Chapter 492: Chapter 223: Outbreak of Battle, Breaking the Siege, Honored Guest
As his name suggested, Hou Hu’s image was not much different from what Xia Hong imagined.
He was about 1.8 meters tall, his physique very slender, dressed in black attire similar to the ones worn by Hou Tong and others, with slicked-back hair revealing a forehead visibly wider than the average person.
Not just the forehead, his facial features were also larger than usual, giving an inexplicable impression of grandeur and dominance.
He held a long silver Coiled Dragon Pattern Stick, about ten feet long, and even while being chased, though his brows seemed frantic, every time the elder’s large blade swung down from behind, he always managed to raise the stick and protect himself accurately, sometimes even using the force of the blade to accelerate his escape.
Clearly, he remained acutely aware of the distance between the elder and himself.
Whoosh...
Another ferocious blade swept from behind, sensing the growing momentum of this attack, Hou Hu’s brows furrowed sharply, and as he lifted the stick, his body spun rapidly, positioning the stick horizontally above his head to block.
Bang...
The large blade slashed, emanating a flash of light, clashing significantly with the long stick. Although Hou Hu absorbed most of the force with the stick, a small amount leaked out.
Yet even this meager leaked force hit the ground, creating a shockwave that not only swept away the snow, forming an open area over ten meters around but even caused a sudden subsidence of the ground by over ten centimeters.
Looking at Hou Hu, who bore most of the force, while the stick was not broken, his trembling hands could not stop shaking, and his legs had sunk over half a meter into the ground, the panic in his eyes was significantly heightened compared to before.
This strike not only made Hou Hu more frantic, but also allowed Xia Hong, hidden in the shadows, to clearly see the elder’s appearance.
Long Mountain seemed to favor white; the elder was also clad in pure white attire adorned with silver lines, with headful silver strands tied behind. Despite being meticulously groomed, the wrinkle-strewn face and budding stooped figure betrayed the undeniable fact of being weathered by time.
Only those wide-open eyes, in harmony with the fierce chopping stance of the silver turtle-head large blade in his hand, could still emit a sense of formidable old vigor.
Of course, what Xia Hong saw clearly at this moment was not just the elder’s appearance.
"Hou Hu has seventeen manes, power similar to mine. Li Tiancheng chased him all the way from Long Mountain to here. Even if he’s stronger, it wouldn’t be by much!"
While discerning the strength of both, Xia Hong’s expression turned peculiar.
Last May, when he fought against that Advanced Snow Mane, his strength was already at twelve manes. Now, almost a year later, although he still hasn’t figured out the use of Jade Bone, solely by absorbing the cold light, his power has grown to seventeen manes.
Despite that, Xia Hong still felt he hadn’t yet reached the next stage of the Cold Resistance Level. At least, the texture of his flesh only felt steadily enhanced without obvious phase shifts.
According to what he previously overheard about Hou Tong on the northern side of Beehive, Hou Hu in front of him had the cultivation at the peak of Cold Resistance Level.
Peak of Cold Resistance Level, yet the power is only seventeen manes?
The three-tier War Body, the power threshold during the breakthrough to Cold Resistance Level, are twenty thousand, sixteen thousand, and twelve thousand, respectively.
But this is just the power at the initial breakthrough. For individuals with these three Battle Body Talent levels, cultivating at the Cold Resistance Level afterward will naturally result in varying degrees of strength increases, which is normal.
What Xia Hong was most curious about at this point was ultimately what level of War Body Hou Hu and Li Tiancheng belonged to. By understanding this, he could deduce how the strength increase calculation ran post the Cold Resistance Level’s cultivation.
Of course, now was not the time for his curiosity.
Hou Hu, who was struck into the ground by Li Tiancheng’s blade moments ago, had already scrambled out hastily. Although only over 300 meters separated him from the Blood Guard Army now, this distance seemed insurmountable as a chasm under Li Tiancheng’s obstruction.
The battle to the east had already turned into a blur, with both Long Mountain and Zhaoyang evidently realizing the critical importance of the situation. From those at the Cold Resistance Level to ordinary soldiers, everyone had summoned a life-or-death ferocity, with one side striving to break blockade and rescue Hou Hu, while the other side was determined to stop them at any cost.
Long Mountain’s side boasted sixteen at the Cold Resistance Level, whereas Zhaoyang had only eight; with the injured Yu Bin and two others, they numbered only eleven. Evidently, in high-end force engagements, Zhaoyang was at a disadvantage.
However, the issue was that the Blood Guard Army’s numbers tripled that of Longyou’s forces.
Cold Resistance Levels were powerful, but facing such a fully armed army, it was quite challenging to maneuver effectively. Just as Longyou’s forces could deter Zhaoyang’s Cold Resistance Levels, the blood-colored arrows from the Blood Guard Army could equally harm Long Mountain’s Cold Resistance Levels.
"Frontline rushes, rear fires arrows; can’t breach through these three hundred men? Are you all useless? If anything happens to the leader, we’ll all perish here. Breakthrough, rush over!"
"Brothers, charge!"
"Save the leader, kill with me."
"Why should Long Mountain hold sway over us? Charge..."
...
The furious roars of the Great Han of Zhaoyang instantly sparked shouts from the Blood Guard Army. The front-line troops again displayed reckless bravery, charging chaotically towards Longyou’s forces, while hundreds in the rear took up bows, shooting furiously at the Cold Resistance Levels of Long Mountain at the front, restricting their movements.
The humans from the Ice Abyss Camp had hunting Cold Beasts as a necessary course; being part of the army meant there were virtually no weak archers, the same held for both Longyou’s and Blood Guard’s forces.