Firmament Sword

”Five thousand men... That’s quite a lot!” Xu Luo raised an eyebrow slightly. He looked at everyone and said, ”Looks like we’re in for a tough fight!”

Huangfu Chongzhi nodded grimly. ”In that case,” he said in a low voice, ”we need to prepare ourselves. In case...”

Just then, Sui Yan spoke up softly from the side. ”There is no ’in case.’ Unless they have an expert at the Sword Venerable level, forget five thousand... Even if there were ten thousand, I could keep them all in that forest forever!”

”How do you know they don’t have a Sword Venerable Realm expert?” Little Fatty chimed in. ”What if they really do have a Sword Venerable?”

Sui Yan replied coolly, ”What I mean is, out of their entire army, only a Sword Venerable would be able to walk away alive.”

Xu Luo, Xu Jie, and the others all stared at Sui Yan in surprise. They all acknowledged that Sui Yan’s mastery of Mechanical Skill was incredible and had witnessed its power firsthand. But that had been with the advantage of favorable terrain; Xu Luo’s fiefdom had no such treacherous valleys or cliffs.

Sui Yan glanced at them. ”You’ll see when the time comes,” he said.

”Alright, I trust Fifth Brother’s abilities.” Huangfu Chongzhi couldn’t press the matter further. As sworn brothers, they all knew Sui Yan’s personality. He wasn’t one to make empty boasts.

Still, this was no child’s play. While the fiefdom didn’t have many elderly, women, or children yet, it was their foundation. They trusted Sui Yan, but that didn’t mean they would skimp on the necessary deployments and arrangements.

Time trickled by in tense anticipation.

A steady stream of intelligence reports about the enemy reached Xu Luo.

”Ten miles out!”

”Seven miles out!”

”Three miles out... Huh? That group... they’re making camp! They’ve stopped advancing!”

”Our Reconnoitre and their Reconnoitre have made contact...”

”We lost one man, and so did they!”

Xu Luo and the others grew serious. The men in their Reconnoitre unit were all veteran soldiers that Tang Yong and Li Yu had recruited. They were not only highly experienced but also powerful, with most being eighth or ninth-tier Sword Masters.

Among common soldiers, they were considered the best of the best.

For them to suffer a casualty while holding the terrain advantage was a clear sign of one thing: the approaching army... was incredibly strong!

”We have a handle on their situation now, which means... they’re bound to have gathered some intel on us as well.” Xu Luo looked at Sui Yan. ”Their Reconnoitre forces are constantly trying to infiltrate. What about your mechanisms?”

”Don’t worry, Third Brother. They won’t be discovered!” Sui Yan said, full of confidence.

”Good.” Xu Luo nodded. ”Have you gotten any information on their commanding general?”

Li Yu nodded slightly. ”According to reports from our Reconnoitre, their commander is supposedly the most outstanding young general in the Da Han Empire. His name is Wan Tong. As for this Wan Tong...”

Li Yu produced several documents. He had gathered nearly every piece of public information available on the man.

After learning about Wan Tong, Xu Luo and the others all grew solemn.

”A Tier Two Sword Venerable!”

”From a sect background!”

All of these facts pointed to the immense power of this young general from the Da Han Empire.

An extraordinary background, formidable power, and the ability to take a troop of spoiled, cast-off nobles and whip them into an elite fighting force in just a few years.

That... was not something just anyone could accomplish.

”Looks like this could be tricky!” A spark of excitement flashed in Xu Jie’s eyes. ”A Tier Two Sword Venerable... I’d love to test my skills against an expert of that level!”

”That’s... something we should avoid.” Huangfu Chongzhi said gravely. ”Our cultivation realms are far too inferior to his!”

Xu Luo then added softly, ”I’m thinking about that report from our Reconnoitre. It mentioned a boy at Wan Tong’s side, someone who didn’t look like a soldier. To bring a boy on a military campaign... what could his identity be?”

”Could he be... a disciple from Wan Tong’s sect?” Huangfu Chongzhi said grimly. ”If he really is a sect disciple, we absolutely cannot underestimate him. We can’t judge him by his age.”

Little Fatty sounded dismissive. ”He’s just a little brat. How strong can he possibly be?”

”You’ve never dealt with sects, so you don’t know how powerful they can be!” Xu Luo glanced at Little Fatty. ”There are people your age whose power has already reached the Sword Venerable Realm!”

As he spoke, Xu Luo couldn’t help but think of Phoenix. ’All those years in the Imperial Capital, she never once revealed her true strength. Isn’t she exactly that kind of hidden expert? If she hadn’t revealed her aura to protect me back at Merak, even I would have never known how powerful the real Phoenix was!’

”Whatever the case, let’s wait and see!” Xu Luo let out a long breath. ’This is the first real, difficult battle of my life. It would be a lie to say I’m not nervous. But I’m the backbone of this group now. I can’t show even a hint of fear!’

...

A cold smile hung on Wan Tong’s face. If one looked closely, they could see a trace of mockery in his eyes.

”So they’ve discovered us?” Wan Tong asked coolly.

”Yes, General. We were spotted when we were still about twenty miles from the target!” a subordinate answered from the side.

”Haha, Senior Brother, you think those guys are packing their bags and getting ready to run away right now?” the boy chimed in excitedly. ”Or maybe they’re just so scared their faces have gone pale and they’re about to piss themselves?”

”HAHAHAHA!” A group of nearby soldiers overheard and burst out laughing.

”Since that Xu Luo managed to make a name for himself on the Southern battlefront, he probably isn’t a pushover. Don’t underestimate him,” Wan Tong said, then chuckled. ”But Great Yan... Heh.”

Wan Tong didn’t elaborate, but the disdain in his tone was audible to anyone.

The boy, however, picked up the thread. ”Those Southerners from Great Yan are definitely a bunch of weaklings! They’re nothing compared to the warriors of our Da Han!”

”Don’t get too arrogant,” Wan Tong said with a smile. Then his tone hardened. ”One of our Reconnoitre men actually died. Go. Immediately dispatch a hundred men into that forest ahead. I want you to conduct a thorough search! If you encounter their Reconnoitre and take any more casualties, don’t bother coming back!”

”Yes, sir!” A hundred elite Reconnoitre soldiers were immediately dispatched, charging toward the dense forest ahead.

”Senior Brother, is all this really necessary?” The boy was itching for a bloody battle, eager to unleash his immense power and crush the enemy to dust. He was somewhat disdainful of Wan Tong’s cautious actions, which contradicted his condescending words.

”Junior Brother, you call me Senior Brother and show me such respect. The Sect Leader has also treated me well, so I must be responsible for you.” Wan Tong glanced at the boy and said earnestly, ”You are destined to become a great man one day. You must never take anything too lightly...”

As he spoke, Wan Tong flicked a large black ant that had crawled onto him. ”You see,” he continued, ”even a tiny ant like this, if you don’t pay attention to it, can bite you and cause pain. And if that ant happens to be poisonous... you could be poisoned. You might even... die!”

It had to be said, Wan Tong was truly putting his all into guiding this junior brother who was destined for greatness.

The boy raised an eyebrow, his arrogant air diminishing slightly. He said thoughtfully, ”Senior Brother, do you mean that one can show contempt for the enemy on the surface, but must inwardly maintain the mindset of a lion using its full strength even to hunt a rabbit?”

Wan Tong smiled and nodded. ”Precisely!”

”Then why did you send so many men into the forest, Senior Brother? What are you looking for? An enemy ambush?” the boy asked again.

Wan Tong shook his head. ”Junior Brother, you may not have heard, but that group accomplished a great deal on the Southern battlefront. While some of it was admittedly luck, some... was due to their own abilities. Among Xu Luo and his four sworn brothers, the youngest is named Sui Yan. He has never been famous and is very young, perhaps... about your age, Junior Brother.”

The boy blinked. ”Is he as powerful as me?”

Wan Tong chuckled and shook his head. ”In this world, is there any other boy as powerful as you?”

The boy broke into a happy grin.

Wan Tong continued, ”However, while Sui Yan may not be powerful in combat, he has another formidable talent: Mechanical Skill!”

”Mechanical Skill? That stuff... what’s it good for besides making toys to amuse children?” The boy’s eyes widened in surprise.

Wan Tong gave a wry smile. ”Of course. True Mechanical Skill is extremely powerful. It’s not like an enemy who is standing right there, strong or weak, for you to see and judge. Mechanical Skill... is something you can’t see or touch. It’s impossible to guard against!”

The boy nodded. Although his expression remained somewhat skeptical, he had taken Wan Tong’s words to heart.

This was precisely why Wan Tong was willing to put so much effort into teaching the boy from his experience.

The boy was arrogant, high-born, and incredibly powerful, but at his core, he was still quite naive. His greatest strength was his ability to actually listen to others.

Of course, those ”others”... were a very select few.

And Wan Tong... just so happened to be one of them.

”Senior Brother, will the men you sent out be able to find those mechanisms?” the boy asked.

Wan Tong narrowed his eyes, gazing at the dense jungle that was now close at hand. ”I don’t know,” he said softly.