Chapter 571: Valiant Warriors
Translator: TYZ Editor: X, TYZ
The momentum of the frantically growing crystallized elemental energy stopped abruptly, looking as if it had hit a wall.
The arrogant Xiao Shan’s eyes lit up. Interesting!
Fire engendered earth and earth engendered metal. As the arrowhead, Jiang Wei happened to be a metal elementalist. The amount of metal elemental energy that Jiang Wei could utilize was plentiful, but he did not convert all the elemental energies into metal elemental energy. He still maintained a portion of the fire elemental energy and earth elemental energy as they were. This was why the previous explosion occurred.
There were two advantages to using metal elemental energy to form the arrowhead. The first advantage was it had an extremely strong piercing ability. The second advantage was it could fuse with the other two types of elemental energy to create an explosion.
This was indeed unique!
Xiao Shan could not help but exclaim in admiration once more. This was the first time he had seen such an exquisite arrangement being utilized in a basic battle formation like the Lesser Arrow Formation. From the excellent coordination among the five people, Xiao Shan could tell that they had undergone a huge number of training sessions.
Actually, judging from the strength of each elementalist in the unit in front of him, they looked very ordinary. Jiang Wei’s strength was rather impressive. He was the only bright spot among the five man squad and was not far from becoming a Master. The strength of the other four elementalists was ordinary, especially the three fire elementalists. These four elementalists were even weaker than the ordinary members of the Surveillance Division.
Given Jiang Wei’s strength, he could only become an unit leader in the Surveillance Division. However, since he had many military accomplishments, he could become a middle-ranking officer instead.
Of course, the position of vice division leader in the Surveillance Division was absolutely out of his reach.
Xiao Shan’s high rating of Jiang Wei’s military capabilities wasn’t baseless. The performance put on by Jiang Wei’s low-level comrades had displayed Jiang Wei’s capabilities. For example, the fire elementalists were too low-level and could not produce sufficient fire elemental energy. The glass bamboos vials that were filled with snow lava could make up for the fire elementalists’ deficiency and improved their performance.
The earth elementalist wasn’t really powerful either. However, the huge amount of quicksand was able to act as a connection for the five person squad. The sand wall that supported Jiang Wei withstood significant impact and acted as protection for him.
These details might seem insignificant, but it was precisely these details that displayed Jiang Wei’s capabilities. It was these details that allowed his weak and ordinary-looking comrades to display extraordinary fighting capabilities.
A look of admiration flashed across Xiao Shan’s eyes.
However, this level was not enough to win this fight.
Snap.
Xiao Shan snapped his fingers again.
The ice dragon that was frozen in the air exploded with a loud bang. Countless crystallized fragments swept across Jiang Wei and his counterparts like a blizzard. Every tiny fragment was like a seed that caused the surrounding elemental energy to crystallize and grow.
Soon, a gigantic, dazzling, transparent bell canopy covered Jiang Wei and his counterparts. The canopy bell was formed by the frantically crystallizing elemental energy.
The onlookers cried out in alarm as looks of shock appeared on their faces.
Jiang Wei and his counterparts had nowhere to run!
Within the bell canopy, Jiang Wei’s facial expression did not change. He placed his huge bow in front of him and put his right hand fingers on the bowstring. With a deep voice, he said, "Two bamboos. Attack!"
The earth elementalist understood what Jiang Wei meant and manipulated the wiggling quicksand beneath his feet. The quicksand lifted the five people up and launched an attack forward.
Two more glass bamboo vials appeared in the hands of each fire elementalist.
Without any hesitation, they crushed the vials in their hands at the same time.
Boom.
The flames produced were much more powerful than the previous time. The three of them had grave looks on their faces. They used their hands and guided the flames to their bodies. In the blink of an eye, the blazing flames engulfed their bodies and turned them into three men who were on fire.
The onlookers cried out in alarm again.
The three flaming fire elementalists began to run around the earth elementalist with all their might. If one looked down from the sky, he or she would see a flaming triangle that was spinning.
In front of the earth elementalist, the roiling quicksand transformed into a brown cauldron with three legs.
Wisps of fire were released into the three-legged cauldron by the three flaming men as they ran wildly on the quicksand. A red glow suddenly erupted from the three-legged cauldron, making it look as if it was being heated.
In an instant, the quicksand beneath their feet looked as if it was boiling, sweeping up numerous sand waves.
Amid the rolling waves of sand, speckles of silvery light appeared. Like a school of fish, they swam toward Jiang Wei. The sand-made pedestal that carried Jiang Wei was as bright as snow, looking as if it was cast out of iron.
Jiang Wei’s elemental energy was operating at its limit. Faint silvery stars appeared in his eyes.
The metal elemental energy in the sand pedestal that carried him was becoming more and more vigorous. He felt like his body was ripping apart. In reality, this wasn’t a misperception. A slight moment of carelessness would cause his body to be ripped apart by the surging metal elemental energy.
He carefully controlled the vigorous and fearsome metal elemental energy. The huge bow that he placed in front of him was bursting with a brilliant silvery light, appearing as if a glowing silver needle had grown out of his bow.
The quicksand lifted them and continued moving forward!
Xiao Shan’s facial expression became solemn once more.
This was…
He realized that he had underestimated Jiang Wei and his counterparts.
The fire elementalists, whom he previously thought were the weakest and most useless, actually had their merits. The fire elemental energy released by the snow lava was extremely powerful. From Xiao Shan’s perspective, it was too much for each fire elementalist to handle all of the fire elemental energy from the two glass bamboo vials of snow lava.
But the three of them managed to do it!
They distributed the flames around their bodies proportionally. By doing so, they could reduce the amount of flames they had to control at any given moment. However, Xiao Shan had not initially thought of this method because he knew the agony that he would have had to face if he allowed the flames of snow lava to engulf him.
Under such agony, the three fire elementalists could still synchronize their movements and release the flames into the three-legged cauldron at the same speed.
Xiao Shan could not help but feel surprised. Such an aggressive execution!
Each combat division had certain moments where they would fight with all their might. However, this was the first time that Xiao Shan witnessed the ubiquitous Lesser Arrow Formation being executed with such aggression. From their excellent coordination, Xiao Shan could tell that they had practiced this formation many times.
Was this done to make up for the deficiency in their strength?
Xiao Shan’s gaze became slightly complicated.
The theory behind it was easy to understand, yet very few combat divisions could implement it. It was akin to how the fire elementalists allowed their bodies to be engulfed by flames. This could only be done with an extremely high endurance, steel-like willpower, and strict self-discipline.
In front of him, there wasn’t just one, but three fire elementalists who possessed such characteristics!
Wasn’t the Spear of Heavy Cloud scared of a mutiny occurring?
Suddenly, he thought of an interesting fact about the Spear of Heavy Cloud’s recruiting process. Fire elementalists had to pass the fire reservoir test before they could enter the Spear of Heavy Cloud. Previously, everyone had not thought much about it. They merely felt that Shi Xueman valued individuals with high willpower. After the rise of Pagoda Cannons, the value of fire elementalists skyrocketed, and everyone felt that the Spear of Heavy Cloud was too lucky for taking the best fire elementalists all for themselves,
Who would have thought that the Spear of Heavy Cloud designed their battle formations based on the exceptional willpower of their fire elementalists?
Xiao Shan no longer looked down on the Spear of Heavy Cloud. Not only did he admire the perseverance of the fire elementalists, he also admired the ingenuity of the Spear of Heavy Cloud.
Suddenly, his mind trembled.
While he was distracted by his thoughts, the quicksand that carried the entire Lesser Arrow Formation was just about to collide with the expanding crystallized canopy.
The statue-like Jiang Wei began to move as he pulled the bowstring with his right hand.
His huge bow suddenly erupted with a brilliance. The space between the bow and its bowstring was covered with a silvery light, resembling a glowing silver fan.
The silvery light then converged toward the horizontal line formed by Jiang Wei’s fingers on the bowstring. The glowing silver fan that had previously been open was now closed.
Following which, a thick glowing silver arrow that was the size of a javelin appeared on the bowstring.
Clink!
The bowstring twanged as a silvery light streaked through the air!
Jiang Wei’s face remained emotionless as he pulled and released the bowstring with lightning speed. An arrow was released again!
Boom!
The arrow gleam blasted a huge hole in the ice-like, crystallized elemental energy. However, the edge of the hole began to regenerate almost immediately. The second arrow gleam struck the crystallized elemental energy again, deepening the hole by a few meters.
Clink, clink, clink!
Boom, boom, boom!
In the midst of the brilliant silvery light, Jiang Wei moved extremely fast. The onlookers couldn’t clearly see the action of him pulling the bowstring. Only once in awhile could they catch a glimpse of him doing so.
The glowing silver arrows that appeared on the bowstring remained the same. However, the onlookers quickly realized that the hand which Jiang Wei used to pull the bowstring was dripping with blood.
Razor-sharp metal energy gathered on the bowstring, making it as sharp as a knife!
Even so, Jiang Wei’s facial expression remained emotionless. It was as if he couldn’t feel anything at all. The bowstring was pulled and released mechanically.
Amid the dazzling streaks of silvery light, the explosions, and the fluttering fragmentary light, they advanced with aggression!
Xiao Shan finally understood why the fire elementalists were fighting with all their might and why they could endure such a painful battle tactic. It was because Jiang Wei took the lead.
However, how many combat divisions could actually implement this simple principle?
It had been ages since the Surveillance Division had last set foot upon the battlefield…
All of a sudden, Xiao Shan felt a sense of embarrassment. These weak and low level individuals were fighting with all their might. To secure a victory, they were willing to use a battle tactic that filled them with agony.
Valiant warriors like them… should be in the Surveillance Division!
Division Leader, you should look at these people!
Live not an ignoble life, die an honorable death…
Xiao Shan suddenly became very excited.
Jiang Wei and his counterparts, who were advancing frantically, did not know what was going on outside at all. All of their facial expressions were distorted as they advanced with all their might. The moment Jiang Wei’s shooting speed slowed down, the hole would regenerate. Jiang Wei did not care about anything else and shot the arrows intensely.
There were no more distracting thoughts in his mind.
He only had one thought now.
Attack! Attack!
Separated by the pure and gorgeous crystallized elemental energy, the figure of the middle-aged man appeared distorted. However, Jiang Wei’s bloodshot eyes did not blink at all.
He was getting closer!
10 meters, 7 meters, 2 meters…
Jiang Wei was becoming more and more excited. He did not know whether or not he could obtain victory. All he knew was that if his attacks got closer to Xiao Shan, his chance of winning would be higher!
Boom!
Breaking out of the elemental canopy, Jiang Wei felt his body become lighter and his vision become clearer. The figure of his target was exceptionally distinct now.
He was within reach!
Without any hesitation, Jiang Wei pulled the bowstring with all the strength he had left and placed all his attention on his bow.
Locked on!
Snap.
Suddenly, his hand became empty. The bowstring had snapped.
He was stunned. Like the sharp blade of a sword, the bowstring hit his body and created two lacerations, but he couldn’t feel anything.
Wang Rui, who hid far behind Xiao Shan, suddenly yelled, "Kill him!"
The air seemed to have frozen at this moment.
Wang Rui kept on yelling, "Kill him! Quickly kill him…"
Snap.
Xiao Shan snapped his fingers without turning back. Wang Rui’s voice abruptly came to a halt. He had been imprisoned by Xiao Shan’s elemental energy.
Xiao Shan looked at the unconscious He Min, the dazed Jiang Wei whose palm was badly mangled, the exhausted earth elementalist who was scowling at him, and the three fire elementalists whose bodies were still ablaze with flames.
"You’re more suitable for this kid, so nurture him properly," Xiao Shan said indifferently.
Jiang Wei raised his head abruptly. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard.
Xiao Shan turned around and flew up into the air. A lingering voice spiralled through the air.
"We will meet again on the battlefield in the future."