Normally, Langling rarely used the Fifty Consecutive Arrows.
It consumed more than three times the spiritual power of the Thirty Consecutive Arrows, making it far less efficient.
Besides, his spiritual power was not limitless.
But Khan Xieli’s combat strength was simply too outrageous.
If he was even slightly careless, he would lose.
So, gritting his teeth, he unleashed the Fifty Consecutive Arrows.
In an instant, an astonishing sight unfolded.
Fifty arrows poured into the sky like a torrential downpour.
The surrounding centaurs were completely stunned.
Before they even considered the accuracy, the speed alone was unbelievable.
It was so fast that the naked eye could barely follow it.
In less than half a minute, fifty arrows had already been fired.
The speed alone was breathtaking.
Moreover, with such a rapid rate of fire and such a dense barrage, it had effectively become carpet bombardment.
Some of the arrows were bound to hit.
Even Khan Xieli was surprised.
This insignificant Near Human could shoot that quickly?
“You can certainly hit a few targets by firing wildly into the sky, but trying to compete with me is simply childish,” Khan Xieli said.
His roar had just brought down more than twenty harpies.
Even if this insignificant Near Human fired fifty arrows into the air, how many could he possibly hit?
Two or three at most.
But what happened next left everyone speechless, including Khan Xieli.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The harpies began falling from the sky like heavy rain.
Every single one had an arrow lodged in its neck.
Most of them died before they could even scream.
Ten.
Twenty.
Thirty.
Forty.
Fifty.
One volley from Langling had killed fifty harpies.
The surrounding centaur warriors could barely breathe.
Such slaughter…
It was simply too unbelievable.
The centaurs were recognised as the greatest archers on land.
Rapid fire was nothing unusual for them.
But even the best among them could only fire twenty consecutive arrows, hitting two or three targets.
Fifty consecutive arrows.
Fifty fast moving flying targets.
No one had ever seen or even heard of such a thing.
It was absurd.
It was terrifying.
Even among the entire centaur race, such archery simply did not exist.
Khan Xieli stood frozen in shock.
Then he rushed forward and began his own astonishing display.
Facing the densely packed harpies overhead, he poured all his magical power into another earth shaking roar.
“Roar!”
A massive shockwave blasted into the sky once more.
Every harpy struck by it had its bones shattered, coughed up blood, and fell dead.
…
The harpies were small, and their cultivation was not particularly impressive.
Yet they had become one of the greatest scourges of the Southern Wilderness.
Why?
Because they could fly.
They were incredibly fast.
And they spat corrosive acid.
Ground dwelling races had almost no way of dealing with them.
Only the centaurs, with their peerless archery, could fight them on equal terms.
That was why these two races had become mortal enemies.
Who were the harpies most afraid of?
The Winged Race.
Whenever they encountered members of the Winged Race, no matter how few there were, the harpies immediately fled.
The Winged Race flew even faster.
They were stronger.
They were beautiful.
Their beauty filled the ugly harpies with envy and inferiority.
Most importantly, every so often the Winged Race organised expeditions to wipe out harpies.
Why?
Because of hatred?
No.
The harpies never even dared fight them.
There was only one reason.
How dare creatures that looked like that have wings and fly?
The harpies looked vaguely human and also had wings.
Those similarities alone offended the proud Winged Race.
How could such filthy creatures resemble them?
If people eventually began believing the harpies were related to the Winged Race, what then?
So every so often, the Winged Race slaughtered entire harpy tribes just to remind everyone in the Southern Wilderness that they had absolutely nothing to do with those disgusting creatures.
Back to the harpies.
Although they were not individually powerful, their speed and poisonous saliva made them a nightmare.
Apart from their natural enemy, the Winged Race, they dominated much of the Southern Wilderness.
No barbarian tribe dared provoke them.
But today they had encountered Langling.
Their luck had completely run out.
Langling’s arrows were simply too fast and too accurate.
No matter how quickly they flew, they could not avoid his arrows.
Because Langling calculated their lead.
He calculated their flight paths.
Moreover, their weak cultivation and fragile bodies meant one arrow pierced straight through them.
Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.
Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.
Langling’s arrows poured into the sky like endless rain.
Groups of harpy corpses fell continuously.
The harpies soon realised Langling was the greatest threat.
They all rushed towards him, spitting streams of saliva.
Their attack method was utterly disgusting.
More importantly, it was incredibly deadly.
The saliva shot through the air like bullets.
Once it struck someone, its corrosive power exceeded that of bullets, eating straight through flesh.
It could even melt steel plates more than half an inch thick.
It was even more terrifying than sulphuric acid.
Unfortunately for them, it was completely useless against Langling.
Although their saliva could travel four or five hundred metres, it was only truly accurate within two to three hundred metres.
Beyond that, they could no longer aim properly.
The problem was…
Langling’s bow had a far greater range.
Even shooting high into the air against gravity, its killing range exceeded five hundred metres.
Within five hundred metres, everything was a forbidden zone of death.
Every harpy that entered that distance was instantly shot down before it even had the chance to spit.
From then on, the battle became a spectacular performance by both Langling and Khan Xieli.
Khan Xieli displayed brutal destructive power.
Each roar unleashed a powerful shockwave that killed dozens of harpies, shattering their bones and making them cough blood before they fell.
Langling displayed graceful precision.
Each rainstorm of arrows brought dozens of harpies crashing down.
The harpies were cunning, but also incredibly narrow minded and vicious.
Seeing so many of their own killed by Langling, hatred completely consumed them.
All they wanted was to tear him apart.
So more and more harpies screamed as they charged towards him.
Like moths flying into a flame.
Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.
Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.
Langling’s endless volleys never seemed to stop.
Wave after wave of arrows filled the sky.
Bodies rained down continuously.
After only fifteen minutes, the pile of harpy corpses around Langling had become a mountain.
Every centaur nearby had stopped what they were doing.
They simply stared at him in silence.
The scene was too astonishing.
Too overwhelming.
Especially the sight of fifty arrows tracing graceful arcs through the sky before raining down together.
It was mesmerising.
The centaurs all loved archery.
To them, Langling’s skill belonged to dreams.
Twenty minutes later…
The harpies finally broke.
They abandoned all thoughts of killing Langling.
With one sharp cry, the remaining harpies turned and fled.
High above, several thousand metres in the air, the Harpy Queen glared down at him with venomous hatred.
“Near Human. You slaughtered countless members of my tribe. Tell me your name. I swear I’ll repay you tenfold, a hundredfold. I’ll capture your family and your people, torture them to death while they’re still alive, slice the flesh from their bodies piece by piece, roast it over a fire, and eat it.”
She actually dared threaten him.
Langling’s fury exploded.
He urged the Golden Griffon into the sky and chased after the fleeing harpies.
As he pursued them, volleys of arrows continued pouring down.
He slaughtered them without mercy.
The remaining thousands of harpies fled desperately.
Langling alone pursued them on his griffon.
He chased them for more than a hundred li, killing several hundred more before finally stopping.
…
After pursuing them for over a hundred li, Langling returned to the Xieli Tribe.
Now the competition was over.
It was time to count the results.
The count was easy.
Any harpy with an arrow in its body had been killed by Langling.
Those without arrows but with every bone shattered had been killed by Khan Xieli’s roar.
The final tally for Khan Xieli was announced.
Three hundred and fifty nine harpies.
In less than half an hour, he had personally killed more than three hundred harpies using nothing but sonic shockwaves.
His combat strength truly defied belief.
Then it was Langling’s turn.
Watching his rain of arrows had already been astonishing.
But hearing the final count was even more shocking.
The centaur general looked at Khan Xieli before announcing,
“One thousand three hundred and ninety two harpies. That doesn’t include those killed during the pursuit.”
During the chase alone, Langling had killed several hundred more.
An entire harpy tribe usually numbered little more than a thousand.
In other words, Langling had practically wiped out two whole tribes by himself.
Such a result was simply unbelievable.
Khan Xieli’s expression became incredibly complicated.
His own achievement had already been extraordinary.
Normally, killing three or four hundred harpies in battle would have been considered an overwhelming victory for an entire army.
This time, to preserve his honour, he had expended enormous magical power and unleashed his devastating roar.
By himself, he had killed over three hundred harpies.
That feat alone would have shocked the entire centaur race.
Yet…
It was not even close to Langling’s result.
It was horrifying.
Absolutely monstrous.
Langling walked over.
“Your Majesty, I won. It’s time to fulfil your promise.”
Khan Xieli’s face darkened.
He stared at Langling for a long time before bursting into hearty laughter.
“Hahaha. A bet is a bet. Since I lost, I’ll honour it. It’s only five thousand cavalry. I’ll lend them to you.”
Langling blinked in surprise.
Then joy filled his face.
Khan Xieli immediately shouted,
“Gather the army. Six thousand warriors. Assemble at Moon Demon Square.”
The entire tribe began to shake.
Centaur warriors galloped towards Moon Demon Square from every direction.
Every warrior stood over three metres tall and measured seven metres from head to tail.
They ran three times faster than ordinary warhorses.
Their strength exceeded them by ten times.
Each carried a great bow across the back and wore curved sabres and great swords at the waist.
They truly were the ultimate cavalry of the land.
Simply looking at them made one’s mouth water.
Each centaur weighed over ten thousand jin.
When five thousand of them charged together, Langling could not imagine any ground army capable of stopping them.
On land, centaur cavalry were almost invincible.
…
A quarter of an hour later, all six thousand centaur warriors had assembled.
Langling followed Khan Xieli and his son to Moon Demon Square.
There stood an enormous statue of the Moon Demon God, dozens of metres high.
But that was not the most astonishing part.
The entire statue was covered in gold.
Good heavens.
How much gold had that required?
No wonder the Xieli Tribe constantly raided others for wealth.
Moon Demon Square stretched for several li.
Six thousand centaur warriors stood in perfect formation.
Those six thousand alone occupied more ground than fifty thousand barbarian soldiers.
The centaurs were simply enormous.
Standing together, they formed a vast black sea that stretched as far as the eye could see.
Previously, Langling had believed five thousand centaur cavalry could defeat twenty or thirty thousand barbarians.
Now he found that thought laughable.
Twenty or thirty thousand?
More like forty or fifty thousand.
Perhaps even more.
No wonder fewer than ten thousand centaurs had become the undisputed rulers of everything within a thousand li.
With these five or six thousand centaur cavalry, Langling was completely confident he could crush the Silver Alliance’s army of one hundred and ten thousand.
Standing atop the high platform, Khan Xieli addressed Langling.
“Insignificant Near Human. These are my centaur warriors. Six thousand of them.”
Langling nodded excitedly.
“I can see that. Your Majesty’s army is incredibly powerful.”
Khan Xieli replied,
“I lost our killing contest. A bet is a bet. I said I’d lend you my cavalry.”
Then he handed Langling a golden staff.
That staff represented command over the centaur army.
Langling accepted it in surprise.
Had he really obtained command of this invincible cavalry so easily?
His final trump card had not even been used.
“From this moment onwards,” Khan Xieli declared, “these six thousand centaur warriors are under your command.”
Langling’s heart surged with excitement.
He raised the golden staff high, preparing to order the army towards the Flame Demon Tribe.
Then…
In the very next moment…
The golden staff was snatched from his hand.
Khan Xieli had taken it back.
The Centaur Khan sneered.
“Insignificant Near Human, I’ve already fulfilled my promise. I said I’d lend you my army, but I never said for how long. One month counts as lending. One second also counts as lending. I lent it to you for one second. Now I’ve taken the staff back.”
The moment those words were spoken, every centaur warrior burst into laughter.
Xieli II looked at Langling with an evil grin.
Langling was furious.
Yet he was not surprised in the slightest.
This was exactly how centaurs were.
Shameless.
Cunning.
Overbearing.
Inside the Demon Cave and within the tribe, Khan Xieli’s courage and strength easily deceived people into believing he was a straightforward warrior.
In reality, he was incredibly crafty.
And shamelessly so.
That was why both the centaurs and the harpies were regarded as disasters by every race in the wilderness.
Reason meant nothing to them.
Gratitude meant nothing to them.
Such concepts simply did not exist in their world.
Fortunately, Langling had expected this all along.
Then Khan Xieli continued,
“You asked to borrow five thousand cavalry, yet I lent you six thousand. That means I lent you one thousand more than you requested. Now you owe me one thousand centaur warriors. Since you obviously can’t repay that debt, you’ll repay it with your freedom. Become my slave obediently.”
“Hahaha.”
He roared with laughter.
“Guards. Throw this lowly Near Human into the dungeon. Lock him up with the rest of the slaves.”
Now it was finally time for Langling to reveal his true trump card.