Zhang Kui Asks the Way in Investiture of the Gods

Zhang Kui held the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow Blade in his hand, the blade and scabbard held horizontally in front of him. The dark gold scabbard was simple and unadorned, yet it possessed a chilling weight and sharp inner strength.

He did not draw his sword, his intention was clear—he did not want to indiscriminately kill and increase the casualties of his soldiers.

He turned his head and whispered to Lei Zhenzi, who was still gripping the golden staff tightly and whose wind and thunder wings were slightly flapping, "Lei Zhenzi, take your father and go to Xiqi immediately."

Although Lei Zhenzi was a novice, he still listened to his uncle Zhang Kui. He nodded and said, "Uncle, be careful!" He then stepped back to the carriage, picked up Ji Chang with both hands, and flew away to Xiqi.

Zhang Kui then turned his gaze to Yin Pobai and Lei Kai, whose expressions were uncertain, and questioned them, "General Yin, General Lei, I personally witnessed the imperial envoy proclaiming an edict in Youli the other day, pardoning the Marquis of Xibo, bestowing upon him a white banner and yellow axe, and ordering him to guard Xiqi. Just now, you two claimed to be acting on the king's orders to arrest him. Do you have a personal edict from His Majesty or a military tally to prove it?"

His question surprised Yin Lei and the other man.

Yin Pobai and Lei Kai were pursuing the enemy on King Zhou's orders. Due to the urgency of the situation, they did not carry any imperial edict or tiger tally.

Knowing he was in the wrong, Yin Pobai was about to speak up and try to give each other a way out so he could make other plans.

However, Lei Kai, who was standing beside him, was hot-tempered and already harboring resentment. When he saw Zhang Kui daring to block the army alone and even question him, he was immediately enraged. Before Yin Pobai could speak, he roared, "How dare you, Zhang Kui! You are just a lowly warrior. How dare you block the royal army and question me? We are acting on His Majesty's orders. How can you presume to argue with us?"

Before he finished speaking, Lei Kai disregarded everything, spurred his horse forward, pointed his spear, and roared at his cavalrymen, "Men, charge with me! Take down this scoundrel, life or death!"

"Kill—" A thousand riders roared in unison, their iron hooves digging into the ground like a burst dam, launching a fierce charge towards Zhang Kui, who stood alone in the middle of the official road. Dust billowed into the sky, and the murderous aura condensed to a tangible form, as if it would crush Zhang Kui and the hillside behind him together.

"You started it." Zhang Kui was just looking for a good excuse to make a move when Lei Kai, this brute, delivered himself right to his doorstep.

He stepped forward, his body moving swiftly to meet the oncoming torrent of iron cavalry. He didn't use any powerful magical spells or supernatural abilities, but simply swung the sheathed Great Xia Dragon Sparrow Blade in his hand.

He channeled the power of the Dragon-Subduing and Tiger-Taming Divine Arts into his arms, finely adjusting the technique of using the Great and Small As you wish, making the heavy scabbard feel as light as a feather in his hands, yet containing immense power capable of shattering mountains and splitting rocks. His figure moved like lightning, weaving through the gaps between the cavalry, the scabbard striking, pointing, sweeping, and parrying.

"Bang bang bang!" Cavalrymen and their horses were repeatedly struck by the side of their sword sheaths, as if hit by giant logs, screaming and rolling away, knocking down several riders behind them.

"Crack!" A cavalryman's thrusting lance was precisely struck by the scabbard, and the iron lance shaft snapped in two. The cavalryman's hand was split open, and he fell from his horse in horror.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Zhang Kui spun around, his scabbard transforming into a dark golden phantom. Wherever he passed, men and horses fell, and the sounds of bones breaking, weapons slipping from hands, warhorses neighing in alarm, and soldiers screaming in agony rose and fell.

Like a tiger among sheep, he precisely controlled his strength, striking non-lethal areas with his scabbard, knocking men off their horses, breaking weapons, or stunning their mounts. Amidst a thousand troops, he single-handedly disrupted Lei Kai's vanguard cavalry, throwing them into disarray and preventing them from advancing.

Yin Pobai watched from behind with a pounding heart. He wanted to sound the retreat, but the battlefield was in complete chaos. Lei Kai was in a bloodthirsty frenzy, and his cavalry had been enraged by Zhang Kui's almost humiliating fighting style, launching a frenzied attack. His orders were difficult to convey.

Seeing Zhang Kui maneuvering freely through the enemy ranks as if they were nothing, and realizing that his own soldiers were either dead or wounded, Lei Kai was enraged and roared, brandishing his spear as he prepared to personally join the attack.

Zhang Kui moved through the crowd with ease, but his brows furrowed slightly: "Too slow. Taking them down one by one like this is too inefficient. If Yin Pobai reacts and commands the entire army to press forward, or uses the military formation's killing aura, it will inevitably take more effort."

In a flash, he stomped his foot on the ground and soared into the sky like a roc, instantly escaping the chaotic battle and landing lightly back on the hillside where he had been standing.

Lei Kai was caught up in the heat of battle when he saw Zhang Kui suddenly "retreat." He assumed that Zhang Kui was exhausted or had run out of magic power, and was overjoyed. He shouted, "The scoundrel is exhausted! Soldiers, follow me to capture and kill this scoundrel!" He led the remaining hundreds of cavalrymen and charged up the hillside again.

This time, however, Zhang Kui did not engage in close combat. He stood atop the slope, thrusting the Great Dragon Sparrow Blade into the ground beside him. His hands swiftly formed hand seals, and his golden core began to circulate rapidly, drawing upon the five elements of spiritual energy in the world with his immense magical power.

The earth's veins surged, and the ground within a radius of several hundred feet suddenly trembled violently. The once solid official road transformed into a raging torrent, with layers of earth surging and collapsing, as if a dragon were writhing beneath the surface. The charging cavalry were instantly thrown off their horses, which neighed and lost their balance, while the riders were flung away, and the formation collapsed in an instant.

A fierce wind whipped up sand and dust, creating a violent whirlwind that swirled up yellow earth, gravel, and pebbles, forming hazy yellow tornadoes that lashed into the chaotic army ranks like giant whips. The sand and dust stung their eyes, making breathing difficult; soldiers were blown about, their armor clanging and rattling from the sand and stones, making it impossible for them to regroup.

Wood energy flourished, and amidst the surging waves of earth and sand, countless resilient vines and thorns burst forth from the soil, like living pythons, frantically coiling around the hooves of fallen or struggling warhorses, the ankles and arms of soldiers. These vines, imbued with the spiritual energy of the Wood element, were extremely tough, difficult to sever instantly with ordinary swords, binding large numbers of Shang soldiers firmly in place, unable to move.

In an instant, the cavalry charge that had been so fierce just moments before transformed into a surreal spectacle. The earth churned like waves, the wind whipped up sand that blotted out the sun, vines tangled wildly, and chaos reigned amidst shouts and neighing horses. Most of the thousand-plus cavalrymen were now trapped, having lost all their advantage in the charge, like lambs to the slaughter.

Zhang Kui did not kill him, but instead used Taoist magic to trap his enemy, forcing him to back down.

Yin Pobai, watching from the rear, was dumbfounded, his scalp tingling. He had known Zhang Kui was powerful, but he never expected him to be able to withstand an entire army single-handedly. This miraculous, almost supernatural power was something no ordinary general could contend with. Looking at Lei Kai, his mount and arms were now entangled by several thick vines. He was desperately wielding his spear, but his efforts were futile and pathetic; his earlier arrogance had completely vanished.

"It's over..." Yin Pobai felt a chill in his heart, knowing that today's situation was beyond saving. If they continued to entangle themselves, he feared that all three thousand elite troops would perish here.

Without hesitation, he gathered his strength and shouted loudly to Zhang Kui on the hillside, his tone now carrying both respect and compromise: "General Zhang Kui, please stop. It was Yin and General Lei who acted rashly. We... we indeed did not carry formal military orders. Please allow us to return to Chaoge to report to His Majesty and complete the formalities before we come back. Please release General Lei Kai, and we will withdraw our troops immediately."

This is exactly the result Zhang Kui wanted.

Knowing when to stop, he made a thought, and the raging sandstorm gradually subsided. The churning ground slowly leveled out, and the countless entangled vines retreated like the tide, shrinking back underground as if they had never existed. Only the Shang soldiers, still shaken and in disarray, and Lei Kai, looking frustrated and covered in mud and grass, remained.

Lei Kai, having escaped his predicament, still wanted to shout, but Yin Pobai glared at him fiercely and shouted to stop him: "Haven't you embarrassed yourself enough? Reorganize the troops and retreat."

Under Yin Pobai's forceful orders, the Shang soldiers helped each other find their frightened warhorses, and with endless fear and disarray, they retreated like a tide, never daring to look back at the god-like figure on the hillside.

Despite his immense resentment, Lei Kai knew the situation was hopeless. He could only spit angrily, turn his horse around, and leave with the army in a huff. This massive pursuit ultimately ended in a farcical and anticlimactic failure.

Standing alone on the hillside, Zhang Kui watched the dust settle in the distance, feeling little joy. After all, given King Zhou's character, he would never let Ji Chang off easily, and the real trouble was yet to come.

"With Lei Zhenzi's assistance, Ji Chang should be able to return to Xiqi without any problems," Zhang Kui thought to himself. "My mission is complete. Next, I should return to Chaoge to report to Huang Feihu, and then... whatever, I don't want to do this chore anymore."

Without lingering, he used his escape technique to transform into a streak of light and sped off towards Chaoge.