Volume 1, Chapter 53 – Marshaling the Troops

The Yunxiao Treasure Warship’s golden light spilled over the high platform before the gates of the City Lord’s Manor. In front of the platform, heads clustered in a dense crowd. A squad of Demon-Suppressing Army soldiers ringed the platform; after checking people against the registry, they let them step onto the platform to board the ship along the golden light.

Du Yue’er followed behind Du Baisheng, looking left and right. Not seeing any sign of Shi Lan, she felt a little disappointed, but her attention was quickly captured by the Yunxiao Treasure Warship in the sky, her eyes full of shock.

Du Baisheng had brought many belongings, but just before boarding, he was ordered to discard them all and could only take a small amount of gold and silver valuables.

Helpless, Du Baisheng could only travel light, throwing away most of the luggage and bringing just a few changes of clothes and traveling funds. He took Du Yue’er’s hand and stepped into the golden light.

…

Standing just inside the manor gate, Shi Lan watched Du Baisheng and his granddaughter ride the golden light upward, and finally let out a breath of relief. Everything had gone smoothly.

Once everyone on the registry had been sent up to the Yunxiao Treasure Warship, the golden light slowly faded.

Inside the great hall.

The young man in black armor looked at Huangfu Yun and the other centurions and said:

“This area has already become a place of trouble and cannot be lingered in. Manpower is short, and I can’t give you much support. This time I can only leave some supplies for you.”

With that, he lifted his hand slightly. The golden light that had been slowly dispersing gathered again, and dozens of wooden crates slid down along the beam of light to land on the open ground before the hall.

These wooden crates were enormous, several zhang long and wide, filling the entire space.

A group of people walked out of the hall and came up to the crates.

The gathered martial artists were all drawn to the crates and crowded around. Shi Lan mingled among them.

Rеαⅾ оn ΚatRеaԁiոɡСafe

“Twenty Nine-Bow Bed Crossbows, one thousand Cloud-Piercing Bolts, two thousand Demon-Slaying Crossbows, and one hundred thousand refined steel arrows, as well as a batch of blood-staunching, flesh-regenerating medicinal powder, and…”

Pointing at the crates, the young man read out the inventory. Then he flipped his wrist, and from who-knew-where produced a small square platform no bigger than his palm.

Ten tiny figures were carved atop the platform, encircling a guillotine. The blade gleamed a blood-red, exuding a terrifying aura of slaughter.

When Huangfu Yun and the other centurions saw the palm-sized platform, their eyes all lit up.

“This Demon-Slaying Platform will also remain with you.”

The centurions exchanged a glance. Very quickly, Huangfu Yun stepped forward and took the Demon-Slaying Platform in both hands. Then they all spoke in unison: “Many thanks, General!”

“I hope that you and I will still have the chance to meet again.” With that, the young man was about to leave.

“Please wait, General!”

Huangfu Yun gritted his teeth, passed the Demon-Slaying Platform to the centurion beside him, then bowed with cupped hands. “I beg the General to also leave us some Bloodburst Pills!”

The young man paused, silent for a moment, then asked, “How many?”

“Three hundred will suffice!”

The young man waved his hand, and ten jade bottles appeared before Huangfu Yun.

“Take good care of yourselves.”

Rеаⅾ оn KαtReaԁіոɡCafе

As soon as he spoke, the space in front of him rippled in layers, like waves on the surface of water.

He took a single step forward and disappeared into the ripples. The group behind him followed, entering one after another.

In the blink of an eye, the entire group vanished without a trace, as if they had never appeared.

High in the sky, the Yunxiao Treasure Warship let out an even deeper roar and slowly began to move, carrying Twin Moon City’s hopes away toward the horizon.

Huangfu Yun swept his gaze over the surrounding martial artists and suddenly bellowed, “Everyone, within half a quarter-hour, assemble in armor on the drill field! Anyone late will be dealt with under military law!”

The martial artists scattered in all directions at once like startled birds.

…

Shi Lan sprinted back to her room and started donning her battle armor. Fortunately, she had tried it on before, so she wasn’t flustered.

With the help of the Flying Cloud Boots, by the time Shi Lan reached the drill field, only a few had arrived.

Several of the massive crates had already been dragged into the drill field.

Huangfu Yun and the other centurions stood before the crates, waiting for everyone to gather.

Half a quarter-hour passed in a flash; not a single person was late.

A trace of satisfaction flashed in Huangfu Yun’s eyes. At least their assembly speed was acceptable.

Reαⅾ оո КаtRеаdіոɡСafе

Over three hundred people stood in a dense, black-clad mass, silent as the grave.

Huangfu Yun lifted his hand and slammed his palm down onto one of the crates.

“Bang!”

The lid of the crate blew off in an instant, springing high into the air.

Leaping up, Huangfu Yun landed on the edge of the crate, caught the falling lid in one hand and propped it against the side. Then he crouched down, pulled out a nearly half-man-high giant crossbow, and dropped back to the ground.

“Veterans of the Demon-Suppressing Army are no strangers to this thing, but the new ones have likely never seen it.”

As he spoke, Huangfu Yun lifted the giant crossbow with his left arm. His right arm tensed as he drew the bowstring back and set it into the latch, then gripped the stock and pulled the trigger lever.

“Crack!”

The taut bowstring snapped back in an instant, cutting through the air with an explosive crack that rang sharply in everyone’s ears!

Lightly stroking the faintly quivering string, Huangfu Yun spoke slowly:

“The Demon-Slaying Crossbow is the standard weapon for Demon-Suppressing Army archers. Its frame is carved from century-old ironwood as hard as refined steel. The bowstring is made from the resilient tendons of demonic beasts at or above the seventh stage of the Body Tempering Realm. Paired with refined steel bolts, ordinary Body Tempering Realm demonic beasts can’t withstand more than two shots!”

Huangfu Yun glanced over the crowd, then walked to the side of the crate. Gripping both sides, he exerted force and slowly tipped the massive crate over.

The Demon-Slaying Crossbows rolled out of the opening, scattering across the ground.

Read on ΚаtReαdіոɡCαfe

“Come up in order and collect one each.”

Shi Lan stepped up with the others and picked up a Demon-Slaying Crossbow. The moment she lifted it, she was taken aback.

This half-man-high Demon-Slaying Crossbow weighed nearly a hundred jin. There had to be nearly a thousand such crossbows in this crate alone—meaning the crate weighed close to a hundred thousand jin!

Huangfu Yun had lifted it and flipped it over without even flushing or losing his breath. Such strength was truly terrifying.

She tried pulling on the bowstring, and her heart jolted again. Unless someone had at least five hundred jin of strength in their arms, they wouldn’t be able to draw this bowstring at all.

No wonder the Demon-Suppressing Army’s minimum recruitment requirement was the fifth stage of the Body Tempering Realm. Below that level, not to mention failing to draw the string—even just wearing the armor and carrying a Demon-Slaying Crossbow on their back would exhaust them just moving around.

Once everyone had collected a Demon-Slaying Crossbow, Huangfu Yun opened another crate. Inside were bundles of refined steel bolts.

Each bolt was over three chi long, with two narrow iron vanes at the tail, each half a finger wide. The arrowheads shone with a cold light. A single bolt weighed nearly three jin.

Everyone went up in turn and received twenty bolts, then slung them onto their backs along with the Demon-Slaying Crossbows.

By the time everyone had taken their place again, the sky was already growing pale.

Huangfu Yun took a step forward. “Veterans of the Demon-Suppressing Army, leave the drill field and return to your posts. New recruits, be ready. You’ll be marching out of the city with me shortly to…”

At this point, Huangfu Yun’s aura shifted. He grinned.

“To hunt and slaughter demonic beasts!”