Chapter 524: Xia Ren and Fu Tiandu — Rallying the Troops |
Year 12 of Great Xia, December 30th, midnight.
One li south of Donggu City.
Huuuuu...
Forty black military tents stood firm in the wind, motionless, clustered around a wooden watchtower several dozen meters tall. The black and gold command banner at the tower's peak was being whipped by the fierce wind, crackling loudly.
The large golden character for "Xia" on the banner's surface shimmered brilliantly under the strong light of the torches, dazzlingly radiant.
At the top of the watchtower, five soldiers clad in Thunder Kui Gold Armor were gazing into the distance while chatting idly.
"Tiandu, I heard our Central Route Army might not have to fight after all. We just need to keep watch here over Donggu City, preventing the fifty thousand troops inside from moving."
Hearing Meng Tian's words, Fu Tiandu's expression froze for a moment, then a look of urgency appeared on his face as he asked, "How is that possible? Didn't Commander-in-Chief Xiang already bring ten thousand troops over? With such a small city like Donggu, are we afraid we can't take it?"
Meng Tian shook his head. "The Wuchuan army has been holed up in the city the whole time, which shows they also clearly understand their strength is inferior to ours. Storming a city is different from a normal battle. A rash attack, even if successful, would cost us many soldiers and officers. Marshal Luo definitely won't lightly launch a full-scale siege."
Not just him; even Meng Tian's expression wasn't good when he said this, and the same went for the other three middle-aged soldiers on the tower.
"Finally, we have a military campaign, thought we could earn some military merits, but until now we haven't even clashed with Wuchuan, haven't killed a single enemy soldier. Could this big battle just end in a muddled mess like this?"
"I think it's likely. Longgu Town City has already surrendered. Beishuo's Baimu City was captured last night, Yang Jian was killed, Yang Fa was captured alive. Deputy Department Head Xu brought the news just an hour ago—Beishuo City has also been captured by the Lord Leader leading his troops. Yang Jian, Yang Fa, and the entire Yang Clan's close relatives... they've probably been publicly executed by now. Two of the five northern towns are already gone, including the strongest, Beishuo Town. The remaining three towns are probably all considering surrender..."
"The Left Route Army has really stolen the spotlight this time. In the two major battles at Baimu City and Beishuo City, the Lord Leader personally attended the battlefield and even took action. In just four days, they've basically taken down all of Beishuo. When this northern expedition ends, the Left Route Army is likely to have a whole bunch of people getting ennobled."
………………
Hearing the words of his three military brothers, the urgency on Fu Tiandu's face grew even stronger, and even a flicker of restlessness appeared in his pupils.
"How could they not fight? I'm still 320 military merit points short of the lowest ninth-rank Mystic Plume Viscount. If I miss this big battle, I'm afraid I'll have to waste several more years. Tiger Strength Pills, Dragon Carp Pills, Green Cod Pills, Black Fiend Pills... these kinds of strength-boosting pills, I can barely afford them anymore, let alone the Red Spirit Pills that could help me further improve my Battle Body aptitude, or the even more advanced Sun Ascension Pills..."
Fu Tiandu was not a native of Great Xia; he came from Hecang.
In Year 8 of Great Xia, on the night his family was destroyed, he was being hunted by his enemies. In his panic, he fled into the clan's silver vault, where he unexpectedly encountered a cat-shaped abomination stealing and eating silver.
At that time, Fu Tiandu was only at the Warmth Realm in strength. Normally, that Cat Demon could have killed him with a casual swipe. But for some reason, the Cat Demon took a liking to something about him. Not only did it not kill him, it even said it would help him escape.
The condition was that he had to agree to let the Cat Demon reside within his body.
At that moment, Fu Tiandu was filled with despair and only wanted to survive. Even though he clearly knew the Cat Demon was no good either, he had no choice but to agree.
His enemies were powerful in both strength and methods. Even though the Cat Demon's concealment techniques were extremely advanced, he was still hunted all the way. Seeing that both Caiqiu and Chencang were unsafe, on the Cat Demon's suggestion and with its assistance, he finally risked his life to cross the Nine-Bend Blood Corridor and fled to the Southern Foothills region, finally completely shaking off his enemies and settling down.
After settling down, Fu Tiandu's next step was, of course, to improve his strength and prepare to return for revenge.
He had witnessed with his own eyes his parents, brothers, sisters, and all his clan relatives being slaughtered by his enemies. Added to being hunted for half a year, the overwhelming hatred accumulated in his heart had long made revenge the sole driving force for his survival.
However, tragically, just after escaping the tiger that was his enemies, he was controlled by the wolf that was the Cat Demon.
Once the Cat Demon helped him escape Hecang and cross the Nine-Bend Blood Corridor to completely shake off his pursuers, as soon as they reached the Southern Foothills region, it began to show its true colors, taking him to various camps to steal silver.
Fu Tiandu's origins were not lowly; he was naturally resistant to theft. But on one hand, he was already controlled by the Cat Demon; on the other, the Cat Demon used silver as bait, leaving him a portion of every theft so he could buy cultivation resources.
Carrot and stick, threat and temptation used together—Fu Tiandu could only agree. From the moment they arrived in the Southern Foothills, all actions of the man and demon were basically directed and controlled by the Cat Demon.
Until they finally came to Hongmen City!
Although Great Xia was only a town-level camp, it had the Small Torch and Yellow Candles, two divine items for dealing with Abominations. When the Cat Demon controlled his body to steal silver in Hongmen City, they only managed two attempts before nearly being caught by Great Xia's people.
That time, he was badly frightened. Moreover, the Cat Demon kept secretly infecting people in Hongmen City with Cat Plague. He guessed the Cat Demon was brewing some major disaster that could very likely affect the entire city's inhabitants. His heart was filled with both shock and fear; he even tried to break with the Cat Demon.
Of course, the consequence was another bout of torture from the Cat Demon.
After the close call in Hongmen City, the Cat Demon wasn't afraid at all. Instead, it developed a strong interest in Great Xia and even ordered him to participate in that year's martial assembly competition, planning to secretly infiltrate Xia City.
Fu Tiandu knew he couldn't escape the Cat Demon; his heart was already filled with despair. He could only follow the Cat Demon's commands like a puppet on strings.
But who would have thought things would take a turn for the better later!
After all, Fu Tiandu came from a wealthy feudal town clan; his talent wasn't weak. He directly broke into the top ten of the youth group in Great Xia's Year 9 martial assembly, unexpectedly gaining the chance to meet Lord Leader Xia Hong in person.
Meeting Lord Leader Xia Hong was the beginning of the turnaround.
The Cat Demon's advanced concealment techniques were completely ineffective before Xia Hong.
Fu Tiandu remembered clearly: when he entered the great hall, Xia Hong saw the abnormality on him at a single glance and even directly pointed out that the Cat Demon was on him. He was utterly terrified at that moment.
You must understand, among those hunting him was a Tribulation Body Realm expert, yet they were all fooled by the Cat Demon, which showed just how advanced its concealment methods were. Presumably, the Cat Demon was extremely confident in its own techniques, which was why it dared to let him use the excuse of participating in the martial assembly to infiltrate Xia City.
Who would have thought Xia Hong would see through it with one look and deal with the Cat Demon easily in just a few moves.
Fu Tiandu originally thought Xia Hong would kill him. He clearly understood that for someone in such a high position, a mere Warmth Realm cultivator like him was insignificant.
He even thought at the time that if Xia Hong insisted on killing him, he would have no choice but to reveal his identity, even offering some of Hecang's secrets in exchange for his life.
But unexpectedly, Xia Hong not only didn't kill him but also let him directly join Great Xia. He even still gave him the martial assembly ranking rewards as usual.
"No need. His aptitude and strength are indeed quite good. The ninth-place ranking was earned by his own ability; there's no reason to void it. Doesn't he owe one million taels of silver? Convert the reward; consider it him repaying part of the debt first. The remaining part can be repaid slowly later."
Even after three years, Fu Tiandu still remembered Xia Hong's words from that time clearly. Although his family had long been destroyed, it must be said that he still retained some of the pride of a feudal town scion in his heart.
But at that moment, he was truly shaken!
Originally, everything in Hongmen City had already stirred him somewhat. Later, arriving in Xia City, he realized even more clearly that Great Xia was absolutely not an ordinary town-level camp as he had previously perceived.
Dealing with that Cat Demon might have been a trivial matter for Xia Hong, but for Fu Tiandu, it was a life-saving favor.
Moreover, Xia Hong showed no concern whatsoever for the six million taels of stolen silver and only asked him to repay the one million taels he had used himself. Such magnanimity genuinely shook Fu Tiandu.
From that moment on, Fu Tiandu made a decision: to treat Great Xia as his second home. He could no longer return to Hecang, so more accurately, it would be his only home from then on.
Unconsciously, he had already stayed in Great Xia for three years. Looking back, Fu Tiandu felt only gratitude for the decision he made then.
Over the past three years, he saw clearly: Great Xia's development speed couldn't be described as just fast; it was downright terrifying.
The explosive growth in the number of Warmth Realm cultivators goes without saying. The key is that in the last two years, the Sun Manifestation Level has also begun to erupt in a blowout fashion, which is truly frightening.
Of course, after three years in Great Xia, Fu Tiandu also understood what this terrifying development speed benefited from.
The Sacred Cauldron, the Ancestral Spirit Stele, the Martial Arts Pavilion, the Artifact Forging Pavilion, the Alchemy Pavilion... The first time he witnessed Great Xia's mysterious and marvelous buildings, Fu Tiandu's entire heart was filled with immense shock. Especially after personally cultivating in the Martial Arts Pavilion a few times, and later when the Great Xia Sacred Mark also grew between his eyebrows, he could almost be certain that Great Xia catching up to and even surpassing Hecang was absolutely only a matter of time.
He could even assert that this time wouldn't be too long.
Thanks to Lord Leader Xia Hong's special leniency, the Camp Supply Department didn't impose overly harsh requirements on his debt repayment progress. Each month, they only asked him to use half his income to repay the debt, leaving the other half for him to normally purchase cultivation resources.
The reward for ninth place in the martial assembly had already offset part of the debt. Coming from a feudal town, Fu Tiandu's knowledge naturally far exceeded that of ordinary people. Relying on this superior knowledge, combined with sufficient diligence, he only needed two years to completely clear his debt.
Of course, since half his income was used for debt repayment, his cultivation progress was indeed slowed down a bit. But considering that the one million taels of silver had originally been used by him to buy cultivation resources and improve his strength, the two offset each other. In reality, his progress just returned to normal and wasn't actually slowed down.
Two years repaying debt, one year cultivating—Fu Tiandu basically already considered himself a true Xia person. His only goal now was to improve his strength so he could return to Hecang for revenge as soon as possible.
In Great Xia, the fastest way to obtain cultivation resources was to join the military. So Fu Tiandu didn't hesitate. Two years ago, when his debt was cleared, he regained his freedom and became a true Xia person. He immediately participated in the military assessment.
His strength was inherently strong; otherwise, he wouldn't have made it into the youth group's top ten. The military assessment was naturally easy for him. Originally, he wanted to join the strongest Cloud Python and Dragon Warrior Armies, but those two armies were already highly sought-after and had long been full. At that time, if he wanted to join, he could only go to the Reservists and wait for vacancies to open up in the army before being added.
Although Reservists could also act with the army, the treatment between the two was far apart. Moreover, Great Xia had been without military campaigns for a long time; who knew when vacancies would appear? He was eager to improve his strength and naturally unwilling to wait.
Through a series of coincidences, he was noticed by the then Commander-in-Chief of the Tiger Leopard Army, the Department Head of Great Xia's Hunting Department, Lord Luo Yuan. So he joined the Tiger Leopard Army.
Unconsciously, he had been in the Tiger Leopard Army for over a year. Relying on the army's generous benefits and his own efforts, he now not only had powerful strength of 48 Zong but had even become a flag officer of the Tiger Leopard Army.
Great Xia's army establishment had already been over ten years. The various systems within the army had basically matured, and the soldiers' promotion system had also given rise to a set of default procedures.
The latest revision to Great Xia's military system was two years ago when the allied army was established. Currently, the system for designated armies is: 20 people form a team, with one team leader; 10 teams form a battalion, with one battalion commander; 10 battalions form the lowest-level ninth-level corps, with one commander-in-chief; the next level up, the eighth-level corps, consists of 25 battalions, with two commanders-in-chief each leading 10 battalions, one general commanding the entire army, plus an additional five battalions of personal guard army.
Apart from this top-down system, the military branch composition of each army still followed previous traditions. Each army would assign the most elite batch of people, comprising one-tenth of the total force, to the scout battalion.
And besides the scout battalion, all armies also established five flag officers responsible for carrying the flags on the battlefield, moving according to the commander's orders to indicate the direction of attack for all soldiers.
Because the flag officer's task is heavy and extremely dangerous, those who can hold this position are inevitably elites among elites, basically the top echelon in strength within an army.
Precisely because of this, the position of flag officer is not considered low in the army. Since they are generally selected from among all team leaders, their status is second only to battalion commanders in the army.
Currently, there is a widely circulated saying among the Xia troops: being a flag officer is the stepping stone to promotion to battalion commander. Once you become a flag officer, you have a great chance of being promoted to battalion commander.
"My goal is to become a battalion commander. Military merits, I must have military merits. Ennoblement is the only way for me to obtain large batches of cultivation resources, along with various generous benefits. Even some precious pills cannot be bought by those without noble titles.
Great Xia's population has exploded in recent years, and resources have clearly tightened. The supply of pills has begun to strain, and prices are getting higher and higher. Even precious pills like the Sun Ascension Pill are only available for purchase by those who have been ennobled, and even then, it's rationed. Also, the cultivation slots in the Martial Arts Pavilion have increasingly higher access requirements, and the prices are becoming terrifying...
From these basics, it's clear that in the future, even if there are any good things, the first to be taken care of will definitely be those who have been ennobled. So I must be ennobled, I must have military merits..."
Countless thoughts raced through Fu Tiandu's mind, but when he finally snapped back to reality and remembered what Meng Tian had just said—that the Central Route Army he was in might very well not engage Wuchuan in direct combat—his mood immediately sank considerably.
Not engaging in combat doesn't necessarily mean zero military merits, but they would definitely be greatly reduced. In that case, when would he ever get ennobled?
Of course, it wasn't just Fu Tiandu; Meng Tian and the other three flag officers were also in low spirits.
"Dong dong dong dong…………"
The silence of the five was soon broken by a series of dense drumbeats.
"Continuous sound, it's the troop assembly drum!"
"Are we going to fight?"
"Look down below, the Marshal has come out of his tent, and Commander-in-Chief Xiang too..."
"Not just them, everyone's coming out. We're really going to fight, hahaha..."