novelraw Chapter 135: Notify the equestrian team to practice the assault formation together!
Chapter 135: Notify the equestrian team to practice the assault formation together!
Yuan Kui held two short staffs, standing steadily directly in front of the mechanical horse, assuming an ancient and unadorned defensive stance.
Jiang Ci, on the mechanical horse, tightened his grip once more on that heavy horse lance.
He took a deep breath, expelling all distracting thoughts from his mind.
The surrounding chatter, Wei Song's tense gaze, Zhao Yingfei's worried expression—none of it concerned him at this moment.
In his world, only the lean, elderly man ahead remained.
"Begin."
Yuan Kui uttered two words.
The operator immediately pressed the start button.
"Vrrrm—"
The mechanical horse instantly activated, its violent shaking and jolting once again enveloping Jiang Ci.He clenched his teeth, his legs clamping down desperately on the saddle seat, striving to maintain his body's balance.
Here it comes!
This is the moment!
The mechanical horse simulated a trajectory of tilting to the left. Jiang Ci twisted his waist with the motion, preparing to replicate the "Turning Horseback Spear Thrust."
However, just one instant before his waist muscles were about to exert force.
A sharp whistling sound of something cutting through the air sounded with pinpoint accuracy.
*Thwack!*
The short staff in Yuan Kui's hand struck, unerringly, right on the vital point of Jiang Ci's lower back, precisely where he was about to generate force.
The force wasn't great, but it carried a penetrating kind of power.
Every muscle in Jiang Ci's body instantly stiffened. The prepared rhythm of his force generation was completely disrupted by this single strike.
That intended Turning Horseback Spear Thrust died before it was ever born.
His entire person, following the mechanical horse's rocking, lurched awkwardly to one side.
How could this be?
In Jiang Ci's mind, the [Micro-level Motion Capture] skill had already deconstructed Yuan Kui's movement.
He had clearly anticipated the staff's trajectory!
But Yuan Kui's timing for striking with the staff was too cunning!
This wasn't a confrontation of technique versus technique at all, but pure disruption!
"Again!"
Jiang Ci roared in a low voice, forcibly steadying his posture, waiting for the next opportunity.
The mechanical horse continued its irregular movements, simulating the chaos of a warhorse charging left and right through a crowd.
Jiang Ci seized another opportunity.
This time, he didn't rely entirely on the model's prediction.
Instead, he focused more of his attention on Yuan Kui himself.
Yet, Yuan Kui's next staff strike didn't come at him at all.
*Thwack!*
The short staff struck heavily against the metal shell of the mechanical horse's "head," producing a dull thud.
This was simulating enemy soldiers attacking the horse with their weapons!
This sudden strike startled even the operator, who subconsciously adjusted the control lever.
The mechanical horse's movement trajectory instantly deviated from the preset program, becoming even more frenzied and unpredictable!
The confrontation model Jiang Ci had just built in his mind collapsed once again.
Only then did he understand.
Yuan Kui had never intended to "exchange blows" with him.
This living legend was using his battlefield experience to teach Jiang Ci a lesson.
War has no set patterns!
In the chaos, the mechanical horse simulated a violent stumble, tripping over a corpse!
The entire apparatus suddenly lurched downward, then instantly rebounded upward!
The massive inertia completely robbed Jiang Ci's body of its balance.
The opening on his back was utterly exposed before Yuan Kui.
An opportunity!
But this was Yuan Kui's opportunity!
*Whoosh!*
The wind howled!
Yuan Kui's other short staff, showing no mercy whatsoever, slammed heavily into Jiang Ci's back!
"*Thump!*"
Even through the costume and padding, that tremendous impact still made Jiang Ci's entire body arch violently forward.
This was a completely genuine attack!
A buzzing filled Jiang Ci's mind.
For the first time, while "acting," he felt such distinct pain.
On a chaotic battlefield, in the face of real pain, there are no standard answers!
The only answer is to survive!
The mechanical horse's jolting continued.
Jiang Ci's body tensed from the acute pain.
Yuan Kui's attacks, however, did not stop.
Another staff strike!
This time, the target was Jiang Ci's arm, the one gripping the horse lance!
"*Thwack!*"
Another solid, heavy blow!
The searing pain almost made Jiang Ci release his grip on the weapon.
He stopped thinking about any Turning Horseback Spear Thrust, stopped analyzing any movement models.
"Roar—!"
A roar, suppressed to its absolute limit, erupted from Jiang Ci's throat.
He abandoned all formal techniques.
He poured his entire will into the instincts of his body!
At the very moment the mechanical horse twisted violently once more, generating massive centrifugal force.
Jiang Ci moved!
Using that brute force threatening to fling him off, he twisted his body into an unnatural angle.
With all the strength in his body, he violently swept that heavy horse lance outward in a wide arc!
The howling gale-force wind it generated stung people's cheeks!
A flicker of genuine surprise flashed across Yuan Kui's impassive, ancient-well-like face.
He retreated half a step.
Crossing the two staffs in his hands before his chest, he barely managed to block the ferocious force of this sweeping attack!
"*Clang!*"
The collision of metal and solid wood erupted with a tremendous sound.
Yuan Kui felt a vast, formidable force transmit through the staffs, numbing the fleshy part between his thumb and forefinger.
He had blocked it.
But he clearly felt the destructive intent within it.
On the training ground, everyone was stunned by this sudden turn of events.
Wei Song gripped his own arm tightly.
Zhao Yingfei covered her mouth, her beautiful eyes filled with shock.
Jiang Ci had changed in this moment.
His pale face was a mess, covered in dust and sweat.
His eyes blazed with a fire ignited by pain and humiliation!
He was no longer an actor imitating the Hegemon.
At this moment, he was that enraged trapped beast, wanting to tear apart everything before him!
This was what Yuan Kui truly wanted to see.
Yuan Kui smiled.
It was a hearty, thoroughly satisfying smile, the kind one has upon discovering a priceless, uncut gem.
He casually tossed aside one of the short staffs.
Holding a single staff in one hand.
His entire aura instantly became more condensed, and also more dangerous.
"Come!"
He barked a low command, no longer defending, but actively launching a fierce offensive!
One staff strike faster than the last, one more ferocious than the last!
All aimed at Jiang Ci's vital points!
Facing this tempest-like onslaught, Jiang Ci completely forgot he was acting.
Only the instinct for survival remained in his mind.
Evade!
Block!
Counterattack!
Every one of his movements became utterly ragged.
To block a strike, he used the lance shaft to brutally parry the opponent's short staff.
But all his movements were integrated with the frenzied mechanical horse beneath his feet.
When the mechanical horse rocked left, his body used the momentum to dodge right.
When the mechanical horse jolted upward, he used the motion to raise the horse lance high, then bring it crashing down!
These were the most effective reactions, forged while struggling on the line between life and death!
Finally.
As the operator pressed the stop button.
This brutal "practical combat drill" came to an end.
"Vrrrm…"
The mechanical horse gradually ceased its movement.
Jiang Ci was drenched in sweat.
His costume was covered in dust. Several spots on his body throbbed with a burning pain; one could easily imagine patches of red marks beneath the fabric.
Leaning on the horse lance, he gasped for breath in great, heaving gulps, his chest rising and falling violently.
The entire training ground was dead silent.
Everyone was still immersed in that suffocating confrontation from moments ago.
Without even a glance at the nearly exhausted Jiang Ci, Yuan Kui tossed aside his short staff and walked straight towards Wei Song at the edge of the field.
His voice wasn't loud, but it struck deep in everyone's hearts: "Notify the Equestrian Unit. Starting tomorrow, we begin combined training for the cavalry charge formation."