His sharp, refined features and silver fitted armor made him appear even taller and more impressive. He looked extraordinary.
In his hand was a long spear nearly eight feet long. The sharp silver tip reflected a chilling light in the sun. With just a small movement, it felt like the air itself filled with killing intent.
As the man rode into full view of the Youdan army, even though he was alone, the sight of him on horseback brought invisible pressure to the soldiers.
Where the spear pointed, it seemed no one could escape.
The Youdan soldiers stared at the lone rider approaching. In that moment, they finally understood why the Qi family was called the guardian of Plumera. And they remembered that this same man, General Qi, who now rode toward them alone, had already fought on the battlefield when he was only fifteen or sixteen, killing countless enemies.
Even his father, grandfather, and ancestors had once led the Qi army to conquer the lands around the southwest of the continent.
Back when Plumera was still a mighty empire, the name of the Qi army had already swept through a hundred nations. No one could hear their name without shaking in fear.
The Youdan general standing in front of the main tent swallowed hard as he stared at General Qi approaching from afar.
He turned to look at the head Gu Master, wanting to discuss what to do.
But the Gu Master only gave a dark smile as he stared at General Qi, waved his hand, and the general could only watch as one of his own officers suddenly stood up with a blank stare, picked up a weapon, mounted a horse, and charged straight toward General Qi.
The general's eyes flew open. That soldier had clearly been turned into a puppet at some unknown time by the Gu Master.
Words stuck in the general's throat, his voice choked with too many things to say at once.
Although the puppet sect had a higher status than the military, it was clearly stated that Gu Masters were not allowed to harm soldiers without reason, especially not decorated officers.
But now the Gu Master was clearly breaking the rules, showing no regard for the lives of the army or its officers.
The general took two deep breaths. He forced down his rising anger, clenched his fists, and walked back to his place, silently watching the distant battlefield.
At the front
General Qi, alone on horseback with his spear, crossed the drawbridge and rode toward the main camp of Youdan.
Just as he stepped beyond the range of the city's crossbows, a Youdan officer suddenly charged out, yelling as he swung his weapon at General Qi.
General Qi's hand moved slightly. With a swift flick, the silver spear swept toward the incoming officer.
The enemy tried to dodge, but before he could react, he felt a sudden chill in his chest.
His eyes froze. In disbelief, he looked down and saw the spear piercing through his chest.
He fell from his horse and stopped breathing. His eyes remained wide open even in death, as if unable to believe how fast that spear had moved.
The spear had seemed to sweep sideways, but in a blink, it pierced straight through him.
Was General Qi's speed even faster than the eye could follow?
The first clash ended in less than ten seconds. The first enemy general from Youdan was struck down by General Qi's spear.
Not only were the Youdan soldiers stunned, even the Qi army on the walls of Marigold stood frozen for a moment.
Then a wave of thunderous drums and loud cheers erupted across the city walls.
The already high morale of the Qi army soared even higher. Every soldier shouted with excitement:
"General Qi is invincible!"
"General Qi is invincible!!"
On the Youdan side, already shaken from the earlier slaughter by crossbow fire, the soldiers now watched their own general fall in moments.
Their morale sank even lower. Some of the front-line soldiers stepped back in fear, afraid that the next target of that deadly silver spear would be them.
"Useless!"
Inside the command tent, the head Gu Master smashed a wine cup in anger.
He didn't even glance at the Youdan general beside him. Instead, he activated the queen gu inside his body.
Three more generals inside the tent stood up with blank expressions.
Before the Youdan general could stop them, they mounted their horses and charged toward the battlefield.
On the city walls of Marigold, the soldiers cursed at the enemy sending three at once.
"Shameless poison rats! They couldn't win one-on-one so now they gang up on him!"
"Disgraceful beasts with no honor!"
"So what if it's three against one? Our general can fight a hundred alone!"
"Beat the drums louder! Cheer for the general!"
"Cheer for the general!!"
The thunderous drumbeats echoed through the air again and again, never stopping.
Below the walls, General Qi watched the three generals coming from different directions.
His silver spear gleamed in the sunlight. With graceful movements, it spun around his narrow waist in a smooth arc.
A single sweep cut through all.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The clash of metal rang out, sharp and piercing.
At the moment the two sides clashed again, a weapon from one of the enemy generals was broken in half by the silver spear.
Another enemy general couldn't handle the force from General Qi and had his weapon knocked out of his hand.
The last one twisted his body to dodge the sweeping spear but was still forced back quite a distance. His horse ignored his shouting, neighed wildly, and bolted away.
In just this brief first exchange, all three generals from Youdan were knocked back in a sorry state.
Before they could steady themselves, the silver spear that had just swept them away was already above their heads.
One of the enemy generals looked up in shock and met General Qi's calm gaze.
Before he could speak, the silver spear came crashing down on his head.
There was a sharp crack.
It sounded like something had burst.
One of the three enemy generals was now dead.
The other two stared at his crushed, bleeding head. Their bodies froze with instinctive fear.
Before they could retreat, something inside them suddenly shifted.
In the next moment, their eyes turned red and dull, and their strength and speed more than doubled.
Then they charged at General Qi with wild, reckless force.
At the same time, from the palms of their tightly gripped hands, a sticky purple-black liquid mixed with tiny nearly invisible insects began to scatter into the air.
These were the deadliest Gu insects from the Sect Leader's sect. Once touched, a person would begin turning into a puppet.
General Qi looked at the two enemy generals whose behavior had suddenly changed. His silver spear met their weapons head-on.
Even while fighting two at once, the silver spear kept the upper hand easily, moving at twice their speed.
But just as the silver spear was about to pierce one general's neck, those tiny insect droplets spread through the air from the shock of their weapons clashing and flew toward General Qi.
The moment they touched his skin, the droplets suddenly burned black as if scorched.
General Qi glanced down at the now visible insect venom on his skin. His hand didn't slow.
The moment the scorched bugs fell from him, his silver spear pierced through the second enemy general's neck.
Then, before the third could react, the silver spear drove straight through his chest.
Double kill.
All in the blink of an eye.
In less than twenty seconds, the three enemy generals were dead. General Qi didn't wait for any more movement from the enemy.
He squeezed his horse with his legs and charged straight toward the part of the enemy formation pressing in on the citizens of Plumera.
He had just killed four enemy generals. There was blood on him, not much, but his spear was stained red.
Thinking about how he had just silently taken out two enemy generals in a row, the soldiers around were too frightened to look directly at him.
So the Youdan soldiers in his path moved out of the way instinctively. Some even fell and scrambled backward several meters, lying on the ground in shock.
General Qi rode straight through the enemy ranks like there was no one around. He didn't stop until he reached two children still controlled by Gu Masters.
In a flash, his silver spear pierced the Gu Master who tried to use the children as a shield. With one arm, he pulled the two children onto his horse.
One of the human traffickers was sprayed with blood. He tried to rush up and beg General Qi to take him too but nearly got kicked away by the horse.
General Qi didn't return after saving the children. He continued to ride deeper into enemy lines.
Inside the command tent, the lead general and the Grand Gu Master finally realized what was happening.
The Grand Gu Master roared with fury and ordered the others to send the puppet soldiers to surround General Qi.
But one of the Gu Masters, who had just returned from the front and seen the spear pierce people's bodies, quickly said,
"No! Grand Master! He has medicine from the Healer's Valley! The venom can't get close to him!"
That was why the insect venom had turned black and burned when it touched him.
Knowing that the Youdan army would reach this place and the Gu Masters would follow, Elara had asked Oswyn to prepare plenty of antidote powder before leaving.
She didn't just give it to General Qi. Every soldier from Marigold was given a bag. It used up almost all the herbs Oswyn had just brought back from the Healer's Valley.
He was so mad he nearly cursed out loud. Elara had to spend a long time calming him down.
Now that powder was proving its worth.
As long as they had it, the venom from the Sect Leader couldn't harm anyone from Marigold.
With the venom ineffective and the soldiers too afraid of General Qi's presence, they began to fall back.
No one dared to stop him.
With one arm holding the two children and the other gripping the spear, General Qi rode several hundred meters deeper into enemy territory. He charged toward a horse stable.
There, hidden under piles of hay, were three more chained-up children. He saved them all, then pressed his legs to the horse's sides and sped through the Youdan camp with five children.
In the blink of an eye, he had rushed out of the enemy camp and was heading straight toward the city of Marigold.
"Open the gate! Lower the bridge!! The general has saved our citizens! Archers cover him! Open the gate!!"
From the walls of Marigold, Vincent shouted for the soldiers to welcome the general's return.
Inside the Youdan main camp, the Grand Gu Master had already smashed the tables and chairs in rage. He gasped for breath and screamed hoarsely,
"Shoot!! Shoot now!!! If you can't hit him, shoot the kids! Don't let him get away!!"