Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Clangclangclang!
Even the distant Golden Wolf Army were affected by the Turkic Wolf Emperor Halo, their strength swelling. Neeeigh! With their charge, they managed to temporarily suppress the opposing Tongluo Cavalry.
“It’s been a long time since my blood has been this restless, has so anticipated a battle!
“Wang Chong, don’t disappoint me!”
On the other side, Yeon Gaesomun stretched his limbs, his joints cracking as he turned his savage eyes on Wang Chong.
Boom!
A moment later, Yeon Gaesomun’s dantian blazed with energy, and a violet-black halo swiftly spread out over the battlefield.
The Halo of Eol Kasum!
This was one of the strongest halos in the legends of the Goguryeo Empire. Yeon Gaesomun had found this supreme technique when a crisis had forced him into the water and he had discovered an underwater cave.
(TN: In truth, the characters the author uses for the name of this halo is simply the Japanese rendering of Yeon Gaesomun’s name, Iri Kasumi. Both Iri Kasumi and Yeon Gaesomun are transcriptions approximating his actual name, which is theorized to be Eol Kasum.)
In the history of Goguryeo, this powerful war halo had been lost for fifteen hundred years, and it was this halo that Yeon Gaesomun had relied on to become the strongest War God of Goguryeo.
In the Goguryeon language, ‘Eol Kasum’ had another meaning: ‘Supreme’!
The myriad things below and only one above!
This was the essence of Eol Kasum.
Bang!
The moment Yeon Gaesomun used this halo, it appeared beneath the feet of the tens of thousands of Goguryeon soldiers, and their Stellar Energies blazed.
All of them felt a brand-new energy surging into their bodies, and they instantly became like dragons and tigers, with a seemingly inexhaustible power running through them. They felt invincible, like they could easily cleave through their foes.
“Kill!”
The morale of the Goguryeons soared as they lunged at the Tang forces.
In a flash, the pressure on Zhang Shougui and Abusi rose.
But Ozmish Khagan and Yeon Gaesomun were not targeting these two. Their men were focused on Wang Chong’s three hundred thousand soldiers.
Ten thousand feet!
Five thousand feet!
The distance was shrinking.
“Order Cui Qianyou to mobilize the Ghost Hell Army!”
Beneath the massive banner of Youzhou, An Lushan’s eyes flashed with frightening killing intent.
“The Ghost Hell Army? Master, you plan to use that formation now?” Gao Shang suddenly asked.
But An Lushan and Gao Shang treated the Ghost Hell Army so specially because it had a specific purpose.
The Ghost Hell Army was the core of a powerful and ancient formation that combined together all the elite divisions of Youzhou.
This was a lost technique that An Lushan had requested from ‘Heaven’, and it was the trump card in the plans of Gao Shang and An Lushan to conquer the entire world and vanquish the Great Tang.
But the problem was that this was far from the right time to use this formation.
Yet the battle was heating up far too quickly!
“Mm!”
An Lushan firmly nodded, his eyes fixed on that youthful figure on the other side.
“Wang Chong has already moved out, so we don’t need to wait any longer. The rest of the Great Tang’s forces have yet to arrive, so this is the best chance to defeat them!”
An Lushan’s voice was extremely calm and cool. He had not relied on luck to reach this stage, and when it came to military affairs, An Lushan had his own judgments.
After a few moments of silence, Gao Shang firmly nodded.
“Okay!”
Though this was much earlier than they had planned, the Great Tang had at least six hundred and fifty thousand soldiers on this battlefield. The conditions were right to activate that formation.
Youzhou’s three Great Generals were Cui Qianyou, Tian Qianzhen, and Tian Chengsi. Cui Qianyou was their leader, and he had been commanding from the rear and had not excessively intervened on the front line yet.
Upon receiving An Lushan’s order, Cui Qianyou immediately took action.
“Hyah!”
With a loud roar, Cui Qianyou rode out, his horse covering more than a hundred feet with a single leap.
Around him were elite Youzhou cavalry wearing fiendish black face plates and circled by ghostly energy.
This was none other than the Ghost Hell Army!
In terms of aura, this army had an energy that surpassed both the Golden Wolf Army and the Sunchaser Cavalry.
As this cavalry charged out, black smoke seethed around them, and numerous ghosts and devils appeared.
As the Ghost Hell Army rode out, all of the elite Youzhou cavalry charged out with them.
Working with the Goguryeons and Eastern Turks, the three armies swiftly became like a giant net that sought to engulf Wang Chong’s three hundred and fifty thousand soldiers.
Killing intent saturated the air.
“Ha!”
Atop his horse, Wang Chong chuckled. He was hypersensitive to his surroundings, and he was utterly unperturbed upon seeing the various armies surrounding him.
“The time has come!” Wang Chong said so softly that only he could hear, and smiled.
“Guo Ziyi, Sun Zhiming, Zhao Jingdian, prepare to activate the formation!” Wang Chong loudly ordered.
“Yes!”
Three respectful replies came from behind him.
“Hyah!”
Following Wang Chong’s order, Guo Ziyi, Sun Zhiming, and Zhao Jingdian turned and headed off to their own troops.
A few moments later, the soldiers stationed in Wang Chong’s rear began to move.
These hundreds of thousands of soldiers had been waiting in orderly ranks for any command. But now, besides Su Hanshan and the cavalry on the flanks, the other soldiers burst out like a blooming flower.
All of this was done silently, creating little commotion.
Meanwhile, the alliance army was getting closer and closer.
Three thousand feet!
Two thousand feet!
At this distance, it was possible to see the ballista army and Su Hanshan standing proudly behind them, and even farther back, the divine figure of Wang Chong.
Even so, Ozmish Khagan and Yeon Gaesomun showed no signs of backing down.
Ozmish Khagan’s eyes shone. As he continued to charge, he messaged Yeon Gaesomun through a stream of Psychic Energy.
“Destroy the ballista army first, and then crush the rest of the Tang army!”
“Okay!” Yeon Gaesomun tersely replied.
He held a saber in each hand and gripped another in his teeth. At the same time, two other sabers were held beneath his ribs, pointed backward. Thus, he took the stance on which he had made his name, the Six Saber Imperial God Art!
In this Six Saber Imperial God Art, only five sabers were ever visible. As for the sixth saber, it was the most dangerous, as no one ever knew when it would be used.
Only a scant few people could make him use the sixth saber, and anyone who saw it was basically a dead man.
“Hyah!”
With the two Emperor halos boosting them and hosts of generals around them, the two of them rapidly moved across the battlefield like twin storms, drawing everyone’s attention.
One thousand feet!
Three hundred feet!
The battle was imminent, and the immense armies of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate and the Goguryeo Empire were descending like an avalanche.
But at this moment—
Bang!
With a heaven-shaking boom, a beam of energy suddenly rocketed up from behind the ballista army, and at the same time, a massive bolt of lightning flashed above the soldiers.
The dark clouds roiled as lightning flashed. Tens of thousands of feet in the air, countless blurry figures appeared, but they rapidly began to solidify.
Whoosh!
A giant chain that was several thousand meters long flew out, lightning coiling around it.
In a flash, the somber killing intent of the three hundred and fifty thousand Tang soldiers grew ten times stronger.
Instantly recognizing this sight, Ozmish Khagan trembled and called out, “Formation phenomena!”
Formation phenomena!
This was an illusion produced when a formation was used to its utmost. Through Wang Chong and Duwu Sili, this effect had become well-known after the Battle of Talas. Moreover, everyone also knew that when Duwu Sili returned to the Western Turks, he had secretly cultivated formation phenomena and ended up suffering a cultivation defect.
“Watch out! They’re using formation phenomena!
“Stop them!”
Ozmish Khagan’s heart trembled, instantly sensing a formidable danger.
Although he was in the northeast, after the Battle of Talas, Ozmish Khagan had gathered a large amount of information concerning the battle, particularly regarding the lost ability that was formation phenomena.
In that battle, Wang Chong had also used formation phenomena, but… that was completely different from what he was seeing here.
The scope of the formation phenomena in the sky was far too large, far greater than what had taken place in the Battle of Talas.
Wang Chong had not been fully proficient with formation phenomena back then, but it had already been extremely powerful. Now, with such a large formation phenomenon, Ozmish Khagan did not dare to imagine just how powerful it was.
Ozmish Khagan sensed that if Wang Chong were allowed to successfully activate it, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Rumble!
Without the slightest hesitation, Ozmish Khagan erupted with Stellar Energy and shot toward Wang Chong like a sharp and stabbing blade.
Yeon Gaesomun, with his five sabers, understood what Ozmish Khagan was thinking, and the two worked to close on Wang Chong’s army from two sides.