NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 337-342
Chapter 337: Suppression
“Fight!”
“Fight!”
When the surrounding soldiers saw this, they began to shout out loudly. Each of them expressed their support for General Tai and looked at Fang Zhengzhi with an expression of one looking at a man who was half dead.
“Little kid, choose your weapon!” The smile on the edges of General Tai’s mouth grew colder and colder as he looked at Fang Zhengzhi’s expression. He had been holding back his anger for an entire day. Now was finally the time he could vent it all out.
How could he not be excited!
The hand that held the huge black axe turned slightly white due to his over-excitement.
“Wait a moment.” Fang Zhengzhi quickly focused his gaze and spoke towards General Tai who was closing in on him step by step.
“Why, do you want to beg for mercy?” General Tai smiled coldly.
“Why would a great man like me beg for mercy?” Fang Zhengzhi’s expression was filled with disdain. Then, he looked behind at Princess Shan Yu. “But, I feel that this competition isn’t very fair.”
“Oh? Why isn’t it fair?” Princess Shan Yu smiled gently.
“A forty to fifty year old man who had trained for dozens of years bullying a pure and innocent fifteen to sixteen year old youth who had only trained for one to two years. How could this be considered fair?” Fang Zhengzhi scorned.
“It is indeed not very fair. Then, what is considered fair to you?” Princess Shan Yu nodded her head lightly and smiled again.
“If both parties suppress our states and fight purely based on techniques, I feel that it would be fairer!” Fang Zhengzhi suggested very quickly.
“Suppress states? Fight purely based on techniques? Hmm… General Tai, what do you think?” When Princess Shan Yu heard this, she nodded her head again and turned her jet-black eyes towards General Tai.
“I have nothing against this. If I really used my state to bully this little kid, it is indeed an insult to my great reputation as a Southern Mountain Range warrior. Today, I will do what he said and not use my state so that he would lose contented and convinced!” General Tai replied, his expression filled with confidence.
“Alright, I announce that both parties are not allowed to use their states in combat. If one party broke this rule, it would be considered cheating and punishable by military law!” Princess Shan Yu’s lips curled into a smile and announced loudly.
“Thank you Princess!” Fang Zhengzhi hurriedly thanked Princess Shan Yu. Even though he didn’t know how good were the techniques of the Southern Mountain Range, this was already the best idea he could think of.
“Little kid, stop talking nonsense and let’s start!” General Tai impatiently waved the huge axe in his hand around and then placed it back behind his shoulders.
“Wait a moment!”
“What is it now?”
“I haven’t chosen a weapon!”
“Ha ha ha… choose a weapon?” When General Tai heard Fang Zhengzhi’s words, he burst out in laughter. He thought that Fang Zhengzhi wanted to compete with him using fist techniques. However, he had never imagined that Fang Zhengzhi would choose to take a weapon. Wasn’t that asking for death?
In this case, there was no need to keep this axe of his.
When the surrounding soldiers heard this, they also let out a wave of mocking laughter.
“The ignorant is indeed fearless!”
“Asking for death.”
“Weapons don’t grow eyes, little kid.”
The soldiers cried out one by one. She had already paved the path for Fang Zhengzhi. However, what was unfortunate was that Fang Zhengzhi had returned back to the origin by himself.
Asking for death!
Just as Princess Shan Yu felt that Fang Zhengzhi was a little too stupid, she saw Fang Zhengzhi looking at her with a bright grin on his face, rubbing his hands together furiously at the same time.
“Then… princess, can I borrow your bow to play around with?”
“You want to borrow my Fiery Rattan Bow?” Princess Shan Yu was clearly somewhat shocked. However, very quickly, her shock turned into mockery. “Can you draw it back?”
“I feel I can!” Fang Zhengzhi said confidently.
When the surrounding soldiers heard Fang Zhengzhi’s words, they all began to laugh. They knew that in the competition between Fang Zhengzhi and Princess Shan Yu, he wasn’t even able to draw back an ordinary tough bow.
He could only use a soldier’s light bow.
Now, thinking of using the Fire Rattan Bow to defeat General Tai was simply indulging in fantasy.
“Ha ha ha…” Princess Shan Yu laughed out as well. Then, she waved her hand and the Fire Rattan Bow, steaming with heat, appeared in her hands. “Take it!”
“Thank you Princess for your reward!” Fang Zhengzhi instantly accepted the favour.
“Reward? What are you thinking? I am only lending it to you, you still have to return to me when you are done!” Princess Shan Yu was slightly taken aback, then, she immediately began to berate.
“Oh, then, no thanks to you.” Fang Zhengzhi was somewhat disappointed.
“General Tai, you don’t have to give me any face. Today, if you want to beat this little kid until he becomes bedridden for five days, I will punish you for being too lenient with your soldiers!” When Princess Shan Yu heard Fang Zhengzhi’s words, she instantly grew angry.
“Roger that!” When General Tai heard this, a delighted expression appeared on his face.
“Go to the drill ground, I want to take a good look at this fight!”
“Roger!”
…
Fighting on the drill ground was a military tradition. In the Southern Mountain Range, this tradition was even more widespread. Whenever there were conflicts within the army, it would settled in the drill ground. Whenever one wanted to be promoted in the army, they could challenge people in the drill ground.
By right, Fang Zhengzhi’s status meant that he was unqualified to participate in an open competition with General Tai in the drill ground. However, Princess Shan Yu had spoken.
Then…
He was now qualified.
“Fight!”
“Fight!”
Under the arena of the drill ground, the soldiers grew excited. Many soldiers also stood further away, craning their necks to spectate this.
“Begin!”
Following the sound of the order, General Tai raised the huge black axe in his hand as veins popped out from his arms. That steel-like strength was thoroughly displayed at this moment.
“Fall!” General Tai charged directly towards Fang Zhengzhi like a wild bull, holding the huge axe high up in his hands. His speed was as fast as lightning.
This battle strategy seemed somewhat silly on the surface. However, behind the surface was experience. Because, Fang Zhengzhi currently held the Fiery Rattan Bow in his hand.
Even though General Tai didn’t believe that Fang Zhengzhi could draw it back, close-combat would always be the most advantageous form of combat at such moments.
Fang Zhengzhi naturally predicted that General Tai would charge directly towards him.
There was no doubt about this point.
However, he never expected that General Tai’s speed would be as fast. Even under circumstances in which he had suppressed his state, he could still invoke a powerful gust of wind with his speed.
Princess Shan Yu’s big animal leather chair had already been carried to the drill ground. A golden animal skin covered the chair as Princess Shan Yu lay horizontally on it.
Revealing her snake-like waistline.
A pair of wheat-coloured legs propped themselves on the chair. It was filled with an air of wildness.
In front of her, there was a bowl of fresh fruits.
The trace of a smile appeared on Princess Shan Yu’s lips as she gently picked up a piece of fruit and placed it in her mouth. Her dark eyes were fixated upon Fang Zhengzhi, who was dressed in rattan armour with a quiver slung behind his back.
“Little kid, why aren’t you running? Are you too scared to move?” Princess Shan Yu laughed softly.
Suppressing one’s state.
Didn’t mean that both parties would have equal powers.
Especially when faced with a warrior from the Southern Mountain Range, just comparing muscular strength alone, the warrior from the Southern Mountain Range would greatly overpower that of a soldier from the Great Xia. Most importantly, Fang Zhengzhi’s opponent was General Tai.
A monster who could tear apart live beasts, one whose flesh and bones were as hard as steel.
When the soldiers witnessed the scene on the arena, they guessed that at this moment, Fang Zhengzhi should be running away. Because, only by moving continuously could he make use of his archery skills. Then, would Fang Zhengzhi choose to run to the left? Or run to the right?
Just as everybody attempted to guess which direction Fang Zhengzhi would run to, Fang Zhengzhi unexpectedly remained rooted to the spot without moving an inch.
Furthermore, his expression seemed extremely leisurely, shaking the leg that he placed on the arena…
“Is this little kid asking for death?”
The soldiers looked at one another. Nobody knew what Fang Zhengzhi was thinking.
“Die!” General Tai didn’t care what Fang Zhengzhi was thinking. Suppressing his power, the huge axe in his hand slashed towards Fang Zhengzhi’s head without a moment of hesitation.
Unable to dodge?
That wasn’t his problem!
At the most critical juncture, Fang Zhengzhi’s expression remained calm and leisurely. He didn’t even attempt to move his legs.
Next…
A scene that almost caused everybody to kneel down onto the floor occured.
“Shameless!”
This was the thought that rose in everybody’s heart.
In reality, all Fang Zhengzhi did was to raise the Fiery Rattan Bow and make a blocking attempt against the huge black axe that sliced down towards his head.
Naturally, everybody knew that this Fiery Rattan Bow was Princess Shan Yu’s treasure.
Who dared to slice it?
Princess Shan Yu’s expression suddenly changed. “You dare!”
Fang Zhengzhi dared.
But, General Tai really didn’t dare.
The huge black axe that was already halfway to its destination was forcefully stopped an inch away from the Fiery Rattan Bow. General Tai panted loudly and gasped for air. His initially dark face flushed red all because of this moment.
“You little kid…”
Just as General Tai prepared to curse, Fang Zhengzhi moved.
His entire body shot backwards into a corner of the drill ground’s arena. Immediately after, Fang Zhengzhi moved again. His body was like lightning, charging forwards with his two arms wide open, just like an eagle diving towards General Tai.
“Huh?”
General Tai had never seen such a fighting technique. If Fang Zhengzhi wanted close combat, then, the previous moment was actually the best opportunity.
However, if Fang Zhengzhi wanted to increase the distance between them.
Then…
He had clearly already done so. Why would he return again?
General Tai felt as if a question mark was spinning around in his head, so fast that he felt rather dizzy. However, Fang Zhengzhi had already closed the distance, hence, that was naturally in line with his own objective.
He didn’t use the axe again, instead, he punched out with his fist.
He had already decided that as long as Fang Zhengzhi used the Fiery Rattan Bow to block it off, he didn’t mind directly snatching off the Fiery Rattan Bow from Fang Zhengzhi’s hands.
However, just at this moment, Fang Zhengzhi’s movement changed. From a huge roc spreading its wings, he charged forward with his body crouched and staying low onto the ground. These two consecutive movements were indeed the technique of the Stabilisation Constabulary.
General Tai’s expression finally changed.
He simply had no way of pulling back the fist he lashed out. Right at this moment, Fang Zhengzhi was already in front of him. One palm, a very ordinary palm. However, it was directed towards his face, which he had no choice but to block.
“Good kid!” In his panic, General Tai raised his axe and blocked towards his face.
Fang Zhengzhi smiled, and smiled very brightly.
The profound technique of the Stabilisation Constabulary was indeed able to react to any different situation. The flexibility in combination of techniques was definitely first-class.
“Woosh!” Fang Zhengzhi’s hand posture changed and his leg stepped out. His other palm was already on its way. This palm was the real and hidden killing blow.
“Wham!” General Tai was struck by the palm and stumbled back.
This change in situation happened too fast.
So fast that the soldiers under the arena weren’t able to react completely.
But, General Tai retreated.
That was reality!
“Why would it be like this?!”
“General Tai actually lost a move?”
“What did he just do!”
The soldiers’ faces were filled with disbelief.
Princess Shan Yu’s initially angry expression froze at this moment. Because, even she hadn’t expected Fang Zhengzhi to win in one strike.
The colour of General Tai’s face turned from red to purple.
After losing to Fang Zhengzhi in one sneaky move, he was thoroughly discredited. Wasn’t he the great Tiger General of the Southern Mountain Range? Losing to a mere nobody from the Great Xia in a drill ground competition.
How could he bear with this!
Even if he only lost one move!
“Die!” General Tai roared in anger as his mood suddenly changed. Just as he prepared to counter-attack.
He saw that Fang Zhengzhi had closed in once again.
Or, it could be said that from the moment he stumbled back, Fang Zhengzhi had already calculated that he would move back, hence, this move intended to close the distance between them once again.
If one had to use one phrase to describe Fang Zhengzhi now.
That would be…
Moving like his shadow!
General Tai’s pulled back his fist and blocked!
But, Fang Zhengzhi’s technique seemed to have already seen through all his moves. The fist that initially punched towards him suddenly changed, directly grabbing towards his crotch.
“F…” General Tai cried out loudly.
He would never have imagined that Fang Zhengzhi’s techniques would sink to such a level. Under such helpless circumstances, he could only bend his entire body into a hunchback shape, squeezing his legs together tightly and defending his own lifeblood with his life.
Then, he felt a burning pain on his face.
Very clearly, the grab Fang Zhengzhi made towards his crotch was a feint. The punch that landed on his face was the real attack.
One’s muscles could be honed to become as hard as steel.
However, one’s face…
Had no way to be honed.
Hence, General Tai felt as if tears were streaming down his cheeks. Fresh blood danced around in his nose while a blissful feeling of experiencing the joys and sorrows of life filled his mind.
The soldiers under the arena were completely stunned at this moment.
Two moves.
General Tai lost two moves in a row?!
Furthermore, he was even punched in the face by Fang Zhengzhi!
How unthinkable was this!
Princess Shan Yu’s dark eyes were now completely widened. She suddenly had a feeling that Fang Zhengzhi’s technique was extremely strange.
However, this strangeness seemed to have overturned the nature of All Creation. Furthermore, she even had a strange sense of familiarity. She seemed to have heard of such a fighting technique in her memory.
However…
She couldn’t recall it at this moment.
“This kid… who is he?!” For the first time, doubt rose in Princess Shan Yu’s heart. Because, a person who could defeat General Tai based on technique and moves.
Simply couldn’t be any ordinary little spy from the Great Xia.
Chapter 338: Grand Plan
Fang Zhengzhi didn’t know what Princess Shan Yu was thinking now.
Or, it could be said that even if he knew, he wouldn’t be the slightest bit afraid. In reality, from the moment he decided to stay, he had been planning.
This was an extremely grand plan.
However, this plan must fulfill a requirement.
That was to build up reputation in the Southern Mountain Range.
Initially, he had planned to achieve this in two steps. The first was based off Princess Shan Yu. He wanted to use a cultured method to tell Princess Shan Yu stories, then, slowly gain Princess Shan Yu’s trust.
The second was to find an opportunity to gain popular authority among the entire army.
Initially, he felt that in order to fulfill any of these two points, sufficient time was required. However, in reality, he seemed to have overestimated the difficulty of these.
Because…
He was actually able to successfully challenge General Tai with such ease. Furthermore, what gave him an even pleasant surprise was that Princess Shan Yu had actually chosen to let Fang Zhengzhi fight with General Tai on the drill ground arena.
Most importantly, it was a battle of technique!
This was simply paving a shortcut for Fang Zhengzhi to reach the sky in a single bound.
“Then, General Tai… Sorry for exploiting you!” Fang Zhengzhi’s grin was radiant. Because, he knew very clearly what would happen after today.
Compared to Fang Zhengzhi’s radiant smile, General Tai now felt aggrieved, very aggrieved.
The great Tiger General of the Southern Mountain Range, a powerful being of the Supernatural Advanced State, was now beaten up badly by a “pawn”. Most importantly…
The opponent wasn’t planning to stop!
Fang Zhengzhi naturally wouldn’t stop. The fighting technique of the Stabilisation Constabulary was very complicated. However, in theory, it was extremely easy – press forward with indomitable will. If the opponent retreats, I will advance. If the opponent falls, I will step on him a few times.
In short, as long as he was alive, he wouldn’t rest.
Even if the opponent had to search for all his teeth on the floor, he had to make sure that he wouldn’t be able to find any teeth.
After successfully landing two attacks, a third attack lashed out.
However, this time, General Tai was evidently more vigilant. It was impossible for the great Tiger General of the Southern Mountain Range to be a showy empty vessel without any practical skills.
Losing twice in a row.
This was due to reasons of carelessness as well as miscalculations.
He had never imagined that Fang Zhengzhi would use such deadly and immoral moves. Furthermore, Fang Zhengzhi’s refined and cultured appearance caused him to have great difficulty imagining that his techniques would be as swift and powerful.
Putting up such a desperate fight to the death at the start?
The anger in General Tai’s heart was now completely ignited. He began to counter-attack.
Unfortunately…
One wrong move led to many wrong moves.
How could the Stabilisation Constabulary’s battle spirit be countered as and when one wished?
On the arena of the drill ground.
Fang Zhengzhi lashed out with punches, palm strikes and grabs towards General Tai. Techniques that appeared messy and random actually combined together naturally and beautifully to form one great technique.
On the other hand, General Tai retreated step by step. He had already been completely forced to one corner of the drill ground arena.
The soldiers below the arena were completely stunned by this scene.
Before the start of the fight, they had imagined countless possibilities. For example, Fang Zhengzhi would lose a few teeth, how long it would take for Fang Zhengzhi to beg for mercy, what kind of defensive moves would Fang Zhengzhi use.
Yet, in reality.
Everything was the complete opposite.
This isn’t right, the outcome shouldn’t be like this!
Why was an ordinary soldier able to wreck the Tiger General of the Southern Mountain Range so badly that he didn’t even have the strength to counter. All he could do was…
Retreat!
General Tai’s eyes were filled with red. He couldn’t retreat anymore, he could only put his life on the line.
The huge black axe on his hand swept out horizontally at the most critical juncture as a streak of black light drew a crescent-moon like arc around his body.
This was the only move he could think of to force away his opponent.
However, even so, he received a punch to the face. The pain was burning. This punch landed on his eye.
A dark panda eye appeared on his face.
On the other hand, after Fang Zhengzhi landed an attack, he finally retreated gracefully, just like a leaf drifting down in the powerful wind, drifting to the other corner of the arena.
“He finally retreated!” Even though General Tai had to take a punch, he was still somewhat happy inside. Because, if he still allowed himself to be forced back in this manner, he might really lose.
This was something he would never wish to experience.
“Do you feel a pleasant surprise?” Fang Zhengzhi stood with hands behind his back in a corner of the arena, asking General Tai with a bright smile on his face.
He naturally didn’t have to retreat completely during that previous attack.
But, he still retreated.
The reason was very simple. He gained an opportunity, an opportunity to plant his authority and grow his reputation. Then, in order to make full use of this opportunity, he had to defeat General Tai justly and honourably.
Furthermore, he had to ensure General Tai lost fully contentedly.
If he forced General Tai off the arena in such a manner, the soldiers of the Southern Mountain Range would only believe that Fang Zhengzhi was extremely lucky.
The opportunity would disappear instantly.
That was how Fang Zhengzhi thought. However, that wasn’t how General Tai thought. In General Tai’s mind, he had forcefully pushed back Fang Zhengzhi by taking a punch.
At this moment, the spirit of the soldiers below the arena was revived.
Forced Fang Zhengzhi back?
Then, General Tai was about to demonstrate his invincible might next!
They were filled with anticipation, anticipating General Tai’s splendid performance that was coming up next.
Only Princess Shan Yu frowned slightly. Because, Fang Zhengzhi’s expression was really too leisurely, as if he hadn’t felt the slightest bit of regret after being forced back by General Tai.
This was clearly not very normal.
“Pleasant surprise?” Princess Shan Yu’s lips softly mouthed these two words. Looking at Fang Zhengzhi with her dark eyes, she grew even more curious.
General Tai was also mouthing these two words.
However, these two words came out in the form of an enraged bellow. “Pleasant surprise! Good kid… today, I really want to see how much of a pleasant surprise you can give me today!”
General Tai naturally wouldn’t believe that Fang Zhengzhi’s abilities exceeded that of himself.
However, before his voice had even landed completely.
The pleasant surprise came.
Just as surprised as himself were the soldiers below the arena, as well as Princess Shan Yu who was lying down on the golden animal skin.
“How is this possible?!” All of the soldiers widened their eyes.
Because, on the arena, Fang Zhengzhi had drawn open the Fire Rattan Bow. Furthermore, he pulled it into a perfect full moon.
The Fiery Rattan Bow emanated a scorching hot air.
At the same time, it also ignited the eyes of the soldiers standing below the arena.
A fire appeared in their eyes. That was the Fiery Rattan Bow, Princess Shan Yu’s Fiery Rattan Bow. He… actually managed to pull it open.
At this moment, Princess Shan Yu sat up from her chair.
She naturally knew very clearly how hard the Fiery Rattan Bow was. She knew even more clearly what state one’s body had to achieve in order to pull the Fiery Rattan Bow into a full moon.
Star Conglomerate!
And, at least Star Conglomerate Peak!
How old was Fang Zhengzhi?
He was only fifteen or sixteen, yet, he had already achieved the enlightenment state of Star Conglomerate Peak?
Such a talent would be regarded extremely highly even in the Great Xia, not just the Southern Mountain Range. He is definitely not any ordinary soldier, definitely not!
At this moment, Princess Shan Yu was almost completely sure.
Then…
She thought of another question.
Fang Zhengzhi and General Tai’s positions were each at a corner of the arena. This meant that the distance between them were already at a maximum.
If Fang Zhengzhi could pull open the Fiery Rattan Bow, then, was there a possibility…
That his previous retreat was on purpose?
When Princess Shan Yu thought of this, she instinctively tightened her fist. A piece of fruit instantly exploded under the pressure as the juice flowed out from between her fingers.
General Tai’s eyes was completely wide with shock.
An ordinary spy from the Great Xia was actually able to pull open the Fiery Rattan Bow?
That, during that previous competition with Princess Shan Yu, his inability to pull open the tough bow was… a pretence? This little kid dared to pretend in front of him!
He didn’t even have the time to vent his anger.
An arrow streaked towards him with a speed as fast as lightning, carrying with it a powerful whistling sound and a faint red glow at its tail.
If it was any other time, General Tai naturally didn’t care about such an arrow.
However, this time was different.
He couldn’t use his enlightenment state to fend against this. All he had was his flesh. An arrow shot out by the opponent from the Fiery Rattan Bow from such a close distance.
Could that be forcefully blocked by one’s flesh?
Only a dumb idiot would block that!
General Tai dodged without a moment of hesitation, rolling down on the ground while holding the huge black axe in his hand directly in front of his body.
“Woosh!” The whistling arrow brushed across the scalp of his head.
Immediately lighting up the beard on his face.
“Thud thud!” General Tai lashed out without hesitation, extinguishing the flame on his beard. He had been stunned by Fang Zhengzhi’s ability to pull apart the Fiery Rattan Bow.
Else, there was simply no way he would be in such a difficult and panicked position.
Just as he thought, a second arrow flew towards him.
“Hmph, you think I will let you hit me?!” General Tai huffed coldly. He didn’t roll over again. Instead, he pounced forward with his head lowered, just like a tiger leaping down the mountain.
Advancing towards Fang Zhengzhi while dodging the arrow without taking any extra steps to move forward. That was his strategy.
Else…
You think I would really wait to get shot to death?
All I have to do is to close the distance, then, you wouldn’t be able to use the Fiery Rattan Bow!
This was what General Tai thought. However, this thought was quickly replaced by confusion. Because, the instant he pounced forward, he felt something impaled in his hand.
Looking down.
His eyes turned round once again.
On the arena of the drill ground, why would there be…
Nails!
It was indeed nails. Furthermore, it was a huge patch of nails. Every piece had three edges, and on it, there were still pieces of small inverted hooks. It seemed that a lot of effort had been put into its making, causing it to flash with a faint glow under the glare of the sun.
This time, General Tai was clearly taken aback.
It was impossible for something like this to appear on the arena, unless…
As he thought, General Tai’s gaze shifted towards Fang Zhengzhi. Then, he realised that Fang Zhengzhi was leisurely throwing splashes of nails onto the ground in all directions.
Handful by handful, he threw the nails down onto the arena.
“Little kid, you…” Ever since he was born, General Tai had never experienced such anger. Despite not using his state to protect his body, even though he was still made of skin and flesh, it was impossible for nails to completely penetrate his flesh as long as he paid a little attention.
However, how was it possible for a person’s entire body to be impenetrable by nails? For example, eyes, ears, face… and the lifeblood at one’s crotch.
Who would be able to train these places to become as hard as metal?
The previous moment, General Tai was forced to press onto the ground with his hand due to having to roll forwards. His hand was trained. However, even so, under circumstances in which he completely didn’t take any precaution against, the nails still left a few faint red marks on his palms.
“Woosh!” Fang Zhengzhi didn’t pay any attention to General Tai’s cries. He directly replied General Tai’s question with an arrow. Roll? Let me see how you roll!
“Shoot you till you jump!”
Princess Shan Yu looked at Fang Zhengzhi throwing nails onto the ground and instinctively swore. “Shameless!”
However, she quickly thought of another problem.
In an arena filled with nails, General Tai was a warrior from the Southern Mountain Range, hence, his body was in a much stronger state than Fang Zhengzhi. Then, if the nails that filled the arena were stepped on…
Wouldn’t Fang Zhengzhi be on a disadvantage?
Why would he do this?
Princess Shan Yu didn’t quite understand. If this was to prevent General Tai from nearing him, that was clearly not very possible. Because, the arena of the drill ground was only that big. If Fang Zhengzhi wished to use his bow continuously, he simply couldn’t stand still on the same spot.
Fang Zhengzhi moved.
Of course, he couldn’t keep standing in the corner of the arena.
However…
What happened next caused the soldiers under the arena to be completely stunned.
As Fang Zhengzhi drew his bow and shot arrows over and over again, he threw all kinds of traps, nails and hidden weapons onto the ground.
On the other hand, General Tai jumped and rolled around with great caution about the arena, his expression deep in concentration.
His head remained constantly lowered, looking at where he stepped. However, despite this, he still couldn’t avoid stepping on the them. Even though he wouldn’t be impaled completely by the nails, he still felt as if he was dancing happily on knives.
In order to prevent himself to constantly stepping on the nails.
He had to force himself to jump slightly higher as he flipped and rolled around. This way, the force with which he landed onto the ground would be slightly larger.
In comparison to General Tai.
Fang Zhengzhi was clearly much more relaxed.
He danced around on the arena as if he was riding a gust of wind under his feet, his eyes always looking straight ahead and never below his feet. It was just as if there were eyes beneath his feet that enabled him to avoid all the nails.
General Tai flipped and rolled around on the arena in pursuit.
While Fang Zhengzhi danced casually within the arena, constantly drawing the Fiery Rattan Bow in his hand and releasing one arrow followed by another towards General Tai.
Princess Shan Yu frowned slightly. She couldn’t understand why, for the same nails on the ground, General Tai had to take utmost caution while Fang Zhengzhi didn’t even step on one.
What was this about?
Princess Shan Yu’s dark eyes fixated themselves tightly upon those loose nails and animal traps strewn across the arena. After a total of fifteen minutes, the expression in her eyes finally changed slowly, from the initial surprise into alarm.
“This kid actually knows…”
Chapter 339: Explosion of the Blood
The Southern Mountain Range was established on combat prowess.
Founded within the mountains and forests, surrounded by fearsome beasts yet being able to expand and thrive through forming of settlements, the Southern Mountain Range had never lacked brave warriors. It could even be said that if one was born within the Southern Mountain Range, he was destined to become a brave warrior.
The structure of settlements was able to provide better training for the warriors of the Southern Mountain Range. However, the same settlement structure also restricted the Southern Mountain Range, making it impossible for the Southern Mountain Range to create a cultural heritage like the Great Xia.
In reality, all the kings of the Southern Mountain Range in history had the ambition to unite the settlements. However, it was too difficult.
The different cultures and the unique geographical limitations made this goal exceedingly hard to realise.
Even the most basic factor, traffic.
The Southern Mountain Range had no way of achieving this. Building roads and cutting across mountains were already extremely tedious tasks. Building roads and cutting across mountains in a landscape filled with fearsome beasts was even harder.
Because, there were some beasts that even the king of the Southern Mountain Range didn’t dare to disturb.
Hence, culture could not spread.
This naturally resulted in a huge weakness.
That was, a lack of advisors!
Princess Shan Yu would never take any interest in a spy from the Great Xia. She wouldn’t even take a second glance at a talent who possessed extraordinary powers.
However, when met with one who knew how to strategize and plan military formations, she would definitely take a third glance, a fourth glance, a fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth glance…
That feeling was like a plot of farmland faced with drought seeing the spring rain. Excitement, an inexplicable excitement.
“Matrix? It is really a matrix!” Princess Shan Yu didn’t know how Fang Zhengzhi achieved it. But, she was absolutely sure that Fang Zhengzhi had employed a certain matrix in throwing down the nails onto the arena.
…
Fang Zhengzhi didn’t know what Princess Shan Yu was currently thinking.
What he was thinking now was very simple. That was to deplete. Or, demonstrate even more greatly the advantage he had in this competition. As for the nails…
Naturally, he couldn’t throw them out at random. After all, those things didn’t really know who was their master. Hence, in order to prevent harming himself, it was actually not too difficult to throw them out in a pattern.
The results were obvious.
At the very least, Fang Zhengzhi could see the horrified and stunned expressions of the soldiers below the arena.
In reality, the soldiers were much more horrified compared to what Fang Zhengzhi imagined. Because, they would never have imagined such an outcome.
The great Tiger General of the Southern Mountain Range.
Was in a miserably beaten-up state on the arena due to a little spy from the Great Xia.
Ever since the start of the competition, General Tai hadn’t ever touched a single hair of Fang Zhengzhi’s while himself suffering multiple punches and palm strikes.
Not only was his face battered and swollen, his blood also spurted everywhere.
Now, even more shockingly…
Due to Fang Zhengzhi’s multiple arrows coming from the left and right, he was in a state of feverish restlessness rolling around on the arena with nails stuck all over his palms and clothes.
Even his beard wasn’t spared, with a few nails latched onto it.
He looked nothing like a Tiger General.
In comparison, Fang Zhengzhi’s expression was leisurely and extremely relaxed, drawing the Fire Rattan Bow in his hand into a full moon over and over again, arrows flying out one by one. He was completely unstoppable.
“General Tai, be careful!”
Just as a soldier’s reminder sounded out.
On the arena, an arrow finally hit General Tai. Twenty to thirty arrows had already been shot towards his direction. He was already getting fatigued from the dodging as he became increasingly stressed.
Under such circumstances, mistakes were naturally unpreventable.
One arrow!
Shot through General Tai’s arm as blood splattered out, dissipating themselves in the air before slowly dripping down on the arena.
“Ah!” General Tai shouted out in pain.
Even though his flesh and bones were hard as metal, under such close distances, faced with arrows shot from the Fiery Rattan Bow and with his state suppressed, he had no way of blocking.
“Is he going to lose?”
“Is General Tai really going to lose?”
Even now, the soldiers weren’t able to believe that the powerful and ferocious tiger-like General Tai would lose in the hands of a small spy from the Great Xia.
General Tai’s face turned purple. He didn’t rush to pull out the arrow. Because, even the most painful wound from an arrow wouldn’t be able to cause him to anything more than frown.
However, the wound in his heart caused his lips to quiver.
He swept his gaze across the soldiers standing under the arena.
From their faces, he saw despair.
A powerful sense of despair.
“No! I, the great Tiger General, cannot lose. I must not lose!” General Tai roared angrily but silently. Light flashed in his tiger eyes, fixated upon Fang Zhengzhi as his pupils gave off an icy glow.
He tightened his grip on the huge black axe in his hand so tightly that his fingers began to turn white.
Right at this moment,.
Another whistling sound rang out in his ear. An arrow shot towards his face, carrying along with it a faint red glow with a speed like that of a meteor.
This time, General Tai didn’t roll about like he did previously.
Instead, he forcefully twisted his head towards the right.
The arrow brushed across his cheek, lighting up the beard on his face.
However, General Tai didn’t seem to mind this. Instead, he charged forward with blazing speed, his feet directly slamming onto the nails as if they were invisible.
“Putting his life on the line?” Fang Zhengzhi only had to take one look at General Tai’s state to know what he was thinking.
He had already anticipated this.
As the saying goes, a panicked dog could jump over a wall. This was the great Tiger General of the Southern Mountain Range, a Tiger General who was high up in position and respected by thousands of soldiers.
If General Tai truly gave up that easily.
Then, it would truly be impossible for him to become the great Tiger General who led thousands of troops in the Southern Mountain Range.
The opponent had disregarded death…
Who to do?
Naturally, it was to fight fire with water.
Fang Zhengzhi wasn’t afraid of close combat. At the very least, he wasn’t afraid of close combat with someone unable to use his enlightenment state, especially when an arrow was shot through the arm of this person.
However, he still felt that he had to end fast.
Else, if he dragged for too long, it wouldn’t be a very happy occasion if this General Tai grew enraged from the shame.
The finale…
Had to be grand!
Just as Fang Zhengzhi began to consider what pose he would make, General Tai was already in front of him. This caused him to feel somewhat surprised.
This didn’t make sense. Why was he so fast?
When Fang Zhengzhi looked at General Tai, he realised something wasn’t quite right.
Because, in General Tai’s eyes, he inferred an intent to kill, a powerful killing intent that came from the heart. And, most importantly, there was a strange transformation within General Tai’s pupils.
Those pupils didn’t seem like that of humans anymore…
Instead, they glowed with a lush green colour. Shades of green flooded General Tai’s eyes. They were extremely icy, and extremely chilling.
“Oh no!” Fang Zhengzhi instinctively wanted to retreat.
However, right at this moment, General Tai had already raised the huge black axe highly above his head. His already extremely muscular arms seemed to have inflated to at least double the size in an instant.
That powerful explosive force and aura around him was completely different as compared to before, as if he wasn’t the same person anymore.
Strands of black needle-like fur grew out from and covered General Tai’s arm. It looked just like a humongous monkey arm.
“Woosh!” The huge black axe slashed straight down, carrying with it an indomitable momentum and a dark-green glow.
“General Tai!”
When the soldiers witnessed this scene, they instinctively cried out with alarm.
Naturally, they knew what the transformation of General Tai’s body represented. That was state suppression. Now, General Tai had used the blood in his body. This meant that now, General Tai was truly of the Supernatural Advanced State.
Of course…
This also meant that Fang Zhengzhi would die without a doubt.
However, such a scene couldn’t excite nor delight the soldiers.
Because, they were soldiers, soldiers of the Southern Mountain Range and soldiers with the pride of warriors. They could die, but, they must die in a just and honourable manner.
This was a fair competition.
Both sides suppressed their states, then, entered the arena to compete.
It didn’t matter who won in the end, but the competition itself was fair.
However, if one party broke the rules, this competition wouldn’t be fair anymore. Even if this party won the competition, he would still be scorned and despised by the soldiers of the Southern Mountain Range.
The soldiers didn’t know why General Tai would do this.
However, in reality, that was what General Tai did.
“Stop!” At this moment, Princess Shan Yu also noticed something was wrong. She immediately shot up from her chair and instinctively attempted to feel for her bow.
However…
As she began to feel around, she realised that something wasn’t quite right.
Because, the bow was in Fang Zhengzhi’s hand.
General Tai naturally knew that his actions disobeyed military orders, and might even result in grave punishments and being despised by the soldiers. However, he really couldn’t endure such a defeat.
He could lose in the hands of a warrior from the Southern Mountain Range.
However, he couldn’t let himself lose in the hands of a spy from the Great Xia.
Furthermore, it was an extremely stupid and cowardly defeat.
Disobeying military orders and being scorned by the people.
This was indeed an extremely dire consequence.
If it were in the past, he would never do such a thing. But now, the situation was different. Because, they were in the middle of a war between two countries, a time when they were seriously lacking in high-ranking military officers. He had calculated that Princess Shan Yu would definitely not kill him.
As long as she didn’t kill him.
Then, he had an opportunity to put down his crimes and make accomplishments.
It didn’t matter even if he was demoted to a small pawn. On the battlefield, when he defeated and killed the enemy generals and made great accomplishments, all his position and power would return again.
When that time comes, who would discuss about the time he killed a small spy from the Great Xia during a drill ground competition? People would only praise him for making great contributions to the Southern Mountain Range.
“Die!” General Tai roared with rage. He wanted to release every bit of his anger and slice this shameless person in front of him into two.
He was very confident. Because, using his Supernatural Advanced State abilities, he could kill this little kid in front of him even without his full strength.
Yet…
At the moment his axe landed.
A ray of light appeared in front of his eyes. It was a jade-green coloured ray that appeared in mid-air, glowing with intense light. It looked like a lightsword.
General Tai’s eyes suddenly widened.
Because, that jade-green lightsword had appeared on the bowstring of the Fiery Rattan Bow.
As the Fiery Rattan Bow was pulled back into a full moon, the green lightsword continued to extend forward rapidly, condensing to form a green-coloured arrow.
Fang Zhengzhi indeed didn’t have the time to grab an arrow from his quiver.
However, his most powerful arrow wasn’t any ordinary arrow. It was the arrow formed by the Million Sword Illustration!
“Boom!” A resounding boom echoed in the arena of the drill ground.
The air of the arena seemed to have turned into water ripples, stirring up a terrifying hurricane. Then, the hurricane expanded, blowing open the flags on the arena of the drill ground.
All of the soldiers under the arena instantly let out a wave of terrified cries.
Because, they were too near.
Or, it could be said that they simply had never imagined that there would be such huge incidents occurring in this drill ground competition.
Streaks of wind blades sliced through their rattan armour, cutting into their flesh and causing their bodies to tumble with the hurricane in mid-air and finally landing back onto the ground.
Princess Shan Yu’s dark eyes had now completely turned around. If it was said that she was outraged when she saw General Tai’s attack.
Then now, she was shaken.
Absolutely shaken.
Along with the devastation of the hurricane, a huge green-coloured net appeared on the drill ground arena. That was a net formed by countless interwoven lightswords.
A huge black axe was hacked onto that huge green net.
Holding the axe, General Tai’s tiger eyes turned round. His mouth fell open angrily as the fur on his arm stood erect like steel needles. His expression was that of utter disbelief.
“How is this possible?” General Tai was truly in disbelief.
A small spy from the Great Xia was actually able to block off an axe containing sixty percent of his strength? Furthermore, it was blocked off in such a strange and brazen manner before his very eyes.
This arrow that Fang Zhengzhi shot out was actually a little rushed, and didn’t manage to form completely. Fortunately, the distance was close enough. Due to the close distance, the power was naturally great enough.
The Million Sword Illustration.
Was initially already a technique incorporating heavy defense.
In addition to the power from the Fiery Rattan Bow, its destructive force was naturally tremendous.
General Tai wasn’t able to use his full power in his blow. Because, he believed that it wasn’t very meaningful to split the entire arena of the drill ground into two just to kill a small spy.
Sixty percent of his strength.
Not mentioning someone of the Star Conglomerate Peak State, even any average person of the Heavenly Reflection Peak State would be sliced into two.
How old was Fang Zhengzhi?
He was only fifteen or sixteen. Attaining Heavenly Reflection? Even if he was truly able to attain Heavenly Reflection, he was still going to die!
Wouldn’t it be impossible for this person to be of the Supernatural State?
General Tai naturally didn’t bother considering whether it would be possible for Fang Zhengzhi to have attained the Supernatural State. He felt that his attack was powerful enough.
Of course.
In order to coordinate with his unexpected sneak attack.
The most strength he could muster in an instant was also at most sixty percent. In order to concentrate all hundred percent of his power into the attack, he also needed time. However, he wasn’t allowed time.
Because, he couldn’t reveal his intention to go against his state suppression from the moment he began to charge.
“Blocked?!” Other than shock, General Tai also felt as if his entire mind was blank. Because, he had never imagined that something like this would happen.
Also, he had never thought…
Of what he should do after something like this had happened.
Chapter 340: The Descended King
This didn’t imply that General Tai didn’t have sufficient combat experience. It only represented a temporarily blanked out mind after a powerful shock.
In cruder terms, his mind had cramped!
However, Fang Zhengzhi’s didn’t cramp. Hence, he naturally wouldn’t give up such an opportunity. His reaction was extremely fast. It seemed that he had already began preparing for his second shot right after his first arrow left.
In reality, the entire time General Tai stood rooted to the spot, he was already calculating rapidly how to deal with General Tai’s released state.
Actually, he had two choices.
One was to immediately run down the arena and shout for help, then hug on tightly to Princess Shan Yu and beg for her protection.
The second was to fight.
Fang Zhengzhi chose the second.
Because, even though the probability of the first choice succeeding was higher, it was filled with unknown variables. After all, this was the army camp of the Southern Mountain Range. What would Princess Shan Yu’s decision be?
What choice would the soldiers below make?
He simply didn’t know.
If he escaped rashly now and was surrounded by the soldiers, and if General Tai suddenly jolted back to consciousness and deliver a killing blow to him, he would very likely lose his life.
Fang Zhengzhi wouldn’t do things which were vague and out of his control.
Hence, Fang Zhengzhi drew back his bow again.
The Fiery Rattan Bow was instantly pulled into a full moon as green light began to condense rapidly. Then, it instantly shot out from the bow, carrying with it an air of sharpness, flying towards General Tai’s chest with lightning speed.
General Tai hadn’t even been able to completely return to his senses.
The second green lightsword reached him.
His tiger eyes suddenly flicked open. He had never imagined that Fang Zhengzhi would choose to take another shot after blocking his attack, instead of running away immediately.
This sudden change in situation was too fast.
So fast that he felt as if his mind couldn’t catch up.
From the moment he attempted to deliver a killing blow to Fang Zhengzhi to the moment the second arrow left Fang Zhengzhi, the entire process between these two moments occurred within the blink of an eye.
As he gazed at the second green lightsword nearing him, General Tai’s mind was completely blank. However, his arm instinctively raised up the huge black sword and blocked in front of his chest.
The power of the Supernatural Advanced State.
Even if he made a slight blunder due to his shock, his acquired and conditioned reflex still remained. Hence, his huge black axe blocked the path of the lightsword.
“Boom!” A bang resounded.
Rays of light shot out in all directions as General Tai instantly took two steps back.
“Little kid, die!” General Tai felt the numbness in his arm and the wound that opened up on his chest from the explosion. He was clearly enraged by Fang Zhengzhi’s actions. If Fang Zhengzhi turned around and ran, he really wasn’t sure if he could catch up.
However, Fang Zhengzhi didn’t run and instead chose to continue fighting.
This gave him a huge opportunity.
He knew very clearly that he could only choose to walk this dark path to the end. If he really allowed Fang Zhengzhi to run away, he would never be able to change his fate.
As he saw the second lightsword being successfully blocked off.
The trace of a cold smile appeared on the edges of General Tai’s lips.
However, his cold smile seemed to have somewhat frozen very quickly. Because, a feeling of being ripped apart suddenly came from his waist.
Lowering his head.
General Tai’s expression completely changed.
Because, at his waist, there were three to four lightswords. Furthermore, these were three to four lightswords that had completely exploded apart. Countless green lightswords tore open his flesh like small sharp blades.
Why are there so many lightswords?
General Tai couldn’t understand.
Don’t tell me…
His lightswords weren’t created from the Fiery Rattan Bow?!
General Tai had all along felt that the reason Fang Zhengzhi being able to block his attack was due to relying on Princess Shan Yu’s Fiery Rattan Bow. Hence, he had the unconscious notion that only with the Fiery Rattan Bow could he create the lightsword.
However, in reality, Fang Zhengzhi’s lightswords naturally didn’t depend on the Fiery Rattan Bow.
Fang Zhengzhi, who had decided to fight.
Would naturally not hold back, especially when his opponent’s state completely overpowered that of his own. Holding back would truly be asking for death.
The second lightsword…
Was only a feint.
This was the essence of the Stabilisation Constabulary battle technique. Fang Zhengzhi knew very clearly that General Tai didn’t understand the essence of such a technique. A fake move was a real one, a real move was a fake one.
The last three to four lightswords were Fang Zhengzhi’s real killing technique.
“Boom!”
“Boom!”
Numerous sounds of explosion rang out at almost the same time.
The entire drill ground arena began to shake due to these countless deafening sounds. The flags that stood at the edges of the arena were completely ripped into powder.
At the same time, a gigantic figure was sent flying from the arena.
Then…
Flying in the sky with a parabola trajectory, then finally slamming into the ground with a “thud!”
This sudden change in situation instantly shocked the soldiers below the arena once again. Just as they recovered from their anguished cries, they saw the scene that unfolded before them. All of their eyes opened wide in shock.
Even a few of the injured soldiers instantly forgot about the pain they were in.
“What happened?”
This was what everybody was initially thinking. However, this thought didn’t persist for long. Because, they quickly saw clearly the figure lying on the ground.
“General Tai?!”
“General Tai has fallen!”
“How.. how is this possible?”
How could the soldiers believe these.
If General Tai was defeated by Fang Zhengzhi with his state suppressed, even though that would cause them immense shock, they could still grudgingly accept it.
After all, that only meant that Fang Zhengzhi had won General Tai based on technique.
However…
Now, General Tai didn’t suppress his state.
He had the power of the Supernatural Advanced State, yet, he was sent sprawling on the arena by a small spy from the Great Xia? Is this possible? How can this be possible?
At this moment, Princess Shan Yu was completely stunned.
Even though she was a commander of the army, even though she had seen countless fantastic oddities of every description, but, it was still very difficult for her to accept what was unfolding before her.
General Tai was defeated by Fang Zhengzhi?
If such a thing was spread out, there was simply nobody who would believe it.
But, in reality…
This scene had unfolded right before her very eyes. It was truly real.
On the arena, General Tai’s waist was soaked with blood. That was a truly severe injury. Even if she wasn’t willing to believe it, she still had to admit that based on the rules of the competition, General Tai had already lost.
“Who is this guy? Who is he! How can he… can he… wait, what technique did he just use?!”
Princess Shan Yu tried her best to recall the huge green net on the arena.
Because, it was the huge green net that had blocked off General Tai’s killing blow. After which, two lightswords exploded on General Tai’s body.
Lightswords…
One lightsword could transform into a sword net built by millions of swords?!
“Could it be the… Million… Million Sword Illustration?! The secret technique of the Northern Desert Divine Constabulary from the Great Xia Dynasty Thirteen Constabularies… the Million Sword Illustration!”
In an instant, Princess Shan Yu thought of a name that caused her immense shock.
Chi Guyan!
That was the true Pride of the Heavens of the Great Xia Dynasty. The Double Dragon Roll Champion, Chi Guyan. A woman who even the Emperor of the Great Xia had to treat with respect.
“This guy is from the Divine Constabulary!”
However, the Divine Constabulary was location far away in the Northern Desert. This was the Southern Mountain Range. Why would a person from the Divine Constabulary appear in the Southern Mountain Range? Just as this thought crossed her mind, Princess Shan Yu suddenly thought of another incident.
No!
He isn’t from the Divine Constabulary!
A dazzling light suddenly flashed within Princess Shan Yu’s dark eyes. Because, she finally recalled the combat technique that Fang Zhengzhi had used against General Tai.
Stabilisation Constabulary!
Fang Zhengzhi had used the technique of the Stabilisation Constabulary, using offense for defence!
Previously, when Fang Zhengzhi had used that combat technique, she already felt that it was extremely familiar, as if she had seen or heard of it somewhere.
However, she didn’t manage to recall it.
Until the two words, Divine Constabulary, appeared in her mind, another name slowly began to form.
Head of the Thirteen Constabularies.
The Stabilisation Constabulary!
…
On the arena, General Tai was spread like an eagle on the ground. The excruciating pain from his waist caused his forehead to be filled with sweat.
Injury.
To a warrior from the Southern Mountain Range, this was simply something that was as normal as eating.
However, suffering an injury under such a circumstance, against such an opponent, had already caused the last bit of wisdom to vanish from his mind.
“Ah!” General Tai suddenly flipped over and stood up in the arena. At the same time, black fur, dense and needle-like, instantly filled his entire body.
At this moment, his pupils had turned completely green.
That was an icy green.
Even his huge arms at this moment puffed up by at least twice the size as a metallic luster appeared on his arms.
The Supernatural State was derived from terminal lucidity.
The practice methods of the Southern Mountain Range wasn’t the same as that of the Great Xia. However, when one reached the power of the Supernatural State, the control and recovery abilities that one had was almost on the same level.
The flow of blood stopped in a flash.
The flesh and muscles slashed by the Million Sword Illustration also began to recover rapidly with a speed that could be witnessed with one’s own eyes.
The strands of beard hair that filled General Tai’s face stood erect. He only had one thought in his mind. That was to kill. Kill Fang Zhengzhi. Regardless of any consequences, he still must kill Fang Zhengzhi.
“Enough, General Tai, I order you to stop!” Princess Shan Yu’s voice sounded out.
This caused General Tai’s body to tremble slightly. He could naturally discern the anger in Princess Shan Yu’s eyes. However, could he stop?
No!
If he stopped now, not only would it be difficult to calm her anger, the consequences would still be the same. Hence, he could only bet. Walk this dark road to the end and kill Fang Zhengzhi, then, wait to be demoted to a small pawn.
Then use his accomplishments to make up for his mistakes.
“Die!” General Tai’s eyes flashed with a faint light. His speed was at a maximum, shooting towards Fang Zhengzhi like a black shadow.
“Stop General Tai, quick, stop him at all costs!” When Princess Shan Yu saw this, she finally began to panic.
If Fang Zhengzhi was only an ordinary small spy from the Great Xia.
It would naturally be impossible for her to give such an order.
However, if Fang Zhengzhi had relations to the Stabilisation Constabulary and Divine Constabulary from the Thirteen Constabularies, then, it was impossible for him to be just any ordinary spy.
Even though she was still unable to determine Fang Zhengzhi’s identity.
One thing was for sure. Fang Zhengzhi must not die just like that. At the very least, she had to find out Fang Zhengzhi’s purpose for appearing in her camp.
“Woosh!”
“Woosh!”
Almost at the exact moment Princess Shan Yu gave out the order, arrows began to streak towards the black figure on the arena. The meaning behind the phrase, “at all costs”, was already too clear.
As soldiers from the Southern Mountain Range, they had to obey it no matter what.
However, General Tai’s speed was truly too fast. It wasn’t something an ordinary soldier could stop. In almost the blink of an eye, he had appeared in front of Fang Zhengzhi.
“Die!” General Tai had confidence in his speed and strength. He felt that it was impossible for Fang Zhengzhi to dodge his attack.
Light radiated from the huge black axe in his hands, as if it was about to part Heaven and Earth.
Yet…
At the moment his huge axe slashed down, his eyes turned round once again.
Because, a purple light appeared in front of his eyes.
That was a sword.
A sword with a purple scar on its tip.
The sword was very ordinary. However, the scar on the tip of the sword gave off an arcane glow. That was an overwhelming murderous intent that caused trembling in the hearts of the people.
General Tai felt that his speed was already at a maximum.
However, the speed of this sword seemed to be even faster. At the very least, when General Tai slashed down with his axe, this sword had already successfully blocked in front of Fang Zhengzhi.
Naturally, Fang Zhengzhi didn’t hold the sword in his hands.
Because, Fang Zhengzhi had never imagined that there would be any use in pulling out the Traceless Sword. However, the Traceless Sword had shot out from his Heart Protection Mirror on its own accord.
Furthermore, it blocked in front of General Tai so quickly that Fang Zhengzhi himself didn’t have any time to react.
“Vrrr!”
The sword’s body shook lightly with a persisting dragon cry.
That was an ancient outraged roar, carrying along with it a powerful aggression. Yet, it was also like a demon that charged out from hell, carrying with it an icy chill and a penetrating sharpness.
Two different auras radiated from the body of the sword.
Even General Tai’s body trembled instinctively when he felt this atmosphere. It was the feeling of facing a King.
The King who descended upon and ruled the world, one who had wiped out outstanding heroes.
Domineering and arcane!
Trembling the hearts of the people.
The overwhelming aura pervaded the arena of the drill ground, and even completely filled the entire drill ground.
The soldiers below the arena had also seen the sword that appeared. What they felt was different from General Tai. Even though they were even further from the sword, their powers were weaker.
The domineering, arcane sword and the chilling air that seemed to have rose from hell caused them to be completely rooted to the ground, each of their foreheads beaded with sweat.
In just seconds, the rattan armour on their bodies had been completely soaked.
Beads of sweat fell to the ground.
The warriors of the Southern Mountain Range could face death without fear. However, they couldn’t remain standing tall and proud in front of a King.
“A sword?!” Princess Shan Yu’s body was also somewhat frozen. However, what she didn’t know was that under the pressure of this overpowering atmosphere, the blood-red cloud patterns on her body gradually began to appear.
Chapter 341: Purple Crescent
Just like fireworks flashing in the night sky.
Extending slowly from Princess Shan Yu’s slender legs upwards. Lines of cloud pattern rapidly covered to her waist, without a hint of stopping even as it rose all the way up her chest…
On the arena of the drill ground.
General Tai didn’t understand why would he have such a feeling. Because, there was only a sword in front of him, a sword that drifted in mid-air.
He was shocked by a sword.
General Tai naturally wasn’t happy. Even though his body trembled, even though there was a strange feeling of danger in his heart, the huge black axe in his hand continued to slash down.
At this moment, the purple light suddenly expanded, turning into a crescent purple ray.
“Boom!” The entire arena opened up from the middle, slashed into two by the purple ray. The cracks didn’t stop there. They continued all the way until almost a hundred meters was covered.
At this moment, General Tai’s body sprang up, his body thrown into the sky as the huge black axe in his hand was split into two from the tip of the axe.
“Pfft…” Blood was spurt, spilling down from the sky and dripping onto the arena, at the same time dripping on the Traceless Sword.
The purple ray grew even more.
The arcane and icy atmosphere instantly expanded outwards.
Silence.
The entire arena was completely silent, even the sound of breathing couldn’t be heard. Only the biting cold of the almost-winter wind blew upon the shredded remains of the flag, giving off a hollow sound.
All the soldier stopped whatever they were doing. The soldiers that drew their bows continued to remain drawing their bows, the soldiers who held arrows continued to hold on to the arrows. Nobody moved. Because, it seemed as if they had already forgotten how to move.
Their movements were all different. However, the expression on their faces were the same.
Horror!
Shock!
Their bodies were completely soaked with sweat. However, not a single person attempted to wipe off the sweat that dripped down.
Because…
That air of death and destruction was like a murderous intent from hell. Even the warriors of the Southern Mountain Range felt a chill in their hearts when they felt it…
The cloud pattern on Princess Shan Yu’s body was as colourful as a raging fire at this moment. A faint glow flowed around on the cloud pattern. However, she didn’t speak a single word. She had already forgotten to give any further orders.
Or, it could be said that there was already no need for her to give any further orders. Because, Fang Zhengzhi had won. General Tai lay on the ground with the huge black axe split into two halves.
Also split into two halves like the huge black axe was an arm. An arm filled with blood.
The Supernatural Advanced State naturally enabled one to heal his body and recover from injuries. However, it didn’t have the ability to regrow a broken limb.
Hence, he had lost. He had completely lost.
At this moment, the Traceless Sword once again let out a delighted cry. The purple light gradually dimmed, congregating back onto the tip of the sword, turning into an arcane purple scar.
Fang Zhengzhi slowly wrapped his hand around the sword hilt of the Traceless Sword.
Even he was shocked by the immense power from the sword just now. He knew all along that the Traceless Sword had consciousness. But, he never thought that the Traceless Sword had such mysterious secrets.
However…
If he thought through it carefully, it seemed very normal.
Because, in the Throne Room, when the Traceless Sword was buried in the ground, countless high-ranking officials of the Supernatural State had tried to pull it out.
Yet, they weren’t able to do so.
This was actually able to explain to a certain extent that the Traceless Sword already possessed a power stronger than the Supernatural State. However, this power wasn’t something people could control.
At the very least, Fang Zhengzhi was currently unable to control it.
In the Northern Mountain Village, he had already discovered this. The power contained within the Traceless Sword was too mysterious, so mysterious that he sometimes didn’t dare to even touch it.
He kept the sword.
The purple light also disappeared.
Fang Zhengzhi looked at General Tai, who had fallen on the arena with an expression filled with terror, shock and disbelief, and then sighed gently. “If I said that I didn’t do this on purpose, would you believe me?”
General Tai didn’t speak. Instead, he gritted his teeth tightly.
“Alright, looks like you don’t.” Fang Zhengzhi shook his head. Then, he turned his gaze towards the soldiers frozen in their tracks.
The art of form?
Alright…
Who knew that people of this world would also have such a hobby.
Fang Zhengzhi didn’t focus too much on the soldiers. Because, his gaze was quickly attracted to the cloud patterns that appeared on Princess Shan Yu’s body.
“Cloud pattern?” Fang Zhengzhi initially believed that the cloud pattern might be a physical result of the Southern Mountain Range training techniques. However, when he saw General Tai display his state.
He knew that he was wrong once again.
If he didn’t guess wrongly, the blood of the Southern Mountain Range was created by All Creation. For example, General Tai’s blood should be the blood of the Green-Eyed Steel Arm Ape.
However, based on this conclusion, the cloud patterns on Princess Shan Yu’s body…
What in the world is it?
Fang Zhengzhi’s gaze was tightly fixated upon the cloud patterns on Princess Shan Yu’s body, shifting from her leg, to her flat abdomen, then to her chest, then up towards…
Then, he saw Princess Shan Yu’s angry eyes.
Princess Shan Yu was indeed stunned by the scene that unfolded before her. However, this didn’t mean that she wouldn’t notice it if somebody blatantly swept their gaze all the way from her legs up to her head.
Just as she prepared to speak, she saw that Fang Zhengzhi had already bowed respectfully towards her.
“Princess, did I just win?” A faint smile formed on Fang Zhengzhi’s lips. His expression was completely innocent, as if his actions just now completely didn’t happen.
Princess Shan Yu flinched slightly.
The soldiers below the arena also regained their senses at this moment.
“Win?!”
“This small spy from the Great Xia actually won?”
“What was that sword just now all about?”
As the soldiers recalled that purple crescent, immense horror filled their eyes. A small spy from the Great Xia was actually able to have such great powers.
How could they not be horrified!
Princess Shan Yu listened to the discussion ongoing around her and turned silent. Fang Zhengzhi had indeed won. That was an undisputed fact. But, she couldn’t announce this fact.
At the very least, she couldn’t announce it on the spot at this time.
“Arrest General Tai!” Princess Shan Yu ordered as she glanced at General Tai.
“Roger!” A few soldiers instantly dashed on the arena and apprehended General Tai once they heard the order.
“I am a little tired, let me return to my tent to rest.” Princess Shan Yu glanced at Fang Zhengzhi once more and prepared to turn around and walk towards the direction of her tent.
“Princess, is there any reward for winning? At least appoint me as a Tiger General or something. Hey… Princess, don’t go, if you can’t, at least appoint me as a battalion chief or something!” Fang Zhengzhi instantly shouted out.
“Dream on!” Princess Shan Yu replied without even turning back her head.
“How stingy, I thought I had met a good princess who appointed people by merit. I never expected her to be blind.” Fang Zhengzhi twitched his mouth, slightly disappointed.
“What did you say?” Princess Shan Yu suddenly whipped back her head, anger flashing clearly in her dark eyes.
“”I said, Princess is able to recognise talents, just like… Bo Le the Horse Connoisseur!” [1] Fang Zhengzhi initially wanted to describe Zhuge Liang of the army. However, he realised that such a person might not exist in this world. Hence, he quickly changed his words.
Bo Le the Horse Connoisseur?
Princess Shan Yu frowned slightly. Who was Bo Le? She didn’t know. However, she believed that whatever came out of Fang Zhengzhi’s mouth wouldn’t be anything pleasant.
“I am going back to my tent.”
“Princess, at least reward me a plate of fruits?”
“…”
…
Fang Zhengzhi was given his own army tent with a layout that wasn’t too bad. He was rather satisfied to be given a separate room even with the status of a pawn soldier.
Especially when he saw the big baskets of fruits that Princess Shan Yu ordered for him, the complaints and grumbles in his heart instantly vanished into thin air.
Becoming an official was something that would come sooner or later.
Having things to eat…
Was the most important thing as of now.
As Fang Zhengzhi leisurely propped up his legs in the army tent and enjoyed his fruits, Princess Shan Yu’s tent was brightly lit up by the candlelight.
Twenty over generals dressed in sturdy rattan armour stood in two rows at the side with stern expressions on their faces. Nobody spoke. They waited quietly for Princess Shan Yu to speak.
“All of you have seen what happened today. If you have any opinions, please express them.” Princess Shan Yu slowly sat up from the golden animal skin, an icy glint flashing in her black eyes.
“I have a daring guess which I don’t know if I should say!” When a general heard Princess Shan Yu’s words, he instantly stood out.
“Speak.”
“In the entire Great Xia Dynasty, there are only two people who are able to defeat General Tai in the younger generation.” After the general paused slightly, he spoke.
“Who?”
“Double Dragon Roll Champion, Chi Guyan, and the number one scholar of the Great Xia Dynasty, Nangong Hao!”
“But Chi Guyan is female! As for Nangong Hao… their ages don’t match.” When Princess Shan Yu heard this, she instantly shook her head lightly.
“Yes, hence I made a daring guess that this person might not be from the Great Xia Dynasty at all. He claimed to be called Fang Zhengzhi. However, from the intelligence I received, Fang Zhengzhi simply didn’t even participate in this combat examination, hence naturally cannot appear in the Southern Mountain Range. Even if all these were possible, Fang Zhengzhi abilities are definitely not enough to defeat General Tai. Hence, there is only one possibility.”
“What possibility?”
“The demon race!”
“The demon race? No, he definitely isn’t a demon!”
“Why is princess so sure? Even though noblelite and the demon race have made a treaty, that is still ultimately something between noblelite and the demon race. Princess has three thousand Silver Horned Wolves, if noblelite doesn’t trust…”
“You don’t need to speak anymore. If I say that he isn’t a demon, then he isn’t a demon!” Princess Shan Yu’s tone sounded extremely confident at this moment.
“Roger! I know my mistakes. However, no matter who this kid is, I feel that there is one matter which must be settled as soon as possible.”
“Are you talking about the sword in his hand?” Princess Shan Yu’s expression gradually returned back to an icy calm.
“That’s right. I believe princess had already witnessed the power of that sword personally. If our Southern Mountain Range can obtain that sword, it would definitely be like adding wings to a tiger in this war!” The general instantly replied.
“That’s right. Princess, that kid is already in our camp. As long as you give the order, we can take him down in one move without even breaking a sweat.” When another general heard this, he stood out as well.
“For the future of our Southern Mountain Range, Princess, please give the order!”
“Princess, please give the order!”
“Princess, please give the order!”
One following another, a few other generals stepped out as well, kneeling down onto the ground as they spoke. After a moment, almost all of the generals had walked out.
…
In the Southern Mountain Range, on an extremely ordinary looking mountain peak, at the entrance of a certain hidden mountain cave, four males wearing black robes were vigilantly guarding the cave.
Right at this moment, a black figure quickly sped towards them from the foot of the mountain. After a few effortless leaps, he reached the entrance of the cave.
“Is Domain Chief around?” When the black figure reached the entrance of the cave, he gradually came to a halt.
“What is it about?”
“Urgent military matters!” As the figure spoke, he tore off the mask on his face, revealing a faintly glowing demon eye on his forehead.
“Please enter.” The four black robed males nodded as they stepped away from the entrance path.
The black figure rapidly entered the cave.
Within the cave, a dark red gem was glowing with a faint light. Under the cast of light, there was a face whose features were like that of stars.
On the forehead of that face, there was a blood-red demon eye.
Bai Xing, the Domain Chief of the Star Domain in the Ten Devilish Domains.
“Greetings Domain Chief!” The black figure walked until he was around twenty steps away from Bai Xing before swiftly kneeling onto the ground.
“Speak.” Bai Xing spoke one word enthusiastically. His gaze remained on the dark-red gem in front of him. Within the gem, there was an illustration.
Within the illustration, there seemed to be human figures moving.
“In the camp of Princess Shan Yu, a Tiger General sent somebody to contact me.” The figure placed a letter on the ground with both hands as he spoke.
“Tiger general? I know. I will task you to do this job.” Bai Xing lightly nodded his head without even taking a single look at the letter on the ground.
“Roger, one more thing… I have another intelligence that I don’t know whether I should say.” The black figure instantly accepted the order and kept the letter back into his pocket. Then, he spoke hesitatingly.
“Speak.”
“Roger! A person suspected to be Fang Zhengzhi is now in Princess Shan Yu’s army camp.” The black figure said.
“Fang Zhengzhi? Suspected?” Bai Xing’s expression changed slightly, as he slowly raised his gaze. Spots of star lights twinkled in his eyes like constellations in the night sky.
“Yes, however, because I didn’t witness it personally, I don’t dare to confirm this. But, that person himself indeed claimed to be Fang Zhengzhi and even defeated Princess Shan Yu’s tiger general in a drill ground competition. Because of this, that Tiger General contacted our side.” When the black figure saw the flash of light in Bai Xing’s eyes, he was filled with a slight delight as he hurriedly continued.
“You say that Fang Zhengzhi had defeated a Tiger General of the Supernatural Advanced State?”
“Yes!”
“Are you sure that this piece of intelligence is accurate?” Bai Xing’s expression finally changed at this moment. A rare look of surprise appeared on his face.
“I am sure! It had spread among Princess Shan Yu’s entire camp, and personally witnessed by hundreds of soldiers! This is definitely accurate!” The black figure replied confidently.
“Interesting, only a few months of not seeing him! This kid… had actually reached such a level?” A cold smile formed on the corners of Bai Xing’s mouth. After which, he waved his hand towards the black figure. “Leave!”
“Roger!”
Bai Xing waited until the black figure had left before returning his gaze back to the dark-red gem. “One Nangong Hao, one Fang Zhengzhi… things are getting more and more interesting!”
[1] Bo Le was a legendary person in the state of Qin who excelled in evaluating horses
Chapter 342: Ascend the Throne and Become the Emperor
…
The night was as cold as water. Compared to the Great Xia Dynasty, the Southern Mountain Range was clearly much colder at night. The water vapour at night froze into hoar frost, causing the entire Southern Mountain Range to seem as if it was covered by a misty veil.
In the Yan Ya settlement.
The big settlement that was closest to the Great Xia, which was also the strategic trading location for the Southern Mountain Range and the Great Xia. The area it covered was huge, containing a total of eighteen small settlements.
In the Yan Ya settlement, a mountain beast at least a hundred pounds in weight was being roasted on a huge bonfire. Animal oil dripped unceasingly onto the flame, producing a sizzling sound.
Around the bonfire satt twenty youths dressed in either robes or armours. The leader wore a fine green armour, holding a jade flute in his hand.
It was Wu Feng.
“Young Master Wu, congratulations!” A youth scholar raised his wooden cup as he bit into the meat, shouting loudly towards Wu Feng.
“It is still a little too early to talk about celebrations.” Wu Feng shook his head with a gentle smile.
“Ha ha ha… Young Master Wu is too humble. We have already occupied the two main settlements of Yan Ya and Shi Zun and our army strength have reached twenty thousand people, thirty percent of the total number of participants. The number one of the combat examination is now Young Master Wu’s, not just in name, but also in reality.”
“That’s right! Young Master Wu, why do you insist on remaining so humble?”
“Even though we lost in the hands of Young Master Wu, we lost contentedly. If Young Master Wu is able to successfully obtain number one in the combat examination, it would also be a good thing for us.”
“That’s right, as long as Young Master Wu obtains first place, our ranking would naturally not be low.”
When the scholars heard this, they stood up one following another, raising the wooden cups in the hands and voicing out their inside thoughts.
Wu Feng smiled once again, gazing at the constellations in the night sky. He tightened his grip on the jade flute. “What a pity, I lost in the theory examination!”
“The theory examination is indeed unfortunate. However, the top three in this theory examination aren’t in very favourable positions now.” A scholar quickly stood out and advised.
“That’s right, Nangong Hao is still hiding in his Icy Monkey Settlement. Ever since the start of the examination, the number of soldiers in his hand remained at two thousand without any progress. And, even though Yan Xiu now has six thousand people, he is still unable to occupy any settlement, hence also pose no threat to Young Master Wu. As for Fang Zhengzhi…”
“Ha ha ha… can you not mention him?”
“That’s right, he isn’t even here, how can he attain any ranking? Ha ha ha…”
The other scholars also began to laugh out one by one, each of them raising their cups in celebration, their faces flushed red and their eyes filled with mockery.
“As long as the combat examination is ongoing, we cannot even let down our guard for a day. Starting from tomorrow, we will press on with our attack on the Thunderous Lion Settlement!” When Wu Feng heard this, he returned his gaze towards the people around him as a cold smile appeared on the edges of his lips.
“Yes, take down the Thunderous Lion Settlement in one move!”
…
The second morning.
The morning frost emanated waves of chilliness as the wind blew upon it. In a huge army camp within the Southern Mountain Range, rows of soldiers braced the cold, patrolling back and forth the camp.
Their ink-dark skin emanated a faint warm air.
Inside an ordinary military tent.
Fang Zhengzhi stretched out his body, slowly rising from his bed. He looked around his tent and decided to experience the military life of the Southern Mountain Range, at the same time conveniently filling up his stomach.
Just as he reached the entrance of the tent, two spears intersected in front of him.
“Banned from going out!”
“Even my meals must be controlled?” Fang ZHengzhi looked at the two soldiers blocking his path with some confusion. Didn’t he already integrate perfectly into the Southern Mountain Range army?
“Stop, princess has ordered Fang Zhengzhi into her tent for questioning!” Right at this moment, a chief sergeant with a piece of animal skin on his shoulder walked over. Almost a hundred soldiers wearing rattan armour followed behind him.
“Roger!” The two soldiers instantly kept their spears when they saw the chief sergeant.
Fang Zhengzhi frowned slightly. Even though he didn’t know what had happened, from what was transpiring in front of him, it didn’t seem like something good.
However…
If you can’t do anything to prevent them, you might as well sit back and take things as they come.
He didn’t have any better idea at this moment. Who asked him to accidentally step into the main army of Princess Shan Yu. That could only be attributed to fate.
…
Inside the military tent, Princess Shan Yu lay on the golden animal skin. However, the animal leather she wore on her body had changed into a purple and plated leather clothing.
A faint light flowed around the the armour plate. Combined together with her wheat-coloured skin, it revealed a certain beauty and nobility within her wildness.
Fang Zhengzhi happened to see this when he walked in.
However, he kept silent. Because, there were twenty generals wearing heavy armours standing along the two sides of the military tent, their expressions solemn.
Interrogating a criminal?
Fang Zhengzhi felt that the atmosphere seemed strange, hence obediently kept his mouth shut.
“Why didn’t you kneel upon seeing the princess?” A trace of anger flashed across a general’s face when he saw Fang Zhengzhi’s behaviour.
“Ah… All of these elaborate formalities and etiquettes should be done away with whenever possible. Even I didn’t complain, what are you all complaining about?” Fang Zhengzhi twitched his mouth, glancing at the other party with disdain.
“Preposterous! You have already betrayed your country for glory. Now, you are a person of the Southern Mountain Range, hence you should naturally obey the rules of the Southern Mountain Range. How could you just do whatever you want as and when you…”
“Alright, Fang Zhengzhi, I have a question that I wish to ask you.” Princess Shan Yu sat up at this moment, gesturing towards the general who was prepared to continue speaking and looking towards Fang Zhengzhi with her dark eyes.
“Princess, please ask!” Fang Zhengzhi instantly replied.
“Two voices are echoing beside my ear. I want to listen to your opinion. The first voice is that even though the Southern Mountain Range is a vast territory with abundant resources, there are many mountains and forests, and also heavily populated by fearsome beasts. Furthermore, every year, we have to donate tens of thousands of horses to the Great Xia. Most importantly, we must take up the responsibility of being the natural shield of the Great Xia to defend them from the demon race. It is very unfair.” As Princess Shan Yu spoke, she fixed her eyes tightly upon Fang Zhengzhi’s.
“It is indeed very unfair!” Fang Zhengzhi nodded without even thinking.
“Yes, the second voice is that even though the Southern Mountain Range donates tens of thousands of horses to the Great Xia, the Great Xia gives us crops and foodstuff in exchange. Our Southern Mountain Range indeed serves as the natural shield for the Great Xia, however, the Great Xia has sent people to teach the Law of Dao, strengthening the foundations of the Southern Mountain Range. Hence, it is very fair!” Princess Shan Yu continued when she saw Fang Zhengzhi nod.
“Yes, it is very fair!” Fang Zhengzhi nodded once again.
“…” Princess Shan Yu’s mouth opened a little. Looking at Fang Zhengzhi’s sincere expression, she actually didn’t know what to say next.
On the other hand, when the twenty generals standing by the side heard this, they began to shake their heads. Can this guy at least have some opinions of his own? He simply might as well not have said anything.
“Princess, please continue.” Fang Zhengzhi waited for a while before urging, seeing that Princess Shan Yu didn’t speak.
“Continue with what? I have finished what I wanted to ask!”
“Oh, since you have asked all that you want, there is nothing else. I will make my move first.” When Fang Zhengzhi finished speaking, he immediately turned around and walked towards the entrance of the tent.
“Stop right there!” A general bellowed.
“What is it?” Fang Zhengzhi turned back his head with a confused look on his face.
“Why did you not answer the questions princess asked?”
“I have already answered. You didn’t hear it? Are you dreaming just now?”
“You… you call that an answer?”
“Then you teach me how to answer.”
“The person who princess asked is you!”
“That’s right, princess indeed asked me. I have already answered. If you don’t have anything else for me, I will make my move.” Fang Zhengzhi turned around once again.
“…” The twenty generals were instantly speechless once again.
“Fang Zhengzhi, I want you to choose one among these two.” Right at this moment, Princess Shan Yu opened her mouth once again.
“Princess, I don’t know anything about these national matters. You can ask them, they are all generals. Why do you ask a lowly soldier like me?” Fang Zhengzhi replied gloomily.
“Fang Zhengzhi, I am asking you very seriously!”
“I am also answering very seriously!”
“Somebody come, bring him out and kill him!”
“Wait a moment, after some consideration, I feel that the answer just now is somewhat flawed. I think it can be elaborated further.” Fang Zhengzhi instantly changed into a bright smile.
“Is it? But, I don’t think there is any problem with it!”
“There is definitely a problem!”
“With you?”
“…” Fang Zhengzhi was slightly taken aback. His eyes finally looked seriously at Princess Shan Yu, who had sat up. From Princess Shan Yu’s eyes, he inferred an expression different from that the day before. If Princess Shan Yu the day before was a merry girl, then, Princess Shan Yu today was clearly a completely different person, turning into a wise commander.
This girl actually set a trap for me?
Luckily, I am resourceful.
“Princess, it is not that I don’t want to reply this question. Instead, no matter how I reply, the outcome would both be death!” Fang Zhengzhi finally revealed a bitter smile.
“Why is this so?” A faint smile appeared on Princess Shan Yu’s face as she heard this. Evidently, this wasn’t very unexpected.
“Princess had said that you heard two voices beside your ears. If I become one of these voices, the other voice would naturally hunt me to death. After all, I am only a lowly soldier, powerless and defenceless. Bullied and mocked in this army camp, I… I don’t even dare to talk back!” Fang Zhengzhi became sadder and sadder as he spoke, seeming as if he was about to burst into tears.
“Don’t pretend to be pitiful. Tell me what I have to do for you to reply.” Princess Shan Yu simply didn’t fall for Fang Zhengzhi’s trick, and immediately waved her hand.
“If you appoint me as a Tiger General and give me a hundred thousand troops, I think that I would be able to reply!”
“Do you think that will happen?” Princess Shan Yu looked towards Fang Zhengzhi in disdain.
“Else, fifty thousand should also be sufficient.”
“Dream on!”
“Then at least five thousand?”
“Five hundred, no more than that.”
“Thank you Princess!” Fang Zhengzhi gritted his teeth. What the hell, even something as small as a mosquito was still food. Having five hundred was at least better than having nothing.
“Speak.”
“Let me tell princess a story.”
“A story?”
“Yes. Once upon a time, two starved people received the kindness of an elder. One fishing rod and one basket of big, fresh fishes… In the end, the person who picked the fish died beside the empty basket. The other used the fishing rod to fish everyday, living a blessed and happy life. End of story.” Fang Zhengzhi stopped talking.
“What kind of story is this?” A general asked with a confused look after Fang Zhengzhi was done speaking.
“Give a man a fish, and you have fed him for today; teach a man to fish, and you have fed him for a lifetime.” Fang Zhengzhi replied.
“Give a man a fish, and you have fed him for today; teach a man to fish, and you have fed him for a lifetime?” When the generals heard this, they softly mouthed this phrase over and over again. For a moment, there was nobody who spoke.
Princess Shan Yu’s brows also threaded together into a frown. Her jet-black eyes flashed with a faint glow. Only after fifteen whole minutes did she gradually let out a sigh.
“So, this is your answer?”
“Yes!” Fang Zhengzhi nodded.
Princess Shan Yu descended into silence once again. Her dark eyes swept across the twenty generals standing at the side. After waiting for another fifteen whole minutes did she finally speak again. “Fang Zhengzhi, I have a task for you to complete.”
“Can I reject?”
“You cannot.”
“Roger, Princess’s task is the meaning of my life. I will definitely carry it out with my life, swearing to fulfill princess’s wishes. Even if I die horribly, I wouldn’t mind!”
“Stop your nonsense. I want you to deliver a letter to the Sagely Mountain City!”
“Deliver a letter? To the Sagely Mountain City?” Fang Zhengzhi looked towards Princess Shan Yu, then looked at the twenty generals at the side with immense confusion.
Delivering a letter. You have to specially instruct such a thing to me in front of so many people?
Furthermore…
Most importantly, these twenty generals seemed to have knew this long ago. When they heard Princess Shan Yu’s words, they actually didn’t raise any objections. There wasn’t even a change in their expressions.
“Is there a problem?” Princess Shan Yu asked again when she saw that Fang Zhengzhi was silent.
“No problem, but… in the road towards the Sagely Mountain City, I am not familiar with the geography, and there are many fearsome beasts outside. I fear that I would be too weak and lose the important letter. When that time comes…” Fang Zhengzhi evidently seemed to be in somewhat of a difficult situation.
“That is why I promised to give you five hundred troops just now.” Princess Shan Yu seemed to have already guessed that Fang Zhengzhi would say this.
“Five hundred? I fear that it wouldn’t even be enough to fill the teeth of a few fearsome beasts.” Fang Zhengzhi shook his head again.
“If they were any ordinary soldier, of course it wouldn’t be enough. But, if they were my five hundred Silver Horned Wolf Cavalry, that would be enough!” Princess Shan Yu revealed a confident expression when she said this.
“Five hundred Silver Horned Wolf Cavalry?!” Fang Zhengzhi was truly taken aback.
He had naturally seen those before.
It was exactly because of their existence that he was captured with no way of escape and brought directly to Princess Shan Yu. However…
Wasn’t the Silver Horned Wolf Cavalry Princess Shan Yu’s strongest forces?
Giving himself five hundred out of the three thousand Silver Horned Wolf Cavalry?
This was simply even more extreme compared to winning a five million dollar lottery in his past world! Furthermore, most importantly, why were the twenty generals around him still so calm when they heard this!
This is impossible!
I am an “outsider”, how can nobody object when Princess Shan Yu gave himself five hundred Silver Horned Wolf Cavalry without any good reason? He really couldn’t understand this.
It was just as if somebody had suddenly ran over and told him that he was the truly Son of Heaven, and asking him to immediately ascend the throne and become the Emperor!
What the hell, who would dare to do so?!