Chapter 1938: The Three Tu Brothers
Zhang Ruochen’s emotions fluctuated. With Ji Fanxin’s excellent eye for people, a person whom she regards highly was definitely not someone mediocre.
For him to be an Array Master just only after two hundred years of cultivation was indeed terrifying.
To be able to train such a young Array Master was enough to see how amazing the foundation of the Five-Element Temple was.
“We will commence the a.s.sault tomorrow morning. Senior Brother Lu will unravel the array in Xianji Mountain first, then confront and restrain that Deathkin Array Master.
“Based on our reconnaissance, the Deathkin have set up eight barracks in Xianji Mountain, imitating the Bagua Formation, resulting in many changes. We need to attack all eight of the barracks at the same time to avoid any complications. This now involves the issue of manpower distribution.”
“I had discussed this with Brother Xuanyuan, and wants Junior Brother Zhang and Fairy Baihua to be responsible attacking one of the barracks. You don’t need to destroy it, but only hold them back.”
Zhen Yuan spoke and roughly explained the plan.
Without a doubt, the eight Deathkin barracks were not simple outposts, and even containment would require top powerhouses to lead tha attack.
Both Zhang Ruochen and Ji Fanxin were able to destroy the hundred thousand strong Immortal Vampire army, and kill several Shenzis, and they were also able to seize the corpse of the Divine Python from the Rakshashas. That was enough to prove their strength to everyone.
Looking at Ji Fanxin, Zhang Ruochen said. “Since Brother Zhen Yuan and Brother Xuanyuan trust us, we will go all out.”
“Then that’s settled. The Northern Region Basecamp will organize an army for you to lead. I’ll take you to have a look later.” Zhen Yuan smiled.
Zhang Ruochen nodded and said. “Aside from us, who else will be the commanders?”
For him to ask this question, he actually wanted to know which elites were in the Northern Region Basecamp, so he could have some foreknowledge in advance.
Before Zhen Yuan could speak, Xuanyuan Liekong laughed and said. “Before this, the other eight commanders have already been determined, namely: Fairy Yuan, Ling Kongzi, Red Fox King, Feng Wuxing, Nie Yundao, the Ten-eyed Qiankun Insect and You Yuexin. With the two of you, everyone is a.s.sembled.
“Brother Xuanyuan and Brother Zhen Yuan aren’t leading the troops?” A look of curiosity appeared on Zhang Ruochen’s face.
Xuanyuan Liekong shook his head and said. “Both me and Zhen Yuan, and a few others have other missions. We will oversee the overall situation, and deal with a few tricky Deathkin folks.”
Hearing this, Zhang Ruochen suddenly understood why. A person that Xuanyuan Liekong would consider tricky to deal with should not be underestimated, and they were mostlikely to be Shenzi or Princes.
Clearly, for the a.s.sault on Xianji Mountain, Xuanyuan Liekong and Zhen Yuan had made ample preparations. Once the battle starts, many powerful characters will show up.
There were countless Celestial Court cultivators who had came to Kunlun Realm, and as the most brutal battlefield of the Northern Region Battlefield of Merit, how can there not be a large number of powerhouses?
After chatting for a while, Zhen Yuan personally took Zhang Ruochen and the other four to the army a.s.sembly grounds.
As the a.s.sault of Xianji Mountain was no trivial matter, they had only selected the strong whose cultivation base must be above a Saint. Anyone lower than that were not even considered to act as cannon fodder.
In order to facilitate a.s.signment, Zhen Yuan and Xuanyuan Liekong had set up a military camp in the basecamp, so all of the mobilized powerhouses had already gathered there.
Zhen Yuan led Zhang Ruochen and his group directly to the main camp, and then used telepathy to summon the other seven commanders over for everyone to familiarize themselves with each other.
Zhang Ruochen discovered that he had met most of the people present, and only a few were unfamiliar faces.
He recognized Fairy Yuan, the Ten-eyed Qiankun Insect and You Yuexin. The three represented Shangyuan Sect, the Fane of Youshen and the Blackdemon Realm respectively.
As fellow cultivators of the Blackdemon Realm, You Yuexin was many times stronger than s.h.i.+ Lingkun. She cultivated the Demonic Nethermoon Tapestry of the 36 Demonic Engravings, which was the same as Murong Yue except for her cultivation base being a little higher.
He had also met the Red Fox King in the meeting hall but the two had never spoken before.
As for Ling Kongzi, Feng Wuxing and Nie Yundao, Zhang Ruochen had no impression of them at all. But for them to be chosen as commanders showed that they were no pushovers.
“Brother, Feng Wuxing is of the Feng clan, and is a cousin of mine. He had a very powerful Supreme Saint bloodline, and had already cultivated to the pinnacle of Heaven’s Reach realm. He’s considered one of the leaders.h.i.+p characters of the Feng clan in the Northern Region Basecamp.” Feng Yan sent a telepathic message.
Hearing this, a thought sprang up in Zhang Ruochen’s mind. A Supreme Saint heir that is already at the pinnacle of Heaven’s Reach realm, his power should be able to match those of the Path’s Anterior realm, and was far stronger than the Blackflame General.
“I am Ling Kongzi, a disciple of The Thousand-Sword Mountain. I’ve long heard of your good name. And at today’s meeting, I can see your extraordinary bearing.” Ling Kongzi said in a salute.
Zhang Ruochen immediately returned the salute, saying. “You flatter me, Brother Ling. The Thousand-Sword Mountain is a holy land for the path of sword and I had long been admiring of that place. I hope there would be an opportunity for me to learn about the secrets of swordsmans.h.i.+p from Brother Ling.”
The Thousand-Sword Mountain is the number one holy land for swordsmans.h.i.+p in the Sword-King Realm, with an extremely long history and a deep-rooted foundation.
And the Sword King Realm is one of the top 100 realms in the universe. It was extremely powerful with many G.o.ds presiding over it.
Especially when one of the ancient masters of the Thousand-Sword Mountain had already survived two Yuanhui catastrophes, and his cultivation level is unfathomable.
Zhang Ruochen could sense that Ling Kongzi had a very potent Supreme Saint blood flowing in him, and the invisible sword will exuding from his body is extremely powerful, thus his strength was not to be underestimated.
Ling Kongzi smiled and said. “I’ve also heard that Brother Zhang your cultivation in the path of the sword is very high. If we have the time, we should have a good exchange.”
“Sure, I’ll be in your care then, Brother Ling.” Zhang Ruochen said.
Since the other party showed good intentions to him, Zhang Ruochen would not give him the cold shoulder. After all, having more friends is better than more enemies.
At this moment, Fairy Yuan, Feng Wuxing, and the Red Fox King all nodded slightly as a greeting.
Nie Yundao, the Ten-eyed Qiankun Insect, and You Yuexin were all indifferent, and obviously did not want to see Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen was slightly surprised. It was normal for the Ten-eyed Qiankun Insect and You Yuexin to not want to see him, but why did Nie Yundao reacted like that?
As if he knew what Zhang Ruochen was thinking, Feng Yan sent a telepathic message. “Brother, Nie Yundao is a cultivator from the Soul Realm, and belongs to the Heavenly Realm faction. You had acted against King Daxi in the past, so Nie Yundao bore a hatred against you. So you need to be on guard.”
Hearing this, Zhang Ruochen realized what was going on. The cultivators of the Soul Realm were very close with Shang Ziyan, it would have been strange if Nie Yundao would want to see him.
Zhen Yuan said. “For the battle tomorrow, I hope all of you can cooperate well, and break through Xianji Mountain in one fell swoop. Only success is permitted for this battle, otherwise, the situation in the Northern Region will be very unfavorable to us.”
As he said that, Zhen Yuan turned and left, clearly having something else to do.
The camp became quiet, and the atmosphere appeared a little awkward.
“Zhang Ruochen, you better be careful. The battlefield is very chaotic, and you may very well lose your life if you are not careful.” The Ten-eyed Qiankun Insect sneered, breaking the silence.
Zhang Ruochen said. “You’re right. If you happen to die on the battlefield, I will definitely help you to collect your corpse. After all, the corpse of a Primordial race is very valuable.”
A cold murderous intent flashed in the eyes of the Ten-eyed Qiankun Insect’s eyes. If there was no restraint, he would have wanted to kill Zhang Ruochen there and then.
“Hmph, let’s wait and see.”
Saying that, the Ten-eyed Qiankun Insect walked out of the camp.
You Yuexin stared at Zhang Ruochen for a moment, and left without saying a word.
Nie Yundao made no secret of his killing intent against Zhang Ruochen, and said coldly. “Zhang Ruochen, I will definitely take back what belonged to Her Highness, and kill you.”
Compared to the Ten-eyed Qiankun Insect and You Yuexin, Nie Yundao was undoubtedly a lot more direct, and did not bother covering up his true intentions.
After restraining his killing intent a little, Nie Yundao walked out.
He was afraid that if he continued to stay here, he would not be able to hold back from striking Zhang Ruochen.
Seeing this situation, everyone else was no longer in the mood for anything and soon dispersed.
On the battlefield, one can only rely on oneself, and it was difficult to count upon others.
So instead of wasting time here, they might as well go back to recharge.
But Fairy Yuan was much more enthusiastic, and brought Zhang Ruochen and the other four to their camp.
This time, the Northern Region Basecamp had organized eight armies, with fifty thousand troops each. Among them were a thousand Saint King elites, while the others were all Saint-realm cultivators.
As soon as they entered the camp, about a dozen elites came to greet them. However, they did not look like a greeting party as all of them had unfriendly looks in their eyes.
Leading the ground were three handsome young men with the same appearance. The aura exuding from their bodies were extremely powerful, and had clearly reached the Heaven’s Reach realm.
The other eight person behind them were also powerful elites of the Precept Dominion realm.
“Brother, they are the three Tu brothers, named Tu Tian, Tu Di, Tu Ren. They are the heirs of a supreme Saint of Wanxu Realm. Each of them alone had the ability to sweep through the Heaven’s Reach realm. When three of them were to work together, they could easily fight a Path’s Anterior elite. I never thought that they would be a.s.signed to this army.” Feng Yan said telepathically.
He knew that sort of personalities the Tu brothers were, so the moment he saw them, he felt a slight uneasiness.
Sure enough, Tu Tian said in an unfriendly tone. “Zhang Ruochen, I heard that you are the commander of our unit?”
“Yes, indeed.” Zhang Ruochen nodded.
Tu Tian’s eyes became sharper, and he said coldly. “You want to be the commander, and did you asked us three brothers for our opinions?”
“Was there such a need?” Zhang Ruochen said lightly.
Tu Tian said. “Of course, what right do you think you have to be our commander? With your Lesser Precept-World-level cultivation?”
“Seems like you lot are unconvinced.” Zhang Ruochen said
Tu Di took a step forward, saying. “If you want to convince us, then you need to display enough strength.”
Tu Ren agreed. “Yes, if you can defeat us three, we will be willing to listen to you. Otherwise, you can forget about commanding anyone in this camp.”
With that said, the lines were drawn. The three Tu brothers came here to find trouble, and refused to accept Zhen Yuan and Xuanyuan Liekong’s arrangements.
They could not directly disobey Zhen Yuan and Xuanyuan Liekong’s orders, but they wanted to use their own strength to force Zhang Ruochen to give up the commander’s post.
Zhang Ruochen did not care about the t.i.tle, but he had promised Zhen Yuan and Xuanyuan Liekong, plus the three Tu Brothers were being very obstrusive, so he now had to take on the role of the commander now.
“Since you lot insist, then I can only fulfill your wishes.” Zhang Ruochen said coldly.
Hearing that, the three Tu brothers could not help but smile. They were really afraid that Zhang Ruochen woud not agree, and that would be troublesome instead.
Tu Di sneered. “There is a martial arts arena in the camp. Come with us.”
Zhang Ruochen did not say anything else, and stepped forward to follow naturally.
In the world of the cultivators, the strong were always respected, and truth was always established by fists.
For Zhen Yuan and Xuanyuan Liekong to ask him to become a commander, they had really presented him with a tough question. Did they deliberately wanted to test his strength?
Not long after, the group arrived at the martial arts arena which was already packed full of people. The soldiers of the entire camp should have arrived.
It was obvious that this was arranged in advance by the Tu brothers so that everyone could come and witness, saving the trouble of Zhang Ruochen not admitting defeat when he loses.
The three Tu brothers stepped into the martial arts arena first, and took a triple position, ready to fight at any moment.
With a calm expression, Zhang Ruochen walked into the martial arts arena. He had just broken through to the realm of Greater Precept-World, and he could use these three brothers to test the results of his cultivation.