Firmament Sword

Inside the Central Army Tent, the middle-aged man was left alone. He sat there, a weary expression on his face, and sighed deeply. ’My dear brother, oh, my dear brother,’ he murmured, ’why don’t you understand? If I had coveted your throne, the one sitting there ten years ago would have been me, not you! You distrust me so much, and now you’ve done something so utterly depraved. You’re not just targeting me—you’re going to drive the entire Cao Kingdom to ruin!’

This middle-aged man was none other than the Prince of the Cao Kingdom, the biological younger brother of the current Sovereign, Grand General Cao Tianyi!

A man of great ambition and strategy, he had spent years training troops for the kingdom in this impoverished land, yet he was constantly regarded with suspicion by his paranoid royal brother.

As a result, the elite soldiers Cao Tianyi trained could only remain under his direct command.

Supplies from within the kingdom grew increasingly scarce, and in recent years, they had been cut off almost entirely.

All provisions depended on the army’s own self-sufficiency. Previously, the man in black, Jiang Han, had discovered the Nine Profound Celestial Heart and was willing to sacrifice hundreds of men to obtain it. His goal... was to sell the Spirit Medicine to raise funds for the army!

Unfortunately, in the end, he was forced to cough up blood and retreat, all because that powerful and domineering white-haired, white-robed man had roared two words at him.

In the end, it was all for someone else’s benefit—a truly lamentable outcome.

Cao Tianyi slowly rose to his feet and paced inside the tent. With a slight raise of his eyebrows, he mused to himself, ’Qiushuiduan... I haven’t seen him in many years. Back then, Qiushuiduan was the gentleman in white, so elegant and dashing. Spending a thousand gold pieces with a wave of his hand, living for long stretches in the Fengyue Building... how carefree was he?’

’What made his hair suddenly turn white? Was it that Saintess from Merak? I fear she’s probably become the Sect Leader by now.’

’After all these years, could it be that Qiushuiduan still can’t forget her? He’s not unaware that I’m here, nor is he unaware of how poor I am, yet he still insisted on taking the Nine Profound Celestial Heart. He spared my men, which can be considered an act of mercy, but he didn’t offer a single word of explanation...’

’You really are just as you’ve always been—a total block of wood!’

A bitter smile appeared on Cao Tianyi’s face. Then, his eyes flashed with a sharp light as he whispered, ”All these years, you’ve been walking step by step into an abyss. Now you’ve even colluded with outsiders, willing to do whatever it takes to eliminate me. But no matter what, I, Cao Tianyi, will never allow the Cao Kingdom to be destroyed! Brother Huang, if you truly refuse to see the light, then...”

Cao Tianyi sighed, looking up at the sky. He walked out of the tent and shouted in a booming voice, ”Men, get your spirits up and train hard! One day, I will lead you back to the Imperial Capital in glory and splendor!”

”The Grand General is mighty!” From the sea of army tents, a heaven-shaking cheer suddenly erupted: ”Long live the Grand General!”

”Long live the Grand General!”

The sound rumbled, shaking the entire massive valley and echoing endlessly.

The man in black, Jiang Han, who had just taken his medicine and was resting in bed, shot up, his eyes welling with hot tears. He joined in the roar, bellowing as if to vent all his frustrations: ”Long live the Grand General!”

”Long live!”

”Long live!”

”Long live!”

Finally, the furious roars merged into a torrent of sound, sweeping down the valley and along the rushing river with a thunderous crash!

Dozens of li away, several figures lurking on the valley ridge turned pale with fright at the terrifying sound, their legs growing weak.

”It’s over... It’s really over this time. The Grand General... he’s finally been forced to rebel!” one of them said, utterly dismayed. ”His Majesty can’t possibly stand against the Grand General!”

”What do we do? What can we do...?” The others were also panic-stricken and at a loss.

”Why don’t we... just defect to the Grand General!” one person suggested.

”Are you crazy?!” someone immediately objected. ”For all these years, we’ve been monitoring the Grand General’s movements and reporting them to His Majesty. How many times have we betrayed the Grand General? If we go over to him now, isn’t that just asking for death?”

”The Grand General is magnanimous. Why would he lower himself to our level? Besides, we have enough evidence to prove that the Grand General had nothing to do with the massacre of the Cangqiong Kingdom’s village. All the evidence we’ve gathered over the years should be enough to buy our lives!”

”But... what about our families?”

”Families? Do you think that once the Grand General rebels, His Majesty will have any time to worry about the families of nobodies like us?”

”Fine, then. We brothers have seen everything the Grand General has done over the years. The Grand General has never wronged anyone, and he certainly hasn’t wronged this country! We’ve been on the wrong side for so many years. It’s time we woke up!”

”Let’s go! We’ll defect to the Grand General!”

”Let’s go!”

The figures sprinted down the valley, heading wildly toward the vast expanse of army tents.

...

At this time, Xu Luo and his group were just over a hundred li from the massive valley.

Relying on Little Fatty Liu Feng’s powerful sense of smell, combined with Miaomiao’s nocturnal movements, they had already pinpointed the exact location of Cao Tianyi’s military camp.

If their only goal was to complete the mission assigned by Instructor Zhou, then that mission was already successfully finished.

But the doubt that lingered in everyone’s minds prevented the members of the Martial Soul Squad from halting their investigation.

Xu Luo said to the group, ”If General Cao Tianyi didn’t do this, then as soon as we report the location of his camp and a war truly breaks out, first, it will divert a huge amount of the Cangqiong Kingdom’s attention and resources.

”Second, fighting the Cao Army, who know this Endless Forest Sea like the back of their hand, is not something I’m optimistic about. Even if our Cangqiong Kingdom’s army is stronger, we won’t have the advantages of timing or terrain. The consequences of such a battle are easy to imagine.

”Finally, we need to consider: what is more advantageous to us—a living General Cao, or a collapsed Cao Kingdom?”

”A living General Cao is naturally more advantageous to us.” Although Huangfu Chongzhi was not highly regarded in the Royal Family, he had, after all, received a royal education from a young age and saw these matters clearly.

He said thoughtfully, ”As long as Cao Tianyi is alive, his army won’t collapse, and neither will the Cao Kingdom. It serves as a buffer between us and the Great Yan, so we don’t have to face their army directly. If Cao Tianyi dies, it will surely be easier for the Great Yan to annex the Cao Kingdom than for us! In that case, our borders would directly adjoin the Great Yan’s...”

”That’s right. We may be insignificant and weak, but we can’t just stand by and watch this happen. We have to do what little we can,” Li Hong said in a low voice. ”Xu Luo, you’re the captain, and you’re General Xu’s son. You understand these things better than we do, so we’ll follow your lead!”

”Right now, all of our analysis is based on the assumption that General Cao Tianyi did not commit the village massacre. Therefore, the first thing we must do is confirm this,” Ling Luoxi said from the side.

”Correct. We first need to find enough evidence to prove General Cao didn’t do it, and then... I think we can go talk to General Cao!” Xu Jie said.

”Talk to General Cao? In what capacity would we talk to him?” Little Fatty Liu Feng retorted. ”No matter how small the Cao Kingdom is, Cao Tianyi is still a dignified Prince and a Grand General. In his eyes, we’re nothing but a bunch of brats. Why would he talk to us?”

”We may be young, but among us, we have a Prince of the Cangqiong Kingdom and the son of a Cangqiong Kingdom General,” Xu Jie said coolly. ”If General Cao didn’t do this, then it must have been the people of Great Yan who did it and framed him. The enemy of my enemy is my friend; there’s nothing that can’t be discussed. I doubt General Cao wants to see the Cao Kingdom destroyed, right?”

Liu Feng was about to say more when the sound of footsteps suddenly came from a distance. It was Sui Yan, Xiaotian, Liu San, and Xiahou Xian, who had been out on patrol, returning with a captive.

”Who’s this?” Xu Luo glanced at the bound young man. He looked to be in his thirties, with a resolute face and an unyielding expression. His gaze toward Xu Luo’s group was filled with anger and indignation.

”Heh, we caught an enemy Reconnoitre,” Sui Yan said, looking at Xu Luo. ”This guy’s pretty strong. If there hadn’t been a few of us, we really wouldn’t have been able to catch him.”

”Oh? You’re a Reconnoitre from Cao Tianyi’s army?” Xu Luo asked, looking at the young man.

”Pah!” The young man spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, glaring viciously at Xu Luo. ”Falling into your hands today is just my bad luck. If you want to kill me, then kill me. Don’t even think about getting a single word out of me!”

”Oh, quite the tough guy, aren’t we?” Little Fatty Liu Feng said with a wicked grin, looking at the bound young man. ”I just wonder if you’ll still be so tough after I smear you with honey and toss you onto an anthill...” His expression sent a chill down the spines of even proud youths like Xiaotian and Liu San, making their skin crawl.

’How can this guy be so vicious?’ Xiahou Xian’s mouth twitched. He thought, ’I should probably stay far away from this damn fatty in the future. At the very least... I can’t afford to offend him.’

’Otherwise, who could stand it when he comes up with such a malicious idea just by opening his mouth?’

”You... A warrior can be killed, but not humiliated! How could you do such a thing?” The captured Cao Army Reconnoitre was fuming with rage, but at the same time, a chill ran through his entire body. He didn’t doubt the other’s words.

Because it would be all too easy to do. The Endless Forest Sea was full of beehives, and even more anthills... As a Cao Army Reconnoitre who knew this forest like the back of his hand, he understood the cruelty and terror of such a fate even better than this group did.

”’Warrior’ this, ’warrior’ that,” Liu Feng said leisurely. ”When your Cao Army massacred thousands of unarmed, innocent villagers from my Cangqiong Kingdom, sparing no one—man or woman, old or young—did you ever think about ’humiliation’ then?”

”You’re lying! We didn’t do it at all!” The tightly bound young man was like an enraged lion. With bloodshot eyes, he roared desperately at the Little Fatty, ”We are soldiers, not butchers!”

”And you think I’ll believe you?” Liu Feng grinned, then sneered. ”Why would I believe the words of an enemy captive who hasn’t been bitten by ants yet?”