Chapter 124

After resolving the teachers and students of the Martial Arts Hall, Zhao Yu led his troop to continue advancing.

Soon, someone brought him a piece of news, so he immediately ordered the troop to change course, no longer going to the West City Gate, but turning to the Kaiping District.

The Administration Building was located in the Kaiping District, and the main force of the city guards had already rushed there.

Zhao Yu's goal this time was not to harm Chief Gu Zhenhui or to wash the Administration Building in blood.

Killing a group of officials would bring him no benefit at all; on the contrary, it would severely provoke the imperial court.

His true target was the city guards!

This was also the basis of his cooperation with the Hudao Gang; the other side had never thought from the beginning about borrowing the Anshen Sect's hand to directly harm Chief Gu Zhenhui and his faction of officials. That would leave too heavy a trail; even with the Anshen Sect as a scapegoat, it would be very difficult for the Hudao Gang to escape involvement.

Therefore, the goals of both sides were very consistent: the city guards.

As long as there were no city guards, Chief Gu Zhenhui would have no deterrent power in Xingcheng. As for Zhao Yu, what he wanted were the martial officers among the city guards!

Back when the Anshen Sect and the Hudao Gang joined forces to plot against the four registered martial masters of the Zhige Academy, what the Hudao Gang wanted was to get rid of Lu Sheng and make Huang Weiguang step down, so they could take the opportunity to arrange their own people to take over and completely control the Inspection Academy. Besides that, the plotted-against Wang Ping and others were all registered martial masters who did not stand on Yan Yichen's side; getting rid of them in advance made it convenient for today's plan to proceed smoothly.

It could be called killing several birds with one stone.

And what the Anshen Sect, or rather Zhao Yu, wanted were the four registered martial masters themselves.

Zhao Yu indeed intended to train as a demonic martial master, so he needed the bodies of strong individuals. However, being a demonic martial master was only one part; his main purpose was still to enhance himself.

The concept he believed in was the same as Yu Hu's: in this world, only one's own strength is the most reliable!

Zhao Yu did not cultivate martial arts, but sorcery.

Martial arts and sorcery are two different paths, but essentially, they are both applications of implants. To practice sorcery, one needs to first implant the corresponding implant into the brain. The first two stages of practicing sorcery are the same as martial arts: the Embryo-Nurturing stage and the Body-Breaking stage.

Sorcerers at the Body-Breaking stage can perform sorcery with the help of rituals and special materials; the next step up is the Spirit-Transformation stage, where mages can mutate their own spiritual power, thereby directly releasing sorcery without the help of external objects.

Previously, Zhao Yu was a mage at the peak of the Spirit-Transformation stage; he risked huge danger to obtain the bodies of the four registered martial masters just to assist himself in breaking through to the next realm—the Possession stage!

The Dao Foundation stage of martial arts involves incorporating more implants into the body to build the foundation of martial arts, while the Possession stage of sorcery involves controlling more implants outside the body to train into a life-bound magic treasure; the two have essential differences.

Zhao Yu had once, by chance, obtained a third-grade superior implant 【Corpse Cluster】, which was a sorcery-type implant and had a mutated attribute—the dark attribute.

But a third-grade superior implant was too powerful to be used for introductory practice, so Zhao Yu could only wait until he reached the peak of the Spirit-Transformation stage to use 【Corpse Cluster】 to break through to the Possession stage.

The extraordinary abilities of 【Corpse Cluster】 are two: one is controlling corpses, and the other is strengthening corpses.

So, to use 【Corpse Cluster】 to break through to the Possession stage, the most critical point is needing the corpse of a strong individual, and it must be a complete corpse that has been dead for no more than 24 hours.

In that battle back then, it just so happened that Wang Ping committed suicide, and his cultivation was the highest among the four, at the peak of the Qi-Transformation stage, so Zhao Yu used 【Corpse Cluster】 on Wang Ping.

It is very difficult to build the foundation of a martial artist's martial arts; the most critical point is that the human body has limits. The vast majority of people have no way to carry so many implants, and different implants will also conflict with each other; taking a slightly wrong step could cause severe damage to the body.

And an implant like 【Corpse Cluster】 takes a different path: since humans have limits, then stop being human!

Directly turn a person into a corpse, and then use the corpse to train the foundation of martial arts; wouldn't that solve the problem?

Since the person is already dead, there is no need to fear being trained to death again.

Although Zhao Yu did not cultivate martial arts, he could train the corpse controlled by 【Corpse Cluster】 into his own martial arts avatar, which was also a magic treasure for the Possession stage.

When he cultivated 【Corpse Cluster】 to maturity within Wang Ping's body and fused it with the other's 【Red Scale】 implant, he formally stepped into the Possession stage and became a Great Mage!

Wang Ping was at the peak of the Qi-Transformation stage before his death; after fusing with the 【Corpse Cluster】 implant, influenced by 【Corpse Cluster】, his physical strength was greatly enhanced, and combined with the Red Scale Force fusing with new innate Qi, further strengthening it, his combat power formally reached the Dao Foundation stage.

Therefore, the "magic treasure" of Zhao Yu, this Possession-stage Great Mage, was a Dao Foundation avatar!

It was precisely by relying on this powerful avatar that Zhao Yu was able to easily subjugate those horse bandits in the Qiuping Mountain Range and have the confidence to kill his way back into Xingcheng.

Ten-plus minutes later, this troop entered the Kaiping District.

At this time, there was not a single person on the street; these upper-class people in the Kaiping District had long since received the news and gone into hiding.

Looking at the stone-paved streets and the exquisite buildings and mansions, the horse bandits in the troop all breathed more heavily, some becoming restless.

The Kaiping District was the most prosperous area in all of Xingcheng; just breaking into the home of any powerful person to loot would be enough for these horse bandits to eat for a year!

"Do not run around, continue advancing!"

Zhao Yu sensed the restlessness of the crowd and immediately released another piece of sorcery.

After breaking through to the Possession stage, the effect of his sorcery was even stronger; the horse bandits on the scene immediately quieted down and honestly continued to advance.

"Report! Found the city guards!"

The scout at the very front sent back the news.

"Good, kill them!"

Zhao Yu's spirit was lifted, and he immediately gave the order.

If his Dao Foundation avatar wanted to continue becoming stronger, it needed to fuse with more implants, but other implants were different from 【Corpse Cluster】 and could not grow on a corpse, so he could only choose to fuse with implants that were already mature on strong individuals.

Therefore, the avatar refined using 【Corpse Cluster】 could only follow the demonic path of cultivation.

This was the reason Zhao Yu targeted the city guards; he needed the bodies of a large number of strong individuals, living or dead!

Soon, the city guards led by Wei Ge appeared in front of Zhao Yu's troop.

The main forces of both sides confronted each other on a main road in the Kaiping District.

This main road was twenty meters wide, enough for over a dozen horses to ride side-by-side, suitable for a cavalry charge!

The city guards also had cavalry; the reason they didn't use cavalry when they went to the Wu Guangqu was that the streets in the Wu Guangqu were too narrow, not suitable for cavalry.

Chief Gu Zhenhui had Wei Ge bring all the strength of the city guards to the Kaiping District, so Wei Ge naturally brought the cavalry as well.

At this moment, including himself, a total of over fifty riders appeared at the very front of the troop, and both men and horses were armored!

Raising fifty standard iron cavalry of the Great Lan Dynasty cost much more than the horse bandits raising over a hundred horses.

The horses raised by the horse bandits were far inferior to the standard warhorses of the Great Lan Dynasty in height, endurance, explosive power, and so on.

Not only that, the iron armor on the men and horses was also something the horse bandits didn't have.

And the over fifty iron cavalry on the city guards' side were either martial artists or martial masters, and the aura they emitted was astonishing!

So when the cavalry of both sides confronted each other on the main road, the horse bandit side was immediately thrown into a panic.

Even if influenced by sorcery, these horse bandits were, after all, not die-hard followers who had been brainwashed for a long time. If Zhao Yu dared to order them to charge at the iron cavalry in front, there might be a mutiny on the spot!

"Kill—"

Wei Ge, also riding a warhorse and fully armored, took the lead and roared as he charged toward the front.

The warhorse he rode was not an ordinary warhorse, but a second-grade exotic beast—the Green Nightmare Horse!

This was an exotic beast with a mutated wind attribute, and its speed after full exertion was comparable to a speed-type martial master!

It was just that the cultivation of this kind of exotic beast was extremely difficult and costly, so the number had always been small; the entire Xingcheng city guard only had three Green Nightmare Horses.

Wei Ge rode the Green Nightmare Horse, dragging his giant blade with one hand, turning into a gust of galloping wind, and was the first to launch a charge toward the horse bandits ahead.

The horse bandits had guns after all, so he planned to charge up first and use his extraordinary ability to "disarm" them all.

Just as he crossed half the distance, a black figure leaped high from the horse bandit troop and landed at the very front of the troop.

Subsequently, this figure launched a counter-charge against Wei Ge.

"Seeking death!"

Killing intent overflowed in Wei Ge's eyes; he used a burst of innate Qi to stimulate the Green Nightmare Horse beneath him, and the speed of the Green Nightmare Horse immediately increased by another notch, even carrying several hundred catties of weight, it still left a trail of afterimages on the street.

On the other side, the figure completely enveloped in a black robe struck out a Red Scale Force toward Wei Ge; the dark red red snake emitted a sharp piercing sound as it crashed toward the oncoming Wei Ge.

"Wang Ping?!"

Wei Ge recognized that this was Red Scale Force and was somewhat shocked.

He had no time to think carefully, swinging the giant blade in his hand, Earth-Magnetic Force attached to it, and the black light slashed into the red snake.

Boom—

With a loud explosion, the red snake was slashed apart, exploding into a ball of crimson gas on the street.

And Wei Ge, riding the Green Nightmare Horse, was sent flying along with his horse!

"My lord!"

The city guards in the rear let out exclamations.

Wei Ge was at the peak of the Qi-Transformation stage, and riding the Green Nightmare Horse, his combat power was even stronger than usual, yet he was actually sent flying by a single move?!

"Dao Foundation stage?!"

Wei Ge, who had been knocked off his horse, looked at the black-robed person ahead with horror on his face.

He glanced at the Green Nightmare Horse lying on the ground not far away; this second-grade exotic beast had stopped breathing completely after twitching a few times!

This scene caused a commotion among the city guards in the rear.

"All-out charge!"

Wei Ge suddenly gave the order.

He was also a decisive person, knowing that this battle today could not be avoided no matter what; even if there was a Dao Foundation stage powerhouse ahead, the city guards could only charge!

Including Wei Ge, the city guards had a total of three Force-Training martial masters, seven martial masters, and eighty-three martial artists.

Such a force, combined with an iron cavalry charge, might not be unable to clash with a Dao Foundation stage powerhouse!

Following Wei Ge's order, over fifty iron cavalry launched a charge together.

The earth began to tremble, and the astonishing killing intent was like a monstrous giant wave, rushing toward them!

There was a commotion on the horse bandit side, and some were even so frightened that they fell off their horses and onto the ground.

Zhao Yu's expression also changed, and he immediately turned his head to say to a man beside him:

"Must block this iron cavalry, otherwise the troop will collapse!"

The other side did not speak, but stepped out from the crowd and charged toward the charging iron cavalry.

This person was precisely the Force-Training martial master who had fought Qi Zhongfa earlier, using Flame Explosion Force.

As he charged out, over a dozen others also charged out.

These people were all experts arranged by Yu Hu for Zhao Yu, including one Force-Training martial master, five martial masters, and twelve Body-Breaking stage martial artists.

And these experts were all outside the intelligence records, having never appeared in the Xingcheng area before.

"You two go as well."

Zhao Yu turned his head to say to the two black-robed people who had been following him.

"Yes."

One of the black-robed people nodded and also charged out, his whole body enveloped by a pitch-black force.

This was Black Stele Force, the force practiced by one of the four registered martial masters who had been captured back then.

That registered martial master was already dead, but the implant within his body had now been transferred to this Anshen Sect martial artist, making this Anshen Sect martial artist a demonic martial master.

When Zhao Yu retreated back then, he took away a total of nine Body-Breaking stage martial artists, but now only two had survived and become demonic martial masters.

This was the success rate of refining demonic martial masters.

Sending out one demonic martial master at the mid-stage of Qi-Transformation, Zhao Yu still kept one demonic martial master by his side as a guard.

After all, he was not a martial artist; even if he was already a Great Mage, he would still be in danger once a martial master got close to him.

"Prepare for joint spellcasting!"

Zhao Yu suddenly ordered.

Then he began to chant loudly, and an intense wave of sorcery energy radiated from his body.

At the same time, six Anshen Sect sorcerers in the troop also joined the chanting.

Zhao Yu had already set up the rituals required for the sorcery for them; they only needed to inject their spiritual power into it to enhance the power of the sorcery.

In just three seconds, the sorcery was completed.

Zhao Yu pointed ahead, and a purple-black ring of light exploded in the charging iron cavalry troop!

After being swept by the ring of light, both men and horses felt intense sleepiness.

This sorcery was precisely the signature sorcery of the Anshen Sect—Spirit-Calming Sorcery.

Martial artists have intense Qi and blood, which specifically counters sorcery, so Zhao Yu did not count on this sorcery being able to cause much influence on those martial artists and martial masters.

His true target was those warhorses!

Boom—

Boom—

Several warhorses that were charging knelt down on the spot, throwing the city guards on their backs flying.

And these few warhorses that suddenly fell to the ground immediately disrupted the charging troop; under the chain reaction, several more warhorses fell.

The cavalry troop, which originally had the momentum of a rainbow, was immediately thrown into chaos.

Taking advantage of this time, Zhao Yu controlled his Dao Foundation avatar to kill his way in!

Qingyuan Fist Village.

Shangguan Xiao had already learned that the group of bandits who entered the city had gone to the Kaiping District, and the main force of the city guards was also there.

"Set off!"

She had already gathered all the elite strength of the Fist Village and distributed weapons and equipment; at this moment, with one order, she led everyone to charge out of the Fist Village.

"Great Dragon Head, what about your martial nephew's side?"

Xiang Du came to Shangguan Xiao's side and asked in a low voice.

"Don't worry about him."

Shangguan Xiao said confidently.

And when the people of Qingyuan Fist Village charged out of the Fist Village, Yu Hu also set off with the people of the Hudao Gang.

Not only that, Yan Yichen, the head of the Zhige Academy, also set off with the elites of the Zhige Academy.

Xingcheng, battle clouds gathered!

(End of chapter)