Ding Hao once told Zheng Fan that martial artists have two fundamentals: one is the physique, and the other is qi and blood. The two are complementary.
The physique is the vessel for qi and blood. Only a sufficiently powerful physique can sustain the circulation of abundant qi and blood. If qi and blood lack a truly strong physique as their foundation, they are essentially useless.
When Shatuo Queshi single-handedly charged through thousands of the Northern Army’s iron cavalry, he primarily relied on his formidable martial physique!
This is the main difference between martial artists and other cultivators. If it were a magician or a Qi cultivator, being surrounded by thousands of iron cavalry, they might not even make a splash.
The shouts of battle soon ceased.
But the sound of hooves striking the earth did not vanish; instead, it drew nearer and nearer.
Liang Cheng led his barbarian cavalry charging over. They had previously eliminated the Silver Armored Guards on the periphery.
The Silver Armored Guard were no longer the personal army led by the founding Grand Emperor of the Qian State when he conquered the realm. Now, having devolved into a secret service agency, they were capable of handling minor skirmishes and unseen, shady dealings behind the scenes, but direct combat was not their forte.
Moreover, their numbers were only about twenty or thirty. Facing the charge of several hundred barbarian cavalry, even if their individual martial prowess was high, they were overwhelmed in the first clash and completely annihilated in the second.
Guiding his horse forward, Liang Cheng scanned the situation ahead and pointed towards Chu Fengjiu, who was leaning against a broken tree.
His barbarian soldiers immediately understood, nocking arrows to their bows.
Dozens of arrows pierced Chu Fengjiu’s body, nailing him to the broken tree.
Without delay, as Liang Cheng passed by Zheng Fan, he leaned down, scooped him up, and cradled him in his arms.
The cavalry galloped away.
Zheng Fan awoke in Liang Cheng’s embrace while Liang Cheng was still on horseback.
The barbarian soldiers beside them were also galloping hard. Behind them, the silhouettes of a pursuing cavalry unit could be seen. The source of this content ɪs 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹•𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖•𝗇𝗲𝘁
Zheng Fan opened his mouth, only to feel an intense soreness in his jaw muscles, as if they were filled with lactic acid.
It couldn’t be helped.
When the Mo Wan controlled Zheng Fan’s body, it seemed to have a penchant for grinning. After prolonged, exaggerated smiling, and frequent laughter, his mouth muscles had started to twitch.
"My lord, you’re awake?" Liang Cheng shouted, still urging his horse onward.
"Cough, cough... cough, cough..."
Zheng Fan coughed a few times and then realized his back was hurting.
He was being cradled in Liang Cheng’s arms as the horse galloped.
"My back... it really hurts..."
Other parts of his body were merely aching, but his back truly hurt; it felt like it was bleeding.
Liang Cheng hadn’t noticed at first. But when he looked down, he saw actual bloodstains on his saddle!
Suddenly, Liang Cheng understood!
"My lord, it’s my oversight. The spearhead in my abdomen... I haven’t pulled it out yet."
He said, "But... it really hurts."
"My lord, we don’t have time to deal with it now. Please endure it a little longer. Bear with it, and the pain will pass."
Behind them, thousands of Qian State cavalry were in frenzied pursuit. How could they possibly stop to deal with the spearhead now?
Zheng Fan truly regretted it.
Yesterday, no matter what Liang Cheng said, I should have helped him pull out the spearhead.
Unfortunately, there’s no medicine for regret in this world. I never would have imagined that Liang Cheng’s spear below would one day be stabbing me.
Still, pain is pain. Enduring it is better than losing my life.
Zheng Fan could only grit his teeth and endure.
He actually remembered everything from last night. When the Mo Wan was controlling his body, he could have reclaimed control. However, through the Mo Wan’s eyes, he had seen the hidden Qian army scouts all around.
To ensure their escape, I voluntarily relinquished control of my body to the Mo Wan.
Last night... did I actually defeat an Eighth Rank martial artist?
"My lord, it’s fortunate you discovered them early yesterday," Liang Cheng said. "After we dealt with those scouts, we broke out just in time. Any later, and we would have been surrounded by tens of thousands of Qian army soldiers."
Actually, last night, the Qian army had already begun to form an encirclement based on intelligence from the Silver Armored Guard. It was only because of the Mo Wan’s intervention that Zheng Fan and his men managed to fight their way out before the encirclement was complete.
What followed was a desperate pursuit by thousands of Qian army cavalry!
These thousands of Qian army cavalry hailed from several military garrisons. Their respective commanders had issued strict orders: this Yan State cavalry unit must be contained within Qian State territory!
"My lord, ahead! Once we pass through that cluster of Beacon Forts, we’ll be back in Yan State!" Liang Cheng said, trying to encourage Zheng Fan. Seeing Zheng Fan in so much pain made Liang Cheng feel a little embarrassed.
Indeed, while Zheng Fan was unconscious, he naturally couldn’t cry out in pain. Now that he was awake and vocalizing his agony, it was clear that the jolting of the warhorse had caused the spearhead to cut his back countless times.
"I say, can you not jinx us at a time ? Shut your crow mouth."
Zheng Fan truly felt that perhaps because Liang Cheng was a Zombie, in all honesty, neither crows nor other legendary bringers of ill omen were as jinx-prone as this Zombie. His words seemed to carry a more potent curse, heralding disaster and misfortune.
Thus, whatever Liang Cheng said was genuinely prone to being inversely fulfilled...
Zheng Fan suggested, "You should say: We’re going to die. We definitely can’t escape. We’re finished. There’s absolutely no hope. We’re family; don’t jinx your own people."
"No, My lord, we can definitely escape! There shouldn’t be anyone in the Beacon Forts ahead. We will definitely..."
Before Liang Cheng could finish speaking, from the cluster of Beacon Forts ahead, seven or eight hundred cavalrymen suddenly burst out. They formed ranks and initiated a charge towards Zheng Fan’s group!