Start with a red name

Considering the need for a slow and gentle approach to give the bandits in "Wild Wolf Gorge" more time to adjust, and given that it was already dark, the "General" arranged for his men to take a break.

Of course, some necessary arrangements have also been made.

After making these necessary arrangements, he gathered with a group of high-ranking officials, casually sitting cross-legged on the ground, each of them still fully armed and armored.

It wasn't that they wanted to do it that way; in fact, they were bound by strict military regulations.

According to the training manual personally compiled by Dong Guan for the Xuanyou Iron Cavalry.

When small cavalry units like theirs go out on missions alone, without any additional protection from other forces and without any fortified cities or strongholds to rely on, they are vulnerable.

Throughout the mission, all high-ranking military officers must be prepared to engage the enemy at any time.

Even if rest is necessary, being ready for battle at any time is a basic requirement.

Armor must be worn at all times; it is absolutely unacceptable for one's own side to be in a state of panic while still wearing armor when the enemy attacks.

The difference in combat strength between the Xuanyou Iron Cavalry and those who were not fully armed was simply too great.

Once a lone cavalry unit reveals such an obvious weakness, it can easily be targeted.

These are all lessons learned through countless real-life examples during the development and growth of the Xuanyou Iron Cavalry, learned through blood and tears.

That's why there are those seemingly inhumane training regulations.

As for the negative experience this might give to the Xuan You riders in the mission, that's a trivial matter.

They are all cultivators, so they are very resilient and not so delicate.

On the contrary, the situation of the Xuanyou Horse is better, as all Xuanyou Horses will be given the opportunity to rest and remove their armor through a rotation system.

Considering that after taking over the bandits of "Wild Wolf Gorge", it will be difficult to have a peaceful rest for a long time to come.

From escorting bandits several times their number south, to crossing the Hang River, to their iron hooves trampling into the land of Yuanzhou...

One thing after another, and the carefree days like now will be gone forever. Everyone is making the most of the time to close their eyes and take a short rest.

The "general," clad in armor and sitting cross-legged on the ground, also gently closed his eyes, but because he was thinking too much and his thoughts were too complicated, he remained in a state between sleep and wakefulness.

At one moment, a shrill shout of "Enemy attack!" pierced my ears like a needle.

He jolted awake, opened his eyes, looked around, and wondered, "Was I having a nightmare?"

But he soon realized something was wrong.

Because everyone else around him had also woken up and, like him, looked around.

This departure gave him a jolt, a sense of foreboding.

If it were just his own dream, it wouldn't have had such an effect.

The next moment, all his doubts vanished.

At the same time, numerous warning shouts of "Enemy attack!" came from all directions.

"Go and have a look!"

The "general," who had no time to think further, suddenly stood up, grabbed his broadsword, and dashed outside, giving the others these words as he did so.

Although he had expected it, he was still stunned when he actually saw what was happening around the base.

For a moment or two, he was even unable to think clearly.

A dense crowd was rapidly approaching them from all sides of the camp.

Although he couldn't see the exact number of people at first due to the darkness, based on his experience, the number he could see now could not be less than 10,000!

And this has not yet stopped.

Even more people emerged from the night, clutching various weapons, their eyes gleaming with the hunger, bloodlust, and greed characteristic of bandits.

At this moment, their Xuanyou Iron Cavalry seemed to have become easy prey in their eyes.

A chill crept into his heart.

Seeing the man with the mole right beside him, the chilling fear that had been quietly rising in his heart transformed into a raging fire. He trembled with rage and roared:
"Are these all bandits from 'Wild Wolf Gorge'?"

How come there are so many?

Didn't they say they were a disorganized bunch and could never be of one mind to fight the enemy?

what is this?
what is this? !!

Yang Qian misled me, the Dark Night Bureau misled me!

I will definitely impeach him; I will not let him off easily…

The man with the mole interrupted his outburst, coldly saying:
"Let's get through tonight first... We've not only lost speed, but half of our Xuan You horses aren't armored... What you should do now is lead the charge yourself and get our Xuan You Iron Cavalry moving!"

"..."

The "general" paused for a moment, glanced at him, and then quickly mounted the mount, which was even larger than the other Xuan You horses.

Before long, the fully armored Xuanyou cavalry began to trot and accelerate within the limited space, charging towards the bandits who had just rushed into the camp.

Behind them, even more Xuanyou Iron Cavalry were rapidly starting up.

It's a long story, but from the appearance of the Black Wind Gang to the night patrol scouts shouting warnings, to the first batch of Xuan You Iron Cavalry appearing in response, it was only a very short period of time.

Geng Xuan, who was watching from the sidelines, felt that it took at most one or two minutes.

To have such a response to a night raid of this scale is quite efficient.

When the first batch of cavalry appeared in the garrison, the Black Wind Gang had just made contact with the night patrol scouts and quickly overwhelmed them with their numerical advantage.

Faced with the surging Black Wind Gang, the fully armed night patrol scouts could only passively endure wave after wave of seemingly endless attacks.

Let alone charging into battle with their Xuan You steeds, by the time the first batch of Xuan You Iron Cavalry appeared after hearing their warnings inside the camp, not a single one of them was still able to stay on horseback.

They were all swept off their horses by the "black wind wave" that surged past them.

Their momentum was only slightly slowed when they encountered the Xuanyou Iron Cavalry that charged out from the encampment.

Yes, it means "slightly".

As more members of the Black Wind Gang poured in like a flowing stream, they bypassed the iron cavalry or rushed deeper into the "gaps" between them.

These Xuanyou Iron Cavalry, whose speed was already low, felt as if they had stepped into a sticky swamp.

They remained rooted to the spot, unable to move.

There were some exceptions, who, with their stronger cultivation and more magnificent mounts, charged through the "mud swamp" and slashed at the "black wind waves" with abandon.

Their tangible energy, channeled through their weapons or palms, was unleashed with abandon, claiming one life after another.

But this carefree and exhilarating slaughter was quickly brought to a halt.

More than a hundred Xuanyou Iron Cavalry followed behind these "black wind waves" and rushed into the encampment, heading straight for the figures who were fighting fiercely.

These Xuanyou Iron Cavalry were all elite members of the Black Wind Gang, having undergone marrow refinement.

In terms of controlling the Xuanyou Horse and utilizing the "Xuanyou Iron Cavalry" class, they are naturally far inferior to their opponents.

However, they possess higher individual cultivation levels, and in the current situation, the opposing side cannot fully utilize the advantages of the Xuan You Iron Cavalry.

Putting aside the ups and downs of local battles, overall, the appearance of this batch of Xuan You Iron Cavalry immediately and completely suppressed the local advantageous situation created by the enemy's hastily deployed Xuan You Iron Cavalry.

What's even more interesting is that when they suddenly saw another Xuanyou Iron Cavalry fighting against them, they didn't realize for a moment that these iron cavalry had been replaced. Instead, they thought that the iron cavalry they had sent out had defected to the enemy.

While struggling to cope, he also scolded and questioned her.

How dare you do this!

"Are they possessed by an evil spirit?!"

"..." All they received in response was a barrage of attacks.

Deeper into the base, the "Black Wind Tide" had spread to almost every corner of the base.

Those heavily armored cavalry were a bit better off; although they couldn't really charge, they at least had the advantage of being on higher ground.

Moreover, because of Song Mingzhu and others' special instructions, unless absolutely necessary, and the opponent is too tough and difficult to defeat, no one will target Xuanyou Horse.

This allows riders on horseback to sustain themselves for longer periods of time.

The most tragic thing was that it was the riders of the Xuanyou Horses who were about to take a break from their armor, because the "Black Wind Tide" was spreading too fast.

Many horses were caught in the "Black Wind Wave" before they even had time to be re-armored.

They were divided, surrounded, and overwhelmed by squads and companies.

……

If he goes all out, Geng Xuan has the ability to postpone the time when his side is exposed for a longer period of time.

At least, he could silence the first group of night patrol scouts who shouted warnings.

But he didn't do that.

The Black Wind Gang has completed its encirclement, and the victory is now firmly secured.

In his eyes, the outcome of this battle was already a foregone conclusion.

He has done enough.

Under his intervention, the Black Wind Gang's advantages have become excessive.

This battle was also a necessary "refinement" for the Black Wind Gang.

Only after completing this step can the Black Wind Gang be considered truly transformed, emerging from the "cocoon" of the sand bandits.

Taking all this into consideration, Geng Xuan chose to stop at the right time and gradually hand over the stage to the other members of the Black Wind Gang.

The only time he made a move was against a man wielding a broadsword.

Although this person, like Song Mingzhu, had reached the peak of the first realm of cultivation.

However, his actual combat ability is much higher than that of Song Mingzhu, who has only recently broken through and whose foundation is unstable.

Song Mingzhu alone was no match for him.

It wasn't until Hu Yuan and Zhang Kai, two powerful fighters who were only one step away from the perfect first realm, joined the fight, that the situation was barely maintained.

At this moment, Song Mingzhu, Hu Yuan, Zhang Kai, and the other members of their team with the highest cultivation levels all mounted Xuan You horses, and both the horses and riders were fully armored.

Although they withstood the attack of this strongest person, they were also firmly stuck here.

This has made the situation extremely unfavorable in other battlefields where both sides have peak-level Marrow Refinement cultivators.

Because all of our team's peak Marrow Refinement level cultivators were created through induced processes.

They all have the problem of an unstable foundation, and they need more time to digest it before they can fully transform their increased cultivation into their own strength.

In this state, they have no problem bullying the weak or outnumbering the strong.

However, if one were to confront other cultivators of the same level head-on, their weaknesses would be exposed.

In a one-on-one situation, the outcome won't be very favorable.

It takes two against one, or even three against one, to make the situation barely manageable.

Given this situation, Geng Xuan was engaged in a fierce battle with the man wielding a broad-faced heavy sword while Song Mingzhu, Hu Yuan, and Zhang Kai were locked in combat.

Using the "Heart-Shattering Roar" at its peak, he forcefully controlled the opponent's heart, temporarily halting the flow of energy throughout his body.

Then, taking advantage of this gap, use the "Crane Control Hand" at the Perfect Realm to snatch the weapon from the opponent's hand and pull out the opponent's fangs.

Before the man could recover, Song Mingzhu immediately lunged forward and tackled him off the horse.

Hu Yuan and Zhang Kai followed closely behind.

Then--

Before long, Song Mingzhu carried a fresh, still-bleeding head and hurled it towards the most intense battleground at the peak of the Marrow Refining stage in the distance.

Zhang Kai and Hu Yuan arrived almost immediately after the severed head, just as it crashed to the ground, causing the enemy cavalry to be stunned. Together with several other peak-stage Marrow Refinement cultivators, they quickly broke the stalemate on the battlefield.

From then on, looking across the entire battlefield, the last "stagnant zone" was completely destroyed.

A large snowball began to roll rapidly across the battlefield.

It rolled faster and faster.

It keeps getting bigger and bigger.

It is gradually becoming an unstoppable trend.

Geng Xuan became a complete outsider, silently observing the progress of the battle.

The entire battle lasted approximately two hours.

When the "snowball" was first formed and the scales of victory were completely tilted in favor of the Black Wind Clan, only a quarter of the time had passed.

The "final battle," which took up three-quarters of the total time and was considered "garbage time" by Geng Xuan, was actually the most brutal, with the highest number of deaths on both sides.

A chilling arc of light swept across, and an enemy covered in blood, his armor tattered, finally ceased his last struggle, his head flying high into the air.

The headless corpse collapsed to the ground.

Cao Ao, who had beheaded him, also had his long sword, already riddled with nicks and chips, broken in two.

He looked at the broken knife in his hand, stained with blood, and a look of heartache appeared in his eyes.

He strode over to the headless corpse lying on the ground, kicked the dented armor with his foot, and forced back a mouthful of bloody phlegm.

He cursed, "Disgusting!... Absolutely fucking disgusting!"

He wasn't insulting the corpse; he just hated the tortoise shell.

Tonight, the majority of the Black Wind Gang's casualties were caused by these metal shells.

He believed that if the enemy hadn't had that iron shell, and both sides had fought naked, the Black Wind Gang's casualties wouldn't have been so heavy.

Even though the Black Wind Gang had already secured victory long ago, these Xuan You Iron Cavalry, relying solely on their high-quality armor, have managed to hold on until now, neither falling nor dying.

The armor of the Xuanyou Iron Cavalry is not something that can be made by simply casting some iron into the shape of armor; it has extremely high quality requirements.

Even the most basic model can withstand attacks from those at the Blood Refining Realm or higher for a long time.

Attacks from those below the Blood Refining Realm are barely scratching the surface, and require an extremely heavy price to achieve any real damage.

This type of armor requires extremely high skill from the blacksmith, making it impossible for it to be widely adopted.

It took Dong Guan decades and the combined resources of two prefectures to accumulate the wealth he has today.

For the vast majority of tens of thousands of bandits, obtaining a high-quality weapon is extremely difficult; only a very few have the resources and channels to acquire such high-quality armor.

The fact that the unarmored were facing the armored caused Cao Ao and his men a great deal of trouble.

For example, Cao Ao has changed his weapons countless times.

Song Mingzhu stopped Cao Ao from venting his anger and said:
"Let's clean up first. If you have any emotions, you should tidy up the scene first before posting them."

Cao Ao nodded and was about to get to work when he saw Geng Xuan coming over. He quickly said, "Commander."

Geng Xuan patted him on the shoulder and said to Song Mingzhu, "I'll leave this place to you for now. I need to go to 'Yanlai Peak' immediately." (End of Chapter)