Martial Cultivator

However, if Xie Nandu were so easily provoked, she would not be the Xie Nandu he knew. Nonetheless, his words did make Xie Nandu put down her book. This genius daughter of the Xie Family fell silent for a moment, then asked, “How do you think two people can be together for a long time?”

Chen Chao frowned, “Are you talking about us, or just in general?”

Xie Nandu replied calmly, “Ordinary men and women.”

Chen Chao remained silent, having never considered the question. He was not sure and wondered if this might be a test from the girl in front of him.

Seeing that Chen Chao remained silent, Xie Nandu continued speaking on her own, “When a man and woman are together, one will always end up giving more. The one who gives less might not always remember this, but if the one who gives more makes the other feel wronged someday, the other will start thinking, ‘Why should I put up with this?’ The more they think about it, the more unbearable it becomes, leading to arguments. And if neither is willing to compromise during the argument, how can they continue?”

Chen Chao asked curiously, “Why have you started thinking about these things?”

Xie Nandu ignored him and continued, “If neither side is willing to back down during an argument, that would be terrible.”

After thinking for a moment, Chen Chao finally spoke, “If it were me, I’d probably be the one to back down. When two people are together, it’s not just about one issue. In this issue, you might feel wronged, but in other matters, you might have already made the other person feel wronged, and they might have tolerated it. If you’re always unwilling to suffer a loss and always keen to argue, there’s no way it can last long.”

Xie Nandu looked at him.

“Actually, when two people are together, if you give in on one thing and I give in on another, it all comes down to mutual affection. These things are all trivial and not worth fussing over. But when grievances arise, that’s when restraint is needed.”

Chen Chao smiled and said, “Am I right?”

Xie Nandu replied calmly, “There’s some truth to that.”

“But I think we won’t have such troubles in the future. After all, you’re not an ordinary woman.”

Chen Chao said with vicissitudes of emotion, “But there probably aren’t many women like you in this world.”

Xie Nandu looked at Chen Chao with a half-smile, “When did I ever say I wanted to marry you?”

Chen Chao let out a surprised sound, looking bewildered, “When did I say I wanted to marry you?”

“So you mean you don’t want to marry me?” Xie Nandu stared at Chen Chao.

Chen Chao’s face turned pale. How did he suddenly put himself in such a precarious situation? Were they not discussing something else?

Chen Chao was just about to speak when Xie Nandu shook her head and said, ”Don’t speak.”

Chen Chao had no choice but to close his mouth again and remain silent.

The girl in front of him was indeed a strange one.

Xie Nandu reached out and picked up the book again. Chen Chao glanced over and saw that it was a military strategy book.

……

……

Beyond the Great Wall in the desolate north, a cavalry force of about a thousand men roamed the vast thirty thousand miles of desolate north grassland. Leading the cavalry was not an older, seasoned general, but a young one.

Gao Xuan.

This young man, who once served as a deputy general under another young general, parted ways with Xie Jingshan after a talk with the Lord Warden Commander. He became the leader of a cavalry force of two thousand men. However, compared to Xie Jingshan from the Xie Family, who now led a five-thousand-strong cavalry, he was still slightly less accomplished.

Leaving the position of deputy general to lead his own force, albeit with fewer men, undoubtedly promised a better future.

But Gao Xuan never cared about such things. In the Northern Frontier, whether killing demons or being a main general or a deputy, it made no difference to him. Even if he spent his life as a humble soldier, he would have no complaints. However, since it was the late Great General’s wish to see young people like him grow through the hardships of wind and snow, he felt there was no reason to refuse.

Thinking of the late Great General who had spent his entire life in the Northern Frontier, Gao Xuan’s expression turned somber. That Great General who spent his entire life at the Northern Frontier had long been an idol to countless young men.

He joined the army initially because of the Great General. It was a pity he never got the chance to achieve the historic feat of trampling the demon race’s royal city alongside him. Now, thinking back, he felt some regret.

”General, thirty miles ahead, there’s a demon cavalry force about the same size as ours.”

While Gao Xuan was lost in thought, a scout rode up to him.

Gao Xuan looked ahead and said with a smile, ”If their numbers are equal to ours, then we’re at a disadvantage.”

It was a well-known fact that the individual combat strength of the demon race was naturally stronger than that of humans. Even the soldiers in the Northern Frontier, who were all martial artists, struggled to match the demon soldiers one-on-one. Because of this, humans had always been on the defensive, rarely taking the initiative to attack.

Gao Xuan turned to his deputy general and asked, ”Are we fighting?”

The deputy general was slightly older, had already spent many years in the Northern Frontier, and was considered a veteran soldier. Hearing this, he immediately said, ”General, the numbers are on par, do we stand a chance to win?”

Gao Xuan replied, ”If two armies meet head-on just like this, we’ll likely lose seven or eight hundred men, while they might lose two or three hundred. The remaining two hundred of us would then have to retreat south in disarray.”

The deputy general said bitterly, ”In that case, I still believe it would be better to avoid them.”

Gao Xuan shook his head, ”This general is talking about other cavalry units, not ours.”

The deputy general had a blank look.

In terms of cavalry, in the Northern Frontier, aside from the personal troops under Cavalry Main Commander Li Changling, who could be said to be evenly matched with the demon cavalry, or even slightly superior, the other cavalry units likely did not have this capability.

Gao Xuan said softly, ”When it comes to warfare, if both sides meet and fight to the death, it certainly looks grand and awe-inspiring. But everyone has parents who bore them, it’s unreasonable to just throw lives away like that.”

After saying this, Gao Xuan lightly clamped his horse’s belly and rode forward a few steps before turning his horse around. He looked at the thousand cavalrymen he had brought with him and loudly asked, ”Ahead lies a demon cavalry army with numbers similar to ours. Brothers, should we fight?!”

After a brief silence, the thousand cavalrymen shouted in unison, ”We follow General’s orders!”

Gao Xuan smiled in satisfaction, ”Since that’s the case, let this general show you what real warfare looks like!”

After saying this, Gao Xuan looked at his deputy general and began to make arrangements. Having studied military strategy since childhood, Gao Xuan was most adept at using tactics on the battlefield to achieve victory with fewer troops and weaker forces.

However, previously he was not the main general, and many ideas remained just that - ideas. But now it was different, he was the main general, and who else had the final say in matters?

Once everything was arranged, two cavalry units, each with 400 men, maneuvered to the left and right flanks, leaving Gao Xuan with 200 cavalrymen.

Sitting high on his horse, Gao Xuan raised his long spear and said with a smile, ”There will be casualties, but I guarantee the enemy will be completely annihilated, and we’ll win this battle with minimal losses. To be honest, I’m almost envious of you all, earning military merit so easily.”

Laughter erupted from the cavalry behind him.

Gao Xuan patiently waited for the demon cavalry to come into view.

Before long, the sound of hooves filled the air, and a thousand-strong demon cavalry approached at full speed.

Gao Xuan raised his spear high and shouted, ”Let’s show these man-eating things that our bones can break their teeth!”

As he shouted those words, Gao Xuan fiercely squeezed his horse’s sides and charged forward with the two hundred cavalrymen behind him.

Thus began the clash between two cavalry forces with vastly different numbers.

On the plains of the desolate north, the sound of hooves thundered.

Gao Xuan led the charge, hurling his long spear, which instantly pierced through an oncoming demon cavalryman.

The tremendous force of the spear pinned the demon rider to the ground. As Gao Xuan galloped past, he retrieved the spear and used it to impale another demon cavalryman at his side.

What followed was a bloody battle with a disparity in numbers.

Facing the dense ranks of the demon cavalry, Gao Xuan showed no fear. He merely smiled, knowing that this battle would end in victory for the humans.

……

……

An hour later, the great battle ended.

Demon corpses strewn the ground.

Blood covered the earth.

Covered in blood, Gao Xuan planted his long spear into the ground and shouted, ”Report the casualties!”

His deputy general said loudly, ”Reporting to General, we have 221 dead, 11 severely injured, and 36 lightly injured!”

Gao Xuan smiled and asked, ”What are the results?”

”The entire demon army has been annihilated, completely slaughtered!”

Gao Xuan said nothing and just looked up at the sky.

The surviving cavalrymen all looked at Gao Xuan at this moment, their eyes filled with admiration for this young commander.

Winning a battle to this extent seemed to be extremely rare.

For this young general who had been steady and unremarkable for years, always under the shadow of Xie Jingshan, the cavalrymen felt a profound sense of respect.

At this moment, all the cavalrymen who had previously harbored any disdain for this young commander were utterly convinced, left only with admiration.

This single battle ensured that Gao Xuan’s reputation would ascend to a new height. Among the young soldiers of the northern frontier, Gao Xuan might not have been the most talented or the highest ranked, but after today, no one would doubt that this young general was the most adept at warfare in this generation of youngsters.

Gao Xuan exhaled a turbid breath. The distinction between a commander and a mere officer did not concern him. What he cared about was minimizing casualties and someday standing atop the walls of the demon royal city.

Would the disgrace of the human race be wiped away by these young men?

Gao Xuan did not know, but he was willing to dedicate his life to this cause, and he would remain unwavering, even at the cost of his life.

Gao Xuan took one last look at the battlefield strewn with corpses before saying quietly, ”Clean up the battlefield and bring our brothers home.”