The Final Battle (Part 2)

Commander had anticipated that Liu Rengui would attack this force, so he had ordered the Commander of the Northern Route Army to remain on high alert from the very beginning.

Because of this, the Western Kang troops had been extremely cautious throughout the journey, never removing their armor, which naturally slowed their pace and gave Liu Rengui ample time.

After being split and surrounded, most of the Western Kang troops did not panic too much and quickly formed defensive formations.

However, once Xia Luqi and his men joined the fray, the scales of victory began to tip.

In less than half an hour, the first surrounded group of Western Kang troops was wiped out. Xia Luqi did not pause, leading his men to charge toward the next encirclement.

Seeing his subordinates dwindling, the Western Kang Commander realized that things would not end well today and immediately ordered an all-out breakout.

There is no need to press a cornered enemy too hard. For these Western Kang soldiers determined to break out, Liu Rengui did not act recklessly, instead ordering his troops to open up a narrow "path to survival."

With a path to survival open, the Western Kang soldiers were no longer as desperate to fight to the death. They scrambled to squeeze through this gap, which instead gave the Nanzhou Army an opportunity for an easy slaughter.

By dusk, apart from the few hundred who escaped the encirclement, nearly a thousand of the remaining troops had been killed, and over a thousand were captured.

"Assign one hundred men to escort the captives to the nearest pass, and order them to detach one hundred men to join you in reinforcing our lord. The main army will rest in place for one day."

"Understood!"

That this force would be attacked was entirely within Commander's expectations, but the scale of the losses was something he had not foreseen.

In his predictions, no matter how strong the Nanzhou Army was, they would be exhausted after traveling such a long distance. He believed his three thousand men, even if they didn't have the upper hand, would at least be able to fight to a standstill, and that having over a thousand men arrive here would be no problem at all.

Who would have thought they would be so vulnerable after being ambushed?

After carefully inquiring about the details of the battle, a faint sense of unease grew in Commander's heart.

"It seems this Liu Rengui is not just a man of brute force without strategy! Can we really win this time?"

This unease drove him to launch an even more desperate offensive the next day, hoping to break through the pass and capture Gao Yuan alive before Liu Rengui's main army arrived.

The battle that day was exceptionally brutal. Even a dozen of Gao Yuan's Personal Guards were injured, which finally gave Little Chili Pepper an opportunity to join the fight.

After a guard who had been protecting her was injured and carried away, the young woman took her own horizontal saber and stood beside Gao Yuan.

"Girl, it's too dangerous! Get down, go down and tend to the wounded!"

"I won't! I've practiced martial arts since I was a child precisely for this day!"

The young woman blocked an enemy's strike with her saber and pushed it away with force. Gao Yuan took the opportunity to step forward and deliver a follow-up strike to eliminate the threat, then instinctively shielded the young woman behind him.

"Then follow me closely and don't run around!"

As casualties mounted, the pressure on Gao Yuan's mop-up squad grew, leaving them without even a moment to catch their breath.

He thought to himself that later he must choose a new location and build a more secure pass using rammed earth and stone.

When the day's battle ended, only about five hundred defenders remained fit for combat. Total casualties had exceeded one thousand, which pained Gao Yuan deeply.

The only consolation was that half of the wounded would be able to return to combat after recovery.

That evening, Gao Yuan still managed to find a chance to take a hot bath to relieve his fatigue.

As the main force of the defense, he had to restore his strength as quickly as possible, otherwise tomorrow's battle would be even harder to withstand.

On the other side, after a day of rest, Liu Rengui's main army broke camp and marched south at the third watch. By dawn, they were only fifteen miles away from the Western Kang army's camp.

Although they did not attack, it forced Commander to divide his troops to monitor Liu Rengui.

The number of Western Kang troops attacking the pass was smaller, but they were even more frantic.

After such a long baptism of battle, not only were the Nanzhou Army soldiers growing, but the Western Kang soldiers were also rapidly maturing in combat.

Combined with the addition of more and more officers, their combat effectiveness was actually higher despite the reduced numbers.

"Boom!"

With a loud crash, the overburdened city wall collapsed, revealing a massive gap over a dozen people wide.

"Huo Juns style name, you take command of the overall situation! Personal Guards, follow me! Girl, you stay behind!"

Facing such a large gap, Gao Yuan could not help but feel anxious.

As he charged down, he assessed his physical strength and glanced at the system screen, seeing the statistics (21/5), and gritted his teeth.

"System, settle the event rewards for me!"

"Host has ended the temporary special event: Unrivaled by Ten Thousand, early. Host has slain 1 Chiliarch, 6 Centurions, and 14 other low-level officers. Beginning evaluation..."

A progress bar visible only to him appeared before Gao Yuan's eyes. By the time he reached the foot of the wall and cut down a Western Kang soldier, the progress bar finally reached 100%.

"Based on the quality and quantity of enemy officers slain by the Host, this temporary event is rated S-. Congratulations to the Host for obtaining one S-rank random martial soul experience card."

"It's actually S-rank! System, I love you! Use it quickly, I'm about to vomit from exhaustion!"

Gao Yuan's stamina was nearing its limit; he desperately needed this Martial Soul Card right now.

"Host is using the S-rank random martial soul experience card. Randomizing..."

The classic character card animation appeared, but Gao Yuan had no mind to watch it. Thinking that whoever he got would be fine, as an S-rank card couldn't be bad, he closed the system screen and focused on killing the enemy!

A moment later, the system's voice echoed in his mind.

"Host has used the Shuo Tang Version martial soul experience card. Comprehensive rating: SS. Matching bonuses..."

"Bonus matching complete. Host: Gao Yuan. Temporary ability rating: SS; Strength SS, Agility SS, Endurance SS, Horsemanship S, Intelligence F-, Command F-, Internal Affairs F-, Charisma F-; Martial Arts: Hammer Technique SS, Saber Technique A, Spearmanship A; Skills: Leaders Aura (D), Unrivaled (Shuo Tang Version); First Life Mentor: First Life Mentor, Spearmanship training effect bonus 50%."

"What the hell!"

Gao Yuan truly felt he had suffered a massive loss—the kind where even if the entire Western Kang nation surrendered, it would still feel like a loss. It was a Shuo Tang Version card! And the Shuo Tang Version at that, which was an existence capable of single-handedly taking on the million-strong armies of the eighteen rebel kings!

But this ability rating was truly a pit within a pit, aside from the killing techniques!

Wait, when did he get an extra skill? While fighting, Gao Yuan opened the system panel and looked at the introduction for that skill.

Unrivaled (Shuo Tang Version): Enter a state of madness, temporarily sacrificing the Host's Intelligence, Charisma, and all other unnecessary attributes to push Strength and Agility beyond their limits, while significantly reducing stamina consumption. (Can only be used once per battle, duration: fifteen minutes)

"System, come out and explain to me, what do you mean by 'unnecessary attributes'? Being handsome is a lifelong matter, okay?"

The system did not respond, and Gao Yuan couldn't be bothered with it anymore. He felt his physical condition, which was absolutely explosive, except that his horizontal saber felt extremely awkward to use at this moment.

It was too light, truly too light. Gao Yuan looked around and saw two stone hammers piled on the ground, left over from repairing the city wall two days ago.

Sheathing his horizontal saber back at his waist, Gao Yuan went over to pick up the two stone hammers, revealed what he thought was a cruel smile, and activated slaughter mode.

Previously, when Gao Yuan used his saber, the limit of one strike was killing one person. Now, having switched to a heavy weapon like stone hammers, combined with SS-rank Strength, it was truly like an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.

With a swing of the dozens-of-pounds stone hammers, several Western Kang soldiers were smashed until their heads bled and bones shattered, lying on the ground, quickly losing their breath.

Gao Yuan's transformation shocked everyone, especially the Personal Guards who had been following him for many days.

"Is our County Duke really this fierce? But why does that smile look so silly?"