Chapter 923 - Battle of Great Generals! (II)
Chapter 923: Battle of Great Generals! (II)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“You’ve come at just the right time! Let’s decide who’s the better of us once and for all!”
Dusong Mangpoje’s cold and unyielding voice resounded over the battlefield.
Gao Xianzhi said nothing, allowing his actions to answer for him.
Boom!
With a single slash of his sword, Gao Xianzhi cleaved apart the air, a majestic stream of Sword Qi forcing Dusong Mangpoje’s black Buddha ten-some zhang back. But with a howl and rumble, Dusong Mangpoje lunged forward once more. In a flash, the battlefield was quaking with their thunderous collisions.
Wang Chong versus Duwu Sili, Cheng Qianli versus Huoshu Huicang, Gao Xianzhi versus Dusong Mangpoje… in the blink of an eye, the Talas battlefield was playing host to a fierce melee of six experts of the Great General level, with destructive torrents of energy running rampant.
But this was not even the end of it!
Roooar!
A heaven-shaking roar came from the first defense line as a third god appeared on the battlefield, equipped with shining golden armor. The enormous being immediately forced countless Arab soldiers back in fright, their horses so frightened that some of them even threw off their riders.
But Wang Yan’s Mighty Miracle God did not enter the fray, only stared at the distant Abu Muslim and intimidated the Arab warriors.
On the Great Tang side, there were only four people who could raise their strength to the Great General level, and Wang Yan was one of them. Battles between Great Generals were incredibly impactful battles and not to be taken lightly, which was why Wang Yan had not actually entered the battle.
Meanwhile, the battle in the east was continuing to intensify.
While Wang Chong, Duwu Sili, and the other Great-General-level figures were fighting and Li Siye was staving off the Mutri Great Cavalry, the rest of the Tibetan and Turkic cavalry had gone around the area where the six Great Generals were fighting and begun to charge at the line formed by Sun Zhiming, Zhuang Zhengping, and the other officers.
At the same time, the nearly one hundred thousand soldiers led by Xue Qianjun and Xu Keyi were continuing to constrict the encirclement, cutting down more and more of the encircled Tibetans and Turks.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Thick ballista bolts howled through the air, and countless Tibetans and Turks screamed as they were cut down by Xu Keyi’s ballista teams. By now, nearly thirty thousand Tibetans and Turks had fallen, their blood flowing like rivers through the battlefield.
“Brat! I don’t believe that I can’t kill you today!”
In the sky, Duwu Sili’s furious roar was like a peal of thunder. His enormous black steed was shuttling through the air like a thunderbolt, attacking Wang Chong’s Godking Yama from every direction. Thunderclouds formed from Stellar Energy had gathered around it, hiding Duwu Sili within them. His black halberd that was thicker than a child’s arm was constantly jabbing and thrusting, moving as if it was as light as a feather, but every strike contained enough power to sunder mountains.
As one of the best Great Generals, Duwu Sili made each move with extreme proficiency, none of them made with excessive strength and all of them lethal. But no matter how fast Duwu Sili was, how crafty the angle of attack, or how much power was contained in the strike, the four arms of the Yama blocked them all.
Duwu Sili had never encountered this sort of situation. Wang Chong had barely met the strength requirements of the Great General level, essentially occupying the lowest level, while Duwu Sili was far above him, someone who had even defeated Beiting Protector-General An Sishun.
However, despite using all his techniques, Duwu Sili could not win against this young upstart.
Wang Chong’s strength was not large, but every one of his moves struck Duwu Sili’s blows at their weakest points. At times, Wang Chong would nullify a technique before it had even been fully expressed. Duwu Sili was the Celestial Wolf Great General, one of the three strongest Great Generals of the Western Turkic Khaganate, a powerful existence that even Ishbara Khagan treated with great regard, but in what should have been an easy battle, he found his strength completely sealed.
Boomboomboom!
One stream of destructive energy after another exploded in the air. Duwu Sili gave a superb display of skill, his attacks enough to topple any ordinary Imperial Great General, but Wang Chong managed to neutralize every single one of them.
“Duwu Sili, it’s not that I’m looking down on you. You just don’t have the ability!”
Wang Chong’s light chuckle resounded in Duwu Sili’s ears. During this entire battle, Wang Chong had been completely at ease.
“Brat, by provoking me, you truly are suicidal!!”
Duwu Sili was even more incensed at Wang Chong’s words. Whether in age, seniority, or qualifications, Duwu Sili was far above some young rising star of the Great Tang like Wang Chong. He had made his name many years ago, and he was acknowledged to be a powerful existence who could lord over many other Great Generals. Tiger of the Empire Zhangchou Jianqiong, Big Dipper Great General Geshu Han, and Beiting Protector-General An Sishun were all weaker than him. The only people in the Great Tang capable of suppressing him were probably Andong Protector-General Zhang Shougui and former Great Tang War God—current Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian—Wang Zhongsi.
If it weren’t for the fact that Wang Chong had defeated Dalun Ruozan in the war of the southwest, defeated Dusong Mangpoje at the battle of the triangular gap, and killed the Black Wolf Yabgu Agudu Lan of the Western Turks, Duwu Sili wouldn’t have given him a second glance. To Duwu Sili, Wang Chong was truly nothing more than some ‘nameless soldier’.
“Haha, then do your best to display your true capabilities!”
Wang Chong’s loud voice echoed over the battlefield. Boom! At this moment, one of the Godking Yama’s black arms turned and blocked another one of Duwu Sili’s thunderous blows. Another one of its arms raised a golden vajra pestle and swept forward to smash Duwu Sili’s steed.
The Godking Yama’s four arms allowed it to defend and attack at the same time, making it the best of the ten God Formations to deal with Duwu Sili.
Buzz!
Though infuriated, Duwu Sili was forced to beat a hasty retreat, falling back twenty-some zhang.
Even Wang Chong couldn’t help but sigh with praise at this sight. The Celestial Wolf’s Divine Procession was truly a mysterious technique. He couldn’t help but slightly covet this mystical technique that could allow one to fly in the air along with one’s horse, so one could easily imagine what others felt. Alas, even though so many martial arts manuals had been gathered during the calamity, the Celestial Wolf’s Divine Procession had not been among them.
The Celestial Wolf’s Divine Procession did not truly allow one to fly, only increased the height and duration of one’s jumps. It was better suited on the battlefield, and a part of the power that allowed one to jump so high came from using the enemy’s strength. Still, the Celestial Wolf’s Divine Procession was an extremely mystical technique.
The Celestial Wolf’s Divine Procession allowed one’s movements to be unpredictable. This ability, combined with Duwu Sili’s formidable power and superb techniques, could make any Imperial Great General feel a deep apprehension. If anyone except Wang Chong had come forward to stop the Celestial Wolf Great General, they would have been heavily injured or killed.
The waves of the river behind drive on those before, as do the new generations replace the old. I worried that he didn’t have enough strength for this mission, but it now seems that I was lucky it was him. Anyone else, even an equal in terms of strategy, would find it very difficult to stop Duwu Sili!
While Gao Xianzhi was still locked in fierce combat with Dusong Mangpoje, he had still been paying close attention to Wang Chong. Although Wang Chong’s understanding of the art of war stood above his peers like the noon sun, his grasp of martial arts remained a mystery. Gao Xianzhi had originally believed that Wang Chong would be in great danger by clashing with Duwu Sili, but it was now apparent that he could rest easy.
His understanding of the military arts was formidable, as were his martial arts!
“Gao Xianzhi, rather than worrying about the new Qixi Protector-General, you should spend more time worrying about yourself!” A voice tinged with fury interrupted Gao Xianzhi’s thoughts. “The Great Tang’s defeat is certain in this battle! After this, all the land between Longxi and the Cong Mountains will belong to Ü-Tsang!”
The words still hung in the air as the black-skinned Buddha sent a mountain-shattering palm at Gao Xianzhi’s head.
Though this was not Dusong Mangpoje’s first time fighting with Gao Xianzhi, that Gao Xianzhi still had the nerve to pay attention to Wang Chong’s battle had infuriated Dusong Mangpoje.
“Haha, the ravings of a madman! After this battle, I would more like to know whether Ü-Tsang will have anything left in the north to even fight with! Of the Four Royal Lineages of the Ü-Tsang Empire, only two might be left!” Gao Xianzhi chortled.
“You!!”
Enraged, Dusong Mangpoje sent his enormous palm shooting even faster toward Gao Xianzhi.
Buzz!
In the face of this astonishing strike, Gao Xianzhi’s face was as unperturbed as an ancient well. With a slight wave of his sword, the air boomed and a magnificent bolt of Sword Qi slashed through the skies. Bang! Fierce gales of wind swept in all directions, even blowing away the corpses on the ground.
At the center of this tempest, Gao Xianzhi stood unmoving, but Dusong Mangpoje’s black Buddha took two steps back.
Dusong Mangpoje’s pupils slightly constricted at this sight, but he immediately lunged back into the fray. On the other end, Huoshu Huicang was also engaged in battle. The Vairocana Buddha was a veritable sun, its moves open and forthright, each strike of its palms leaving massive holes in the ground.
Huoshu Huicang was quite experienced in dealing with God Formations by now. Each of his moves was leisurely and confident, able to slowly force his opponent back. However, the Supreme Desolation God, the mighty formation of the Anxi Protectorate army, was a completely new experience.
The chains wrapped around Cheng Qianli’s Supreme Desolation God seemed to have a life of their own, constantly attacking and wrapping around Huoshu Huicang’s joints. The Vairocana Buddha felt restrained and unable to express its full power.