Chapter 151: Confronting the unrivalled general

Two men entered the room after the interrogator left. "Make sure not to kill him" was the only thing Long Tao manage to hear. Either of the two people was carrying large baggage with them.

They put the bag's down and approached Long Tao who was tied in chains. "I will give you a chance to confess. Tell us all your secrets."

"I chose not to." Long Tao said with a mocking smile. 

'Baam' a punch landed on Long Tao's face. Blood began to flow out. "Ready to tell me the answer yet.". Long Tao continued to smile.

A rain of punches and kicks began to assault Long Tao's body. Either of the two men didn't even provide Long Tao with some time to rest.

Soon a pathetic figure could be seen lying on the ground, tied in chains.

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"The warm-up is over, shall we proceed towards the main event.". One of the men took out a piece of tongs from the bag. "The maximum temp. which a Qi general can handle is limited. What do you think happens when we increase the temperature way beyond that?"

The Tongs were heated to an unnatural degree and then Long Tao's clothes were torn open. "Did you decide to change your mind?". Long Tao was silent. "I take it as a no." The Tongs were branded on his body. 'Aaahahaaaaa' He began to scream on the top of his lungs. The pain was unimaginable.

"It's just the beginning brat. Let's see how long can you hold up." The process continued. Soon enough the whole prison smelled with the scent of burnt human flesh. 

A charred body was hanging by its hands. The two men decided to take a break. It was a part of the procedure to let the victim feel the pain. If they proceeded too soon, the subject would get acquainted with the torture.

"What should we try next?"

"Call in a healer to heal the guy. We will be going for the nails next. Let's see how long he can hold his sanity." Long Tao was feeling the effect every single attack on his body. Soon a figure walked up to him. An aura began to shroud over his body as his injuries began to heal.

He was soon back to his original conditions. Long Tao got a sense of hope after seeing the two. "Did you get your hopes up, boy?". The two men re-entered.

"Should we start the third round.". A new set of steel pliers was taken out. Either of the pliers was set on Long Tao's nails and the same guy asked him once again: "Are you ready to confess?"

Long Tao looked at his face and spit on it. "Go to hell.". The man wiped the spit off and gave an insidious smile. He gripped the pliers and tore Long Tao's nails off.

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The Jiao army managed to gain control over ¾ area of the mountain regions. Troops from other battlefields were gathering up from all sides. An Omni-directional assault on the Chu military would soon take place.

"How long before the other two troops arrive?"

"According to the messengers, they should be here by tomorrow noon." One of the commanders spoke up. Su Menqi nodded her head and signaled all the commanders to pay attention to her.

"According to the news provided by our spies, general Long Tao seemed to have been captured by the enemy.". A silent atmosphere reigned over the meeting followed by a huge uproar.

'How was he captured?', 'Is he still alive?', 'what is our next step going to be'. Multiples voices began to assault the whole room. "Silence". Su Menqi roared within the meeting, bringing all the Chaos to an end.

"He seems to be captured alive and held in a holding cell. They must be trying to interrogate him. The spy confirmed his survival. All I can report to you peoples is the fact that he had foreseen this situation."

The commanders were surprised, but soon nodded in agreement. Long tao was the brains behind the whole war strategy and they had never lost a battle. They knew how cunning his strategies were. He possessed the foresight to estimate this situation. That must be the reason he left Su Menqi in charge.

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"We can't lose focus in this crucial moment. We are on the verge of winning the whole war. Nothing should slow us down. The lack of messenger from the Chu military indicates that Unrivalled doesn't have an idea about the capture. We must take advantage of that."

"We will be attacking tonight. We can't let him gain a psychological advantage over our troops.'

Long Tao was respected by every soldier within the north-eastern army. Be it his achievements at such a young age, his strength, or his strategic ability, all of it created a legend, garnering a huge amount of respect from the army. If the soldiers come to know that Long Tao was captured, their motivation might take a huge hit.

"prepare the troops. We still hold a numerical advantage over them. We will be following a different strategy as of now. The passive attack no longer works. We need to completely overwhelm them to break, their spirits."

"Did you prepare the barrels?" The soldier presented a document to Su Menqi. "You need to pour it from the marked regions, into their camps." A map was presented to one of the commanders. "We need to divide the troops into smaller sections. It will be easy to carry out the execution."

The method Su Menqi was adopting was barbaric, but Long Tao's capture forced her to adopt this method.

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The artifact managed to completely devour the first mine. It then proceeds to the next one. The next one was located near the Chu military camps. The avatar proceeded with caution. There was a single opening from the stone bed, into the outer atmosphere. The place was dense in Qi.

"It must be the location.". The Keeper guided the artifact to bury into the ground. The major problem with the artifact was its inability to move too far from its owner. "You should hide within the ground."

"There is no need for that. According to Di Tao's information, Su Menqi is going to attack tonight."

"She must be quite desperate to free you from the clutches of the enemy. You should be proud of yourself, brat.". The avatar didn't answer.

The artifact began the process of absorbing the mine, but after a brief period of time, it stopped. "What's the matter?"

"When I was absorbing the stone, I got hold of another type of energy. Although I am not sure about its specification, I can verify it after absorbing the mine here.".

The artifact continued to absorb the Qi stones. The Qi within the bed got thinner and thinner until a new type of Qi began to fill the atmosphere. "Your luck is quite an enormous brat. The Qi is characterized by fire energy. There must be an energy stone mine below this. 

It is just like the mine we absorbed within the Chu borders."

"Is it better than top grade Qi stones?"

"These are elemental stones which are extremely rare when compared to top-grade Qi stones. Each of these would be worth around 1000 top-grade Qi stone of the same size. It would be highly beneficial for both the artifact and your cultivation."

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Unrivalled was currently busy preparing for the upcoming battle. All the commanders were ordered to gather for a strategic meeting within his camp.

The meeting was underway when a loud commotion and panic resounded throughout the stronghold. When the group of men rushed out, they were met with the view of their stronghold being encapsulated within the fire.

"How did this happen?" The Unrivalled general prepared to board his horse for exiting the stronghold. 'Swoosh'. A painful neigh was given out by the horse, as its head was struck by a metal arrow.

"Why so eager to leave Unrivalled? We haven't met yet. I am the current leader of the Jiao assault team. General Su Menqi."