Chapter 101: Dragon Fin Mountain Decisive Battle (Part 1)

From the direction of Laoqi Mountain the battle cries rose together, Li Bucai instantly raised the undead Scepter in his hand, and behind him 60 cavalry of Shan Ji, 60 spear‑and‑sword troops of Yan Ji, and 30 guards of Yue Ji all charged out. www. shouda8. com first release

Li Bucai rode ahead alone, charging straight at Tan Jiang; Tan Jiang, seeing a sudden surge of many people and the whirlwind death soldiers behind falling into an ambush, judged the situation unfavorable and urgently ordered his men to fall back and regroup with the whirlwind death soldiers, but only Tan Jiang himself had a horse. Li Bucai spurred his mount forward, leapt over the heads of several generals, separating Tan Jiang's war generals, and at the same time the Head Wolf's sharp claws slashed the horse's hindquarters, instantly drawing several bloodstains. The Qingwolf Beast is a natural enemy of horses, and in terror Tan Jiang could not control his mount, riding it away along the dusty road they had come from.

Li Bucai and Leng Ying and others tangled for several rounds, abandoned them, then chased after Tan Jiang; by then Tan Jiang had already put some distance between them. Though the Qingwolf Beast outran war horses, the gap widened, and just as it was about to close, Tan Jiang spurred his horse and leapt into the Buried Corpse group. At that moment the Buried Corpse were blocked by stones that had rolled down the mountain, most of which remained on the road at the mountain's foot. Tan Jiang's arrival scattered their attention; they recognized him, for he had previously supplied them with food, and they swarmed around him, turning their faces toward Li Bucai.

Li Bucai stopped a few dozen meters from them, and a foul stench overwhelmed him, making it hard to breathe; it turned out this was the so‑called whirlwind death soldiers.

Tan Jiang saw that the Buried Corpse had suffered little loss, and the figures on the mountain showed a number roughly matching the Buried Corpse, all hiding far atop the peak. By then even the stones were nearly spent, only a few small stones rolled down sparsely, clearly frightened by the Buried Corpse, and he burst into a high‑pitched laugh: "Hahaha… this is your ambush? That's killing me with laughter. Come, gather your men and horses, we'll spread the formation for a real sword‑and‑gun battle, and let you truly witness my whirlwind death soldiers." www. shouda8. com first release

These were monsters Li Bucai had never seen before, their revulsion surpassing that of any creature in foreign blockbuster films; suction cups covering their bodies constantly dripped slime that made one want to vomit, and scattered among their formation were thousands of arrows they had knocked down, yet only a dozen or so were killed, proving they were indeed a formidable group of monsters.

Li Bucai gave a faint smile, did not engage in a verbal dispute, and raised his staff high; in the moonlight the blue gem at its tip glimmered, pointing toward the summit and tracing a circle.

That was the battle command they had agreed upon; the girls on the summit, seeing Li Bucai arrive and a cavalry unit behind that would soon reach them, felt much reassured. Wu Zhuoyue received the converging order and commanded 100 archers to move down and close in.

At that moment all the Buried Corpse closed in around Tan Jiang and were forming a formation. Li Bucai waited until the mountain archers came within a few dozen meters of shooting range, then fixed his staff, signaling everyone to halt there and ready themselves for combat.

By then the 60 cavalry behind had arrived, and when they came within a few dozen meters of him, Li Bucai waved his hand to signal a halt; they still did not know the monsters' fighting methods and could not charge recklessly.

This spot was not far from the Longqi Cliff garrison; turning the mountain corner led there, and the beacon tower on the cliff sat just ahead of them. A blaze rose atop the cliff, a signal that Jing Ji and others had already blocked their rear. At that moment 180 undead soldiers were stationed not far from the water village of Sanshui Pass, where dense fog swirled, hiding any of their figures.

Li Bucai brandished his Scepter, swaying it left and right toward the beacon tower, signaling to the people there to hold their ground and not launch an impetuous attack.

The beacon tower personnel saw the command, used a torch to draw a "V", indicating acknowledgment. They then dispatched someone down to report.

Tan Jiang naturally watched this series of actions, suspecting further ambushes behind, but the Buried Corpse Formation was not yet completed, leaving him unable to command; he needed to disrupt their communications.

With that in mind, he drew the Magic Bead, abruptly summoned a gust of air, and a whirlwind suddenly formed three zhang away, sweeping over the front line of Buried Corpse. The wind, mixed with the fluid on their bodies, became heavily murky. As it passed the Buried Corpse, Tan Jiang's oral technique shifted rapidly, turning the original whirlwind into a fierce tornado, ten meters high, affecting an area of over a hundred square meters, and lofting countless sand and stones that surged toward Li Bucai.

The purpose of this technique was to have the gale‑lifted sand and stones slash a person's skin, causing the Buried Corpse's slime to cling to the wound and the filthy slime to seep into the body, with the consequences easily imagined.

Li Bucai had just finished sending the order when the tornado surged with astonishing speed, already at his eyes; there was no time to evade. In desperation he extended his Scepter forward, executing a "Wind‑Assault Stab" together with the Qingwolf Beast beneath him, thrusting forward. A War God aura enveloped Li Bucai, also shielding the Qingwolf Beast, as they pierced the tornado. Because the airflow around him was wedge‑shaped, it passed straight through the tornado's core, splitting the wind into two halves; the wedge‑shaped flow forced the wind to fan outward to both sides. After traveling a distance, the wind‑controlling spell could no longer reach it, the gale weakened, turned into a light breeze, then gradually ceased, and all the debris the wind had lifted fell to the ground.

In fact, the "Wind‑Assault Stab" is a cavalry technique, whose power exceeds that of foot combat and whose thrusting range is even greater.

Li Bucai burst out of the wind, already near the Buried Corpse; the nearest few Buried Corpse, seeing someone strike at them, instantly became agitated, with several writhing forward, raising stone axes.

Li Bucai's mount had just ceased its forward charge when three green‑mist‑shrouded axes fell simultaneously; he turned the wolf's head so its side faced them, then with his left hand drew his sword, executing a "Swinging Sword" sweep that brushed the axes aside, while his right‑hand Scepter thrust powerfully at the abdomen of one Buried Corpse. Yet, although the Scepter's length approached that of a spear, it was not a true war spear; its tip was a round gem lacking a stabbing effect, so it could not pierce the belly, only knocked it away, sending it rolling several circles and toppling five or six others behind it.

At that moment the Qingwolf Beast fully turned its body, lunged forward a few steps, shedding the two Buried Corpse, which, having received the formation's command, withdrew.

Li Bucai fell back to the front of Shan Ji's troops, feeling his left hand suddenly much lighter; he sheathed his sword to examine it, and the blade, having just brushed their axe, was corroded by the green mist into copper powder that continuously fell off the sword.

At that moment, Tan Jiang within the Buried Corpse group let out a high‑pitched laugh at his sword's corrosion; the Buried Corpse Formation was fully set, a rectangular array that layered Tan Jiang at its center, ready to surge forward together at a single command.

"What is this thing, have you ever encountered it before?" Li Bucai asked Shan Ji.

"Buried Corpse."