounced right off the golden barrier. Meanwhile, Mi Li said, “Pay attention to what he’s doing. He isn’t taking the impact of these arrows straight on; instead, he’s using the least amount of force needed to alter the arrows’ trajectory and deflect them to the side. This will allow him to save a lot of his strength. Apart from a difference of cultivation between those of higher and lower ranks, their use of power is also a big difference. The rest of you waste way too much of your power.”
“I understand.” Zu An nodded.
“You understood it that easily?” Mi Li was baffled. She’d thought that she would use this chance to make him understand that she was the master here, and yet this brat didn’t play along at all! She was completely caught off guard.
“Of course. I read about things like this all the time in those webnovels,” Zu An replied.
Mi Li was speechless. After being around him for so long, she obviously knew that Zu An’s way of thinking was greatly different from most people of this world. He would always say some words she had never heard of before. Hmph, I’ll ask him what webnovels are later.
The rain of arrows was deflected by Zhao Ruizhi’s barrier. When he saw that there were only some sparse arrows left, he snorted. “Is that all?”
Mi Li sneered when she heard him speak. “This fella only knows how to act tough.”
She continued, “It’s extremely difficult for a cultivator to face an entire army by himself. An army consists of countless cultivators, and they have formations that can greatly increase their defensive force. If it were some other grandmaster who had faced that barrage of arrows, they might have already been turned into a porcupine. Even though the emperor successfully blocked those arrows, it wasn’t that easy for him at all. Did you notice that the barrier of light around us has already become much dimmer in color?”
Zu An saw that that really was the case. Furthermore, he even noticed that there were some fine cracks in certain areas. It was just that the others had been so busy praising the emperor for his power, he hadn’t noticed those details until now.
Just then, a terracotta warrior who was clearly larger and taller than the others leapt onto a carriage. Then, he raised the massive bow in his hands. The arrow in his hand flickered with a pitch-black radiance, then transformed into an arc of black lightning. In the blink of an eye, that massive pitch-black arrow instantly hit the golden barrier straight in the center!
Tzzzzz!
A shrill, earsplitting noise screamed. It sounded as if two rough chunks of metal were grinding against each other.
The pitch-black arrow spun frantically, and the golden barrier began to visibly cave in. Zhao Ruizhi’s face turned red. Then, his hands crossed in front of his chest, forming a sphere of golden energy that slowly pushed the arrow back out.
The madly spinning arrow finally lost its momentum and fractured into pieces with a loud noise. Those pieces then exploded into fine powder from the recoil. But as soon as the group sighed in relief, another pitch-black arrow roared down, hitting the barrier in the exact same spot as the last. Even the other soldiers finally noticed that there were cracks forming in the golden barrier around them.
Zu An clicked his tongue. “What is going on with that terracotta warrior? He’s able to pressure the emperor that much with just arrows?”
Mi Li was a bit stupefied when she looked in the direction of the attacks. When she heard Zu An’s question, she replied with a complicated expression, “That’s Wang Jian, the one who helped the Great Qin Dynasty eradicate six nations and unite the world…”
“Wang Jian?” Zu An exclaimed, shocked. How could he not know about such an incredible figure? “What kind of state is he in right now? Is he in soul form, or is he some living corpse?”
Mi Li shook her head. “I don’t know. Either way, I know Wang Jian’s cultivation when he was alive wasn’t inferior to Zhao Han’s. However, his current aura seems to be a bit weaker than when he was at his strongest.”
A third arrow flew over just then, hitting the second arrow. The second arrow exploded, but then the third arrow continued the previous arrow’s momentum. The barrier, which had already been on the verge of collapse, was instantly blown apart.
Zhao Ruizhi’s hands joined together, clamping down on the black light. Then, he exerted force through his palms to break the arrow in half. On the surface, it didn’t seem too hard for him at all. However, Zu An noticed that his hands were trembling a bit in his sleeves.
Zhao Ruizhi’s eyes flickered when he saw that the enemy general was going to fire again. Then, he charged forward like an artillery shell. He obviously knew the principle behind taking down the enemy leader first. If he continued to remain passive forever, he would only be slowly whittled down to death.
In the world of cultivators, it was common knowledge that those who excelled at long-range attacks weren’t as good at close quarters combat. As long as he closed the gap, he had confidence in taking the other party down. The rest of the strange army might very well collapse once he took down the main general.
When they saw Zhao Ruizhi charge forward, many terracotta soldiers rushed out to protect Wang Jian. Their defenses were rock solid, but unfortunately, they were facing a falling meteorite!
“Get lost!” Zhao Ruizhi roared. He didn’t show any mercy, and all those standing in his path were blown apart.
The general on the carriage aimed his bow and fired again. But now, Zhao Ruizhi didn’t have to face the arrows directly. He became quite difficult to hit because of his movement skill. Three arrows missed in a row, and Wang Jian didn’t have the time to fire a fourth.
Zhao Ruizhi grinned maliciously. His hand slammed toward Wang Jian’s head. At that distance, he was confident he could defeat his opponent within a few moves.
But right at that moment, the air next to him suddenly cracked open. A pitch-black sickle appeared out of thin air, cleaving at his neck.