Chapter 47: Courage and Intellect

On the southern banks of the Yunmeng Marsh, the Wu family army initiated its first direct engagement against the bandits of the region. The prelude to this battle took place during the dry season, when the Wu family army charged into several high-ground marshy hollows within the Yunmeng Marsh. First, they burned away the reeds with fire, and then, using golden oxen to excavate the muddy ponds, they constructed levees for these elevated islets amidst the lake. Afterward, using giant logs and mud, they built a stockade approximately fifty paces in length upon them.

Had the aquatic forces chosen not to interfere, these stockades would have transformed by summer into—

Had those talismans struck the earlier blood serpent, they likely would have blasted a gaping hole through its body. Yet, landing upon this blood eagle, they failed to injure even a single feather of its wings.

It was April, and the spring breeze was faintly warm, carrying willow catkins through the window as they drifted aimlessly about the classroom.

At Tarren Mill's temporary camp, Locke and the others were making their final preparations for battle. Both Sophia's Highpoint and Icewind Pass had been successfully captured, and their defensive fortifications were already complete.

This was why the original host would rather borrow money from Lin Tianyi than ask his parents for living expenses.

At a certain node in the future, an event of earth-shattering magnitude occurred that shocked both the immortal and demonic realms, altering the landscape of the entire celestial and nether worlds.

Upon waking, Mashilan discovered not only that he had lost all his martial arts, but also that his hair was completely white and he was decrepit with age. Overwhelmed by grief and feeling that life was worse than death, yet burning with an unfulfilled desire for vengeance, he wept bitterly day after day.

This section was the widest part of the mountain path, yet under the combat of the three supreme masters, an aura capable of inflicting severe injuries enveloped a radius of three zhang. Mo Buquan knew the man in black was exceptionally skilled and naturally did not dare to charge straight through. Instead, relying on his lightness gong, he bypassed them by crossing the cliff face.

Listening to Yan Zhongchang omit his official title, he immediately knew he was a guest retainer of the Imperial Bodyguard Bureau. While a so-called guest retainer held no formal bureaucratic rank, his authority was immense, and he enjoyed the freedom to come and go as he pleased. Naturally, his status was revered, and very few ever resigned from such a position. Those who served as guest retainers in the Bodyguard Bureau were subject only to the constraints of the Grand Preceptor and the Grand Guardian of the Bodyguard Command.

Yet later, after Liu Min's son was murdered and Guo Wei usurped the throne to establish his own dynasty, the world universally believed Guo Wei had acted out of greed for the imperial crown. Who could have expected that Feng Dao had secretly plotted it all from the shadows? Hearing Feng Dao voluntarily ruin his own reputation to impart such profound secrets to him, Jiang Qiubai felt a chill strike his heart, yet suspecting that the other man must be hinting at something, he could not help but fall into deep contemplation.

Meanwhile, in the northern reaches of the continent, within the kingdom of Quel'Thalas, Dar'Khan Drathir—who had emerged from the Amani catacombs—was now deep in study within his magical laboratory, researching the necromancy he had acquired from the ancient tombs.

That Xiang Yu was naturally cruel and prone to massacring entire cities at the slightest provocation. Danzhou was situated very close to Dongzhou, and its commoners had heard tales of his brutality. Therefore, upon hearing that the Qi army was advancing, the entire prefecture was gripped by a sense of panic and unease.

Unlike the Ottoman Empire, which controlled numerous prosperous regions, the Northwestern African region, with its harsher natural conditions, had a much higher demand for European grain.

Everyone could only laugh at the sight. The Dream Ghost suddenly shouted aloud with a hearty laugh, "This big roast pig even knows we're hungry, rushing over here so impatiently." "Boom—" Amidst the laughter of the crowd, the charging massive black pig was instantly drop-kicked to the ground by Bu Suiyun, collapsing as though it had been slain right then and there.

True to Mo Song's expectations, that stalwart hero with the dark history of being frightened to the point of wetting himself slowly stood up and, amidst the astonished gazes of those around him and his desk-mate, stepped up onto the podium.

In fact, long before this, Long Aoqiang, the master of the Kunwu Sacred Mountain, had already dispatched subordinates to track down the whereabouts of Ning Ye's parents. First, to locate and protect them before any other malicious factions could; and second, to prepare lavish gifts to properly pay his respects to the elderly couple and leave a favorable impression.

"Then this subordinate will take his leave. I shall report the situation here in detail to the Great King," Zuo Zhibin said, cupping his fists in farewell.

"We should promptly notify the entire army of this news, urging them to exercise extreme vigilance and eradicate such creatures," the Black Wolf suggested.