Chapter 130
“Jiang Hai came as reinforcements?” Zhao Xieren arrived at the camp the next day.
Qian Yu looked over to a different area of the camp, “Mmm, he came with another 400 soldiers or so after you left.”
“Everything went well right?” Zhao Xieren started looking for injuries around Qian Yu’s body.
“Yes, I also broke through to the middle stage of soul foundation,” Qian Yu smiled.
“Really! Show me” Her tired eyes gained some fire as she stepped back.
Qian Yu pointed his hand in the distance towards a tree. Qi consolidated at his fingertips before bursting forward.
*Zap!* the lightning flew towards a nearby tree before causing a small explosion.
“That’s not all,” Qian Yu waved his hand.
“Bam!” another explosion occurred in the distance further away from the initial one.
Zhao Xieren stayed silent for a few seconds as she stared in the distance. “What is this... two attacks?” she asked.
“Hehe, the martial technique is called Mark of Heavenly Lightning. It’s a long ranged technique but unlike most techniques where the qi dissipates afterwards, my qi is left onto where it touched. I can feel this qi and control it to explode from far away,” Qian Yu explained.
“Hmm… that is pretty interesting! It wasn’t what I was expecting but it is probably pretty useful for you. Can you do it again? I’m curious about the qi mark thing,” Zhao Xieren nodded before asking.
“Sure, holdup,” Qian Yu ran to a nearby soldier before coming back with him.
*Bbrrrr* a pillar of earth formed a few seconds later.
“I’ve tested the attack plenty of times yesterday and these pillars are strong enough to take 1 attack,” Qian Yu pointed at the pillar.
*Zap!* The beam of lighting hit the pillar, only creating a few puffs of smoke.
Zhao Xieren quickly ran to the pillar as she waved her hand and removed the dust. Then, she put her hand on the pillar, swiping up, down, left and right, a couple of times before turning towards Qian Yu, “Is it still there?”
“Yes, right here, there’s a faint lightning bolt thing,” Qian Yu put his hands over a spot on the wall where she had quickly glided over.
Zhao Xieren heeded his words as she placed her hands there, “Ah? It’s really faint, I didn’t even notice the first time.”
“Interesting, Tian Xinyi was able to notice it pretty easily. I can too,” Qian Yu said.
‘Master, it must be because I’m a lot stronger than you guys so I can notice it easily,’ Tian Xinyi reminded him.
“Well, she’s a tier stronger than us so that makes sense,” Qian Yu reiterated her words.
“That is true. Anyways, here are today’s scrolls,” Zhao Xieren handed him a bag of scrolls. Compared to the day before, it was a lot smaller.
“Alright, thanks, I’ll go discuss this with Jiang Hai then,” Qian Yu waved goodbye.
“Yes, see you tomorrow then,” Zhao Xieren waved back.
Qian Yu quickly ran through his part of the camp before arriving at Jiang Hai’s part. He had learned that these soldiers were professionally trained by the Jiang Empire and they were given to Jiang Hai for this. As such, the two had decided on separating the camps as it was easier to command and control.
A large crowd stood in the middle of their camp as Qian Yu arrived. Looking past the heads, he could see Jiang Hai sparring against some soldiers.
“Alright, practice amongst yourselves,” Jiang Hai saw Qian Yu’s head and left the crowd.
“Daily convoy scrolls?” Jiang Hai asked as they headed towards his tent.
“Yeah, they just came in,” Qian Yu entered the tent with Jiang Hai as he emptied the bag of scrolls.
The two sat down as they each grabbed a few scrolls and started going reading them.
“When did you breakthrough?” Qian Yu asked as they were reading.
Jiang Hai put down the scroll he was reading as he silently stared downwards. “That night,” he answered a few seconds later.
“... Your sister’s condition, how is it?” Qian Yu thought for a few seconds before realizing he probably meant the night of the assassination attacks.
“They say she's unconscious because it’s some issue with her soul… I’m not too sure,” Jiang Hai’s hands balled into a fist.
“But, one thing I know for sure is that I will get to the bottom of this and figure out who’s the culprit,” he gritted his teeth.
Qian Yu stayed silent as he heard Jiang Hai’s resolve. In part, he wasn’t even sure whether his own country was innocent or not. It was his home country filled with precious memories. However, if they did plan it and attempted to assassinate him and Zhao Xieren, he wouldn’t hesitate to leave the country.
‘Master! I detect enemies again!’ Tian Xinyi suddenly interrupted Qian Yu as he was reading the scrolls.
‘How many?’ Qian Yu’s countenance stayed the same as pretended to continue reading.
Tian Xinyi stayed silent for a few seconds before answering, ‘For now, about the same as yesterday.’
“Prince Jiang! Enemy troops have been sighted!” a shout came from outside the tent.
“What!?” Jiang Hai abruptly stood up.
“I’ll go get my troops,” Qian Yu said as he left the tent.
The days flew by as Qian Yu and Jiang Hai successfully maintained their position on the slope. By the time two weeks had passed, the enemy aggression had died down quite a bit leaving plenty of free time for everyone. With this time, Qian Yu had started sparring with Jiang Hai while practicing his Mark of Heavenly Lightning.
“Qian Yu! Qian Yu!” Zhao Xieren’s voice interrupted their sparring one day.
“Yes? Did something happen?” Qian Yu put away his spear and ran to Zhao Xieren.
“We are going to retreat! One city, about two week south from here, was taken over last night!” Zhao Xieren stopped running as she took a breather.
Qian Yu gritted his teeth, “We are just going to give up this area?”
Zhao Xieren nodded, “The Chen Empire forces have already occupied that city and we’ve received orders to regroup back at the city. Likely, we have spies or something and the higher ups believe they are going to launch a full scale attack on True Ice City.”
“Alright, let’s go then, I’ll go get the troops,” Qian Yu quickly disappeared as he went to organize the troops. They had put so much work and effort into defending this area but suddenly, they were ordered to retreat. Qian Yu felt a little bad but nonetheless, orders were orders. There was no point in defending this area alone.
Getting the troops organized, he quickly set off with Zhao Xieren and Jiang Hai. By the time the sun arrived the next morning, everyone had already returned to True Ice City.
“Soldiers, get in line! We’ll accommodate you guys! Captains, check in first!” the city guards yelled.
The hundreds of soldiers started grouping themselves as they slowly proceeded to enter the city. As for Qian Yu, he immediately entered the city. Notably, there were a lot of soldiers and cultivators but the restaurants and shops seemed rather lackluster and empty. Likely, the regular mortals had already evacuated elsewhere. Furthermore, some areas seemed to have been sectioned off and had cultivators guarding the area.
“Master!” Zhen Yue’s voice came from the side.
“Zhen Yue! How have you been?” Qian Yu turned as he saw Zhen Yue approaching from a nearby store.
“Mmm, so-so, I’ve missed you so much,” Zhen Yue dug her head into Qian Yu’s chest.
“Yes, yes, it’s been 3 weeks,” Qian Yu patted her head.
“Sister Zhen!” Zhao Xieren arrived with Jiang Hai next to her.
“Hello, Sister Zhao! And you are?” Zhen Yue questionably looked at Jiang Hai.
“He’s Prince Jiang Hai from the Jiang Empire,” Qian Yu introduced him.
A quick expression of surprise appeared on Zhen Yue’s face before she promptly bowed, “This one greets Prince Jiang Hai.”
“Hello,” Jiang Hai simply replied.
“Anyways, let’s go to our inn,” Qian Yu said. A specific inn had been booked for the captains and they had already registered their rooms earlier.
“I’ll go find Sister Bai and Sun first to let them know we are back, you guys should take a breather and rest for now. The next few days may get chaotic,” Zhao Xieren volunteered.
“Thank you then, we’ll go ahead,” Qian Yu was going to go find them himself but Jiang Hai had been silently following Qian Yu’s lead which made it quite inconvenient.
Before long, Qian Yu along with Zhen Yue and Jiang Hai arrived at the inn. It was a large inn similar to the ones he had stayed in during his time in the capital but the aesthetics was nothing close to it. The lobby was simply furnished as they arrived with no extra accessories decorating the interior.
“Well, let’s just go to our rooms,” Qian Yu shrugged, not really expecting much from the quality of the rooms.
Yet a voice suddenly called out to him, “Brother Qian?”
It was a voice he hadn’t heard in months. “Zhong Chun?” Qian Yu turned around as he recognized the figure.
“Brother Qian, it’s great to see you,” Zhong Chun smiled as he walked up to Qian Yu.
“Yes, I’m shocked to see you here in fact,” Qian Yu smiled back. Zhong Chun had talked about visiting the Southern Ice Continent before but Qian Yu had brushed it off as more of a courteous gesture. Now, he had surprisingly showed up.
“What you are doing here though?” Qian Yu asked.
“Hahaha, you know me. It’s related to the events that transpired here and I was sent to help investigate by the World Congress,” Zhong Chun answered.
“Investigation!?” Jiang Hai had been quiet all this time but he suddenly flared up and gave Zhong Chun an intense stare.
“You are?” Zhong Chung furrowed his brows at Jiang Hai.
“Sorry about that,” Jiang Hai quickly revoked his gaze before answering, “I am Prince Jiang Hai.”
“Ah… I see, you are the younger brother of Jiang Wuying. I understand now,” Zhong Chun didn’t seem to mind Jiang Hai’s gaze as he realized his identity.
“My name is Zhong Chun. Anyways, let’s go somewhere quiet,” Zhong Chun lowered his voice.
“Let’s go to our rooms,” Qian Yu said as he took the lead.
Their rooms were similar to one of the smaller rooms Qian Yu had lived in. Like the lobby, it was simple and the room had nothing else besides an average-sized bed and a table with chairs.
The three men quickly sat down as Zhen Yue served everyone tea.
“Can the World Congress not call off the war?” Qian Yu immediately asked.
“Sigh, the World Congress isn’t as strong as you think it is. It plays a few minor roles throughout the world but jurisdiction is still stronger locally. The only time it’s power becomes relevant is when it is related to the incoming apocalypse,” Zhong Chun answered.
“And do you think the war is related to it?” Qian Yu furrowed his brows.
Zhong Chun stayed silent as he took a sip of tea. Putting down the cup, he sighed, “I hope it isn’t. However, looking at the circumstances, there are some suspicions that it is.”
His words caused Qian Yu to fall silent as he remembered the disturbance in the Soba Empire. A spiritual beast horde caused by an unknown group whose members are found on the Hunted List. However, causing a war between countries, albeit the smallest of powers, was a completely different matter.
“Either the war will continue as it is or it will stop because it is related to those behind the spiritual beast horde… It’s like choosing between the lesser evil,” Qian Yu’s face turned grim.
“Precisely,” Zhong Chun nodded.
“What about the investigation? Did they find anything so far?” Jiang Hai spoke up.
Zhong Chun took another sip of tea, “Most of the investigation has been done against the Xia Empire. They are the most likely initial suspects of course. But, they haven’t found anything so far.”
“That’s good,” Qian Yu sighed in relief.
“As such, the majority of the focus has turned towards the Chen and Yuan Empires. Their attitudes are extremely suspicious of course. Starting a war is preposterous!” Zhong Chun gritted his teeth.
“Anyways, the World Congress has put this issue as its utmost priority. Investigations will begin soon and take at most a month. I should go now. If you want to find me, I’ll be at Tiger’s Den until tomorrow,” Zhong Chun said as he stood up.
“Tiger’s Den? The restaurant?” Qian Yu gave Zhong Chun a questionable look.
“Yes. Besides being a top tier restaurant, it’s also a base for the World Congress. Most large cities have a Tiger’s Den as such,” Zhong Chun nodded.
Jiang Hai didn’t seem too surprised but Qian Yu's eyes noticeably widened as he heard that. A few seconds later, he chuckled and bidded Zhong Chun farewell, “Alright, I’ll see you around then.”
“Holdup, I still have a few more questions,” Jiang Hai quickly followed Zhong Chun out, leaving Qian Yu and Zhen Yue alone.
As Qian Yu saw them out, he saw three people walking towards his room from the hallway.
“Hehe, I’ve brought them back!” Zhao Xieren returned with a triumphant shout.
“It’s great to see you guys again,” Qian Yu hugged Bai Jia and Sun Hong.
“Mmm, I’m glad you’re safe,” Bai Jia looked relieved.
“You had a breakthrough, good job. Anyways, it’s good you returned in one piece,” Sun Hong nodded.
Finally being reunited with the girls, Qian Yu slowly talked about his experience over the last few weeks. Afterwards, the four girls each took their own turns going over everything they had been through. For Zhao Xieren and Zhen Yue, Qian Yu already had a general grasp but it was different from the other two. By the time everyone finished, dust had already fallen.