Chapter 28: A Narrow Escape, Elai Comes to the Rescue

Meng Wu effortlessly struck down a Xiongnu cavalryman with a casual thrust of his spear, appearing entirely at ease. Given his base martial strength of 99, it was indeed a bit of a bullying act to deal with these common soldiers.

Although the Han commanders were all tied up, Meng Wu’s solo efforts caused significant trouble for the Xiongnu cavalry. Niandeli clearly noticed this situation, leading him to abandon his plan to ambush Xing Tian and charge toward Meng Wu instead.

The reason for this change was simple: someone who had reached the martial level of Xing Tian possessed an astonishingly keen spiritual perception. Pulling off an ambush against him was far too difficult, and if it failed and he ended up entangled, it would be even harder to break free. Thus, Niandeli decided to finish off Meng Wu first before engaging Xing Tian in a grand battle.

Niandeli certainly did not intend to use an ambush on Meng Wu. His previous desire to ambush Xing Tian was merely because Xing Tian was too powerful; if he had to resort to an ambush to deal with a mere Meng Wu, Niandeli would have looked down upon himself.

At this moment, Meng Wu was preparing to continue leading his troops in a charge when a massive warrior suddenly lunged out from the front. The man had a face like polished copper, a beard like yellow glue, and wore a golden crown and golden armor, looking every bit like a Vajra deity. When Meng Wu looked at the pair of giant hammers in his hands—which likely weighed well over a hundred pounds—he knew he was in serious trouble.

Not daring to engage the giant head-on, Meng Wu employed his family’s "Drifting Dragon" spear technique. He maneuvered his spear with blocking, trapping, piercing, collapsing, pointing, penetrating, cleaving, circling, picking, and deflecting moves, dancing with such vigor that it whistled through the air, yet he carefully avoided direct contact with Niandeli’s weapons. However, Niandeli was no Yin Danzi, and Meng Wu was not Meng Tian. Niandeli swung his hammer directly at Meng Wu’s head, an attack that demanded a response. Although Meng Wu anticipated Niandeli’s intent, he had no choice but to raise his spear to parry.

After only three blows, Meng Wu was struck so hard he collapsed against his saddle, vomiting blood, and was forced to flee in panic. He dared not continue the fight, knowing that if he stayed for ten rounds, he would surely become a ghost under the opponent’s hammer.

How could Niandeli let this cooked duck escape? He spurred his mount and gave chase. The horse Meng Wu was riding was merely a common steed and was no match for the golden-eyed camel Niandeli rode. It didn't take long before he caught up to Meng Wu.

"Ding! Dian Wei’s 'Flying Halberd' skill activated. Martial strength +7. Base martial strength 100, current martial strength 107."

Just as Niandeli was about to swing his hammer, he suddenly felt a fierce gust of wind from behind. He hurriedly executed a "Su Qin Carrying the Sword"—or rather, "Carrying the Hammer"—barely managing to block the strike by a hair's breadth.

"Ding! Dian Wei’s 'Flying Halberd' skill effect ended. Martial strength returned to 100."

Li Xiang, watching the battle from the city wall, was shocked upon hearing the system notification, followed by irrepressible joy. He never expected his modified "Kill the Hu Decree" to actually bring him such a powerful general. As for the fact that Dian Wei did not yet belong to him, Li Xiang told himself: since he had arrived, there was no way he would let this guardian general slip through his fingers.

"System, detect Dian Wei’s four-dimensional attributes," Li Xiang hurriedly commanded the system in his mind.

"Ding! Dian Wei: Peak Command 49, Martial Strength 105, Intelligence 58, Politics 47. Currently, Dian Wei has not reached his peak; his current attributes are Command 47, Martial Strength 100, Intelligence 52, Politics 41."

He was worthy of being the "Ancient E Lai." Few in the world today possessed a martial strength of 105, and those who did were almost all on this very battlefield. Furthermore, Lu Bu’s peak martial strength was 107, while Dian Wei’s was 105. As the saying went, "First Lu, second Zhao, third Dian Wei." Li Xiang was very curious about just how high Brother Zilong’s martial strength was—was it 105, 106, or perhaps an even more terrifying 107?

Niandeli never imagined that the one who had ambushed him just now was merely a common soldier. But feeling the pain in his back, he realized this soldier was quite formidable.

"Ding! Dian Wei’s 'E Lai' skill erupted.
E Lai: Exclusive skill of the ancient E Lai, Dian Wei. Effect 1: When fighting on foot, martial strength +6.
Effect 2: Every ten rounds of battle, martial strength +2, can be activated three times.
Effect 3: When protecting a master, self martial strength +3.
Dian Wei’s 'E Lai' skill Effect 1 activated: Martial strength +6. Base martial strength 100, current martial strength increased to 106."

If it were the peak Dian Wei from years later, he might have been able to fight Niandeli, but the current Dian Wei was definitely not up to the task.

After all, even with a portion of his skills activated, Dian Wei had only reached 106, while Niandeli—relying solely on his equipment bonuses—was already one point higher than Dian Wei even without activating any skills.

Sure enough, Dian Wei poured all his strength into swinging his twin halberds at Niandeli, but Niandeli caught them steadily, showing no signs of being affected. Furthermore, Dian Wei was shaken back three steps by the rebound force.

Even though the enemy was far stronger than him, Dian Wei refused to retreat a single step, continuing to lash out with his twin halberds.

Dian Wei might not have been clever, but he understood that if no one blocked this Hu general, allowing him to charge would be disastrous. The damage to the soldiers was secondary, but if this general went on to interfere in the other duels, it would cause a chain reaction across the entire battlefield. If a single duel was lost, the war would be considered lost. At that point, not only would the Han civilians captured by the Xiongnu be unable to return, but even the Han army that had marched out of the city would likely be wiped out.

"Ding! Ten rounds have passed. Dian Wei’s 'E Lai' skill Effect 2 activated for the first time. Current martial strength increased to 108."

Dian Wei finally struggled through 10 rounds, successfully triggering a skill boost.

Niandeli naturally felt the surge in Dian Wei’s power, but such a slight improvement did not warrant his concern.

"Ding! Niandeli’s 'Tyrant Hammer' skill activated.
Tyrant Hammer: Effect 1, after activation, martial strength +5.
Effect 2: For every boost in the enemy’s martial strength, gain +2, up to four times.
Effect 3: Reduces the martial strength of enemies using light weapons by 1-3 points.
Niandeli’s 'Tyrant Hammer' Effect 1 activated: Martial strength +5. Effect 2 activated: Dian Wei has boosted his strength twice, so martial strength +4. Base martial strength 105, Purple Gold Hammer +1, Golden-Eyed Camel +1. Current martial strength increased to 116."

With this burst of skill, the situation did not improve for Dian Wei; instead, it worsened. The 8-point gap in martial strength placed Dian Wei in a dire position.

Dian Wei’s twin halberds collided heavily with Niandeli’s twin hammers. If Dian Wei had been able to parry before, he was now sent flying backward without any power to retaliate.

Seeing this from afar, Meng Wu forcibly suppressed his injuries, raised his spear, and charged forward once more.

"Ding! Meng Wu’s 'Battle-Ready' skill activated. Martial strength +4, +3, +5. Base martial strength 99, current martial strength increased to 111."

Liu Yang also possessed the "Battle-Ready" skill; frankly, the boost from this skill was quite substantial, especially in the environment of a fierce battle between two armies.

Taking advantage of the clash between Meng Wu and Niandeli, Dian Wei forced himself to stand up and pulled a small halberd from behind his back.

"Ding! Dian Wei’s 'Flying Halberd' skill activated. Martial strength +7, current martial strength 115."

"Ding! Niandeli’s 'Tyrant Hammer' skill Effect 2 activated for the third time. Martial strength +2, current martial strength 118."

A small halberd shot out fiercely. Although Niandeli did his best to dodge, Meng Wu risked his own severe injuries to forcibly obstruct Niandeli for a split second. Even so, it only added a minor wound to Niandeli’s arm, which did nothing to affect his combat prowess.