Alchemy Master

Chapter 356, You Fool

Translator: Silavin

“Xia Zelei, that bastard isn’t watching his Wife anymore!? Why has he come out again!?”

“Who knows!?”

Before Ancient Mountain Pass, at a tent in the center of the million-strong army, Yi Qunlin and Qian Wengang’s expressions were extremely ugly.

That man’s reputation was like a shadow always looming over them. Even after several decades had passed, they had not forgotten this man, who had defeated them countless times.

To be honest, Xia Zelei had cast too large a psychological shadow over them. If not for the million troops here, they might have already fled.

“Are we still attacking?” Yi Qunlin and Qian Wengang exchanged glances, both showing signs of wavering.

Perhaps only the Carefree Prince Xia Zelei could intimidate Grand Marshals of a million-strong army with just his name.

“He came alone, and in Ancient Mountain Pass, there are only fifty thousand exhausted soldiers. If we attack with full force, we might be able to break through Ancient Mountain Pass and defeat him for once!” After a brief silence, Yi Qunlin gritted his teeth and harshly said.

Though battle-hardened and wary of the Carefree Prince, he still had a clear grasp of the battlefield situation.

“A full-force attack would still be hard.” Qian Wengang frowned. He knew that if they attacked now with no regard for cost, they could certainly break Ancient Mountain Pass, but the losses would be devastating…

“Then what do you suggest? Escape with our tails between our legs? If word got out, would we have any place to stand in our respective Grand Empire?”

Yi Qunlin’s expression was very ugly. Ancient Mountain Pass gave them the feeling of trying to grip onto a durian. There was no way to get a proper grip.

“Stall!” After pondering briefly, Qian Wengang slowly uttered one word.

“The Li Family has already dispersed the Great Prosperity Grand Empire’s army. To gather them all would take at least half a month. We only need to wait for three more days, and Ancient Mountain Pass will mentally collapse without a fight, defeated without a battle!”

When Qian Wengang finished speaking, Yi Qunlin’s eyes lit up.

Indeed, facing a million troops at their gates, even with the Carefree Prince here, Ancient Mountain Pass’s soldiers would be under immense mental strain. After three more days, they probably would not even need to move a single soldier. The defenders would surrender!

Meanwhile, outside Ancient Mountain Pass.

After the Carefree Prince and Li Yuanba entered, Ancient Mountain Pass’s gates slowly closed.

“Greetings, Carefree Prince!” Fifty thousand soldiers knelt on one knee, paying great respect to Xia Zelei.

“Form groups of five, take turns resting, stay alert for sneak attacks.”

Xia Zelei nodded and instructed.

For the past two days, no one had dared to sleep or even take a short rest. Now, with the Carefree Prince here, they finally felt some relief.

Then, after a brief commotion, half of the fifty thousand soldiers fell into deep sleep.

Looking at the exhausted soldiers, the Carefree Prince also quietly sighed.

Now, beside the Carefree Prince, Li Yuanba stood holding his giant hammer, showing no signs of fatigue. From time to time, admiring glances would come from soldiers, though no one dared to say anything.

Single-handedly defending Ancient Mountain Pass for an entire day. This unprecedented feat earned him the right to stand beside the Carefree Prince.

“Li Yuanba, where are you from?” Xia Zelei asked Li Yuanba beside him. Such a figure surpassed even himself in his youth. He was naturally curious which Family had produced Li Yuanba.

“The Heavenly Unicorn Dynasty, a small place by the North.” Li Yuanba answered casually. In the Great Prosperity Grand Empire, there were countless small countries like the Heavenly Unicorn Dynasty.

“Heavenly Unicorn Dynasty?” Hearing these words, Xia Zelei felt a strange familiarity. It was as if he had heard of it somewhere, but could not quite remember where.

…

In Twilight City.

The simultaneous attack from the Great Ease Grand Empire and Thousand Silk Grand Empire, along with the Li Family’s sudden disappearance, caused massive upheaval.

When news of the Grand Marshal’s betrayal spread, every Noble was fearful for themselves.

The stable structure became extremely turbulent at this time. Some Nobles who originally supported the Carefree Prince and Seventh Princess now became uncertain in their stance.

Everyone knew the Carefree Prince had rushed to the border, but they also knew there was a million-strong army invading at the border. If something happened to the Carefree Prince and they still supported the Seventh Princess, there would be no good outcome for them.

Facing all this, Xia Zilin had no way to handle it, She could only watch and wait, placing her hopes on the Carefree Prince.

In this situation, perhaps only Alchemy Central remained stable. Changes of rules and even Grand Empires were too common on this continent. In these turbulent times, only the gathering place of Alchemy Masters, Alchemy Central, had never been offended by anyone from ancient times until now.

After all, whichever Family became the Royal Family, would they not strive to maintain good relations with Alchemy Central? No one would be foolish enough to offend a Force that, while lacking strong martial might, had influence far beyond imagination.

Qin Yichen continued his normal daily cultivation. When he had time, still crafted Black Cloud Weapons and Armour. In secret, he had also quietly recruited two Martial Kings and sent them back to Central Province City.

With the Li Family’s disappearance, his greatest concern was for his Family, Ye Liangchen and Zhao Ritian in the Soaring Joy Chamber of Commerce in Central Province City.

Although there were the Group Leaders of the Storm Mercenary Group and Dancing Flames Mercenary Group, who were also Martial Kings, guarding them, if the Li Family was determined to deal with him at all costs, these two Martial Kings would not be able to protect them for long.

…

As the Grand Empire’s situation became turbulent and the border was in crisis, the Carefree Prince’s army finally slowly approached Ancient Mountain Pass.

“Li Yuanba, do you know why they are neither attacking nor retreating?”

Atop the fortress, Xia Zelei asked Li Yuanba. Over these couple days, he had begun treating him as someone to groom for the position of General.

However, he was disappointed that Li Yuanba held no interest in the art of commanding troops. Moreover, in Li Yuanba’s gaze toward himself, there was the overt desire to fight, as if always wanting to challenge him. It made him both amused and exasperated.

“Don’t know.” Sure enough, unsurprising to Xia Zelei, Li Yuanba casually uttered two words, showing not the least bit of interest.

“They want to exhaust our Ancient Mountain Pass soldiers until we collapse without needing to attack.” Xia Zelei shook his head slightly and gravely said.

Although his arrival had given the Ancient Mountain Pass soldiers a great deal of encouragement, facing a million-strong army, that mental pressure was still too heavy. In these two days, many soldiers were already showing signs of collapse.

“Hmph, wanting to pass through Ancient Mountain Pass, they’ll have to ask my hammer if it agrees.” Li Yuanba patted the giant hammer before him, saying carelessly.

“You fool…”

Xia Zelei shook his head and got straight to the point. “My army should reach Ancient Mountain Pass today. However, with just over a hundred thousand men, it will be difficult to resist their million troops.”