"General Blood Stone is right. We need to make a decision soon, even if we lack information at the moment. Therefore, I propose that we immediately leave and charge directly into the forest to slaughter whatever is inside the forest!" General Devil Storm said with a wide grin showing his excitement was clear to everyone in the room.
"I agree," General Blazing Phoenix replied quickly.
"Same here,"
"We can discuss this further when we arrive at the forest." General Blood Stone declared as he noticed they had finally reached an agreement.
Though the majority of the generals were dissatisfied with the simple plan of action since they were not just playing with their own lives but the lives of thousands of people. So having to go with such a simple and reckless plan made them all frown with dissatisfaction.
Nonetheless, they also knew they didn't have much time to think of a better plan that everyone was satisfied with, so they decided to push back the discussion until they had more information.
With all the generals in agreement, the tense atmosphere relaxed a little, and the bloody smell in the room cleared up as the generals stopped releasing their auras. With everything settled, General Blood Stone turned his attention to Floyd and signaled him to meet him outside.
Understanding what his grandfather wanted to talk about in private, Floyd immediately left the building. He waited outside for his grandfather to meet him.
"Floyd, I heard that you had good news for me." General Blood Stone said to Floyd.
"Yes, Grandpa, a person came over to the town hall to collect the money that you had left for the man you talked about," Floyd quickly answered his General Blood Stone.
"That's good. How many sects did he destroy, and which sects?" General Blood Stone's eyes widened as he heard Floyd speak about all the details.
"The man said he destroyed two sects and thus took 200,000 silver. The Martial Wheel Sect and the Beast Hunter Sect were on his list." Knowing this was coming, Floyd took a deep breath as he went into detail about his transaction with Yoze, fully prepared to be punished.
"The Beast Hunter sect? That resolves a few strange things that I was confused about in the news we heard. That also takes care of my most important concern." General Blood Stone visibly relaxed as he placed his hand on Floyd's shoulder.
Surprised that his grandfather hadn't lost his mind at his obvious mistake, Floyd was stunned as he could see that not only was his grandfather not angry but was relieved.
"Did I not make a mistake, and that giant man that had visited was the person Grandpa told me to watch out for?" Floyd thought to himself as he felt his mood quickly become better at the thought that he might not have made a grave mistake that would cost him his kidneys.
"Good work Floyd. I know this was a simple request compared to your dream of becoming a government official, but this is the first step of many that are to come."
"I know, Grandpa, I am taking every opportunity that comes my way to make you proud." Feeling the affection coming from his grandfather, Floyd's eyes began to tear up, but he wanted to stay strong, so he tried his best not to cry.
"I know that is why I am giving you another valuable opportunity. You will be coming with me to the Branch Forest to kill demons and immortals alike." General Blood Stone let out a wide grin as his hand on Floyd's shoulder tightened into an iron grip.
"Grandpa, what do you mean?" Stunned at the sudden revelation, Floyd felt like he hadn't properly processed what General Blood Stone had said and asked again.
"Floyd, you are a smart man, but you are physically too weak to accomplish much. Not only that, your mind is too fragile to handle the stress of being a scholar or a government official whose life will be threatened constantly."
"As my only living blood relative, I won't be able to die peacefully knowing that you can't save yourself from danger. So while I am still alive to protect you, I will train you to become unstoppable." General Blood Stone said with a cold voice as he lifted Floyd's frozen body on his shoulders and walked outside the gate.
Witnessing this all happening were the shocked soldiers who had let Floyd inside the building to meet his grandpa. Even though they were stunned by General Blood Stone's sudden action, they became moved when they heard his heartfelt speech,
If it wasn't for the fact that they weren't allowed to leave their post and the children were too young, they would have followed General Blood Stone's lead.
"General Blood Stone might not be the strongest or best general, but he has the biggest heart. To drastically increase his odds of dying a tragic death to give his grandson this experience truly shows his love." One of the middle-aged soldiers grabbed onto the golden heart necklace on his neck as he looked at General Blood Stone with admiration.
"General Blood Stone reminds me of my father. I hope my daughter and son see me the same way." The other soldier heaved a sigh filled with complex emotions as he looked into the distance with a blank stare.
The two soldiers silently wiped the single water droplet that had accumulated in the corner of their eyes and felt their spirits burst with renewed energy. They didn't know that in General Blood Stone's eyes, this mission was no longer as dangerous as he had previously thought.
After hearing that Yoze had visited the Beast Hunter Sect, General Blood Stone connected the stories that his soldiers had gathered and Yoze's appearance. The Beast Hunter Sect's elders and sect master are killed just as they are about to give a speech to the library, being blocked by a terrifying aura.
General Blood Stone even connected that the angry shout that shook the Beast Hunter Sect must have been Yoze, who had spotted a demon. Though General Blood Stone knew that his guess wasn't perfect, he still felt that he had gotten the general gist of the situation.
With his warped version of reality, General Blood Stone assumed that Yoze had killed the demon and returned to recuperate from the intense battle. However, with the serious threat inside the Beast Hunter Sect's territory having been taken care of, General Blood Stone felt that this was the best time to instill martial art training in his grandson.
"The more I think about that young man, the less I can see him as anything other than a humanoid monster. There seems to be a limitless amount of power packed into his massive body that shouldn't be possible." As General Blood Stone walked over to his post, his mind wandered toward his first encounter with Yoze.
He couldn't help but feel a shiver run down his spine as he could imagine that if he hadn't remembered that Yoze was an ally, his corpse would be in a thousand pieces, as the bottomless black stomach would consume his soul fuels Yoze's limitless growth.