Chapter 115: The Advantage Is Ours! Charge, Brothers!
At the foot of Crimson Moon Mountain, as the players launched their charge, both the Great Ape Gang members still preparing for battle in front of the bridge and Xia Ling, who was already prepared, were shocked by the madness of the players.
“Are these people not planning to keep their lives?”
Xia Ling watched as players, with no formation to speak of, directly rushed at the Great Ape Gang, and her mind went blank.
Although Lin Qi had previously made it clear that the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall would fight to the death, this way of fighting to the death was truly eye-opening.
Originally, the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall did not have many people, barely fewer than one hundred in total, while the Great Ape Gang had as many as fifteen hundred. With such a huge disparity in numbers between enemy and ally.
Normally, people would choose to hold their ground, specifically selecting mountain paths unsuitable for dozens of people to fight in groups to block the enemy. This would maximize the suppression of the Great Ape Gang’s numerical advantage and also allow the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall disciples to leverage their strength advantage to continuously wear down the Great Ape Gang.
As long as the Great Ape Gang was worn down to the point where they could no longer endure, the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall would win.
But what was happening now?
They were fighting in such a vast area at the foot of the mountain, without even a basic formation. Each one held a saber, spear, sword, or halberd, with not a single person carrying a shield standing in the front row to defend against arrows.
How was this like a gang war at all? It was basically thugs brawling.
“Gang leader, I do not know what these people from the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall are trying to do. Should we meet them with arrows?” Vice Gang Leader Qi Ke looked at the charging players, momentarily unsure what to do.
Before preparing to attack Crimson Moon Mountain, they had already made all kinds of mental preparations to engage the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall in a war of attrition along the mountain paths. Even if the casualties were severe, they had to take Crimson Moon Mountain.
But with the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall disciples taking the initiative to rush up, he truly did not know how to respond.
“No matter what the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall is trying to do, today they will only die.” Gang Leader Watu swept his gaze over the players now less than five hundred meters away and ordered, “All elders lead your teams forward to meet the enemy. Archers, use B2-grade arrows for a wave of concentrated fire to reduce their numbers first. Once engaged, all archers spread out to snipe. Do not give them a chance to get close!”
Although Watu did not understand what Lin Qi wanted to do, he was very clear that none of those who rushed up today should think about surviving.
With Watu’s command, the fifteen hundred plus members of the Great Ape Gang suddenly moved like a well-trained army. Twenty-two quasi-martial artist level elders each led a ten-man vanguard team. These vanguard teams were led by limit apprentices, assisted by two advanced apprentices. Each of these three held an A6-grade alloy great shield, while the remaining members all carried A6-grade spears.
A full twenty-two vanguard teams, under the leadership of the Great Ape Gang elders, stood at the very front. Great shields as tall as a person slammed into the ground, forming a steel wall over a hundred meters long.
Behind the wall stood Great Ape Gang members holding custom long spears. These special spears were over four meters in length; anyone daring to cross the shields would be met with a collective thrust from at least a dozen spears. Even a limit apprentice would find it hard to withstand.
Immediately behind them were over five hundred archers, grouped in tens, each group led by an advanced apprentice. The others coordinated with the attacks of the advanced apprentice to maximize their shooting effectiveness. With B2-grade arrows, even a limit apprentice wearing A6-grade armor could be killed in one careless moment.
As the Great Ape Gang’s formation rapidly unfolded, everyone watching the battle could not help but marvel at the Great Ape Gang’s foundation and formation.
“With such well-trained gang members, they could practically rival those gangs in the suburbs. It seems the Great Ape Gang’s ambition is not small.” On the mountainside, Flo looked at the formation of the Great Ape Gang, his expression extremely grim.
A well-trained army that understood cooperation could often easily kill opponents above their level, especially when their weapons and equipment were complete. The Great Ape Gang at this moment was exactly such a force.
Even though more than half of the Great Ape Gang members were ordinary people, with advanced apprentices and limit apprentices mixed in, supported by the ordinary members, killing limit apprentices and quasi-martial artists was not difficult. After all, limit apprentices and quasi-martial artists were still human, still flesh and blood. They did not have the steel hide and iron bones of monsters and were not immune to ordinary weapons.
At this moment, the ninety disciples of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall were indeed extraordinary in strength. There were as many as sixty apprentices at advanced level and above. So many high-end combat forces, placed among the wilderness gangs of the City of Light Chasing, could rank in the top thirty.
But in the face of such an army, it was hard for them to have much effect.
“A rabble. First volley, fire!” Vice Gang Leader Qi Ke looked at the players who had already rushed within three hundred meters, his gaze full of disdain, and gave a sharp wave.
Suddenly, over five hundred archers loosed a volley at the same time.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Like raindrops, the arrows, with sounds of tearing through the air, fell toward the players. Among them, more than fifty arrows were made of B2-grade alloy. A6-grade armor could not block them at all. Mixed within the many arrows, they were impossible to distinguish.
“This arrow curtain is so cool! So many arrows, how many points is that!”
“Arrows are coming! I can already smell the scent of points. The advantage is ours. Charge, brothers!”
“Tell me, with so many arrows coming at once, if we stand here a bit longer, will they shoot a few more waves?”
“Genius! How did I not think of that? Then let us stand a while longer. An A6-grade arrow can be sold to the hall for three hundred points. With so many A6-grade arrows, that is one hundred and fifty thousand points. If we get a few more waves and bundle them together, I think I could add a second floor to my house on Crimson Moon Mountain.”
Some players looked at the more than five hundred arrows flying toward them and not only showed no panic but instead revealed ecstatic smiles. One after another, they stood where they were, quietly waiting for the arrows to arrive.
“Are those people crazy? The arrow rain is upon them, and they are still not dodging?”
This scene left both the vagrants observing the battlefield from afar and the Great Ape Gang members utterly baffled. Faced with such an arrow rain, they still stood there and even had the leisure to chat?
“Old Zhen, how about we wait as well?” Yi Ye Fu Yun glanced at the dozen free players waiting in place and could not help hesitating.
“Wait my ass.” Fang Zhen, who had used Leopard Shadow Steps Second Level: Hunting Shadow, said disdainfully, “Arrows are worth nothing. Did you not see what those three vice gang leaders in front are wearing? That is A6-grade battle armor. Even if you get turned into a hedgehog by those B2-grade arrows, you will not earn enough points to exchange for a set of A6-grade battle armor.”
“No wonder my big sister ran so fast and did not even glance at the B2-grade arrows. If this battle armor is sold, our team will be able to afford Second Level breathing techniques and inner disciple outfits for everyone.” Yi Ye Fu Yun suddenly understood and felt ashamed of himself, realizing he had been distracted by the wealth in front of him and had completely forgotten about the biggest loot of this war.
After the High Martial Arts Descend update brought a major system overhaul, the Startling Spirit Breathing Technique was completely reworked. Although the difficulty of learning it had greatly increased, many stages were simplified, and the improvement speed became extremely fast.
The First Level corresponded to below martial artist level, and the Second Level corresponded to the advancement of martial artists. Without the Second Level breathing technique, according to Hall Master Lin Qi, one could not perform the cultivation exercises required for martial artist advancement. It could be said this was an essential cultivation method after ascending a rank.
And redeeming the Second Level of the Startling Spirit Breathing Technique had become much more expensive than before, requiring a full two hundred thousand points.
As for the previous cultivation method card bug, it had been fixed by the game manufacturer, or rather, it was ineffective for martial artist-level cultivation methods according to the hall’s latest rules.
Any martial arts hall disciple at the martial artist level who was found not to have purchased the corresponding breathing technique from the hall would face severe consequences.
The first time, they would be fined one hundred thousand points and also required to pay the relevant study points. The second time, they would be directly expelled from the hall.
This made many players who had originally wanted to exploit the bug give up on private borrowing. After all, earning points was now much easier than before, and the stronger one was, the faster they could earn points. There was no need to skimp on such points and risk having their accounts wiped.
While Fang Zhen and Yi Ye Fu Yun were talking, the first wave of arrows arrived in front of everyone.
Clang… clang… clang…
In an instant, more than five hundred metallic impacts and scraping sounds echoed from the center of the battlefield. All the arrows were blocked by the ninety players present and fell to the ground. Even the B2-grade arrows, with their astonishing penetration, were no exception.
“Th-this… how is this possible!”
At this moment, everyone present—everyone except Lin Qi, that is—was shocked by this scene.
A volley of more than five hundred arrows, yet among the ninety people from the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, not only was no one injured, not even a bit of skin was scratched. Every arrow had been blocked. This completely shattered everyone’s understanding of arrows.
“How exactly did the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall cultivate so many experts?”
Flo on the mountainside stared at the arrows scattered across the battlefield, his mouth hanging open.
Using weapons to block arrows was not difficult for an expert. As long as the eyesight was sharp enough and the body’s reactions were fast enough, it could be done.
The Green Sparrow Gang even had several such experts who, even when facing the shots of several apprentices of the same level, could block them all and were overwhelmingly strong among their peers.
But for everyone in the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall to be like this was simply terrifying.
“The Obsidian Martial Arts Hall is rather interesting.” Even Estina, who normally did not care about battles, could not help but look twice at the players on the battlefield, beginning to understand why Xia Ling would befriend the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.
A martial arts hall capable of cultivating so many experts clearly had considerable means in training talent. If one could cultivate a large number of trusted subordinates of this caliber, it would be extremely useful both for an individual and for a faction.
“Gang leader, what do we do now? The other side is full of experts!” Vice Gang Leader Qi Ke, looking at the unscathed players, was shocked and could not help but ask Gang Leader Watu.
The Great Ape Gang did not have anywhere near this many experts with such extraordinary reactions. If they really fought these experts to the death, the losses would definitely be severe.
“No wonder they dared to provoke our Great Ape Gang. So this is the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall’s confidence.” Gang Leader Watu’s expression also turned ugly. Experts with such astonishing reactions could gain an enormous advantage against opponents of the same level and usually required several times as many peers to counter and kill. Watu gritted his teeth and said, “Kill! Have the vanguard entangle them while the others look for openings. I must take Crimson Moon Mountain today!”
“Yes!”
After hearing this, Vice Gang Leader Qi Ke immediately ordered the vanguard to advance, preparing to engage the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall in a war of attrition.
The Great Ape Gang’s vanguard then turned into a steel wall, advancing toward the players in an orderly fashion, while the main force followed behind, ready to fill any gaps.
“Once we get close, shields form groups of three to surround those limit apprentices and quasi-martial artists. Do not let those experts break into the rear line!” The Great Ape Gang elders present all issued their commands.
In an instant, each Great Ape Gang limit apprentice and advanced apprentice wielding a great shield formed groups of three, surrounding the limit apprentice and quasi-martial artist players at the forefront.
A6-grade great shields normally could not be damaged even by a limit quasi-martial artist using an A6-grade weapon. Under the encirclement of three advanced apprentices, even a quasi-martial artist would fall into a bitter struggle, unable to effectively break the shields while being susceptible to sneak attacks from the other two.
As the twenty-two vanguard teams, led by the twenty-two quasi-martial artist elders, surrounded Luo Wu Shang and the other nineteen, the twenty players present did not even bother to use their weapons. One after another, they slammed their palms onto the great shields.
Martial artist-level martial skill: Lightning Palm.
With the added power of Lightning Palm doubling their strength, every player above limit apprentice level unleashed nearly three thousand kilograms of penetrating lightning force.
Bang!
Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
In an instant, the Great Ape Gang experts holding great shields were like people ramming into trucks with shields. Twenty of them were sent flying more than ten meters on the spot, crashing into the members behind them. Not only were many others injured, but the arms holding the shields were all shattered and deformed. Miserable screams echoed across the battlefield.
