"Charge out of the city!" Jinyao's deep voice roared like summer thunder, echoing across the heavens! The massive red cloud instantly coalesced into a single, metallic torrent, surging toward the city gates with astonishing speed.

Less than ten meters from the gates, the frantically galloping Cloud Thunder Riders, their tight formation compressing at incredible velocity from one hundred riders abreast to just ten, burst through the opening like a gale. I clearly saw that the gap between the two outermost riders on either side of the gate was less than the width of a single horse. This meant the gate's width could only accommodate ten riders abreast for a mass charge.

With a low growl, Dale stamped his four hooves hard onto the solid ground, then shot forward toward the gate. To my left and right, Jinyao Hong, Jinyao Ming, and the other personal guards followed closely.

Even at this breakneck speed, the formation remained perfectly ordered, resembling a modern honor guard parade.

As they neared the gate, Dale, positioned centrally, let out a sudden, deep snort. The Cloud Thunder War Beasts galloping in parallel lines to my left and right seemed to receive an unseen command and swiftly closed ranks around me. The cavalry formation, initially wide enough for a hundred horses abreast, instantly compressed to about twenty meters. Jinyao Hong and Jinyao Ming rode shoulder-to-shoulder, almost brushing against Dale and me, as they shot through the gate. Simultaneously, the original hundred-rider line instantly divided into five dense, closely packed ranks moving one after the other, all clearing the gate.

Whoosh! Almost immediately upon exiting the gates!

Roar! Dale emitted another low, muffled bellow!

I felt Dale's charge speed slightly abate. Jinyao Ming and Jinyao Hong on either flank rapidly fanned out, and the spacing between formations instantly returned to six meters apart. The following ranks of personal guards caught up with astonishing speed, extending outward to flank the main column. In the blink of an eye, the twenty-rider-per-row formation snapped back into the hundred-rider-per-row density. The entire maneuver took less than twenty seconds.

If I hadn't witnessed it myself, I could never have imagined that nearly ten thousand Cloud Thunder Iron Cavalry could exit the city gates in such an impossibly fluid change of formation, only to immediately reform into a disciplined square.

Thump-thump-thump!

The ground still thundered with the sound of hooves, and what met my eyes was a vast expanse of dust churned up by the pounding hooves. Feeling the rhythmic, wave-like jarring as Dale galloped forward, I understood, for the first time, the true shockwave of a thousand horses charging.

Yes, at this moment, I was like a single wavelet within the surging, ceaseless waves of the great river—helplessly swept along by this flood. I felt that everyone else in this formation must share my sensation; this was the awesome spectacle of mass combat, of a unified charge.

The speed of the charge increased relentlessly, the powerful headwind howling past my ears. Just then, I saw Jinyao Hong and Jinyao Ming on my flanks suddenly flatten their bodies forward, their heads nearly touching the saddle bows.

I quickly imitated them, dropping my center of gravity low, my entire body bent at a near ninety-degree angle, clinging tightly to Dale's undulating back.

Yesterday, Jinyao Hong had already briefed me on the necessary precautions during a cavalry charge.

This charge represented the Cloud Thunder Iron Cavalry accelerating to their absolute peak velocity. Lowering the body onto the horse's back was essential to minimize the drag created by the 'wind wall' generated by such extreme speed.

I actually had similar experiences when riding horses before, but those were ordinary warhorses; their speed could never compare to these Cloud Thunder War Beasts. Thus, the feeling of the so-called wind wall resistance wasn't very pronounced. But now, atop a wildly galloping Cloud Thunder Beast, I felt that one wrong move could send me flying off due to the wind resistance. This revealed just how terrifying the speed of a fully engaged Cloud Thunder Beast truly was.

I doubt even a full-out sprint by a Sky Demon Warrior could achieve this velocity. Converting this speed into modern units, it must be at least over one hundred and fifty li per hour! It was hard to fathom that a creature in the Mafa world could possess such terrifying speed.

And I heard that the Furnace War Horses were even faster, capable of reaching two hundred li per hour. As for the fastest, the Great Mammoth Choppers, they could reportedly hit speeds between two hundred and fifty and three hundred li per hour. On land, they were the fastest creatures alive.

I couldn't even imagine what that speed felt like, but one thing was certain: at that rate, one probably wouldn't even catch a glimpse of a shadow.

The speed kept increasing, the strong wind wall resistance making it nearly impossible to draw a full breath. Fortunately, I was wearing a fully enclosed black iron helmet, or I wouldn't have been able to breathe at all.

Thump-thump-thump! The thunderous sound of hooves, in this instant, blended into one continuous, rapid roar. The brief pauses between each beat were completely lost.

My entire being seemed enveloped in a continuous, deafening peal of thunder.

Yet, my body felt controlled by a savage energy; the blood within me seemed to ignite.

Faster, faster, even faster! At this moment, the craving for speed was stronger than ever before. I didn't know what the others felt, but I experienced a strange illusion.

My entire being felt melded into a single, tight unit with the massive Dale, carrying an astonishing momentum and unparalleled impact force, charging forward resolutely. I believed that even if a solid city wall stood in our path, we would smash it to pieces.

Roar! Roar! Ahead, Jinyao's mount let out a deep, resonant, wild roar.

Rumble-rumble-rumble!

"Watch out! Next is the sonic attack, Cloud Thunder Roar," even amidst the continuous thunder of hooves, Jinyao Hong's deep voice clearly reached my ears.

"Sonic attack, Cloud Thunder Roar," I immediately sharpened my focus, intently watching the path ahead.

Through the hazy dust, not far ahead, a blanket-like mass of black lines was surging toward us at an equally alarming speed.

"They're coming," I instinctively gripped the handrails of the saddle tightly, feeling my heartbeat accelerate to an extreme peak.

From yesterday's briefing, I knew the Cloud Thunder Iron Cavalry was about to unleash their most ferocious sonic attack!

And ahead, surging towards us in a massive wave, were the magic puppets specifically deployed for training the Cloud Thunder Iron Cavalry.

Magic puppets were specialized magical artifacts without inherent life consciousness, somewhat akin to modern robots or scarecrows in a field. Strictly speaking, a scarecrow is a type of magic puppet, but it possesses its own thoughts and awareness. The military-produced puppets used for training, however, could only execute simple commands and actions based on pre-set magical instructions.

The magic puppets ahead were constructed by the Prague Legion to mimic the attack patterns of the magic cavalry from the Aotian Legion.

These magic puppets could also launch ranged magical attacks, though their power naturally paled in comparison to true magic cavalry. But that wasn't important; what mattered was that in this environment, close to actual combat, it trained the Cloud Thunder Iron Cavalry's battlefield instincts and sharpened their nerves for intense, real-world fighting. That was enough.

Ahead, Jinyao's imposing figure gradually straightened up in his saddle, seemingly calculating the distance between the magic puppets and the Cloud Thunder Riders!

I too watched tensely! Ahead, the sky was filled with a dense cluster of enemies charging forward. Simultaneously, I subconsciously urged the Raging Lion Battle Qi within me.

Closer, closer still. I could even make out the puppets' sinister, cold pupils, the ghastly green light emanating from their skull-like eyes.

Indeed, all the power driving the magic puppets came from the two skull eyes set in their empty sockets.

The puppet warhorses galloped furiously, and atop them sat lifelike magical knights. Banners symbolizing the Aotian Legion snapped and whipped violently in the wind as the entire formation rushed toward us at high speed.

"Cloud Thunder!" Finally, Jinyao's deep, resonant roar cut through the deafening noise, reaching the ears of every Cloud Thunder Knight in the charge, clear and unmistakable.

"Hah!" Ah, time to attack. I recognized this as the preparatory command before the Cloud Thunder Roar. Upon receiving the command, all Cloud Thunder Knights had to fully channel the Raging Lion Battle Qi within them, preparing to unleash their strongest sonic assault.

I quickly circulated my Raging Lion Battle Qi. Dale's pace seemed to slow slightly, and I could distinctly feel his abdomen rapidly swelling, like an inflating balloon.

This was the precursor sign that the Cloud Thunder War Beast was about to unleash its sonic attack.

Thump-thump! Finally, the overwhelming black line rushed to within a hundred meters of our position.

"Roar!" Jinyao's low voice exploded like a thunderclap, sounding at almost the exact same instant!

"Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!" A world-shattering collective bellow erupted. I cannot adequately describe the scene of this myriad of beasts roaring in unison.

The Raging Lion Battle Qi, already condensed to its peak, instantly exploded like a burst balloon, venting madly through the throat, merging into the booming sound that seemed poised to shatter the entire world.

The sound was beyond description—like terrifying, world-breaking thunder. The entire world was submerged in a deafening roar. I could even distinctly feel the space around me beginning to warp and tear due to the violent sonic vibrations.

The whole world became blurry; what my eyes perceived was like an image distorted by a funhouse mirror, becoming bizarre and twisted.

Immediately, sharp, strange sounds from the monsters followed!

Splat-splat-splat!

Thud-thud-thud!

This strange distortion lasted for only a fleeting fifteen seconds. When the world returned to normal, the previously overwhelming mass of magic puppets ahead had already been blasted into pieces, leaving behind only heaps of shattered debris.

The charging Cloud Thunder Iron Cavalry swept through like a gale scattering dead leaves. The terrifying wind lifted the scattered wreckage, carrying it far aloft until the massive red cloud of the cavalry disappeared into the distance, at which point the fragments drifted gently back to the ground like fallen leaves.

My heavens! Was this the Cloud Thunder Roar?

The scene before me left me slack-jawed!

This terrifying mode of attack surpassed anything I could have imagined. I hadn't even clearly seen how it happened, but I knew for certain that the massive wave of magic puppets ahead had been pulverized solely by the terrifying sound waves of the Cloud Thunder Roar.

It was hard to imagine what the outcome would be if living beings had been standing in the way.

This was too terrifying. How could anyone defend against such a large-scale, indiscriminate sonic attack?

Even now, my entire body felt numb, empty, and drained. I knew this was due to the internal shaking of organs, muscles, and nerves caused by the sonic vibrations. Jinyao Hong had already told me yesterday that many new recruits experienced this physiological reaction upon joining the Cloud Thunder Iron Cavalry; it would pass once one adapted.

The charging red fire cloud maintained its speed without slackening! In just a few heartbeats, another dense black line appeared ahead.

"Next is the Cloud Thunder Charge," Jinyao Hong had not forgotten to remind me.

"Raise the Dragon Lances!" Jinyao’s thunderous voice rang out across the field again: "Sword Formation Impact!"

Almost simultaneously, all the Cloud Thunder Knights raised the Dragon Lances resting on their racks.

The spear tips and the charging Cloud Thunder War Beasts formed one smooth, continuous line.

The charging square formation, previously a hundred riders abreast, swiftly reformed into a sharp, pointed wedge, resembling a sharp sword, with Jinyao, clad in his golden armor, forming the very tip of the blade.

I followed suit, bracing my Dragon Lance, lowering my center of gravity, and instinctively tightening my legs inward around the saddle, trying to make my body as stable as possible.

Yesterday, Jinyao Hong had drilled me on the Cloud Thunder Charge over a hundred times. I had thoroughly memorized the key principles and practiced them just as often. Now, I was finally participating in a combat exercise on a real battlefield.

Although slightly nervous, I felt fully confident.

The Cloud Thunder Charge involved close-quarters combat where both sides made contact while moving at high speed. The most basic principle was accuracy: the angle of the Dragon Lance had to align perfectly with the direction of the Cloud Thunder War Beast's charge. Only under those conditions could the terrifying impact force of a fully engaged Cloud Thunder Beast be brought to bear.

The second key was stability! Stability meant keeping the back rigid and the center of gravity low. Once the Dragon Lance was fixed in position, one only needed to maintain that posture to strike the opponent amid the high-speed impact. Following the collision came the terrifying impact force; an improper posture meant one couldn't withstand this terrifying force, and the most direct result would be being thrown off.

If that happened, the outcome would certainly be horrific. In a stampede of ten thousand horses, being thrown off meant being trampled into dust by the charging war beasts.

Closer, closer yet. From a distance, I could see that the massive dark wave consisted of magic puppets similar in size to the Cloud Thunder Iron Cavalry—wooden horses below and puppet knights above—all charging toward us with astonishing momentum.

Clang! Boom! Rumble! The red and black torrents of metal finally collided irreversibly.

Roar! All the Cloud Thunder Knights leveled their lances, thrusting toward the puppet knights blocking their path.

Clang! This was followed by rapid impacts and roaring sounds.

Countless black figures were speared aloft, falling to the ground only to be instantly crushed by the roaring torrent sweeping over them.

The Cloud Thunder Iron Cavalry, like a sharpened sword, pierced straight through the dense array of puppet knights, leaving behind only scattered wreckage.

...It was slightly regrettable that being positioned near the center of the sword formation, I didn't even manage to strike a single puppet knight myself.

After passing through the puppet knight formation, the entire sword formation swiftly adjusted its vector, curving slightly to the left from its straight charge path, and then began to loop back toward our point of origin.

I knew that the Cloud Thunder Roar and Cloud Thunder Charge, the daily rituals, were complete. Next was the return to the city for the usual routine training sessions.

These included horsemanship, Cloud Thunder Lance techniques, Cloud Thunder Saber techniques, javelin practice, and mounted archery, among others.

The morning's Cloud Thunder Roar and Cloud Thunder Charge were merely the beginning. After this wild gallop and unified roar, both the knights and the Cloud Thunder War Beasts had reached a perfect peak in morale, physical condition, and mental state.

The subsequent training would be even more arduous and intense, but I was certain I could adapt to this entirely new military life.