Chapter 83 - The Army Sets Out

“His Majesty has an imperial edict for Xiao Qingwang!” Gao Feng said loudly.

Standing still, Xiao Qingwang gave him a cold look and said with a straight face, “Read it!”

Gao Feng hurriedly unfolded the imperial edict and read aloud, “Qin Yang and all the generals of the Central Army are arrogant and have disobeyed the order of deployment. They should be punished according to their crimes! However, at present, when the state crisis is taking place, I will give them another chance to redeem themselves by performing their duties. As for Qin Yang, although he is a prince, he had not attached importance to the state affairs. He should be flogged a hundred times to make an example for the others!”

After listening to the imperial edict, all the generals breathed a sigh of relief at the same time, glad that they did not have to die now. Meanwhile, Qin Yang’s forehead was covered in cold sweat. He had never felt so close to death. Although it was a great pain to be flogged a hundred times, at least his life was saved, and so was that of his loyal followers.

Xiao Qingwang slightly raised his eyes, which were filled with confusion. Suddenly, his pupils constricted, and then he said to the people beneath the platform with an indifferent face, “Kill everyone but Qin Yang. He will be flogged five hundred times to make an example of others!”

That horrified everyone, and one of the generals glared at him and bellowed, “Xiao Qingwang, you old fogy! How dare you to disobey the imperial edict! You are the one who should be killed!”

Bam!

As soon as he finished speaking, the State Guardian standing behind him slapped him on the head, sending his brains all over the place.

Bam! Bam!

The air rang with shrieks, but peace was soon restored. At this point, all one hundred and twenty-four Central Army generals were killed on the spot, which also meant that Qin Yang’s loyal subordinates in the Central Army were all executed!

Puke!

Qin Yang felt his head reel and coughed out a mouthful of blood. “Xiao Qingwang, you have disobeyed the imperial edict! Your entire family will be executed for your crime!” he screamed venomously.

“His Majesty gave them a chance, but I won’t.” Xiao Qingwang gave the prince a cold smile. “If you disobey the imperial edict, someone will kill you, but who dares to kill me? Now, I don’t think you really want me to give you a chance, do you?” He glanced coldly at Qin Yang, causing the latter’s face to turn pale with fear and quickly close his mouth.

Qin Yang believed from the bottom of his heart that as long as he uttered one more word, he would surely be killed on the spot!

Xiao Qingwang waved and said, “Drag Qin Yang away and flog him five hundred times!” Then, while looking at the bodies all over the ground, he said with a straight face, “Immediately notify all the generals of the next level to come to the muster roll platform in a quarter of an hour. Kill those who refuse to come!”

The State Guardians dispersed once again. In less than ten minutes, all the generals in the capital, whether they should or should not have come, had arrived, and everyone was wearing armor and swords. No one dared to show any impatience or weariness.

“Very good!” Xiao Qingwang glanced at everyone with satisfaction, then turned and walked down the platform, handing the stage back to Li Chunyang. He went straight to the seat on the left side of the platform and sat down as he said to Yunxiao, “I’ve completed the first thing.”

Yunxiao smiled and said, “You sure are ruthless. Now no one will dare to harbor any ill intentions.”

Li Chunyang stood on the platform, looking at the crowd below as he shouted seriously, “Chen Dasheng will be the commander in chief of this mission! Chen Dasheng, step out of the rank and receive the commander seal!”

Everyone was at a loss. Chen Dasheng? Who was this man? There was no such person among the senior generals present. They knew Li Chunyang would definitely send his own men, and Han Qianfang and the master of the Chen Family, Chen Lin, were all possible candidates. But, no one expected him to come out with such a strange name.

But soon, some older generals seemed to remember something, and their faces fell as they looked at the platform, aghast.

Chen Lin, who was standing in the crowd, was shocked as well, and he began to shiver as he watched an old man slowly standing up from a seat on the left of the stage.

He felt that his sight was blurred by some fluids, and when he saw the old man’s face, he could no longer hold it. He ran over and dropped to his knees, bursting into tears as he cried out, “Dad! Dad! It’s really you! You are still alive!”

Chen Dasheng was also in tears. Fighting back his joy, he patted his son on the head, then his face suddenly darkened and he kicked the latter away. “You are embarrassing our family! Stop crying in front of the muster roll platform!”

After that, he strode to the front of the platform and took the commander seal with both hands, then shouted, “Chen Dasheng receives the order!”

He held the seal high and let the crowd look at it for a moment before walking up the platform and crying out, “Han Qianfang, step out of the rank!”

“Yes, my lord!” Han Qianfang stepped forward in a hurry. He, too, was shocked by the fact that Chen Dasheng was still alive. Although he did not weep like Chen Lin, his heart was full of joy.

Chen Dasheng took out a token and threw it at him. “You will lead the left flank’s vanguard. I will give you one hundred thousand men!”

“Understood, my lord!”

“Chen Lin, step out of the rank!”

“Yes, my…my lord!” Still in tears, Chen Lin came forward excitedly.

Chen Dasheng snorted angrily as he grabbed a token and threw it in Chen Lin’s face. “You will lead the right flank’s vanguard with one hundred thousand men as well!”

“Understood!” While sobbing, Chen Lin picked up the token and walked back into the rank.

“Li Yunxiao, step out of the rank!”

Yunxiao got up from his seat on the left side of the platform and walked up to Chen Dasheng, then cupped his fist and said, “I’m here. What do you want of me?”

Chen Dasheng frowned. If the others dared to be so rude in front of him, they would definitely be punished. But, since the man was Yunxiao, he did not bother to argue with him. Dropping a token, he said, “I now appoint you as the chief logistics officer. You will lead the two thousand student troops to provide uninterrupted logistics support and provision.”

A wry smile appeared on Yunxiao’s face. He did not expect that he would be put in charge of logistics. Anyhow, he took the token and returned to his seat.

Some of the two thousand students were happy and some were sad. Those who were happy were so because they felt they would be safer by not going to the frontlines, while the others were sad because they would not be able to become Qin Yue’s loyal followers, since their chance of fighting in the battle was taken away.

Chen Dasheng shouted again, “The rest of you are at my disposal! And now, we will march!”

“We will march!” All the generals cried out in unison, their voices towering into the sky. Columns of armed and armored troops began to march around the capital before leaving the city. It was the custom before every army went to war.

Only then did Qin Yue walk up to Chen Dasheng and speak with a look of respect, “General Chen, the safety of Tianshui is now entirely entrusted to you!”

Chen Dasheng nodded and said, “Rest assured, Your Highness! I will not come back if I have not thrown the enemy back to where they came from!”

Li Chunyang also came over and patted him on the shoulder. “Dasheng, be careful and take care!”

“Don’t worry, brother! I haven’t died after five years of torture, so why would I die now?”

…

As the army was leaving the city, two people ran up suddenly and came directly to Yunxiao while shouting, “Young Master Yun, take us with you!”

After that, they jumped directly into his chariot. He glanced at them and found that it was Han Bai and Chen Zhen, both of whom looked depressed.

The army commander’s chariot was more than thirty meters long and ten meters wide. It was pulled by eight horses and could accommodate dozens of people.

It turned out that because their aptitudes were slightly poor, although they had opened all seven chakras after taking the origin impacting pills given by Yunxiao, they were unable to make any further breakthrough. It was then that the academy began to recruit students for the mission, and the minimum requirement was that the applicant must be a warrior. The cruel reality depressed them. Later, when they learned that Yunxiao had been appointed commander of the student army, they immediately waited happily at the city gate, and then rushed at him when he approached.

Surprised, Yunxiao said, “Are your aptitudes really so poor? I can’t believe you didn’t break through and become warriors even after taking my origin impacting pills!”

Han Bai released a little of his Primordial Qi, and the light of a warrior immediately emanated from his body. With a wry smile, he said, “I didn’t sleep last night, and I broke through this morning. But, it’s one day too late.”

Chen Zhen said miserably, “Your foundation is better than mine. I’ve been stuck at the bottleneck for three days and haven’t broken through.”

Meng Bai, who was sitting nearby, said with surprise, “I broke through and became a warrior on the night I took the origin impacting pill, and before that, I had only opened five chakras. Brothers, it seems that your aptitudes are a little bit too out of ordinary, don’t you think so?”

“That only shows Young Master Yun played favorites, because the quality of the pills he gave us is not as good as yours,” said Chen Zhen angrily.

“Hmph! It is obvious that you are useless, but you blame the pill!” A voice rang out of the tent erected on the chariot.

“Who is it? Who dares to scold me!” In a fit of rage, Chen Zhen kicked open the tent flaps and rushed inside while roaring. Everyone thought that there would be some commotion, but Chen Zhen never made any noise again, as if he had fallen into the sea.

While frowning, Han Bai said, “What’s going on? Is his father in there?”

Yunxiao only smiled. If truth be told, not only Chen Zhen’s father, but his father’s father was in there as well.

“Ahhh!” Right at that moment, a scream rang out from inside the tent; it was Chen Zhen’s voice. Not long after that, Chen Dasheng’s voice was heard, “Yunxiao and Han Bai, come in!”

They went into the tent, which was occupied by Chen Dasheng, Chen Lin, and Han Qianfang. They were discussing tactics, but they had stopped now while Chen Zhen was kneeling on the ground, sweating profusely.

Yunxiao’s face grew dark as soon as he squinted at Chen Zhen. “You’ve made him break through by force?”

Han Bai was shocked, and he hurriedly looked at Chen Zhen, who was gasping on the floor. Sure enough, Chen Zhen had become a warrior of the Origin Realm, with the light of Primordial Qi swirling around him.

There was a flicker of anger in Yunxiao’s eyes. “Don’t you know that this has hurt him instead?” he said coldly. “Forcibly breaking through such an important bottleneck will definitely affect his future achievements.”

Chen Dasheng looked up at Yunxiao and sighed. “You must know that my grandson’s aptitude is really mediocre. To what extent do you think his future achievements can reach? Life is finite, but martial arts are infinite. Instead of letting him wander in the realm of low-level warriors, I think it’s better for me to help him become someone useful as soon as possible.”

The look in Yunxiao’s eyes grew harsh. “To what extent do you think you can shape him?”

“I’ve discussed with Chen Lin. With the help of experts and various medicinal pills, I’ll be satisfied as long as he can become a Great Martial Master in the future.”

Yunxiao nodded, his eyes flashing with a cold light. “Put away your ridiculous ideas.” Then, he held out a finger and said coldly, “One year. Give me one year, and I will make him step into the Four Quadrants Realm and become a Martial Lord.”

Everyone was shocked by what he said. Looking at him, Chen Dasheng said, “Yunxiao, I know you are very capable, but every step is as difficult as climbing the sky on the way to the peak of martial arts. In those days, my aptitude was already among the best of my peers, and yet it was not until I experienced death and by coincidence that I was able to step into the Four Quadrants Realm. I know you mean good for Chen Zhen, but you must not be too impulsive.”