Firmament Sword

”Grand General, under orders from Young Master Wei, he funded us with a great sum of money to bribe an attendant of Prince Cao Tianyi of the Cao Kingdom to obtain information on the Yan Army Grain Dao. Young Master Wei is a cautious man and ordered us to scout the location ourselves and only report back after confirming the information.”

”There were over seventy of us Reconnoitres in total. We rushed to scout the location and found the information to be accurate. Just as we were about to leave, we happened upon the Yan Army’s grain convoy passing through a place on the supply line called One-Line Heaven Gorge. Your subordinate recalled Young Master Wei’s instructions: if we encounter the Yan Army’s grain convoy, we must stop them, even at the cost of our lives!”

”To be honest, your subordinate was quite afraid. Although our strength isn’t weak, the enemy’s grain convoy was guarded by experts. How could a group like ours possibly stand against them? However, when Young Master Wei sent us off, he gave me a silk pouch. After encountering the convoy, I opened it and found instructions on what kind of harassment tactics to use in what kind of terrain.”

”As luck would have it, the enemy convoy passed through that One-Line Heaven Gorge. The terrain there is very unique; looking up from below, you can only see a narrow sliver of the sky, which is how it got its name, ’One-Line Heaven.’ The location is perfect for an ambush. Your subordinate followed Young Master Wei’s instructions from the pouch, led my men to move a large number of stones, and set up an ambush on the mountaintop.”

”And you know, Cangqiong must be blessed, for even the heavens were on our side. Just as the enemy convoy was passing through One-Line Heaven Gorge, a torrential downpour began, and the ground started to loosen in many places. Recalling Young Master Wei’s teachings, I decided to go all in... I led my men to desperately pry loose the boulders that were already unstable, triggering a chain reaction of landslides...”

”All of them were trapped in the gorge, and my men and I threw stones down with all our might... General, look!”

As he spoke, the silver-tongued Reconnoitre held out his hands. They were covered in scabs, clear evidence of how badly they had been torn up before.

”At that time, all my men’s hands were torn to a bloody pulp! But it was as if everyone had forgotten the pain, focused only on desperately crushing the enemy to death!”

”In the end, we ran out of strength, and most of the enemy were dead. The entire supply line was completely sealed off! General, your subordinate doesn’t dare to claim credit. I’m reporting this to you today in the hope that you will investigate the matter. Young Master Wei is a low-key person, but I cannot bear to see such a great achievement of his go unrecognized!”

With that, the Reconnoitre fell to his knees, his voice choked with emotion. It was a truly moving scene.

A trace of excitement was in Xu Zhongtian’s voice, but he concealed it well. His voice was deep and his expression grave as he asked, ”Is what you say true? The Yan Army Grain Dao... is it really severed?”

”If you don’t believe me, General, I can lead men to the site to verify it! The Cao Kingdom is mountainous with treacherous terrain; the Yan Army only has that one supply line! General, in just a few days, the Yan Army will be driven mad by the lack of food and supplies! That will be our chance! At that time, the General can display his might, slaughter the enemy until rivers of blood flow, and establish a monumental achievement. It’s right before our eyes!”

One had to admit, this Reconnoitre was a real talent, with a tongue that could make flowers bloom.

Xu Zhongtian said in a low voice, ”Good. I will send men to investigate at once. If this matter is truly as you say, rest assured, this Marquis will absolutely not suppress anyone’s merits!”

”Thank you, General. What your subordinate did was insignificant. Without Young Master Wei’s brilliant guidance, how would I have had the opportunity to do such a thing?” the Reconnoitre said.

”Heh, alright, scram. This Marquis knows all about your Young Master Wei’s merits,” the Champion Marquis, Xu Zhongtian, cursed with a laugh, a hint of mockery flashing in the depths of his eyes.

He thought to himself: ’That’s right. If it weren’t for your idiotic Young Master Wei, how would a minor character like you ever grow the gall to come and falsely claim this heaven-defying merit?’

Thinking of the secret report he had sent out three days ago, Xu Zhongtian sighed softly. ’Back then, although I didn’t think much of Prime Minister Wei, he was still a man of great ambition and strategy. They say dragons beget dragons and phoenixes beget phoenixes, so how could the Prime Minister’s son turn out to be such an insidious, shameless, and despicable whelp?’

Xu Luo’s guess was spot on. It wasn’t that he could predict the future, but simply that he understood Wei Ziting’s character all too well.

Anyone else would never be capable of something like this.

Framing a comrade-in-arms, falsely claiming military merit... only someone with Wei Ziting’s status would have the audacity to try such things repeatedly.

’But this time... Wei Ziting’s preparations are quite thorough! He even has evidence of bribing Cao Tianyi’s attendant to get a map of the Yan Army Grain Dao... I wonder what kind of proof that boy Xu Luo, Xu Jie, and the others have on hand to prove they were the ones who did this, not Wei Ziting?’

Xu Zhongtian sighed softly. Only at times like this did he feel it: he was getting old.

’This world will belong to the young people! When this Marquis was young, who had so many schemes? The youth of today, every last one of them... truly remarkable,’ Xu Zhongtian grumbled, then leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes to rest.

”The vice-captain and the others are back!”

”Ah, it really is the vice-captain! How did he get injured?”

”Was he injured during a secret mission?”

”Vice-captain, are you alright?”

”Haha, vice-captain, we’ve all heard about your heroic deeds. You guys are incredible!”

”Teaming up with the Cao Kingdom’s Prince General to crush the famous Yan Kingdom General Mo Yun’s army of fifty thousand—that’s so badass!”

”I heard the vice-captain was made a General and a Third-Grade Official of the court! Vice-captain, you’ve got to look out for us from now on!”

Nine days after Wei Ziting had laid his plan, Xu Luo’s group appeared outside the headquarters of the Southern Group Army, weary and dust-covered from their journey.

A group of True Martial Academy students who had already integrated into the Southern Army heard of Xu Luo’s return and all came out of their own accord to welcome him.

Xu Zhongtian and Yuwen Shentong had been very cautious with this group, not sending them to the battlefield lightly.

Most of them had been kept in the rear, doing clerical or advisory work.

Xu Luo still looked sickly and frail. He was being carried on a soft stretcher by Xu Jie and Liang Ziyi, and he gave a weak wave to the enthusiastic classmates rushing over to greet him.

”Make way, brothers! Our boss was injured on a mission, everyone make way!” Little Fatty Liu Feng heartlessly shooed away the crowd of students that had swarmed around them.

Wei Ziting, hidden in the crowd, heard Liu Feng’s words and a derisive smile touched his lips. He sneered inwardly: ’Injured on a mission? Why didn’t you just die? It seems Uncle Nine didn’t make his move. Otherwise, how could you possibly still be alive today? Count yourself lucky!’

’However... this young master will let you watch a good show! Watch how I become the key figure who decides the outcome of this war!’

’By then, all the honors I receive... Xu Luo, you can just be green with envy! I will crush you firmly under my heel and make sure you can never get back up for all eternity!’

Xu Jie and Liang Ziyi carried Xu Luo directly into a tent that had been prepared beforehand. Then, Huangfu Chongzhi, Li Hong, and the others went to deal with the enthusiastic classmates.

Xiahou Xian, Liu San, Xiaotian, Ling Luoxi, Xu Lingtian, and the rest were also pulled away by classmates they knew.

The battle they had participated in, along with the glory and noble titles they had subsequently received, made everyone burn with envy.

Now that they saw them, how could they let them go so easily?

Liang Ziyi was soon called out by some good friends as well. In the end, only Liu Feng, Xu Jie, Sui Yan, and Xu Luo remained in the tent.

Xu Jie first let out a soft sigh, then looked at Xu Luo with admiration and said quietly, ”I never noticed it before, but I’ve realized it recently. Third Brother, just how does your brain work?”

Xu Luo smiled. Gone was any trace of weakness. After so many days of recuperation, Xu Luo’s body had long since recovered, and his strength had been fully restored.

Moreover, after that life-and-death battle, Xu Luo’s power had progressed once again. Although he had yet to break through to become a Tier Two Great Sword Master, it was only a matter of time.

”Sun Donghai, Leng Ping, and Zhao Mo have all gone to the front lines—the very front lines. They strongly requested to join the battle, even if it meant starting as the lowest-ranking grunts. They were willing to do anything.”

”Wang Ziweng and Wei Yun both stayed in the rear. They’ve been given some military ranks and are just waiting to share some of the military merit after this war is won,” Xu Jie said with a wry smile.

”Wang Ziweng probably doesn’t have much interest in the army; he really is just here to build up his resume. But he’s quite experienced with logistics management. My father said he’s doing a good job.”

Xu Jie continued, then looked at Xu Luo and said, ”As for Wei Ziting... that guy, sigh, I really don’t know what he’s thinking. I used to think he was a smart person, but now it seems...”

Little Fatty Liu Feng chimed in from the side, ”I think he’s just *too* smart!”

”He’s overthinking his schemes,” Sui Yan said coldly from the side.

”This time, he’s really gone too far. The last incident was somewhat excusable from an outsider’s perspective. At most, you could say a personal grudge led him to make a misjudgment. That secret report, my father said, was just a veiled attempt to sling mud at Third Brother. He even got other students to co-sign it, which allowed him to get away with it by a fluke.”

Xu Jie sneered, ”But this time, he’s blatantly trying to steal this immense merit that doesn’t belong to him at all. And he’s learned his lesson, making the whole process extremely thorough. And what’s more, all of it was completed... under his ’guidance,’ heh heh.”

”Under his ’guidance’? What does he mean by that? Does it mean that if something goes wrong, he can immediately claim ignorance and push all the blame onto someone else?”

Liu Feng was sharp and immediately saw the problem with that.

”Yeah, that’s exactly right. He’s just too smart. If he actually applied that cleverness to military strategy and warfare, he’d probably be quite skilled. But instead, he’s focused on reaping military merit he didn’t earn, heh heh.”

Xu Luo smiled, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. ”Then let’s just see who... is the final winner!”

”Bro, give it to me straight. Are we really foolproof on this? Wei Ziting isn’t the main concern, but his old man holds immense power in the imperial court. He’ll definitely go all out to champion his son’s cause. Not to mention, our merit is so huge that His Majesty... will probably consider the balance of power,” Liu Feng said with some worry.

Xu Luo smiled and said, ”Don’t worry. This time, there is absolutely no way they can win!”