Chapter 37: Opening the Treasure Chest! A Charged Single Slash!

"Commander."

"You worked so hard in today's great battle; let us and the others take the night watch instead," Wei Quan said immediately.

"Indeed."

The other thousand-man commanders nodded in succession.

"Enough nonsense. My words just now are commands."

"The soldiers have had less than an hour of rest each day during these past few days; they are all exhausted. The fundamental reason for this feigned retreat is to let our brothers rest."

"Once they have rested well, there are even more brutal wars waiting for us," Zhu Ying said in a heavy voice.

"We obey your command!" the thousand-man commanders shouted in unison.

"Alright, everyone, go down and rest," Zhu Ying nodded, saying no more.

"Commander."

"Since our army has achieved such results this time, should we report to the Commander-in-Chief?" Wei Quan asked with a smile.

The other thousand-man commanders also looked at Zhu Ying expectantly.

This time, they had once again slain over four thousand enemies, captured numerous warhorses, and dealt a heavy blow to the Tartars.

It could be said to be another great achievement.

This was not just Zhu Ying's personal merit, but the collective glory of all the Ming soldiers fighting in the Northern Border.

"We shall report after we have dealt with the pursuing Tartar cavalry," Zhu Ying chuckled.

"We obey your command!" the commanders responded excitedly.

They had absolute faith in Zhu Ying's words.

Afterward, Zhu Ying's gaze fell once more upon the map in his hands.

"The Tartar tribal seat is still to the north. Once this group of pursuing Tartar cavalry is dealt with, we can take the opportunity to raid their tribal seat."

"Even if we cannot achieve total victory, there will be an opportunity to deal a heavy blow to the Tartars, and we can throw them into chaos, making them completely unable to aid the Yuan court."

"And calculating the time, the main army dispatched by the Imperial Court should have arrived at Daning Prefecture by now."

"The Ming is about to shift from defense to offense," Zhu Ying thought to himself.

He had been in the Northern Border for quite some time.

For Zhu Ying and his soldiers, it had been a constant cycle of retreating and fighting.

It was entirely guerrilla warfare.

Striking the enemy by surprise.

When encountering large groups, Zhu Ying did not choose to clash head-on; instead, he maintained a measured pace of advance and retreat.

The fundamental purpose was to stall for time.

To pin down the Tartars.

After all, that was the primary objective.

"The Tartar tribal seat."

"I must make a trip there."

Zhu Ying stared at the location of the Tartar tribal seat on the map.

He then put the map away.

This map was not made by the Ming, but was obtained from a previously slain Tartar general.

Although it was not extremely detailed, many Tartar tribes were marked on it, which was sufficient for Zhu Ying.

"Right."

"There are still three treasure chests left unopened."

"Time to gamble on some luck."

Zhu Ying snapped back to his senses.

Previously, after killing over 500 enemies, he was rewarded with an Ordinary Treasure Chest.

When all his attributes broke 800 points, he received another.

When all attributes broke 900 points, he received another.

"Open all treasure chests," Zhu Ying immediately communicated with the panel.

"Host command received. Opening three Ordinary Treasure Chests."

"Obtained: Yellow Grade, Low Rank [Protective Inner Armor]."

"Obtained: Yellow Grade, Mid Rank [蓄力一刀斩 - Charged Single Slash]."

"Obtained: Yellow Grade, Low Rank [Premium Hemostatic Powder], ten bottles." The panel displayed the notifications.

"Luck is good this time; they all have grades."

Seeing this, Zhu Ying felt a surge of joy in his heart.

From what he could see, as long as they had a grade, they were good items.

"Premium Hemostatic Powder."

"Since it has a grade, the blood-stopping effect must be excellent."

Seeing what the third chest had yielded, Zhu Ying's heart stirred.

In this era, the leading cause of death on the battlefield was excessive blood loss, due to the inability to stop bleeding and infections.

Although suturing techniques and the use of strong spirits for disinfection existed in this era, there were still gaps compared to later generations.

First of all, stopping blood was a massive challenge.

For instance, many of the wounded soldiers under Zhu Ying's command had been struck by arrows; once the arrows were pulled out, the wounds bled uncontrollably. Others were slashed by Tartar sabers, making the wounds even harder to heal as blood flowed incessantly.

Even though they carried many bandages and medicinal herbs with the army, it was ultimately insufficient.

"Liu Lei."

Zhu Ying called out.

"Awaiting your orders, Commander," Liu Lei responded immediately.

"I have five bottles of excellent blood-stopping medicine here. Take your personal guards and use them on the wounded soldiers who cannot stop bleeding. It has miraculous effects."

"If it works, those brothers might live."

"Use them sparingly; there isn't much."

Zhu Ying fumbled in his robes, and with a thought, he summoned five bottles of Hemostatic Powder and handed them to Liu Lei.

"We obey your command!"

Liu Lei immediately took the five bottles of Hemostatic Powder and led his personal guards toward the wounded.

"I hope this powder works."

"That way, many more brothers can be saved," Zhu Ying thought privately.

By bringing out this powder, Zhu Ying was doing all he could and leaving the rest to fate.

After all, many wounded soldiers were currently dying from excessive blood loss.

"Charged Single Slash."

"Extract."

Zhu Ying extracted the martial skill.

Following a sensation of sudden enlightenment, the "Charged Single Slash" skill was imprinted into his consciousness sea.

"Charged Single Slash."

"Concentrate all bodily strength into a single strike. At the Initial stage, it can burst with twice the power; at the Intermediate stage, three times; and at Perfection, it can trigger an instantaneous burst of five times the power."

"As expected of a graded martial skill."

"Impressive."

After successfully extracting the skill, a satisfied smile appeared on Zhu Ying's face.

Without exception, this skill would greatly promote his strength. It could be described as a complete killing move!

With Zhu Ying's current strength of over a thousand jin, who could block his strike?

The twofold burst of power would be even more impossible to withstand.

Calling it a life-saving killing move was not an exaggeration at all!

"Protective Inner Armor."

Zhu Ying extracted the inner armor as well.

In his hand appeared a piece of soft armor.

However, the material did not look like ordinary iron; it seemed to be woven from some unknown material.

Zhu Ying drew his blade and made a slash.

The inner armor sustained no damage at all, not even a mark.

This armor protected the upper body.

"This is quite good. If worn under battle armor, even if an arrow pierces the outer armor, it won't harm the person inside."

"A good item."

Zhu Ying remarked.

Then, without hesitation, he stripped off his blood-stained outer armor and military uniform, and put on the inner armor.

On this battlefield, Zhu Ying was naturally very protective of his life.

Even if he climbed the ranks, even if his attributes were formidable enough to be an enemy of a hundred or a thousand men, he only had one life.

This era possessed heavy crossbows, crossbow artillery, and even cannons; Zhu Ying did not consider himself invincible. He was still far from it.

After putting on the inner armor, Zhu Ying felt much safer.

He was very satisfied.

Completely content.

"Attribute Panel," Zhu Ying called out in his mind.

Before his eyes

Host: Zhu Ying Age: 14 years old Strength: 1145 points Speed: 1023 points Constitution: 932 points Endurance: 912 points Spirit: 923 points Lifespan: 88 years, 3956 days Storage Space: 9 cubic meters

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