Chapter 17: Lord Commander

The one returning in the Red Scale Army Commander's armor was not Commander Yu Lin, but Zhang Yuan, a martial guard conscripted into the Red Scale Army.

Zhao Changming had met Zhang Yuan once before, while treating Young Master Tao, when he had casually gifted his long saber to the unconscious Zhang Yuan.

"How can this be... how can this be..."

Zhao Changming’s face turned pale. He stumbled backward a few steps, nearly tripping over the threshold.

If it had been Yu Lin returning, even if heavily wounded, his sheer strength—capable of slaying three Xiantian experts alone—would have intimidated the Yan army and bolstered the morale of the Qin troops, driving them to fight with everything they had to defend the city.

But the one who returned was Zhang Yuan.

That meant Commander Yu Lin had surely fallen outside the city walls.

In other words, the actual combat strength remaining in the city was now only himself, Zhao Changming, a single Xiantian realm expert, along with fewer than five hundred remnants of broken soldiers.

"The Commander... he... he—" Zhao Changming looked up, staring intently at Zhang Yuan.

Even though he knew the answer, Zhao Changming needed to hear it from Zhang Yuan's own lips.

"The Commander fought three enemies alone, fighting to the very last moment," Zhang Yuan spoke softly.

"He told me to convey to Vice Commander Zhao: Fengtian County no longer needs to be defended."

Taking a shallow breath, Zhang Yuan looked toward the clouds outside the courtyard. "Actually, it shouldn't have been defended two months ago."

Zhao Changming trembled all over. He looked at Zhang Yuan and nodded slowly.

"Correct. The decision to hold Fengtian County at all costs was something only the Commander and I knew."

As Yu Lin's deputy and a fellow Xiantian expert, Yu Lin's decision naturally required Zhao Changming's support.

Looking at the resolute face of Zhang Yuan, who stood before him clad in Red Scale armor, Zhao Changming let out a soft sigh. "Zhang Yuan, thank you for returning to deliver the news."

"I will arrange for the remaining garrison to break through the encirclement. When the time comes, stay by my side; I will lead you out."

By disguising himself as Yu Lin and risking his life to return with news, Zhang Yuan had given Zhao Changming a choice, while also preventing the morale, which had plummeted to rock bottom, from completely collapsing.

Otherwise, the city might have already fallen.

"Zhang Yuan, rest for now," Zhao Changming said deeply, looking at him. "Aside from me, do not reveal your true face to anyone."

"This is vital. If they learn the Commander has fallen, I fear the soldiers will lose all will to fight, and won't even have the heart to attempt a breakout."

In Zhao Changming's eyes, Zhang Yuan was merely a youth of sixteen or seventeen who couldn't truly grasp the gravity of many things.

But since Zhang Yuan had risked his life to return, there were certain things he needed to make clear to him.

"I understand," Zhang Yuan nodded. "In front of others, I am the Commander."

Hearing Zhang Yuan's reply, Zhao Changming breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to leave, closing the courtyard gate behind him as he walked away.

Zhang Yuan watched Zhao Changming leave and the gate close before his body finally went limp. He slumped down onto the stone steps of the veranda.

After sitting in a daze for a moment, the images of everything that had happened from leaving the city to his return flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.

He gripped the hilt of his saber with force; the strength of over fifteen hundred catties caused his entire body to tense instantly.

A golden light screen surfaced deep within his mind.

【Zhang Yuan】

Identity: 9th Grade Black-Clad Guard of Luyang Prefecture, Great Qin; Conscripted soldier of the Red Scale Army.

Cultivation: Late Stage of the Houtian Realm; cultivation is unstable and cannot be upgraded.

Martial Arts Training: Cloak Saber Technique (Great Perfection, cannot upgrade); Iron Armor Fist (Great Perfection, cannot upgrade); Mountain Saber Technique (Great Achievement, requires 20 Insight Beads to upgrade); Mountain Fist Technique (Small Success, requires 10 Insight Beads to upgrade).

Battle Formation: Gray Wolf Formation (Small Success).

Chaos Space: 75 Blood Qi Beads, 93 Insight Beads, 45 True Yuan Beads, 9 Demon Qi Beads.

Chaos Auxiliary Combat: Not activated.

The advancement of his cultivation and martial arts felt like a dream.

Zhang Yuan could feel that his suddenly increased cultivation was not yet fully under his control, nor could he fully exert the power of his Great Achievement-level Mountain Saber Technique. Thus, the Chaos system indicated he could not upgrade his cultivation for the time being.

Power that cannot be controlled is useless to increase; instead, it would only drag down his combat effectiveness.

Aside from the changes in cultivation and martial arts, the stored Blood Qi and Insight Beads were primarily obtained from slaying the three Xiantian experts.

A single Xiantian expert did not just yield one bead of feedback in Blood Qi and Comprehension, but more than twenty.

The higher the cultivation, the more power was fed back.

The Xiantian expert who was heavily wounded by Yu Lin, the Xiantian expert who turned into a demon, and finally, Commander Yu Lin himself.

Zhang Yuan had chosen to sever Yu Lin's heart veins at the final moment to end his life and obtain the feedback power.

He needed this power to hold Fengtian County.

Aside from Blood Qi and Insight Beads, the True Yuan Beads were the innate True Yuan cultivated by Xiantian experts. Zhang Yuan could not refine them into his body to increase his cultivation, but he could trigger their power.

When he had burst out from the small woods, he had shattered one True Yuan Bead to trigger innate power, pouring it into his saber to draw out saber qi and strike the enemy, displaying the strength of a Xiantian realm to intimidate the Yan experts.

Unfortunately, with his current cultivation, he could not refine the True Yuan Beads or use them for training. Using them one by one like this was a waste of precious resources.

Similarly, the Demon Qi could not be refined.

However, the Demon Qi could be shattered and absorbed into his body to slowly temper his physical form, allowing his Blood Qi to rise rapidly, or to cause an instantaneous burst of physical strength, albeit at the cost of some bodily damage.

For humans to cultivate the power of demons was, by nature, a heterodox method akin to drinking poison to quench thirst.

Zhang Yuan had not killed that Young Master Ouyang.

He had found healing medicines on the bodies of the Xiantian experts and, after handing them to Duan Hong, left the unconscious Young Master Ouyang—whose meridians were severed—to be taken away by Duan Hong.

This Young Master Ouyang had an extraordinary background; capturing him alive might prove useful.

Furthermore, Zhang Yuan could not kill him; otherwise, with four pillars of Xiantian-level energy rising into the sky, everyone would know that Yu Lin had fallen.

*Thump—*

*Thump—*

*Thump—*

Outside the small courtyard, things were slowly becoming chaotic.

The Yan army was conducting a rare night raid.

This disrupted Zhao Changming's plan to retreat under the cover of darkness.

Zhang Yuan sat in the courtyard to regulate his breathing, meticulously smoothing out his Blood Qi and contemplating the insights gained from the slaughter on the battlefield.

*Boom—!*

The sound of Xiantian-level energy colliding echoed from the direction of the city walls.

Zhang Yuan reached out to grab his long saber, donned his combat helmet, and stepped out of the courtyard.

"Commander!"

The soldiers guarding outside the courtyard cried out in joyful surprise.

The wounded soldiers scattered nearby also looked up at Zhang Yuan as he emerged, dragging his saber.

No, it was Yu Lin—Commander Yu Lin.

Zhang Yuan advanced, dragging his saber, as three Xiantian-level energies clashed on the city walls ahead.

"Zhao Changming, this General gives you one last chance: surrender to our Great Yan, or you shall die today!"

Amidst the clashing energies, a loud shout rang out.

Following a muffled grunt, the energies intertwined once more.

Stepping onto the city wall, Zhang Yuan saw two Xiantian-level experts in black armor, one on each side, their blades and spears dancing as they pressed Zhao Changming back step by step.

If not for two late-stage Houtian Red Scale captains by his side and a squad of Red Scale soldiers fighting in formation, Zhao Changming would have already been unable to hold.

Zhang Yuan dragged his long-handled battle saber forward, his footsteps on the bluestone slabs growing faster and faster.

A shadow of a mountain seemed to coalesce behind him.

With every stride covering a long distance, Zhang Yuan reached Zhao Changming's side within three steps.

"Commander—!"

Zhao Changming let out a low cry as he watched the saber in Zhang Yuan's hand slash out instantly.

Upon the cyan blade, a dark, flowing light pierced through the night, both freezing and brilliant.

Saber Qi!

As the long saber fell, the wind felt as if mountains and rivers were collapsing.

Mountain Saber Technique: Tsunami Mountain Collapse!

*Boom—!*

The black-armored general leading the charge shuddered violently, his body sent flying uncontrollably off the city wall.

Zhang Yuan lunged forward, a three-inch cold light gleaming on his blade as he chased the flying general with another strike.

Cloak Saber Technique: Wind Chaser Slash.

*Bang—!*

The long saber struck the black-armored general's left shoulder, piercing through the armor and five inches into the bone. The general managed to catch the blade with both hands, bracing against it.

Struck by this blow, the Xiantian-level Yan general's body plummeted two yards down from the city wall, hitting the ground with a heavy *thud*.

"Yu Lin!"

On the city wall, another Xiantian-level Yan general cried out in alarm, not daring to linger as he retreated down the wall.

Supporting the Xiantian expert who had been heavily wounded by Zhang Yuan's strike, the two retreated dozens of yards before finally finding their footing.

"Yu Lin, today you killed Ouyang Ming, the son of our Great Yan Western Garrison Commander Ouyang. You can only wait for the Ouyang family to hunt you down!"

(End of Chapter)