Chapter 209: Blood

A drop of fresh blood splattered into Li Huowang's mouth, which was slightly agape from extreme shock. "Salty, bloody, and bitter," he noted.

Li Huowang didn't have time to register much more of the taste, for the cold gleam of a halberd had already pierced Jin Shanzhao's body and was now swinging towards his own face.

This attack was originally aimed at him; Jin Shanzhao was merely an incidental casualty.

Li Huowang instinctively and swiftly shifted his position, moving his true body two inches to the left.

"Boom!" The halberd pierced through Li Huowang's head and slammed heavily into the ground behind him, shattering it.

Completely unharmed, Li Huowang looked down at Jin Shanzhao on the ground, watching the smile on his face slowly vanish, replaced by confusion.

He opened his mouth to Li Huowang, as if wanting to say something, but the light in his eyes quickly dimmed.

Looking at Jin Shanzhao's body, now in two pieces on the ground, Li Huowang felt a heavy pang in his heart. Things shouldn't have unfolded this way.

Jin Shanzhao, who had just been planning grand ambitions, was now dead, silently. It was like a cruel joke.

"Thump-thump-thump" — an unending chorus of hoofbeats sounded from the distance. Li Huowang looked up in that direction, the fire in his heart burning ever fiercer.

When it reached its peak, he roared at the familiar faceplate: "Peng Longteng!"

Peng Longteng, leading over a hundred cavalrymen on her unique iron steed, slowly entered the pass. After evading her for so long, she had finally caught up at the last moment.

Through the eye-slit of her faceplate, her single eye spotted the unharmed Li Huowang, and a cold sneer appeared on her heavily tattooed face.

"Indeed, you have some tricks up your sleeve. I underestimated you before, but that won't happen again. To be able to injure this general, you certainly possess some skill. In that case, I'll allow you a complete corpse. Charge!"

With a hundred iron cavalry roaring in unison, they charged towards the lone Li Huowang with a deafening roar and an overwhelming momentum.

Just as they were halfway through their charge, Peng Longteng suddenly pointed a finger at Li Huowang. "Shoot!"

All the cavalry drew their bows simultaneously, and a volley of arrows arced directly towards Li Huowang.

Facing such a desperate situation, Li Huowang didn't dodge at all. He pushed off the ground with his right leg, raised the Heavenly Book above his head, and charged directly towards the approaching iron cavalry.

This was a plain, cavalry's domain. Retreat was impossible; the only option was to fight to the death!

"Whoosh~" An arrow shot from an unexpected angle, stealthily piercing Li Huowang's chest.

Yet, it had no effect. Li Huowang had once again separated his physical body from his illusory one.

He was very close to them now, close enough to see the expressions on their faces.

"That's an illusion! That boy must be nearby! Use the same method we used against that black-faced monk to force him out!"

With a 'whoosh,' Li Huowang saw the entire cavalry formation rapidly spread out and circle around him.

As they ran, these rogue soldiers continuously fired arrows in all directions around Li Huowang.

They left no spot untouched, seemingly intending to saturate the entire area with arrows to force Li Huowang out.

"Splurch!" A sharp, barbed long-cone pierced through Li Huowang's palm.

With a quick twist and pull, accompanied by Li Huowang's hysterical scream, the marrow from his forearm was extracted, scattering across the ground mixed with blood.

The rapidly galloping warhorses suddenly seemed to step into invisible traps, their front legs buckling abruptly, sending them tumbling to the ground along with their riders.

This triggered a chain reaction. Immediately, horses and riders were thrown into disarray, and the volley of arrows ceased.

Suddenly, Li Huowang felt a shadow overhead as Peng Longteng brought her massive halberd down.

She wasn't striking Li Huowang, but what he held in his hand!

As Li Huowang quickly rolled left to dodge, he decisively kicked off with his right foot, stepping on a piece of armor on a warhorse, and thrust his sword towards Peng Longteng's faceplate.

He intended to repeat his previous maneuver.

"Clang!" A crisp sound rang out as metal struck metal.

This time, however, Peng Longteng didn't attack Li Huowang's body. Instead, she performed a 'Sweeping Through A Thousand Armies' move with a single-handed halberd swing.

A whistling sound filled the air as Peng Longteng's entire surroundings became her attack range.

Li Huowang, mid-air, arched his body backward, narrowly dodging the attack.

But the next moment, as if sensing Li Huowang's position, Peng Longteng thrust her right foot out, kicking him squarely in the stomach.

Spitting blood, Li Huowang was sent flying into a mud house by the roadside, instantly collapsing the dilapidated structure and raising a cloud of dust.

As Peng Longteng cautiously approached, waiting for the dust to settle, she was surprised to find no trace of Li Huowang inside.

"Earth-Burrowing Technique?" Just as this thought crossed her mind, Peng Longteng, a seasoned warrior, suddenly felt an extreme sense of danger and quickly dismounted.

The next instant, her warhorse's belly unexpectedly split open.

After the warhorse was completely severed in two, just like Jin Shanzhao before it, Li Huowang's blood-soaked illusion belatedly emerged from underground.

Just now, Li Huowang had discovered a new application for his ability: by shifting the position of his illusory body downwards and burying it in the earth, his physical self, standing above ground, would become invisible.

And this, perhaps, would be a crucial means of defeating Peng Longteng.

As Li Huowang landed heavily, sword in hand, the blood-soaked body beneath him sank back into the earth.

Watching the dismounted Peng Longteng, the invisible Li Huowang, sword in hand, stealthily moved towards her.

But just as he was about to reach her, Peng Longteng quickly stepped forward, pulled a rogue soldier from his horse, and swiftly mounted it herself.

A sneer emanated from behind Peng Longteng's faceplate. "Boy, don't think a few petty tricks will let you do whatever you want. Those little stunts aren't foolproof. The military strategies of the strategists are far more effective than yours. For example, there's a tactic called 'Feinting East, Attacking West!'"

With that, Peng Longteng reined in her horse and, with the other rogue soldiers, galloped into the distance.

Li Huowang froze for a moment, then a chill immediately ran through him. They were heading in the direction of Bai Lingmiao and her companions!

Li Huowang immediately turned to rush in that direction, but a person couldn't outrun horses. Before he could arrive, the cavalry had already reached them.

Hearing the distant screams of women, Li Huowang quickly splayed his fingers, inserting all ten of his fingernails into bamboo splints and prying hard.

Accompanying the excruciating pain was the sight of people and horses toppling over in the distance.

Li Huowang wasn't finished; he severed two more of his fingers.

Sharp bone spurs drilled out from his swollen fingers, spinning as they, too, flew in that direction.

Next, Li Huowang ripped open his clothes, took out a dagger, and skillfully sliced along his abdomen.

Grasping both sides of the wound with his hands, Li Huowang, veins bulging on his face, let out a fierce roar.

As the sound of tearing flesh rang out, saliva mixed with blood dripped onto the ground. He then slammed that entire piece of human skin heavily onto the ground.