Chapter 632: Breakthrough Opportunity

Pressure.

Pressure like a collapsing mountain and tsunami.

From every corner of the battlefield.

From every dying shout.

From every drop of splattered blood.

Through Shi Yong, through sight and hearing, through the tremors transmitted from the earth beneath his feet.

It permeated everywhere, squeezing toward Chen Wen's nerves.

He stood on Eagle-View Rock.

His posture was as steady as a boulder.

But inside, it was as if magma were surging and colliding.

System Interface, the golden growth bar, its light blazing bright enough to be unbearable to look at.

Overflowing.

Already overflowing.

Only…… one opportunity.

An opportunity that could shatter the ice layer riddled with cracks, allowing the surging power to erupt fully.

His gaze locked firmly onto the battlefield's core meat grinder—the Iron Anvil Camp's defense line.

There, it endured the most frenzied, reckless charge of the Northern Yuan's 'monster' vanguard.

Originally as steady as a black reef, the Iron Anvil Camp's battle line.

Now, it showed clear depressions and loosening.

It wasn't that the soldiers lacked courage.

Nor was their armor insufficiently sturdy.

But the enemy…… was simply too frenzied.

Those cavalry deeply infected by the Yin Energy seemed to have completely lost their fear of death.

They hurled their bodies at the iron shields.

They used their warhorses' bodies to wear down the spears.

Even if pierced or knocked down, as long as they still had a breath, they would struggle to rise, biting and tearing at nearby enemies with teeth, broken blades, and any means they could attack.

What's more terrifying is.

From the Northern Yuan's central forces, several smaller but equally fearless cavalry units were also dispatched.

Like venomous snakes flicking their tongues.

They avoided the thickest part of the Iron Anvil Camp's front.

Repeatedly striking the junction where the Iron Anvil Camp met the ordinary infantry lines on both flanks.

Attempting to peel this 'reef' away from the entire defense line.

Then, to overwhelm it.

Casualties in the Iron Anvil Camp were rising sharply.

Shi Dun's roar, even amidst this clamorous battlefield, could be faintly heard.

He was like the true core of the iron anvil, moving toward wherever danger was greatest.

The great shield in his hands was already soaked with blood and flesh.

Even the spikes on the shield's face bore fragments of enemies' entrails.

He continued to fight.

But Chen Wen could feel that Shi Dun's 'momentum,' which had been as steady as a mountain, was now fluctuating violently.

That was a sign that both his stamina and spirit were nearing their limits.

This cannot continue.

If the Iron Anvil Camp were breached, the entire front defense line would open a huge gap.

The Northern Yuan's cavalry flood would pour into that gap.

Splitting.

Encircling.

Crushing.

The consequences are unimaginable.

"Pressure…… is it enough?"

Chen Wen asked himself quietly.

He closed his eyes.

He turned his gaze inward.

The cracks on that ice layer had already become densely packed to the extreme.

It seemed that in the next second it would shatter completely.

But, it was still missing just a little.

A little bit.

Like being separated by a thin gauze.

One could feel the surging power behind it.

Yet could not truly reach it.

"Your Majesty!"

Zhang Cheng's voice carried a rare urgency.

"The left wing joint sector of the Iron Anvil Camp is in urgent need! General Shi requests reinforcement! Should we mobilize the reserve forces......"

"No."

Chen Wen suddenly opened his eyes.

In his eyes, a flash of golden lightning seemed to flicker and disappear.

"The reserve forces will not move."

"There, I'll go."

The words had not yet faded.

Chen Wen's figure had already become like an arrow released from a bow.

From Eagle Gazing Cliff, he leapt down!

He did not take the stairs inside the pass.

Instead, he moved along the steep cliff face, a few leaps like a monkey, swiftly descending inside the pass wall.

The warhorse, already ready, neighed.

Chen Wen mounted the horse, even without putting on armor.

He only lifted a standard-issue spear.

"Open the gate!"

"Follow me out of the pass!"

He gave a low shout.

Behind him, the approximately two hundred elite personal guard cavalry, who had been on standby, responded with a mighty roar.

These cavalry were the personal guard carefully selected and trained by the Five Ministers for Chen Wen.

Their numbers were few.

Yet each was a veteran who had survived a hundred battles.

Their equipment was also excellent.

They silently followed behind Chen Wen.

Like a short dagger about to be drawn from its sheath.

The heavy gate of the pass opened a crack before Chen Wen's horse.

Chen Wen squeezed his legs around the horse.

The warhorse neighed loudly, shooting out like an arrow.

The two hundred personal guard cavalry closely followed.

Like a gray bolt of lightning.

They charged straight through the passage reserved inside the pass.

Skirting past the flank of the first infantry defensive line that was fiercely engaged.

Directly assaulting the precarious left wing joint sector of the Iron Anvil Camp!

The clamor of the battlefield suddenly amplified in Chen Wen's ears.

The stench of blood was so thick it made one want to vomit.

The sharp whistling of arrows flying overhead.

The dull thud of swords and blades cutting into flesh.

The meaningless groans of the dying.

All of this gathered into the most primal, most brutal symphony of war.

Stimulating every nerve of his.

Also stimulating the power within him that had boiled to the extreme.

Closer.

Even closer.

Ahead.

About dozens of Northern Yuan "Inlaid Crystal Cavalry" were frenziedly charging a short segment of the mixed line formed by the Iron Anvil Camp and ordinary infantry, which was already on the verge of collapse.

The Iron Anvil Camp soldiers fought to the death without retreat, but their numerical disadvantage was obvious.

The ordinary infantry suffered heavy casualties, their formation already scattered.

A burly figure resembling a Northern Yuan centurion waved a heavy wolf-tooth club, smashing down two shield-bearing soldiers in succession.

It seemed the gap would soon be torn open.

"Now!"

Cold light burst from Chen Wen's eyes.

He did not even slow down.

Holding the spear with one hand, its tip pointed obliquely at the ground.

Within him, that layer of cracked "ice surface" under the direct stimulation of battlefield killing intent,

At the moment he personally stepped into the center of the blood-and-fire vortex,

Finally.

Emitted the final sound.

Faint.

Cracking sound.

Crack!

It seemed as if there was something.

It shattered.

Again, it felt as if something.

It opened.

An unprecedented, vast and mighty warm current.

Like a river breaking its banks.

Instantly swept away all obstacles.

It penetrated his limbs and bones.

Straight to the crown of his head!

His vision, as if instantly cleansed.

Became clearer.

His hearing, became more acute.

He could even distinguish every faint sound on the battlefield.

The flow of power within his body became as effortless as moving his arms and fingers.

A brand-new, broader 'sense' naturally spread out.

Not merely a vague perception of Fortune Momentum.

But a deeper, clearer 'insight' into the flow of energy, the strength of life, even fragments of causality!

The System Interface shone brightly.

The original markings disappeared.

New markings emerged.

Base performance: sixty-four times.

At the same time.

A line of new, concise information flowed into his consciousness.

"Lv. 6 Ability Unlocked: Fortune Momentum Insight (Initial)."

"Can more clearly perceive energy currents, life intensity, and causal fragments. When using Ability Granting in one's own world, consumption increases and begins to trigger slight 'world rejection' feedback. When used in the script world, consumption surges and rejection intensifies."

He broke through!

At the very core of the battlefield.

At the moment when pressure reached its peak.

He broke through!

Chen Wen didn't even have time to savor the specific details of his new ability.

Because.

The North Yuan centurion's spiked club.

Already carried a vicious wind.

He fiercely smashed it toward the head of another Iron Anvil Camp soldier trying to fill the gap!

That soldier's pupils contracted; raising his shield was already too late.

His brains were about to burst.

Buzz—!

Time, as if infinitely stretched at this moment.

Chen Wen could even see the congealed blood scabs on the spiked club, see the cruel excitement in the North Yuan centurion's eyes, see the fleeting despair and unwillingness on the Iron Anvil Camp soldier's face.

Then.

He moved.

He didn't even think about it deliberately.

Just after breaking through, that surging, tide-like sixty-fourfold base performance.

Naturally.

Following his will.

Along with the ordinary spear in his hand.

Surge.

Infuse.

Not granting to others.

But acting upon himself.

Acting upon this body already transformed by the System, now even more completely renewed.

And.

Upon this ordinary iron spear in his hand.

Speed.

Strength.

Reaction.

Precision.

Even to the subtle perception and control of the surrounding airflow.

In an instant.

It rose to an unimaginable level.

In the eyes of everyone around—whether North Origin cavalry or Chen dynasty soldiers—

Only a blurry afterimage could be seen.

Like a ghost.

In an instant, he crossed the remaining ten or so steps.

He appeared before the horse of that North Origin captain.

Then.

A spear-light, icy to the extreme and so fast its trajectory was almost invisible.

Like a poisonous dragon emerging from its cave.

A light tap.

He tapped a point on the side of the heavy, force-laden wolf-tooth club where it received the least force.

Clang!

A clear, somewhat piercing metallic clang.

That heavy wolf-tooth club was actually swung high up by that point of force!

The North Origin captain's arm shook violently, his tiger's mouth split, and his eyes showed utter disbelief.

The central gate stood wide open.

Chen Wen flicked his wrist.

The spear slid in smoothly.

Like a hot knife cutting butter.

Without any hindrance.

Through the gap in the captain's chest armor.

Piercing straight through.

The spear tip protruded from his back.

Bringing forth a spray of scalding blood.

The flow of time returned to normal.

The shock on the North Origin captain's face froze.

The wolf-tooth club flew from his grasp.

He lowered his head, looking at the spear shaft spewing blood from his chest.

He opened his mouth.

But could not make a sound.

He crashed down from his horse with a boom.

Silence.

A deathly silence.

Centering on Chen Wen.

Within a radius of several dozen steps.

Whether the frenziedly attacking North Origin 'Inlaid Crystal Cavalry'

or the Chen dynasty soldiers struggling to hold on.

were all stunned by this lightning-fast, near-miraculous strike.

Stunned to the point of temporarily forgetting the fight.

Chen Wen slowly withdrew his spear.

The spear tip dripped blood, unstained.

He held his spear across and stood firm on his horse.

His calm gaze swept over the North Origin cavalry before him, whose eyes were gradually being replaced by fear.

Then.

He slightly tilted his head.

To the Iron Anvil Battalion soldiers behind him, equally shocked beyond words.

and the newly arrived personal guard cavalry.

He lightly said:

"Stand firm."

"Next..."

He looked toward the farther front, where the North Origin cavalry surged again like a black tide.

At the corner of his mouth, a hint of icy curvature rose.

"Watch me."