Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
"Lord Marquis!"
A familiar voice suddenly rose from the plaza, immediately attracting w.a.n.g Chong"s notice. The Wushang would never call him "Lord Marquis", and the only one in this place who would call him "Lord Marquis" and know his ident.i.ty would be…
"Lord Marquis, it"s General Li"s group!"
Cries of alarm came from behind w.a.n.g Chong as Gao Feng, Nie Yan, and the ten-some guards all looked toward the plaza.
Following the direction of the voice, past the villagers of Wushang, on the other end of the plaza, w.a.n.g Chong spotted a familiar figure. A man more than two meters tall was standing upon the plaza like an iron tower, his entire body exuding a powerful aura.
And in his hand was a ma.s.sive sword taller than the average man, similarly imposing.
In the middle of Wushang Village, this person stood out like a crane amongst chickens, and no one could obstruct his gaze. Although all the Wushang had tightly surrounded him, they still kept a distance of several zhang from him, and their expressions clearly showed a great apprehension for this giant of a man!
Invincible Great General, Li Siye!
Many days after losing contact with him, w.a.n.g Chong finally discovered his number one general deep within Wushang Village. His breathing was extremely disorderly and his body was covered in wounds, but his posture remained erect and steadfast, like a lofty mountain. It was like as long as he was not willing to fall, nothing in the world could defeat him.
"General Li!" Gao Feng and Nie Yan shouted as they rushed to the plaza, their faces fraught with worry and concern.
w.a.n.g Chong did not stop them, but he was in no rush himself. All he did was slightly furrow his brow.
Li Siye"s abilities were indisputable!
The t.i.tle of "Invincible Great General" was enough to testify to his abilities. Even though he was still not fully mature, he was still incomparable to an ordinary person. Moreover, after being tempered through the war of the southwest, Li Siye had grown even more composed and reliable, and he had grown even stronger as well.
This was why w.a.n.g Chong had tasked him with subduing the Wushang.
But w.a.n.g Chong had told him beforehand that the goal of this mission was to subdue and recruit, not kill and vanquish, thus forbidding him from using weapons. But now, not only had Li Siye used his extremely sharp and tough Wootz Steel sword, he was also covered in wounds and gasping for breath!
w.a.n.g Chong found it very difficult to imagine an opponent like this. What sort of man could make Li Siye use his Wootz Steel sword and all his strength and yet still be forced into this state?!
It had to be said that when Li Siye used all his strength, he had been able to take on the ten thousand Black Dragon Bandits alone, exterminating their base in Qixi and slaying their leader Black Dragon Zhao.
Now, however, it was Li Siye who was being suppressed.
Swis.h.!.+
With a wave of his sleeve, w.a.n.g Chong began to stride toward the plaza. None of the villagers attempted to block him. Since their chief had requested to see w.a.n.g Chong, there was naturally no one who would make any problems for him.
"Lord Marquis!"
Li Siye continued to grasp his sword with both hands, but his determined face was a little haggard, his stalwart body trembling and heaving as he breathed. It was evident that he had consumed an enormous amount of strength.
w.a.n.g Chong nodded grimly. Without a word, he looked down at the ground around Li Siye.
Of the more than twenty people who had left with Li Siye, only seven or eight of them were lying on the ground, heavily injured. No sign could be seen of the rest. Gao Feng, Nie Yan, and the others had already arrived and were giving them treatment, but it appeared that their wounds were not light.
"Lord Marquis!"
Upon w.a.n.g Chong"s approach, these injured soldiers began to open their eyes and moan, their expressions stricken with pain.
w.a.n.g Chong nodded and waved his hand, indicating that they should rest.
"Lord Marquis, I"m sorry. I"ve already done all I can, but the mission still failed. All I could do was protect them."
Li Siye"s face was filled with shame, and for the first time, he lowered his proud head.
This mission had been much more difficult than he had imagined.
Li Siye had never imagined that this tiny and unremarkable village in the northwest would be hiding so many rare experts. A trifling recruitment mission had ended up being even more challenging than fighting the more than five hundred thousand soldiers of the Mengshe–Ü-Tsang army in the southwestern war.
"I know. I also don"t blame you. Just leave this matter to me!" w.a.n.g Chong ordered with a wave of his hand.
The great calamity from his memories had still not happened and Wushang Village had not come under a.s.sault from the otherworldly invaders. This was still that conservative and xenophobic village, but it was also a village of legends. w.a.n.g Chong was forced to admit that his thinking had been too simple.
The future world"s greatest Wushang Cavalry was not as easy to subdue as he had imagined.
I still have to personally do this!
w.a.n.g Chong mentally sighed and turned his head to look past Li Siye.
In his last life, he had personally subdued the Wushang Cavalry. In this life, it seemed like it was still his turn! Not even the future Invincible Great General Li Siye could serve as his subst.i.tute!
"You are the Young Marquis this warrior spoke of?"
Before w.a.n.g Chong could say anything more, an elderly and energetic voice rang out in his ear. As w.a.n.g Chong looked in the direction of the voice, he saw that a group of elders dressed in simple robes were standing across from Li Siye, their expressions stern and their heads held high.
Each of these elders was over the age of forty, and some them were already graying, with heads of silver, at or above the age of seventy.
But even so, none of these elders had the demeanor of an old man.
w.a.n.g Chong could sense vast and dreadful auras of power from them, not something any ordinary elder would have.
For Huang Botian to be able to control stone and transform into a thirty-meter-tall Stone General was formidable enough in w.a.n.g Chong"s view. But in comparison, these elders were clearly on another level.
The auras exuded by some of the elders made even w.a.n.g Chong feel pressured.
What a powerful cultivation! Imperial Martial realm… at the lowest, Imperial Martial realm! w.a.n.g Chong quietly said to himself.
Above the True Martial realm was the Profound Martial realm, and above the Profound Martial realm was the Imperial Martial realm, of which w.a.n.g Chong was currently an expert. But these elders standing across from Li Siye were at the Imperial Martial realm or above.
A few of these elders exuded an energy that shocked even w.a.n.g Chong. This was not the strength of the Imperial Martial realm, but the Saint Martial realm!
This nameless valley in the Great Tang"s southwest was actually hiding this kind of strength! If he had not seen it with his own eyes, w.a.n.g Chong wouldn"t have dared to believe it.
Two Saint Martial realm, seven Imperial Martial realm… This is Wushang Village"s strength from before the calamity. It truly is powerful! And this is probably only the tip of the iceberg!
w.a.n.g Chong"s eyes shone brightly as countless thoughts flitted through his mind.
Even he had to mentally sigh at such a sight.
w.a.n.g Chong had never had a chance to experience the strength of Wushang Village as it was before the calamity. This had been his greatest regret as commander of the Wushang Cavalry. However, the more regret he felt, the more w.a.n.g Chong became set on a single idea. No matter what, he had to protect Wushang Village and prevent the tragedy of the otherworldly invasion from repeating itself here.
This powerful strength had better places where it could be used, an even larger stage. It was not meant to die here without any reinforcements. As this thought flashed through w.a.n.g Chong"s mind, a familiar voice rang out.
【Impromptu Mission: "Grand Marshal"s Summons"!】
【Every Grand Marshal requires soldiers, just like how soldiers require a leader! This is the Grand Marshal"s summons! Within three days, the unyielding Wushang must be thoroughly enlisted and the first batch of Wushang Cavalry recruited. For completion of this task, user will be rewarded 400 points of Destiny Energy.】
【If the mission fails, user will gain the hostility of the Wushang and lose this chance to recruit the Wushang. Moreover, the conflict between user"s subordinate officer and the Wushang has caused animosity with the Wushang. Due to this, failure will mean forever losing any chance to gain the loyalty of the Wushang!】
……
When he heard the voice of the Stone of Destiny, w.a.n.g Chong instantly paled.
w.a.n.g Chong had not expected to hear the Stone of Destiny"s voice here. From the information the stone had divulged, this operation to recruit the Wushang had suddenly become of a one-time nature, and he only had three days.
It must have been because I sent Li Siye and they fell into conflict, causing the Wushang Chief and the elders to feel hostility toward me, resulting in all this.
w.a.n.g Chong"s mind was currently in turmoil.
The Stone of Destiny had never given missions without reason, and during the war of the southwest, w.a.n.g Chong had gradually begun to realize that rather than giving missions, the Stone of Destiny was using the only method it could to give him well-intentioned warnings.
There was no doubt that the Wushang recruitment mission had encountered an unforeseen mishap.
This is a problem.
w.a.n.g Chong"s heart slightly sank, but he showed none of his trouble on his face. However, the more difficult the mission, the more determined w.a.n.g Chong was. No matter what, he had to subdue the Wushang.
"Correct, this one is precisely the person!"
w.a.n.g Chong raised his head to look at the elders, his expression composed and fearless.
Buzz!
w.a.n.g Chong"s words immediately caused the mood of the plaza to change. The Wushang elders began to look at each other and frown, as if wondering how they would deal with this th.o.r.n.y problem.
Wushang Village was very remote, the mountains surrounding it cutting it off from the world. Not even bandits dared to venture into this place, much less others. But no matter how ignorant and isolated the Wushang were, even they knew that no one within the borders of the land was not the sovereign"s subject.
Anyone who lived on the lands of the Central Plains was restricted by the secular authority of the Emperor. Put simply, the Wushang also had to obey the mobilization orders of the Imperial Court.
When they had stolen the token, they had already noticed the words "Young Marquis", but none of had ever expected this esteemed and lofty marquis to personally appear before them.
For all their boldness and ferocity, even the Wushang knew that this young man of seventeen or eighteen could not be touched.
Now that the matter involved imperial authority, it had become extremely troublesome.