Martial Cultivator

A Nepenthe martial artist personally taking action, those daoists who had survived that day by chance, yet gathered here to scheme for the Dragonblood Stones, were quickly wiped out.

Chen Wannian walked out of the forest. The person at the front of the convoy lightly pressed his horse’s belly and came over. After arriving here, he was just about to swing down from his horse to salute this Commander of the Left Guard, but Chen Wannian waved his hand, indicating he need not care about these cumbersome formalities, and instead smiled and said, “Sending this batch of Dragonblood Stones to the Divine Capital sooner is what matters.”

The man seated high on horseback was originally one of the two deputy commanders of the Left Guard, named Chang Zheng. His cultivation realm was not low - he was a Great Beyond martial artist. In previous years he had long held the position of garrison commander in Xinliu Prefecture. This time, since the matter occurred in Xinliu Prefecture, this Chang Zheng was also brought to take part in it.

Since the Commander did not care about such details, Chang Zheng kept it brief, “Commander, that lotus-crown daoist is named Zhao Ying. He has long been responsible for Purple Leaf Grotto’s business below the mountain. When the Lord Warden Commander went up the mountain this time, he was not there and thus escaped disaster. Probably because he heard that the imperial court intended to settle old accounts - he had several incidents of raping commoner women - so he decided to attack us, seize the Dragonblood Stones, and then use them as a token of allegiance before going elsewhere.” ”The many cultivators he contacted this time have all been arrested, but there are still several others. According to their statements, they did not participate in this operation, but they are all within Xinliu Prefecture. The nearest one is in Yuting Commandery ahead, she opened an inn there. She appears to be an ordinary innkeeper, but in reality she has long been gathering information on the court’s movements for Purple Leaf Grotto.”

”How are these people’s characters? Have they ever brought harm to a place?”

If they had not committed evil, that would be fine. But if they had done evil, then he would simply kill them with one punch.

Chang Zheng nodded. “Several of them have bullied and humiliated the people of Great Liang. Only that innkeeper, for the moment there is no evidence of that.”

Chen Wannian thought for a moment, then said calmly, “This official will go find them one by one. Those who should be killed will be killed.”

......

......

In the early morning, Chen Chao left the inn with He Liang. When leaving the inn, Chen Chao glanced at the innkeeper. The latter also met his gaze, though the emotions in her eyes were complicated.

Chen Chao laughed it off.

After walking out of the inn, He Liang suddenly asked, “Master, that innkeeper is actually a cultivator too, right?”

Hearing this, Chen Chao was instead a little surprised. He Liang’s cultivation was not high; logically speaking, he should not have been able to see through something like this.

“She’s one with a fairly high realm. Peak Bitter Sea, only one step away from stepping into the Great Beyond Realm. In a small sect she could be an elder; in a large sect she would at least be a valued disciple.”

Chen Chao glanced back at the inn, then headed toward the city gate on his own.

He Liang followed behind and asked quietly, “Master, that innkeeper definitely isn’t just running an inn, right?”

Chen Chao nodded. “When traveling outside, there are some matters you can manage and some you don’t need to manage. Everyone has their own way of living. Not to mention a Peak Bitter Sea cultivator running an inn, even if it were a cultivator at the end of Nepenthe running an inn, as long as he hasn’t done anything evil, there’s no need to interfere.”

Chen Chao smiled and said, “When traveling outside, two things are very hard to do well. One is not meddling in other people’s affairs. The other is handling that meddling well when you do.”

He Liang scratched his head and did not speak, only feeling that his master had once again started saying things he could not understand.

Chen Chao then told him about the amusing matter the innkeeper had mentioned the previous night. After He Liang listened, he thought for a moment and said, “That Commandery Governor only wants an heir. Taking a concubine shouldn’t be much of a problem, right?”

Chen Chao shook his head. “You can think that way. But if you were Master, you’d probably already be going to his door right now to reason with them. Do you want to persuade that Commandery Governor’s wife to be more magnanimous?”

He Liang nodded, thinking that it was indeed his own master. Just like that, he already knew what he himself was thinking.

“Just persuade only, right? It’s not a big problem. If that Commandery Governor’s wife isn’t willing to listen, then forget it.”

“But if you were me, then you’d be the Great Liang Dynasty’s Lord Warden Commander. Once you speak, even if you say you’re just persuading them, others might not think it’s just persuasion. In their hearts they’ll probably think that if even a dignified Lord Warden Commander is interfering in this matter, then it must be serious. They may think like that, and in the end perhaps, because of your status as Lord Warden Commander, they’ll have no choice but to step back and compromise. But that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t feel wronged. After all, her own husband would be shared with another woman. But it’s also the sort of thing where there’s no real solution.”

“Master, isn’t it normal for common people to marry and take concubines?”

“The laws of Great Liang don’t say there’s a problem with it. But whether to marry or to take a concubine is ultimately their family matter. Even if we become high-ranking officials, we shouldn’t forcibly interfere.”

“Some things, once you become an official, you must think more about whether they should be done. Some words, you should also think about whether they should be said. Being cautious in speech and conduct, and not putting others in a difficult position, are all forms of learning. You’ll have to learn slowly.”

Chen Chao looked at He Liang, his gaze gentle. “Try to stand in other people’s positions and think about things.”

He Liang thought for a moment, as if he had figured something out. His eyes lit up and he chuckled. “Master, I understand.”

Chen Chao smiled in relief.

It was also his first time being someone’s master. Many things he was still figuring it out. He did not hope for He Liang to achieve any great success; he only hoped that when this little fellow grew up in the future and mentioned this master of his, he would still say something like: my master wasn’t bad.

That would be enough.

As for anything else, Chen Chao did not think much about it.

“Master, coming out with you this time, I really understood quite a few more principles. It would be great if I could go out with you a few more times.”

After leaving the commandery city, He Liang suddenly said this.

Chen Chao smiled. “This time I’ve taught you the principles. Next time you’ll have to go out and practice them yourself. Besides, many people in this world are like this, walking along, and eventually no one is accompanying them anymore. Alone by yourself, you must be able to endure loneliness.”

While speaking, Chen Chao glanced to the north, his expression calm. This time, after returning to the Divine Capital, he planned to go into seclusion once, to attempt to break through to the mysterious Fuyun Realm.

After he exited seclusion this time, he would probably have to head north.

A truly large-scale war would likely begin around that time.

Chen Chao rubbed his forehead. He didn’t know how many more days he could still be a master.

A bit worrying.

So this time when going out, he spoke so many principles to He Liang. In truth, some of it was a bit like forcing the seedlings to grow, but if he did not do it this way, who knew whether there would still be a chance in the future.

“Little He, oh Little He, remember this, no matter what happens in the future, you must protect your little junior sister.”

“I know, Master. I also treat Little Junior Sister as a younger sister.”

“Oh? Why didn’t you treat Little Junior Sister as your future wife?”

“Master, Little Junior Sister is still so young. If I thought of her that way, wouldn’t that make me a beast?”

“Nice one, Little He, are you beating around the bush here to scold your Senior Brother?”

“No, Master. I respect Senior Brother very much.”

Chen Chao smiled, narrowing his eyes slightly. “Don’t learn from him, and don’t learn from that martial uncle of yours either. I reckon by now there’s already a saying in the world that a person shouldn’t be too much like Yu Xiyi.”

He Liang scratched his head and said somewhat embarrassedly, “Master, I haven’t heard that one, but I have heard one: a person shouldn’t be too much like Chen Chao.”

Chen Chao slapped his forehead, his face full of righteous indignation. “It must be someone using my name to swagger around and swindle people everywhere. Damn it, isn’t that ruining your master’s reputation? If you run into them in the future, don’t say anything else, just remember to teach those people a lesson. They’re truly lawless!”

......

......

At the Northern Frontier Great Wall, although spring had already begun, every year at this time there would still be fierce wind and snow, and everyone had already grown used to it.

But today on the city wall, although the frontier army soldiers rubbed their hands from the cold, they still looked expectantly toward one side of the wall.

Once a month, letters from home were delivered from their respective households to the city wall of the Northern Frontier.

Fighting outside for the country, yet they always wanted to know what had happened at home - whether their children had grown taller, whether they had been praised by the teacher at the school. These were all things they very much wanted to know.

This was something to look forward to.

With something to look forward to, no matter how hard life was, it could still be endured.

Different from the anticipation of the soldiers on the city wall, inside that General’s Office there was now a deathly silence.

On the sand table in the middle, the deployments of both the enemy and their own forces were marked in detail; whether there were places where heavy troops were stationed, and it was almost updated once every day.

For this reason, the scouts of the frontier army had actually suffered very heavy casualties.

Because of this, within the frontier army there had long been an unspoken saying: if you joined the army and became a scout, you could start counting the days you had left to live.

But even so, this had to be done.

If they did not investigate the demon race this frequently, and the demon race made some move without their side knowing, that would be a huge problem.

It might even cause them to be utterly defeated when the two sides clashed.

Ning Ping walked back and forth in front of the sand table, a trace of fatigue on his face, and he had not spoken the entire time.

Gao Xuan raised his head and glanced at Ning Ping, then slowly said in a low voice, “That wolf clan cavalry unit moving south, I don’t know whether it’s a probe, but it looks like they’re coming in great force. If we ignore it, they’ll probably end up permanently stationed in the northern desert.”

Ning Ping nodded and said softly, “Scouts have been sent out several times, but none have discovered other demon race armies beside that cavalry unit. It seems they truly advanced deep alone. But the more it seems like this, the harder it is for this general to decide.”

When the scouts could not discover anything, the more certain the information seemed, the more it made people feel worried.

After all, in the last great war the demon race had already shown that they were no longer the same as before. The reckless, headlong style of fighting was no longer how the demon race operated now.

Ning Ping slapped the sand table, somewhat angry. “If we truly ignore it, this wolf clan cavalry unit will become a grave threat to us later!”

Hearing this, Li Changling suddenly stood up and said in a muffled voice, “Give this general five thousand cavalry. This general will go and eliminate them. If there is an ambush, then only I, Li Changling, will die!”

Ning Ping said displeasedly, “What nonsense are you talking about.”

Li Changling had just opened his mouth to continue requesting battle when a scout had already run into the General’s Office. “Reporting to Great General, General Xie is already less than thirty miles away from that wolf clan cavalry unit…”

Ning Ping was startled. He immediately looked toward the sand table, and his expression became somewhat complicated.