Nine Astra Skies

“They knew it would be suicidal but still chose to play the hero. Their courage is somewhat admirable but how dare a puny Ye Clan go against our Nanman Kingdom cavalry? They don’t want their lives!” Wei Guyan snorted in derision. With a wave of his right hand, a few messenger soldiers waved huge flags in their hands and the battle horn resounded in the air.

Two hundred thousand horsemen, split into eight teams, swarmed toward Ye Zhantian and the others from every direction.

The cavalry was made up of the elites of the Nanman Kingdom. Even the most basic horsemen were at least Fifth Level and above. Some of the captains and centurions were of Sixth Level, Seventh Level or even Eighth Level. The lieutenants were Ninth Level combatants. The armor on their bodies was made from Dark Xuan-iron, which was unmistakably strong. Unless Ye Zhantian and his men had a large number of Tier One spirit artifact weapons, it would be impossible to cut into these armors.

“Kill!” Wei Guyan growled. The moment the commanding flag fell, the entire Nanman Kingdom cavalry descended like a torrent of water and rushed forward with spears raised high in their hands.

“Kill!”

“Kill!”

“Kill!”

The Nanman Kingdom cavalry let out an ear splitting war cry that shook the earth. Such a massive scale of attack would cause even a Heavenly Venerable One to feel frightened.

These Nanman Kingdom horsemen were well-trained. Eight teams formed a massive square formation.

Seeing the Nanman Kingdom cavalry heading toward them, Ye Zhantian knew that the Nanman Kingdom had already decided to attack.

“Men of Xiwu Empire, kill!” Ye Zhantian roared. His gaze roamed in a distance. He could see the war flag waving on the distant mountain but he could not spot where the commander was. If he could pinpoint the commander’s location, he could kill the commander and create a miracle. However, how could a Nanman Kingdom commander be found so easily?

Moreover, if Ye Zhantian were to leave on his Ashen Condor right now, it would be a huge blow to the psyche of the combatants below. Therefore, he must remain here and fight alongside them.

A team of horsemen had already clashed with the evacuees. Instantly, the cavalry was like a meat grinder. Countless bodies fell dead to the ground and many people were torn in half by the spears.

Many of the evacuees spontaneously picked up weapons such as steel knives and spears, and rushed headfirst into the horsemen.

“Clang clang clang.” Their weapons slashed against the Nanman Kingdom horsemen but they could hardly make a dent in these horsemen’s armors.

“Rip rip rip.” The next moment, their bodies were pierced by spears and trampled by the passing Nightwinds.

Wherever the horsemen rode, dead bodies were turned into mince.

“Grandfather, Grandfather, I’m scared.” among the chaotic civilians, the little girl named Little Wen squealed in terror but her voice was drowned out by the crowd.

The old man held the little girl in a deathly tight grip and looked up into the sky. He saw that horsemen were closing in on them from every direction and that Ye Zhantian and the others were engaged in battle. At this moment, no one could save them.

Little Wen was suddenly knocked sprawling to the ground. She raised her head and saw that a group of evacuees had separated her from her grandfather. She cried out and was about to rush back into his arms when she saw a Nanman Kingdom horseman drive a spear into her grandfather’s chest. Fresh blood squirted into the air and for a moment, Little Wen’s entire world turned crimson.

The evacuees were running around in chaos but the Nanman Kingdom cavalry remained in perfect formation. Like a gigantic machine, they efficiently killed every person around them. Ye Zhantian and the others were also caught in a vicious battle. Fortunately, most of them consisted of Seventh and Eighth Level combatants and above, and they managed to assemble a group formation. Faced against such a large number of horsemen, they of course, sustained heavy losses. Yet, the horsemen would not be able to break through their defenses for some time.

Ye Zhantian commanded all the Ashen Condors in the sky to swoop down. “Bang bang bang”, hundreds of horsemen were sent flying into the air.

An extensive battle began. Due to the fierce resistance put up by these death warriors, the horsemen stopped killing the civilians to surround them.

The prairie was stained crimson with fresh blood. Spilled blood flowed along the ground surface and slowly seeped into the soil. The sky was filled with the stench of death.

Ye Chen soared across the sky on his Golden Sun Condor with his Astral Body completely projected outward. Ever since he had achieved mid-Heavenly Venerable Rank, Ye Chen’s Astral Body was able to cover a radius of more than twenty-five kilometers. Using his Astral Body tracking abilities, Ye Chen found traces of battle.

Everywhere, there were dead evacuees along the way. Ye Chen immediately urged the Golden Sun Condor to follow the trail of dead bodies.

Ye Chen could not estimate how many people had died along the way. Besides the evacuees, there were also corpses belonging to the Nanman Kingdom cavalry as well as martial art practitioners from the Xiwu Empire.

Ye Chen’s Astral Body landed beside a dead body. This body had been pierced by thirteen spears but around him laid hundreds of slain Nanman Kingdom cavalry horsemen.

When Ye Chen looked at the dead body properly, his face turned pale and his eyes were filled with rage. He recognized the dead body as a Ye Clan member from the Zhan cohort. This man was called Ye Zhanlie and was Ye Chen’s uncle.

Ye Zhanlie’s body had been pierced by so many spears that his corpse stood upright, supported by the spears. The howling wind sounded like a mournful sob grieving for him.

The fact that Ye Chen’s father and the others did not take the time to collect this dead body showed how precarious their situation was.

“Grandruler Tuoba Hongye of the Nanman Kingdom, I, Ye Chen, swear vengeance over this sea of blood. One day, I’ll go to the capital of the Nanman Kingdom and settle this with you!” The veins on Ye Chen’s arms protruded visibly as his heart was filled with anguish and righteous indignation. “Uncle Ye Zhanlie, let me rescue Father and the others first. I’ll come back and lay you to rest properly!”

The Golden Sun Condor swept into the air and disappeared completely into the horizon.

After six hours, Ye Chen’s Astral Body had arrived at Xilin Prairie. The chaotic battle came into his view.

By now, the battle had been going on for some time. The Nanman Kingdom cavalry had withdrawn slightly and was patrolling from afar, gearing up for the next wave of attack.

Ye Zhantian looked around. Out of more than six thousand warriors, over two thousand had been killed, and the rest of them were exhausted. Although they had managed to kill more than five thousand Nanman Kingdom horsemen, there were at least two hundred thousand more behind them!

“I’m afraid we can only hold on for two more days. If the Nanman Kingdom cavalry continues to attack without any rest, then we won’t be able to survive even one day!” Ye Zhantian frowned and stared into the distance. He saw that the Nanman Kingdom cavalry had rearranged themselves into a perfect formation once again.

“As our Commander Wei said before, we respect all of you as heroes. If you’re willing to surrender to the Nanman Kingdom, we’ll reward you handsomely,” a centurion from the Nanman Kingdom declared loudly.

“You want us to surrender? Impossible!” A burly lad growled.

“We’d rather die than surrender!”

Everyone’s voices erupted in unison. Those who wanted to surrender had already done so much earlier. Why would they wait until now to surrender? As for those who had held on to this point and willingly engaged in a deadly battle, who among them was not a valiant hero willing to die fighting?

Many of their wives and sons and daughters as well as fathers and mothers had been slaughtered by the Nanman Kingdom cavalry. If they surrendered to the Nanman Kingdom, how could they ever face their dead relatives?

“I, Ye Clan of Donglin, would rather die than surrender!”

“I, Xu Clan of Donglin, would rather die than surrender!”

The people led by Ye Zhantian mostly hailed from various martial art families. The martial art families had been supporting each other along the way and banded together. It was impossible for them to leave their clans and surrender to the Nanman Kingdom.

Under Ye Zhantian’s command, the death warriors had formed a circle. Those who were at the brink of exhaustion sat in the middle to rest while those who were still energetic formed a circle around them to defend against the next wave of attack. Ye Zhantian was prepared to fight a prolonged battle with these Nanman Kingdom cavalries.

“Retrieve the corpses of the Nanman Kingdom horsemen and their horses, and stack them in front!” Ye Zhantian commanded loudly. Under his instruction, the people got busy. Utilizing the momentarily lull in the battle, they carried the dead bodies of the horsemen and their horses, and used them to build an outer wall several meters tall. This outer wall would effectively block the attacks of the cavalry.

“Without two days’ time, don’t even dream of defeating us. Even if all of us are killed, we’ll drag a few hundred thousand of your horsemen to our graves!” Ye Zhantian looked at the neatly arranged cavalry formation with a steel glint in his eyes.

Just as Ye Zhantian was preparing to face the next wave of attacks, a strange sensation erupted in his heart. There was a sense of familiarity that resonated from his soul. He looked into the distance and saw, amid the clear skies, a Golden Sun Condor chirruping shrilly and flying toward him at top speed.

“It’s Little Chen!” Ye Zhantian’s heart was filled with excitement.

“What’s that?” Spotting the joyous look on Ye Zhantian’s face, Xu Jian and the other combatants followed his gaze and saw a Golden Sun Condor flying toward them.

Good lord, that was a Heavenly Adept mystical beast, Golden Sun Condor!

On the back of the Golden Sun Condor stood two silhouettes.

“Brother Ye, who is that?” Xu Jian and the others asked fervently. Anyone who could steer a Heavenly Adept mystical beast such as this Golden Sun Condor was certainly extraordinary. Could this person be the fabled Ye Clan ancestor?

“It’s my son, Ye Chen!” Ye Zhantian declared proudly.

Ye Chen? The prodigy who was taken in as Master Apothecary Xuanyi’s disciple? Logically speaking, Ye Chen’s cultivation level should be around the legendary Tenth Level at most, how could he tame a Heavenly Adept mystical beast? Everyone was puzzled but nonetheless excited about the arrival of a highly-skilled reinforcement.

Ye Chen’s Astral Body swept through the area and saw his father, fourth uncle, and the others. They had formed a circle and stacked a large number of dead bodies around them. They had already endured a brutal battle. Outside, the Nanman Kingdom cavalry had assumed a neat formation around them. Further away, there were tightly packed groups of evacuees. In some spots, dead bodies of civilians littered the ground. Most likely, they had been slaughtered by the Nanman Kingdom cavalry!

The Nanman Kingdom cavalry was at least two hundred thousand strong!

“Little Wingsy, you’ll protect Father and the others! No matter what happens, you must protect them!” Ye Chen said in a deep voice.

“Yes, I’ll go now.”

The Golden Sun Condor flew past Ye Zhantian and the others and Little Wingsy jumped down.