Chapter 99: Soul Chanting One

Li Bucai, mounted on a horse, stood on the wooden bridge over the creek; Tan Jiang, seeing the scene, couldn't help recalling Zhang Fei breaking a bridge in the Three Kingdoms, and burst into a high‑pitched laugh: "Hahaha… what a scholarly‑weak version of Zhang Fei. You want to copy Zhang Fei's bridge‑breaking, but alas I am not Cao Mengde of Xiri; even if you hide a million troops behind you, this bridge I'll take today."

Li Bucai of course wouldn't be foolish enough to face their eight generals alone; behind him the Baima Tan garrison holds almost half his troops. Ten or so li beyond the garrison lies the main camp Baima Ferry, with no obstacles in between. If they were to push to the main camp, civilians would inevitably be harmed. As a lord, he must first consider protecting his people, even if it means sacrificing all his soldiers for civilian safety. Therefore, he can allow Tan Jiang to pass the water garrison, but will not permit a single enemy to cross the garrison even a step.

The garrison's gate stood wide open, and inside, sixty cavalry of Shan Ji were mounted, ready to charge at any moment. In the main camp only Wan'er and sixty members of the Undead clan remained to guard; including Yue Ji and her thirty attendants, the garrison had a total of 150 ambushers.

Li Bucai smiled faintly: "Whether you can get through depends on whether you have the skill."

"Hahaha…" Tan Jiang, on his horse, with seven men on foot, had already arrived fifty steps away from Li Bucai. Though Tan Jiang still laughed wildly, Li thought that for him to appear alone, either he possessed extraordinary skill or harbored some secret, and he silently examined his rank with the Lord Token; all abilities displayed No Level.

At that moment, the Qingwolf Beast under Li Bucai let out a roar at Tan Jiang's mount, startling the horse into a few involuntary steps backward.

Tan Jiang was startled and thought: "A Qingwolf Mount! How can such a mount be No Level? Even if he never used his martial skills after returning here, the Luo Ping Hai Battle is said to have seen him spar with the rebels a few moves, at least at second or third tier. Could misfortune have caused him to abandon his cultivation entirely, making him attempt an 'empty‑city' ruse? Or has he discovered a way to conceal his true strength? Judging by his mount, it must be the latter."

Tan Jiang glanced at Le Jin and Leng Ying beside him.

Le Jin glanced at the values on the token and whispered, "How about I go meet him first, so the master can observe his true and false strengths."

Tan Jiang nodded; Le Jin took a round shield from his back and walked toward Li Bucai.

"I've heard Lord Li's valor exceeds others; Le Jin trembles, daring to fairly contest with my little Xiaoxiao aide?"

Li Bucai glanced at him without responding; his focus was on Tan Jiang, aware that a massive force lay hidden behind him. If they proceeded here, the troops behind could clash with Wu Zhuoyue at any moment; should several generals entangle them and Tan Jiang turn and strike back, Wu Zhuoyue would likely be unable to resist Tan Jiang, resulting in many deaths. Li Bucai sneered, snapped his fingers, and a low young female voice from behind said, "Why use a butcher's knife on a chicken? A swarm of ants—how could they match our honored lord?"

Where the voice fell, another rider emerged silently from the garrison; Yue Ji rode the Qingwolf Beast to Li Bucai's rear, covering her head with a pink cloth, a square kerchief masking her face, revealing only two lively eyes. She flipped onto the ground, bowed to Li Bucai and said, "Yue Ji will chastise this arrogant scoundrel for the honored lord."

He had never seen her act before; her talent was hard to gauge, but considering she was merely a Blade Badge Warrior, she possessed an undead body, making her untouchable. Li Bucai gladly nodded, eager to see her methods.

She drew from her sleeve a fist‑sized emerald‑green sphere; it turned out she was of the Magic Bead discipline, same as Tan Jiang, but their beads differed in size, Tan Jiang's being darker in hue.

As Yue Ji crossed the wooden bridge, she automatically entered combat mode; unlike Tan Jiang's wind discipline, Yue Ji is a Soul‑Priest. Once battle mode is triggered, she floats like an angel, her body stretching gracefully in the air, arms outstretched like a cross, gazing upward at the sky.

Le Jin had also raised his shield, and with his other hand he braced a foot‑long spiked club onto the shield, ready to strike.

Yue Ji continued to hover several dozen steps away; as a direct descendant of the Undead clan, proud blood coursed through her veins, and she would never preemptively strike a non‑threatening opponent, waiting for him to make the first move.

Seeing she did not attack, Le Jin's feet jolted violently, stamping the ground and kicking up a massive cloud of dust; with a force of thousands of jin he thrust backward, launching his body sideways, raising his shield overhead, intending to knock her out with the shield in the first round.

Yue Ji's body floated in the air, as light as willow catkins; when Le Jin charged at her, it seemed as if the wind blown by his shield pushed her aside, and she slipped gracefully past him, swirling with the vortex of air behind the shield—actually she was evading with light‑skill.

The two missed each other, and then a beautiful chant rose from Yue Ji's mouth; a hundred snow‑white pigeon souls emanated from her body, soaring toward Le Jin, who stood a few steps away.

At that moment Le Jin had just steadied himself; seeing the hundred pigeon souls rush toward him, his heart jolted. He hurriedly shielded his body; dozens of pigeon souls struck the shield like bubbles and burst. The remaining souls, after passing him, turned back and struck his back armor, producing a "clang‑clang" sound, instantly shattering his armor into fragments that fell off, allowing many pigeon souls to seep into his body. He let out a muffled cry, fell to his knees, thumped onto the ground, and trembled uncontrollably.

For Le Jin, the hundred pigeon souls cannot inflict physical damage; instead they enter his body, entangling with his soul, lashing his spirit so that his soul has no leisure to control the flesh. Thus Le Jin is not killed, but suffers the torment of a whipped soul.

Li Bucai and Tan Jiang were simultaneously startled; it turned out that Yue Ji was a Soul‑Priest of the Concentrated Spirit branch of the Mystic Gate Mantra, and what surprised them was not that but her power. Neither could discern her aptitude from her appearance or the Lord Token; if she were a green‑grade Soul‑Priest, she could never unleash the "Hundred Pigeon Souls" with such magnitude—at most three or five. Summoning a hundred pigeon souls at once is only achievable by a lord of at least tenth level. Her aptitude was close to that of a lord; could she be a yellow‑grade talent?

Yue Ji is a direct descendant of the Undead clan; on this continent many race leaders possess yellow‑grade aptitude, and Yue Ji and her mother are among them. However, when they clashed with Goblins, Yue Ji's mother was struck by corpse‑rot toxin; coupled with the Goblins' formidable strength, being many against few, and a necromancy priest who could release corpse‑rot toxin—perfectly countering the Undead—she met a tragic fate.

The situation shifted dramatically; Tan Jiang dared not advance rashly. After a moment's thought, he whispered, "You all together block that Li‑surname, and after I deal with that woman, we'll jointly capture him."

Li Bucai's strength was unknown, but he knew that based on Yue Ji's power, she could be defeated. Even if Li Bucai were formidable, a six‑general assault could stall for a long time—first, buying him time to eliminate that woman; second, if these two could not be taken, awaiting the arrival of the Whirlwind Death Knights, for a wind‑controlling Nature priest, pairing with the Whirlwind Death Knights would multiply the power severalfold.

Yet at that moment, a burst of slaughter cries rang from behind.