Chapter 654

They all looked at Zhao Chi.

Zhao Chi laughed and said, "This is already the best choice. Let's do it this way—first cast the skills to extend the duration."

"Yes!"

In an instant, light filled the sky.

Zhao Chi: Inspire, Wind Cloud Steps

Tang Ruan: Defend Firmly Technique

Qi Yue: Rapid Strike Technique

"Move out!"

At Zhao Chi's command, Tang Ruan and Qi Yue both charged out.

Twenty female spearmen followed behind Tang Ruan, and twenty female saber troops followed Qi Yue as they quickly took a detour.

Zhao Chi and Gu Qing brought up the rear with six female archers.

Jiang Die stood on a tree on the opposite side.

She watched Zhao Chi's side intently.

"Good—Zhao Chi actually sent her soldiers charging straight over. Does she think we're melee brutes? What a death wish. Miaoyun, a squad of soldiers is detouring from the west—leave them to you. Xia Zhi, the enemies in front are yours."

Miaoyun raised her longbow: "Understood, leave it to me. Squad One, turn and prepare to attack!"

Xia Zhi drew her bow and nocked an arrow: "No problem. Watch me shoot them all down. Squad Two, draw bows—prepare to fire!"

Jiang Die's elven archer unit shifted into a right-angle formation.

The three of them were brimming with confidence.

Miaoyun chuckled lightly: "Looks like this Zhao Chi is even more reckless than the opponents before."

Xia Zhi nodded: "That's good—it saves time. The more confident people are, the more reckless they get. Do they think we're ordinary elven archers? Let's teach them a lesson!"

Jiang Die didn't respond.

She was confident too, but now a strange glint flickered in her eyes.

"Something's off. Why are Zhao Chi's soldiers moving so fast?"

"Fast?" Miaoyun looked over seriously as well. "Huh? Seems like it really is."

Of course Zhao Chi's female soldiers were fast.

Apart from Qi Yue, whose agility of 8 was a special case, every other female soldier had a movement speed of at least 6 points.

An agility of 6 wasn't exactly stunning, but it was on par with the top three finishers at a school sports meet—far beyond ordinary people.

The stockings on their legs didn't just decorate their legs—they also added 100% defense and 45% movement speed.

On top of that, Zhao Chi's female mentor talent bonus added +10% movement speed and +5% terrain adaptability to Wind Cloud Steps, effectively turning it into +20% movement speed and +10% terrain adaptability.

Finally, there was the high heels' +10% terrain adaptability bonus.

All combined.

Even Zhao Chi's most ordinary female soldiers gained 65% movement speed and 20% terrain adaptability.

The already fast female soldiers became even faster.

The roughly 200-meter stretch in the middle could be crossed by them in under half a minute, allowing them to quickly close in on Jiang Die's elven women.

Jiang Die didn't know the specifics of Zhao Chi's army—only that they moved extremely fast.

She immediately shouted an order: "Everyone listen up—the enemy's movement speed is extremely high. No more waiting—fire immediately! We may lose one or two rounds of output, so we need to relocate early. Focus, and use your skills!"

"Understood!"

The elven women responded loudly.

At the same time, light scattered in all directions through the leaves.

Zhao Chi saw the light too.

"Careful—the enemy has used skills. They'll probably attack soon. Watch your defense."

"Understood!"

The female soldiers replied, slightly out of breath.

Gu Qing's hands glowed faintly, ready to heal at any moment.

At that moment, Zhao Chi suddenly heard Jiang Die's voice.

It was a voice she had deliberately directed at Zhao Chi.

"Zhao Chi, running over here to die? Looks like you're good at running—did you practice it while fleeing before?"

A verbal provocation?

Of course, it had no special effect.

It was useless against a seasoned opponent too.

But sometimes, successfully enraging the opponent could disrupt their strategic deployment and make them more aggressive.

It might even cause some kind of human error.

Anyway, talking cost nothing, and belittling the opponent felt great. So Jiang Die began taunting nonstop.

Zhao Chi ignored it completely.

Suddenly, Zhao Chi heard a buzzing sound.

Buzz buzz buzz buzz!

Buzz buzz buzz buzz!

Buzzing?

"My lord, the enemy has already fired arrows! Watch the sky! Shields up!"

Tang Ruan turned back and shouted.

She charged at the very front, but she hadn't yet entered the range where Taunt could be used.

She also heard these sounds, and noticed fifty arrows appear in the sky.

This is nothing.

Jiang Die has 50 people, so naturally there are 50 arrows.

But these arrows are extremely fast.

At first they looked like black dots.

But in barely a second, those black dots became arrows visible to the naked eye.

100% faster than a normal bow's arrow speed!

"The arrows are this fast?" Gu Qing said in surprise, looking up at the sky.

Zhao Chi also noticed: "Indeed very fast, but being this fast means the power and range have also increased… watch out, dodge and defend!"

Both of them were somewhat surprised.

This is simple common sense; they both knew what it meant.

Fast arrow speed represents strong power.

The same arrow, flying 50 meters per second versus 100 meters per second — the power is an entirely different concept.

The power differs by 4 times!

Roughly speaking, one arrow from Jiang Die's side that hits an enemy carries the power of 4 arrows.

This ability is very strong.

This isn't an effect that can be achieved by simply boosting firing speed.

Boosting firing speed only increases the number and frequency of arrows shot, not the flight speed of the arrows themselves.

Jiang Die truly has some real strength.

And that's only one aspect of it.

On the other hand, when arrow speed increases, range also increases.

In theory, the range also increases 4 times.

But with air resistance and other factors, the actual effective range is roughly about 2 times more.

That's why Zhao Chi and the others had only just rushed out of the tree line a few steps when Jiang Die launched her attack.

Besides that, high arrow speed makes them harder to dodge.

Fast arrow speed doesn't necessarily mean a high hit rate.

But it definitely means they're hard to dodge.

Often by the time one realizes an arrow will hit them, it's already very hard to dodge.

Who would have thought this ordinary-looking arrow had so many enhancements.