Chapter 50: Entering the Formation

Wang Liang had already witnessed the charging power of the Boar-Mountain Whale.

He had seen several soldiers who looked to have at least some strength sent flying by a single impact, only to hit the ground and die at once.

He understood that he could not allow the Boar-Mountain Whale to ram into him. With his slight frame, one hit would be all it took.

He still remembered being instantly killed in the previous game. That time, there had been some excuse for it. If it happened again now, it would be inexcusable.

He had no intention of being branded a battlefield one-shot man.

Feeling the tremor running through the ground, Wang Liang did not hesitate. He lunged forward, shoved aside the corpse of the fat merchant Wang Yi beneath him, and hurled a talisman without looking back.

It was the Celestial Master Thunder Department Edict he had obtained from the fat merchant Wang Yi.

This time, Wang Liang held nothing back. The moment he threw the talisman, he shouted, “Celestial Master Thunder Department Edict, triple strike!”

He knew exactly what had to be done here. He did not even consider saving the edict for later, and simply used it up without the slightest hesitation.

At his command, three bolts of lightning came crashing down from the sky, each striking the charging Boar-Mountain Whale squarely.

The power of those three bolts was not especially great, but they had a certain stimulating effect on demon-kind.

At the same time, the paralysis brought by the lightning interrupted this charge, the next one, and even the one that was still waiting in line.

Although the Boar-Mountain Whale’s charging skill refreshed quickly, having three of its skills ruined still forced it to stop in its tracks.

Taking this opening, Wang Liang flipped himself back onto his horse. He clamped his legs around the bronze warhorse’s belly, triggered every swift-travel talisman on it, and lowered his head as he charged straight at the Boar-Mountain Whale.

The Boar-Mountain Whale had not expected Wang Liang to dare meet it head-on. The moment its charge became available again, it launched forward as well.

But just then, Wang Liang suddenly veered aside, darting out from the Boar-Mountain Whale’s left flank, while the Blade of Severed Life in his hand slashed across its body.

When the blade struck, Wang Liang only felt as if he had scraped it across a stone slab. He heard nothing but a harsh screech, and not a single wound appeared on the Boar-Mountain Whale.

In the next instant, Wang Liang had already ridden the bronze warhorse out of Monster Ridge Scenic Sun Hill.

At that moment, one thought kept flashing through his mind: the Boar-Mountain Whale’s defense far exceeded normal limits. The Armor-Exchange Binding Silk Formation they had set up was useful, but only to a limited degree.

Because although they could trap the Boar-Mountain Whale, the players simply did not yet possess the strength to kill it.

In player terms, they could not break through its defense.

And if they could not break through its defense, then there was little point in anything else. They could not merely trap the enemy and refuse to fight, nor could they just let it go.

As Wang Liang rode the bronze warhorse onward, his mind was a chaos of scattered thoughts.

Seeing Wang Liang burst out of Monster Ridge Scenic Sun Hill, the players who were preparing the Armor-Exchange Binding Silk Formation finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Life-and-Death Friend glanced at the Boar-Mountain Whale behind Wang Liang and gave a heavy snort. “Everyone get ready. We’re about to make contact.”

By this time, the battlefield over there had already shifted nearly half a mile to the left from its original position.

This had been Lord Lu’s idea. He had already seen that in this battle, the Boar-Mountain Whale was the key. In order to prevent it from inflicting too much damage on their troops, moving the battlefield away had become the crucial point.

Without the Boar-Mountain Whale leading them, those little demons were nothing but cannon fodder.

The county militia were also around level fourteen, but there were more of them, and with the support of other forces’ levies, they could often bring three or five soldiers to bear against a single minor demon.

And demons of that level could not use any profound sorcery. Their clashes with the soldiers were all pure martial combat.

In fights like that, the side with the greater numbers usually held the advantage.

So the battle here had already been stabilized. What Lord Lu worried about most now was the situation with the Boar-Mountain Whale.

Fortunately, at this moment Wang Liang had brought the Boar-Mountain Whale charging out from Monster Ridge Scenic Sun Hill. Skipping over the ground that the Boar-Mountain Whale had just smashed apart, Wang Liang drove the bronze warhorse swiftly toward the Armor-Exchange Binding Silk Formation.

As he raced that way, Wang Liang shouted, “The plan has changed. Its defense is absurdly strong. Physical attacks can’t break through at all. Prepare spell-based attacks!”

He did not hide his discovery in the least. His voice carried far and wide, reaching not only Life-and-Death Friend and the others, but also Lord Lu’s side.

Lord Lu immediately understood what Wang Liang meant. Turning his head, he looked toward the Daoist from Distant Mountain Temple. “Fellow Daoist Xu, I’m afraid this matter can only be handled by you.”

“Very well. For the sake of saving me three flight talismans, I’ll take care of this favor.”

As he spoke, the abbot of Distant Mountain Temple began calling to his disciples.

They had come this time to serve as magical support, so since Lord Lu had need of them, they naturally had to respond.

The abbot led fifteen disciples toward the players’ side.

By then the players had also heard Wang Liang’s warning. One by one, they put away their stronger physical weapons and took out treasured implements and talismans they had long been reluctant to use, preparing to land a vicious blow on the Boar-Mountain Whale from behind.

At this point, Wang Liang had already arrived on the bronze warhorse.

Less than a hundred yards behind him was the mountain-like figure of the Boar-Mountain Whale.

By now the Boar-Mountain Whale was snorting white vapor from its nostrils, its eyes bloodshot. It was clear that this repeated back-and-forth charging had consumed far too much of its strength.

Now there was only one thought left in its mind: crush Wang Liang to death.

Under these circumstances, Wang Liang naturally did not dare slow down. Seeing a player ahead waving a signal flag, he knew the Armor-Exchange Binding Silk Formation was already in place.

He followed the direction indicated by that player, leaped past the area occupied by the formation, and sprang toward safety.

The Boar-Mountain Whale behind him, however, failed to notice this subtle detail. Having locked onto Wang Liang, it activated another charging skill, shrinking that hundred-odd yards into an instant.

With that surge, the Boar-Mountain Whale was almost upon Wang Liang. Then, at that very moment, it suddenly felt its feet tighten, as though something had wrapped itself around them.

A moment later, its limbs went weak. The sensation was exactly like the feeling of stepping into swampy mire in the past, with all its strength rendered useless.

At that instant, a voice rang out nearby. “Raise the formation. All hands, spell attack!”

Then a torrent of talismans and magical treasures came crashing in from every direction, hammering toward the Boar-Mountain Whale.