The Magus Era

They didn’t approach the headquarters, neither did they make any noise. They were only silently watching.

The ones close to Ji Hao seemed to be worrying. Yi Di demanded a ridiculously large number of high-quality spell symbols arrow; what he did was no better than looting a burning house. Giving each of his warrior fifty-thousand high-quality spell symbol arrows? This was totally unreasonable. He disregarded the overall situation; he did this for nothing but making difficulty for Ji Hao on purpose.

With the power of the humankind, regular arrows made with whatever materials could be provided without limitations, but spell symbol arrows were different. Making spell symbol arrows not only required large quant.i.ties of top-grade materials, it also required large numbers of skillful craftsmen and a lot of time.

If Ji Hao failed to provide all those arrows he promised, the reputation of human leaders.h.i.+p would be harmed severely. As a Marquis who made a false promise, no one would follow any order of his ever.

The ones who weren’t so close to Ji Hao were simply curious. They wondered if Ji Hao could truly provide so many spell symbol arrows. They a.s.sumed that Ji Hao was only bragging. How could spell symbols be made so easily? Not to mention making so many to fulfill Yi Di’s demand within three short days.

But what if Ji Hao did keep his promise?

"I truly want to see Yi Di’s face!" A few princes from large clans gathered together, whispering to each other. They were smiling with expectation; they seemed to even be gloating over the misery that Yi Di might suffer.

"If Earl Yao…Ah, if Marquis Yao can truly provide so many spell symbol arrows…" Abruptly, a prince said in a low voice, "Then, we need to reevaluate the powers of Marquis Yao and Minister Si Wen Ming, and…Emperor Shun… all of them!"

The group of princes raised their heads and looked at the headquarters with sparkling eyes.

If Ji Hao could truly provide those arrows in the astronomical number that Yi Di extorted from him, Ji Hao, or Si Wen Ming as his supporter, or even Emperor Shun, as Si Wen Ming’s supporter, one of them could be concluded to be possessing an unimaginably great power, that ordinary people might not even be able to imagine.

Such a great power could affect many essential factors; for example, who would become the next human emperor. Even the main growing trend of the entire humankind would be affected as well. As top-grade elites raised by super-grade human clans and families, these people must think about the possible influences that might be changed by this great power, in their own families and clans.

A small number of them saw Ji Hao as an enemy. These people stood in the darkest corners with long faces. They avoided those torches around the headquarters and hid in darkness, quietly waiting for Ji Hao to be embarra.s.sed and humiliated.

"Emperor Shun can’t possibly find enough spell symbol arrows, not even by emptying all warehouses in Pu Ban City." In the darkness, someone said with a cold and low voice, "Ji Hao bragged too hard. I’d like to see how will he wrap it up this time."

"As the chief commander, he actually talked like that. Can this be counted as shaking the morale of the army?" said another cold voice with sarcasm, "This poor kid, he has been lucky these years. He built some small contributions, then he began having too high an opinion of himself. The morale of the army is shaken by him. I think Minister Hao Tao should behead him."

"Ji Hao acts so recklessly. It’s pretty obvious that Minister Si Wen Ming has chosen the wrong person. Is it truly right for Minister Si Wen Ming to be in charge of the flood-control mission?" Someone in the darkness changed the topic. By talking about the bet made by Ji Hao and Yi Di, this person conveniently mentioned Si Wen Ming.

Many people hadn’t given up on the flood-control mission, and had still been thinking about it, about the great, marvelous credit which would be earned another the mission was accomplished. They were also thinking about the fact that great credit would push its owner smoothly onto the throne.

These people would love to witness anything that could be bad for Si Wen Ming, through frustrating Ji Hao. It would be even better if Emperor Shun could be dragged down from that throne, and if the one they chose to support could ascend to the throne…

As long as they had an opportunity, these people would be happy to do those things to Ji Hao, Si Wen Ming and emperor Shun; they would be willing join hands and do it together.

As for the future of the human-kind, the wellbeing of all human beings…Did the lives of those lowly beings have anything to do with them? Those lowly beings were already soaked in the flood for so long; they could live like this for three to five more years, without dying!

So many human beings existed in the world anyway, so many lowly beings. It was actually good for some of them to die, because after they died, territories would be empty, and those empty territories could be given to their children, right?

Ordered footsteps could be heard from a distance. Following them, Yi Di proudly walked over with his head held high. A s.h.i.+ning golden feather armor was worn by Yi Di.

A golden pair of wings slowly spread behind Yi Di’s body. The wingspan was over fifteen-meters wide. Strong gusts of wind blew out from Yi Di’s wings, rustling the surrounding tents.

Two characters were written on this pair of wings: ‘thunder’ on the left and ‘lightning’ on the right. Judging from the sense of power released from these wings, this pair was clearly a peak-level Divine-Magus-grade magic treasure. The sense of power from these wings was prehistorical; apparently, this was an inherited magic treasure pa.s.sed down from Yi Di’s ancestors.

A whole ten-thousand archers walked behind Yi Di in perfect lines, with each line having ten archers. They were wearing neat feather armors, with their chins raised slightly, smiling politely and proudly. With big steps, this troop walked straight to the square before the headquarters.

Those archers quickly lined up on the square into a hundred square formations, each formation having a hundred archers.

Yi Di rested his hands on his hips and took a long gasp. Suddenly, he burst with a resonant howl that sounded like a scream of an enormous roc bird. "Lord Ji Hao, Marquis Yao, where are those arrows you promised us? You are sending us to the city of the non-humankind, but without spell symbols arrows, you will be sending us to die, won’t you?"

While chuckling, Yi Di shouted loudly, "You can’t fool us! You’re the chief commander of this army! If you refuse to keep the promise you made in three days ago, don’t blame us for asking Minister Hao Tao to bring justice back to us!"

Ji Hao sat in the headquarter. Hearing Yi Di’s shouts, he leaped up, lifted the door curtain, and walked out.

Immediately, from under the lights and the darkness, countless gazed landed on Ji Hao.

Not far away, Man Man and Shaosi stood side by side, both calling Ji Hao’s name with low voices.

Ji Hao glanced at them and calmly nodded, then waved his hand. A clear stream of light was released immediately, from within which, countless brightly sparkling spell symbol arrows swished out, hovering above Ji Hao’s head while causing shrill noises.

Like tidewater, those arrows lined orderly in the air, swiftly hovering in the air and forming an enormous swirl.

Three types of spell symbol arrow shone brightly with different colored light, illuminating the entire city.

Yi Di was stunned. He was frozen in shock, and couldn’t even move.

Ji Hao smilingly looked at Yi Di and slowly walked to him. He gently patted his shoulder and said, "Yi Di, the important mission is a.s.signed to you! I want you to find out every single move of the non-humankind, including what the twelve emperors eat and drink daily, and what they say and do every day. You’re going to find out everything!"

Patting on Yi Di’s neck, Ji Hao continued coldly, "If you are unable to fulfill the mission, according to the military law, you will be executed!"