28 Aren’t You Useless?!

Jun Xie and Jun Wu Yi soon arrived at the training ground. Jun Wu Yi coughed and ordered in a loud voice, "All the military units assemble and line-up before me!"

Ju Wu Yi had issued a military order after a span of ten years. However, a killing aura and a commendable force had been displayed from his voice and tone. It seemed as if Jun Wu Yi had regained his earlier temperament of a great general. He looked as if he had regained his old persona of a man who held the lives of several people in his hands.

The guards felt a sense of extreme fear as they heard the order. They knew that they’d lose their heads if they didn’t follow Jun Wu Yi’s order.

Around three-hundred guards had assembled in front of Jun Wu Yi and Jun Xie in a flash.

Jun Wu Yi nodded with satisfaction as he saw their hard and sweaty faces. He then pointed at Jun Xie and said, "Third Young Master Jun will be responsible for your training from this moment onwards. You must follow all his orders; no matter what they are. Is this clear?"

The guards started to talk among themselves loudly as they heard this. However, none of them answered.

Jun Wu Yi had an angry expression on his face. He looked at Jun Xie, but didn’t say anything. According to his own words, Jun Mo Xie was now the highest ranking officer in the ground. He had assumed that position the moment Jun Wu Yi had uttered those words. In fact, Jun Mo Xie was responsible for what the guards did from now onwards.

Jun Wu Yi wasn’t even supposed to interfere in Jun Mo Xie’s ways of training the guards. Jun Wu Yi would assume that Jun Mo Xie was just boasting if he wasn’t successful in passing this test. Then, Jun Wu Yi would give up all the hopes that he had in Jun Mo Xie.

Jun Xie laughed secretly. He then stepped forward and said, "Third Uncle and I were observing your training a while back. Third Uncle had asked my views about your training. He had asked whether I considered you people at par with the elites… hehehe…"

Jun Xie was speaking in an extremely soft voice. However, he had been successful in gaining the attention of all the guards. They were staring at Jun Xie with glazing eyes. What would they possibly be thinking about such a useless person?

Jun Xie continued to speak, "I told him that all of you are a bunch of useless people… that you people are here only to eat and waste food… and are just waiting for the death’s call. I also told him that all of you would certainly die if a war was to break out… and you people were sent to take part in it. I’m quite sure that I’ve spoken only the truth."

The guards started at Jun Xie with anger in their eyes. Their faces turned red. They inhaled deep breaths. They had been put through an ultimate humiliation.

One of them stepped forward. His face was red with anger. He said, "Third Young Master, what do you mean by that? All of us may be the house guards of the Jun family… but each one of us has survived over a hundred wars. You’re our Master. But still, you’ve no right to insult us in this manner."

Jun Xie waved his index finger in front of him and said, "I insulted you?! No… no… If anyone’s insulting you… that’s you yourself… I don’t need to insult you any further. Are you feeling angry at me? Do you want to beat me up? Very well then… I’ll allow you to beat me up if you can counter my arguments. This is my first order to you. Third Uncle will not interfere in this matter."

The guards started to discuss among themselves once more.

Jun Xie added in a calm manner, "You all claim to have survived a hundred battles. Fine then… answer this question of mine – Do you all agree that there are people who had joined the military with you… and had now been promoted to become generals, sergeants etc… the people who are no longer considered to be regular military soldiers?"

The guards looked at each other and nodded in a hesitant manner. How could Jun Xie’s statement be even considered as an argument? Everyone knew that some people who joined the military became more skilled than other people, and were promoted due to their contributions in the war. Then, why was Jun Xie bringing up this matter?

Jun Xie continued to speak, "Have you people ever thought why you didn’t become generals? I’ll tell you. It’s because you people are incapable of that. So, you can’t be compared with those people. You all have suffered elimination.

"Now think about the people who joined the military with you. I think that many of those people didn’t have their Xuan Qi cultivation as good as yours. At the most, their Xuan Qi cultivation was at par with yours. Then, why did they become generals and you didn’t?"

Everyone was confused after hearing Jun Xie words. [That’s right. Why didn’t we become generals?] They couldn’t help but nodded their heads in unison. Some of them thought, [The people who became general were lucky. They were able to take advantage of the situation. Whatever you’re saying doesn’t make any sense. Why would those people be allowed to serve in the military if they didn’t have enough strength? Wouldn’t those people be asked to become regular soldiers like us if their strength didn’t surpass ours?]

Jun Xie then said, "This is also a fact that several of them were able to break through the bottleneck of the ninth level Xuan Qi during their military tenure… and even during an ongoing battle. They’ve become a real experts. Many families had become desperate to employ them after the war was over. Am I right?"

Everyone nodded their heads as this was a common occurrence. However, they had lost some of their excitement. In fact, a few of them had a glimmer of shame in their eyes. Each of the level of Xuan Qi was a bottleneck. The higher the level – the more difficult the process of breaking through the bottleneck. The eighth and the ninth level were only one level apart. However, the gap among them was as wide as Heaven and earth. Several people were able to reach the eighth level. However, they became stuck at this level. They couldn’t step into the ninth level even after a lifetime of practice. It was impossible for them to even think about stepping into the higher silver level.

The ninth level and below were ants. This sentence wasn’t meant as a joke.

Jun Xie looked at the guards with ridicule and said, "Those people were promoted, but you weren’t. You were eliminated in place of those people. Do you agree with me?"

Everyone was silent; they couldn’t even move.

Jun Xie smiled and said, "It’s also true that some of the soldiers wanted to leave the army once the war was over. But, a few soldiers were offered jobs by secretive organizations and private military forces. Some of the soldiers were even transferred to a different unit of the military. Am I right?"

Jun Xie was right. This was a common occurrence in the kingdom. The guards didn’t say anything. There were traces of shame and contempt on their faces.

Jun Xie continued with his tirade, "But, you weren’t among the ones who had been transferred. All of you were eliminated for the third time. Then, you became the guards of the Jun family. Does anyone of you remember the original number of people who came here?"

The guards had understood the intention behind Jun Xie’s question. But still, a guard answered in an embarrassed tone, "Reporting to the Third Young Master – the original number was five-hundred men."

Jun Xie paused for a moment and said, "Now, there are only three-hundred men. Where did the rest of the two-hundred men go? I’m sure that they were neither killed nor asked to leave. They’ve been selected to serve in a bigger way. But, none of you were selected. It’s clear that you aren’t as capable as them. You faced another round of elimination."

There was an absolute silence. The eyes of some of the guards had become red. Some of them were breathing heavily. But, no one uttered a single word.

Jun Xie turned his head and put his ear before the guards. He then said, "You all have been eliminated several times. Ask yourself – aren’t you all useless?"