Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

Jiang Ding looked at the group of arrows flying toward him.

They hadn't reached the speed of sound, so they could be avoided, and the initial movements of these stockade fighters were so obvious that there was ample time for him to predict their attacks in advance.

With a tap of his foot, his Inner Energy circulated through his body in a specific complex pattern, and his form glided like a shadow, avoiding most of the crossbow bolts.

Step Sword Form!

A few unavoidable bolts remained, but Jiang Ding drew his sword, and a flash of Sword-light passed, breaking the bolts into pieces along with their shadows.

"Shoot! Keep shooting!"

Zhou Kun felt a chill run down his spine and yelled repeatedly.

Such speed.

It far exceeded that of any opponent he had faced in all his years, unheard of – if he were to face him alone, he wouldn't even have the chance to react!

The stockade fighters fumbled to load their crossbows, but it was already too late.

Jiang Ding took the initiative to charge into the dense army formation, and in an instant, seven or eight long spears thrust out quickly, while several stockade fighters who had practiced the ground blade technique rolled on the ground, swinging their gleaming blades forcefully towards his legs.

"Those who block me will die!"

Jiang Ding exclaimed sharply, his voice clearly reaching the ears of everyone around him.

With a swing of his sword, seven or eight spear shafts broke and flew away, he took a step back, then swung his sword again.

Thud!

Four rolling heads took flight, blood spraying several inches high, staining the earth red.

Before the stockade fighters in the back could react, Jiang Ding made another swift advance. His sword blade, dotted with points of White light, danced, and the throats of seven or eight spear-wielding fighters chilled as their bodies slumped softly to the ground.

Too fast!

Just the time for two breaths, one step back, one step forward, eleven or twelve capable stockade fighters were already dead, their numbers reduced by one-sixth.

The remaining stockade fighters paused, looking fearfully at the youth in blue clothes ahead and the disappearing sword shadows behind him.

Regardless of their response, Jiang Ding simply plunged his sword into their midst – now advancing, now retreating, his form was as elusive as a ghost, the Sword-light danced among them, and bursts of blood blossomed in succession.

Lives withered away.

No matter how the leaders tried to encircle and outflank him, they were never able to surround him, only to watch helplessly as the Sword-light reaped lives.

"He's not human!"

"Ghosts, those children turned into ghosts to seek revenge..."

Many stockade fighters grew cold with fear, retreating continuously as their high morale, built up from anger and grief, rapidly collapsed, and the dense Shield Wall began to scatter.

"Follow me!"

Zhou Kun knew that this situation couldn't continue; with a low shout, he gripped a pair of heavy octagonal copper hammers and lunged out under the cover of the surrounding stockade fighters' forest of spears, smashing his chain of double hammers down.

"Cloak Eight Hammers!"

Jiang Ding cut through seven or eight long spears with his sword and was about to slice through their throats when a pair of watermelon-sized octagonal copper hammers obstructed his sword tip with utmost precision.

Clang!

In the clash of sword and hammer, Jiang Ding used the momentum to retreat, only to find the relentless hammers pursuing him, forcing him to ward them off with his sword as he retreated step by step.

"Second in command, mighty and fierce!"

Surrounding stockade fighters cheered upon seeing this, desperately thrusting their long spears to obstruct and protect the flanks, while the two leaders at the Internal Qi Realm occasionally struck suddenly from the side.

Jiang Ding was forced to retreat continuously, soon arriving at the edge of the cliff.

"Kill! Avenge our chieftain!"

Zhou Kun roared excitedly, the Cloak Eight Hammers smashing down in a more intense and exhilarating sequence, feeling a breakthrough in his hammer technique that had been bottlenecked for years under the pressure of a formidable enemy.

Jiang Ding frowned.

If it were just Zhou Kun and his pair of copper hammers, he could have taken his life with a slight delay in his attack; there were too many openings.

But with the addition of the nearby dozen stockade fighters stabbing down with long spears, along with occasional patches from the two clan leaders, all openings disappeared, turning into an opponent far more terrifying than Lu Jingtian, Yang Dongsheng, and the others combined.

In his retreat, Jiang Ding's foot stepped into the void.

"Kill!"

Zhou Kun's eyes shone brilliantly as he bellowed, all his Inner Energy and vitality gathered into his hammers, their glow almost becoming solid as they hammered down like Mount Tai on that handsome head!

The other fighting chiefs yelled simultaneously, each unleashing their strongest strike – knife, spear, sword, and halberd.

However, the hesitation and pause in their anticipated missteps did not occur.

Jiang Ding moved with light steps, graceful like a bird, and floated down the cliff, evading the attacks of the copper hammers and other weapons, which hit nothing but air.

"Shoot arrows!"

Zhou Kun and the two house-heads' faces turned pale.

Whoosh whoosh!

Over ten hamlet chiefs readied their bowstrings and shot arrows, which swooped down like locusts.

But the youth in blue clothes lightly tapped his toes, treating the sheer cliff as if it were flat ground, stepping on cypress branches and rocky outcrops—his figure flashed several times, dodging most of the arrows, and easily blocked the rest.

After a few breaths, he turned around a corner of the cliff, and his figure vanished from sight.

The hamlet warriors notched their bows and shot again, but they could only hit a cluster of bushes.

"Useless things!"

Zhou Kun, furious, smashed his copper hammers hard onto the rocks, sparks flying in all directions, breaking a huge boulder of about a zhang in size and sending it rolling down the cliff, with a trace of red in his eyes: "Having let this thief escape, how can I face Uncle Lu in the netherworld?"

"The thief is too cunning; the second house-head need not blame himself too much…"

Downhill Tiger Lang Yi and Scorpion-tailed Tiger Xu Erniang quickly offered consolation.

"Ah!"

A scream interrupted their conversation.

The three of them turned abruptly to see a hamlet warrior with a long spear, pierced through the chest by an arrow, his face full of terror, collapsing powerlessly as his blood soaked the ground.

"Ah!"

"Save me!"

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Continually, arrows shot at them, and these hamlet warriors, below the Internal Qi Realm, had no strength to defend themselves, and screams rose and fell.

Around a cliff corner, Jiang Ding nocked an arrow with calm expression and shot it.

Not very accurate, he had aimed at one person, but the arrow deviated several meters off course, despite it being only a short sixty to seventy meters—such shooting would be laughable in a school setting.

There was no help for it; cold weapons were unpopular enough, and archery was completely out of interest.

Fortunately, that didn't affect hitting the target.

These hamlet warriors were clustered in tight formations, and so bunched together, it was difficult to miss.

Whoosh whoosh!

With each arrow that flew, a hamlet warrior died. Those skilled in archery among the leaders retaliated, only to find in despair that their opponent could simply duck behind the cliff to evade them all.

Even if they did occasionally hit, he could deflect it with a casual swing of his sword.

This feeling of being able to be hit without being able to fight back was despairing, and morale crumbled rapidly.

"Don't panic, raise shields! Come behind me!"

Zhou Kun smashed a flying arrow heading towards him with a hammer and yelled with a hint of fear on his face.

His words had some effect. The hamlet warriors gathered behind the shield bearers, and one by one they raised their round shields, erecting a shield wall in front of everyone.

Jiang Ding, with an unchanged expression, switched to another position, drawing the bowstring fully.

Whoosh!

The arrow, much faster than before, hit the shield wall, piercing through a round shield and pinning a warrior behind it, who had been wielding a shield.

Silence fell over the army formation.

"Run!"

"If we stay, we'll all die!"

The tight army formation collapsed with a thunderous crash, and the hamlet warriors fled frantically in all directions. Zhou Kun and the other three house-heads cut down many people, but it was of no use. In a short time, only a few lone figures remained.

Zhou Kun and the other two's expressions suddenly changed, and they ran quickly in the direction of the crowd, blending in with them.

Their steps halted abruptly, showing faces of despair.

"Don't..."

The youth in blue clothes, appearing out of nowhere in the midst of the fleeing crowd, moved against the flow, holding a longsword, walking towards them.