Firmament Sword

”What? You don’t know? Senior Brother, you can’t be kidding me!” the youth said, looking at Wan Tong in shock.

Wan Tong chuckled. ”Perhaps... there’s nothing in this forest at all. The news of our surprise attack is a top-level secret, even within the Da Han Empire’s Military Department. Not just anyone could learn of it. Besides, judging from their reaction, I believe they... truly didn’t know about this beforehand!”

”Then why were you being so cautious? But you’re right, Senior Brother. It pays to be careful. When I take over the sect and become Sect Leader one day, I’ll need to be just like you, prudent in all my actions...” the youth mused.

Wan Tong shook his head slightly, a glint in his eye. ”Junior Brother, when it’s time to be cautious, you can’t be careless. But when it’s time for a thunderous strike... you must never hesitate!”

As he spoke, Wan Tong vaulted onto his horse. He ignored the half-pitched tents, the rising cooking smoke, and the Soldiers who seemed busy making camp. Drawing the Long Sword at his waist, he roared, ”Form ranks! Prepare to attack!”

The youth stared, utterly dumbfounded. He was completely unprepared. Just a moment ago, they were getting ready to pitch camp, eat dinner, and rest for the night.

How could they be attacking now, in the blink of an eye? The men they had sent out hadn’t even returned yet.

”What... what kind of play is this?” The youth was completely bewildered.

Wan Tong looked at the youth with a faint smile. ”It’s called striking when they least expect it!”

The Soldiers of the Noble Legion, however, showed no surprise, not even a hint of panic. At Wan Tong’s command, the men, who had just been busy with their own tasks, armed and assembled themselves into formation in an incredibly short amount of time.

Wan Tong pointed his sword toward the dense forest. ”Beyond this forest, just ten li away, we will find the second son of the Grand General of National Guardian! Brothers, charge with me! Capture any one of those five, and a glorious future will be yours!”

The five thousand Soldiers roared in assent.

As Wan Tong leaped from his warhorse and charged toward the jungle on foot, an intense wave of confidence erupted from the five thousand warriors. In that instant, their morale soared to the heavens!

The youth followed beside Wan Tong, staring dazedly at his senior brother. In his heart, he was in complete and utter awe.

In terms of raw power, he was more than a little stronger than his senior brother, but when it came to experience, his senior brother was in a different league entirely!

’I must become like Senior Brother,’ the youth vowed to himself. ’A man who works with his mind, not just his sword!’

This dense forest was filled with groves of towering ancient trees, overgrown with all manner of vines. It wasn’t like a typical forest, where the large trees absorb all the nutrients, leaving the ground mostly bare aside from dead branches and fallen leaves.

In this forest, however, the ground was covered with grass over a foot tall. It showed no signs of being malnourished; on the contrary, it was a lush green and seemed incredibly resilient.

As Wan Tong led his junior brother and the five thousand warriors into the forest, his first instinct told him something was wrong.

There was still no word from the hundred Reconnoitres he had just sent out; it was as if they had vanished into the vast jungle.

This was the very reason that had prompted Wan Tong to launch a direct, thunderous assault!

This was Wan Tong’s true nature!

Making camp earlier had been nothing but a feint, a tactic to deceive the enemy!

Charging straight in... that was Wan Tong’s true objective!

’Traps? What kind of traps could possibly stop five thousand warriors as fierce as tigers and wolves?’

Wan Tong paid lip service to caution for his junior brother’s sake, but in his heart, he didn’t believe it for a second.

”Kill!”

The five thousand warriors of the Noble Legion, unable to wait any longer, let out a deafening war cry.

The junior brother watched this scene, dumbfounded. He felt he was once again learning things he had never even considered before.

They charged five li deep into the forest in one go. Everything was normal; there was nothing out of the ordinary.

Wan Tong, charging at the very front, had a cold smirk playing on his lips. He completely cast aside the faint unease he had felt upon first entering the forest.

’Perhaps those five children from the top noble houses of the Cangqiong Kingdom aren’t as simple as they seem. But so what?’

’Under the crushing weight of absolute power, all plots and insidious schemes will melt away in an instant, like Bingxue under the blazing sun!’

Wan Tong sneered and continued to charge forward at high speed. For the Noble Legion, a distance of ten li was child’s play. They could maintain their charge all the way into Xu Luo’s fiefdom!

”Kill!”

”Kill!”

”Kill!”

The Soldiers of the Noble Legion followed their commander, their blood boiling with battle lust. They were like a pack of wolves, their eyes gleaming with an excited green light as they charged toward a flock of sheep.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH...

Suddenly, a rapid and piercing sound of something slicing through the air echoed through the jungle.

Countless spears, each as thick as a child’s arm, shot down from the towering ancient trees, a veritable deluge upon the excited warriors of the Noble Legion!

In an instant, dozens of men were impaled. Some of the sharpest spears pierced through two or even three men at a time.

The earth-shaking war cries came to a dead stop.

Their boiling battle-fervor was extinguished in an instant, as if doused with a bucket of ice-cold water.

In a single volley, more than fifty warriors of the Noble Legion had died without even knowing what hit them.

The scene stunned everyone!

It also stunned the youth, who a moment ago had been admiring his senior brother with all his heart.

He looked around in a daze, not understanding what had just happened.

Within his perception, there was no trace of any enemy for several hundred meters. Otherwise, with his power, he could have easily located and killed them.

”What happened?” the youth asked, looking at his senior brother in astonishment. ’Could this also be part of his plan?’ he wondered.

Wan Tong’s face turned livid. He raised a hand to halt the column’s advance, then forced a cold smile. ”Is that all they have? This was well within my expectations! Don’t be afraid, everyone! Keep advancing!”

And indeed, the next two li of their march were quiet and uneventful.

But all the warriors of the Noble Legion trod carefully for those two li. The atmosphere... had cooled considerably from its earlier fervor, turning somewhat frigid.

Wan Tong sneered. ”Just a few crude tricks. There are only three li left! Everyone, let’s break through in one final push!”

”Kill!”

”Kill!”

”Kill!”

The battle lust of the Noble Legion’s warriors was kindled once more. They followed Wan Tong, charging straight ahead.

Two li... they were close!

One li... closer still!

The men could even see sunlight filtering through the edge of the forest ahead.

The light of dawn was just ahead!

’Just have to push through!’

And they could capture Xu Luo alive!

They could even go on a rampage within the Cangqiong Kingdom’s borders!

Wreak utter havoc!

This band of Soldiers, composed of young nobles, was inherently fearless. Over the years, Wan Tong had honed them to a razor’s edge.

He had learned to perfectly channel the violent tendencies that came with their pampered, aristocratic backgrounds.

This was a terrifying legion. This... was a legion that would stop at nothing to kill.

’This is my legion!’ Wan Tong’s eyes shone with excitement as he roared, ”Charge!”

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!

A series of deep, muffled rumbles, like thunder, suddenly echoed through the forest.

The ground, which had appeared perfectly normal, suddenly gave way to countless massive pits!

Many warriors, paying no attention to the ground beneath them, were caught completely off guard and fell straight in, letting out bloodcurdling screams.

Each pit was lined with sharpened wooden stakes as thick as a grown man’s arm. Anyone who fell in was instantly impaled. But they wouldn’t die right away, left to utter only desperate, bloodcurdling screams.

RUMBLE!

The tremendous rumbling didn’t stop, but continued in succession, drowning out the screams of the injured warriors from the Noble Legion.

One after another, immensely thick, ancient trees came crashing down!

Rows of massive trunks, each too wide for a man to encircle with his arms, were bound by tough green vines and came smashing down from above... right on top of them!

This series of traps utterly stunned the warriors of the Noble Legion. They didn’t fall into a full-blown panic, however. Though tense, they still managed to maintain their formation and evade the traps.

Wan Tong’s eyes were red with fury. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t scouted the area. Before sending out those hundred Reconnoitres, he had his most trusted subordinates—arguably the most elite Reconnoitres in the entire Da Han Empire—sweep through this area inside and out.

And they had found nothing!

But now... what the hell was going on? Wan Tong felt an urge to go berserk. He roared, ”Ignore all this! Charge... Charge through! Kill every enemy that stands in your way!”

BANG!

With another loud bang, a massive bundle fell from the sky and landed right in the middle of the Noble Legion. The package burst open, releasing a pungent odor, followed by... an eerie green gas that billowed outwards.

”Careful, the gas is poisonous!” a warrior from the Noble Legion managed to shout before collapsing limply to the ground.

”Dammit!” Wan Tong roared through gritted teeth. ”Charge! Just charge through!”

”Senior Brother... this...” The youth was completely dumbstruck. He followed close behind Wan Tong, completely at a loss, a stifling frustration welling up in his chest.

They hadn’t even seen the shadow of a single enemy, yet their side had already suffered such heavy casualties. He found it simply impossible to accept.

But the one who found it most impossible to accept was the commander, Wan Tong. He couldn’t fathom how his supposedly elite Reconnoitres could have failed to spot a single thing out of the ordinary.

But something that would make Wan Tong even more furious was yet to come. There hadn’t been many of those poison-filled bundles, only three or four in total. After the initial warning, the Soldiers all held their breath. But what happened next left him utterly stunned by the enemy’s ruthlessness.