Chapter 564: Head-On Collision

Chongcheng.

Li Fei and the others stood on the ramparts of the West City Gate.

This section of the wall was about twelve meters wide and over five hundred meters long, with mountain ranges on both the left and right sides.

With only a hundred or so people standing on the five-hundred-meter wall, it appeared somewhat sparse.

But there was no helping it; the entire city of Chongcheng currently had fewer than one thousand combat personnel available, and these thousand had to guard four city gates—the manpower was far too thin.

Chongcheng was not on the border, nor was it a strategic military location; in times of peace, it was impossible and unnecessary to station many troops there.

Under normal circumstances, for an ordinary city, a few hundred inspectors, a few hundred city guards, the Peacekeeping Academy, and the Justice Court were perfectly sufficient to maintain local order.

As for wartime, no one truly expected such a small city to become a formidable fortress.

Especially after the appearance of weapons like artillery, the role of city walls had been further diminished; the traditional style of siege warfare from the past was increasingly becoming unnecessary.

Back then, the Allied Forces of the Seven Western Nations fought all the way to the gates of Lanling City.

Lanling City was known as the greatest fortress under heaven, with walls over one hundred and fifty meters high, having withstood the attacks of hundreds of thousands of troops throughout history.

Yet, even possessing such a majestic city, the imperial court at the time dared not engage the Western Allied Forces in a defensive siege; instead, they had the "God of War" Wenren Zheng lead the Great Lan Dynasty's strongest imperial guard unit, the "Heavenly Blue Iron Cavalry," to decide the outcome in a single battle outside the city!

It was that battle that made many realize the era had changed; a majestic city could not stop martial arts powerhouses, nor could it even stop ordinary people anymore.

Consequently, the Central Cabinet proposed ten years ago that since the walls of some cities were old and decrepit, there was no need to spend huge sums on repairs, and they could simply be demolished.

Li Fei and the others did not count on the wall beneath their feet to stop the approaching Imperial Guard Cavalry.

This wall did not use special materials and could not withstand the force of martial artists; let alone the Imperial Guard Cavalry, any powerhouse at the Dao Foundation realm could potentially chisel through the wall directly if given enough time!

"The key to this next battle is to fight outside the city."

Li Fei said to Lu Wen and the others:

"We must stop that Imperial Guard Cavalry outside the city!"

These words left Lu Wen and the others silent.

They understood the logic, but the problem was how to stop them?

The Imperial Guard Cavalry had the assistance of exotic beast mounts; once they charged at full speed, activated their military formation, and unleashed their baleful aura, they were the most unstoppable cavalry in the world!

Facing a charge of fifty Imperial Guard cavalrymen, even a powerhouse at the peak of the Dao Foundation realm would not dare to block them head-on.

Although the combat power Li Fei had displayed previously was strong, there was still a significant gap between him and the peak of the Dao Foundation realm, so Lu Wen and the others were actually feeling uncertain.

"My lord, once the Imperial Guard Cavalry activates their military formation and charges at full speed, I fear... it will be very difficult to stop them."

Lu Wen reminded him tactfully.

Li Fei glanced at him, then swept his gaze over the other seat-officers of the Peacekeeping Pavilion:

"It seems you gentlemen already have a plan?"

Lu Wen's expression stiffened, and he felt slightly awkward.

One seat-officer acted immediately, using a burst of force combined with his extraordinary ability to silently seal off the surroundings, ensuring their conversation would not be overheard by those nearby.

Lu Wen looked at Li Fei and said softly:

"Although this subordinate does not know the underlying causes, I can guess a few things; the Great Luo Sect likely wants to achieve certain goals through the large-scale slaughter of the common people.

But now that all the common people have been driven back into their homes by us, with the population so dispersed, even if that Imperial Guard Cavalry manages to kill their way into the city, as long as they do not split their forces, how many people can they kill in a short time?

And if they do split their forces, we can naturally divide and..."

Li Fei's icy gaze prevented Lu Wen from finishing his sentence.

He felt somewhat afraid to meet Li Fei's eyes.

"My lord."

Another seat-officer of the Peacekeeping Pavilion hurriedly said, "It is not that we dare not fight, but even if we fight to the death, we may not necessarily stop that Imperial Guard Cavalry. It would be better to make some tactical concessions; only then will we have a chance to truly hold Chongcheng."

Li Fei looked at him: "If the Imperial Guard Cavalry never splits their forces, are we just going to let them continue slaughtering people in the city?"

"My lord, you do not understand."

At this moment, a third seat-officer stepped forward and spoke:

"Activating baleful weapons and forming a military formation continuously consumes a martial artist's essence, energy, and spirit. If that Imperial Guard Cavalry maintains their formation, even if they go on a killing spree in the city, they will suffer excessive consumption before they can kill many people, making it difficult to continue. And if they do not open their military formation, we can harass them from the sidelines, using the city's terrain for guerrilla tactics to constantly wear them down."

One had to admit that these seat-officers had not lived their long lives in vain.

In such a short time, they had come up with such a mature and prudent tactic.

It made Li Fei laugh.

Perhaps when Xiang Yunshu assigned the mission, he never expected them to actually stop the Imperial Guard Cavalry; he only wanted them to delay as much as possible, even if it meant some commoners had to die.

Perhaps if Xiang Yunshu learned of this later, he would not blame these people.

"You gentlemen are truly meticulous to have thought of such a tactic."

Li Fei said while laughing.

But Lu Wen and the others did not laugh, because they all felt the coldness in Li Fei's tone.

"You gentlemen must have all started as registered martial artists and risen step by step. If I recall correctly, registered martial artists have the duty to defend the land and the duty to protect the people."

Li Fei continued.

In fact, it was not just registered martial artists; students of the secondary Peacekeeping Department and the Martial Arts Academy all had the same duty.

"Lord Li, we are not failing to defend; we are just tactically abandoning a portion of the common people so that it is possible to complete the mission entrusted to us by the State Preceptor."

"That's right, Lord Li, our intentions are for the best."

"Lord Li, do not act on impulse; you must prioritize the big picture!"

The group took turns trying to persuade Li Fei.

Li Fei looked expressionlessly at the five Dao Foundation realm seat-officers before him:

"You gentlemen have your own tactics, and I have mine. If the Imperial Guard Cavalry comes, I will be the first to block them; you gentlemen can decide for yourselves what to do."

"This..."

The several imperial court seat-officers looked at each other, not expecting such an outcome.

"Lord Li, you are the top scholar in history and have the favor of the Crown Prince; your future is limitless. Why throw yourself into a death trap for the sake of some irrelevant people?"

Lu Wen stepped forward and said earnestly to Li Fei.

Li Fei smiled and met Lu Wen's gaze:

"Would Lord Lu care to make a wager with me?"

"Wager on what?"

"This place will absolutely not be my death trap."

"..."

Lu Wen had not expected Li Fei to be so stubborn.

"Lord Li!"

Another seat-officer could no longer hold back, "If you insist on leaving the city to block the Imperial Guard Cavalry head-on, then forgive me for not being able to accompany you!"

"Forgive me as well for not being able to accompany you."

"Me too."

"We must complete the State Preceptor's mission and prioritize the big picture!"

Of the five seat-officers, besides Lu Wen, the other four directly stated they would not follow Li Fei out of the city to meet the enemy.

Li Fei had already anticipated this.

Although he was the imperial envoy and the leader of this trip, he was not naive enough to think that a single order from him would make these people willingly fight to the death.

As for using force to make them submit and coercing them to follow him out of the city to fight, that would be completely meaningless.

"Suit yourselves."

Li Fei appeared very calm.

Regardless of whether these Dao Foundation realm seat-officers helped or not, he intended to clash with the Imperial Guard Cavalry.

The 【Flame Core】 within his body had reached the Qi Transformation realm, and the physical enhancement it brought had already concluded; next, he needed to stimulate it at a deeper level to trigger a core-level extraordinary ability.

He just happened to need an intense battle!

Seeing Li Fei's firm attitude, the several seat-officers bowed to him one by one, then turned and left.

To those around them, it looked as if they had received Li Fei's orders and were going to execute their mission.

Of the five Dao Foundation realm seat-officers, only Lu Wen remained.

Lu Wen gritted his teeth and walked to Li Fei's side.

Li Fei turned to look at him, somewhat surprised: "Lord Lu, why haven't you left?"

Lu Wen smiled: "Didn't you say you wanted to make a wager with me, my lord? I want to stay and see if you can win the bet."

Li Fei looked at him deeply, then turned to look at the dark night in the distance:

"Then you had better watch closely."

11:17 PM.

A martial artist ran toward the West City Wall of Chongcheng at high speed.

After confirming his identity, a rope was lowered from the wall; the martial artist used the rope to quickly ascend the wall and arrived before Li Fei:

"My lord, they are here! It is a convoy, and there are indeed Imperial Guard troops in the convoy, about fifty riders! The convoy is now about five kilometers away from here."

This martial artist was a scout Li Fei had sent out.

Li Fei nodded: "Good work, take a moment to regulate your breathing and prepare for battle."

"Yes."

The martial artist stepped back.

Li Fei glanced at the two defensive cannons that had been positioned on the wall in advance.

This thing has enough power, but unfortunately, it cannot deal with the Imperial Camp cavalry because it cannot hit them.

"If the enemy attacks the city directly, Master Lu, just lead your men to hold the city wall; leave the Imperial Camp cavalry to me."

Li Fei said to Lu Wenxing.

Lu Wenxing wanted to say something but stopped, and in the end, he did not say anything more.

A moment later, Li Fei looked at the night ahead: "They are here!"

Then he leaped off the city wall in one step!

Everyone on the city wall let out gasps of surprise when they saw this scene, not understanding what Li Fei was trying to do.

In fact, not everyone understood the Imperial Camp Army, so many people on the city wall still thought that the upcoming city defense battle would really just be about defending well on the city wall.

They did not understand why Li Fei suddenly jumped down.

Only Lu Wenxing stared fixedly at Li Fei's back, subconsciously clenching his fists.

Li Fei carried the Ghost-Slaying Blade in one hand and strode forward.

Watching this calm back, Lu Wenxing suddenly felt that he was getting old.

A few minutes later, beams of light pierced through the darkness ahead.

A motorcade appeared in everyone's field of vision.

More than twenty large trucks appeared on the road, and on both sides of the motorcade were cavalrymen with both men and horses armored.

Inside a small car, a middle-aged man wearing a white robe noticed Li Fei, who was alone in front.

"One person? Is he looking for death?"

He shook his head, held a replica Great Luo Command, and input a strand of spiritual intent.

He was a Great Mage of the Possession Realm from the Orthodoxy General Academy of Jinshan Prefecture, as well as a direct disciple of the Great Luo Sect, and the leader of this troop.

As he input the 'command', the Imperial Camp cavalry on both sides of the motorcade immediately took action!

If they were ordinary heavy cavalry, running for dozens of miles without removing their armor would basically render them useless.

But the mounts of these Imperial Camp cavalry were all exotic beasts; their physical stamina was far superior to warhorses, and they were supplemented with elixirs along the way, keeping their stamina fully replenished at all times.

So, although they had been traveling for several hours, their combat power was still at its peak!

After receiving the order, the eyes of these Imperial Camp cavalry turned blood-red again, they began to accelerate, and in the blink of an eye, they formed a line in front of the motorcade.

More than fifty Imperial Camp cavalrymen lined up, over a hundred meters wide.

Black baleful aura surged out from their bodies and the bodies of their mounts, merging into one.

Then they began to charge, their speed getting faster and faster, covering a distance of over a hundred meters in the blink of an eye!

Illuminated by the headlights from behind, the black baleful aura looked like a black tide, surging forward with astonishing momentum.

It was going to swallow everything!

That monstrous killing intent, even from a distance of over a thousand meters, made the hearts of everyone on the city wall tremble and feel terrified!

Only then did they realize what kind of enemy Li Fei was going to face all by himself!

Li Fei calmly drew the Ghost-Slaying Blade, thrust the scabbard into the ground at his feet, then held the blade in one hand and charged up.

He, alone, faced the fifty-plus Imperial Camp cavalry and crashed directly into them!

The third update owed from yesterday~

(End of chapter)